A/N: Should anyone still be following my other couple lengthy stories - if you still exist, bless you - don't worry, I'm still working on them. This plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone. It won't be very long and is mostly done already. To everyone: thanks for checking it out! This is an alternate take on the 6x10 episode "Wish You Were Here".

Chapter 1: Upon a Star

"Make a wish!"

Emma bent over towards the blue star-shaped candle and squeezed her eyes shut. Normally the princess was hard-pressed to have something to wish for - at least since she'd grown up and dollies and ponies weren't such an obsession. But the events of the previous day weighed on her heart.

Yesterday, she and Henry had been traveling back from visiting her best friend, Princess Alexandria, and her husband Phillip II, at their castle. Although both kingdoms have prospered since the defeat of despots like King George and the Evil Queen, bandits would always exist. And yesterday was the first time Emma actually met one. Or a dozen, actually. Rooster and his Happy Men or something. She wasn't quite sure as she was too busy panicking to pay much attention.

She didn't care about the jewels and gold they took, as she knew her own mother had been a bandit and sometimes people stole out of necessity, and she had more wealth than anyone deserved, but Henry objected on principle. He was to be a knight and eventually ruler of this kingdom and being a teenager with something to prove, he became overzealous. Not only could she not restrain him, but she couldn't help him when he became overwhelmed in the fight and injured. If not for the lead bandit proclaiming himself an honorable thief and ordering his men to stand down, Henry might have been mortally injured, just like his father, instead of suffering a few knicks and a broken finger.

The loss of Baelfire years ago had dealt a tremendous blow to both her and Henry, but at least he'd died a hero, protecting his family from an incursion at the royal summer "campgrounds" by ogres. While she had been deeply saddened by the loss, it wasn't like what she was feeling today, nor could she imagine the guilt that would crush her if she'd lost Henry yesterday. If it had been just them and a couple guards and less scrupulous thieves, Henry surely would have died, and Emma wouldn't have been able to stop it. It wasn't that she was terrible with weapons. She seemed to be a natural when she picked them up, but that was a rare occasion. She'd learned some archery and basic swordplay from her parents, especially as a young girl, but had put away such things as she grew up. And her parents hadn't pressed, as they relished the fact that Emma didn't have to fight like they'd spent their 20's doing.

But now, Emma was regretting that. She might have been able to do something to help, but worse was that she'd found herself frozen, unable to act, except to plead. Promising treasure beyond the paltry amount in her carriage that day had been futile, nor had she promised justice or even a slice from a blade - even with her own son was in danger!

She'd been told she was supposed to be The Savior, had the Evil Queen's curse come to pass, but she couldn't imagine such a thing - never had been able to. She liked flowers, and bright colors, and singing. She knew how to disarm any man with a look and a swish of the hip, but she couldn't disarm a man with a weapon bent on hurting her. She'd never had to fight, so she didn't know how. Or at least the princess thought she could never imagine being a warrior, until last night's dream. She figured it was the natural result of the trauma she'd just suffered and her guilt at not protecting her son. It was so vivid, more like a memory than a dream, but she'd never seen such a strange world in even her most imaginative daydreams.

If she was like that savior in her dreams she could have protected Henry. She could have protected Baelfire. Even without the curse, shouldn't she still be that hero? But she couldn't see the potential for it in her. And while her parents were right - her family had fought enough for a lifetime - there was now a growing feeling in the pit of her stomach. It might be guilt, it might be some envy for the savior in her dreams, but either way, she was starting to feel like she wasn't living up to being a future leader for her kingdom. Her parents were getting on in years. What if there was another war? What did she know about battles and leading soldiers in a fight? Little, past a chess board. She wanted - needed - to be more for her kingdom, but even more so, her family. She was over 30 years old. She didn't want to feel like a little girl anymore. She wanted to be more.

"I wish I knew what how to be the Savior I was meant to be. What I could have been for my family," she thought before blowing out the single candle.

She stood up and looked to her parents and son with an almost melancholy smile. Her mother clapped her hands together. "What did you wish for, honey?"

