Author's note: Whew, this ch is the longest so far! Couldn't figure out where to split it, so I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 8
When fall arrived in Storybrooke, it arrived with a bang, suddenly out of nowhere much like the way Storybrooke just appeared out of thin air. One day it was hot and sunny and the next cool and crispy, colorful leaves littering the streets. Rain began to fall too, drenching the small town as Storybrooke's citizens replaced their shorts and tank tops with rain jackets and tall boots.
"Oh, it's time for recess." Mrs. Smith closed the book she'd been reading from. Like cannons, the kindergarteners shot up from their seat on the colorful rug in the center of the room and ran towards their cubbies to grab their coats.
"Look at my jacket." Emma said as she zipped up her brand new rain coat that Regina had bought her just the day before. It was a lovely dark red, unlike the other bright colored clothes Emma owned, but Regina had said that the color suited her. "Isn't it pretty?"
"Yeah." Jasmine replied, pulling on her tall boots. "I like it. Ready to go?"
"You bet!" Emma and Jasmine joined the crowd of kids racing towards the open door.
"No running!" Mrs. Smith called, though it was futile. Despite the heavy rain recess was recess, the weather having virtually no effect on the exciting prospects that lay outside.
"Yuck, it's all muddy out." Jasmine wrinkled her nose.
"I like it." Emma declared.
"Want to play hopscotch?"
"Sure." Emma reached into her pocket for a piece of chalk and began drawing on the wet pavement. It took a few tries but she eventually got the layout of the game out.
"You can go first." Jasmine offered the blonde a stone she'd found on the ground. Emma took it gratefully and started hopping.
"Whoa. That was close." Jasmine said when Emma nearly slipped on the mud that was spread out throughout the playground.
"Yeah but I didn't fall." Emma stepped back proudly. "Your turn."
Jasmine went, carefully hopping to avoid the mud puddles. Nearby, a group of older boys were flinging mud at each other, much to the displeasure of the teacher monitoring recess.
"No throwing mud!" The dark haired teacher called, but once her back was turned the fight resumed.
"Alright, it's your turn again."
Emma walked up again, and that's when it happened. Her left foot was about to land on the square with number 4 when a large ball of mud came flying in her direction.
"Watch out!" Jasmine called, but it was too late. The mud landed on the square a split second before Emma's foot did, causing her to wobble violently before skidding forwards, landing hard on her butt, mud splattering everywhere.
"Oh my gosh are you okay?"
Emma didn't respond; she sat in the mud, looking kind of stunned as she took in her dirty clothes.
"What's going on over here?" A voice said from behind. It belonged to the dark haired teacher who was monitoring recess for the day. "Ohhh." She said, upon noticing mud covered Emma. "Oh dear."
Emma took one look at the teacher and promptly burst into tears.
"It's ok, honey. Come on let's get you cleaned up." The teacher held out her hand towards Emma, who reached out and took it shyly, wiping at her eyes.
The dark haired teacher led Emma inside the building and down the hall, turning right. "I'm Ms. Blanchard. I teach fifth grade."
"Emma."
"Well Emma, it's nice to meet you. I don't think I've ever seen you around here before. Are you new?"
"Yeah."
"Welcome to Storybrooke then." She pushed open a door and turned on a light. "The nurse isn't here today but no worries." She helped Emma take off her dirty jacket and placed it aside, directing her to sit on a plastic chair. "Now, first things first. Are you hurt?"
Slowly, Emma held up her hands to reveal angry scrapes on her palms.
"Ouch." The teacher clucked her tongue sympathetically. "That's not fun." She reached into a cabinet for some antiseptic wipes and a box of bandages. "Ok, this is gonna sting a bit."
Sting was a bit of an understatement. "Owwwwwww." Emma howled as the wipe made contact with her skin. She quickly withdrew her hand. "That hurts."
"I know and I'm sorry, but the quicker we get this done the sooner you can get out of your wet clothes."
Emma sighed. "Kay." She scrunched up her face as Ms. Blanchard finished cleaning her hands.
"Which band-aid would you like? I have Hello Kitty, Batman, Barbie, and Elmo."
"Batman." Emma said automatically. "Elmo's for babies. Yuck."
"I like Batman too." Ms. Blanchard unwrapped the band-aids and placed them over the cuts. "Funny, I would've pegged you for Barbie."
"Nah. I don't really play with dolls." Emma squirmed in the chair. "Can I change now?"
