A/N: Merry Christmas, y'all!

During the mayor's speech, Emma was still listening to her voice when she brought herself to the memories. She remembered that day when she firstly met Regina Mills at their school. It went back in their old days but it brought the golden-haired woman to wonder how their friendship has blossomed over the years.

She tilted her head to study on the brunette woman who was laughing about her Christmas memory at her parents' manor. Regina was a little shorter than she thought she would be in a same height as her. Her hair was perfect in those beautiful brown curls and it was rarely touched on her shoulders. To be honest, the brunette woman was absolutely breathtaking when she saw her for the first time since her return after ten years.

Now, Emma shifted her head a little bit and didn't realize that Neal glanced over at her with a confused look. He looked back and forth to Regina and his sister then rolled his eyes with an understanding look. It was a good thing that Neal left her alone to daydream or something to study on Storybrooke's mayor.

The blonde superstar sighed and looked away at the oldest people who were on the stage but noticed the redheaded woman beside them. It was Zelena Mills. She recognized her immediately because she knew her well since she befriended Regina back in their old days. But Zelena was the oldest one of the Mills family and Regina was the second daughter. Everyone knew them well since their father used to be a mayor of the small and quaint town.

In her mind, it was bringing herself to the flashback when she first met Regina at their school. Well, it was their pre-kindergarten class and they were having the recess to play outside. Emma was alone and sitting by a tree. She was reading a book. Everyone knew that she was very brilliant and know how to pronounce each word since her mother was a teacher. It was a bonus for her.

Flashback – 1988

It was a beautiful day outside and it was a springtime. The recess was letting the children go away to play outside. The teachers came by supervising and chattering with their co-workers while they were watching the children. It was the blonde girl who happened to be five years old and walked out by the doors toward her favorite spot.

The place where she loved to read in a quiet place was a shaded tree in a corner of the yard. Emma arrived there and sat down on the grass. She had a best view by looking at the children laughing and playing with each other. The teachers didn't mind to have Emma there in a peaceful spot and they stood there to be closer with her.

The blonde girl didn't care if the teachers sit down next to her or stay in their distance from her. All she wanted was to read a book that she borrowed from the library and enjoy herself in the imagination.

But this time was different and Emma was alone by sitting on her favorite spot. The teachers who moved to another place where they were careful to watch out for the injuries on a new sport – dodgeball. The children were chattering loudly and laughing while they were playing with the red balls.

The blonde girl was reading the book by few chapters. She was too focused on the words that she didn't understand the terms of it and continued to read. To herself, Emma didn't pay attention to a new group who came to her by her favorite spot. It was the three boys who looked tough and one of them who ransacked her book with a laugh.

Emma gasped when she was not finishing her reading and looked up at her bullies. She frowned and got up then put her crossed arms on her chest with a pout face. One of the boy laughed when he read a book with a good mock. Others laughed at her while mocking her as a crybaby. The blonde girl started to get tears in her eyes when she felt hurt by her bullies. The leader of the bullies walked toward her and pushed her against the tree with a retort.

"If you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid, bookworm."

Two boys behind him were laughing at his insult toward Emma. She sniffled and struggled to get out of his way. He was gripping too hard on her and insulted her on the second one to make her feel hurt the most.

"You are stupid freak."

It put the blonde girl to cry once again. She whimpered while she was insulting by the other boy behind the leader of the bullies. It affected her to cry more and they laughed after hearing an insult toward her.

"Oh, you are crybaby."

When it happened, the bullies continued to insult her and one of them tore her favorite book. It broke Emma's heart when she saw her book ruining and kept crying. They laughed after destroying the book and turned around to face the brunette girl who was angry at them. The boys scoffed and pushed her away but they pulled away by her.

Emma wiped her snot with her sleeve and watched the brunette girl insulting the boys with a punch on their nose. One of the boy started to cry when his nose was broken. Finally, they ran out and it left the girls alone. The blonde girl collected the books from the grass and looked up with a small whisper.