Emma opened her mouth to answer but stopped short as she noticed the smoke from the extinguished candle begin to build, pouring out of the wick, almost like weightless liquid. It swirled outward, one smokey tongue wrapping itself around Emma, while three others curled around David, Snow, and Henry, and another floated out a window. "Emma!" cried her parent's in unison, accompanied by a shout of "Mom!" from Henry. For her part, the princess froze, as seemed to be her default reaction, as her vision was obscured and she felt light-headed. Make that light-bodied. She felt as if she were floating in a grey haze, winds whipping her hair wildly, seeing nothing, hearing nothing.

And then she was unceremoniously dumped to the soft, wet ground. She heard several other soft thumps close by and her vision quickly became unobscured. As the landing had hinted, she was no longer in the castle, but instead, an unfamiliar forest. A few feet away sat her family. "Henry!" she exclaimed. "Mommy! Daddy! Are you alright?!"

David pulled himself to his feet - not without a little groan when his aged joints protested - and then helped his wife to her feet. Henry had already leapt to his feet and moved to assist his mother in getting up. As much as she loved her gowns and corsets, Emma had to admit their impracticality. "Not to worry my dear, I've suffered far worse falls," replied the King, "but are you okay?" He and Snow patted their daughter and grandson in search of injury. They were both overprotective - especially with Emma, their little girl - who because of this overprotection had barely suffered a scrape or bruise during her childhood.

"I'm fine," replied Henry. "Mom?"

"I'm well," she answered, dusting off her skirts.

"Good," said Snow. "Because I think we have larger issues to worry about. Like where are we?"

Charming surveyed their surrounding. "It doesn't look like the Enchanted Forest… well, not exactly."

"It doesn't feel like it either," added Snow. "Like there's something different in the air."

"And it's night," remarked Henry.

"Indeed," said David. He peered into the woods. Luckily, it seemed to be a full moon. Its light made for decent visibility even through the treetop canopy. "Look, over there, a clearing." He pointed.

Snow nodded. "Let's go. Perhaps the stars will give us a hint as to where we've been transported."

"I'd rather know how," said Charming. He eyed his daughter. "Emma… just what did you wish for?"

Emma blushed. She felt embarrassed, being envious of a hypothetical dream version of herself, and that she'd wished at all. She has everything she could want, didn't she? She bit her bottom lip before answering. "I… may have wished I knew what it was to be the Savior. To be someone my loved ones, my kingdom, could depend on when they needed help," She kept her eyes on the path before her as they made the short distance to the clearing.

"Darling…" began Snow, taking her daughter's hand in her own. "We fought and we won so you would never have to shoulder that burden. And your kingdom knows what a kind, generous, fair-minded woman you've become. What a fine Queen you'll be someday. And you've always been there for your family for a kind word, or a laugh, when troubled."

"But I can't keep them safe," muttered Emma under her breath.

"What's that, darling?" pushed Snow.

Emma sighed before looking up at her mother. "But they can't depend on me to keep them safe. Bae died protecting me - okay, all of us - and Henry could have too, yesterday!" she exclaimed.

"I'm a prince of the realm, it's my duty to protect my family, Mom," replied Henry.

"No. As your mother, it's my job to protect you and I failed," rebutted Emma. Henry and her parents all opened their mouths to protest, but Emma held up a hand. "No. It's true. And I know we have soldiers to protect the kingdom - that our family has fought enough - but I was supposed to be some kind of Savior, and I'm wondering if I let myself off the hook, if I've somehow screwed up my destiny, just because it was easy to without a curse. I don't know, I know I'm being silly, but this dream I had last night… it made it seem so real, what I could've been. And now, this. What have I caused now?" The slightest hint of panic flavored her tone and Charming put an arm around his baby girl's shoulders.

"Don't talk like that. We fought to give you your best chance at a peaceful happy life, and we succeeded. You have the life we wanted for you, mostly free of hardship and strife."

"I suppose…" was all Emma could say to that. She knew what being a hero was and all the pain and loss that came with it. It made losing Baelfire seem like small potatoes, or a relatively normal misfortune, to what her parents and many others had suffered under the reign of the Evil Queen.