"Of course." Ms. Blanchard opened a closet door and placed a box at Emma's feet. "This is the lost and found. Nobody's came to claim this stuff, so you can just wear some of it home." She rifled through the box, wrinkling her nose as she held up a sweatshirt that was clearly too big. "Hmm. I don't think there's anything here in your size."
"It's ok." Emma took the sweatshirt. "I'm used to it."
"To what, having clothes that are too big?"
"Uh huh. I used to wear hand me downs a lot."
Ms. Blanchard took Emma's discarded, wet clothes and placed them in a plastic bag. "Lots of siblings?"
"Foster siblings."
"Oh!" And then the realization hit her. "Emma. New here. Foster siblings. You're the girl that the mayor took in."
"Yeah. She's my foster mother."
"How do you like living with her?"
"She's the best!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. She took me shopping and trick or treating and makes the best apple pie."
"Apple pie, huh? I'm not really a fan of apples."
"Me neither." Emma stuck out her tongue. "But Regina makes really good apple pie."
Ms. Blanchard laughed. "Well that's good then" She handed Emma the bag. "Here are your clothes. The mud should come right out in the wash."
"Okay."
"Come on, I think recess is over. I'll take you back to your class. Who's your teacher?"
"Mrs. Smith."
"Oh yeah? How do you like her?"
"She's ok. She makes us read a lot."
"Reading's important, sweetie."
"I know. But I don't have to like it."
"I guess you don't." They came to a stop in front of the door to the kindergarten class. "Here we are."
"Thanks Ms. Blanchard."
"It was no problem. And like I said before, it was very nice to meet you Emma."
"You too. Bye!"
As Mary Margaret watched Emma walk away and into the classroom, she was struck by a sudden feeling of gut wrenching sadness. But why?
"What are you wearing?"
Regina did a double take as Emma approached her. Instead of the cute little red coat and dark jeans she'd went to school in, the little girl wore an oversized gray sweatshirt and a pair of blue sweats. Her backpack was swung over a shoulder and her other hand clutched a large grocery bag.
"I fell in the mud today and got my clothes dirty." Emma's lip began to quiver. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok, dear. The mud will come out in the wash. Did you get hurt?"
Emma held up her hands. "Yeah. It's ok, this really nice teacher helped me and everything. She gave me Batman band-aids. There she is!" She cried, upon seeing a petite looking woman exit the building.
"Who?"
"Her. Ms. Blanchard."
Suddenly, Regina felt as though she'd swallowed something sour. "Ms B-blanchard?"
"Yeah. Over here!" She waved.
And much to Regina's displeasure the teacher came trotting over. "Hello, Emma. Mayor Mills."
Regina just sneered at her before turning away. Why? Out of all the teachers. Why?!
"I was telling Regina all about you." Emma chattered, completely oblivious to her foster mother's discomfort. "She likes Batman too."
"Oh really?" Mary Margaret glanced up and noticed Regina's face, all while nodding and smiling along to the constant stream of dialogue flowing from Emma's mouth.
"And then Mrs. Smith played the piano for us and we all got to sing along she played the itsy bitsy spider which I know all the words to because every teacher I've ever had taught us that song and then we sat on the magic carpet which isn't really magic of course but she calls it that and we had show and tell and…"
"Emma." Regina interrupted. "Come on, we have to go."
"But I'm not done telling Ms. Blanchard about what I did today."
"You can tell her tomorrow." Regina began to practically drag Emma through the parking lot.
"Bye." Emma waved as she followed Regina to the car. "See you tomorrow."
"Emma, I don't want you talking to Ms. Blanchard." Regina said once they were situated in her car.
"Why?"
"Because…" God. Regina was grasping at straws here. She had no reason for Emma to stay away from the insipidly cheerful little teacher. Oh yeah, except for the fact that the woman had ruined Regina's life. But she couldn't tell Emma that. "She's not a good person."
"But she's so nice. She gave me Batman band-aids."
"Well appearances can be deceiving."
Despite Emma's muttered agreement, Regina knew that there was no way she could keep the little girl away from Mary Margaret.
If there hadn't only been one school in Storybrooke Regina would've transferred Emma, immediately.
Mary Margaret wasn't the only person Emma was becoming friends with. Every Wednesday afternoon, kindergarten ended early, at 11:30, so Regina would pick Emma up and take her out to lunch at Granny's before dropping her off at daycare.
