It was 5:47 when Emma opened her locker door carefully. She couldn't remember what she had shoved up there the evening before and she was afraid that the entire content of the locker was gonna fall on her. Luckily she had been smart enough to store her things away safely, and she was in no danger. She threw in her backpack and got around changing into her dark green overalls. She buttoned it up over her tank, pulled her long blonde hair on a ponytail before putting a cap on her head. After finishing tying the lashes of her shoes, she checked her looks in the mirror. She was ready for duty.

Hallways were mostly empty as she made her way to the yard. Morning birds had started to sing as she breathed in the crispy air. She couldn't help but smile since this was her favorite place to be. Step bouncing with the beat in her head, she made her way towards her destination. Using her key to unlock the service door, she let herself in her hearts home.

She made herself known, but whistling and calling good morning. Putting her stuff down she turned on some lights and put on the radio. It was so early they were only playing some music and that was the way Emma preferred it. She wasn't much of a people person, which is why her current job was perfect for her.

Emma Nolan worked in a zoo, taking care of lions. She had started the job quite young, since she had been taken under the wings of the zoo owners, the Nolan's. Emma had been fascinated by the large cats who had immediately taken her as their own. It was not uncommon for the wild cats to have nurturing feelings towards humans, especially children, but it was uncommon that it happened so fast. Emma was often called 'The Lion Child' since she grew through her teens spending most of her awake time with the lions. Her adoptive parents adored their daughters love for animals, and since it was not harming her education, they let her be.

Emma sat comfortably on the floor, next to the cage. She knew that even when she loved her lions, they were still dangerous animals and not to be taken lightly in any way. She studied animals and knew how these things worked.

She pressed her hand against the bars and gave a whistle. Soon a huge lion male made it's way from the darkness towards her, with his eyes wide and dangerous. Emma didn't avert her hand, but waited for the lion to come close enough to smell her. In no time the huge cat pressed his head against her palm and closed his eyes.

Emma smiled brightly and whispered "Good morning Mufasa. How's my handsome boy?"

Soon there were other lions coming closer to the cage door, each other greeting Emma in the same way Mufasa did. One of the female lions, called Marie had given birth to a cub only few months ago and even when Emma denied it every time she was asked, tiny Bianca was her favorite. She looked a bit silly, with her slightly bad coordination and floppy ears. She was the last to make it to Emma, but she sat down and pressed her entire other side towards the cage so Emma could pet her, which Emma happily did. Emma pressed her face against the bars to feel the soft fur of her little lion cub and closed her eyes.

In here she felt at peace, like she belonged. She loved the zoo and she loved all it's animals. She wasn't much of a people person, but few of the friends she had also worked in the zoo. Ruby who studied at the same school as she did, worked closely with the wolves. She was as into wolves as Emma was into lions, which had connected them from their first moments together. She had also became fast friends with their own fish girl Ariel, who was the head of their aquariums and all the wildlife there. Working alongside her was Ivy, who Ariel had fully trained to know any and everything about the sea life they had in the zoo.

Emma was really close to all of her friends, but there was no doubt that Ruby was her best friend and vice versa.

The mandatory walkie talkie buzzed alive on her desk. Emma knew who it was gonna be so she got up quickly to hear her fathers voice.

"Good morning sweetheart."

Emma rolled her eyes with a bright smile. It was kinda their thing. Emma had come to Nolan's when she was 4 years old. She had been in the system for a while, which had been tough time for her. But the Nolan's were ready for a challenge that was little feisty Emma Swan, and together they had worked through Emma's trust issues as well as her fears of being abandoned. Ever since her first night at the Nolan's, Emma had accompanied her parents to the zoo, which they owned. Her mother, Mary-Margaret was doing most of the paper work concerning everything in the zoo, but during her off moments, you could definitely find her in the bird house.

