Well, here it is. The start of the Christmas fic I promised you guys. I've decided to make it a multi-chapter one since the holiday season officially begins the day after Thanksgiving. I am going to have it done by Christmas.

I'm excited about this and I think my beta, Laura, is too. And while I'm at it…a big thank you to Laura, as always. She rocks! And she loves Regina as much as I do! Woot!

I don't own "Once Upon a Time". Duh!

Edit: I forgot to mention this but this will have interaction between Regina and Emma. It may not be a full on Swan Queen fic where they suddenly fall in love. But the subtext may be there. If you look for it. But notice, I have family listed as one genre. Emma will be interacting with her parents. I promise.

She was dreaming again. The same dream she dreamed every night. There was the castle, the crisp weather, and the woman with her back to her. But then, the dream changed. It suddenly grew colder. She started shivering. And the mood, the tone of the dream changed. Instead of a mystical feel there was an ominous edge. Something was about to happen. And she had a feeling that she didn't want to know what that something was going to be.

The woman started to turn. It started as a slow turn as if preparing her for what was coming. But the speed changed. The word 'no' was on her lips. She didn't want whatever was going to happen to actually happen. But it did anyway.

It wasn't a woman at all. It was a man; a hideous man with a crooked grin. But the worst part was the fact that this man was actually one of her past foster fathers. His name was Steve. And he had hated her. But he doted on his own kids. And every Christmas, he would dress up as Santa (beard and all) and visit with his kids while she stood in the corner, forgotten.

And now Steve was in her dream. He had on the Santa suit and the white beard covered his neck but did nothing to hide the creepy smile crossing his face.

"Merry Christmas, you disgusting little snot," he said in his high pitch voice. His crooked nose seemed to grow longer. "But that's all you'll be getting this Christmas. You deserve nothing else." He started walking toward her, his black boots making an unearthly sound with each step he took. "Ho, ho, ho!"

She let out a short shout as she sat up in bed, her green eyes wide and sweat dripping down her face. Her breathing was deep and fast, as if she had been running a marathon but the air in her room was freezing.

A soft knock on the door scared her a little more but as the door opened and revealed her mother's face, she calmed a little.

"Emma?"

Emma took one last deep breath and ran a hand through her hair as her mother walked into her room.

"Emma, are you okay? I thought I heard you scream."

Emma shook her head, watching as her mother sat down on the bed beside her. "I'm fine," she stated, slowly lying back down. "Just a nightmare."

Snow's face grew even more concerned. "A nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah," the blonde said as she burrowed back under her covers. "It just gave me a start, that's all."

Snow studied her daughter's face, taking in the sweat that dampened her forehead and the lingering unease in the green eyes. "Are you sure, sweetie?"

"I'm sure, Mom. I'm okay." Emma patted her mom's hand. "Now, go back to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Snow gave a slow smile. "You're right." She leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead, not mentioning the slight flinch Emma gave. "I wish you would come with us."

Emma tried to give the most convincing smile she could. "You know shopping isn't my thing," she said. "Besides, it'll give you and Dad some time alone."

"But we like being with you. And you can also point out what you want for Christmas."

Another flinch was seen that Snow decided not to mention. Getting Emma to open up was hard and she couldn't be pushed.

"I can just tell you what I want. It's fine. You two have fun, though."

Snow's shoulders slumped a little but she gave a quick nod. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Emma nodded back. "I love you." It was said so softly that Snow almost missed it as she made her way back to the door.

But she didn't. So, she turned back to Emma and smiled a little wider. "I love you, too."

Morning came as it always did, much to the relief of a certain blonde sheriff. She was out the door as soon as she could escape from her mother's hug. The dream the night before had disturbed her more than she let on. With Christmas getting nearer, she knew the dream would plague her every night. It did every year. But this year she wasn't going to be able to hide. Christmas was going to smack her in the ass…and hard.

"Shit," she muttered to herself as she stuffed her hands in her jacket pocket.

"Shit," she said as she started her car.

"Shit," she stated as she entered Granny's for her morning coffee.

"Double shit," she exclaimed as she plopped herself down in her desk chair.

"Shitfire!" she shouted as she left the office for lunch.

The Christmas spirit had hit early this year for Emma Swan. And she was nowhere near happy about it.

She needed help. She was not a Christmas person. Not necessarily a "Scrooge" but she was definitely not a Tiny Tim.

But she didn't want to ruin Christmas for her newly found family and friends. She wanted to be a Christmas person. But she couldn't ask her mom or dad about it. That would only worry them. And Ruby would just tell her mom if she asked her for help.

Who then?

The white door before her opened before Emma had really registered what she was doing in front of said door.

"Shit! Damn it all," she said as the owner of the door was revealed.

"Ms. Swan?" this was said with every ounce of indignation that could be squeezed into those two words.

Emma stared into Regina Mills' brown eyes and pressed her lips together. This is what you get for not thinking, Swan! She thought to herself. But instead of something intelligent coming out of her mouth, something completely nonsensical came out.

"I'm not a Scrooge, I promise! I'm more of a Lucy from Charlie Brown's Christmas. I'm just kind of there, ya know. I need to change that."

Regina just stared at Emma, one eyebrow quirked.

"I don't want to be Cindy Lou Who, either!" Emma went on. "She a little too…over the top, ya know." Hands were stuffed in jean pockets and boot heels were rocked on. "I want something to help change me, like it did to George in "It's a Wonderful Life"."

"Well," Regina drawled. "You certainly have all the movies down pat." Her eyes narrowed and she took in Emma's slumped figure. "Emma, why don't you come inside and really tell me what's going on."

To be continued…

Review! OMG, review! It would be sooooo awesome if you did!

(I sound like a teenager. But I swear, I'm an adult. At least I am physically…mentally, well, the council is still debating on that.)