Chapter 1: Pilot

Once Upon A Time there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know.

One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. Our world.

This is how it happened…

There ballroom was full to the brim, but that was to be expected, not every day you can attend the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming. And there was Charming waiting for his future bride to step through the doors, so they could finally have their happy ending.

Behind the doors to the ballroom, Snow White was anxiously pacing muttering to herself. "Where is she? I told her the correct day and time… I hope nothing happened." She kept repeating over and over again, while Red Riding Hood watched with an amused smile on her face.

"Have some faith! Doesn't she always appear at the right moment?" She grabbed Snow by the shoulder, so she would stop here pacing. "As if she would miss the most important day of your life."

Snow took a deep breath and smiled. "You are right! If I know her, and I do, she will just stroll in like nothing is going on and not even be dressed for the occasion" Snow and Red shared a laugh at that statement, because both knew there was a great probability that that was exactly what was about to happen.

"Do you really have such little faith in me? And here I was making an effort to look presentable for your big day" Both women turned around and big smiles appeared on their faces. But Snow's smile soon turned to a frown and a pout.

"You are mean! You shouldn't make the bride anxious on her day!" Snow looked at the woman that finally decided to make an appearance; her short dark red hair had small white flowers arranged like a headband. Her unusual eyes held a spark of amusement; Snow had always loved her eyes and had come to her defense every time others made comments about them. After all, it was very rare to see someone with eyes of different color. One of the woman's eyes was forest green and the other a light honey color.

The woman was wearing a floor length red dress with long sleeves and gold accents. She looked at Snow with a tender smile and then turned to Red.

"Well, at least I know that you have my back Red 2" She and Red both grinned and hugged.

"You have to tell me how has been your last adventure!" Red said excited as she always was when the woman finally returned from one of her trips.

"I also want to know, but can it wait until I'm finally married?" Interrupted Snow with a half-hearted glare. "We are already late and I've been waiting long enough for this day"

"Of course! How rude of me to deprive the future queen from her well-deserved happy ending." Said the woman while taking a deep exaggerated bow. "Now. Red, go ahead and tell them that we are ready to begin."

At those words Red nodded with another smile and went through the doors to the ballroom. Snow turned to the woman, looked at her up and down and chuckled.

"After all this time, who would have thought that we would be wearing fancy dresses again?" She said with tears in her eyes. "Finally everything will be how it was supposed to. After all the hardships, I'm going to get my happy ending."

The woman looked at Snow and smiled. She cupped Snow's face in her hands and whipped away the tears. "Now, now. None of that. This is your special day. You deserve this. But don't think for a moment that you regret the path that you took here." Snow opened her mouth to reply but the woman shushed her. "I know that the beginning of your journey was devastating, and I didn't make it better. But through it all, you made great friends, lived many adventures and found a new family. So smile! Because everyone in there has been waiting for your happy ending as long as you have."

Snow smiled, hugged the woman tightly and straightened her dress. "Well, I think we made everyone wait long enough." She linked arms with the woman. "It is time for me to get married. And Snow White can't get married without her adventurous sister Rose Red."

Both women smiled at each other and stepped into the ballroom. Everyone turned to look at them and Charming had the biggest smile on his face and his eyes were rimmed with tears, because finally he was going to have his happy ending. But most of all, because his future wife was going to have her hard-earned happiness and that was only possible with her only living relative there to see it.

When Snow and Rose finally made it to the center of the room, Rose shot a glare at Charming. "For your own good, I expect that my sister will only shed tears of happiness from now on." Charming swallowed, Rose was a sweet and understanding woman, but fiercely protective of those she loved. Charming had seen Rose angry and from that day, he knew that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of her anger.

Rose's glare turned to a big smile. "Don't worry I know that you would never intentionally hurt her. And I trust you to keep that promise." She kissed him on the cheek and turned to stand besides Red. But before she could take a step, Charming grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.

"From this day forward, we will officially be brother and sister. I'm proud to have you as my little sister, Rose. And I bow to keep my promise, but I also bow to make sure you also find your happy ending." He cupped her face and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled with tears in her eyes and turned to Snow.

