Author's note: Many thanks to MaFan for the great beta work and support!


"Excuse me! Do you mind?!" Regina's voice was dripping with contempt for the lesser being whose rake dared to be in her way.

"I'm so sorry, your highness! Do you want me to lie on the ground so that your royal feet don't have to touch it? This gravel is so unworthy of you!" the young gardener replied, stormy green eyes flashing under her discoloured cap.

"Emma, come here now!" yelled Sydney, the school gardener. Reluctantly, the young girl turned away, staring daggers over her shoulder at Regina who was walking on, scornfully telling her all-male retinue "Honestly, how do they choose those welfare kids? Can't they at least teach them some manners before they work here?"

Across the manicured lawn where they were gathering the autumn leaves, Sydney was already lecturing Emma: "I told you to ignore them and keep a low profile, kid. Just do your job, for god's sake! Do you want to go to juvie?"

"Of course not." said Emma, her eyes full of anger. "What an arrogant little bitch."

"Arrogance is part of those kids' education. That was Regina Mills you were talking with. See that auditorium over there?" Sydney nodded toward the beautiful white marble building standing fifty yards away. "It's the Cora Mills Auditorium. Regina's mother paid for it. Do I have to tell you how powerful the Mills family is in this school?"

"No", mumbled Emma, staring at her feet, "They basically own the place."

"Exactly. So keep your temper in check, OK? You can't win that fight."

Emma didn't resent Sydney for his gruffness, she knew he meant well. Few people actually cared about her at all. Who except Neal gave a damn about a scrawny seventeen-year-old orphan girl like her? Neal was an orphan too, a bit older than her, and kind of a bad influence – if she kept taking part in his genius plans, next time she got caught it wouldn't be community service for her anymore. But it was so difficult saying no to him, when he was virtually the only family she had. He was always there for her.

And those private school kids were so damn infuriating, so patronizing and perfect, so sure they were going to become the masters of the world – life was unfair. Grudgingly, Emma had to admit that Regina Mills did look perfect. Her uniform was a perfect fit. She was sexy as hell in her short pleated skirt, wore her white cotton shirt as if it were silk, and Emma could understand the boys who escorted her devotedly as if she were a queen. She wasn't very tall, but she looked taller from the way she carried herself, as if she wore a tiara. She really was regal, a future prom queen.

Emma shook the memory of Regina's sharp, deep brown eyes. It was not as if she would ever have the opportunity to talk to her on an equal footing. Better to finish raking up the leaves if she wanted to meet Neal before she had to go back to the youth shelter.

She was finishing rounding up the fallen leaves, enjoying their many shades of green, yellow, orange, red and brown, courtesy of the line of maple trees planted along the lane, when her eyes caught an unexpected sparkle somewhere inside the pile. She rummaged cautiously through the leaves in case it was broken glass, and gazed at her find, amazed. It was an elegant gold and ruby bracelet. Considering the cost of the private prep school, she guessed it wasn't some cheap junk. The bracelet was engraved with a monogram of an R, capped with a little crown.

Of course it had to be Regina's. She put it in her pocket.

That night, in her bunk at the youth shelter, she admired the bracelet on her wrist by the electric light of the street lamp filtering through her bedroom window. The clasp was a bit loose, as if it had been worked a lot, and opened easily. The fine gold chain was light in spite of the small rubies set in the middle of each heart-shaped link, and Regina mustn't have felt it slip from her wrist. Emma had never owned such a beautiful thing. She contemplated it, thinking about what she could buy if she pawned it. She hadn't shown it to Neal because she was sure he would have insisted to take it and sell it to his "friends".

The bracelet was exquisite, if a bit old-fashioned. She had a feeling it had not been made for Regina, but was much older, a family heirloom maybe. While Emma could have done with the money the jewel represented, she was tempted to keep it, even if wearing it or even showing it was just asking for trouble for a shelter girl like her. But she was not that kind of thief, and she never seriously considered keeping the bracelet. She would return it to the little queen.

She smirked in anticipation. She couldn't wait to see Regina's face when she realized she had her to thank for its return.