A/N: I don't own anything! Basically I'm bending all aspects of the show's time and space. Snow White is not Emma's mother, Regina and Emma live in the same time period in FTL, etc, etc. I'm debating on whether or not to continue this story so for now we'll see what the interest in it is like. But if it turns out the interest is there, I can promise some shocking moments I've got up my sleeve. Enjoy!
"Regina, King Michael and Queen Elizabeth will be arriving within the hour. You must go change into appropriate dress." Regina looked down at her corset ridden waist that transitioned into layers upon layers of ruffles. What else could he possibly ask of me? She snarled inside her head.
Instead, her face remained passive as she sharply nodded and walked towards her room. Her own, personal room. One would assume that along with marriage came a shared bedchamber, not that she was complaining the mere thought of sharing a room with that vile man caused her jaw to clamp down, hard. The only problem was that the separated rooms did not stop the late night calls for Regina when the King found himself unsatisfied in his bed.
Though her visits into his bed riddled her with nightmares for the several nights after, it was expected for her to be there to answer to his every beck and call. Once Leopold had fully deemed himself satisfied, he would kick her out of his room, sometimes without a chance to fully clothe herself.
It made her stomach churn. It made her feel sick, infuriated, dirty, and desperately lonely. Time after time of living and reliving the nightmare, she finally devised a defense mechanism to keep the pain hidden. She took all her anger and carefully wrapped it into a regal persona, carefully waiting for a time when she could break free. One problem remained, she lacked a catalyst. She needed something, or someone to turn the tables so that she, for once in her goddamn life, could win.
After laboriously taking off her current dress and replacing it with the periwinkle blue dress that she knew would be elegant enough for the evening. She halfheartedly draped a diamond necklace across her chest, making sure her earrings matched. Stepping back and looking at herself in the mirror, she turned from side to side, her thoughts drifting to years before.
What she would give to wear her riding clothes again, to braid her hair back haphazardly and just let it flow in the wind. A knock on the door snapped Regina out of her thoughts. She clenched her first, mentally berating herself for letting her mind wander back to the few good times of the past, it only made the harsh reality she was living now that much harder.
"Come in" She sighed, expecting no one more than a chambermaid to come tidy up her room. Instead, a young Snow White stood in the doorway in a sparkly white dress.
"Hello step-mother. You look beautiful." Snow said in a syrupy sweet voice. Regina cringed. Every moment spent in the presence of the child brought distinct pains in her chest. Each word she uttered was one that Daniel could not. What had she done to be cursed to such a trapped life as this?
"Hello Snow, you look very pretty as well." Regina's smile stopped at her mouth. Her eyes remained in their flat state.
"Thank you. Father says that the King and Queen are arriving. And they have brought their daughter, the Lost Princess!" Snow was now holding her dress in her two hands as she slightly swayed back and forth, a huge grin on her face. "Do you think she would like to play with me?"
"From what I have heard, the Lost Princess is all grown up. Around my age I presume" Regina said bitterly. How this princess could go missing for 20 years, proceed to find her way back into a life of freedom, entitlement, and royalty while Regina was stuck in a never-ending nightmare of jewel disguised servitude was beyond her.
"And how old are you again?" Snow blabbed. She never stopped talking. It was by far her most annoying trait.
"28. Shall we go greet them?" Regina snapped. She recovered quickly with a smile; it would not do for the precious Snow White to tell her father that her stepmother was being curt. Regina made her way out of her room and down the lengthy stone-embedded hallway to the grand foyer of the castle. Snow skipped behind her, completely oblivious to the tornado of feelings that were constantly whirling inside of Regina's hard exterior.
Upon arriving Regina made her way reluctantly to the two thrones that stood at the end of a long red carpeted runway. Leopold was already sitting in his own throne stiffly. He looked nervous, which seemed peculiar to Regina because King Michael was one of his closest allies. The two often entertained one another at balls, drinking the night away and flirting with all the young women. Regina racked her brain for the possible issues that would have caused this uncharacteristic fidgeting, but was interrupted by the doors which were wrenched open by the two guards who were permanently posted there.