"You better marry him fast White. Before someone snatches him away." Both sisters laughed, and Charming had a proud grin on his face.

"Believe me Red. I don't plan on letting him go." Snow smiled and looked at her future husband with love and adoration.

The ceremony proceeded without any further problems, until they were about to kiss to finalize the ceremony. The door to the ballroom burst open and the Evil Queen made her appearance.

"Sorry I'm late." She said while she strode to the center of the room. The guards tried to stop her, but were sent flying with a flick of the Queen's hand. Snow took Charming's sword and pointed it at the Queen. Rose went to her sister's side and put a hand on the sword.

"Snow, this is your day. Don't let her ruin it." She said while looking at Snow with a pointed stare. She turned to the Queen and sighed. "What do you want Regina? As you can see, you aren't precisely the guest of honor."

The Queen smiled. "I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary dear, I've come to give your sister a gift." Snow blanched at that statement.

"We want nothing from you!" Before she could utter another word the Queen spoke again.

"But you shall have it. My gift to you… is this happy, happy day." She said while pacing around the center of the room looking at the scared faces that surrounded her. "But tomorrow my real work begins. You made your bows, now I make mine." While the Queen was explaining her plan for revenge, Rose couldn't help the sadness that overcame her.

Hearing Regina speak like that, with such hate and malice, it was still hard for her. She had known Regina for a long time; she had seen the young heartbroken woman turn into what she was now, the Evil Queen. Rose had regretted some things during her live, like everyone else, but the thing she could never forgive herself was not fighting harder for Regina not to lose herself.

The Queen went to make her exit, when Charming threw his sword at her. She disappeared in puff of black smoke, not before looking at Rose intently with something that most would have believed impossible of the Evil Queen to feel, kindness.

Emma Swan just turned the man she was looking for to the police when she received a text: Go to Queen of Tarts. There's a something for you. Such a bummer that I'm still stuck in New York. Happy B-day Em! Love you!

Even though her night had turned crappy, reading the text, she couldn't help but let a smile grace her face. Emma didn't know how she did it, but her best friend always knew how to cheer her up. She had to admit, she was also bummed out that her friend wasn't going to be there and that she was going to spend another birthday alone. But she wasn't going to hold it against her, she was doing her job that she loved and Emma was happy for her. Not so much for the aftermath of her trips, but she couldn't be mad at her when she retold the story of her latest adventure.

After picking up a cupcake at Queen of Tarts that had Love U – R written in frosting, she arrived at her apartment. Waiting at the door was a package with a note that said: I may not be here but your present sure is ;). Emma smiled again and picked it up. Opening it, she saw a blue leather jacket and chuckled. Of course her friend would get her a new jacket to add to her collection. She took out the cupcake, put a candle on it and made a wish. Just as she blew the candle, there was a knock on the door.

Snow White was cradling her barely noticeable bump while looking at Rose with a frown.

"I know you are doing a great job at checking up on the problems of the kingdom, but please don't go this time." She begged while grabbing her sister's hands. "I have a bad feeling about this, and Regina's curse is coming, and the baby will come soon. You can't miss the birth!"

Rose chuckled and guided her pregnant sister to a chair. She kneeled in front of her, never letting go of her hands. "Don't worry White. It will take a couple of months at most and there is still at least six more months before the baby is here. Trust me; I will be here in time for the birth, to meet my beautiful niece." She smiled, got up and kissed her sister on the forehead.

At that moment Charming came into the room and looked from his crying pregnant wife to his smiling sister (because sister-in-law was too long to say and Rose insisted that there was no need, to all effects and purposes they were true siblings). He went to Snow's side and stroked her hair. "Come on Snow, you know that Rosie is always there when it matters. So she will definitely be here when our son is born." Snow huffed, crossed her arms and glared at her husband.

"I told you a thousand times! It's going to be a girl! A girl!" Charming raised his hands in surrender and Rose laughed at the scared look on the prince face.

"Well, I'll take that as my leave. David, take care of my sister." Charming nodded. Then Rose turned to Snow. "Now, White, I want to have a brother to return to so try not to bite his head off." She said with a big grin.