It had become a routine; Emma always ordered a grilled cheese while Regina got a wrap, and they always shared an order of fries. Like clockwork, Leroy showed up, usually bleary eyed, at the diner around 11:30 as well, though he was there for breakfast while Emma and Regina were there for an early lunch. Despite his gruff demeanor, Emma had struck up a friendship with the grouchy little man, usually her chattering away about what she did at school while Leroy nodded and occasionally chimed in with a sarcastic comment. While he didn't really speak much to anyone he was always nice to Emma.
There was no love lost between him and Regina, but unlike with Ms. Blanchard Regina had not forbade her to speak to Leroy. He was just an enemy by association, not exactly on the same level of hatred as Mary Margaret. Not that Emma knew this little fact, of course.
After lunch, Regina would take her to Ms. Poppins's daycare, which was across the street from Granny's. She'd drop her off, press a kiss atop her head, and then walk back to her car, waving as she drove away before Emma headed inside to play with the other kids until Regina came to pick her up again.
But not today. Earlier at school, Emma had been taking an envelope from Mrs. Smith up to the office when she'd heard the office lady (at least that's what she called her because her name was too hard to pronounce) say on the phone that it was the mayor's birthday this weekend and that she had to call the flower shop to send a happy birthday gift basket.
Regina's birthday? Emma had thought. Why didn't she tell me? If it had been Emma's birthday coming up she would've shouted it from every rooftop. She loved birthdays despite that the only parties she'd ever had were sad little ones thrown by group homes. But adults were funny like that; they never liked to talk about their birthdays.
Emma knew that she had to buy Regina a present. She had a little money left that Anna the social worker had given her "for in case of emergencies", and her foster mother had been so nice to her. Except...how could she surprise Regina when she was always with her?
And then it hit her. Today was Wednesday, the day that Regina dropped Emma off at daycare. She usually spent three hours there. Three whole hours in which she could go out and buy Regina a nice gift.
So when Regina walked her to the door of Ms. Poppin's daycare center, Emma stood there as her foster mother hugged and kissed her, and then watched her walk back to her car, waving all the way. And when Emma was certain that Regina's car was gone, going back in the direction of her office, she stepped off the front step of the daycare.
Emma wasn't supposed to cross the street by herself, as that was one of Regina's rules, but she'd done so in the past, before coming to Storybrooke. Her previous foster parents hadn't really cared where she went or what she did as long as they continued to receive money from the state for taking her in.
So she expertly hit the button and waited until the little white person showed up before walking in the direction of somewhere she'd never imagined she'd go.
Mr. Gold's shop.
At school, she'd spent a good part of the day wondering where to buy Regina's gift. The grocery store? Nahh, there really wasn't too much there. It wasn't like she could buy Regina a bag of carrots or something. Clothes? Emma didn't know what Regina's size was. And clothes didn't seem special enough. Emma wanted to buy Regina something extra special, to show how much she appreciated everything Regina had done for her.
"Where should I go?" Emma had asked Jasmine as they colored pictures of their houses. They sat at the same table, across from each other, which was perfect because it gave them plenty of chances to talk.
"I dunno. The hardware store?"
"What would I buy there? A hammer?"
"Good point. Oh, I know. You could buy her perfume."
"More coloring, less talking ladies." Mrs. Smith had called out.
Emma and Jasmine had rolled their eyes in their teacher's direction before continuing to whisper.
"Women like perfume right?" Jasmine continued.
"Yeah but where do you buy that?"
Jasmine shrugged as she selected a bright orange crayon. "No idea."
The girls were silent for a moment as they colored. A few minutes later, Jasmine spoke up again. "I know! You could go to Mr. Gold's."
Emma's eyes had widened to the size of saucers. "Mr. Gold's? But he's so scary."
Jasmine giggled. "I heard he's a dragon. Breathes fire and everything."
"No way!"
"Yes way. But if you want to find something nice for Regina that's where you have to go. My daddy said that he has everything. Like, everything."
"You've never been inside before?"
"No. My daddy won't let me. He said Gold's dangerous."
"Same with Regina."
"But hey you need a gift right?"
Regina would be so mad if she knew where I was right now. Emma gulped as she stood before the door to the shop. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door, listen to the cheerful jingle that didn't quite match the dark interior.
"Ah, Emma!" The strange man came limping out to the front to greet her. "What are you doing in here?"
"Shopping."
"Does Regina know you're here?"
"Yeah."
Mr. Gold fixed her with a stare that made her so uncomfortable she looked down at her boots. "Really, dearie?"
"Yeah."
"What can I do for you today?"
