Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT, etc…

AN: First chapter's a little longer than usual (nearly 2k). Not to spoil anything but the story did get a little carried away in the third part and the characters felt a little different from how they started – I may have to re-evaluate their ages. Let me know what you think…


Regina looked forward to the summer holidays more than anything, maybe even Christmas. The break from school was longer, so she had more time to spend with her father and beloved horse. With her mother always busy at work - running Storybrooke was a full-time job – the strict rules about finishing homework and not staying out late became more flexible. As the boss of the family company, Henry could take off as much time as he wished – with the odd evening of working from home, checking his emails to make sure there were no upcoming disasters. When Regina was younger, Cora had accepted this arrangement, preferring it to hiring babysitters for her daughter. Now it had become part of a family tradition, and she allowed herself one week to spend with them – usually a short holiday not too far away, just in case of a work emergency.

The first day of the holidays had perfect weather. Regina and her father packed a picnic and took their horses for a long ride, only just returning home before Cora. They began planning the rest of the break, taking into account the days when Cora had late meetings for longer excursions. On the second day disaster struck.

Regina woke to strange voices and strange noises in the house. A few minutes later, her mother came into her room telling her to get dressed. An ambulance was downstairs, it was taking her father to hospital and she had to hurry so they could follow him. That was all the information Cora shared and panicking, imagining all of the worst possible scenarios, Regina grabbed the first clothes she found.


According to the timetable, the bus would only make one stop in Storybrooke each day. Having seen the size of the town on a map, Emma wasn't surprised. There wasn't room for the name on the map, she only had a rough idea of its location from the index, which listed the page number and the square where it could be found: G7.

As soon as they passed the sign welcoming them to Storybrooke, she packed away the wrapper from her half-eaten lunch and checked that nothing had rolled from her bag under the seats. It wasn't long before the bus pulled to a halt and Emma was the only one standing to leave. The driver switched off the engine, prepared to get any luggage stored in the bus, but she explained she had everything and thanked him. Everything she needed was in her backpack on her shoulders and the duffle bag in her hands.

Standing on the pavement, opposite a quaint-looking diner, Emma reached into the pocket of her over-sized jacket and took out the leaflet. The camp name was emblazoned on the front, a large group picture of smiling children just below. Flipping it over she scanned down the list of directions for getting to the camp – by car, rail, or bus. At the very bottom, she had scrawled the additional instructions provided by the camp administrator via telephone. The camp's private transport – she was expecting an outdated bus – would collect her and a group of other children from the town at 2pm sharp. Emma checked her watch; she had an hour wait. That was okay, she could ask at the diner for directions to the pick-up location and spend the rest of the time with a nice cup of hot chocolate, something easily within her budget.

There were three families in the diner, and a group of older men, Emma saw them out of the corners of her eyes as she headed to the counter. A young waitress smiled as she took Emma's order, and the blonde dropped the duffel bag between her legs and the counter so she would know if anyone tried to grab it. She dumped the backpack on top of the counter, opening up the inner pocket to search for some money.

"You travelling alone?" the waitress asked when she returned.

"No, my parents dropped me off but they had to get back to work so I promised to wait in here for the bus," Emma lied easily, her story one she had practiced, and showed her the camp leaflet as she handed over the coins for her drink. "Do you know how far the collection point is?"

"Sure, at the school," the waitress reeled off some instructions. "You'll love it there. I used to go every summer, volunteered last year cos I was too old to go back. If I didn't have to help Granny I woulda gone back this year."

"Thanks," Emma smiled, hoping the waitress would leave so she could enjoy her drink in peace.

It wasn't her lucky day. The waitress, who introduced herself as Ruby, leaned against the counter to regale her with wild tales of her youth spent at the camp. She tried to be polite and listen, draining the cup of hot chocolate as quickly as she dared.


Five days later…

Gravel crunched under the tyres of the immaculately clean car as it rolled slowly through the gates of the camp. It pulled up outside the first building, and as the driver opened her door, Regina could hear the distant laughter of the other children.

"Thank you," Regina muttered as the chauffeur took out her luggage and placed it on the ground.

"If you would like to wait here, I'll try to find one of the adults in charge," he told her.

"I think I'll be fine," Regina raised the handle on the large suitcase, and balanced her handbag on top.

"Your mother's instructions…"

"Very well," Regina rocked back on her heels, her hands still holding onto the suitcase.

She looked away, towards the sounds of laughter, allowing the man to leave. He knocked on the first wooden door, waited for a few seconds before trying to open it, found it locked and then went to try another. When she finally turned around, he was out of sight. She closed her eyes against the tears threatening to appear, taking deep breaths and trying to count to ten the way her mother had taught her. Crying was a sign of weakness. It let people know they could hurt you.