Stalking through them good naturedly were King Michael and Queen Elizabeth. Michael was a large, burly looking man with a thick black beard. He wore a crown on his head and decorated robes that were commonly for the Kings. In fact, Leopold was wearing one of a remarkably similar nature, Regina noticed, as he rose to greet his friend.
Elizabeth stood next to Michael, quiet and proper. As always. Elizabeth was what any King would want in a Queen. She stood where she was supposed to, had perfect etiquette, only discussed the right topics with the other ladies at formal gatherings. She was everything that Regina hated. And the worst part about it all was that Regina could just tell, that she actually enjoyed it all. Unconsciously, Regina snarled to herself.
"Hello Regina" Elizabeth softly said with a smile as she curtsied slightly.
"So nice to see you Elizabeth" Regina returned, now in full Queen mode. She said all the right things, went through the motions, but there was no emotion behind it. She moved as if operated by a person behind her. A puppet stuck moving as the puppeteers desires. This lack of emotion and her constant stone-eyed glare gained her the reputation of being icy and aloof.
Michael and Leopold hugged, immediately laughing and talking animatedly. All of Leopold's nerves seemed to have vanished into thin air, until a figure appeared behind the closing doors of the castle. When the guards saw the person standing outside they suddenly ripped the doors back open, apologizing and bowing furiously.
Through the doors walked a tall, blonde woman. She wore a simple, flowing forest green dress that was just tight enough for Regina to take a second glance. Regina had previously thought she was the only one who dared to push the strictly modest dress code with her plunging necklines and tightly wrapped dresses, but apparently she was not alone.
The unannounced woman continued to walk down the hall, quite uniquely actually. The woman did not glide as Elizabeth, and so many others of royalty did, but instead seemed to stalk purposely, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders.
"It's the lost princess" Snow White whispered next to Regina in awe. The whisper and slight tug on her dress startled Regina. She realized she had been mesmerized by the woman. Mentally shrugging it off, she composed herself. Just her luck. Now she would have to entertain another entitled, brainless, proper-
"Hi." The Lost Princess stood toe to toe with Regina. The mysterious woman had unexpectantly skipped the formal King then daughter then Queen greeting. In doing so she had succeeded in surprising Regina more in the last two minutes than Regina had been in the past six months. Since Regina had still yet to respond the Princess she spoke up again. "I'm Emma. I'm Michael and Elizabeth's…daughter." She struggled to finish as she flashed a shy smile.
"Hello. I'm Regina." Regina held out her hand expecting the woman to take it and curtsy. While Emma did take her hand, she did not curtsy. Instead, she slowly brought her hand to her pink lips and kissed it softly.
"Yes, I know who you are." Emma said while looking deeply into Regina's eyes. Regina was taken aback, confused, angered at the audacity of the other woman. To Regina, this type of behavior was a game, power play she was all too familiar with. This was exactly how the Princes and Kings seduced the women of the court to gain tactical advantages and allies.
Regina snatched her hand back and let it hang at her side, shooting a warning glare at Emma. Emma only smiled and shook her head as if she knew that Regina would do this. This only angered Regina more. Her body tensed up as she opened her mouth to snap at the woman, but just before she could say anything Emma took a few steps towards her parents and Leopold.
"This here is my beautiful daughter, Emma!" Michael merrily exclaimed as he put a hand on Emma's shoulder. Leopold visibly tensed but bowed slightly nonetheless while Emma curtsied.
"Nice to meet you Emma." Leopold said gruffly before changing the topic quickly, "So I must show you the new strategy tactics."
"Ah, yes!" Michael replaced his hand from Emma's shoulder to Leopold's as the two made their way into the war room.
"Emma you really do need to learn how to walk properly, you can't just go stomping around." Elizabeth chastised.
"I'm pretty sure no one cares about how I walk, Mother."
"Yes, they do."
"Well I've gone my whole life walking the way I do and I've been just fine. I'm going to walk around the grounds." Emma said as she pivoted quickly, and made her way back outside.
"She didn't even say hello to me!" Snow pouted. Regina smiled, maybe she would like this woman after all.
Regina turned and walked towards the balcony that stood on the side of the second floor of the castle. She spent most of her time there since it was where her apples trees, all of which had recently shriveled up from the intense heat of the summer, used to grow.
