A/N: This story is based on an anon prompt on Tumblr for an AU story in which Regina is a nun and Emma meets her in church and corrupts her. I think it was meant to be a one-shot prompt, but I really loved it and wanted to make it a multi-chapter fic. I hope you'll enjoy. Thanks as always to my friend and beta-reader, Hunnyfresh for her support and guidance.

T/W: There is some angry physical contact in this chapter – nothing worse than what has been depicted on the show.

This story in general will also obviously take place in a church/convent so if that offends you, please be warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, the characters, or Madonna's song "Like A Prayer". I am merely using them for entertainment with no profit derived.

Like A Prayer

Emma's body would not stop trembling as she pressed the bundle closer to her chest and peered around the corner. Whether it was hunger or exhaustion, she felt her knee start to give out and snapped it straight, cradling the blanket against her and closing her eyes a moment to gather her strength. When last she looked, there had been a group of children in matching uniforms nearing the steps of the church. Counting to twenty before she eased her head out of the mouth of the alley again, Emma blew futilely at the dirty blond hair plastered to her forehead. When she looked again, the sidewalk was clear. Emma drew in a deep breath and darted out, sprinting to the steps and kneeling down behind the stone fence at the top of the stairs.

Hidden from view again, she loosened her grip and allowed herself to look – just for a moment. She wanted to remember his face. She'd always thought that Sister Mary Margaret was crazy when she told people at their newborn's baptism how much they looked like their parents. Emma, who frequently assisted with preparing the baptismal font, personally felt that they looked like weird little alien things. Father David, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish had spit out his coffee when Emma told him that and urged her not to tell Sister Mary Margaret.

But now, as she took in his tuft of unruly brown hair, she couldn't see him as anyone's son but Neal's. When she looked at the adorable dimple in his chin, she saw her own face. She was longing to see his eyes one more time, but not at the chance of being caught if he cried. When a tear splashed onto his face, she realized she was crying. She drew a shuddering breath and kissed his forehead whispering "I love you" before setting him down in front of the door and quickly turning away.

She sprinted toward the street, her face twisted in agony as she sobbed for her baby boy. For blocks she ran without any thought until finally her leg gave out and she crashed to the ground, feeling utter despair as her eyes fluttered closed and darkness fell.

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As the lid snapped shut on her trunk, Regina felt as though she had locked away her hopes for the future and her belief in happy endings. What remained before her was only duty. She would fulfill the role set for her by her mentor at her father's urging. She would bury her heart as she had buried her love and move forward to seek a higher purpose – a calling.

She looked around the room that had been hers since she was too young to remember another home. This was the home she and her father, Henry, had come to after her mother had passed away. It was, much as her father was, sufficient but uninspiring. She loved her father but she knew that her chance for a future lay outside his home. To his credit, so did he.

His fear that she would grow up without the positive guidance of a mother pushed him to move her to the suburbs and enroll her in The Ursuline Academy for girls. Henry felt that the school's excellent reputation would propel her toward future success. Regina thrived in school and won awards for her academic and extracurricular careers in equal measure. By the time she entered junior high, she was regarded as the most promising student in the academy. She was so talented that she caught the eye of the principal of the school and Mother Superior of the convent, Sister Cora.

It was little secret within the parish that Sister Cora aspired to gain a powerful role within the church. Her drive made her the natural ally of the equally ambitious pastor of St. Urusula parish, Father Robert Gold. His stature was such that despite convention, he insisted that his parishioners call him Father Gold rather than Father Robert. After an introduction from Sister Cora, Father Gold began to privately tutor Regina. He introduced her to Machiavelli and extensive history lessons. He insisted that she be trained in etiquette and grace by Sister Cora while he taught her politics and business strategy.

By the time she was seventeen, Regina was president of the student government, represented The Ursuline Academy in debate, and was captain of the varsity swim team. When she participated in service at the local soup kitchen to improve her college applications, Regina and her friend Kathryn met some boys from Saint Eligius, Frederick and Daniel.

In an instant, Regina had been hopelessly in love with Daniel's boyish charm and steady good-natured personality. She had begun to meet him secretly after school when she was given leave to go to the library. They shared whispered conversations about their childhoods. Daniel's mother had died when he was young, too. When Regina spoke of her mother and began to cry, Daniel held her and told her she would be ok.