Snow smiled and gave a pointed look at Charming. "I don't know Red. He gets on my nerves more and more each day. If you want to still have a brother when you come back, you better hurry." All of them laughed, and Rose Red left to check on some problem reported in a village from the kingdom. But little did they all know, that that was the last time they would see each other in a long time.

Emma just got out of the Mayor's house after dropping off her son, the one she gave up so long ago. Her mind was buzzing, and she needed to talk with someone about all of this, so she picked up her phone and called the only one she had trusted with the truth about Henry.

"Well hello birthday girl. Do you miss me that much?" Came a voice with a slight English accent. Emma chuckled and shook her head.

"You won't' believe where I am." She said as she started her yellow bug, to make her way back to Boston. "I'm in Storybrooke, Maine."

"And pray tell, what are you doing in Storybrooke, Maine? I have never even heard of a place called Sortybrooke." Emma sighed and prepared herself to explain what happened.

"Wait, so you are telling me that your long forgotten son came back on your birthday, you had to drive him to a town in the middle of nowhere and that he believes that everyone there is part of a fairy tale?" Emma knew that her friend wasn't being sarcastic; she just was trying to get all the facts after Emma explained hurriedly the events of the night.

"Yeah, it was hard to process for me too." She said distracted as she saw Henry's book in the passenger seat.

"Em, are you okay?" Her friend said with concern evident in her voice. "Look, I'm on my way to Boston. Tomorrow morning, we will talk about this." Emma was about to reply, when she saw a wolf on the road. She gasped and swerved to avoid it hitting the City sign.

"Em? Em? Emma? What happened? Emma?"

The next morning found Emma in a jail cell. She looked around confused. After a short conversation with Marco and Leroy, the sheriff made his appearance.

"The Mayor's drinks are strong" he said looking at Emma with an amused look.

"I wasn't drunk. There was a wolf sitting in the middle of the road." She answered without batting an eyelash.

"A wolf? Right. Anyway, you have a very concerned friend that has been calling nonstop since I found you." He told her. Emma closed her eyes and brought her head up.

"Shit. She is going to kill me." She sighed and looked at the sheriff. "Could I have my phone? I would like to call her before she barges in here and kicks my ass." Again the sheriff looked at her with an amused smile and was about to answer when the Mayor made her entrance saying that Henry had disappeared again.

Emma bargained a deal to get out of jail if she helped them find Henry. When she had her possessions back, she called her friend. The first ring didn't end when she picked up.

"Jail Emma! Jail! Seriously, I'm so gonna kick your ass. I hear a crash and the next thing I know the sheriff tells me that you were drunk driving and that you were going to be in jail for town damage." Emma sighed and knew that her friend would cool down eventually, she always did. "You had me worried sick. Anyway, I'm on my way to Storybrooke, to bail you out."

"Well, in exchange for my freedom, I'm going to help find the Mayor's son." Emma interrupted her.

"Wait, your kid is missing? Then more reason for me to go. I'll help you look. I should be there in a couple of hours." And before Emma could answer, she heard the disconnect tone.

A scream was heard in the night. Snow White was in labor and the Queen's curse was on its way.

"I can't have the baby now. She is not here yet." She yelled with tears running down her face.

"Snow… I know you wanted Rose here but…" Charming couldn't finish his sentence. For the last six months, everyone in the kingdom has been looking for the princess Rose Red. But no one had seen here since her arrival at a village to investigate a problem.

The villagers said that she started her investigation and one night they heard a boy scream. The boy was terrified, and he could only say that "Red was taken by black". From that day on, Rose Red was never seen again in the Enchanted Forest.

Emma was on her way to Henry's castle when a car stopped at her side. Out of it came a woman wearing jeans, a black t-shirt and a yellow leather jacket. The color of the jacket contrasting against the woman's long dark red hair. She turned towards Emma and looked at her with a hard glare of her heterochromatic eyes, one forest green and one a light honey color.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Emma" She said while leaning against the car and crossing her arms. Emma smiled while looking at her friend.

