Hi guys, I have big plans for this story, so hang in there! Sorry if there are any mistakes, I'm currently looking for a beta. Hope you like, leave a comment if you like it so far :)

Emma Swan. Orphan. Homeless.

Thats who she was and thats all she knew. When you're an orphan the first thing you learn is that that there is nothing called hope. Its a myth. All you have is the clothes on your back. Living on the streets in the enchanted forest is nothing to be happy about. With the evil queen in charge, everyone was struggling to make ends-meat, left alone have enough to give to a homeless orphan.

But this was her life. And there was nothing she could do about it. If nothing had changed today would have been her seventh birthday, she would have had a ball, filled with happiness and that thing called hope. But that was no longer her life, all she had to celebrate once a piece of bread, thrown out of the bakery for being rotten and out of date, but it would do for her, it was even a treat. She sat on the stone road leading into the town square watching the sun rise, and for a moment she felt a little peaceful just staring into the orangey sky. All her problems about finding enough food to live by went away, she could just reminisce the good memories.

It was her sixth birthday, the ballroom had been decorated and all the neighbouring royals were attending. Her dress was a dark shade of blue with sparkles all adorning the bottom of the ball gown, her light blonde hair was flowing down her back, and to finish the beautiful outfit was the her necklace, shaped like a swan. The only thing missing was her crown, which was what her mother was placing on her on her head. Sitting in her chambers, looking in the mirror, her only thought, was that her whole life was going to be okay, no matter what happened Emma would always have a family. At least thats what she thought, but back then she was only a naive princess.

Now she knew better, at seventeen, Emma has been through more than another child should, but somehow she survived to live another day.

Her sixth birthday was the last, in a sense. Not that she knew it, if she had, if any of them had, known it would have been different. But they only knew what was happening after it was too late. The damaged had been done. The King and Queen of Misthaven were murdered, the Princess was orphaned on her birthday. It happened so fast, no one knew what happened. She hadn't been seen for 6 years, but she made an appearance, The Evil Queen was back. And what she wanted more than anything was for the princess to suffer.

After that day nothing was the same, Emma was too young to take the crown, so after some persuasion and some more murder, the Evil Queen felt it was her duty to retake her rightful place on the throne. She made sure that the young princess had nothing to do with the people and slowly isolated her until all she really was, was a prisoner. And nothing else. Years went by, and nothing changed, Emma lived in a room with one window, covered in bars, and kept in with a locked door, her only visitor was a servant to deliver food. She slept on a metal cot with only a blanket and a small nightgown, she'd outgrown months ago. The only thing that kept her going was a glimmer of hope.

As the town started to get busy, Emma had to get to work. She spent her days and nights begging for food and money, anything that will help her to survive another day. She wore the only thing that resembled her past life, her swan necklace, a little memento to remember what her life once was. Getting up in what really was rags and a worn out pair of shoes, she walked around the square till she got to her daily begging spot, next to the vegetable stand.

"Hey swan, ready for another day, heres a little some in for ya," Morris, her only friend, handed her an apple from his stand.

"Thanks, Sir," He was always so kind to her, giving her his scrapes and occasionally even something for free. As she sat down, getting ready for another day surviving, she saw that the town was particularly busy, probably a merchant ship or pirates docked. Not that she cared, if anything she was grateful, it meant more opportunities for begging and pickpocketing. For the last couple of months, finding money and food had been particularly hard, so she had to resort to stealing, it had been her last resort. She hadn't been caught yet, but had had some close calls, too close for her liking, but it was either that or starving to death.

Her earliest memory was when she was four, she was preparing for her first ball, her father was teaching her to dance. With the music playing in the background, they gracefully swept across the ballroom, her mum watching from the throne chairs, clapping and smiling in happiness. It was one of those quiet moments, you never think is special until you've lost everything. Then its was of the most treasured memories you could have. As Emma grew up in her lonely prison, it was one of the few memories that could make her smile even on the worst day.

Even now, she looks back on that memory and it brightens up her life. As her empty cup at her feet filled with money, she felt it was time to go to her favourite place. The dock. It was busy with all sorts of people with all kinds of stories, some full of adventure and some full of danger. But all interesting. What she loved the most about the dock, was the ocean, seeing the water meet the horizon. And watching the ships come from all over, sailing into the horizon. It was truly beautiful. The ocean gave Emma a few moments of bliss, a chance to not have to think about her life, about what has happened to her, and what her future may hold.

As she entered the dock, it was more busy than usual, tall ships towered over the harbour, all different colours and shapes. This was the only place she could feel the slightest bit happy, even on a day like today, sure it might be her birthday. But the most painful part about it was its the anniversary of her parents death, and that pain and hurt would never leave her. She was truly alone.

This was her life now.