A/N: So I know I am super late for Swan Queen Week, but I decided to keep pressing on. I hope you enjoy this first chapter of a short multi-chapter fic. Special thanks as always to Jenn for insisting I post things, even when I am not sure.

"Miss Swan, I said don't touch anything!"

"I'm not! Geez, will you relax? What harm could it possibly do if I touch something anyway?"

"More than you realize. This isn't a game, Emma. These objects are powerful. Some of them belonged to my mother and even I am not sure what they are capable of, so please. Do. Not. Touch." Regina looked over her shoulder with a glare that said her request was more of a demand than a suggestion.

Rolling her eyes at the brunette, Emma gingerly reached out and picked up a small crystal shard. "Aha! See. No harm done. Now let's get the book and get back to-"

Without warning, a blue light erupted from the small crystal and shot skyward. Despite being underground in the vault, a terrible wind began to blow and a tornadic vortex began to form along the ceiling. The force of the vortex was immense and it seemed for a moment that everything would be pulled in. But in a moment the wind, the light, the pulling power were gone and only one thing was missing.

Emma.

~ (SQ) ~

Emma opened her eyes in a very dense forest. It was late afternoon from the looks of the sky and she was flat of her back, tangled in the undergrowth.

"Just great, Swan. You will never hear the end of this. Dammit." Emma pulled herself free of the vine and tried in vain to gauge how far away from the vault she had landed. Off to the left she heard voices. Wonderful. Forest Boy and the Merry Men… just what I needed.

Emma walked toward the voices but it took only a moment to realize it wasn't Robin and his motley crew. These voices were none she recognized and they were arguing.

"Ah, Bart, me old friend. Let us not squabble over a sixpence. I'll buy us both a flagon of ale when we get back to the Merry Widow." The first voice clearly belonged to a man with some age on him.

"Damn it all, Felix. I'm not falling for that again! The last time you left me to pay for the ale and I still never saw the money. Now pay up or I'll take you before the King m'self." The second voice was gruff and clearly angry.

Perhaps it was a throwback response from years on the run that kicked in, but Emma kept herself hidden as she quietly approached the men. Finally she crested the hill and could see them on the road below her, standing by an empty wagon pulled by two poorly matched mules.

The men were not dressed like anyone she had seen in Storybrooke. In fact, she had never seen anyone dressed like them. Well, except that time when Killian and I fell into the portal and landed in the—

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" Emma cried out without thinking. Clamping her hand over her mouth she dropped flat on her stomach, out of sight.

"Did you hear that, Bart? Somebody's in the woods." The first man glanced toward the source of the sound.

"Forget it Felix, you are not going to get out of this. Pay me the sixpence now or…"

"Fine. Here. Take it. Now, let's get out of here. I don't have a good feeling about these woods." Emma listened as the sound of wagon and mules faded away.

"I don't have a good feeling about this either, Felix," Emma whispered after them but mostly to herself. She knew now she was in the Enchanted Forest. The question was, when?

~ (SQ) ~

It had only taken Emma a moment to review her last visit to the Enchanted Forest to decide her first course of action—disguise herself. Just in case she was somehow in the past, she wasn't going to take a chance on messing everything up. Again.

If she hadn't seen the men, she may have considered she was in the present time in the fairytale realm. But knowing that everyone had come over in the curse that was a failed attempt to escape Zelena, Emma was afraid she was most definitely in the past. Great work, McFly.

Testing her magic, she found it was still working so with a little effort she cast a glamour spell over herself. Regina had taught her this spell but warned that casting it on yourself was tricky. Your looks would be altered but only a bit. The main difference would be the clothes, which in this case were vital. No more skinny jeans and plaid, Emma was clad in a corseted peasant dress, her long blonde locks still hanging loose about her shoulders.

The second most important thing to do, Emma decided, was to find out where and when she was and try to find someone to help her home. Rumpelstiltskin was a risky choice, but he was also likely to be her only choice. She would be prepared this time though. If indeed she was in the past, she wouldn't trust him or be helpless. She had magic this time. And she wasn't just going to call his name and have him appear on his terms, she was going right to his front door. She was going to be fine. I hope.

Staying close to the edge of the road to avoid any other travelers, Emma walked along in the direction the men had traveled. Sooner or later she would arrive in the village to which they had been headed. Perhaps someone in the Merry Widow could provide some information to help her.

After a short time, she heard the thundering of horses coming from behind her. It seemed she was only moments from being overtaken by what must surely be an army based on the sound. Unwilling to be seen, not yet ready to explain herself, Emma darted quickly into the woods and ran in a straight line away from the road. She planned to get far enough away so as not to be seen or heard and then, when the sound of the approaching horses had passed, she would return to the road and her trip to the village. Better safe than sorry, Swan. The last thing she wanted was to come face to face with the Evil Queen and her guard if that was the time frame she was in.

