Swan Queen Week #3 ~ Time Travel

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"Mal, are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Don't be stupid, Cruella. Of course it will work. I can undo this curse if it doesn't anyway."

"Regina is going to be so pissed."

"I know, but she needs this." the other grinned. "And it is going to be real fun."

"What the hell?" Emma yelled, watching the cloud of blue smoke that moved forward across the city and covered all buildings, making them disappear from their sight. They were enjoying a peaceful year in the town, how could a new curse appear out from nowhere? She quickly ran towards Regina and Henry, protecting them with her arms and shutting her eyes. Come on Emma, she thought to herself. Use your magic, make some Glinda-ish bubble thing to protect you...

"Where are we?" Henry questioned a few seconds later, hands on the glass her mother had placed around them and eyes set on the dense blue smoke. Slowly, it started to disappear, a very familiar scene becoming clear in front of them. "Mom?"

"I have no idea..." Regina sighed, staring to the other side as the town's characteristic clock became visible. The sky was blue, and no one else but them seemed to notice the smoke that faded on the street. It was as if they were the only ones who hadn't been affected by it somehow. "We're still in Storybrooke."

"But this isn't Storybrooke."

Emma was right, it was not the same town they lived in. With the smoke completely gone, many small details around them told them that if this really was Storybrooke, time had been stopped somewhere during the nineties. A blonde teenager girl walked past them, face really familiar but impossible to know as she was skating down the street at a pretty fast velocity. A few more teenagers appeared, most of them wearing colorful clothes, rings and bracelets, while others wore striped sweaters and combat boots. Regina looked with confusion around her, the pieces of clothing the teenagers wore being peculiar and horrifying at the same time. Not that the adults looked better, almost all of them wore either sweaters tied up around the waist or neon windbreakers. Are these people blind?!

"Okay, why does Storybrooke look like if it had been taken from an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?!" Emma muttered, making the confusion on Regina's face become even more obvious. "It was a TV show. The town looks as if it was stuck in the nineties, Regina."

"Okay, but do you mean that...?"

"I don't know how or why, but we might have travelled back in time."

"So this is what the world looked like I was born...?" Henry asked as they walked into the dinner. The place hadn't changed, but everything seemed different at the same time. For the boy, everything much cooler. For his mothers, everything was either terrible or awfully nostalgic. "And you were like that?" the boy kept asking, amazed by the colorful jackets two boys his age wore. Emma saw they were slightly familiar, but couldn't really put a name to them.

"Not really, I didn't turn eighteen until 2001. This is the year... " she picked up the town's newspaper, then sighed and showed it to the other woman. "1999." she said, watching Regina unfold the paper and read the cover. They crossed the door of Granny's diner, the bell making its familiar sound. Inside, a middle aged woman behind the counter served pancakes to a teenage couple, while a fourteen-year-old girl packed a sandwich in her bag. She wore a red cheerleading uniform and had black hair, and even if she was not much taller than Henry when he was twelve years old, she looked at everyone over her shoulder and with pride. A pride that all of them knew well. "Thanks Grandma!" the girl exclaimed before rushing out of the diner with a smile on her face.

"Was that… Ruby?" Henry questioned with a stunned face and wide eyes, saying what was in everyone's mind.

"I think so. So that makes…"

"Hi, welcome to Granny's dinner. I'm Joyceline." the woman they were talking about spoke, heading to the side of the counter and flashing them a smile. Blue eyes and golden curls, she looked just slightly similar to what she looked like in the actual Storybrooke. "Please take a seat, strangers." she spoke with a kind smile, pointing to a boot and then walking towards it. "I suggest the pancakes, they're everyone's favorite breakfast."

"Oh, okay." Emma turned to the others and shrugged, then smiled. "We'll all have pancakes then. And two coffees."

"Three." Henry corrected her, receiving curious looks from both his mothers and the waitress. "I am not twelve anymore, moms." he rolled his eyes. At this, the woman looked at both Regina and Emma and pursed her lips slightly. Wait, is she upset about we both being Henry's moms?! the blonde thought, eyeing the woman as she walked away. I'd say that it is obvious we have gone back in time, but homophobia hasn't really changed much in almost twenty years.

"Okay, so for what we have seen at the diner we're not only back in time, but also in some kind of alternative universe Storybrooke?" Emma questioned after they walked out of the diner half an hour later. The doubt of actually being back in time had appeared when Regina had pointed out that Storybrooke had been stuck in time for twenty eight years, and that it made it impossible for any people to be younger than they were now. "But people are still the same, just younger."

"Not really. Have you seen Granny? She still had her ring on, and Ruby once told me she did not wear it since her husband died." Henry pointed out, displaying the observation skills he had inherited from Emma. "Maybe he is not dead here?"

"Exactly." Regina agreed as they walked down the street, heading to Snow White's apartment. "I think that this is what would have happened if people's happy endings had become true."

"But why aren't they in the Enchanted Forest instead of Storybrooke?"

"I am not sure. This place... It feels as if it was just a copy of the real Storybrooke. Are you sure this is the right street? I don't see the apartment— wait." Emma stopped, eyes gazing at the cozy, two story house that was in the exact same spot her apartment was supposed to be. All of them fell silent. Music was playing softly inside, escaping through an open window. A voice, soft and sweet, sung along as a baby slowly stopped crying. "You hear that?"

"Snow." Regina muttered. The song kept playing, though the voice faded and instead there was some inaudible talking. Suddenly the door opened, a teenager girl walking through the door. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and despite wearing round sunglasses her face was perfectly recognizable even from that distance. "Oh my god." the woman gasped, watching the girl walk to the gate and open the door. She held a backpack and a sports bag, and her clothes were the most trendy ones in that decade. Over a white t-shirt she wore an overall with one strap down, a extremely large sport jacket and discman headphones around her neck. And much to Emma's disgust, bracelets and rings all over her hands and wrists. Hell no, Emma. Mood rings, seriously?

"Mom, are those Air Jordans?!" Henry asked with amazement, turning to look at his mother. "You were the cool girl in school then?" he asked. Of course, in real life Emma had never been the cool kid in class, or even noticeable. But here, in this bizarre nineties version of the town, where she lived with her parents and seemed to have a normal life, she was. Sighing, she shrugged, watching her younger self walk up the street and pass next to them, focused on making the discman play her favorite song and not on the stranger that looked exactly like her. Adult Emma turned to Regina, watching her laugh.

"Don't say a word, Regina. Simply don't."

"Oh my god, did you see her face when she saw young Emma?!" Cruella laughed, sitting back as she stared at the snow globe that was placed on the table. A small model of the town in it, figures as small as ants moving through it. Images projected all over the room's walls, both women laughed as they saw Regina laugh loudly at Emma's embarrassment. "This is so better than the movies."

"The what?"

"I'll show you later." the woman spoke, leaving the glass of wine down on the coffee table and checking the glass sphere before looking around the room, watching the scene. The three people were now busy eating pancakes, amazed at the beauty of a eighteen year old, shy but graceful girl that perfectly matched Astrid's looks, followed by a grumpy, older woman— it seemed the Blue Fairy really had not changed much. "Do you think we should leave this projecting tonight while we sleep?" Cruella asked with curiosity. She really wanted to stay and keep watching, it looked rather interesting.

"No, we can just stop time in there." the other spoke, tapping the glass and smirking as every moving figure froze. "Regina is going to kill us when she discover it's been us, so we better make it worth it and not to miss a thing that happens."

I will turn this into a multichapter, so remember to follow the story and favorite it, it will be really appreciated :)
To be continued!