I'm trying really hard to update this one once a week, but life is getting busier… this might have to be once every two weeks for a while, but I really am trying my best.

Also, warning for some foster home unpleasantness. No graphic detail or anything, but Emma remembers a nasty foster parent in this chapter.

Chapter Sixteen

"The Adventures of Regina Mills and Kitty Soft Paws: Chapter One….Once upon a time, there lived a woman-"

"Henry, you can't start it like that! This isn't a fairy tale!"

"Ugh, Emma, just listen, please!"

"Once upon a time there lived a woman named Regina. But she wasn't just an ordinary woman. By day, she appeared to be nothing more than the Mayor of a small town called Storybrooke, but by night, she was-"

"Henry! I didn't want this to be a superhero story!" Emma whined.

"What do you want then, Emma? Because, seriously, if I write what really happens when you're gone, this will be the story: Regina fed Kitty Soft Paws and let her out. Later she came back in and then fell asleep on the couch. The next day was the same. And the next day. And the next day."

Emma pouted and pushed Henry's journal off the bed, crossing her arms defiantly. "Write a better story!"

"Emma!" Henry sighed, exasperated. He hadn't meant to write anything that evening, but Emma had been bugging him non-stop to write this story since the idea had popped into her head, and he had really tried to think of something that would interest her. He had thought her love of Spiderman would mean she would enjoy a superhero story.

Apparently he was wrong.

"You don't just get to throw my stuff around," Henry scolded, reaching down off the bed to pick his journal back up. "And I'm not going to write you this story if you can't be nice to me."

"Emma, honey, it's time to get ready to go, Mommy and Daddy are on their way," Regina said, as she entered the room, and took in the scene in front of her: Henry scowling at Emma, and Emma scowling right back. "What's going on in here?"

"Emma wants me to write her a story, and she bugged me to write it right now, and then when I tried to read it to her, she's just complaining and throwing my book," Henry explained, holding up his journal as proof.

"He was supposed to write a good story but he's writing a dumb one!" Emma declared.

"Emma, that's not very nice," Regina informed her. "Henry doesn't have to write stories for you, and it's not fair to act like that when he does. I think you owe him and apology."

"No!" Emma cried, scowling harder, and crossing her arms tighter, as if that would prove her point.

"Emma, I don't appreciate this attitude from you. Remember what I said about good decisions and bad decisions?" Regina asked, trying to keep her cool.

"No," Emma lied.

"I think you do."

"I think I don't!" Emma insisted, jumping off the bed and stomping her foot.

"Emma, what on earth has gotten into you?" Regina asked, just as she heard the doorbell. She sighed again, hoping that she wasn't about to be blamed for Emma's newfound bad attitude when she sent her home tonight.

"Come along, Emma, your parents are here," Regina said, holding out her hand for Emma to take. Emma made a distinct point of walking as far around Regina as she could, to avoid taking her hand, before stomping her way down the hall and down the stairs.

"Mom, what's her problem?" Henry asked, staring up at Regina incredulously.

"I have no idea," Regina replied, shaking her head. "Apparently six was a sassy year for Emma."

Regina turned and headed after Emma. By the time she was downstairs, Emma had already let her parents in, but was fighting Snow tooth and nail about the prospect of putting her shoes on.

"No!" Emma cried, picking up one shoe and deliberately throwing it across the room. Regina stopped it with her magic before it hit the vase on a nearby table, and turned to look at Emma, who stared back at her in shock.

"You want to rethink that decision, Emma?" Regina asked, sending the shoe back to its mate on the floor in front of Emma.

"What's gotten into her, Regina?" Snow asked, stepping over to Regina while David took over the task of convincing Emma to put her shoes on.

Regina threw her hands up, like in defeat. "No idea. She was fine this morning, then had a little meltdown at the hairdressers, then fine this afternoon, and she was spending time with Henry, and now this."

"What do I do?"

Regina looked at Snow, realizing the woman really didn't know what to do. Emma had had a few meltdowns already, but those were mostly tears and tantrums, not blatant displays of defiance.

"Take her home and talk to her. Something is bothering her, and she's acting out. I thought we had sorted it out this afternoon, but apparently not."

