Chapter 1

A long time ago, Rumpelstiltskin's castle:

Rumpelstiltskin was giddy with anticipation. He could almost taste his accomplishment. He felt like such a fool for not thinking of it sooner. He had scoffed and laughed away the notion of true love, it was merely a legend after all. He could see it in the eyes of his future student when she thought no one was looking, but he was always looking, always watching, always waiting. The way she looked at the stable boy, and the way she smiled at him, for him, the power of True Love practically radiated off her. He knew there was great power inside her waiting to be tapped, but he did not expect such pure magic from a heart destined to be black. A destiny he wrote for her, but destiny none the less.

Harnessing such power for himself could move up his plan. He just had to find a way to capture it.

A manic giggle escaped him as he lifted the strand of the girl's long dark hair between a pair of tweezers. He adjusted the magnifying glass above his desk to get a better look of the short one of the stable boy's. Slowly he brought down the long strand, giggling again when the stands touched and began to glow white. He let the long strand fully encircle the short one again and again until it reached its end. The pair glowed brighter and brighter with the strength of a hot sun. He had to look away. The white magic exploded into a pulse in every direction, passing right through him and his castle's walls.

He looked back at his work, and his work looked back at him. "Uh oh." He picked up the baby at arm's length to get it out of the way, but there was no more glowing magic and the only strands of hair were attached to the baby's head.

He made a baby!? He ran around in panic keeping the baby away from his body making noises he wasn't proud of but the baby seemed to find amusing. He wasn't trying to make a baby. He only needed the magic to bottle. He can't bottle a baby...well maybe... He stopped to look down at it (her, he noted).No, no it's not the same. He'll just have to do things differently next time he tried.

As for the baby...he couldn't give her to Regina. She was his future protégé and she couldn't be distracted from doing what he needed.

He brought the girl closer to his chest. She had the stable boy's blue eyes and dark chestnut hair, but everything else was Regina, her lips, and her nose, and her olive skin. She was not created the traditional way but she was born of love, that much he was sure of; love, pure magic, and a pulse of something that he didn't understand. He did not like not understanding. He had already been alive far too long on this earth to not know something.

He did not have time now to fret. He would deal with her later when it was necessary. He transported himself and the child into his underground vault of dangerous and mysterious things.

"So sorry dearie." He spoke to the baby as he opened a cupboard. "This will keep you still until I know what you are." He booped her nose with a finger. "Maybe you'll meet your mommy someday." He giggled. "Oh, she'll need you by the time I'm through with her." He placed her inside the cupboard. "Now don't worry, for you the dark will only be the blink of an eye." He kissed the top of her head. "Night, night."

She watched him as he closed the doors, taking away the light until she was engulfed in cold darkness.

Present, Storybrooke Maine:

Emma went back to the scene of the crime after the whole Marian debacle, and the yelling match with Regina outside of Granny's. In-between the name calling Regina did make a good point about bringing back other things from the past; they were in the Dark One's magic vault with a vacuum of a portal after all.

The barn was a mess. If Regina ever spoke to her again she'd ask about magic lessons to do chores. Until then Emma was stuck doing things the old fashioned way. She grabbed a shovel and started filling in the carved magic summoning thingy in the ground before it could cause any more trouble. It was kind of therapeutic if she imagined burying her son's mother alive. She would dig her out of course, but only after Regina stopped being mad at her. It could be therapeutic for both of them really.

Emma began a coughing fit when she threw a shovel of dirt a little too aggressively and generated a cloud of dirt. In her hurry to get away from it she tripped over the shovel and face first into a pile of dirt.

"Seriously!?" She grumbled as she pushed herself up. She dusted herself off as best she could with her hands only to remake the dust cloud and begin a new coughing fit. "Ugh." She grunted when she got herself under control.

A childish giggling stopped her in place.

"Hello?" She scanned the room with her eyes. A tiny gasp sounded from behind her. She turned around slowly trying not to startle whatever was there or put off her own death, she figured her life could go any way at this point.

A tiny head ducked behind a barrel as soon as it entered her vision, maybe not death then.

"Hey." She softened her voice. "You can come out, I won't hurt you." A hand poked out from the side, followed by the head. A little girl, Emma smiled, she was adorable. "It's okay, come here." She crouched down and reached out a hand. Emma had never seen someone move so slowly before.

The little girl was obviously scared, but the curiosity in her won out and she reached out to Emma. The little brunette ignored Emma's hand and touched her hair. "You're pretty." She smiled shyly ducking her head. "You have hair like a princess. Are you a princess?"

"Well…only technically."

The little girl's eyes grew wide.

Emma chuckled at the girl's wonder. She returned the gesture and touched the girl's dark chestnut hair. It was soft and just long enough to reach her shoulders. "You're pretty too. Are you a princess?"

"No, you're silly." She smiled wide up at her.

"That's Princess Silly to you." She joked a little to stern apparently.

The girl gasped and brought her arms to her side and stared a hole into the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Hey." She lifted the little brunette's chin with a finger. "I'm just kidding. I'm Emma, what's your name?"

"Sarahbella."

"And how old are you Sarahbella?"

"Three!" She shoved two fingers into Emma's face, a proud smile on her own. Emma took Sarahbella's hand and helped her put the third finger up. The girl stared at the third finger, but then stuck it into Emma's face again with an even bigger smile. The kid was so sweet Emma could almost see why the blind witch ate children. (Not really)

"Okay, so what is three year old Sarahbella doing out here all by herself?" Emma questioned.

"I dunno."

"Where are your parents?"

"No parents, just Uncle."

"What's his name?"

"Uncle."

Emma sighed. "What does he look like?"

"Umm," She thought for a moment. "Shiny."

"Okay, that's not helpful. How about we go into town and we'll see if we can find someone who knows where you live?"

The girl nodded her head severely. "Uncle will miss me."

Emma stood and took Sarahbella by the hand. The magic summoning symbol was instantly forgotten and replaced with a new mission of getting the little girl home.