• POV authors •

A long time ago...

She was lying on the rug. It wasn't a big deal, it was just another stupid birthday. It was her birthday and after months of insisting, she finally got Cora to give up on the idea of a party.

It was her 13th birthday. It wasn't special.

Her mother reluctantly agreed after a long sermon where the most commonly said phrase was "When I was your age, I would've sold my soul for a party like that."

Regina stared at the chandelier on the ceiling, there were 246 drops of crystal hanging from the golden frames. There were also stars, more than her patience would allow her to count, painted on the dark blue ceiling. She liked that. Her bedroom.

The girl's father helped her with these things, the rug he had brought her from one of his trips was her favorite decor item in her room. She loved that rug because she loved the person gave it to her. It was the first thing her father bought when he reached his destination, and it reminded him of his daughter for as long as he was gone. It was the details that mattered.

She didn't want parties, gold or a crown. She didn't want fancy dresses and bows. She wanted to live, she wanted love, as in the stories Henry told her when they sat in front of the library fireplace in winter while they cut an apple and watched the fire crackle, as if it danced around the dry wood, those were moments that warmed her heart. They made her feel at home.

That would be her happy ending… And not what her mother wanted.

She blinked slowly, getting up with some reluctance, maybe she'd be able to take a walk with Rocinante before sunset, her mother would probably stop her but it wouldn't hurt to try. She went to the closet changing her blue dress with little rosebuds embroidered into her pants and a riding coat, pulled on her boots and untied her hair, which had been braided back. She just needed to leave quietly and maybe her mother didn't even notice her little escape towards freedom.

She opened the bedroom door and walked out in silence, faced the hallway looking for someone and tiptoed down. The library door was ajar and she could hear her mother's voice. A shiver ran down her spine.

The girl's curiosity was greater than her sense of security, the only thing Cora would hate more than a sloppy daughter would be a nosy daughter. Regina curled her lip into a thin line and drew her brows together, hiding behind the wooden door. Her voice came shrill, invading her ears.

"We don't have any deal!" Cora slapped her hands on the wooden table, she knew that sound too well. Innumerable times she had earned her scolding here, in front of the imposing woman who was screaming at her, for arriving muddy after a walk with her father, or for anything else her mother didn't think was appropriate for a lady like Regina. Or at least for how she was supposed to be.

The other voice was somewhat different. The girl shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to pay attention to the argument.

"Do you think it's that easy to trick the Dark One and get free, darling?" The man raised an eyebrow.

Oh, Regina knew about her mother's magic. Dark magic. The kind of thing that made her stomach turn every time Cora decided her outfits weren't appropriate and changed them engulfing Regina in that terrible, nauseating smoke.

"You will stay away from my family, and especially from my daughter" Regina couldn't help but smile, her mother was trying to protect her from whatever it was. If her mother defended her so bravely it meant that she loved her, even with her strange way of showing it. Her eyes sparkled and her heart seemed to warm at those words.

The creature lets out a laugh. Tall and hideous.

"Do you think you're going to keep me from getting what I want? I can kill you right now." The girl bit the inside of her cheek "There are so many ways I can do this."

"You're nothing but a coward Rumplestiltskin" There was a noise then. Something breaking. Glass.

Regina squinted, she needed to do something. She needed to save her mother! She pushed open the heavy door and entered at once. Cora floated in the air as if something choked her. The man smiled looking at the scene. Arm outstretched and hand almost closing.

"Stop!" The girl cried out, her eyes watering, something twisting in her inside as he faced her, tilting his head slightly, his large eyes hovering over her.

She watched his hands falter and his smile change, Rumplestiltskin turned back to the woman

"Your little princess is brave" Another laugh filled the great library. And then he faced the girl again "I can let go of your mother, but with one condition."

"W... what do you want?" The girl smiles and clicks her tongue making her take a step back.

"A lock of your hair" Regina lifted her head, arching her brow, and that made him smile. "It's what your mother is worth. A lock of your hair"

"Okay..." She stared at her mother who was swaying in the air almost unconscious

"So we have a deal?" The girl clenched her fists as she looks at the man.

"Yes..."

