A/N: This is an exercise for myself. A challenge. Can I write anymore? Do I have what it takes to create an interesting story? I do attempt to stay true to canon as much as possible, though you should know that I have chosen not to watch the very last season. I try to stay true to the characters I have included, though that is a challenge as this is a completely different timeline. Feel free to verbally knock me over the head if I pen someone incorrectly. You should know that any children originally caught up in the curse, like Roland, will be older than Emma here.

I have to say, sharing my work has me shaking in my boots. So comment often, as it helps me to learn and grow as an author, and the story will likely shape around your comments. Last but not least, I am gearing up to write a long one, so buckle up, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing.

Edited for: Slight grammer issues, but mainly the introduction. This story is turning out differently than I'd originally planned. Go figure.

~Preface~

The big day had arrived. It was the day Snow White and Prince Charming would welcome their first child into the world. It was also the day The Evil Queen would have to make a choice. Not only completely ruining her nemesis' life, but drastically changing hers as well. It was a day many would never forget.

Regina's terrible choice? Her father. She had to weigh the love of her father with the hate of her nemesis. It was a terrible choice for anyone to make, and Regina wasn't sure she could do it. To murder her father, the only person she had left in the world, the only person in her corner, who always believed in her, always wanted what was best for her… all in order for her to enact a terrible curse. Her heart had yet to completely blacken.

She still wanted her revenge, but how far would she go to enact it?

Regina had heard of a Seer, or rather, her mirror had. He'd seen snippets of conversations throughout the realm, and when people started talking about this witch, he had started listening. He selfishly told Regina everything he had learned the previous day, terrified of the curse and what it would mean for him.

That meant that Regina didn't have long to ponder her options. Either act on this new information, or ignore it. She chose to visit this Seer, who 'blessed' her with the memories she would have gotten had she cast the curse. An entire lifetime. Emma. Henry. Robin.

In an instant, she hated The Evil Queen, no longer seeing herself in that light, by that name. She refused to let the witch remove these new memories… She no longer had it in her to lose her father and cast the curse.

In a puff of purple smoke, she was home, throwing the curse into the fire, ensuring it's destruction. She then gathered her father, and items she knew she would need to survive, only things she could carry.

That was the day The Evil Queen, and her father, disappeared.

Stories started swirling, as time went by, and families she had formerly harassed started receiving things they had lost at the hands of The Evil Queen.

Some claimed they saw her, off in the distance, a dark cloak covering most of her features, her signature purple magick creating happiness for those she had previously cursed.

None of the stories were verified, however, and no one knew what had happened, exactly, to The Evil Queen. Except for one man in the woods, and his merry men.