Snow nodded, and glanced back at Emma who had finally relented and put her shoes on, but was glaring at her mother still.

"Can you say goodbye to Regina, please, Emma?" Snow asked, smiling hopefully at her daughter.

"No."

"My, my, Emma, is that the only word in your vocabulary tonight?" Regina asked, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. If there was never a time she forgot this little girl was actually Emma Swan, these looks of pure defiance were certainly a memory-jogger.

Emma turned on her heel without a word, stomping past her father and out the door.

"Good luck," Regina said, shooting Snow a sympathetic smile. "Do let me know if you find out the cause of this behaviour, because I am starting to suspect that six wasn't a great year for Emma."

"I will," Snow promised, as she turned to follow her husband and daughter out the door.

Regina headed back up to Henry's room once the Charmings had left, and found him still on his bed, looking sadly at the journal in front of him.

"Don't take it personally, Henry," Regina said, coming to sit beside him. "Something is clearly bothering Emma and she's taking it out on all of us because she doesn't know how to deal with it appropriately."

"Yeah," Henry agreed, half-heartedly, as he flipped to a blank page in his journal. "It's not really her fault, I guess. I'll write her a new story, without superheroes."

"Superheroes?"

"She wants a story about you and the cat. I made you a superhero, and she didn't like it. I thought… well, I mean, she kind of sees you that way, so I thought she'd like it."

Regina nodded, thoughtfully. "Try making Emma the superhero," she suggested. "Most of the people in her past made her feel insignificant, and we're trying to reverse that, right?"

Henry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. I'm going to start over now. Thanks mom."

By the time 10pm hit, and Regina hadn't heard anything from Snow, she guessed that either they hadn't gotten anything out of Emma, or they had just forgotten to fill her in. Either way, she supposed there wasn't much else she could do tonight, and headed to bed.

Three hours later, she was awoken by a little fingers poking her in the face.

"Ugh," Regina groaned, reaching up to block the assault, as she cracked one eye open. Sure enough, there was Emma, sitting on the bed in her pajamas, looking as pale as if she'd just seen a ghost. "Emma?"

"I can't sleep," Emma whispered, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke.

"Come here, baby," Regina said, sitting up and pulling Emma onto her lap, hugging her close. "You know you're not supposed to poof here, right? Why didn't you go get Mommy when you couldn't sleep?"

"I didn't want Mommy, I wanted you!" Emma insisted. "I forgot to come and say goodnight!"

Regina sighed and nodded. This was the first night Emma had forgotten to poof here and say goodnight. Regina had guessed it was because Snow and David were trying to talk to her about what was going on, so she hadn't bothered checking in.

"I need to let Mommy know where you are," Regina said, picking up her phone to call Snow. Snow answered, half-asleep, and was very agreeable in her groggy state to letting Emma spend the night again.

Emma curled into Regina, reaching up with one finger to stroke her swan necklace that still hung around Regina's neck.

"Can you tell me what's gotten into you today, Little One?" Regina asked softly.

"I don't want to go away when I sleep anymore," Emma whispered. "It's scary 'cause I never know where I will be or when I will come back."

"I bet that is scary," Regina agreed. Truthfully, she couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible that would be, and Emma was so young to have to go through this. She knew her enchanted necklace could only help to a point - it could only remind her that she had a loving home to return to, but it didn't stop anything that happened to her in her memories, and it didn't give her any indication of when she would be coming home.

"Can't you fix it? With magic?" Emma asked, hopefully.

Regina sighed. "I don't know, baby. I can try but… I might need help," Regina admitted. She'd poured through magic books, but there was no precedent for what Emma was experiencing, and Regina wasn't about to try to get creative and experiment on the little girl.

"You have to talk to the fairies," Emma concluded on her own. "They are the only ones who know about this."

"You're right. But I won't make you go see them unless I have to."

"It's okay. They aren't as scary as I thought," Emma said with a shrug. "They're not as scary as people in my dreams."

Regina cringed. "What happened in your dream, Emma?"

Emma shrugged again. "Sometimes foster parents are mean," she said, yawning.

"You know you can tell me if something bad happens in your dreams, right?"

