"Emma…Emma!" Snow White called out to her daughter. It was almost time for the ten year old girl's ballroom dance lesson, so naturally Snow White found her daughter playing the white knight in her bedroom. Emma was protecting a doll with long black hair from her 'evil' teddy bears with a wooden sword.
"Don't worry my lady. I will protect you from the evil bear knights" Emma said theatrical. "Take this…and that…and that…" Emma continued, emphasizing her words with a poke of her wooden sword.
Snow had to giggle had her daughter's play. She softly knocked on the door and pushed the already half open door completely open. "Emma" Snow said, trying to let her voice sound stern,: "Why aren't you downstairs in the ballroom for your dance lesson?"
Emma, who was a bit startled from her mother's appearance, stood still in the middle of the room with her head turned down, fidgeting with her hands. "I don't like dance lesson" she softly spoke.
"I know, sweetie, that you rather learn sword fighting like your brother, Neal, but that's just not what a lady does" Snow explained. Neal was two years younger than Emma but was already learning to hold a sword. From his first lesson, Emma was jealous of her brother.
"It's not fair. You learned to shoot arrows when you where my age" Emma countered: "Why can't I learn how to fight too?"
Snow knew she hadn't an answer for her daughter that Emma would accept so she tried to divert Emma from the subject. "Why don't we choose out a nice dress together for you to dance in." Snow had pulled the closet open already but when she didn't find her daughter next to her looking at the beautiful dresses she turned around and found Emma looking disgusted at the proposal of her mother. "Come on. The sooner you pull one on the sooner you can get out of it again" Snow tried.
"Fine. But I'm not wearing a pink pooffy dress." That already ruled out over half of the dresses in Emma's closet.
After Snow personally guided her daughter to the ballroom so Emma wouldn't try to hide again, Snow went off to find her husband. Maybe it was time for her and David to make a compromise with their daughter so she could be happier but still attend her needed lesson to eventually become a good queen.
In the evening the Charming's sat all together down at the long table in the dining hall for dinner. Emma was still wearing her dress because there wasn't enough time for her the change since she had delayed her dance lesson so long. Neal, who sat next to her was sniggering at how ridiculous his sister looked. He was used to see her in pants and blouse. Emma tried to sneak in a punch when their parents weren't paying attention to them.
"Emma" David spoke. It startled Emma. She had just punched Neal for the fifth time and she thought that this time her father had caught her in the act. "Sweetie, your mother and I have been talking. We understand that you are frustrated that you have to take your 'princess' lessons." That's what Emma always called them.
"So, we want to propose a compromise. You can take sword fighting lessons…"
"Are you serious?!" Emma squeaked, interrupting her father.
"Yes, sweetie. As long as you go to your scheduled lessons properly" Snow continued.
"I will, I promise!" Emma promised without having to think about it. She was so excited.
"That means being on time and doing your best. Your scheduled lessons are very important" David emphasized.
Emma nodded. "Thank you!" She jumped up from her seat and hugged her parents. She couldn't wait for her first sword lesson.
Only four weeks had passed but Emma had already mastered all the basic moves Neal had learned in four months. And Emma wasn't shy about bragging to her brother with this fact. Their teacher, Lancelot, was very impressed by Emma. Not just because she learned so quickly but also because of the strength and motivation the young girl had.
"Well Emma, I think you are ready to learn your first attack move next lesson" Lancelot announced.
"Thank you, sir Lancelot" Emma said gratefully.
"What about me?" Neal asked hopeful.
"Not yet, Neal. Your defense is still a bit weak. Don't worry, Neal" Lancelot spoke, seeing the young prince's sad face: "Learn how to keep your sword up long enough and you'll get there. Now off you go, both of you. If I'm not mistaken you have some free time before lunch.
After sword lessons, free time was one of Emma's favorite times of the day. No one telling her what to do or how to act. No one telling her to walk straight and keep her head up. Lately Emma liked to go explore the castle grounds, especially the woods. Usually one of her parents knights would follow her around to keep her safe but once in a while Emma could sneak away before the knight found her. And today was one of those days.
