After passing the Storybrooke sign, Regina and Emma soon arrived at the mansion.
"Holy crap. You live here?", Emma asked wide-eyed
Regina chuckled," Well, I am the mayor."
As Regina opened the door Emma continued to stare in awe at the massive house. It was way nicer than any house or foster home she had been in. Regina remained quiet as Emma soaked in her surroundings. The leather furniture, the pristine kitchen, and the spiraling staircase. Emma seemed hypnotized until Regina coughed breaking her out of her trance.
" Your room is upstairs. The second door on the right.", she explains
"Oh, uh thanks", Emma replies still a bit distracted
"I'll be making dinner soon. Is lasagna alright?"
"Sure, I don't care", Emma replies as she walks up the stairs
Emma makes it to the top of the stairs with difficulty, rubbing her left stump. Stairs, she thought, It had to be stairs. She turns right and finds herself in front of her bedroom door, hand raised, but unable to open the door. Come on Emma, just do it. In one swift motion Emma opened the door to pink colored walls with gold along the edges and matching sheets on the bed with the name 'Emma' painted elegantly in gold above the headboard. Emma set her bag down gently on the bed and noticed a desk in the corner of the room which already had enough supplies to last a good year or two.
"Do you like it?", Regina asked out of no where startling Emma ," Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, but I didn't know what you liked so this is what I came up with. You are free to redecorate it to your liking."
"No, I actually kinda like it.", Emma mumbled
Emma's nose then filled with a mouth-watering smell that immediately made her stomach growl and Regina chuckle.
" Dinner is almost ready, I'll call you when it's done", She explained and retreated to the kitchen.
Emma nodded and closed the door to her new room. She walked over to her bed and opened her backpack, which contained a few clothes, a pocket knife, and her baby blanket. She reached inside, grabbed the piece of fabric, and pressed it against her face feeling the softness against her skin. Emma felt different. She didn't feel the dread she had always felt when placed in a new house. She felt...better. She felt...at home.
Flashback
5 years old
A woman picks up a broken ruler from the floor and screams at the crying child.
"-AND MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU'LL LEARN TO BEHAVE!"
As she walks away the girl replies between sobs," Yes mommy".
"I'm not your mother you bastard child", and spits on the beaten five-year old
8 years old
"Remember our secret. Don't tell anybody or else you'll get the whip", a coarse drunken voice whispers in her ear.
She tries to stop crying,but to no avail. The pain is too intense for the young second grader. She just sobs into her pillow as her adoptive father buckles his pants and stumbles out of the room.
10 years old
It was one of her better nights. She didn't have any nightmares and was sleeping peacefully. Oblivious to the older kids sneaking out with fireworks and matches.
She wakes up to pain. Searing pain in her left leg and finds it has caught on fire. She tries to find something to put the fire out, but it is too late the fire had surrounded. She frantically searches for an exit and sees a window. She slowly, but surely crawls over in agony and opens the window burning her hands.
She screams. She screams bloody murder alerting the firefighters and countless others, the last thing she remembers is feeling wet and everything turns black.
A single tear rolls down Emma's cheek as she remember all the pain she went through. She quickly wipes her face when Regina's voice reaches her ears, announcing that dinner was ready.
Emma climbs down the stairs, following her nose to the dining room to find the table set with two plates of lasagna and two glasses of water. Regina is seated patiently waiting for Emma.
"Hi", Emma awkwardly greets as she sits down
"Hello",Regina smiles
They begin eating in silence until Regina speaks.
"How's the lasagna?", She asks
"Really good. Best thing I've tasted in a long time", Emma replied as she chewed contently
"It's a family recipe."
" I thought you didn't have any family. I mean...why else would you adopt me?"
Regina's mouth fell open for a second, surprised at the boldness of the young teen, but answered nonetheless .
" My mother taught it to me."
"What happened to her?"
" Her heart gave out when I was 15 and I was raised by my father until he died suddenly from a stroke."
Emma immediately stops eating and drops her fork," I'm sorry...I didn't know", she mumbled quietly
"It's quite alright dear."
"I'm not hungry any more", Emma suddenly says and quickly gets up stumbling over her metal leg in the process, ending with a shattered plate and a fallen Emma.
"Are you alright?", Regina asks on the floor next to Emma.
She gets no reply as Emma sits on the floor in a rigid posture as if expecting something...as if expecting to be hit.
" Emma?", Regina reaches out tentatively to comfort Emma, but was met with a flinch
"Emma, I'm not gonna hurt you. It was an accident and besides it is just a plate.", Regina says in attempts to sooth the girl. Emma slowly raises her head, traces of fear still evident on her face, and quietly asks, "Really?".
"Of course", was Regina's answer
After the incident at dinner Emma went into her room to retire for the night while Regina, stayed up late to finish her paperwork. She was almost finished with the last piece when she heard a scream come from Emma's room.
Regina was by her side in 5 seconds flat, though it stumped her on how quickly she was able to care so much for a girl that had only been with her for 24 hours.
As Emma was thrashing about she continued to repeat the same words over and over again," I'm sorry, I'm sorry!", she sobbed. Regina climbed into Emma's bed, wrapped her arms around her ( which calmed Emma down almost immediately), and rocked her back and forth until she was sleeping peacefully. The last thing she heard escape from Emma's lips was," Will you still love me in the morning?".
Regina looked down at the sleeping figure and couldn't help but reply
"Forever and ever, Emma"
Wow! I cannot believe how many faves and follows this story has gotten! I would just like to clarify that, yes this is a repost. There was some technical troubles with my computer and so I decided to start over with the help of a friend of mine who, for now, shall not be named. So until next time!
-Randomness99 :)