Emma nodded absently, clutching onto her swan necklace around Regina's neck as she drifted to sleep.

Regina sat with her, stroking her hair and wracking her brain for anything else she could possibly do to avoid having to go see the fairies. Emma might not be afraid of them anymore, but Regina still didn't trust Blue. Her eyelids became heavy as she thought on it, and soon she was drifting off as well.

Regina opened her eyes and looked around an unfamiliar room. It looked like a child's bedroom - or rather, children's bedroom, as there were three sets of bunkbeds - but she had no clue where she was, or how she got there. She guessed she must be dreaming.

She glanced around the room, and almost immediately noted crayon lettering on the wall next to a bed: EMMA.

"Oh, my God, I'm in Emma's dream," she whispered to herself, ducking back against the wall as a couple of boys raced down the hallway passed the room she was in. She supposed hiding was a bit redundant, since this was a memory, and those boys weren't really there.

She stepped away from the wall and headed into the hallway, looking around. There were three girls heading down the hallway, and none of them seemed to notice her. Regina guessed that meant they couldn't see her. How could they have? Those girls walked down that hallway twenty-some-odd years ago, she reminded herself.

She kept going down the hall, and down the stairs, looking for Emma, hoping that she would be able to see her. She had no idea how she'd gotten into Emma's memory, but she was here now, and she couldn't worry about the how later.

She heard a distinct crying from another room, and made her way towards the sound. It was muffled, but she knew in her heart it was Emma. She quickened her pace, wondering if Emma had pulled her into her dream somehow, and she needed to be rescued.

She rounded a corner and that's when she saw it: a woman had Emma over her knee, spanking the little girl hard. Emma was bawling and Regina stopped short, momentarily shocked by what she was seeing. How could someone be hurting her little girl like that?

"Emma!" Regina cried, finding her voice again. Emma's head snapped up and she met Regina's eyes. Apparently, Emma could see her.

"Please, I'll be good," Emma pleaded, her little voice cracking.

"Shut. Up." The woman who was holding her down said.

Regina wasted no time closing the distance between herself and the woman, but try as she might to get a hold of her hands and stop her, it was useless. She was completely powerless here. She couldn't change Emma's memory.

Just then, the phone rang in the other room, and the woman all but threw Emma to the floor, as she stood to go answer it. Regina dropped to her knees as Emma scrambled up into her arms. At least Emma she could actually touched.

"I called for you and you came," Emma said, wriggling as close as she could get to Regina.

"How?" Regina asked, out loud, not really expecting an answer. But Emma held up her hand, revealing the swan necklace clutched tight.

"I bringed it with me I guess," Emma said, with a small shrug. "It brought you to me, 'cause I needed you."

"I can't save you here," Regina said, fighting back her tears as she rocked Emma in her arms, not knowing how long it would be until that woman returned. "I can't do anything here."

"It's okay Gina," Emma assured her. "You tried."

Regina continued to rock Emma, stroking her hair, until the woman returned. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Regina looked over, realising that Emma had vanished from her arms. She was across the room, creeping backwards in a sitting position, trying to hide herself behind the couch. Regina guessed this must have been what really happened in Emma's memory, since she hadn't been there to hold her the first time around. Emma had tried to hide, and this foster mother was livid.

And there was nothing Regina could do to stop whatever was about to happen.

Unless….

"Emma," Regina said, getting up and crossing the room, crouching down right in front of her as the foster mother continued to advance, oblivious to Regina's presence. "Wake up."

"How?"

"Just… Emma… just," Regina stammered, not really sure exactly how Emma was supposed to wake herself up. "Just think of my house. My bed. My bedroom. That's where you are. Kitty Soft Paws and the kittens are in the closet, baby. Think of them and go to them."

Regina's eyes snapped open, and she was back in her bed, her heart racing. Emma was still in her arms, staring up at her with wide eyes, still clutching to the necklace.

"You did it," Emma whispered, looking up at her in awe.

"You did it, baby," Regina corrected, squeezing Emma close against her.

"I wrote my name on the wall," Emma said, quietly. "I'm sorry."

"I know. I saw it next to the bunk beds," Regina nodded. "That's how I knew it was your memory and not my dream."

