A/N: A lot of my watchers probably saw this coming... Some of you are probably new to my stories, and if so, welcome! I hope you enjoy this story because I enjoy being apart of this fandom and this is a work that a good friend of mine and I are working on together. That's all I can really say right now to avoid spoilers for this story and flames will not be tolerated. Read & Review!
The day was calm and peaceful, life going on for everyone in Storybrooke, Maine. Their memories had all been returned and they remembered their life in the Enchanted Forest. However, little did the Storybrookians know, the peacefulness was going to be disturbed.
Mary Margaret, or Snow White as she was originally, was taking a walk as it was school break but she still had some tasks to do. She had a small smile on her face only to come to a stop and jolt as a dark electric storm-like cloud formed before it spat out two unconscious women. "Oh, my!" she gasped in surprise, before rushing over to them to make sure they were okay, she did call an ambulance and even Regina, while they weren't exactly friends at the moment she did admit Regina did know a bit more about magic than she did.
It seemed to take forever until an ambulance soon showed up at the scene of the crime to pick up the two strangers in Storybrooke, both of who were still knocked out and in slight pain.
"All right," Regina said, coming up right behind the short-haired woman. "What's going on around here?"
"These two girls just came out of a magic cloud." Mary Margaret told her, gesturing to the two who were being tended to and put in the ambulance to go to the hospital.
The slightly taller, though younger girl, groaned a bit.
Regina soon came to take a bit of a closer look at the two mysterious strangers. "...I don't recognize them," she then said. "I guess that they're outsiders... They can't find out too much." she then decided.
"Well, we'll have to help them either way, but what if they know already?" Mary Margaret asked her, not too worried but needing to know if the girls would need protection or not.
The smaller but older girl's eyelids fluttered slightly, though she didn't yet wake up.
"Then we should keep an eye on them for when they wake up," Regina soon said. "I don't know what they know yet, but we'll take it with them slowly so we don't scare them away."
Mary Margaret nodded. "But no matter what they won't get hurt," she said softly. She then looked to the taller woman. "Which one would you want to sit with when they're settled in the hospital rooms?" she asked her.
"I'll take care of the smaller one," Regina decided. "She seems to be a bit vulnerable. You can take the bigger one if you want and maybe I'll work something out so that they aren't confined or in too much pain."
Mary Margaret nodded. "Alright." she agreed softly.
The girls were taken to the hospital, tended to, and held in separate rooms. Mary Margaret had set up in a chair beside the bigger girl's bed and was reading, but also keeping an eye on her awaiting her to awake. Regina soon decided to visit the smaller girl's bed as she tried to look calm and collective so not to intimidate the girl.
The bigger girl muttered a bit in her sleep. "No... Stay away... Leave us alone..." she mumbled out a bit as she seemed to shift a bit in her sleep.
Mary Margaret looked at her and gently put her hand on the girl's. "Shh~" she soothed.
"Please... Stop..." The girl muttered before she slowly calmed down, feeling a comforting touch.
Mary Margaret smiled softly and stroked her hand gently to continue soothing her.
"...Mom?" The girl muttered as she squinted her eyes towards Mary Margaret. "Mom, is that you?"
"No, I'm not your mother, dear~" Mary Margaret said softly as she carefully passed over the girl's own glasses. "I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard." she introduced herself softly.
The girl sat up a bit before tilting her head before chuckling lightly as she thought of something funny, but didn't say anything about it. "Um... Hi..." she then said softly. "Well... Mary Margaret Blanchard... Can you tell me where the heck I am?"
"You're in the Storybrooke Hospital." Mary Margaret told her gently.
"Storybrooke...?" The girl repeated before mumbling thickly to herself. "That's probably the cheesiest name I've ever heard..." she then cleared her throat with a bashful look on her face. "Uh... I didn't die, did I?"
"No, you didn't die," Mary Margaret assured her. "Do... Do you know how you got to be here?" she asked her gently.
"I was with my friend Katie one minute..." The girl explained lightly as she tried to remember evetything. "We were having one of our usual girl nights... Meeting up at my place... Gonna watch a couple of movies... Eat junk food..." she then lightly giggled at some of the better events before pausing to think. "Then some this really creepy guy came to see us when we stepped out to get some snacks."
"A creepy guy?" Mary Margaret asked, her eyes widening just a little.
"Yeah," The girl nodded. "Oh, I'm Cherry by the way," she then quickly added. "I don't remember his name if he ever said it, but he had some kinda notebook with him."