Emma's father, David, was actually the reason Emma really got interested in lions in the first place. David used to take care of the cat animals with this sweet guy called Lee. David took the little Emma to see the lions the second they stepped inside the zoo area. Emma fell in love with them and refused to leave until the zoo closed for the day. She had been regular guest on the zoo almost daily ever since. She had of course needed to go to school and study, but knowing that she got to see her lions afterwards made up for the boring lessons at school. Emma was a bright kid from the beginning so school had never caused her any trouble and she had always done well to her parents great proudness.

Emma was now 24, and when she was in her teens she used to insist that she was not gonna be dad's little sweetheart forever, but David had stubbornly proclaimed that she always would be. From that day forth, David always called her sweetheart, no matter what.

"Morning dad."

"How's the king?"

Emma glanced at Mufasa who was walking back and forth in front of the yard entrance, waiting to get out into the morning air.

"As handsome as always, waiting to get out." Emma answered crouching down to pet her little lion cub.

"What about your favorite?"

"For the last time dad, she-

"- is not your favorite, yeah yeah yeah. How is she? Still floppy and cute?" David laughed.

"Yeah." Emma smiled and tickled Bianca behind her ears.

"In that case go ahead and let the family out, I will come to check on you and bring you breakfast after I have done the rounds. I think your mom will stop by at some point too." David told her while Emma could clearly hear him leaving to do his rounds. "And before you even start, your mom packed both of our breakfasts, she said something about us not eating enough."

Emma laughed. That was very like her mother, she always worried about them eating which caused her to somewhat overfeed them. Emma and David were great friends of food, so neither really knew where Mary-Margaret got the whole idea of them not eating.

"Alright. See you later, dad."

"Stay safe, kiddo."

"Always. Love you."

"Love you too."

Emma fastened the walkie talkie to her belt and exited the back room. She went to the yard to check that everything was alright and that the outside area was ready for the lions to be let out on. When she returned inside she could hear Mufasa make noises of displeasure.

"Wait, you big baby. You know how this works. Don't get grumpy with me."

As everything was ready, Emma opened the door to let Mufasa out. Two of the females seemed to be in the need of the same, as they followed him out. Marie happily laid on the floor, having just fed her tiny baby. Bianca was happily walking around, getting familiar with her feet like she did every day. For any small child, every new day was an adventure and everything familiar seemed new and exciting.

Emma leaned on the cage and just looked at the lions. This was her favorite part of the day, where she could just hear the quietness around her. Her lions were out and happy, the zoo was not filled with people yelling and trying to get the animals to do party tricks, she herself was not busy with other stuff that required her attention.

She was roused by the voice of her cellphone. The ringtone was specifically picked to fit for her mother and whenever it started to play, Emma could not help but laugh. Yeah, it had been her idea to put 'I whistle while I work' as her mothers ringtone. The woman was always happy, she loved birds and she run a goddamn zoo. It was a natural pick. Emma rushed to pick up.

"Hey mom."

Emma was not surprised when her mothers chipper voice greeted her. "Good morning, Emma!"

"Are you on your way here?" Emma asked as she could feel her stomach rumble.

"I am. I called your father to meet me at yours. I'm bringing breakfast." Mary-Margaret told little breathlessly as Emma could hear her walk briskly in the crispy morning air.

"Yeah, dad mentioned during his morning call. I cannot wait, I'm so hungry!" Emma whined, like she always did when she was around her mother. When she had been first brought to the Nolan's, she had been so guarded and careful. She would not complain about anything, in her fear of being send back. But the longer she stayed, the more she was loved, she relaxed and she realized that these people would still want her even as she moaned and groaned about silly stuff sometimes.

"I know, my big baby. If you would not run out of the door at the crack of dawn like your father, you would get breakfast at home!" Mary-Margaret laughed and Emma could hear the staff door to the lion shelter open. Soon her mother rounded the corner, still holding the phone to her ear. Emma clicked hers off and rushed to hug her mother.

"I know, mom." Emma smiled brightly as Mary-Margaret wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"How are your little beasts?" Mary-Margaret asked, as she patted Emma's cheek when they let go of each other.

