Reupload.
Chapter 1
She could feel it, victory. The smoke swirled around her. Castle bricks fell from the walls that kept her captive for years. She could hear Snow's cries of pain and sorrow and it was music to her ears.
"This is my happy ending," she growled at the stupid girl who held her bleeding husband in her arms, as she tried to shield him with no success.
Finally, finally she could be free; she had finally won, she had control, she had it all.
The smoke grew heavier and heavier until she couldn't see anything anymore and all she could hear was the collapsing world around her, her blood was rushing with adrenaline and then, there was nothing.
She woke up on the most comfortable mattress she ever felt. It took her a few minutes to remember her curse; once she had, she did she quickly got up from the heaven of her bed and checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was shorter, her clothes were different-she wasn't sure how she felt about all of those changes but there was one thing she needed to check first.
She walked down the street with the clothes she took from her closet-which was filled with this world's most expensive brands.
She could see the wolf girl dress in a short skirt as she fought with her granny. She could see all kinds of people act as if nothing change, as if this was their everyday life. It wasn't until she bumped into none other than Snow (no this was not Snow this was Mary Margret) that she finally realized she won. The girl apologized profusely and then ran for her life. This is my happy ending.
Later that day she fell asleep on the couch with a cider she made from the apple tree she brought with her. It was a recipe she perfected in the enchanted forest while she was exiled from Snow's kingdom.
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She walked down the long corridor. Everything was white: the walls, the doors, even her dress. She tried to open a few doors but they were all locked. It didn't feel like a dream, it felt too real. For once, she could feel her breathing and her pulse rise with every step, and moreover, she never dreamed; she either fell into blackness or she was haunted by memories.
She kept walking and walking until suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere. "Emma" the gold letters shone against the white door. She took a deep breath and reached for the handle, it clicked and Regina walked to the other side.
It was dark (that was the first thing she noticed) everything was dark, and then she could see lights speed against her eyes; she walked closer and a loud beep told her she was on a highway. A car drove so fast it almost hit her and Regina moved away just in time. It was when she was on the side that she heard it-a baby's cry.
She looked around as she tried to reach for the source and then she saw a little boy holding a baby in his arms. "It's alright Emma," the boy whispered to the girl. "We are going to be alright."
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Since that time, whenever she fell asleep she found herself in that corridor in front of that door. The few times she walked inside she could see that green-eyed baby; she could see her sent into a family with that young boy with her. She learned his name was August and that he was very protective of the girl. She also found that she liked that about him.
She also saw the baby smiling at her; though anyone else acted as if she hadn't existed. She couldn't tell if the baby actually saw her or it was just Regina's wish she did.
Whatever the answer was, two things were clear: 1) Regina was unable to touch anything in this weird dream world (whenever she tried to sooth the girl with gentle touches she found out her hands touched nothing but air) it made her confused. If this was indeed a part of the course she couldn't understand the meaning of this. 2) She felt connected to the young girl (her heart never warmed up so quickly to anyone) but when she looked into those forest green eyes she wanted nothing more than to protect the girl and keep her safe from whatever destiny she was chosen for.
That feeling scared her; and that was the reason she didn't open the door anymore-or at least tried not to. Whoever this Emma was, she was related to her curse and Regina was not risking anything after finally getting her happy ending.
It was two months later when it happened: the brunette started to get tired of living the same day over and over again. The brunette was clean from the room for a week now, the longer she'd ever succeeded, as she fought the temptation of green eyes and toothless smiles.
But that night she walked in. Maybe out of curiosity, maybe out of boredom and maybe it was actually because she missed the girl too damn much.
She forced herself to fall asleep; she closed her eyes and thinking about the baby who literally stole her dreams.
She felt her whole body relax and then she was right in the middle of a small dark room.
Emma was crying her eyes out while the voices screamed outside the bedroom.
"You stole the drugs from me!" a man's voice screamed and a sound of shattered glass came from outside the door.
"I can return it," the woman sounded terrified and Emma kept on screaming. Regina walked toward the terrified baby; her face was red and covered in tears.
"Shhh," Regina soothed the girl and moved closer to the crib.
"GET OUT!" the woman screamed at the man and Emma's whole body shook with tears when she heard the yelling get louder and louder.
"Hey," Regina whispered to the girl and moved to pick her up even though she knew her hands would come back empty. She was surprised when she felt the soft and warm body of the girl against her palm. She felt a wave of magic the second their skins touched each other; the baby eyes were clouded with purple smoke-Regina's magic. It made no sense, this world doesn't have magic in it.
The baby on her side immediately calmed when the brunette hugged her close, as she let her wet face rest against her shoulder. "It's going to be ok Emma," she repeated the boy's promise from that night and Emma ragged breath started to calm down.
'Is it going to be ok?' she asked herself. She clearly was connected with the girl, and somehow her magic was connected to the girl too. It's like her magic marked the baby in some way-the way her eyes glowed with it; she could even smell apples on the baby's short blonde hair.
