Chapter 3
Innocence
Years passed in the blink of an eye. The Evil Queen watched Snow White's suffering. She hadn't her daughter and she had no idea her best friend was raising her.
The Queen occasionally paid baby Emma visits; when Red and the huntsman, who were now married, slept soundly. One night, the night of Emma's first birthday, Regina took the baby to her castle. She observed how different Emma, how time had changed her. She was still chubby, pale and the big green eyes were the same, but now she had grown her blonde hair and she had grown more teeth. The Evil Queen thought little Emma was just adorable.
"Aren't you a cute little Swan, princess?" The girl clapped every time the Queen talked, which made her chuckle. Baby Emma looked at Regina with wide eyes and that adorable smile only a child could have. Regina watched her, the way she behaved and smiled just for her and couldn't help but smile back and touch her little nose. Emma giggled loudly, holding her own nose with her chubby little hands, hiding it from the Queen's sight. Regina carried the blonde one-year-old girl to her bed and laid Emma there.
"I don't want to be lonely tonight." She told the girl. Emma smiled at her moving her chubby feet around. "Aren't you just a little bundle of joy?" Emma's giggles melted the Queen's heart. She adored the blonde, how she acted, how Emma was the only one that really knew who Regina really was.
"Little ducky." Regina whispered. "You shall be my little ducky." Regina rub Emma's belly knowing that it would make her sleepy. After watching little Emma sleep, she reluctantly took the girl in her arms and they both disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
Regina appeared in the huntsman's cabin once again. The silence let her know couple still slept peacefully as she made her way to their room. She looked down at her chest where her little ducky was sleeping against her chest. Regina's heart squeezed painfully as she realized she had to leave her here.
"I'll be back soon, ducky. I promise." She whispered, placing the baby next to her mother's arms. "Goodbye for now, Miss Swan." Regina kissed the girl's forehead as she did back the day the child was born. Then, the Queen disappeared without another word.
That was the last time she had been close to Emma. It had been twelve years since then. Emma Swan was now thirteen years old and even though the Evil Queen did not talk to her, she watched her from the distance. Little Emma looked just like Snow White when she had been a child.
As much as Regina hated what Snow had done, Emma had become her world.
The Queen rose in the morning and prepared herself; it was just another day to roam her castle. The dark halls were lonely and again overwhelming. Before Emma, the halls were just halls. Now the halls are like a prison cell, like they were closing in on her. Why did she feel so strongly for this child?
The Queen signed petitions and went about her day, finally deciding to visit her garden. She heard the contrast of giggling and rough laughter. As she turned over the corner to get to the garden, she saw a little girl hiding behind her apple tree. She giggled so hard her blond locks shook.
"I'm going to find you, Goldie." The voice the rough laughter belonged to said. Regina knew it was one of her guards playing around with the girl. Regina didn't remember his name, but her attention was not on him. It was on the little girl's whose giggles rang in her head. Her golden hair flowing in the wild while she tried to keep her giggles at bay. The guard was looking around for the little girl and stopped as he heard her giggles.
"Oh, where could my Goldie Locks be? How did I ever lose her?" The guard said with fake sadness and blonde girl stop hiding and ran towards him, hugging him tightly.
"Uncle August, you have not lost me, silly!" she giggled in the young man's arms. Now the Queen knew who he was. The once wooden boy, Pinoccio.
"Oh Goldie Locks, I missed you." He said, spinning the little blond girl around until the huntsman appeared behind them.
"Emma." The huntsman said in a rather angry voice. The Queen's body stiffened. She hadn't gotten a good look at the girl, but now her suspicions were clear. That was Emma.
She had grown up so fast, she was not her little ducky anymore. Regina couldn't be more proud of the beautiful girl she had become. Occasionally seeing her once in a while for more than ten years was not enough to know her well, but she couldn't help but enjoy every second, every year observing her.
"Yes, Daddy?" Emma asked as the man she called uncle put her down. She stood behind his armored legs.
"Your mother has been looking for you, Emma Swan. Why are you at Papa's job? You know it's not safe to be here." The huntsman said, offering his hand for his little girl to take. It was clear to Regina he adored Emma, but what he told her bothered her greatly. You know it's not safe to be here…
Regina decided to keep walking, knowing they would see her.