"Hey! These are my babies you are talking about!" Emma pretended to be offended as she always did when her mother called her beloved lions 'little beasts'.

"I know I know, sorry. How's your little favorite doing?" Mary-Margaret asked as she bend down to push her finger through the cage for a little Bianca to sniff. Bianca seemed to like the smell as she pushed herself fully against the bars.

"She is not my favorite." Emma said strongly. As if knowing what was said, Bianca turned to look at her with her eyes wide, looking almost hurt. Emma could not deal with that face as she quickly bend down to whisper. "I did not mean it baby. You are my favorite."

Bianca pushed her head towards the bars to show affection and Emma pushed hers against them as well.

"Okay, settle down babies, momma has some breakfast." Mary-Margaret informed and just in time two of them heard the door open and soon slightly breathless David rounded the corner. Without saying a word he made a bee line to his wife, wrapped his arms around her and dipped her before kissing her deeply. Emma rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop the fluttering in her chest. When she had first arrived at the Nolan's, she had been shocked to see the amount of affection David and Mary-Margaret consistently showed each other. It wasn't kissing all the time either, it was things like touching each others arms or resting their heads together. After the shock wore down, Emma couldn't help but to feel warmed by that.

"Okay break it up, I want some breakfast." Emma groaned after a while. Even when she was happy her parents were in love it did not make it any easier to see them sucking face for longer periods of time.

David and Mary-Margaret broke it apart. While Mary-Margaret rolled her eyes and turned to set up breakfast, David made his way to Emma to give her a hug of good morning. One thing Emma had learned early on was that her dad was a hugger. And not just any hugger, a very gifted and fluffy one at that. He was constantly hugging people, which gave him even more of a soft side. Emma wrapped her arms around her father just as tightly.

"Good morning sweetheart." David whispered like he always did and kissed the side of her head.

"Morning dad." Emma whispered back. They only let go of each other when a tiny growl was heard. "Are you being jealous?" Emma laughed as the tiny lion cub looked at her accusingly. She bend back down to tickle her fur and loud purr was being heard.

After Mary-Margaret had set up breakfast to Emma's desk - "Honestly Emma, you should keep this place tidier" - the family quieted down to enjoy they rare moments together. Running a zoo was not an easy task and since the entire family was working it was even more difficult to find time together since their responsibilities kept them busy til late to the evening. Of course they saw each other during the day, but sharing a meal was a rare occurrence ever since Emma had grown up to be her own person.

They cleaned up after themselves together and after kissing both of their cheeks Mary-Margaret made her way back to the office, getting ready to open the zoo to a new day. David helped Emma to check up on her little lion cub while endlessly teasing her daughter of having a favorite. Emma just kept rolling her eyes, trying to ignore it but she couldn't help but smile.

Gates opened to the public at 10 am and by that time everyone else had also arrived at work, ready to start their day. Emma knew she had the feeding time for her cats at 1 pm and she had already done all her paperwork and necessary arrangements for the feeding. Her lions were happy to jungle on outside enjoying the sunlight.

She made her way to see her best friend Ruby who was always outside around this time of day. She wanted to sit around and hear what people were saying about her beloved wolfs. Emma sat down on the bench next to her and they fist pumped. They were quiet for a long time before Ruby spoke.

"What are you doing on Friday?"

"Working. Why do you wanna know?" Emma asked suspiciously, while looking around the early morning people that were slowly gathering, trying to find the animals. One of the kids was basically dragging her mother with her to see the wolves. Emma hoped that the kid would.

"Some of us are planning a night out and you definitely should come with us." Ruby said, her smile wide as she too was observing the excited child who was screaming from joy from having seen a wolf.

"Rubes, you know I can't. I have to-"

"Close down for the night, I get it. But it wouldn't hurt for you to have some fun." Ruby finally looked at her, raising her eyebrow. Emma met her eyes with her own before sighing.

"I'll see what I can do okay?"

