Emily was going through everything she owned. She tried on every single dress she could, but didn't like any of them, so she went to look at jumpsuits she owned. She never wore any of them because she was always training, but now seemed like as good of time as ever. She found a nice red one and a blue one to pick from when both her mothers barged into her room. Regina looked at the outfit choices and was a little skeptical about not wearing a dress, but thought that they would at least be decent. The colors also did look nice with Emily's skin tone. Emma was looking at both of them, but decided to make an altercation to the blue one. The blue jumpsuit was two shades with the lighter as the top and the pants were a darker shade. Emma used some last minute magic to have a black swan show up as a broach. Emily laughed slightly and Regina was a mix of disgust and amusement at the gesture. Regina worked with hair and makeup for the remaining time.

It was about an hour when Emily was ready. Her jumpsuit was on and her hair was in a nice braid because of her long hair and she had a smoky eye look. Her lips were red and she looked a lot like Regina did on her first date with Emma.

"You, my dear, look breathtaking."

"Thanks, mom. Thank you so much for helping me get ready. I really have to go, so I will see you later."

"Stay out as long as you like, but do come home. Don't spend the night. No kissing on the first date..."

"Mom, I know how to date. I am leaving before you get anymore ideas. I will tell you about it when I get back."

"Alright, have fun with Tyler."

Emily left both her mothers in her room. She started to walk out to the barracks, when a horse came running towards her with someone riding on it's back. Someone wearing gold armor on a white horse. The cliché was now officially used. A knight riding one the back of a white stallion. Emily then saw a horse as black as night riding behind. The horses stopped right in front of her and the knight's helmet was removed. Tyler's face was shown.

"My knight in shining armor," Emily teased. "Did you really just use the oldest cliché of all time?"

"I had to do it at least once. I will never be able to really save you, so might as well make one hell of a first impression. You steed awaits you and I am taking you to the lake."

Emily hopped onto the other horses back and followed as Tyler led the way. She watched as all the scenery passed by and it was beautiful. The light shown through the trees and made it brighten with a soft glow. Tyler stopped at this spot that was by the shoreline and a picnic was set up. She gave a skeptical look to Tyler and she just helped her down. She sat by the edge of the water on the blanket and looked at the selection of foods in front of her. There were many fruits and some chicken with bread and spreads. She liked that it was something small and simple.

"I forgot to mention earlier that you look spectacular."

"Thank you. You look rather dashing in that armor, but please tell me you are not going to be wearing that for the whole date."

"Don't worry. I am wearing a suit underneath all of this. A date in armor is not to my liking. I hope you serve yourself because I need to take all this armor off."

"I will. Hurry up because I would like to talk to my date tonight."

Tyler walked away in his armor. Emily started to serve herself. She ate her food as she lost herself in the calmness of nature. She always felt more at home when she was out in the open. It was probably the inner wolf. She didn't even notice that Tyler had returned to her while she was zoned out.

"Beautiful isn't it. Not as beautiful as you, but still very beautiful."

"I love being outdoors."

"I know. That is why I planned our date this way. I have been looking forward to this for a while and I am glad you gave me a chance."

"As am I. I want to get to know you because you already know me better than most."

"Alright. Fire away."

"Why did you choose me? Out of every woman in the kingdom, what are you choose me?"

"Your strength and determination. Most woman are afraid to speak up, but you do so with pride. You always look for the best in people and I admire that. You are also one of the hottest people I have ever seen. I was so excited when we actually started to talk."

"Thank you. Now..." Emily questioned Tyler for the rest of their date. He told her all these stories and they laughed so much. They both had a wonderful time together. They didn't even care that the sun had gone down. They didn't want this moment to end, but Emily knew she had to get home or Regina would blow a fuse. They both walked back to the castle with their horses. Tyler said she should go sleep and he would deal with the horse care.

"Thank you for this amazing evening. I would love to do this again soon."

"As would I. Farewell, milady. I will see you tomorrow for training."

"Thank you my knight." They both laughed at how ridiculous they were acting. "Night, Tyler. I will see you later."

"Night, Em. Sweet Dreams."

Emily walked back to her room. It was late, but she wasn't surprised to see both her mothers up and waiting for her. She shook her head because she was about to be bombarded with many questions. So, before her mothers could get in anything edgewise, she started to speak first.

"I had a great night. He took me to the lake and we ate as a picnic. He showed up in gold armor and on a white horse so he could be my hero for one day. It was so cliché and so endearing. We talked the whole time and laughed so much. It was a magical and romantic evening with Tyler and we hope to do so again sometime. There was no kissing, so don't worry about that. So, that is basically everything, so please don't bother me with the onslaught of questions I am about to receive."

"That's wonderful, honey," Regina said. "I am glad you had a great night. I wanted you to take tomorrow off from training because I wanted to do some things with you."

"Sure thing. Now, can you leave so I can sleep tonight?"