"Gonna make a run for it?" a young, female voice asked.

Regina opened her eyes and turned slowly, trying to tell where it had come from. She couldn't see anyone else.

"Up here," the voice came again.

Tilting her head up, and turning around a second time, Regina spotted a pair of skinny legs dangling from a tree branch. The scruffy, worn trainers lifted up and the legs disappeared into the leaves. A few seconds later a young girl with blonde hair dropped to the ground at the base of the tree.

She fist pumped the air, "perfect landing, once again."

Regina couldn't help but smile, "do you jump out of trees often?"

"Windows, yes. Trees, not so much. Not many trees to climb back home, but since I've been here I figured why not?"

Regina looked at the girl's clothes, "won't your parents be upset when they see all those tears and the dirt stains?"

"Duh, this is camp. We're expected to damage our clothes, that's why all the stuff I brought is old - it doesn't matter if I have to throw them away instead of taking 'em home with me," the blonde walked confidently over to her, holding out a hand, "I'm Emma, by the way."

"Regina," she paused looking down at the mud-streaked fingers, but when she looked back into the smiling face of the other girl she forgot all her mothers nagging about dirt and shook hands.

"So… princess…" Emma's eyes widened as she took in the fancy, branded suitcase next to the other girl, "why've you come so late?"

"Oh, it was just a last-minute decision. My mother's going to be busy with work, but I didn't want to go too far away from home, so…"

"Well, let's get you settled in. Do you know where you're supposed to be?" Emma grabbed the suitcase handle in her right hand, and slipped her left arm through Regina's right. "Everyone's down by the lake right now, but I know my way around. Did they give you a cabin name?"

"No, I don't think so, but…"

"Well we've got a spare bunk in ours if you want. Most of the others are pretty much full up by now."

"Shouldn't I wait…" Regina tried pointing in the direction the driver had disappeared, but she wasn't sure where he was any longer.

"Don't sweat it, we're supposed to be learning to be self-sufficient around here and you look like a nice kid so I think you'll like our gang."

"Gang?"

"Yeah, Belle – she's a quiet bookworm type, Lily – the wild-child, and me! We've actually got beds for three more people, but it's kinda cramped in there so we just use them for our stuff," while she was talking, Emma continued to drag Regina towards one of the further-out cabins.

"Don't the adults decide where we sleep?"

"They'll assign new kids to the spare beds, but according to Lily if you've been before you can request a cabin with at least one friend – assuming they request to share with you - and that way you get to know new people and spend time with old friends. We're lucky, the cabin's one of the furthest from the adults and there's only one other girls cabin between us and the boys."

"Oh, I don't think my mother…" Regina vainly tried digging her heels into the ground, but Emma was stronger and determined to keep going.

"Don't worry, they're good guys. You just have to know how to handle them. They know not to mess with Lily, she's got the mind of an evil genius when it comes to revenge and some of the stories I've heard about her from last year… here we are!"

Regina nearly bumped into Emma when she stopped so suddenly. The blonde released her arm, passed her the small handbag and began heaving the suitcase up the stairs to the cabin.

"Emma are you sure…?"

"There," Emma smiled as she reached the door and held it open for Regina. "Come on in."

Regina took a look around, but as there were still no adults in sight, she allowed Emma's kidnapping of her to continue. There was something about the blonde that made it hard for her to say no.

The cabin was small and looked a little less rustic than the outside suggested – Regina smiled in relief as Emma gave her the five-minute tour and found that they had their own small bathroom.

"This one is just for us, and I should probably warn you the hot water goes fast so make sure you get in there before Lily," Emma explained. "There're two larger ones in the main part of the camp, one for guys and one for the girls. We mostly only use them when we're out and about, but some of the other cabins have more kids in them so they'll go to those if their own ones get busy."

"Where do we keep our clothes?" Regina asked, looking at the photos and posters stuck to the walls.

Emma showed her, "we're got one top bunk and two bottom ones. What would you prefer?"

"I don't mind."

"Well, if you don't have a problem with heights, take the top. That way we're both up high and can talk easier. Lily's up top too. Belle prefers the lower bunk to be closer to her books, so if you take the bottom she'll keep you awake with the light from her torch. Do you want to unpack now, or…?"

"Shouldn't we find the grown-ups?"

"Right-o. Follow me," Emma headed over to the cabin door and held it open.

Regina stepped out into the fresh air, feeling very different from when she had first arrived.