Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. Blah blah blah

AU: This story begins when Regina is still a child, a teenager, and plays on the premise that it wasn't the stable boy Daniel that Regina befriended, but a stable girl who pretended to be a boy.

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Emma tugged at the coat around her shoulders with a grunt, an attempt to pull it closer to her to keep out the cold. Despite its age, the leather had retained some of its reddish tint and worked quite well to keep out the harsh winter weather. Said weather had been particularly bad this year, making the chores Emma dealt with when tending to the horses even more of a trial.

As she tried to keep the large jacket on her back, Emma felt her thoughts fall to her father, tending to the swans as she once had while she was still a small girl in petticoats. Those had been easier days, better days, days before her mother had passed and her father had gotten so sick that she had had to begin taking on more of his work in the stables.

Those days were gone now though, leaving Emma shivering in her father's old jacket and trousers, and boots she had had to cobble herself when the medicine her father required had taken up the majority of their savings. Gone were the days when a fire was always blazing and Emma and her father could sit and enjoy the stories her mother so often would make up entirely on her own while cooking a solid meal.

Thinking of food made Emma cringe, her stomach squeezing painfully. The last week had been more difficult than ever, her father nearly bedridden each day after the relatively easy tasks of the swan tender had been completed. Due to this, Emma had done her best with what they had, trying to get her father to eat more than she. The man had been too far in his own haze to really notice, something that caused Emma more pain than hunger ever could.

It was fortunate that the family that Emma's parents worked for took little notice of the servants, or they might have realized that the stable boy that assisted the old caretaker, now usually doing everything, was actually the little girl that used to tend the swans, thick blonde hair hidden in a cloth hat to avoid attention.

Now, tucking her hair under said hat, Emma whistled to the horses that she had never quite been comfortable around, keeping far back as they reentered the stables peacefully. The cold did have some benefits.

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It had just been another dull day until Regina had eventually decided to go out, get some fresh air, and simply enjoy the evening at the setting of the sun. She ran through the fields covered in snow near the castle, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, to try and forget about what had been said at the table earlier. Her mother, like every day, would find at least one thing a day that she wasn't satisfied with, one thing about Regina that bothered her. But Regina was not an ungrateful child, and she would apologize and nod, even though she knew the next day it wouldn't get better. She had stopped trying to get her father involved either, she was used to her mother silencing him after he'd only try to object.

Today hadn't been different. Apparently one of the table spoons had been missing, and her mother had proceeded with, what Regina had already started calling her daily routine, where she'd pick out one of the servants, and punish them for their wrongdoing. While her mother was busy, her father would remain silent, or if her mother left the room, tell Regina that she hadn't always been like that. Regina wouldn't have known. Ever since she was a small child, her mother had told her to sit and stand straight, eat properly, and forbid her to make friends with any of the servants. Afterwards she'd tell her, "I only want what's best for you, my dear." and put on a sickening sweet, motherly smile. But even then, for years, Regina couldn't get herself to fully despise her, because well.. she was still her mother, and she believed her that a mother only wanted the best for her own child. Her mother had bought the prettiest dresses for her, gotten the best horses trained, and even if Regina thought that she overreacted a lot, she couldn't stay mad at her for long.

The fields and the stables were Regina's only escape, as she was rarely ever allowed to leave the land her parents owned, because according to her mother, she'd get stolen away, hurt or even killed by peasants. Regina herself did not understand why her mother had a bad attitude towards the servants, or the people working on her land; her father had once told her that her mother had been the daughter of a simple miller. Ever since then, Regina would question the choices her mother made, talk to the servants behind her back, and play with some of the children that worked on the land surrounding their castle. She didn't see a difference between herself and them, their parents and her parents, only that her mother was a lot stricter than any of theirs, and well, she had.. power.

As she got older though, her mother would keep her eyes glued on her daughter, just be around the corner as she'd start a conversation with one of the servants, correct her not once but twice, or three times a day, and leave her almost no free time.

Sighing, Regina let herself fall into the snow, and looked up into the sky. She didn't care about the cold, she'd even envy the birds for their freedom from time to time, and the only way to imitate them was for her to climb on a horse and let it gallop through the fields. The thought of riding a horse made her happy, and after lying there for a few minutes, she got up and ran to the stables - far away from the castle and her parents.