"Nice to meet you, Cherry." Mary Margaret nodded, though she frowned thoughtfully at the description.
"It was... Just one of the strangest things I've ever experienced..." Cherry said. "...He's a creep. I don't like him." she then pouted about the mysterious man that she and her friend had run into before ending up in Storybrooke.
"Well, he can't hurt you here," Mary Margaret soothed. "Are you alright though, shall I call Dr. Whale back to see to you?" she asked softly.
"I feel fine aside from a mild headache," Cherry replied as she grasped her covers. "I'm just glad it's nothing serious... I don't really like hospitals."
"Well, I'll see if I can get Dr. Whale to come by and he might be able to clear you to leave earlier." Mary Margaret told her.
"I am not getting a shot though," Cherry suddenly said as she then pointed sharply and dramatically suddenly. "I swear, I've had enough to last a lifetime."
"I'm sure he'll not give you a shot." Mary Margaret soothed, then pushed the button that would page for the doctor.
Cherry's eyes darted back and forth rapidly as they waited for a few quiet moments.
"Hello?" A nurse's voice replied.
"Could you send Dr. Whale to room 212?" Mary Margaret requested.
"Already on it." The nurse soon said.
Cherry's eyes darted around with wide eyes.
Mary Margaret then looked back to Cherry with a small smile. "It'll be okay..." she said soothingly.
Eventually, Dr. Whale came inside. "Hello there," he then greeted. "How are we today?"
"I'd like a double cheeseburger with extra fries and a ticket back home?" Cherry smirked.
"...I can tell she's going to be interesting." Dr. Whale muttered towards Mary Margaret.
Mary Margaret gave a small smile.
Dr. Whale soon came to check on Cherry, just to make sure she was good to go.
Cherry twiddled her thumbs as she tried to put up with it until she could see Katie again before she grunted only slightly from the head check.
"Well, she seems to be all right right now," Dr. Whale said as he took some notes on his clipboard. "Ms. Blanchard, are you looking after this child?"
"I-I can." Mary Margaret nodded.
"I suggest that you do since I can't find records for her," Dr. Whale replied. "Now I must go check on the next patient."
"Katie..." Cherry whispered in relief as she put her hands to her chest.
Mary Margaret nodded, then watched him go.
"Well, I guess I'm good to go then," Cherry said to Mary Margaret. "...I miss Katie."
"Your clothes are here, I'll just step outside a moment so you can change in peace." Mary Margaret smiled as she handed her the clothes.
"Thank you." Cherry nodded as she slowly hoisted herself off and out as she accepted the clothes.
Dr. Whale soon began to make his way over to see Katie next as Mary Margaret waited outside the room.
Eventually, Cherry got settled and patted herself down before coming out to see the woman who was roughly the same height that she was. "All right, I'm good now, Ms. Blanchard," she then said. "Shall we?"
Mary Margaret nodded. "We'll have to wait outside your friend's room if Dr. Whale is in there." she warned gently.
"Oh... Right..." Cherry said softly as she tried to feel her pockets for a moment for her phone. "I guess that'll be okay."
Mary Margaret smiled as she led the way.
"Uh-oh..." Cherry gulped as she couldn't feel her phone. "...Where's my phone? Wh-Where's my phone?!" she then panicked.
"Hey, it's okay, maybe it's back at your home." Mary Margaret soothed her.
Cherry looked a bit nervous without her phone, but she did her best to keep calm.
"Here we are." Mary Margaret smiled. She did knock on the door to see if they were allowed in yet or if they had to wait a little longer.
Cherry put her hands in her pockets then.
The smaller girl mumbled slightly, but her eyes slowly opened and seemed to look around, though all she could see was different color blurs.
"Shh... It's okay... Hi, there..." Regina greeted softly and calmly, trying to see if the girl could react.
"M-My glasses?" The girl asked quietly, squinting trying to see who was there with her, she recognized the smell of a hospital though.
"Huh? Oh, sure..." Regina said softly as she soon found them and leaned over and took the pair of glasses and went to help the girl get her glasses back on. "There we are. No harm done."
The shorter girl put on her glasses and blinked a little to get used to them again. She then looked at Regina and her cheeks pinked even as her eyes widened in surprise. "Wh-Who are you?" she asked quietly.
"Hello there," Regina said with as a polite smile as she could possibly muster. "My name is Regina Mills. Welcome to Storybrooke, I am the mayor of this humble little town."
