So here's how this wound up becoming a thing. This is all from a post on tumblr, so a link will be on my profile if you want to check it out.
Mysweetcupoftea posted this adorable artwork [which is also what is being used as the cover for this] and then coalitiongirl wrote some amazing tags which inspired me, and I asked them both for permission to make a fic out of it, they said yes, and voila!
And as for the title of this fic, it's the title from the song Way Back When by Grizfolk, which also helped to inspire this story.
Also minor warning for Cora being...well, Cora.
Now without further ado, let's get this started!
"Now remember Regina, you need to make a good impression, we need this alliance, do you understand?"
Little Regina nodded, sitting still as her mother fussed over the light blue dress she was wearing, and making sure any errant hairs were put in place. She quickly glanced at daddy, and saw him give her a reassuring smile. They were on a carriage on their way to King Leopold's castle, the adults would do politics with the neighbouring royals, something that sounded downright boring to eight year-old Regina.
Thankfully, Leopold had a grandchild that she supposedly would get to spend time with. She hope she wasn't annoying. Regina hated annoying princesses.
As soon as they had arrived, they were ushered into a grand hall. They bowed to King Leopold, who looked very old and wrinkly in Regina's opinion. Of course, no one asked her, and her mother would skin her alive if she voiced her opinions, so she kept her mouth shut and stood between her parents like a good little princess.
"Introducing Princess Snow, Prince David, and Princess Emma," the herald announced. A beautiful couple came out, and Regina nearly gasped. They looked perfect. Like a true princess and and prince would look like in one of the many storybooks her daddy would read to her before bed time. They were a bit younger than her parents, and their clothes were divine. She was in an apt snow white dress, with her black hair neatly coiffed, decorated with flowers. He looked very elegant, the fancy princely clothes adorned with some steel armour and a glinting sword hilt by his side. They smiled at Regina's parents and bowed their heads in respect.
As the visiting party, Regina's family had to bow and curtsy. Once they were standing again, Regina frowned. The herald announced 3 people, so why...
Suddenly a resounding crash was heard, followed by a loud yelp, and Regina could've sworn she heard a chicken cluck before the door that the Prince and Princess had just come through banged open and a girl about Regina's age burst through, nearly skidding on the highly polished floors.
"Sorry I'm late!" The Prince and Princess just chuckled, shaking their heads as if this sort of thing always happened. Even the King looked entertained. The girl then turned to Regina and her parents and curtsied. "My apologies your Graces."
Regina's mother let out a laugh - one she knew was very fake and only for politeness' sake - and said, "It's not a trouble at all your Highness, I'm certain you were very busy. Now, shall we get on with business?"
The adults agreed, leaving Regina and the other young princess to their devices. They walked out of the throne room in silence until the princess asked, "What's your name?"
"Regina, your Highness," she answered politely.
Emma scrunched up her nose. "You don't have to call me that, just call me Emma! Now come on, it's a pretty day, so let's go outside!"
Regina barely had time to get a word out before she felt her arm being tugged by the princess. Seeing that she had no choice in the matter, she resigned herself to follow her.
Despite her original misgivings, Emma was quite a fun play date. They had chased each other around in the gardens, rolled through a field of grass, and picked flowers to fashion into their own flower crowns, which they added to the already present silver crowns resting on their heads.
When it was time to leave though, all of Regina's excitement vanished when she saw her mother. To anyone else, it might seem as though Cora had no reaction to seeing her young daughter, but the young princess knew from experience, she was in very big trouble, or as Cook would say - when she thought Regina wasn't listening - she was in deep shit.
And indeed, when they left the palace, Queen Cora unleashed her fury as soon as they were in their carriage, grabbing Regina's wrist before she could sit down. "What sort of abomination is that White child? Honestly Regina, you are a princess, and will one day be Queen! Heavens forbid that someone sees you looking like filth, they might think their future Queen likes to hang around with the common drabble! Is that the kind of image you want to have for yourself?"
"No, mother," Regina mumbled, having been well-educated on what she was supposed to say. The squeeze to the already tight grip on her wrist made her flinch, and also warned her that she had messed up in her response.
"Speak up Regina. Queens don't mumble, and they certainly don't make mistakes. Now, you'll spend the entire ride standing, lest you want to clean the carriage's upholstery when we get home?"
Regina parroted the same answer as before, though this time louder. It was more satisfactory for her mother and she let go of her daughter's wrist, which was now red from the pressure.
"Corazon, perhaps you shouldn't be so harsh on Regina, she is only a child-" her father attempted to pacify his wife.
But Cora was having none of it. "Honestly Henry, it's a wonder you were able to rule the kingdom before I came along. Didn't your educators teach you anything when you were young? These kinds of lessons need to be instilled on them young. If you give her leeway now, Regina will keep frolicking around like she's the help well into her adult years. And then can you imagine the gossip? We'd be considered a joke of a kingdom! Others would think we were idiots! So please, let me reprimand my daughter without you undermining my authority. And speak English, you have no need to decorate your sentences with such frivolities."
Henry could say nothing in response, so with a small apologetic smile and a comforting wink for Regina, he settled on his seat beside Cora, while Regina had to hang on for dear life without anything really to help her keep her balance. She toppled over and collapsed into the seats and her parents' legs again and again throughout that ride, and in Regina's mind, this could have all been avoided if she hadn't let Princess Emma have her way. It was her fault.
It would be a month before Regina would once again find herself heading to the White kingdom with her parents in tow. Her anger had festered in that time, and she was very, very angry at Emma.
