Summary: Instead of putting baby Emma into the wardrobe with August, Gipetto decided to let Snow join her daughter. Things are drastically changed by this choice...

Author's Note: This is most definitely a SwanQueen story. Snowing will be involved as well but probably won't be a very big part of the story. Hope you enjoy the story and remember to review.

JezzaRose20

Prologue

Snow White

It was a cold October morning when Gipetto came to us with a change of plans. Charming and I had been sitting in the castle, spending time with the dwarves and the people we loved. The Curse wasn't long away and we knew we had to spend time with our family before it was too late. We'd been eating a small brunch when Gipetto entered, accompanied by his small son, August. We greeted him kindly and offered him a seat that he took gratefully. August climbed into his father's lap eagerly, making us all smile. It was easy to see how much father and son loved each other. It made me a little sad, though, because Charming and I would miss out on that experience. We wouldn't see what Emma's life would be like. By the time we got to know her, she'd be a grown woman.

"I have changed my mind about something and I wanted you to be the first to know."

"What is it? You haven't decided not to build the wardrobe?"

Gipetto shook his head. "No. Of course not. I've decided not to send August through. I know we're going somewhere cursed but...he's so young. I'd like him with me. And he's insistent that he stay with me. Wherever we go, I don't want him going through that wardrobe with Emma."

Charming's eyes filled with tears. "Gipetto...you're giving us the best gift of all. One of us will get to stay with Emma."

"Emma needs one of you. She can't go to another world without someone who loves her."

"Thank you, Gipetto. Thank you so much."

"I'm almost finished with the wardrobe. It will be finished by nightfall."

Charming smiled. "That's good."

"I should get back to work. I want to finish as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Gipetto."

Gipetto stood and took August's hand. Together, they left the palace to return to crafting the wardrobe that would take us through to another world. Charming turned and wrapped his arms around me. Joy spread through me. I knew Charming would insist that I go through the wardrobe with Emma and that meant that I'd get to watch her grow up. She would never feel unloved or unwanted. My baby would grow up knowing who she was and what she meant to our world.

"I want you to go through that wardrobe with our daughter, Snow. We don't know what this cursed land is going to be like and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Go through with our daughter and keep her safe."

"I will. She's going to know who she is, Charming. I promise. She'll know what she means to this world."

"No. Don't tell her. I know it sounds weird but wait until she's supposed to break the curse. Something tells me that's a better idea."

"Okay."

Before Charming could reply, my water broke. Labor had officially started. I felt myself be pulled to my feet, Charming's arm tight around my waist. He led me to our bed chambers. Pain ripped through my abdomen as contraction after contraction ripped through me. Finally, thirty minutes into labor, Emma Swan was born. She was beautiful with her blonde hair and green eyes and my heart loved her instantly. As we sat in our bedchambers, Gipetto came in with the wardrobe to tell us that he'd finished it. We thanked him gratefully and he left to spend the last few hours with his son. We could all see the purple smoke that was Regina's curse approaching.

The blue fairy closed my wounds from labor and then told me that I needed to get ready. Soon, I would have to enter the wardrobe with baby Emma. Charming and I shared one last passionate kiss before I stood. Charming kissed his daughter, whispering loving words to her. And then I climbed into the wardrobe with Emma.

We came out into a small cottage in a forest. There were two rooms, one set up as a nursery and the other as an adult bedroom. I lay Emma in the crib that was obviously for her and set out to explore the rest of the house. There were clothes in my closet that would fit me perfectly and a wallet on the kitchen counter with identification in it that matched my face. The name on the identification was Mary-Margaret Blanchard. There was also a birth certificate for Emma.

I also discovered that I had a job in this new world. I was a teacher in the neighboring town of Storybrooke, Maine. It was an odd name for a town and I had no idea at that moment that I would spend the next twenty-eight years watching Charming love someone else in that town. Yes, Storybrooke was the cursed land that my step-mother had brought us to. My cottage was just on the edge of the forest that surrounded Storybrooke. It angered Regina more than anything else that I'd escaped the curse, that I still had my memories. But she reveled in showing me that Charming didn't love me in this world. She knew that my daughter would someday grow up to defeat her. She knew that her little revenge wouldn't last long. But neither of us could have imagined the way things would eventually play out. If we had...well we wouldn't have believed it anyways.

Twenty-eight years later, everything changed...