PROLOGUE

Emma Swan had been an orphan for as long as she remembered and thus carried an orphan's life. She was raised by nuns whom she'd fancied as fairies and was adored by every butcher, baker, and candle stick maker in her village as she grew up dancing and prancing with long, blonde curls and bright green eyes. Like other orphans, she was tricked into thinking that she wasn't parentless at all, but had a wide family made up of every soul around her, every person who smiled in the street and every friend made from smiling back. She believed everything was in her grasp, that dreams could become reality, and that true love's kiss could break any spell.

Then, of course, she was reminded of who she truly was- a lost girl with no parents and no one to love her. In other words, she grew up. Magic was no longer real and reality set in like a slap in the face. It was a stormy day when she'd been called inside to be told the news- she was now of age and was to be sent away to work for Queen Regina, the ruler of a small kingdom outside the lands of King George and his son, Prince David.

"I don't want to go!" Emma cried, pushing and struggling against Mother Superior. She was only thirteen, she'd already lost her parents and tears streaked down her cheeks as she realized she was going to lose her only family too- the butchers, the bakers, the candle stick makers. Superior seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, and knelt down to the girl.

"We are not your family, Emma," she whispered harshly. "We are not your saviors. The only one you can save in this world is yourself. Do you understand that? You are your own savior. You are the savior of your life. And in this life you must leave us and find your own path with the Queen. Stop crying. Stop howling. You are no longer a child. You're a savior. Say it."

"I'm a savior," Emma whispered.

And no matter how many times she repeated it to herself on the carriage ride to the castle, she could never believe it. Her life had been built by unfair circumstance. She was a good person with bad luck, it seemed. So many girls had mothers to braid their hair and fathers to carry them over puddles when it rained. Emma's hair was always pulled back into a solemn knot just like the nuns, and when it came to puddles, she had to face the flu that overtook her every year after getting too wet and chilly following a storm. She dearly wanted someone to braid her hair. She dreamed of someone to carry her over the puddles.

But dreams didn't come true, that was for certain. So she set aside her dreams and the possibility of being a savior and she went to work for Queen Regina.

In a flash almost fifteen years had passed, causing Emma to hold with absolute certainty that her life was meaningless, worthless and practically over. She was almost twenty eight and she had no money, no accomplishments, and still no family to love her. Mother superior, she decided, had been wrong. She had no control over her own life- why should she have thought otherwise? Lost girls didn't have paths to set foot on or journeys to make. They wandered and did the bidding of others or faced the punishment otherwise.

And she was very familiar with the punishments- Queen Regina wasn't a forgiving person and often a lady in waiting or servant dearly paid for their mistakes. Sometimes they spent a night in the dungeon, sometimes they disappeared into the night and no one ever spoke of them again. When around the queen, people looked down to the ground, staring at the hems of her dark, expensive royal gowns. A direct glance to the Queen's eyes came at a cost, and no one was willing to find out what the payment was

But Emma was hopeless and made many mistakes. She talked back to Dukes and Duchesses, she stole wine from the kitchens and snuck apples and valuables out to give to other orphans. Mother Superior would have never accepted stolen treasures, but some of the other nuns were less strict and, needing to feed the children through the winters, accepted the rings and brooches of foreign lords and ladies, gems and jewels that most never even missed.

However there were other times when they had been missed, and in the beginning of her time at the Palace Emma had been a terrible liar- before there had never been a need. She was quickly spotted as the thief and the Queen promised her guests that she would be punished cruelly and terribly. She'd been beaten and forced to fast- but for whatever reason she was always kept alive and always returned to her station after the visitors left in silver carriages. Emma had suspected that Regina, being a hateful woman, secretly loved the fact that the nobility- her competition- were being robbed in their sleep, fooled by a young servant girl. Even when Emma became a better liar though- so much that she could spot one from a mile away- every theft could be tracked down to her.

But she didn't care. Being lost came with recklessness. There was little to be felt in live or die situations. She wouldn't leave any family or lovers heartbroken, she wasn't scared to leave anyone behind. She felt that if she was to be forced to live a life in service of others, she should also be in service to those who mattered- other lost children such as herself. Perhaps, if given the means, they wouldn't be forced into labor like she was. Perhaps they'd even find someone to braid their hair.

However, though Emma thought she was on a lonely path, her absolutism of being lost and alone would be proven wrong. Even lost girls can find their way, and those who are alone don't always have to be

This is the story of a girl, a Prince, and a shoe. But the girl wasn't looking for a soulmate, the Prince wasn't looking for the girl, and the shoe was damned by everyone who knew better. So to be more accurate, this is more the story of a girl and that girl's love. The rest unfolds by itself, but relies on those two factors immensely.

Emma Swan never believed she was a princess and never would, but she did learn one thing about herself. Emma Swan was a Savior. And Saviors had one thing she never thought she could ever have: Hope.

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A/N Okay! First shot at a multichapter fic. Rated M for later parts. Obviously a Cinderella twist.

The prologue is obviously pretty stylized but that tone won't carry through the entire piece. The perspectives are going to shift between Emma and Killian and be in third person. It'll be pretty modern prose though it's obviously set in an enchanted forest AU. Although I'd love to write something with this tone similar to The Reformed Scoundrel I doubt I could.

So please leave comments, follow this story if you want, I'm really excited for this one!

Shout out to melodusk for being supportive. Shout out to onceuponajollyroger for making me want to write captain swan things in the first place. Shout out to everyone who comments on this sends feedback sends nice things here or on my tumblr.