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As she entered the stables, Regina breathed in the comforting smell of the horses, and walked straight into the direction of her favourite. Petting the proud mare, she leant her head against the animal and sighed. Regina didn't notice the stranger until she heard the short whistling sound coming from farther away, and curiously, she lurked around the corner of the stall, to see who was sneaking around the stables.

Whistling again sharply for the horses still loitering, Emma scratched just underneath the back of the hat. The thing might keep her warm and hidden as a girl, but it itched more than anything and frequently was a hot irritant during the summer months.

"Come on, you silly creatures!" Emma called out, finally bringing the last horse in while half hiding behind the door. Shutting the last stall, Emma found herself talking to the horses, as was her habit when preparing their dinner. She might be nervous around the great beasts, but she had no desire to be mean to them.

"Alright, let's see what's on the menu for tonight, yes?" Reaching into the enormous bag of feed, Emma snagged a bucket and started doling out the grain mixture to each feed box near the door of the stalls. "And let's not forget dessert!" Twirling back to near the bag, Emma pulled out bales of sweet hay and threw them into the large metal hay racks near the back of each stall. It was with a grin that she noted she was now able to hit every one. When she started helping her father out, her skinny arms could barely get the hay up, but by now she had toned her arms in order to work as well as she could and not draw negative attention. As far as their employers were concerned, it was still Emma's father that did the majority of the work.

Lurking around the corner, Regina was surprised to find someone she'd never seen before in the stables. Even curiouser, the person was doing stable work and fed the horses, all while talking to them in a cheerful voice. She doubted that the stranger had anything bad in mind though, since the figure seemed to almost dance through the stalls - it made it look like easy work, and Regina knew that it wasn't. The stranger must've been used to it.

Grinning to herself, she sneaked around the corner of the stall, entering the next one so she could see more clearly. After listening for some minutes, she was sure that she'd never heard the voice before. Who exactly was the stranger, and why was he doing the work instead of the man who usually worked here?

Regina was already excited to find out more about the person, liking the fact that they were talking to her favourite animals, just like she did sometimes. They always listened and responded with a whicker or nodding of their heads. It made her feel like she had at least some company when she felt lonely, since she wasn't allowed to talk to any of her servants - and her mother couldn't really forbid her to talk to horses.

Amused, she sat down in one corner of the stall, her back facing the small barrier in between the stables. If the stranger passed by the stall, she would be able to see them first. She whistled twice, loudly, and tried to suppress a giggle. Then, she listened closely, waiting for the reaction of the stranger.

The whistle had Emma on instant alert, hands frozen in place where they had gripped the sides of the hat. She had been about to tug off the cloth and let her hair fall free, a bit of freedom she allowed herself in the barn in the afternoons since there was usually no one there. But that was no bird whistling so Emma pulled the hat harder down around her ears and pulled up her coat tighter around her body, trying to look bulkier than she really was. Far off she might be able to fool someone into thinking she was a boy, but closer up, her strong jaw couldn't fool anyone for more than half a minute or so.

"Hello?" Thanking the gods that her voice sounded just a bit rougher due to the cold she had been fighting for the last week, Emma still made an effort to lower her voice. Yes, a boy her age might not have gotten his deep voice yet, but he still wouldn't sound as much like a girl as she did. Creeping along the center aisle in the barn, Emma kept a sharp eye out for whomever had entered her safe haven, heart pounding with fear as she considered what could happen were it someone from the home she served.

Grinning to herself, Regina peeked through a thin gap between the wood, still curious about the stranger she'd just encountered. What was he doing here? And why had she'd never seen him before?
It was also quite strange that the response to her whistles had sounded alarmed; was he afraid of something? All those questions were piling up in her head, and Regina wanted answers. But what if the stranger would simply run away the second she'd show herself?

Slowly backing away from the barrier, careful not to make too much sound while she was walking over the straw, Regina crouched down at the very end of the stall. Holding back another giggle, she tried to imitate a whicker, and waited for the reaction of the stranger.

The imitation was good, but Emma had been around horses enough to know what a real one sounded like. Besides that, she now could pin down where the sound was coming from and she knew for a fact that the stall was empty.

Emma's expression slid into one of determination, and she cared less now if the person realized she was a girl when she approached the edge of the stall, seeing as someone who was trying to mimic a horse probably wasn't supposed to be there anyway. Without any sort of weapon within reach, Emma tried to gather herself up to appear taller, needing the strong appearance as well as the courage to do what she was about to.

Rounding the corner, Emma made her voice firm to face whomever was intruding, shouting as she stomped with one worn boot. "Who are you!?"

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