Now

Regina suddenly opened her eyes, she felt the magic flow through her body again and that was weird. An incredibly good 'weird'. She felt the grass under her body and the trees above her.

Then she saw a blue sky on a sunny day.

She sat up, first fixing her hair and seeing if she had any visible damage to her clothes, then replayed the facts.

Swan.

The culprit in all of this was Emma Swan, who, not satisfied with stealing Henry from her, breaking her curse and ruining her whole life, brought her through to this portal.

The woman stand up, that was surely the enchanted forest. She was sure when she saw the golden flowers in the clearing, flowers of the sun. Plants that would only exist in one place. She looked around and a smile broke out on her lips when she saw the Sheriff passed out further east, she approached hoping the blonde was dead and at the same time frustrated at missing the chance to kill her with her own hands. But Henry wouldn't forgive her if she did it, and he wouldn't believe her if she came back without Emma, or with a corpse, either.

Regina nudged Emma's back with the toes of her pointed heels. She sighed a little frustrated when the woman in the red jacket grunted.

"Oh come on… I don't have time for this!" The brunette rolled her eyes and raised her eyebrow "Swan!"

The blonde turned slowly, her eyes getting used to the light, then widened when she saw where she was.

"What the hell!" She yelled getting up awkwardly causing the older one to click her tongue with a small expression of disgust on her face. Inelegant. That was the word. A lady shouldn't act like that "Where are we?!"

"Thanks to you we're in the enchanted forest, and God knows how far from my son. Emma narrowed her eyes "Oh Lord, Swan, fix this posture you look like a child"

"You are not my mother" She took the leaves and some twigs from her blond hair "How do we get back?"

"I don't know. You got us into this Savior, do something useful and save us." Regina stopped and sighed heavily, adjusting the cuff of her blazer "I can't be here dressed like that."

"Of course not, you look like an old woman."

"Don't be stupid! We cannot attract attention"She moved her hands, changing their clothes with her comfortable purple mist.

Regina straightened the laces of her corset, which were completed with the long red skirt and white blouse, squeezing it as tightly as she could, and smoothed her hair, now long as before.

She opened her mouth and then closed it as soon as she saw Emma's expression.

"A dress? Did you put me in a dress? You didn't have a pair of pants? And what the hell did you do to my jacket?!"

"You should thank me for getting you out of that thing. Now come on, I don't have time or patience for you Swan." She moved her hand once more and two matching necklaces appeared around their necks. Regina straightened her posture, lifting her chin and walked away "Now no one will recognize us."

"Then that's it? Necklaces?! How are two necklaces going to protect us?!" Emma asks, studying the necklace hanging around her neck, then following Regina through the woods.

"Sincerely, Ms. Swan, you only use your head only as an ornament" Regina rolls her eyes "These necklaces change our appearance, so no one will recognize our faces, we can't risk it..."

"It's you the one who can't risk it, right ?! After all, here, you still the Evil Queen, what could they possibly do after seeing you transiting through the forest…" Emma teases.

"Don't test me Swan, you don't know what I am…" Emma interrupts.

"Capable of? Yeah, I know, look where it got us" Emma rolls her eyes.

"If it weren't for your fault, miss. Swan, we wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be far from my son!" Regina walks up to the blonde and points a finger.

"Our son! And by the way, which one of us was marked by that thing?!" Emma retorts.

"Are you serious?! I never asked you to save me!" She screams into the other woman's face, the two with a dangerous distance between them.

"Well, I wasn't going to let you die!" Emma spits the words into the brunette's face.

Regina is in shock for a moment, totally taken aback by the behavior of the woman she once tried to kill. Finding her voice in the back of her throat, Regina asks:

"What? Why?" The mayor's voice is no more than a confused whisper.

"Because like it or not, you're Henry's mother and I'm not going to let that child suffer any more than necessary." Emma's voice is calm and direct.

The brunette tries to consider Emma's words for a few seconds, still not believing what she heard.

After a long sigh the woman finds her voice.

"Okay" Regina says "For Henry".

"For Henry" Emma nods.

The two walked away and looked around at the forest that was so different from StoryBrooke, it wasn't dense and wet, when actually it's quite tropical and yet very airy, the flowers from the tall trees spread over their heads like a walkway, so bright and full of life like any other human being who passed by.

