Once upon a time, in a mythical land called Maine, lay an even mythical town called Storybrooke. Storybrooke was a land of turmoil. The evil mayor, Regina and her even more-eviler mother, Cora, along with their partner in nefariousness Captain Hook, had wreaked havoc on the small village. All were afraid of them, save for a few, Snow White, and her Prince Charming, who had been their enemies for quite some time, and the Savior, Emma Swan who fought constantly over the son they shared, Henry.

But as fates had it, the war diminished greatly. For one thing Emma began to be attracted to the power the Mayor put forth. That and legs that would go forever. Regina, in turn was attracted to the Savior/Mayor's feistiness...and the fact that Emma filled out her shirt in just the right places.

This lead to friendship...which led to kissing...which led to half to town not getting any sleep because of the noise (except for young Henry, whose room was pretty much soundproof).

And Captain Hook became more agreeable, after striking up a tenuous friendship with Prince Charming, and although it did not led to kissing, it did lead to both men striking an intimate relationship with a mythical little place called ESPN.

In fact almost everyone in Storybrooke was heading for a happy ending if it wasn't for Cora. Now angered that all of her compadres had flown the coop, as it were. And it was impossible to stop her because Cora had no weakness.

So it came to pass one morning, as Henry and both of his parents , plus Snow and Charming, met at Granny's Inn to discuss the latest ideas to stop their biggest headache. Idea after idea brought up and shot down. Things were getting hopeless when Henry, who more often than not, was the smartest kid in the room, proved that yet again..

"We all know that that Cora thinks love is a weakness, right...?"

Two frustrated moms, Emma and Regina, smiled sadly at their son, as Regina acknowledged, "Yes...I should know. But then, when you think that your mother doesn't even love her own...never mind." The message was clear, especially to Henry. It was a road no one at that table wanted to go down again.

Anyway, Henry continued: "All we have to do is find someone that Cora could love...you know like you and Emma!"

Everyone looked at Henry and realized the simple logic of the simple logic of the idea. And the absolute impossibility of its execution.

Emma responded: "Think Henry, who in their right mind would want to fall in love with the most evil woman on the planet..?"

A quick cough and a finger pointed in Emma's direction by a smirky-faced Snow White answered that question.

"She wasn't that evil, Snow..." was Emma's reply.

"So...," Charming said as he sipped on his coffee and looked at Regina, "I am sure there are a lot of dashing single men in Storybrooke who would jump at the chance to squire a beautiful, seductive, cougar like your mom.."

Regina replied: "We tried, Charming. Snow, remember when we put a profile for Mother on that Singlebrooke site?"

Snow: "Yeah, I remember. When you go to her profile, you can still hear the crickets."

Charming: "Maybe we should ask the guys individually...?"

Regina: "...said the guy who's safe because he's TAKEN!"

Snow: "Damn straight!" (Regina observed to herself that her daughter has been a bad influence on her mom...then smirked know that said daughter has been a bad influence on her as well.)

Well, each of the women went to find some of the more well-known bachelors in Storybrooke to see if they could not woo the Queen of Crushed Hearts.

Killian said something along the lines of "I like living..."

Gold played the "been there, done that" card...to Belle's relief.

Other who were asked to volunteer suddenly remembered old lovers, old chores, old habits as excuses. Six of team 7 were in the mines, which had a very hastily set-up "DANGER KEEP OUT" sign.

No man in Storybrooke wanted Cora Mills. No woman, either, since Red and Kathryn were asked.

A few nights later, at the Rabbit Hole, a rather depressed Cora Mills sauntered in to the bar. Many of the patrons moved out of her way quickly. This didn't help her...the sacrifice of believing that love was a weakness meant many lonely days and nights. And after all these eons, the hole in her own heart had expanded to a crater. A crater she wanted to fill with enough alcohol as possible.

The man who sat next to her was rugged and husky. He wore jeans and a black leather jacket. The man said hello to Cora and she returned the greeting. He didn't try to flirt with her but was pleasant.

The conversation became a bit more involved. Seems that he has had problems with loneliness too. Cora mentioned that she didn't see why..he was an attractive, imposing man. She meant what she said...and wondered why she never saw him in town before tonight.

Quiet conversation turned into animated laughter. The pair really seem to be enjoying each other's company. Other patrons of the Hole were wondering what was going on...was the witch planning some scheme and the man was her accomplice? Because Cora Mills actually having a good time with a human being was something no one could imagine.

Even when, at closing time, the Queen of Hearts and her new found friend walked out the door, chattering and laugh like...no, not like young lovers? That can't be...

5:33 am.

Emma Swan opened her eyes from a peaceful slumber and turned to face the woman whose arm wrapped around hers. After a year the sight of a smiling Regina Mills..no make up, disheveled hair, bare lips, chocolate eyes...was still the most beautiful thing Emma could imagine. She wanted to kiss Regina, but she was so peaceful. Thankfully, the Mayor inched closer to the sleepy Sheriff and gave her a lazy smooch. And as they smiled back at each other, Emma Swan knew that this was the way she wanted to wake up every single day of the rest of her life.

Cutting out the jarring sound of the telephone ringing to break the two women from their reverie, of course.

Emma picked up the phone. It was her mother, Snow. Emma and Regina have seen her positive, they've seen her dark. But Snow White was at her worse when she was frantic. And Snow White was frantic.

Emma's eyes stretched wide open as she heard her mom raving on the other end. You need to get here...Leroy's apartment, she cried. She told of the situation and absolute horror spread on the face of her daughter. After Emma hung up the phone, she explained the situation to Regina, who then developed her own mask of horror. Emma was going to the scene. Regina insisted to come with her.

5:58am

Snow White answered the door, she got to the apartment after she was called by its occupant. An occupant who walked out of his bedroom with a look of dazed confusion.

Sheriff Swan asked Leroy what was going on. The dwarf replied that she should look in his room and find out.

Emma and the Mayor indeed to a peek inside the bedroom, and were shocked at what they saw. Snow joined them and whispered "I told you..."

What the woman saw was a man and another woman in a bed, naked, entwined. A sinking feeling gripped all three women.

Regina vocally stumbled at the sight. "Gods...it's...it's...my mother. My mother and...and..."

Emma, equally terrified, finished the thought. "yeah...Cora...and..." She didn't believe the name that next came out of her mouth...

"Tiny...?"

TBC?

Well, once again, I had an idea and I just blurted it out. Let me know if I should finish.

I'm working on the final chapter of the first volume of Everafter, and I'm also going to start up Storybrooke Vs. The Righteous Flock: certain things on TV gave me ideas! BWAHAHAH!...oops.

I'm not killing off any characters, even if The Boys do. I love all these characters and I want to do right by them.

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Canon...didn't William Conrad play in in the 70s?

OUAT is owned by DIsney/ABC. Just playing with them for awhile..