They came to a stop in the clearing and looked up to a clear night sky. "This isn't good," said David after a moment.

"Where are we?" asked Henry.

"I have no idea. I've never seen constellations like these, not even as far away Arendelle," replied Snow.

Emma paled. "What have I done?"

That afternoon in Storybrooke the Evil Queen had made another move in her never ending quest to take down the Charmings and company. She was like a dog with a bone in that way. She had procured the genie lamp, but before she could make her first wish Regina had realized that, them being one in the same, she could wish on it too. She, knowing the inevitable karmic repercussions of her evil deeds in the past, had wished that her evil half got exactly what she deserved. Which, at first, had seemed like nothing, although it did result in the Evil Queen retreating smugly. Little did she know that she'd be turned into a caged snake shortly thereafter.

Although it was a result of a wish, someone still had to have cast the spell, and so the heroes had regrouped at Granny's for an emergency meeting. Gold had rather tersely denied doing it before promptly hanging up on them, and Regina believed it. He'd been using her darker half to distract them from whatever he was up to and it wouldn't make sense to eliminate her when manipulating her was far more useful. No, it had to be someone else, and there was always the possibility that some powerful being from the Land of Untold Stories was lurking about.

"You better not leave that behind tonight or tomorrow snake kabobs are going the Daily Special menu," remarked Granny, eyeing the now serpentine sorceress.

Regina smirked. "Don't tempt me."

Emma crossed her arms. "That begs the question: why is the Evil Queen a snake but not Regina?"

"We already know that spells cast on her don't necessarily affect me. Your mysterious sword notwithstanding, I'd be undergoing a wardrobe change every time she cast one on herself if everything effected both of us. It seems to merely be we only share injuries," said Regina.

Snow nodded. "And she's not technically hurt."

"Perhaps we should take her to the the music shop and see if Papageno can make the Evil Cobra here dance," remarked Killian. Emma suppressed as smirk as Regina rolled her eyes.

"If you think mesmerizing that snake is going to get me belly dancing, pirate, then you've lost your mind in addition to a hand."

"I think we need to get the word out. See if anyone other than the dwarves saw anything," said Snow, ignoring the friendly jibes. She turned to Granny. "Can you get the emergency phone tree going, Granny? Leroy has probably spread the news across town by now, so any witnesses may think they don't need to report what they saw. Any details would be welcomed."

"Of course," the older woman replied.

Charming nodded. "Great. We'll meet back here in the morning. I think after today we could all use a little rest before facing whoever's decided to show up this week."

Snow took her husband's arm. "Agreed."

Emma opened her mouth to add something but instead shivered as an electric chill crawled up her spine. She saw Regina do the same in her peripheral vision. "Did you feel that?" asked the blonde. "Like somebody stepped on my grave."

Regina nodded. "More like magic."

"It's a metaphor," replied Emma.

"That was a simile, and yes, I did. But the question is, where did it come from?"

"Have you felt something like that before?" asked Henry.

"No," replied his older mother, "But it almost felt like at the fountain in New York but… not. Whatever it is, it was serious magic, in Storybrooke."

"And what do you wanna bet that it has to do with whoever snakified the Evil Queen?' added Emma.

"Fantastic," said Killian.

"I'll make sure to relay reports of anything that may be magic related too," offered Granny.

David nodded. "Thanks." With that, the group packed up what reference books and magical items they had, securely covered the snake cage with an old towel from Granny's Inn, and Snow gathered up Neil's baby supplies. They filed out the front door, prepared to retire to their respective homes for the night, before Hook took a couple quick steps ahead of the group, arms arm protectively as he came to a halt in front of them.

"Hold fast," he ordered in a hushed tone.

"What is it?" asked Emma, sidling up behind his right shoulder. The group stood frozen in the patio of Granny's, half lit by the diner's soft yellow lights.

"Across the intersection," he indicated with his chin. "I may spend most of my life on land now, but I've still got a pirate's eye for the horizon."