Regina could picture it so clearly now. She had pulled back from him, just enough to see his face and he leaned in to kiss the tears off her cheek. He murmured that he knew it sounded stupid, but that he loved her. He said that if she would let him, he would ensure that she was never alone again. He told her that he would belong to her and she to him and together they would be unstoppable. His face glowed with a light that Regina found it impossible to look away from. His eyes danced as he took her hands in his and said that his heart was hers for the taking. Regina was mesmerized, her heart pounding as she looked down to see Daniel's lips wet with her own tears. She tilted her head, keeping her eyes on his lips as she slowly leaned forward. She felt his breath against her lips just before…

"Regina!"

Regina's heart plummeted and she jumped away from Daniel as though shocked.

"Yes, Mother Superior."

"Did you think I wouldn't know that you were not in your study session today?"

"No, Mother Superior." Regina stared at her shoes.

"Excuse me, Mother Superior," Daniel said. Regina's eyes widened at his voice but she continued to stare at the ground as he continued, "It's my fault that Regina missed her study session. I'm sorry. She was helping me to…uh…to practice my Latin. I know she just won the all-district competition."

"This year. But if she continues to miss study sessions as she has the past three weeks, presumably," she looked Daniel up and down with a sneer, "Helping an academically challenged boy, she will not win next year. Please do not waste any more of her time, or yours," she leaned into him until their noses nearly met, "You are nothing more than a service project."

Cruel fingers coiled around Regina's wrist and pulled her away from Daniel, who looked shocked and angry when Regina snuck a peek behind her before Sister Cora pushed her through the door and locked it behind her.

"You are so generous, Regina, sharing your time with that unfortunate boy. No doubt that he could learn much from you," Cora's voice dripped with sweetness, contrasting with the crescent-shaped indentation her fingernails were making in Regina's wrist.

"Mother Superior, I…" Regina shook her head frantically, tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"Sadly, there is nothing to be gained for you in associating with him. Therefore, I forbid you to see that boy again."

"But Mother Superior, I…" Regina's voice cracked as she stammered helplessly.

"I forbid it Regina," the nails broke Regina's skin and she whimpered before succumbing to tears at last.

"Yes, Mother Superior."

Finally, her grip relented and Regina cradled her smarting wrist in her other arm and sobbed quietly. Cora tutted and pulled Regina close to her in a loose and cold-feeling hug. She patted Regina's back awkwardly as she muttered, "There, there." After a moment she pushed Regina away and said, "Haven't I always cared for you Regina? Haven't I always supported you being your best?"

Regina looked into the face of the only mother she'd ever truly known and nodded, her sobs continuing. Sister Cora grew impatient with her tears and pushed her back saying, "Go and wash your face before your tutoring session, you know how Father Gold hates to see tears," before turning and walking briskly away.

Regina's eyes slammed shut as she had her trunk a moment ago and shook her head to clear away the memory. When she opened her eyes, she looked down to see that she was cradling her wrist just as she had that day when her decision to let Daniel meet her on the school grounds instead of at the nearby stable meant that Sister Cora had caught them together.

Four days later, he was dead.

She heard when the school was called to the auditorium for an assembly and Sister Cora took the stage. She stared at Regina as she described Daniel's death – apparently the result of a toxic combination of prescription medications. Regina was unable to feel. She simply stared back. Although she would cry later, at home, Regina remembered Cora's words as Father Gold led the school in a prayer for Daniel's poor, misguided soul to find peace and held back the tears he'd hate to see.

Regina swiped angrily at the tear on her cheek now – she'd come to see tears as a sign of weakness and a symbol of the childhood she was leaving behind. She hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and pulled her trunk downstairs behind her. She was leaving her father's house to join Sister Cora at the convent. She was to become a novitiate as soon as she turned eighteen and to begin the process of devoting her life to the church.

Her father met her with a sad smile at the foot of the stairs. He looked poised to ask her once again if she was sure she had made the right decision. A part of Regina screamed that she had never been so unsure of any decision. As it welled up in her throat to be expelled, Regina closed her eyes and shoved it back down. Her doubts were only born of her fear to move forward from childhood. That is what Sister Cora had told her and hadn't she always looked out for Regina?