Ruby let out a loud squeal before wrapping her arms around Emma's shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. Emma couldn't help but to laugh at her friends excitement and she happily hugged her back. They said their goodbyes and Emma continued her rounds through the park. Many of her coworkers were out and about, getting ready for their feedings and daily routines. Emma could also see her mother rushing around but she knew better than to stop her. Mary-Margaret Nolan was a woman on a mission whenever she entered the zoo premises and stopping her was only distracting her from the important work of running a zoo.

She had made a full circle and returned to her lions. Since it was a Monday there weren't a lot of people there. Mostly mothers with their smaller children, older couples or school groups. The tourists and locals would come around later or during the weekend. And at the moment, there were only few people near. Emma leaned on the railing by the lion enclosure as she just watched her lions. Even behind a glass they knew it was her and all of them came closer. She wanted to press her hand against their fur like she always did but she did not fancy going back inside just yet.

She backed away from the railing and sat down on one of the benches near by where she had clear view of her babies. Chilly wind was whipping her hair around a little bit and she could feel her cheeks lose a bit of their warmth. She was sure they were bright red. Giving a general look around she saw that someone had sat down to the other bench right next to hers.

Emma wasn't one for staring but something about this woman just caught her attention. Shiny dark hair was being gently danced by the wind and Emma could catch a swift of the shampoo this woman used. She was not sure what it was but it was definitely something she liked. Covering the top of dark curls was a grey beanie hat that somehow seemed out of place when you looked the rest of the woman, but what made her look all the more adorable. Adorable? Now Emma thought she was adorable. Shaking herself she decided to continue her subtle staring. She was wearing a black jacket with a red scarf tucked tightly under the labels. Only a bit peeked from around her neck. Black leggings and heeled boots followed and next to her there was a big black purse. There was something so regal about her that it left Emma quite speechless.

But what finally captured Emma's attention was what the woman was holding in her hands. It was a book. Simple as that, but it was a book she knew well. It was the same she had worn out on her bookshelf in her little lion cave. It was a book filled with marvelous pictures and beautiful artwork mixed in with information about lions. Emma could feel her heart jump as she stared at the book. The unknown woman, a beautiful woman was reading her favorite lion book, outside in the zoo, next to her lions.

Emma had no idea what happened next but she could feel eyes on her. As she lifted her gaze she could see gorgeous brown eyes drill into her own. So Emma did what she did best when she felt uncomfortable. She got up and swiftly walked away. Only when she got to the service door that lead her to her lions, she face palmed herself.

"Such a peopleperson aren't you Ems?" Emma cursed under her breath. Well, she was positive she would not see the woman again. I mean, it was a big city and their zoo was one of the best in the country. A lot of people came by and maybe this woman was just a tourist. Yeah, there was no way she was gonna see her again after what happened today.

"Emma, do you copy?" the walkie talkie sprang to life with her fathers voice.

Emma took few deep breaths before answering. "Yeah dad."

"I need your help for a bit. I don't know what's wrong with David Jr. He seems a bit out of it, so could you please come here and help me?"

"I'm on my way." Emma said before rushing to help her father with one of his tigers. And oh yes, her father had a tiger named after him, just don't ask any further questions.

Emma was back to feed her cats at 1 pm and there were already more people in the park by then. Few school groups had just made their way to see the lions to be fed and Emma was excited. It was always good when people came to see her lions. After that the day went by calmly. She went to help Ruby to clean some of the insides spaces for her wolfs after she finished cleaning her own. Emma kept her eye out but she did not see the strange beautiful again which led her to believe even more that she was in the clear with her embarrassment. But for some reason she could not stop thinking about her.

She closed down the park with her parents, going through all the doors on all the animals so everyone could have their nights sleep safe. They all left with their own cars since as it was obvious they all arrived at different times even when it was within the same 30 minutes.

That night in bed, before closing her eyes Emma found herself thinking of the woman. There was something so striking about her that had left Emma completely mesmerized. In a way Emma hoped she would come by again to study her lions and read about them. Maybe Emma could see her again... That caused Emma to slap herself. Enough thinking of gorgeous women, she had work to do tomorrow. Jeez.