Author's note: Sorry for the somewhat long wait. The last week has been crazy with finals and everything.

Chapter 7

"Regina, Regina, Regina!" Emma ran up to her foster mother, clearly brimming over the top with excitement. "Guess what?!"

"What?"

"I have the bestest news ever!"

Before Regina could correct Emma on the usage of "bestest", the five year old continued. "Guess what this Friday is!"

Even though Regina already knew, she fixed a blank stare upon her face. "I don't know, sweetheart. What?"

"It's Halloween!"

Regina fake gasped dramatically. "No way!"

"Yes way!" Emma insisted. "This Friday is Halloween. And Mrs. Smith said we're gonna have a party with cookies and candy and punch and we can wear our costumes to school and Jasmine said to go trick or treating by Granny's because she always gives out the biggest candy bars and candy apples I really like candy apples but not regular apples cuz they are gross did you know I can almost fit an entire one in my mouth can we go trick or treating please please pretty please Regina?"

"Slow down. One at a time. Did you say something about a party?"

Emma nodded. "With cookies and candy and punch and…"

"Yes, yes I got that part. It's a costume party, right?" Regina asked as they walked towards her car.

"Yup."

"Well that sounds fun. Have you thought about who you want to be?"

"Yeah I wanna be Snow White."

Regina nearly choked. "S-snow White? Really?"

"She's my favorite Disney princess when I watched the movie at the group home one of the older girls put it on and I really like her because she's so nice and she sings to birds and she's so pretty."

Regina could think of a few other choice words to describe Snow White, words that didn't include nice and pretty but they wouldn't be appropriate for Emma's ears.

"Are you sure? There are lots of other princesses to dress up as. Sleeping Beauty's rather lovely and she has hair that matches yours." Also she was one of the few that Regina didn't have a personal vendetta against.

"No." Emma said stubbornly. "I wanna be Snow White."

Regina sighed inwardly. "All right then. We'll go shopping for a costume tomorrow after school."

As promised, the following afternoon Regina led Emma into Storybrooke's one costume store. Why there was one in the little town was beyond Regina, as nobody really needed it but she was glad now that it was there.

"Wow." Emma breathed as she took in the sheer number of options before her. Although small, the walls of the store were covered from floor to ceiling with every costume imaginable. Wigs hung from the ceiling and props were everywhere. "There's a lotta stuff."

"Can I help you?" A scarecrow in the corner asked, causing Regina to jump in surprise. Emma merely giggled at the sight.

"Yes, hi. We're looking for your princess costumes."

"I'm going to be Snow White." Emma piped up.

"Oh, really? That's pretty cool." The scarecrow commented. "They're back there." He pointed at the back corner of the store. "Let me know if you need any help."

Emma made a beeline for the rack of princess costumes and pulled out the iconic Snow White dress. "Found it!"

"Wait, Emma." Regina held up a green dress. "Isn't this lovely?"

"Yeah but I don't think Snow White wears green though."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe you could pick something else. I mean look at all the options around you." Regina sifted through the rack. "You could be any princess you wanted. How about this?" She pulled out a costume only to find that it was a Tinkerbell one, and quickly stashed it back. "All right, not that one, but what about this? I know you like purple and Sleeping Beauty has blonde hair just like yours. We could do your hair to match hers in the movie and you'd look so pretty."

"But I wanna be Snow White."

"Why though?"

"Because I do." Emma said petulantly.

Oh, the logic of a five year old. "But Snow White is so…" Regina struggled to find words that were PG. "Insufferably irritating." She finally settled on.

"No she's not." Emma giggled. "She's so nice and pretty."

Just hearing the little girl praise the stupid princess like so was enough to make Regina curl her fists. Remember, the Snow White Emma thinks she likes isn't the actual one. It's a falsified version created by this complete imbecile named Disney. If Emma knew the truth she wouldn't worship the little brunette so much. "All right. If that's the one you want then that's the one you shall have."

"Yay! I can't wait till Halloween."

Regina could, though.

Halloween night was bright, clear, and not too cold, an ideal night for trick or treating. Around 5:30 the voices of kids already on their sugar highs could be heard even from the depths of Regina's vast mansion.

"Can we go now?" Emma hopped from one foot to the other, clearly impatient. She'd worn her Snow White costume to school and hadn't taken it off since. The iconic short, cropped wig sat atop her head as it had been since 7 this morning; if Regina didn't know better she'd say that with dark hair Emma looked an awful lot like a young Snow.

"Just a moment, I want to get these dishes into the dishwasher first."

"Reginaaaaa. Please can we go now? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Pleaseeeee."

"All right, all right." Regina closed the dishwasher with a click. "I see someone's impatient."

"Well, duh." Emma answered flippantly. She began twirling around and around in the foyer, clearly loving the way her dress swished around. "I wanna get all the big candy bars before anyone else."

"Don't you think you've had enough candy for today?"

"Never." She reached up to open the door, and then looked back to see if Regina was following, but upon seeing the plain black peacoat Regina was pulling on, Emma immediately let out a gasp. "You can't wear that!"

"Why not?"

"It's Halloween, you have to wear a costume."

"She's right." A voice interrupted. Regina looked up to see Graham strolling through the open door.

"What are you wearing?" She wrinkled her nose as she accepted a chaste kiss from him. The usually casually dressed sheriff wore a full knight's outfit, down to the helmet and a shield held to the side.