Running through the woods with the wind in her hair. A sort of cliché, but Emma loved it. Jumping over small streams and climbing the trees. Emma knew she did have to be careful because a lot of wild animals lived in the woods: birds, rabbits, deer but also wild dogs, bears and badgers. Emma was learning to use her senses better to detect if dangerous animals were around. Luckily today she didn't sense danger but she did sense something else or better said, someone else. The first thing that Emma noticed was the shuffling through the leaves so she decided to climb one of the nearby trees to have a better view. It didn't take her long to find a young girl with long black hair that reflected the sunshine, walking through the forest. She had a basket with her and it seemed like she was collecting something. Maybe mushrooms or herbs.
When the girl walked under the branch Emma was sitting on, Emma called out: "You do know your trespassing on castle grounds, right?"
The girl was startled and tried to locate the voice. Eventually she looked up and Emma saw beautiful brown eyes staring up at her. The girl seemed to relax when she saw it was only a girl around her age watching her.
"If these are castle grounds and I am trespassing, aren't you doing same then?" the dark haired girl spoke.
Emma jumped down and landed neatly on her feet in front of the girl. "You can't really trespass grounds when you live on them" Emma said with a playful smile.
"You live here" the girl asked surprised.
"I do, I'm Emma" Emma introduced herself.
"Emma?" The girl seemed to think a second or two before she knew why the name sounded so familiar. "Princess Emma, I'm so sorry." The girl made a deep bow and kept her head down. "I didn't know…I'm sorry princess."
"Don't worry. I was just messing around. Please stand up" Emma spoke awkwardly with a soft voice. She hated that people acted differently around her when they knew she was a princess. It was one of the reason she didn't really have friends. "What's your name?" Emma asked.
"My name is Regina, princess" the girl said with a courtesy.
"It's nice to meet you Regina. So…What's in the basket?" Emma couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.
"I'm sorry, princes. I was collecting some edible herbs and roots. I didn't mean to steal from your grounds. Here," Regina handed Emma the basket with her head turned down: "I'm really sorry, princess."
"I'll tell you what…You keep the basket with what you already collected and you stop calling my princess" Emma said with a smile. Regina looked up to meet those twinkling green eyes.
"Thank you, pri… Emma." Both girls giggled. "Forgive me for asking," Regina spoke cautiously: "But why are you here in the woods, all alone?"
"I like the woods" Emma simply stated.
"I like the woods too" Regina smiled: "but that still doesn't explain why you are alone. Shouldn't there be a guard around,…or a friend?"
Emma averted her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry."
"It's okay. I just…I don't really have friends and the guards aren't that fun either."
"I would think the princess would have lots of friends."
"That's just it" Emma said throwing her up arms and let them fall back by her side by gravity: "They want to be friends with the princess but not with Emma."
"Aren't the princess and Emma the same person?" Regina asked confused.
"You would think so, don't you…" Emma sighed. "If I could choose, I would never have been a princess."
"Than what do you wish to be?"
Emma didn't need to think about her answer. With a smiled she answered: "A knight."
"A knight?" Regina asked surprised: "You want to be a boy than?"
"No, I'm okay with being a girl. I just think it's stupid that girls can't be knight."
"Well you are a princess, Emma, and one day you will be queen. Maybe you can change these prejudices about what boys or girls should be…You can be the change."
Emma's emerald green eyes sparkled because of Regina's empowering words. "Yeah, maybe I will be" Emma smiled.
"I should go now" Regina stated when she looked up to the position of the sun.
"Already?"
"Yes, mother will be waiting for these herbs and roots." Regina picked up her basket from the forest floor and turned to where she had come from.
"Will you come back?" Emma asked hopeful: "…I…I liked talking to you."
Regina smiled over her shoulder: "It would be my honor."
With a polite nod of the head both girls said goodbye to each other. Regina returned to the path that leaded to her home. Emma stood watching her new friend until she could see her waving black locks anymore. The princes sighed and then she too followed the path back home with a happy and exciting feeling that she couldn't really place. Was it all because she finally found a friend or was it something else? Emma didn't know. All she knew was that talking to Regina was easy, it didn't feel forced and she didn't feel judged by her new friend.