Authors Note (since I forgot to leave one last time): Hello all c: This is my first published fanfic, so I hope its good enough for you all! The pairing is Emma/Regina, but -if it goes the way I plan it to- it's going to take a while to develop. There will be some Remma interaction in this chapter, but only really implications. The story itself is going to be more fluffy than smutty.
Also, I know this is a swan queen story, but there won't be any swan queen stuff until chapter 3. –Covers head with hands- Sorry sorry! I know that's why you're reading this story, but just stick with me! We're going to get some more on Evangeline in this chapter, and then Emma and Regina togetherness next chapter c: Thanks for reading and commenting, I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own any of the characters except Evangeline. In my dreams -sigh-
"Heyyyy." Emma greets her roommate and shuffles over to join her in the kitchen. She plops down into one of the chairs and lays her chin on crossed arms on the countertop. Mary-Margaret sets down her books and eyes Emma curiously. "Is someone here? I thought I heard you talking to someone."
"Ummm, yeah, listen… I kinda need to talk to you about that." Emma starts, giving Mary-Margaret an apologetic look. The brunette raises her eyebrows at Emma, "Emma, is there a man in my apartment?"
"W-what? No, no. That's not what this is at all." The blonde quickly corrects a look of shock on her face. "It's… okay; this is going to sound crazy."
"Emma, most of the things you say sound crazy."
Emma raises her hands in surrender. "Given, this is… going to sound crazier than most of the things that come out of my mouth." She pauses, and Mary-Margaret motions for her to carry on.
"Henry brought a friend here. And, he says that she's from his fairy-tale book. Her name is Evangeline and I've never seen her before." The brunette's brows knit together in confusion and Emma continues, "I was thinking that maybe it was just a friend from school and maybe you knew her and we could take her home?"
"Hmm… did she say what her name was?"
"Evangeline."
"I… I'm sorry Emma, but I don't have any students with that name. I don't think anyone in the school system has that name."
As Emma purses her lips in thought, a realization comes over Mary-Margaret. "Emma." Emma inclines her head. "Do you mean to tell me that she's in my apartment?" The blonde's face turns apologetic. "Uh, yeah. I'm sorry; I couldn't just leave her out in the street. I didn't know what to do. And I couldn't have Henry take her back home with Reg-"
"Where is she?" Mary-Margaret asks, a bit rushed.
"She's upstairs in the spare room." Emma replies, looking at the brunette curiously. "Is there something wrong?"
Mary-Margaret gives Emma a quick sideways glance, but her mind is otherwise preoccupied. Her gaze rests on the stairs. It lingers there a bit more before she heads over to them and travels up. "I think I saw her today." She replies, finally registering that Emma asked her a question, and continues up the stairs with Emma behind her. However, when they reach the room, Evangeline is no where to be found. Mary-Margaret slows her pace and walks through the room to the open window. Emma, who never left the doorway, walks briskly to the window and leans out into the cool night air. She scours the street, or what she can see of it, but sees no young blonde girl missing a pair of shoes. "Where did you run off to?" She whispers into the breeze.
The ringing and buzzing of Emma's phone on the night stand causes both women to jump and Emma to ram her head into the window frame. "Ugh... damnit." She mumbles, rubbing her head with one hand and reaching for her phone with the other. She grabs it and her face takes on a dirty look. "Great, just what I need," she mutters and jabs the button on her phone. "Hello Madam Mayor." She sighs enunciating her lack of enthusiasm, rolling her eyes in the process. "Oh, kid. What's going on?" She says, her tone of voice changing into a slight worry. She pauses for a few moments, listening to Henry's excited babble on the other line. "What? Alright, on my way over." She shoves her phone in her pocket and pulls on her red jacket and heads downstairs to grab her boots.
"What's going on? Is Henry OK?" Mary-Margaret asks, following her down the stairs.
"Henry said that someone just fell off their roof. I guessing it's that girl, so I'd better find her before Regina does."