She stood in her normal place by the railing. It overlooked the valley and gave her a slight reprieve from the suffocating life that she was trapped in. Warm wind ran its fingers through her hair as she stepped to the edge of the railing.
There, just below the side of the castle stood Emma talking to one of the gardeners and his son. Regina recognized the little boy, because he was always trailing so close behind his father's heels that he would occasionally step on them, receiving a light "Watch your feet, boy!" from the older man. She was talking animatedly, hugging them both and waving her hands. They both seemed ecstatic to see her as well.
She picked up the little boy and twirled him around, a feat Regina could appreciate, in her tight dress. The small gesture was one of the most kind and humane things that Regina had seen in a surprisingly long time and it caused the corners of her lips to turn up slightly. Make no mistake, she was not smiling, but it was a step.
As if she had been alerted of Regina's overlooking presence, Emma turned her head up suddenly. Though it was too close for Emma to have actually looked Regina dead in the eye, Regina felt the intensity of the stare anyway. Emma waved and smiled at Regina, the little boy still in her arms.
Regina wasn't used to people trying to associate with her. Her reputation usually preceded her and others tended to remain polite, but distant when in her presence. This woman must not have gotten the message. Doesn't she know what I'm like? Which was an extremely paradox thought in itself, considering not one person in the entire castle actually knew what she was really like.
"Regina, Come down. I want you to see something!" Emma shouted from below.
"No, I'm going to stay up here." Regina spoke as if Emma was standing mere feet away form her, she refused to raise her voice in such an unrefined manner.
"Come on! You'll like it, I promise."
"You know nothing of what I like," Regina had reached the end of her patience with this presumptuous woman.
"Please?" Emma begged, jutting her bottom lip out slightly. It disturbed Regina that she was looking at her hard enough to notice the minute detail from way up on the balcony. Regina growled and turned from the railing, stomping her way would show this woman how to treat a queen.
While thinking of all the wrathful ways she could repay her for this inconvenience Regina didn't notice that she had reached the spot that Emma, the gardener, and the little boy were standing. Yet again, cut off before she could get a word out, Emma pulled her hand and led her around the rounded edges of the castle into a little dip in the landscape.
Here, protected by a mysteriously placed mini balcony, stood an apple tree. It was so healthy that it seemed impossible it could have even lived in this land that was covered by scorched grass and wilted trees. The leaves gleamed a waxy forest green and the apples were so shiny Regina could see her reflection in a hanging one nearby.
"Wha…" Regina was stunned. No, completely dumbfounded. How in the world could this woman have known her connection to apple trees? How had she protected this tree from the drought? How on earth could she have even known that she liked nature, or anything for that matter. She had just met the woman minutes ago. An Endless stream of questions flowed through her head as she gazed at the tree before her. Emma watched her, content, and only a little bit proud of herself at the speechless state she had put Regina in.
"I don't understand. How could you possibly know?" Regina's tone was a little curt now. She was confused and wanted answers immediately. "No one except the castle servants know I have apple trees, and I doubt they even know I enjoy them."
She steeled her gaze at Emma. Emma fidgeted slightly, she hadn't really thought this far into the surprise. She didn't think Regina would be demanding answers this suddenly, a foolish miscalculation on her part. You know this woman, of course she would be immediately skeptical. Come on Emma! She mentally smacked her forehead.
"Lets just say that one time when I was living up to the lost part of the Lost Princess title, I saw you standing out on your balcony, sitting under your apple trees. I figured you liked them and when I realized they would get ruined from the summer I arranged for uh... Jack, to plant one in this little cove I knew of." Emma answered.
She held her breath. Would she buy it in its entirety? Would she ask the gardener if he had actually planted it? He, of course, would have no idea what she was talking about. Would she ask if it was him who had watered it several times a day, and covered it from the sun? Would she know that all by herself she had painstakingly bought the baby tree from the village and carried it the mile and a half back to the castle?
If did, indeed, figure out all of these things, fine. Fine. She was going to find out eventually. But Emma could not bear the thought of Regina finding why she had done it. Not yet. She needed time to explain. Time to show Regina that this whole time she had been living a nightmare in this castle, she had not been alone.
So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Reviews are appreciated, as always :)