DISCLAIMER:: as usual do not own

A/N:: this is just one of my many theories. now that the sneak peeks have told us that regina's mother is the miller's daughter, it makes this theory a little more farfetched, but hey, it could still happen. anyways, updates will come much more frequently when i figure out where this story is going and what exactly i'm trying to accomplish here. enjoy and review.

SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN

-Thirteen Years Ago, Peabody Home For Kids, San Diego, California-

Again. They'd decided she wasn't worth their love and attention again. She'd been through this process with four separate families. Always a foster child, never an adoptee. They were never mean about sending her back, or cruel in any way during the time she spent with them, but she'd learned long ago never to expect anything from foster families. It was always temporary. And if she was being entirely honest with herself, Emma knew she preferred it that way. There was that small part of her, as there always would be, that yearned for the feeling of home, that sense of belonging. But the bigger part of her thrived on adventure and freedom. She didn't want to be tied down by any obligations, let a lone a family. She'd seen first hand how much work a family could be; too much work for her by far.

She tossed her duffel on the bottom bunk and fell down on the unforgiving mattress, laying down and tossing her forearm across her eyes to block out the light.

"Crack addict, alcoholic, or domestic violence?"

Emma's arm slid away from her eyes. "Excuse me?"

A head popped down over the edge of the top bunk and regarded her curiously. "Crack addict, alcoholic, or domestic violence? By the looks of you, you're about sixteen, which means you were taken from your home by CPS, not tossed away with the garbage like the young ones are."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Which are you?" The girl looked to be her age, if not a little older. She was tan, incredibly so, with jet black hair and the darkest eyes Emma had ever seen, and yet there seemed to be warmth in them.

"A friend of my father's, someone he trusted, he… he was not a nice man. My father trusted him, continues to trust him, so I had to go."

Emma sighed. "I was kicked out by my latest foster family. I'm one of those out with the garbage young ones."

The girl tilted her head and studied her. Finally, she extended a long, bronze arm. "I'm Carmen Buhlar."

Emma took the hand she offered and shook it. "Emma Swan."

Something flashed in Carmen's eyes briefly and then was gone. "Swan… that's an interesting name."

"I was wrapped in a white blanket when they found me… the nurses at the hospital got creative."

"I like it." Carmen grinned. "It looks like you and I are stuck together Emma Swan."

Emma allowed the girl a small smile. "It would seem that way."

SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN

-Present Day, Castle of the Evil Queen, Undisclosed Location-

Emma buried her face deeper in the pillow. It was wonderfully soft and smelled just faintly of apples. She smiled in her state somewhere between comatose and conscious. Where had she smelled these apples before? Dark hair and matching dark eyes skirted across the corner of her mind. Regina. The name gave her butterflies and then a second later her stomach dropped and her eyes shot open.

She sat up and looked around. She was still in the bedroom in which she had fallen asleep, though her bed mate was gone. She sighed. This wasn't Boston. She was still caught in this dream that wouldn't end. Didn't dreams have fail-safes? Something you could do to wake yourself up? She sighed and threw off the blankets. She'd fallen asleep there in her dress. It had been a chore, hot beyond belief, in the heavy fabric and under all those blankets, but she had been trying to prove a point to Regina. She pulled her boots back on and got up. She trudged out into the parlor to find it occupied, but not by someone she'd previously met.

The man's face lit up when he saw her. "You must be Lady Swan. I was just setting up a late breakfast for you dear."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"Oh, pardon me. My name is Henry Mills, but you may call me Mr. Mills. My daughter didn't know how long you would sleep, so she went out to the orchard. She asked that I feed you and send you out to her, if it pleases you."

Emma felt the searing knife of pain drive through her chest at the mention of that name. She hadn't heard it spoken aloud in so long that she had nearly forgotten how it sounded rolling off someone's tongue. But she chose not to focus on that, and instead let another word catch her attention. "Daughter? You're Regina's father?"

"Why yes, my dear, I am. Come, sit down here, you look slightly pale. Are you well?"

Emma allowed the man to usher her onto a velvet love seat. A table had been set up before it with a wide spread of what she assumed were the breakfast foods of this realm. She recognized eggs and some form of fresh baked bread, as well as an oatmeal-ish substance and fresh fruit. There were several other dishes she'd never seen before and she decided she wasn't feeling adventurous today. She reached for an apple and took a bite. It was delicious. She munched appreciatively, not realizing how hungry she'd been. She looked up to find Mr. Mills regarding her with interest. "Do I have something on my face?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "No my dear. You are just the first… guest we've had here in quite some time. My daughter, precious as she is to me, is not very fond of company."

Emma nodded. "I know the type." She failed to include that she herself was the type.

"I'm afraid she's become too much like her mother."

"There's a mother too?" God, did this woman take living with your parents to the extreme or what?

"Regina's mother is… she lives in another realm, rules there really. She was exiled long ago. Maybe you've heard of her? The Red Queen? Perhaps the Queen of Hearts?"

Emma nearly spit up her current bite of apple. "As in 'off with his head' Queen of Hearts? The tyrannical ruler of Wonderland?"

"So you have heard of her?" He actually seemed delighted and somewhat shocked.

"Who hasn't?"

"Not many people know about Wonderland, my dear. Very few in fact. It is curious that a girl from the mountains would know of such mysterious places."

Emma chuckled. "Who said I'm from the mountains?"

He seemed surprised. "I was under the impression that's where your Boston was. Forgive me if I was mistaken."

"I've just traveled… a lot. Where I come from, Wonderland, and it's Queen, are common knowledge."

SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN

-Present Day, Castle of King James and Queen Snow, (unoccupied) Enchanted Forest-

"Alessandra!" A harried looking Snow got up from the floor after looking under the chest of drawers. "I swear child, you are going to be the death of me, Evil Queen be damned."

She heard a giggle but couldn't decipher where exactly it had come from. She stood, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the extremely large playroom that connected to the nursery. Ever since Alessandra had learned to walk, each morning was a new game of hide and go seek. If they had baby lojacks, she would be an avid investor.

"I know your in here! I can hear your amusement."

"She get away from you again?"

Snow looked up to find James leaning casually in the doorway between the nursery and the playroom, a smile on his face.

"I don't think she's stood still for one moment ever since she found out how to stand on her own two feet." She blew an errant strand of hair out of her face and sighed.

James's grin only widened. "Alessie?"

A diaper-clad blur raced across the room from behind a large stuffed lion and into James's arms. She giggled as her little hands explored his face.

Snow narrowed her eyes at him. "You have the unfair advantage. They don't call you Charming for nothing you know."

"Come now Snow, Alessandra is good practice for when Emma is returned to us. You just have to learn patience. Pretty soon we'll have two daughters on our hands, and then where will you be?"

Snow knew he was right. But that didn't mean she had to like it.