The rest of the group peered out and sure enough, there was a group of shadowy figures across the way, carefully making their way in their direction. "They don't seem in a hurry," remarked Henry. Unlike when he was 10, strangers in Storybrooke was no longer exciting. It was scary and in some ways he can understand why his Mom was so cautious of August and of course, Emma. Stranger danger took on a whole different meaning in this magical little town.

"No. They look… lost," added Emma, remembering kids new to group foster homes carrying themselves the same way - looking all around, caution in every unsure step - when first entering the home. These silhouettes' body language was just the same.

"Maybe they're late holdouts of the refugees in the woods?" suggested Snow.

"Let's hope so," replied David, his hand coming to rest on his gun holster.

"Well, only one way to find out," remarked Regina as she pushed past Killian. The rest of the group began to follow after. "This is my town, after all," she continued. She raised her voice so as to be heard by the newcomers. "I hope I should be welcoming you to town, strangers. So, how about we start off on the right foot with some introductions. I'm-"

"The Evil Queen!" came a cry from one of the figures, accompanied by gasps. Instantly, the lone adult male of the group sprang forward, his fur lined cloak flapping in the wind just as he appeared under a street lamp, his sword hand grabbing beneath his cloak. "What foul sorcery is this?!" he exclaimed. The rest of the group rushed up behind him, into the light.

"What the hell…" was all Emma could say to what she saw. Which was her family… but most certainly not.

Near the clearing, the aging bandit spotted a hill. Small, but just tall enough to likely afford a view of the surrounding landscape. "Best get our bearings, wherever we are," suggested Snow before beginning to make her way to the hill. Her family followed and began to trudge up the slope.

"What have I done?" repeated Emma, nearly in a daze.

She felt her father's strong hand on her shoulder. "You've done nothing wrong. You simply made a wish from the heart. Though I admit, I wish you had come to talk to us about it…" he said.

Emma shook her head. "This isn't a simple wish, this is powerful magic!"

"You couldn't have known," Snow reassured. "It's not like Blue answered it, which is really the only way wishes should come true for those of us without magic."

"How do you know it wasn't Blue?" asked Emma. She'd met her fairy godmother on a handful of occasions - mostly important birthdays and kingdom-wide celebrations, but that still only amounted to very little in the way of conversation.

"The Blue Fairy doesn't simply grant wishes. She councils and makes sure you truly want what you ask for with your whole heart - even the toughest choices," she said, thinking back to letting her mother die. "This was some other magic."

"Perhaps Emma's star candle? Could it have been imbued with some dark power?" suggested David.

"But who? The Evil Queen hasn't been seen in decades and the Dark One is safely locked away," replied Snow.

"What about Queen Aurora's witch? Malefi-something?" asked Emma.

Her parents shook their heads. "No," said Snow. "She too disappeared years ago after…" She sighed. "After her child went missing. No one has heard from her since." Emma didn't miss the troubled look exchanged between her parents, and while she'd like to ask, they had bigger problems at the moment, and she trusted that if it were important they would tell her. They had always been open and honest with her, even with bad news.

They came to a stop atop the hill and quickly caught sight of a glow of lights coming from the land beyond the trees. "Look, southwards," said David, pointing. "At least, I think that's south." He furrowed his brow. The roofs of a few tall buildings just peeked out over the treetops, but beyond that they couldn't determine the light source. It didn't flicker like the large bonfires that would be required to create that much light.

"It almost looks like dawn, but the glow is wrong," said Snow.

David nodded. "Troubling."

"But where else can we go?" asked Snow.

"A good question, my love," replied Charming.

"I think this is our best bet, David."

"Agreed." The King turned to his family. "I want you all to keep your eyes out as we head to this village. Look for sturdy fallen branches, large rocks… anything that could be used as a weapon," he instructed.

Henry dug something out of the inner breast pocket of his doublet. "I have my sling! I'm sure there will be stones along the way."

"Good."

The small group quickly made their way back down the hillock and picked their way through the mossy forest, towards the mysterious town ahead. After a few minutes, Snow stopped to test a couple of knotted branches she'd found on the forest floor against each other. Satisfied, she passed one to her daughter. Emma took it hesitantly and sighed. "This is all my fault…"

"Don't be silly," replied her mother. "If anything, your father and I have grown complacent. We used to always bear some kind of arms, ceremonial as they may be, but I fear we've grown complacent after so many years. We should have been prepared."