"Bang!" A gunshot sounded from outside the bedroom and cut Regina's line of thought off. Regina ran to hide with the baby inside a small closet; she tried to calm the baby's cries and prayed for whoever was willing to listen that Emma would be alright.
She didn't know how it happened (she wasn't sure which one of them did it) but as the closet door burst open, revealing a very drunk, angry man with a gun. A gust of magic surrounded both of them and they were suddenly at a police station.
Two cops who came outside for a break found them, the woman crouched down to pick Emma up; she completely ignored Regina's orders to give the baby back to
her.
"Who does this?" the lady officer asked the bearded man. He shrugged in response before he called for someone over his walkie. "Who leaves their baby outside like this, it's freezing," she continued. Regina tried to take Emma back, only to realize that whatever ability she had to touch the girl before was gone and she was back to being so utterly useless.
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Regina life was always complicated. She lived a double life before-with Daniel and her mother, with Rumple and the king. But she always, always knew it was temporary: one life always meant to rise above, to be her happily ever after.
But it wasn't like that for this, she had two completely separate lives: she had her happy ending life and the dream world; which started to feel less and less like a dream.
Emma was almost one year old. Ever since that accident Regina hasn't been able to touch her again and no other magical activity occurred. Whatever happened that night was a one-time thing.
Emma was living with the same foster family since that night-it seemed to be a good one. The mother was at home with her while the father only came back late at night.
The mother called her a Swan (a nickname the brunette couldn't possibly understand) the toddler was anything but graceful as a swan-she was a complete klutz. A thing Regina couldn't help but smile at whenever she thought of the little girl.
Emma seemed to wait up for her every night, whenever the brunette showed up at her room Emma's green orbs were wide open. She smiled at her and mumbled, "Gigi, gigi." The brunette just smiled back and talked with the toddler; she would tell the baby stories about a land far, far away.
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When she heard one night that Nicole planned on adopting Emma she couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in her stomach. She didn't know why it hurt so much. Emma deserved to be loved, and she clearly couldn't give that to her. She wasn't sure this whole place wasn't just a side effect from the curse; she wasn't even able to touch the baby girl, how could she give her a life, any kind of life?
She avoided the door for a while, only getting in very late at night to make sure Emma was okay. She sat beside the crib on the floor as she looked at the rise and fall of the baby's belly. She let go of the dream she let herself get too attached to.
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Three months later when she got into the room she found Emma in a house full of kids. She didn't understand where the hell Nicole was. Emma was screaming her lungs out-clearly starving. Some stupid kids were rocking her hideous stroller. Which she realized wasn't Emma's stroller. Emma's stroller was pink and new, it was clean and smelled like Emma's vanilla scent. This stroller was old and dusty; it seemed like it was once blue, but now it was brownish and disgusting. Emma only screamed louder with every rock and Regina quickly moved toward her. The moment Emma's green orbs met with her tender chocolate ones she calmed. The baby reached her hands to her, as she begged to be lifted up to her protector and Regina's heart broke when she realized how useless she was to that innocent beautiful girl.
She started humming a familiar tune, she couldn't exactly remember when she heard it before, but Emma's lips twitched up at the sound and suddenly the baby had graced her with a full grin. She could see the three new teeth in her mouth and Regina couldn't help but smile at her too.
"Emma," an old lady called. She held a bottle with formula in it and she came to lift the baby out of the stroller.
She saw Emma's smiling face and sighed. "Such a beautiful baby you are," she whispered as she cradled her. "Such a shame you don't have a home."
Regina's body went cold. How could this happen? Has Emma been abandoned again? didn't Nicole adopt her?
She spent the next day searching for any kind of information she could find on the blonde baby. She found that Emma was indeed real-she was living in a group home in Boston. She was indeed adopted by Nicole but then was sent back due to unexpected circumstances. She found nothing about Emma's birth parents; all the internet could tell her was what she already knew-Emma was found on the side of the road with a little boy, no blood connection between them. So how did the boy know Emma?
She decided it didn't matter; she already made a decision. She needed to adopt that girl; she wanted Emma here with her, she didn't care how she was connected to the curse right now. But how could she adopt Emma if she couldn't leave town?
It seemed like a very cruel joke; it seemed like her happy ending was just outside of reach now, just outside the town line.
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"I need your help," she said as she walked inside Gold's shop.
"Madam Mayor," he greeted her and Regina sneered at him in response. He can pretend all he wanted, she knew he remembered.
"I want to adopt a baby."
"How can I help you with that, dearie?" he asked with a fake surprised look and it sent shivers all through the brunette's body. If there was one person Regina knew very well it was Rumple. And right now it scared her beyond everything that he knew about Emma.
"I know you can manage that," she grit her teeth and clenched her fist, forcing herself to calm down. "I want you to get me Emma."
"Sorry dearie," he smiled at her. "That is the one thing no one can do."
"What do you mean?"
"Every magic comes with a price."
"But-"
"Emma is paying your price, dearie," for a moment she could've sworn she saw Rumple and not Gold. She could've sworn she saw his skin glitter and his hair curl, she could have sworn she heard him giggle maniacally at her.
Emma was paying her price, what the hell does that mean?