"Are you going to hurt me like them?"

"No. I'm protecting you from bad boys. So, are you ok?"

The golden-haired girl nodded and pulled the ruined book toward her chest tightly. The brown-haired girl looked over at her shoulder and saw a teacher coming toward them then waved her over to them. It was their homeroom teacher, Ms. Blue.

"What's wrong, Emma?"

"Three boys ruined her book and I pushed them away to not hurt her." Regina said.

"Oh, thank you Regina. I saw you hitting one of the boy and it's not right to do it." The homeroom teacher said with a stern look. The brunette girl nodded and bowed down to her feet with a retort.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. It's nice of you to help Emma out. That's all right but I have to inform your parents about this one. Ok?"

"Ok." She nodded and looked over at the blonde girl who was in curiosity. She smiled at her and walked toward her. Emma cringed when the brunette girl got closer to her but stared at her. Ms. Blue smiled at them in their scene and watched their interaction.

"Don't be scared. My name is Regina Mills." She put her hand in the air for a handshake. The blonde girl looked at her hand then at her again. She was overwhelmed at her introduction and hesitated.

"It's ok, Emma. Tell her what your name is." Ms. Blue said with a smile.

"My name is Emma. Emma Swan."

"Want to be my friend?" Regina grinned at her. Emma slowly smiled at her and nodded. The brunette girl gripped her hand and tugged her along to go inside the school. Ms. Blue walked behind them and laughed at their interaction.

Flashback

That's how Emma and Regina became friends for the years since their first day. It brought the golden-haired actress to smile on the colorful day and sighed. She heard the applause in the audience and looked over at her baby brother with a confused look. Neal laughed and explained.

"Mayor Mills announced that we have a Christmas festival that starts tomorrow to Christmas Day. It's her plans for the years since her father stepped down on the position."

"Oh. What's else?"

"She has been enjoying her time as a mayor of this town and she's looking forward to be elected next year for the mayor's position. Everyone seemed to be pleased with her authority over the town. She has been doing great with her work since two years ago. I meant it, she is awesome." The brown-haired stud man said with a chuckle. Emma rolled her eyes and looked back at Regina who was finishing her speech with the victory.

She smiled at her thoughts on their friendship and caught herself when the brunette mayor caught her eye. The golden-haired woman froze when they saw each other in their eye contacts. Regina didn't falter her smile while greeting her goodbye and looking at the blonde woman in the audience next to Neal. It left them to think about each other since their days in Storybrooke.

Neal noticed the tension between Emma and Regina but decided to nudge his sister to get out of their eye gaze. Emma looked away to him with a smile and listened. The brown-haired woman stepped down on the podium and got some glances over at Emma few times before meeting her family in the backstage.

The blonde actress nodded at him when he asked her if they could go get ice cream with her son. Everett and Amy heard them then decided to join them. Julie and Brad laughed together then went for ice cream with them. It left Mary Margaret and David to take a walk back to their mansion. The siblings waved their goodbyes to their parents with kisses and ran away to catch up with Henry, Julie and Brad.

From the backstage, Regina watched the blonde woman who was laughing at Everett's joke and felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Zelena who was behind her and the brunette woman heard her voice. They watched Emma jumping excited while walking to the ice cream shop.

"Is that Emma?"

"Yes, I think so." The brown-haired mayor retorted with a soft voice. The redheaded woman was surprised that she didn't realize that Emma just returned to the town after ten years and continued.

"Wow. I don't know that Emma just got back, how long was that?"

"Ten years." Regina looked over her shoulder with a retort then looked away at them again. Zelena nodded and asked.

"Have you talked to her lately? Or have you contacted her?"

"No. Not for years since she left."

"Ok… I think we have to go like now. Mom just wanted us to go over and greet some people." Zelena looked around to find their mother who sneered at them. Regina rolled her eyes and kept her thoughts aside until she reached Emma firstly. The sisters looked at each other and walked after their parents then greeted some people.

A/N: Please review. Happy Holidays, y'all! Be safe.