They went through the same motions as before, though this time, Emma was with them from the get go, dressed impeccably in a blue skirt, and a white shirt with poofy red sleeves and a red sash around her waist that tied into a red bow behind her. Her hair was in pigtails, though quite a few short strands were loose and fell into her face. She gave Regina an enthusiastic wave that she was prepared to ignore if it wasn't for the subtle - but not gentle at all - nudge she received from her mother at the lack of response.
"So, shall we get down to business?" Cora asked in a fake and chipper voice, clapping her hands together gleefully as if they were all going for tea.
Snow White smiled vibrantly at Cora, naively not noticing Cora's facetiousness. "Certainly! The princesses can go and have their fun and we'll get started. Have fun you two!"
And with that, the two young girls were dismissed, and Emma was ecstatic. She didn't have many friends to play with, so she enjoyed getting to hang out with Regina. "Come on, I have something to show you!"
Regina was ready to let out a scathing remark, but then she remembered her mother's constant warnings. If she angered the other princess, she might tell her parents, and in turn they might cancel whatever agreement they were planning on, which would end badly for everyone. Especially Regina.
So, with a heavy sigh, she followed the princess, pleasantly surprised when they weren't heading outside, but rather to a room.
"Look what I got!" Emma exclaimed, holding up a wooden sword, having pulled it out of a simple leather sword belt.
Regina made a face. "Why would you want a sword?"
Emma pouted for a moment as she thought, before a wide grin spilled onto her face. "To protect people!"
"That's silly, you're a princess. You have guards to protect you," Regina explained, crossing her arms with a huff over her pretty purple dress, white gloved hands resting at opposite elbows, certain that her logic would showcase the problem in Emma's idea.
But Emma didn't think it would be a problem at all. Picking up a shield made from the same material, she got into a pose, swinging her sword at an invisible attacker. "But if I have my sword and I train enough, I can become a knight, and I wouldn't need guards to protect me! Don't you want to be able to protect yourself?"
Regina sighed. She saw an apple on a bowl nearby, so she grabbed it, since she hadn't eaten anything on the journey and she was quite hungry. Flopping onto the carpet by Emma, she explained, using words her mother had once said, "If I'm going to be a Queen, I can't exactly be mucking around like that. I need to be poised and refined. So I'll let my knights protect me."
Emma once again got pensive, and then brightened as an idea formed in her head. "I can be your knight and protect you!"
"Now you're just being ridiculous. You're a princess of another kingdom, why would you become a knight for me?"
With a shrug, Emma simply said, "Maybe we got married and I'm protecting you."
Regina let out a giggle. At the very least, Emma had a wild imagination. "That's not how it works. A queen needs to have a king, two queens can't be ruling!"
Emma frowned. "Yes they can. My aunt Ingrid married a woman, and she's a queen. They're both queens"
"Oh," Regina simply said, until she came up with another reason. "But we don't even like each other!"
It had become a sort of game for Regina, trying to prove Emma wrong. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to win so badly, but it probably had something to do with her getting into trouble for the last time that she had visited Emma.
"What? I like you...don't you like me?" Emma asked, eyes wide.
"Of course I don't," Regina scoffed haughtily, looking away to the apple.
Emma's eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "Why?"
"Because you got me in trouble! You made me get all dirty and mother hated that, she said that proper princesses who hoped to one day become queens never rolled around like that, so you probably did it on purpose to make fun of me!"
"No! I swear I didn't Regina, my parents never minded, they encourage me to have my freedom..." Emma responded in a rush. "But I'm sorry if I got you in trouble, I was only looking for you to be my friend, and since I don't have many of those, I got a bit excited."
Regina looked up at the other princess. She looked so apologetic, so she offered her a warm smile. "Okay, I believe you. I'm sorry I was mad at you."
Emma's smile could have lit up the entire kingdom and put all candle-makers out of business. "It's okay, so what do you say? You become the Queen, and I'll be your Knight, protecting you from anything and everything, forever?"
"You promise?" Regina asked with a smile, holding out her hand in a fist, leaving only the pinky outstretched.
Emma sheathed her sword and gladly wrapped her own pinky around Regina's. "Pinky promise. Forever."
From that moment forward, Emma and Regina were inseparable. They spent their time talking plenty, getting to know one another by asking questions, playing games, doing regular things that princesses would do. For the next two years, Emma would always meet her with her wooden sword, and make sure to give Regina a deep bow and walk in front of her just in case there were any enemies around.
Regina giggled and always gave Emma a kiss on her cheek as a 'thank you' for protecting her. One day, near the end of their time together, Emma turned her head just as Regina was about to kiss her cheek, and they accidentally kissed on the mouth. They both blushed furiously, and didn't mention it again, especially since it was time to leave and Cora didn't like to wait.
"I'll see you again soon?" Regina asked.
Emma nodded and bowed deeply. "Of course my Queen."
Being called Emma's Queen made Regina blush even more. "Very well then, my Knight, I will expect to see you soon."
Although they didn't know, that would be the last time they'd see each other for a long time.
Regina was once more in a carriage headed to the White kingdom, and she could hardly contain her excitement. So much so, that Cora noticed it, and asked, with a bit of disdain in her voice. "And what are you so excited about?"
"I'm going to see Emma!" Regina simply responded.
Cora made a tch noise, and shook her head. "Oh, you actually won't, she and her parents are out on a trip. It'll just be us and King Leopold."
Regina managed to contain her disappointment, and she wished her father had travelled with them so he could offer her some comfort. But alas, he had a few important meetings, and his health had been deteriorating a bit lately, so he wasn't up for the long ride.
For Cora though, everything was going according to plan.
Regina shook herself out of her reverie. Now was not the time to reminisce. Now she had an army of renegades trying to overthrow her kingdom to take care of.
And that was part 1!
This is gonna have 2 more parts, which are nearly finished, so they'll be posted one each day, for the next two days.
Let me know your thoughts!