Hey guys! Thank you so much for supporting me and this story, it means a lot. I'm semi new to the Once fandom and hope to give you all many more fics! Question: How do you guys feel about Dark!Emma?

Chapter 5

Regina was once again on her way to the Dark One's lair. She hated asking anyone for help, especially that scaly-skinned crocodile that was Rumpelstiltskin. She resisted the urge to vomit at the thought of the man, but smiled when the image of a beautiful blonde little girl entered her mind.

Although she knew that Emma was her soulmate, she didn't think of the blonde in a romantic way. It was weird for her to think of a child as her best friend, but she knew Emma was truly the only one who cared about her besides her father. That made her heart swell, and she would do anything to remove the frown from the little girl's face and replace it with a smile.

When she was close enough to Rumple's castle, she poofed herself inside, not caring that he was engrossed in a conversation with his maid.

Rumpelstiltskin looked at the Queen confusingly. He couldn't figure out why the Evil Queen would visit him twice in one week, let alone twice in a lifetime after their history. His mask suddenly appeared and he cheerfully exclaimed, "Why if it isn't the Evil Queen! Two visits in one week, this must be good dearie!"

Regina decided she was in too good of a mood to deal with the imp. "Let's get to the point, shall we? I'm here because I need a way to see Emma in person without her parents finding out."

Rumpel pretended to think and then his lips curled into a creepy smile. "Why dearie, don't you remember the cloning spell I taught you?"

A light bulb went off in the Queen's head. It had been a rather complex spell to master back when she was learning magic and she had forgotten all about it. She poofed away, ignoring the imp's cryptic laughs. Instead of being bothered with the carriage, she traveled back to her palace and locked herself within her chambers.

Fishing out one of her mother's magic books, she opened it and found the exact spell she needed to clone the little girl. Smiling brightly, she felt rather pleased that she had a way to spend time with her Emma. Now, she just had to wait for the little girl to contact her. She placed an enchantment on both her mirror and herself which would enable her to hear Emma should she call to her while she was absent.

"Emma, have we not discussed this already?" Snow looked at her daughter with weary eyes, tired of answering the same question.

"Yes, mommy, but I just want to know what she's like! Do you think I could meet her?"

"NO!" Both her parents yelled back the answer at her, forgetting that this was an 8 year old girl they were speaking to.

Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill and stain her unusually red cheeks. She knew she told herself she wouldn't talk anymore about the Evil Queen, but she couldn't help herself. Maybe if she could convince her parents to let her see Regina, she wouldn't have to sneak around. Deciding that that was just a figment of her own imagination, she rose from the table. "Mother, father, I am going to retire to my chambers. Please see to it that no one disturbs me." The little girl turned on her heel and walked back to her bedchambers, ignoring the horrified look on her parents' faces.

As she made the trek back to her room, she felt hot tears roll down her face. She hated that her parents could make her feel so little, so insignificant. She felt as if she didn't matter.

When she got into her room, she immediately wiped her face and tapped her mirror, whispering the name she'd grown so accustomed to saying. When the image on the mirror showed an empty room, she could feel the familiar ache in her throat that told her she was going to cry again. Assuming Regina didn't want to speak to her anymore, she began to weep as she thought about how everyone in her life just seemed to disappoint her. Did anyone want her?

She got so carried away that she didn't notice the regal queen poof into the room and sit down in front of the mirror.

"Emma?"

The little girl raised her head to look at Regina and the Queen felt as if her heart was breaking into a million pieces. She wanted to kill whoever was responsible for Emma's pain. "Emma, sweetie, what's wrong?"

Emma simply shook her head and stared back at the ground.

Reaching through the glass, she gently lifted the little girl's chin and wiped away the stray tears that had collected on the girl's cheeks. "Emma, if you want me to help you, you need to tell me what happened, dear."

The tears came back once again and she hiccupped, "I thought you didn't want to talk to me…" She mumbled.

Regina however was able to understand exactly what the blonde said and tried to hide the bewilderment in her question. "Why would you think that?" Emma was probably the only person she did wish to talk to. She'd never mention it to Emma or anyone else for that matter, but if Emma were the only person she spoke to for the rest of her life she would be perfectly content with that.

She sniffled and stared at the floor, "You weren't there when I called you."

Realizing Emma was still in fact eight years old, she calmly explained, "I didn't know when or if you were going to call so I put a spell on my mirror that would tell me when you were there. I'm sorry to have caused you sadness, little one."

This seemed to make Emma feel slightly better, but she still seemed upset. Regina assumed there must've been more to the story. "Did something else happen, Emma?"

When Emma seemed reluctant to answer Regina knew she was right. "You can tell me anything, Emma."