"Where are we?" Emma asks.

"In the Enchanted Forest" Regina answers as she tries to decipher the blonde's reaction.

"What? The enchanted forest?! Like 'in the place you used to live'?! That enchanted forest?!" Emma babbled, shock plain on her face.

"Yes, Miss. Swan… this enchanted forest…unless you know another one, of course" The brunette replies sarcastically and then smooths the skirt of her dress out of a non-existent dirty.

"Of course not" Emma defends herself "But you said this place no longer exists! I don't understand..."

"Believe me, I don't know any more than you... I really thought the curse had destroyed everything, but as you can see, I was wrong..." Regina crosses her arms and lowers her head in a little embarrassment.

Emma stares at the mayor for a while, slightly surprised by the change in her posture.

"Okay... what are we gonna do now? We can't stay in this forest forever, we have to go home!" Emma yells kicking at the grass.

"I know! I don't want to leave him alone as much as you do" Regina sits down on a rock and puts her hands on her face.

"Regina, he's not alone, Mary Margaret and David are with him, they're going to..."

"I don't want to leave Henry with those two idiots! I don't trust them with my son!" Regina screams.

"Calm down, Regina! Mary Margaret never..."

"She's not Mary Margaret anymore! Have you forgotten who she really is?!" Regina teases.

"No" Emma replies coldly.

"Then you must know I don't trust Snow White" The last word drips like poison from the mayor's lips.

Emma silently agreed with Regina.

"So... what do we do now?" the blonde asks.

"Let's try to get out of this forest" Regina says, getting up from the rock "And we have to find out which kingdom we are in"

"Kingdom?" Emma asks as she follows Regina through the branches.

"Yes... in the other world, the earth is divided into countries, states... well, here it's divided by kingdoms... oh I think it's around here!" Regina finds a path hidden between two bushes.

"Do you know this place?!" A branch hits Emma's face "Fuck! Regina! Where are we going?!"

"I don't know… I think I know this place… yes! I knew It was here... but how?!" Regina puts her hands on her hips.

The brunette led them to a wide dirt road that stretches west into the forest.

"How did you know..."

Emma couldn't complete it as a large lilac carriage pulled by black horses sped past them, almost running over them.

"What the hell! You crazy!" Emma starts to curse but is quickly silenced by the other woman.

"Shut up Swan!" She says still looking at the carriage "No... it can't be..."

"Seriously, Regina! Can you just say where are we going?!" Emma cries out in frustration for what feels like the umpteenth time.

Regina ignores the blonde and walks a little faster through the woods on the side of the road, not even blinking her eyes away from the carriage running fast in its way.

"Are you going to keep ignoring me or are you..." Emma pleads once more until Regina, tired and annoyed, turns and faces the blonde.

"Can you be quiet?!" Regina yells at the blonde who quickly closes her mouth.

Regina starts walking with Emma in tow, completely confused by why the brunette is acting hysterical.

After they follow the curve the carriage has turned, Emma loses her temper and pulls the brunette by the arm.

"Regina why you..."

"Swan you have no idea what you're…" Regina is about to slap the blonde.

"They stopped," Emma whispers interrupting the mayor and looking into the space behind Regina's head.

The brunette's head automatically turns towards the palace, oh yes... the palace... she knows very well who it belongs to... but it can't be... can it? How are they here? Why of all the places?!

"Wow…" Emma exclaims "Do you know whose mansion this is?"

"I have a slight idea" She replies absently and then walks to the gates of the big building, then crouches down near a flower bed.

"What are we looking at?" Emma asks as they watch the parked carriage.

"Shut up" The brunette snaps.

The women watch as the foreman opens the elegant carriage door to admit a woman dressed in black, with an imposing air and a crooked nose.

"No... no..." Regina talks to herself.

Then a girl comes out of there, no older than 15, wearing a blue silk dress, her long dark hair hanging down her back and her brown eyes are downcast and sad.

"That's…" Emma couldn't finish, for as soon as the girl looked up and she recognized the discreet scar on her full lip, the blonde knew exactly who she was.

"That's me" The realization is shaky in Regina's voice as she looks at her teenage self.