Pulling out her etiquette training she gave her father a winning, artificial smile and said, "I'm ready."

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When Emma's eyes opened, she held up her arm in front of her face to block the light. She took a few minutes to gather her bearings. How had she ended up here? Clearly from the antiseptic smell and painfully bright florescent lights she was in a hospital. Emma felt panic bubbling up within her at the thought that if the doctor examined her thoroughly, he or she would realize that she had just given birth. The last thing she needed was for Father David and Sister Mary Margaret to find out what she had done. She regarded herself and found that there was an IV pushing clear fluids into her and her hospital bracelet said "Jane Doe". Sighing in relief that at least for the present nobody knew who she was, she looked to see how she could unhook her IV. She needed to get out of here before the nurse or someone came back.

Before she could figure it out, a doctor walked into the room.

"Look who's awake. I'm Doctor Whale. Care to tell me what happened?"

"I'm…uh…not sure. Passed out. I must have missed lunch or something. But I really should go now."

The doctor examined her chart for a moment before nodding with a frown, "Your vitals look good. You are dehydrated and it looks like you could use a decent meal, but you seem healthy otherwise.

"Yep. Fit as a fiddle. I better just go. You probably need the bed."

Doctor Whale just looked at her a moment before leaning closer and saying, "Ok, Miss. I am going to release you. But before you go, please just eat a tray for me. I ordered you a grilled cheese. After that, you can go anywhere you like."

Emma knew that his words were meant to be light but at hearing him say that she could go anywhere she felt a surge of freedom she had never known before. Her childhood had been great, but she had always longed to become better acquainted with the world. Running away with Neal had seemed like an adventure, but it had taken her instead into living in dangerous situations and seeing only the suffering and despair in the world.

When he had suggested that they rob a convenience store and use the cash to get to Disneyland so she could play a princess and support them, she had agreed. He told her that they would always be together. But when the shop owner pulled out a rifle, Neal had run. He had left Emma there to be arrested and sent to a juvenile detention facility. It was there that she learned she was pregnant.

Despite the crushing loneliness of the place, Emma never called Father David and Sister Mary Margaret. She knew they had looked for her for a while when she first ran away, but that they had stopped months ago. She refused to allow them to see her like this. They were heroes to her and the only parents she'd ever known.

When the time came for her to leave the detention center, she was sent to a group home. It only took a week of whiskey fueled fury raining down on her for her to leave, taking to the street once more. She used the survival skills Neal taught her to make it on her own, sleeping in the train station or one night in the atrium of an apartment building. She stole enough food to survive and a bottle of multivitamins for the baby. She knew that a doctor would probably give her something different, but she figured it was better than nothing.

She gave birth alone in an abandoned car near the train tracks. She was terrified that he would be disfigured or sick but as far as she could tell, the boy was born whole and healthy. She wrapped him in her own baby blanket and made her way resolutely across town. Her own upbringing at St. Francis had been such a happy one. She knew she was in no position to care for him, but the sisters would.

But she could not leave him for Father David and Sister Mary Margaret to find. She saw her face and Neal's when she looked at him. Father David and Sister Mary Margaret would see them, too - she was sure of it. Instead, she cooed to him softly as they walked across town toward St. Ursula.

And now that he was safely delivered, she was free. Emma looked up at the doctor with a dazzling smile and said, "Can I get fries with that?"

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As Regina climbed the steps to the church, her father carrying her trunk behind her, she felt each step as though it was a door slamming shut. Her dream of a prestigious career – slam. Her dream of a home of her own – slam. A dream of a marriage filled with true love – slam. Her hope for children –

Just as she raised her foot to ascend the top step she saw it. A bundle of blankets near the door to the church. She froze. She looked around the street but saw only her father. She bent down, pushed back the blanket and gasped. Looking up at her was a beautiful newborn baby. A look of wonder blossomed over her face as he smiled and blinked up at her. In an instant, she fell in love as she lifted the boy into her arms and he laid his head directly above her heart. She turned and beckoned to her father before proceeding inside cradling the boy she'd come to love as her own.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed – please review and let me know what you think.