"N-Nice to meet you..." The girl nodded. "M-My name's Katie," she introduced herself quietly but looked confused. "Storybrooke?" she then asked confused.
"Nice to meet you too, Katie," Regina nodded. "Also yes," she then rolled her eyes. "Hey, I didn't name it, but it's been home to me for a long time now. You seemed to have a nasty, uh, fall with a friend of yours."
"Fall? W-We didn't fall..." Katie whispered quietly.
"Well, you were on the ground," Regina replied. "You had... Some sort of... Unfortunate spell happen to you."
"A creepy guy with some kind of pen and notepad wrote something and my friend and I fell unconscious just as a weird electric type storm started to form around us." Katie told her softly, rubbing her head.
"I see..." Regina slowly nodded, though the story sounded very strange, she did seem like she believed every word that Katie was saying. "And you don't remember what happened after that?" she then guessed.
"No, not until I woke up here with you." Katie admitted. She shifted slightly and used the bed remote to lift it up so she was raised more to talk easier with Regina.
"I see..." Regina nodded. "The important thing though is that you don't seem hurt. At least not that I can see, but then again, I'm not a doctor."
Katie gave a small smile. "I think I might have bumped my head but other than that I feel fine." she said.
"Oh, good," Regina replied. "You shouldn't be here very long then, though I'm sure you'll need a quick check over."
"Is my friend okay? Her name is Cherry." Katie asked then let her know. She tried to get out of the bed and remove the equipment, wanting to make sure Cherry was alright.
"I'm sure she's fine," Regina reassured, trying to restrain Katie. "A friend of mine is looking after her right now. Maybe we should have someone check on you just to make sure you're clear to go though."
"I-I have to make sure she's okay, if she's hurt..." Katie trailed off worriedly, struggling a little, but not as strong as she would when her head didn't ache.
"Please, sit down, you should wait for a little bit." Regina said, trying to restrain Katie.
Katie soon relaxed enough to stop struggling. She looked up at the woman and found herself blushing. "You smell like apples." she couldn't help but tell her, though she wasn't a big fan of the taste she did love the look and smell of apples.
"You've noticed," Regina smiled, a bit amused as she was about to get Dr. Whale for her. "I'm quite fond of apples."
"They look and smell pretty." Katie said quietly, trying to keep calm even though she was worried for Cherry.
"I'm sorry you don't like the taste, but other than that, I agree with you," Regina nodded. "I love to make recipes out of them like pies or my famous turnovers."
Katie gave a small smile to that. "I-I wouldn't mind trying them in a turnover..." she admitted.
"You're sure?" Regina asked then. "You just said..."
"I'm not a fan of them raw baked in a sweet I don't know." Katie said softly.
"Well, all right, I'll make you some if you and this girl Cherry are staying in town long enough." Regina then nodded.
Katie gave a small smile, though her hands twisted a little in her lap and she then raised one to bite the nails nervously as she had to wait.
"It'll be okay," Regina reassured. "Dr. Whale's pretty harmless... Most of the time."
"'Most of the time'?" Katie repeated a bit nervous.
"Not to worry," Regina reassured Katie. "I'll make sure that he doesn't hurt you."
Katie gave a small nod and timid smile to that.
Regina smiled back. "We should probably also look for somewhere for you and your friend to stay." she then began to think to herself before there was a knocking on the door and she looked over.
"Good day." Dr. Whale greeted as he stepped out to meet Katie and Regina.
Katie looked at him a moment and realized he was the Doctor. "Hello." she greeted with a polite nod.
"...I see," Dr. Whale said as he took a long look at Katie. "Well, uh, shall we get started then?" he then asked with a friendly smile on his face.
"Alright." Katie nodded, a bit nervous but not too much as the sooner this was over the sooner she could find Cherry.
Dr. Whale soon checked over Katie like he had done for Cherry while Regina let them work on that. "Hmm... You have a small bump on your head, but nothing serious," he then said. "Just like your friend in the other room."
Katie winced as he probed the bump but looked relieved. "So Cherry is alright?" she asked softly, not expecting details but she was allowed to ask in general.
"Yes, your friend is fine and she's probably on the way now." Dr. Whale replied.
"Katie and Cherry... You two sound like sisters." Regina commented.
"We're so close we are like sisters, and refer to each other as such." Katie gave a small smile to Regina and a thankful one to Dr. Whale.
"I see." Regina nodded.
Dr. Whale soon got the door to see Cherry and Mary Margaret. "Ah, you must be Cherry," he then said. "You don't have to worry about your little sister, she's going to be fine now." he said with a small smile.