Emma ran on perhaps father than necessary, her lungs filling with the clean air of the woods. In a moment however, she stopped abruptly. Ahead of her the trees stopped and there was a wide clearing. The bucolic scene, wide open green field with a singular oak tree, stretched on for a distance before stopping at an enormous manor house. In fact, it was a home larger than Regina's mansion in Storybrooke and beyond it Emma could see several smaller buildings. Stables, barns and perhaps servant's quarters. She had stumbled onto someone's property. Apparently someone very wealthy.

Taking a tentative step out of the woods, Emma her a sound to her right. Turning, she saw a young woman sitting on a fallen tree trunk, her hand gently outlining the flower of a beautiful orchid. Emma started to step back into the woods out of sight. After all, she couldn't afford to be seen or to engage too many people. The risk was too great, especially since she wasn't certain when or where she had landed.

But as she turned to go, the young woman's shoulders shook. She was crying. Instinctively, Emma stepped closer. A cascade of black hair fell in curls down the other woman's back, and the closer Emma drew to her, the more the crying was evidenced although not a sound came from the slight figure. Always, her finger traced the petals of her orchid, the motion as entrancing as the gentle movement of her dark locks with each silent sob.

Before Emma realized what she was doing or weighed the risk of getting involved with the young woman, she stopped a few feet from the fallen tree and spoke. "Hey, are you alright? Can I help you?"

Having believed she was alone, the sound of Emma's voice startled the woman and she sprang to her feet and darted behind a tree.

"Hey, now. It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you. I saw you were crying and wanted to help," Emma began, easing closer to the tree keeping the young woman hidden.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my father's land? My mother will not stand for interlopers. You would be wise to return from wherever you have come." The voice was soft and gentle, but it was trying hard to be confident. Emma had no doubt the young woman was frightened by her intrusion, but was unlikely to admit it based on her tone.

"I'm just a… um, I'm a maiden—yeah, I'm a maiden on a journey and I got lost in the woods. But I saw you in, uh, distress and came to uh, you know, assist you. And stuff." Emma didn't know how to sound like she belonged in the Enchanted Forest, even if her clothes said she did.

A laugh like heaven lilted from behind the tree. "A maiden? Well, you do not sound so certain. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Just not used to speaking to a tree I guess." Emma smiled brightly. Perhaps this young woman could help her find Rumpelstiltskin.

Black eyes that seemed so foreign and yet so familiar peered between branches, still blocking the woman from view. "Well, neither am I accustomed to speaking with a honeysuckle vine." The smile in the voice was clear.

"Honeysuckle vine?" Emma reached up her hand a pulled free a long strand of the sweet flowers. Whether there from her initial fall or her run through the woods, she was not sure. "Oh, I see. I must have picked them up running in the woods."

"Well, don't just cast them aside. Something as wild and beautiful as the vine should not be destroyed on a whim. Besides, they looked pretty in your hair." There was a shyness to the voice but still it spoke with reverent conviction about the flowers. "Now, are you going to tell me your name? Or shall I just call you Honeysuckle Rose?"

Now it was Emma who laughed. "Honeysuckle Rose?"

"Why do you laugh?" Through the branches Emma could make out the furrow of the brow over those oddly familiar eyes. The indignant voice made a shudder go up her spine. It sounded like… "If you knew by whom you were being addressed, you would not be so cavalier in your response."

"I'm sorry," Emma said sincerely. There was an unexpected tremor in her voice as fear like ice water filled her veins. This could end very badly if... "You see, I am traveling alone and I fear revealing too much to strangers. I will tell you my name. But first, what is yours?" Emma's eyes fell to the orchid the brunette had dropped in her haste to hide. "Or shall I call you Sweet Orchid?"

The laughter of heaven returned now as quickly as it had gone. "Very well, Honeysuckle Rose, you make keep your identity a secret for now. Your Sweet Orchid will not press you any further."

"Thank you." Emma's face spread wide in a smile, even as her heart raced in fear. Squinting into the tree she went on, "Are you gonna stay hidden? Or should I just go?" Emma turned to leave, in part hoping it would spur the young woman into action to stop her and in part to flee this situation before it became the reality she was dreading.

"Oh wait," a sweet, small voice whispered from the tree. "Don't leave me, Honeysuckle Rose."

Emma stopped. She was moved by the sad lilt of the voice and waxed uncharacteristically poetic. "I'd sooner forsake sun and moon, Sweet Orchid. Now, come out from your hiding place," she coaxed.

Emma turned and watched the small figure step from behind the tree. Innocent chocolate eyes came into focus, shining bright and full of wonder, above a smile with so much light it destroyed the looming darkness of evening. Emma gasped and felt something unknown turn in her chest.

There before her stood seventeen year old Regina Mills.