Emma and Regina left the room and Emily collapsed on the bed from exhaustion, but a good type of exhaustion. She was thinking about all the things she can do. She isn't bound to anyone or anything so she is basically free from everyone. She was thinking about what her whole life holds for her. She never thought about the future, but she was now and she fell asleep to the thoughts of the future.

Emily woke up early and started to do some more sketches when Regina walked in. "Morning, dear."

"Morning. What are we going to do today?"

"Just a mother-daughter relax day. I wanted to walk around and lounge in the gardens and hopefully plan your birthday party."

"I didn't know I was getting a birthday party."

"You must dear. It is the day after tomorrow and I want to know what you want. Of course, it won't be some gigantic thing because I know you hate large parties. How about we invite some of you friends from you village?"

"I didn't have many friends, but there are some. Also, some of the guards."

"Sounds lovely. Can I have a list of people to invite and they will receive invites within the hour?"

"Actually, I want to invite them personally. No one has really seen me for a while so it would be a nice surprise."

"Sure. We can do that after we have breakfast. I don't think I have ever made you breakfast."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Apple cinnamon pancakes with fruit and maybe coffee. I can do that as you get dressed in something casual for our outing."

"Okay. Thanks, mom."

Regina walked out of the room to the kitchen to do some of her own cooking. Emily went to her closet and looked for a nice shirt and shorts. She was not really a fan of anything besides casual wear, so there are a lot of options. She choose the clothes she arrived in to wear. They were a simple white short with some black pants. She was looking at all of the fancy things she has and deduced that none of them are appropriate for this occasion. Regina entered with a tray of food that was enough for two. Emily saw that there was indeed pancakes fruit and coffee mugs.

Regina set the tray down on the chaise and looked at Emily's choice of outfit. She was confused and then realization hit her.

"That's the outfit I met you in."

"It is. I thought my friends would like some familiarity instead of some big dress and me acting like royalty."

"But you are royalty."

"They don't know that. I just want them to treat me the same as they always do."

"Okay, but I am going to meet them."

"Of course. Now can we eat? I am so hungry."

Regina laughed and sat by the tray. She was happy that her daughter was enthusiastic over something after all these incidents. They both has a silent conversation, so it wasn't that surprising when they both got up at the same time. They seemed to have the same natural instinct to do the same thing and it was very domestic. They both got into the carriage to take Emily to her old village. They looked upon it and was mortified about what they saw. They saw that the housed were being rebuilt and so many people were sitting on the side of the road, begging.

"Oh my god," Regina said.

"I guess that's what happens after the Ogre's war."

"Emily, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I am just hoping my friends are okay."

They walked deeper into the village and Emily started to run towards some people. She engulfed them into a hug, as Regina walked slowly behind them. There were three gilts that looked around the same age as Emily and looked almost like siblings, but they couldn't be. She walked a little closer and then the girls noticed there. They all went into a low bow and Regina chuckled under her breath. Emily just stood there and didn't say anything. She wanted to milk this moment. Regina decided to talk.

"Oh, girls, you don't have to do that."

"But you're the queen," one of them said.

"Wait, why isn't, Em, bowing?" Another one asked.

"Em, you need to bow to our queen," the last one said.

"You three need to relax," Emily said. "Mom, I would like to introduce you to my friends, Anica the first one, Gabby the second one, and Lulu is the last one. Girls, this is my mother Regina."

"WHAT?!" All three of them yelled in unison.

"You found your mother," Anica asked. "Sweetie, that's huge. When did you find out and how? What are you doing here if you are a princess?"

"I found out when I went to the Amy. A Loy has happened and I can't tell it right now. I wanted to ask if you all wanted to come to by birthday party the day after tomorrow."

"We would love to, but we can't get any transportation without money," Gabby said.

"I can handle that," Regina started to say. "You can all come to the castle with your families today and I will help rebuild the houses."

"You would do that for us," Lulu asked meekly.

"It is my job to look after my people and I will. It is also my responsibility to help my daughter's friends in any way that I can. So what do you say? Would you like to come to the castle for a little bit?"

"We would love to," Gabby said. "I need to tell my parents and then finish rebuilding the walls of my house before I leave. I am also sure that Anica and Lulu have to do the same thing."

They nodded and went their separate directions. Regina used her magic to start fixing houses. Emily then helped as well. She also made some food appear for all the villagers. It didn't take as long as people would think, but then something came out of the woods. At first it was a shadow that moved with other shadows, but then it started to whisper, or whisper for Emily. Emily heard this and recognized it anywhere. She turned and saw the Dark One darkness going towards Regina. Emily screamed and sent a beam of light magic away. It disappeared and then Emily looked to her mom. They both stood in fear and kept looking between each other and where thud darkness was.

"Mom, what the hell?"

"That, my dear, is where you will end up if we don't leave soon."