Don't be scared, Emma. Don't be scared. Emma silently chanted to herself as she faced the imposing man before. "I need a gift for Regina."
"That's right, it's her birthday this weekend. Such a dedicated little girl. Well, go ahead and look around."
"Do you have perfume or anything?"
"Perfume?"
"Yeah cuz I know she likes it."
"No, sorry I don't. My shop mostly specializes in antiques."
"What are antiques?" Emma asked as she looked curiously around. To her, the store seemed to be mostly filled with old, dark things.
"Old, hard to find artifacts."
"Oh." She stared dubiously at a pair of dolls whose expressions were ones of horror. Suddenly creeped out she took a big step backwards.
"Yes, those are quite lovely aren't they?" Mr. Gold, who had somehow appeared across the counter from Emma, spoke up.
Lovely wasn't the word Emma would've used to describe the weird dolls but she nodded nonetheless. "What's that?" She pressed her hand against the glass to indicate a lamp that looked a lot like the genie's lamp in Aladdin.
"Oh, just an old gravy boat. Here," Mr. Gold reached into a case and pulled something out, swinging it before Emma's face. "take a look at this."
"Wow." Emma breathed. Mr. Gold held a beautiful necklace. It was simple, a gold feather on a gold chain. "This is perfect."
"It is, isn't it?"
But then something occurred to her. She reached into her pocket and withdrew the bills Anna had pressed into her hands, slowly counting them. $5. She only had 5 dollars. There was no way a beautiful necklace like that could only be worth $5.
"How much is it?"
"$60."
"Oh. Well I only have $5 so what do you have that I can buy with that?" Maybe she should've stuck to perfume after all.
Obviously Emma didn't know that perfume cost more than $5.
"You didn't let me finish. It's $60 but for you, it's on the house."
"What? Why?"
"It just is, dearie."
Emma reached out to take the necklace but before she could grab it Mr. Gold withdrew his hand. "It's on the house, but only if you make a deal with me."
"What kinda deal?"
"I want us to be friends."
Um...Emma didn't know what to say to that. Why would Mr. Gold, of all people, want to be friends with her? But the necklace was so pretty and so perfect for Regina, so she found herself nodding.
"Deal."
"All right, then." He reached for a box and placed the necklace inside. "It's all yours."
"Thank you, Mr. Gold."
"Oh, no thanks necessary. In fact it will be I who should be thanking you."
"What for?"
He just fixed her with one of his weird stares. "You'll find out soon."
Oookay.
"Don't hesitate to come back and visit." He called as Emma exited the shop. If she'd turned around she would've seen the triumphant smirk on his face.
Emma stuffed the box into her pocket before walking to the daycare building. She looked at the town clock, wondering how late she was, but as usual it was broken, unmoving. With a shrug Emma continued along her way, smiling at the thought of how happy Regina would be when given her gift.
During dinner, the phone rang, so Regina stood up to answer while Ema continued to pick at her plate full of green beans. She didn't like green beans (hated them even more than apples, even) but Regina had promised her some ice cream if she finished her beans.
A few minutes later Emma could hear the click clacking of Regina's heels as her foster mother walked back into the dining room.
"Do you know who was just on the phone, Emma?"
"Your assistant?" Emma guessed, shoveling a yucky forkful of beans into her mouth.
"No. That was Ms. Poppins. She was calling to tell me that you were twenty minutes late to daycare today."
Uh oh. Emma looked up to see that Regina's mouth was in a thin line, which was never a good sign. "Oh."
"Which is funny, since I specifically remember dropping you off at 12:28 exactly. Which would make you a couple minutes early, even."
Emma looked down at her plate.
"Do you want to tell me where you were?" When there was no response, Regina slammed her hands against the back of a chair, causing Emma to jump. "Emma! Where did you go?!"
"I-I…"
"Well? You better start talking, young lady."
"I-I…" Should she lie, make something up? Emma knew that if Regina knew she'd been to Mr. Gold's she be really mad.
"Emma! Answer me!"
But Emma was no good at lying, even though she'd had to do it a lot to cover up mistakes or to please her foster parents. She'd just stutter and blush, making it very obvious. That was why she had been punished so often.
"I was at...Mr. Gold's." She finally said, bracing herself for the inevitable punishment.
"What?" Regina sputtered. "Mr Gold's? What the hell were you doing there?"
"I…"
"You know what? It doesn't even matter. I think I remember telling you not to go there, didn't I? I told you to stay away from him! Such a simple little instruction and you couldn't even be bothered to follow it!"