"I know, but I have a good lead on where the kid is. So… If you can wait to kick my ass after we have found him, I would appreciate it." The woman looked at Emma, sighed and nodded her head.

"Lead the way then." With those words the two women made their way to the castle in their search for Henry.

When they arrived, Emma turned to her friend. "Would you let me talk to him alone for a bit?" The woman smiled and nodded, signaling her to go with her hand.

When mother and son started to argue, the woman took it upon herself to break it up. "Well, I don't' like to see anyone cry." She looked at Emma and then at Henry. Both of them a little surprised that someone was there. "Hello Henry, I've heard quite a bit about you in the last twelve hours." She said with a grin, while Henry looked at her with wide eyes. He started to look through his book quickly, looking for something. Emma and her friend looked at each other.

"The book says that you disappeared before the curse. How are you here?" Said Henry while still looking through the book. Until he found what he was looking for. He turned the book a round so the women could see a drawing of a woman with short dark red hair and heterochromatic eyes. "See! You are Rose Red!" The two women looked at each other again, Emma let out a sigh, while her friend raised an eyebrow.

"Well Henry. I'm not Rose Red, but you got part of my name right." She said with a big smile extending her hand for a hand shake. "I'm Rosalind Kingsley. But everybody calls me Rose." Henry shook her hand uncertainly. Emma decided then that it was time to bring Henry back to his mother.

While Emma brought Henry to the Mayor's door, Rose stayed behind with the cars. Once Emma made her way back, Rose looked at her concerned. "Are you okay Emma?"

"Yes, but… I'm not leaving, at least not yet." She said with a determined look on her face. Rose grinned at her best friend.

"Great! I saw an Inn on the way. Let's go." And with that the two friends were on their way to Granny's.

Once at the Inn, Emma and Rose asked for a room after hearing the owner argue with her granddaughter. While they were facing the reception desk a voice came from behind them all of a sudden. "Emma. What a lovely name." Emma turned around suddenly and so did Rose, but the latter also threw a punch to the person that had just spoken.

The man fell to the ground holding his nose. Emma, Granny and her granddaughter look at the man on the floor in shock, while Rose gasped and kneeled at his side. "I'm so sorry! It was a reflex. I didn't know you were behind us and you spoke so suddenly that I acted on instinct. I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Rose started speaking quickly without catching a breath, while she was trying to see the damage she had done to the man.

The man grunted still holding his nose and slapped Rose's hands away. "What have you done? Don't you know who I am? Do I have to…" The man stopped speaking when he laid his eyes on Rose. And the woman took this chance to examine the bleeding nose.

"Again, I'm so sorry!" She turned to Granny, with wide eyes "Do you have a first aid kit?" The older woman nodded and gave it to her. Rose started to clean the blood while the man kept starting at her with wonder. "Ugh! I can't apologize enough! I'm sorry for the punch. But it seems that it's not broken. And the bleeding has stopped." She said smiling softly at the man that still hadn't uttered another word.

Granny then got out a roll of money and handed it to the man. "Here's all of it". At those words the man snapped out of the trance he was in and took the money. He turned to Emma then and looked at her intently.

"Enjoy your stay. Emma." Then he turned to Rose with a smile on his face. "I have to say Miss…" Rose looked at him and gave him a sheepish smile.

"Rose, Rose Kingsley. Again, sorry about that." She said while rubbing her arm uncomfortable with the situation.

"No problem darling. I have to say, you made quite the first impression." He took her hand, placed a kiss on her knuckles, turned around and left the Inn.

Emma and Rose looked at each other in surprise. "Who was that?" Asked Emma. The granddaughter looked out the window and answered.

" Mr. Gold. He owns this place." Rose turned to look at her and asked.

"The Inn?" But Granny shook her head and replied.

"The town." She shook her head again and got back on topic. "So, how long will you two stay?" Emma looked at Rose and she just shrugged her shoulders. After all, this was all up to Emma, Rose was just there to support her friend.

"A week. Just one week." And while they made their way to the room, neither of them noticed that the clock, that had never moved, had started to work again.