As with most of my fics, there's a back story to this. I was at my cousin's baby shower a few weeks ago and there was this little girl of about two there. She was so adorable and I couldn't for the life of me think of who she reminded me of. The next day I was watching Once (I think it was The Cricket Game) and it hit me. The girl looked like I imagined a toddler Regina would.

I took that image and turned it into…I don't even know what this is. I know I have other stories going and people have been busting me to work on those, but this was the only thing I've been able to write, so I hope it's okay.

I don't own anything (unfortuantley), but this is un-betaed, so beware of typo ninjas.

Enjoy!

Emma was sitting in the sheriff's station with her feet up on the desk and a cup of Granny's hot cocoa with cinnamon in her hand. Man, it felt good to be back. Yes, the bonding time with her mother had been nice, but Cora, Hook, the ogres and the daily life-or-death battles were so not worth it. And she was still upset that she had been in the woods with Mulan, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and there hadn't been a single musical number.

She pulled the lid off her cocoa and dipped her tongue into the whipped cream. She was just about to take an actual sip when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said.

"Emma?" Henry was on the other end of the line and he sounded worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I went over to my mom's house to find my Avengers comics and she's…well…it's hard to explain. Can you come over?"

"Sure, Henry. I'll be right over," Emma said. She hung up the phone and stood up, grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair. David entered the room just as she was grabbing her keys.

"Where are you going? I got doughnuts."

"Henry just called. Something happened to Regina. I'll just go check it out. I won't be long."

"Alright," David said. "Be careful."

"No guarantees," Emma called back as she made her way out the door.

~*oO0Oo*~

It only took five minutes to get to Regina's house. The second she parked her car, Henry was racing towards her.

"Woah. Okay, what's wrong?" Emma asked.

"Just come see," Henry said. He grabbed her hand and all but dragged her into the house, down the hall and into Regina's study.

There, sleeping on the couch and covered by a black blanket was a toddler. Emma stepped a little closer and realized that the blanket was Regina's clothing. She turned to Henry who just shrugged.

"I came over and I didn't see her, so I came in here to look for her and I found…that."

"What the hell are we supposed to do with a toddler?" Emma asked.

At that moment, the toddler in question rolled over and rubbed her eyes. She blinked and took in her surroundings.

"Miss Swan? Henry? What's going on?"

Emma looked down at the little girl. Those chocolate brown eyes were unmistakable. "Regina?"

"Mom?" Henry asked. "Why are you a toddler?"

"I'm a what?" Regina asked. She looked down at her small hands and the blouse that was hanging around her tiny body. "What the hell?"

"What did you do?" Emma asked.

"I didn't do anything. I haven't used any magic since...since the well two days ago. I don't know what happened."

"You're so cute," Henry said, looking at Regina's round eyes and dark curls.

"You kind of are," Emma said, which earned her a death glare. "What? Can I help it that you're the world's most adorable toddler?"

"Shut. Up," Regina growled, her hands clenching into fists and Emma took a step back.

"What do we do now?" she asked, turning to Henry.

"I don't know," Henry said. "Mr. Gold might know."

"No," Regina snapped. "He's not seeing me like this."

"Well then you can just spend the rest of your life as a freakin' three-year-old. Which do you think is the better option?"

"No." Regina crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Emma and Henry had trouble holding in their giggles.

"Would you rather talk to the fairies?" Emma asked.

"I'm perfectly capable of fixing this myself."

"Then why don't you?"

Regina paused for a moment and struggled to think of something to say. "I'm fine."

"You didn't answer my question," Emma said with a smirk. "Why don't you change yourself back?"

"I can't," Regina whispered with her head hung low.

"How long have you been like this?"

"I was feeling really off yesterday and I just laid down for a little while. Now I'm…three."

"Alright. Well, I think we need to talk to Gold."

"No," Regina said again. "Not while I'm like this. I'd never hear the end of it."

"What choice do we have?" Emma asked. "You're in the body of a three-year-old. As much as you just want to be left alone, you can't exactly take care of yourself and this might get worse. If anyone will know what to do, it's Gold."

"Everything he has comes at a price. Why do you think he never got a car?"

"I just assumed you decided to troll him a little. I mean, the pink house and everything."

"No. Even before he got his memories back, he believed cars were too much power at too little a price."

"Well," Emma said. "I have no idea what to say to that, but we're still going. Even if you don't come, I'm still telling him."

"Fine," Regina said. "We can talk to Gold."

"Alright. Hold on, where'd Henry go?"

"I'm right here," Henry said. He walked into the study and held up a pair of toddler sized jeans and a navy blue t-shirt. "I know it's not girl clothes, but I figured you'd need something to wear for now. You know, since your suits don't fit anymore."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Regina said. Her cheeks were starting to turn pink and Emma could feel the tension in the air.

"Can you…"

"Of course I can still dress myself," Regina snapped.

"Alright. I'll be back in a few."

Emma and Henry walked out of the study and closed the door softly.

"What do we do?" Henry asked.

"I have no idea, kid," Emma said. "With any luck, Gold can just turn her back and this'll be over before it starts."

~*oO0Oo*~

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything," Mr. Gold said.

"What the hell do you mean?" Regina asked. She was standing on top of the counter and was still just about eye level with the pawnbroker/imp.

"You absorbed an amount of fairy dust that could very well have killed anyone else. You should know better than anyone that all magic comes with a price. All of that magic from the well is inside of you and until it wears off, you'll be stuck like this."

"Wears off?"

"Could be anywhere from a few days to a few years. You really should have thought before you opened the well, dearie."

"You can't change her back?" Emma asked.

"No. Fairy dust is powerful magic and its effects are not easily reversible. I doubt the fairies can do anything either, seeing as she absorbed the last bit of their dust. I'll look for something, but until then, Miss Swan…I do believe you have a child to raise."

*gasp* A cliffhanger! I've never been this mean to you before! Well, I swear to you that the next chapter is almost done and if people are interested in reading it, I'll post it within a few days. I'm going to apologize in advance because updates will be sporadic, but this is my first actual fic with a real storyline and that's not complete and utter crack, so I'm super pumped.