"No, not there. Here. On your wall," Emma confessed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay baby," Regina assured her. She couldn't care less about crayon on her wall at this point.

"That's why the Mommy was mad, because I writed on the wall," Emma continued, "I don't want you to be mad."

"I'm not mad, but Emma, I want you to stay awake now, alright?"

Emma turned and looked at Regina, confused. "But it's dark out."

"I know, but I want you to stay awake right now. Come on, let's get up," Regina insisted. She knew the moment Emma slept again, she'd be right back in that living room, with that foster mother. She needed to keep her awake until she could talk to the fairies and figure something out. The sun would be up in an hour now anyway, she figured. Then Emma wouldn't want to sleep.

"Look," Regina said, once they were downstairs. "Henry wrote you a new story. Should we read it?"

Emma grinned and nodded as Regina flicked on all the lights in the family room, and proceeded to sit down on the floor.

"Can I sit on your lap?"

As much as it pained her, Regina shook her head, no. "No, baby, you'll fall asleep if you do," she said, waving her hand to produce some blank papers and crayons. "How about this: I'll read the story, and you draw some pictures to go along with it? Henry said you were going to illustrate his stories."

Emma nodded excitedly as Regina opened the journal, hoping that Henry wouldn't mind she read the first chapter to Emma without him. He had let her read it earlier, and she hoped this one would be more to Emma's tastes.

"The Adventures of Regina Mills and Kitty Soft Paws: Chapter one, take two…. NOT once upon a time, the beautiful, wonderful Kitty Soft Paws had her kittens inside Regina's closet. After Emma had gone home that day, Regina went to the closet to visit the babies.

'Oh, Kitty Soft Paws,' she said, 'your babies are so beautiful, I think they should all live here forever and sleep in my bed with me.'"

Emma giggled and looked up at Regina, who raised an eyebrow in return. "I hope you understand what fiction means… carrying on…"

"'Oh, Regina, you are too kind,' Kitty Soft Paws replied. 'Now I feel bad for all the times I scratched you until you bled but then pretended to be innocent whenever Emma was looking.'"

"Those aren't the words!" Emma insisted. "Henry wouldn't write that!"

"It's called artistic license, my dear."

"Regina decided she should build a beautiful bed for the lovely kittens, using her finest ten thousand thread count silk sheets, because these kittens deserved nothing but the best. After all, Emma loved them so much, and Regina loved Emma so much, and would do anything for her, just to see her smile."

"I like that part," Emma commented, as she drew big smiles on the kittens she had drawn on her paper.

"Me too," Regina agreed, setting the journal down. "Maybe we'll let Henry read the rest when he gets up, okay?"

Emma nodded as she continued to colour to her picture.

"You know I really would do anything to see you smile, right Emma?"

Emma nodded again, not looking up.

"It hurts my heart when you're sad or upset," Regina continued, "like you were earlier today. You know when you feel bad, you can just talk to me, and I will try to make it better for you, right?"

"I would smile if we keep one kitten," Emma said, peering up at Regina with a little grin on her face.

Regina sighed and shook her head. "I walked into that one, didn't I?"

Emma's grin widened. "Uh-huh. Or else if you let me bring Mr. Noodle inside."

"No snake. We'll talk about the kitten later. And about what manipulation is, Little One."

"I'll smile if you call me Little One forever."

Regina smiled. "I'm going to hold you to that one."

"I'll smile if you tell me you love me."

"I love you, Emma."

Emma smiled. "See?"

Regina couldn't help but laugh, noting how Emma's cheeky little grin looked just like the adult Emma's. It had been harder to see when she was four or five, but Emma was slowly growing into herself.

"I'll smile if you stay this sweet forever," Regina propositioned, giving Emma a little tap on the nose.

Emma seemed to think on that for a moment, before agreeing. "Deal," she said, decisively.

"That's my girl," Regina said, stroking Emma's little cheek. "Look, the sun's coming up. Time to start our day."

"And see the fairies?"

"And see the fairies," Regina nodded. "But you don't have to see them."

"I can see them, if you hold my hand," Emma offered. "I won't be scared if you're protecting me."

"Always, baby girl."