"I thought the princess could use a knight." He responded, bowing in Emma's direction, eliciting a giggle from the little girl.

"You have to wear a costume." Emma insisted.

"Halloween's for kids," Regina explained patiently. "Not adults."

"Nuh uh. Graham's dressed up."

"Yeah, nuh uh." Graham repeated, shooting Regina a playful wink.

"Fine. What should I wear then? I don't have anything that could be a costume."

Emma tapped her chin and screwed up her face in a mock show of concentration. "I know!" She said finally. "You can be the Evil Queen!"

Oh, the irony. "Really."

"Yeah. Here." Emma handed Regina a plastic crown. "I won it during pin the grin on the jack o lantern today. And then you can put on a dress or something."

Regina rolled her eyes but took the crown anyway. "I'll be right back." Fifteen minutes later she came back downstairs in a long black dress. Her short hair had been styled back in smooth updo and she wore black eyeliner and dark lipstick.

"Better?"

"Much." Emma grinned. "Can we go now?"

"Not before we get a picture." Graham said as he reached into his bag for a camera. "Smile, ladies. Or should I say, Snow White and the Evil Queen."

"Regina, look how much candy I have!" Emma exclaimed as she shook her pillowcase. They'd just finished hitting up every house in Storybrooke.

"Wow. I certainly hope you don't eat that all tonight."

"Can we go back to Granny's?"

"Again? We've already gone three times." Regina stated.

"But she gives out big candy bars."

"Yeah, she gives out big candy bars." Graham repeated.

Regina glared at him, but couldn't help but smile.

"Fine. But this will the last time, and then we're going back home."

Emma smiled and nodded. "Ok."

As they walked back to Granny's, Emma glanced around and smiled. She'd never dressed up,

or gone out trick or treating before. She was enjoying the night and especially with Regina and Graham who were the nicest people she'd ever met.

"Thank you." She suddenly said.

"For what?" Regina asked.

"For today. This is my first time celebrating Halloween, and you made it special. Thank you." She repeated, hugging her waist.

"You're very welcome." Regina smiled. "I'm glad you're having fun."

The three continued walking, and as they approached Granny's, Emma's eyes doubled in size once again. She started running, but stopped when Regina's voice called behind her.

"Emma. Wait for us, sweetheart."

"Go on now." Graham stated once they approached her. "We'll wait for you here."

Emma ran, but within seconds came back running towards Regina.

"Regina." She whimpered, clinging to her peacoat. "I wanna go home."

"Emma." She knelt down. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I-i wanna go home. Please." She cried.

"Emma, what happened?" Graham asked gently.

"T-there's a clown." She sniffled. "I don't like clowns. Let's go home. I have enough candy already."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a costume. You have a princess costume, and they have a clown one. It's just a normal person."

"I'm still scared."

"Well, would it make you feel better if I went with you?" Graham asked softly.

Emma nodded shyly.

"Ok then." Graham smiled. "Let's go."

He picked up the small child, placing her on his hip.

"We'll be back soon."

Inside Granny's, it was packed due to her annual Halloween party. The walls were covered with the same old cheesy decorations she used each year. Granny, dressed up as a pumpkin, stood behind the counter, serving up bright red cups of "Bloody Hand Punch" (Kool-Aid and ginger ale) as she conversed with Storybrooke's citizens while Ruby rushed around from table to table, offering up snacks.

"Emma," a little girl dressed up in the iconic Princess Jasmine costume ran up. "You're here!"

"Duh." She leaned in close. "I already got three candy bars from Granny but she won't know if I get another."

Jasmine's eyes widened as she took in the amount of candy Emma held in her heavy pillowcase. "Wow. I wish my daddy would let me get that much but he says that candy is bad for you."

"Don't worry. I'll share. Now come on." She linked her arm through her friend's. "Let's go get some more."

"Ten minutes, girls." Graham added before he started towards the back, where the dartboard was.

Despite the amount of candy Emma had ingested throughout the day, by the time they were rounding the corner around Regina's place she was out cold, snoring softly in Graham's arms.

"Thanks for coming with." Regina said as she unlocked her front door, stepping aside to let Graham and Emma inside.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Your Majesty."

Regina had to suppress a smirk. He had no idea how ironic his remark had been.

"I must say, you look quite dashing in that dress. Black suits you."

"Of course it does." She said as she led him upstairs. "Right in here."

He gently placed Emma down on the bed while Regina reached down to remove her crown. Tucking her blanket in around her, she kissed her forehead before exiting the room, shutting the door halfway just the way Emma liked it.

"I should be going." Graham said. "I'm sure I'll be dragging Leroy home from the Rabbit Hole pretty soon."

"Can't that wait?" Regina murmured. "I'm sure attending to your queen is more important than some drunk."

"Well…" Graham started but almost as if on cue his phone rang. "And there it is." He sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"If you're lucky…"

"Good night, milady."

"Good night." Clicking the door shut behind her, she suddenly saw that Graham had left his camera behind on the hall table. Oh well, she'd return it to him tomorrow. Regina began scrolling through the pictures. There was one of Emma and Regina, both smiling widely for the camera; one of the three of them; Emma accepting a rose from Graham the knight, Emma and her friend Jasmine; Emma, Granny, and Ruby; another of Emma and Regina; and another and another.

Regina smiled to herself as she took in how happy everyone was in the pictures. Including herself.

Halloween hadn't been so bad. Almost...fun, even. She decided.

Author's note: any thoughts before you go?