The little girl smiled softly at this and solemnly replied, "Promise you won't tell?" She reached into the mirror and knowing just what to do, Regina interlocked their pinkies and kissed them to seal the promise.

The little girl chuckled when she saw she had half of the Queen's lipstick kiss on her finger. Regina too smiled widely, the sound music to her ears. "Now, tell me what is on your mind."

She took a deep breath, and sighed. "My mommy and daddy yelled at me today."

Before she decided to murder the two idiots Emma called her parents, she needed to hear more of the story. Anyone who made Emma unhappy was a fool. "Do go on, dear."

"Well, I asked my mommy if I could meet you sometime and her and my daddy yelled at me and said no."

Regina nodded at this. She reached into the glass and placed her hand on Emma's. "Little one, I think it to be incredibly sweet and amazing that you see me as someone good, not the Evil Queen. I suppose what I am trying to say is that not everyone feels the same about me that you do. I tried to hurt your mommy and daddy many times, and sometimes grown-ups are not as forgiving as children. Do you understand?"

Emma felt anger when she heard this. "I think it's silly that my parents don't like you. I don't think you're evil at all, I just think you were sad which is why you hurt people. You're nice to me though. You're the best friend I could ever have."

Regina beamed at this. "I feel the same way, little one. Actually, I have a surprise for you." She could barely contain her excitement. Trying to think of a way to explain everything to an eight year old seemed like a hard task, but then she remembered that Emma was brilliant and that eased her fears.

Emma jumped in her seat, "What is it Gina, what is it?!"

Ignoring her newly acquired nickname, she pulled out her gift to Emma. "I have a way for us to see each other."

Emma could barely contain her excitement. "REALLY, GINA? DO YOU MEAN IT?!" She couldn't believe this. She had went from having the worst day ever to having the best day ever.

Regina chuckled at the girl's zeal. "Yes, dear. I have a few things to tell you so listen carefully. Your mommy and daddy's castle is enchanted. Bad people like me can't come close to it, so I need your help. Do you think you can do that?"

Nodding eagerly, Emma waited for Regina to tell her what she needed to do. "I need you to put on this necklace. Your magic isn't advanced enough for you to travel to where I am and whole bodies cannot travel through mirrors. If you are wearing this necklace, you can always travel to where I am."

Squealing, Emma pulled Regina into an awkward hug. When she pulled away, she accepted the light purple-gemmed necklace and quickly slipped it around her neck. "How did you know that purple was my favorite color?"

"Lucky guess." Regina winked at Emma, causing the blonde to laugh at the Queen's antics.

"Now, I need to clone you so that your parents won't know you're gone. The new you will act just like you, and talk just like you so your parents aren't suspicious. Poof yourself to me and I shall clone you when you arrive."

Emma could not believe that her dreams were coming true and that this was happening. The woman she had read about in books was her best friend and she was going to meet her. In that moment, life could not be any better. Regina watched in amazement as a white light engulfed Emma and reappeared in her bedchambers.

When the light faded and it was just a small little blonde girl standing in front of the queen, Regina had to fight back the tears. Emma looked at Regina for a moment and then ran straight into the queen's open arms.

Regina, not even bothering to fight the tears back anymore whispered into the blonde's hair, "You're so much more beautiful in person, if possible."

Emma whispered back, "You are the fairest in all the lands, Gina."

Pulling back, Regina brushed a lock of curls out of the girl's face. "No, my dear. You are."

The two stared at each other for what felt like forever until Regina remembered she needed to clone Emma. "Emma, I need to clone you now…unless you wish to return home?" She couldn't hide the vulnerability laced within that statement. A part of her feared the little girl would decide she didn't want to be her friend anymore and leave.

Emma smiled up at the Queen. "Gina, don't be silly. Of course I want to stay. Clone me!"

Quickly and flawlessly completing the spell, she rolled her eyes as Emma began chatting with her other self. It was quite amusing to see what excited an eight year old girl. She quickly sent the clone back to Emma's bedchambers, and did a spell, making the clone fall asleep. Closing her mirror portal, she looked back at Emma and said, "I want you to meet my father."

Noticing that Emma didn't seem too excited to meet her father, Regina crouched down to the blonde's height and stared into the green, intense eyes. "Why do you not seem excited?"

Knowing that Regina would not hurt her if she disliked the answer, she whispered, "He hurt you. He let Cora hurt you and didn't do anything. He didn't protect you. I don't want to meet him."

Tears filled the Queen's eyes. No one had cared for her like that since well, since Daniel. "That means more to me than you know, little one. I love that you care so much about me, but it is okay now. I'm alright now and it would mean a lot to me if you met my father. Would you please?"

Emma nodded and accepted the soft hand that the Queen offered her. Following the queen's lead out of the room, she smiled softly to herself. She wouldn't tell a soul, but here she felt happy…and home.