"Prepared for what? We're a peaceful kingdom. No, I'm the first danger we've had in years, all over a stupid wish," she chastised herself.

"Nonsense! It was a birthday wish!" exclaimed Snow in hushed tones. "Remember your 8th birthda? You were so upset that your wish to be a mermaid didn't come true."

Emma met her mother's warm eyes and couldn't help the soft smile that touched her lips at the memory. "Yes, I do. And you had to get Princess Ariel to convince me that fins or feet, it's family that matters."

"Exactly. Look, Emma, I don't know how this happened, but it came out of a desire to protect your family. Never apologize for that."

Emma shook her head. She knew that. "But it doesn't fix this terrible mess. I mean, who made my wish come true? I guess it matters if we are to get home, but if I hadn't made the wish at all… we wouldn't be here. It's not like I have magic, but still…" Emma rambled, missing the troubled look exchanged between her parents. Henry, pulling up the rear, and ever observant, didn't miss it though.

"Look!" said Emma as the trees thinned. She was ready to change the subject, and the change of scenery was a handy way to achieve that. The forest gave way to short plain grass, clearly tended by human hands. Beyond that were strange buildings with flameless lights glowing above their doors. A small dog barked from behind a white wooden fence and the group quickly moved on for fear of the dog alerting the wrong people to their presence. After passing between two buildings they were met with a path of smooth grey stone tiles that wound along in front of the buildings. What could only be deemed a road of some kind, fashioned from some hard black material, followed the same route, but was much wider, and featured a series of yellow dashes along the center.

"What in the blazes?" remarked Henry. "Grandma, Grandpa, you've been all over. Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"I'm afraid not, my boy," answered David. "But there are countless realms to be seen, more than a lifetime's worth."

"You think we're in another realm?" asked Emma, gulping nervously.

"It seems likely," replied Snow. The rock in Emma's stomach grew with her guilt and fear.

"Which way do you think, my Queen of Trackers?" Charming asked his wife. She may be aging, but her instincts were still hard to beat.

Snow cast her gaze about. "Well, it looks most people are home for the night that way," she said, pointing left. "And I know I may be getting on in years, but I definitely hear a little conversation the other way, around that bend in the road. If we're going to get answers, that's our best bet."

Charming nodded. "Then let's go. Best conceal your weapons everyone, we don't want to make a bad first impression in case the locals aren't friendly." The travelers nodded and stashed their clubs, and Charming his rock, under their cloaks.

They soon found themselves at a crossroads where the mysterious glowing lights were far more numerous and even saw a few people walking along on the opposite side of the road from them. More confusing was that while the villagers - strangely dressed villagers - gave them a once over whenever they saw them, they also always smiled and waved as if they knew them before going about their business.

"They seem… friendly," said Snow.

"Yeah, let's hope that continues. Maybe then we can get some answers and get home," said David. He saw a sign that glowed brighter still, in red, naming the business as "Granny's Diner". While he didn't know what a diner was, they could all smell food in the air. "Perhaps there. It seems like a tavern of sorts." Just as they began to make their way forward they saw a small group of men and women exit the establishment, though from this distance and in the dappled lighting it was hard to make out any features to suggest what kind of people they were. He strode forward, his family on his heels, projecting the carriage of a royal that he's succeeded in mimicking when he was still barely gone from being a simple shepherd boy.

The other group must have spotted them, and unlike the encounters with previous villagers, these people seem to have taken more of an interest in his family. He paused, trying to assess their temperament when a voice he never thought he'd hear again rang out. "I hope I should be welcoming you to town, strangers."

He felt Snow's hand grip his forearm tightly. She recognized it too. But it couldn't be...

"So, how about we start off on the right foot," the woman speaking stepped into a pool of bright light, revealing her face, and their worst fears, "with some introductions. I'm-"

"The Evil Queen!" Snow suddenly cried out.

Next: Our heroes meet.