Cherry cupped her mouth and chuckled a little at what he just said.
Katie blinked and then giggled a little herself. "This seems to happen too much..." she giggled softly.
Mary Margaret looked between them confused a lttle. Regina looked just as confused as Mary Margaret.
"Not my fault if you're tiny for your age." Cherry smirked.
"...Oh, are you the older one?" Dr. Whale then asked Katie.
"Little Big Sister here." Katie agreed softly with a chuckle.
"And I'm Big Little Sister," Cherry said. "Now, uh, is she okay?"
"Both of you bumped your heads, but you're good to go," Dr. Whale nodded as he smiled warmly towards Katie. "Let's try to be more careful next tme in the future."
"Yes, Doctor." Katie nodded.
"Have a safe and comfortable stay in Storybrooke." Dr. Whale told Cherry and Katie before he left.
"Well, we better let you get changed," Regina said to Katie. "Then we'll find a place for you to stay."
Mary Margaret looked to Cherry. "Let's give your friend/sister some peace to get dressed." she advised.
Cherry nodded as she stepped out of the room and soon looked between Mary Margaret and Regina. "...Are YOU two sisters?" she then asked.
"God, no," Regina rolled her eyes at first. "Erm... We're slowly becoming friends actually."
"Becoming friends." Mary Margaret agreed.
Katie found her clothes and started to get dressed once she was alone.
"I see..." Cherry then nodded. "...I'm a little hungry. Is it time for dinner?"
"Uh, I suppose it is," Regina replied. "We'll get you girls something to eat in a little bit. Hopefully better then the jello they serve."
Katie soon exited the room after getting dressed.
"Kat..." Cherry said calmly.
"Nee-bear." Katie smiled and gave her a warm hug.
Cherry then hugged Katie back a bit before pouting childishly. "I'm hungwy~"
"We'll find somewhere to eat." Katie soothed Cherry with a small chuckle.
"You could step inside my home and I could make you something or you can visit the local diner," Regina offered. "The owner of the diner also has a Bed & Breakfast you can stay in if you wish."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to home invade after being a stranger enough in this town..." Cherry said before facing Katie. "Unless... You trust this lady?"
"Or if you both don't mind sharing a bed you can stay with me for a few days." Mary Margaret smiled.
Katie looked thoughtful a moment, deciding to answer Cherry first. She looked over Regina, gave a small smile then looked to Cherry. "She's trustworthy... I can tell." she smiled.
Cherry paused before nodding as she grew attached to Mary Margaret due to her helpfulness and warmness... Like a very kind and gentle soul before looking back at Katie.
"I don't have much room at my place for the night, so it might be a good idea." Regina agreed.
"Well... All right," Cherry then said. "Only of Katie doesn't hog the covers and snores... She snores like a lawnmower underwater..." she soon said suddenly before smirking towards Katie just to get her goat a little bit to lighten the mood of their situation.
Mary Margaret chuckled softly.
"I don't snore." Katie gave a deadpan look, though it was more of a playful one as it was a bit funny.
Cherry stuck her tongue out at Katie then.
"...You two are certainly interesting..." Regina commented. "Let's get you out of here and get some food in your bellies."
Katie gave a small smile and went along with the three others, leaving the hospital behind. Regina took the girls to her car.
"...It's not too far, is it?" Cherry asked.
"Not to worry," Regina replied. "Everything's pretty close together in town square."
"...Okay." Cherry said, hoping she wouldn't get sick at that length.
Katie gave a sympathetic smile. Mary Margaret started to follow. Cherry soon sat in the back with Katie and put the window down just in case.
"...It'll be okay," Regina said as she sat up front after opening and unlocking the doors and put her key in the ignition. "Just don't make a mess in my car."
Katie nodded, she put her hand on Cherry's upper back as she knew rubbing a carsick person's back would usually help. Mary Margaret sat in the front passenger seat so they could all go along together. Cherry soon slowly relaxed and shut her eyes calmly from Katie's comfort. Regina then started the car and pulled out of the hospital's parking lot to take them into town to get something to eat. Katie looked soothingly at Cherry as she rubbed her back soothingly so it would help.
Cherry soon calmed down a bit as she glanced out the window as Regina drove them along, but not too far as they came into the town square and they made it. Regina went a little slow, but not dangerously slow so that Cherry and Katie could look around and get to know the neighborhood better. Katie looked around too, taking in certain landmarks, but concentrating mostly on Cherry.