A/N: I know, I know… Bad Rai for getting distracted and having a severe case of Art ADD but I was just trying to take a nap after an exhausting day of job interviews and this idea (this vague idea) just would not leave my head. So… here it is?

Also, Persona 5 OSTs were stuck in my head so I went "Screw it" and opened up an OST playlist while I typed haha

*TW: bullying (because I realize I forgot to put that in my other fic and people apparently need warnings)

Drawn to You

There was a throbbing pain in her knee as she cradled her leg and squeezed around the area of the skinned off flesh. But that was the least of her problems since she was surrounded by a group of kids her age – the ones that had caused the state of her knee. She sniffed once, holding back her tears because she refused to show weakness to these bullies. It was something her mother taught her never to do.

"Aww, you gonna cry Princess?"

"Why don't you run home to Mommy?"

She knew that no answer was the right answer; it never ended well for her when she spoke. She also learned not to make any sudden movements despite wanting to get up and 'run home' as they've said, she knew she couldn't. Not really. Not if she wanted to get back home in one piece.

"Ugh, think you're better than us? That why you're not talking?" One of the girls kicked up a mixture of dirt and rock at her and she had to shield her face.

"Since you don't like talking so much, maybe we should help make sure you never speak again." Uh oh. Today looked like she was not going to get home unscathed. At this point there was nothing she could do when she saw the other kids advance on her, she just curled up into a protective ball and just hoped for the moment to pass soon.

With her eyes squeezed shut and her head wrapped in her arms she heard a resounding thwack followed by screaming. "Holy crap, this girl is crazy!" She heard the heavy thuds of everyone's footfalls as they all ran away from her but she was still too scared to see if she was safe.

"Hey." A girl's voice. She sounded like she was right in front of her and Regina slowly moved her arms away. She saw a girl her age crouched in front of her. She was momentarily blinded by the girl's blonde curls since the sunlight hit it just right, causing the girl to practically glow. "Hey." The girl repeated when their eyes met, this time a little softer and with a smile. "You're safe now." And it was at that moment that she noticed the girl was carrying a bat.

What?

Was she going to beat Regina with it? She fully lifted her head then and looked around. This didn't make any sense, if the girl was going to beat her where were the others?

"Oh geez, that knee looks gross, we should get that looked at." Regina looked at the blonde again, it didn't look like she was here to harm her and - for reasons beyond her - even looked like she came to help.

"Thank you." She said quietly, and the girl simply grinned and held out her hand. It took a moment hesitation but she eventually grabbed it and found herself being pulled up.

"Can you walk, Princess?" She couldn't help the frown that appeared on her face when she heard the moniker.

"Don't call me that." The lanky blonde shuffled her feet and gave her a rather sheepish smile.

"Sorry, you just looked like a princess to me," and after a pause, the girl blurted out, "you're really pretty." She found herself gripping the blonde's hand with a bit more force than necessary in order to keep her balance because she just realized this girl was complimenting her. It was such a foreign thing that she wasn't sure how to feel in that moment. She's had adults compliment her before, but they always felt so empty, like it was just a polite afterthought and she's always wondered if maybe she was just as ungrateful as her mother has always said she was.

But here was a girl her age calling her pretty and she realized those compliments from adults really were as empty as she thought they were because this one little word made her entire body flare up in warmth.

"My name is Regina." And she somehow managed to feel some confidence seep into her bones and she stood up as straight as she could, "So I'm not a princess but a queen." The blonde looked at her in wonder for a bit before she burst out in laughter. And normally she would be offended, but she wasn't. Instead, the girl's laughter caused her to smile.

"And what might the name of my saviour be?" She looked over and grinned when she heard the title.

"Saviour, huh? Name's Emma, at your service, my Queen." She gave as much of a bow as she could while still grasping onto her with one hand and another holding onto the bat perched on her shoulder. Regina let out a giggle at Emma's silliness which only caused the grin to grow on the blonde's face, her blue-green eyes practically sparkling.

They walked – well, shuffled – for a moment in silence before Regina finally blurted out the top question that was plaguing my mind.

"Did you beat them off with a bat?" Well, okay, second top question.

Emma laughed, "Hell's yeah I did."

"Hell's-" Regina was perplexed by the blonde's vocabulary but didn't dwell on it, "Why did you save me?" That was the biggest question that she couldn't figure out the answer to.

"Why wouldn't I?" Was the answer and Regina stared at her in perplexed confusion as the blonde just smiled as if her answer was the answer to the universe – which, to Regina, it might as well be, because she felt the world melting around her when Emma just looked at her for her and not the Mayor's kid.

It was when Regina was at the nurse's office and she had to wait for her mother to come pick her up that she began to learn a bit about Emma. The girl was a foster kid who just moved in with a family and she happened to be in the neighbourhood practicing some baseball with her new foster dad when she overheard the bullies beating Regina up.

"You know I've always wanted to save my own princess one day. Looks like I got a queen instead."

Emma learned quite a bit about Regina as well. It was probably the first time someone actually genuinely wanted to know her, actually listened when she talked, and Emma always had this look like she was filing everything she said away in her head.

She told her that she was the Mayor's daughter and that the Mayor was a ruthless, relentless dictator that everyone hated but couldn't do anything about because of how much power she held. And the adults would then complain about the Mayor around their child and their child would then push all that hate onto Regina instead.

"That's stupid." Emma said with a locked jaw, "Whatever your mom does has nothing to do with you." It was nice to hear that for once, especially when she's been told the opposite all her life and she just gave Emma a grateful smile and moved on from the topic.

She started to tell her about how much she loved to read, "Head in the clouds." Both her parents have said, one with much more distaste than the other and how one day she hoped to leave town and finally be free from her mother.

"You'll get there." Emma had grasped her hand then and gave a pleasant squeeze. "And when you do, we can go on an adventure together."

She learned that Emma was searching for home.

And when her mother came to pick her up and she reluctantly waved Emma goodbye, it was only the next day when she fully regretted not holding on to the blonde harder. She regretted not spending more time with her. She learned that Emma had been sent away by her new family because she was accused of beating others with a bat.

End Note: lol super short, but I just wanted to get this idea on paper – er – word doc and I'll probably continue it considering how short it's going to be.

To be fairly honest, I have no idea where I'm going with this, but when the hell do I ever know what I'm doing?