Emma began to tremble; she'd never seen Regina mad before but right now she was acting a lot like Mr. Thompson, one of her old foster fathers who'd always yelled so loudly it felt like the house was shaking. He had been so scary Emma all but hid under her bed each time she saw his car pull up into the driveway.
"I can't believe it." Regina made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. "So you just sneak away from daycare and go to the most dangerous part of town, deliberately disobeying me."
"I'm sorry." Emma whispered.
"Yeah, well you should be." Regina snapped. "Go to your room. No TV or dessert for the next week and I'm canceling your playdate tomorrow."
"B-but I'm supposed to go over to Jasmine's and play with her tiger."
"Too bad. You should've thought about that before breaking the rules."
Tears streamed down her face, clouding her vision as she walked out of the kitchen. It wasn't the yelling that she hated, really. She was used to it, though of course it made it no less scary. No, she didn't like that she'd disappointed Regina.
"What were you even doing there? I provided you with everything you needed. What could you have possibly needed so badly that you broke the rules?"
Emma didn't answer as she started up the stairs.
"Emma, I'm talking to you. Why did you go to Mr. Gold's?"
No, I can't tell her. Her present has to be a surprise.
"EMMA!"
But she couldn't take the yelling anymore. In a fluid motion she reached into her backpack, which was resting at the top of the stairs, closed her fingers around the velvet box and launched it over the railing. The box landed on the hardwood floor, the necklace splaying out everywhere.
"This!" Emma shouted. "I went to get this, ok? It was supposed to be a present for you." And then she ran into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Regina paused outside Emma's room. Her fist was positioned over the door, its owner unsure of whether or not it should knock.
"Emma?" Regina called softly. She could hear sobs from behind the door. "Emma."
After the little girl's outburst, she'd stood there, completely blindsided before walking over and picking up the box that Emma had thrown. It was lying on it's side, the contents inside scattered on the floor nearby. Regina bent down and picked it up, holding up a beautiful gold necklace.
"It was supposed to be a present for you."
It was obvious now. Emma had somehow found out that Regina's birthday was this weekend and had sought out a present for her, refusing to answer her questions because she wanted it to be a surprise. It was so sweet that Regina's heart filled at the thought, and all she wanted was to scoop Emma up in a tight hug.
When had Regina become Cora? Everything that Regina had said earlier, it was practically word for word what Cora used to yell. Regina could still remember being sent to bed without dinner for many nights in a row, crying into her pillow as her mind replayed Cora's loud, harsh words. She'd vowed never to become as awful as her mother.
Slowly, Regina pushed open the door. Emma lay facedown on her bed, her shoulders shaking with sobs as she cried into her pillow. "Em?" She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey."
Emma turned to look at Regina. Her face was completely red and teary. "What?"
"I like the necklace."
"It was…" Emma hiccuped as she sat up. "supposed to be a surprise."
"I know. I'm sorry I yelled, sweetheart."
"You were scary." Emma said as she hugged her baby blanket close. "You reminded me of Mr. Thompson."
"Who?"
"Old foster father who liked to yell a lot. 'Specially when drunk."
Yikes. "I didn't mean to yell and I'm sorry that I scared you."
Emma sniffled in response.
"But I was mad. Not because you were late, but because you lied to me. And broke the rules. You could've been hurt, or worse. If something happened to you I don't know what I would've done. I meant it when I said that you were to stay away from Mr. Gold. He's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt. I need to know that you'll follow my rules. They're for your own good."
Emma hiccuped loudly. "I know."
"I know you're not a bad girl, Emma, and again I'm sorry I lost my temper."
"It's ok."
"Promise you'll follow the rules from now on?"
Emma looped her pinky through Regina's. "I promise."
Regina pressed a kiss atop Emma's head. "Good girl."
"Did you really like the gift?"
"Of course I did. It was the most beautiful gift I have ever received."
"Really?"
"Yes really. I think I'll wear it everyday.
Emma beamed. "Yay. I'm glad you like it."
"Now, go wash your face and come finish your dinner."
Emma scooted up off the bed. "Can I have some ice cream if I finish my beans?"
"No." Regina answered, and her response was immediately followed by a loud groan. "I don't want to punish you but you broke the rules."
"But it was for a good cause."
"Yes but you still broke the rules. It's just for a week. You'll survive."
Emma sighed melodramatically. "No I won't."
"I guarantee you will."
Author's note: Emma meeting Mary Margaret will be an integral part of the next ch. Any guesses as to how?