Long blonde curls bounce in the evening air as Evangeline daintily leans over the edge of the tiled roof of the mayor's house. She knows now that Mary-Margaret is Snow White and she isn't quite sure how to face that yet, so she decides to clear her mind by taking a short leave from the woman's apartment. She lowers herself a little lower, allowing a better view into the bottom floor dining room where Henry and his mother are eating. A tiny lump forms in her throat and she can't swallow it down. Frustrated with herself, she stands and lithely makes her way to the top of the roof to sit and ponder these foreign feelings. She takes another step and her feet slip out from under her. She smacks the tiles with a heavy thud and the breath rushes out of her. As she rolls down the roof, her arms tangle helplessly around her and she plummets over the edge, hitting the mulched ground hard. For a moment all she can do is grunt in pain and suck in her lost breath. Her hands meekly push on the ground and she forces her eyes open, looking for a quick escape from the hedges that surround her. The front door bursts open and the young girl's blood freezes in her veins.
"Excuse me." The sound of the mayor's voice penetrates through the air and rings through Evangeline's ears. "Excuse me." The voice sounds again and Evangeline's brain rattles. "Who are you?" the mayor asks impatiently and footsteps begin to near her. Red signals flash in the girl's brain, slightly messing with her vision, yet her body stays still. She can't move. Fear strikes through her body strong and it is finally enough to convince her muscles to obey her panicky mind. She lifts her legs and though they feel like rubber, is able to push off the ground to move forward. Anywhere away from the queen. She feels fingers at her waist trying to get a hold of her dress and she scrambles. Her breath quickens, her heart is pounding in her head. Throwing herself over the hedges in front of her, she finally regains total control of her legs and sprints into the darkness that consumes the streets, avoiding moonbeams along the way. She's barely made it. She hears shouting from behind her, but the wind whipping past her ears doesn't allow her to make any of it out.
After turning sharp around the corner of the next building, she plows into a warm hard body, knocking her once again to the ground. What was going on? She should've been able to sense someone there. Evangeline has no time to think and staggers to her feet, hand on her forehead. She moves her gaze to see who was unfortunate enough to collide with her. She sees a sea of long blonde curls and recognizes the person as Henry's birth mother. Internally sighing, she moves closer, placing a hand on Emma's which is currently rubbing her shoulder and mutters a soft apology. The hairs on the back of her neck prick as Mar-Margaret steps out from behind Emma. The brunette, without hesitation, crosses to Evangeline and takes her head in her soft hands, surveying the damage to the blonde's head. "Are you okay?" She asks sweetly and Evangeline is reminded of the first time they met. But this isn't Snow, this is Mary-Margaret.
"I'm fine, thank you." She replies quietly and nervously shifts her weight, turning her attention to Emma.
Feeling Evangeline's gaze boring holes into her, Emma raises her eyes to meet the girl's. She sighs, exasperated, "where did you go kid?"
"I, uh…" The young blonde stutters and a pink tint forms in her cheeks. Her eyes snap down to her feet, which suddenly become a high point of interest. A comforting warmth spreads through her, however, when Mary-Margaret grasps her wrist for reassurance. She looks at the brunette and a small smile spread on her face. She's glad that Snow is here, even if she isn't. All three of them hear Regina's voice nearing them and Evangeline turns to face the darkness behind her. She snaps her head back to Mary-Margaret, obvious fear inhibiting her features. She maneuvers her hand in Mary-Margaret's grasp so that she is holding the brunette's hand and turns to Emma once again. "We need to go. Now." She states firmly, and proceeds to drag Mary-Margaret down the street at a rapid pace.
When they reached the house, Evangeline pulled Mary-Margaret into the far end of the kitchen and left her there to cross to Emma, who was walking toward them. "I'm sorry Emma, but I need to talk to… Mary-Margaret in private for a few moments. Could you wait upstairs?"
"Look, I'm not really sure what's going on right now. Where were you? Why are you scared of Mary-Margaret? How do you two even know ea-"
"I know you have lots of questions, most of which I can answer for you. But right now I need to talk to Mary-Margaret. After, you can ask any questions you like and I will answer to the best of my ability." Evangeline persuaded, and with a childish huff, Emma trudged up the stairs, mumbling the whole way up about 'this stupid town' and 'fairytale my ass'.
After hearing the click of the door closing, Evangeline turned back to Mary-Margaret with an unreadable expression. She scooted a chair closer to the teacher and sighed almost dramatically. "Alright, I'm sure you have your questions too, but may I request something first?" she asked, not giving Mary-Margaret a chance to respond, "You have to believe me." The brunette just nodded, still wide eyed with confusion about this girl. "Okay, shoot." Evangeline said, positioning herself to be more comfortable for this possibly long conversation. Mary-Margaret wasted no time getting to the questions that had been prodding her mind since the first time they'd met by the clock tower.