"Since when are my gardens a children's playground?" Regina asked without looking at her not-so-little ducky.
"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry my daughter followed me to work this morning and I just noticed her. I beg for your forgiveness." Both the guard and the huntsman bowed to the Queen, but Emma did not.
Regina got closer to her, her eyes narrowing at the girl.
"You are Goldie Locks? Nice name, Miss Swan." Emma nodded, a small smile on her face.
The girl felt connection to this woman, she was not afraid. As Queen spoke to her father and her uncle she had paid no mind to what they said. Her gaze and her attention was fixed on the woman with the dark, skin tight clothing and the darkened eyes.
"I am. You must be the Queen." Emma said in that childlike voice Regina had heard minutes ago.
The Queen looked at Emma like she was an insect, like she didn't mean anything to the strange but beautiful dark woman. Emma's eyes stung with tears as Regina's turned cruel. Regina could see the watery green eyes and she took pity on the girl when a tear rolled down the blonds girls cheek.
The Evil Queen's heart threaten to soften further for the girl, her cruel façade was sure to fail looking into those green eyes.
Emma moved over to her father and hid behind him feeling ashamed, no doubt.
"We are sorry, Your Majesty. My pretty Swan does not know who you are very well. Please accept my apologies for her behavior." Emma's shoulder shook behind her father and the Queen's chin rose, fighting the urge to console her.
The guard the girl called August looked at the Queen and moved towards Emma.
"Come on, Goldie locks. Don't cry…you are breaking your uncle's heart." Regina could not fight how she felt about the girl and she also approached her.
"Huntsman, guard, go train the new solders. Emma will be spending the afternoon with me." The Evil Queen said, looking at the girl.
Emma looked up at the Queen and then at her father.
"Your Majesty, she isn't—" The Queen's eyes were enough to silence the girl's father.
"She is old enough to choose what she wants. Would you like to come with me, girl?" Emma looked from her father's frightened eyes to the Queen's and nodded.
"You shall take her when you have completed your duties for the day, huntsman. As for you, guard," The woman said, looking at Emma's uncle. "do not let me find you playing with Emma or any other child on my grounds. You are a guard, a servant. As as one you shall behave." Both men nodded and bowed. The huntsman kissed his little girl's head and told her to be good before following the guard.
"Come." Regina ordered and began to walk. The girl followed closely behind and a smell overwhelmed her senses.
"You smell like apples, Regina." Emma said, her voice followed by a ghost of a laugh.
She knows my name, Regina thought to herself taking the girl to her bedchambers.
"It's Your Majesty. And how do you know my name?" The Queen asked as they entered her room. The girl wasted no time and sat on the bed, taking Regina by surprise. That was the exact same spot where she had been when she was just an infant.
"Why didn't you visit me again? Why did you never come back?" Emma asked settling further on the Queen's bed. The Evil Queen couldn't believe it. She remembered. It had happened twelve years ago, but she remembered.
"I have far more important things to do than see a child, dear." The Queen said, avoiding the girl's receptive eyes and sitting on her desk. Her back was to the child, but she still saw her through her mirror.
"You called me ducky, didn't you? Your little ducky." Emma asked. The Queen sat still.
Regina looked at the innocence in those big, greens eyes. Emma looked at her through the mirror and for the first time in a long time, the Queen felt like she was bare. Like Emma could see right through her.
"No. Perhaps it was all a dream?" The Queen said sarcastically. Emma shook her head and threw her body back, so her entire body laid on the bed completely.
"Yes, I mean no. I mean, I dream about you, but I know they are memories. It would be weird to dream of someone you've never met and then meeting them in real life, wouldn't it? I has to be a memory. Plus I've always remembered those words. 'My little ducky.'"
The Queen left her seat and walked so she stood over the girl laying on her bed. She looked rather tired, as if she were just about to fall into sleep. Regina waved her hand over the girl, purple mist indicating the spell was working.
She couldn't have her asking so many questions, so a little nap would do.
"Don't forget your ducky, Regina. Will you forget me again?" Emma whispered before her eyes fell shut and she fell into peaceful sleep. The Queen put her hand over the girl's and watched her take deep, even breaths.
"Never, Miss Swan."