Emma sat in the backyard of her new home, drawing an escape plan into the dirt. If she left that night, she would be able to get far enough away that it would take a long time to find her.

"What are you doing?" a cruel voice asked. "Big kids aren't supposed to play in the dirt."

"Go away Evan," Emma said, continuing her drawing. "I'm not interested in getting into a fight with you today. I'm trying to be better."

"What for?" Evan scoffed. "You'll never be adopted."

"You don't know that," Emma argued. "Someone could come along that's looking for an older kid."

"You and I both know that'll never happen," Evan said, sitting next to her in the grass.

Emma glared at him. "If all you're going to do is sit here and taunt me, you can just go away."

Evan shrugged. "It's quite fun actually. You get so defensive whenever someone suggests that no one will actually adopt you. You might as well accept your fate."

"And what's that?" Emma asked.

"You'll always be an orphan," Evan said. "No matter what happens, you'll always be Little Orphan Emma."

Emma dropped her stick before punching Evan in the nose. "Don't call me that. I'll find a family someday, you'll see."

"Even if you do, they'll never really love you," Evan said. "It's hard to love someone who acts like a human Fort Knox."

Emma glared at him before spinning on her heel and stalking away. He wasn't worth any more of her attention.

"You'll see!" Evan called after her. "One day, you'll see that I'm right!"

Emma sat up with a gasp. She looked at her surroundings and shuddered. Not matter what the Disney movie said; Neverland was not a nice place.

"You okay?" Regina asked, placing her hand gently on Emma's arm.

Emma jumped. "Jeez Regina. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry," Regina apologized, chuckling. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Emma said, running her fingers through her hair. "Just had a nightmare. Probably a side-effect of being in this place."

Regina nodded in agreement. "This place can really mess with you. Want to talk about it?"

"How messed up this island is?" Emma asked.

"No," Regina said. "Your nightmare."

"Oh," Emma said. "That. Not really. I'll be fine. It wasn't like it was scary or anything."

Regina reached over and brushed the pad of her thumb against Emma's cheek. "And yet you woke up crying."

Emma blushed. "I didn't realize that I was. It's fine."

"It is not fine," Regina argued. "Why won't you let me help?"

"I don't need help," Emma protested. "I've never needed help."

"Never needed it, or never been offered it?" Regina asked. Emma winced, giving Regina her answer.

"It was just a nightmare," Emma said. "If it was serious I would have woken up screaming."

"You're not weak you know," Regina said. "Nightmares don't make you weak. Getting help from someone isn't weak."

"Yes it is," Emma hissed. "I shouldn't need help with a nightmare as stupid as this one."

"What makes it stupid?" Regina asked.

"It's so simple," Emma said. "There's nothing scary to it. It's just a stupid memory of a kid at one of my foster homes."

"What happened?" Regina asked.

"He just told me how things were," Emma said. "He was right, but I didn't want to hear it. But now I realize that he's right."

Regina reached out and grabbed her hand. "What did he tell you?"

Emma looked at Regina, tears streaming down her face. "He told me that no matter how hard I tried to get adopted, I never would. And even if I did find a family, they wouldn't love me. I would always be Little Orphan Emma."

"That's not true," Regina argued. "Your family loves you."

"Do they?" Emma countered. "Because so far all I am to them is their Savior. Clearly I'm replaceable, or they wouldn't be talking about another kid."

"That is not your fault," Regina said, glaring at Snow and David's sleeping forms.

"I know," Emma said. "But he was right. I always will be an orphan."

Regina went to protest when the map sitting next to Emma started glowing, highlighting the path that they needed.

"See?" Emma asked, pointing at the map. "Even the map knows I'm right."

Regina sighed. "We'll continue this later. Right now, we have a son to find."