Chapter One

Emma

When I'd left home at eighteen, I'd believed that everything would work out for the best. I'd find a job and a husband. Basically, I'd have the kind of life that my mother never had the chance to have. Oh boy was I wrong. I was living with three other women, working at a fast food joint. There was no man in my life and things were starting too look as if I'd end up like my mother. The thought was horrifying. Not because mom was a bad person, mind you. My mom, Mary-Margaret Blanchard, was an amazing woman. She was sweet and funny and I'd never known her to say an unkind word about anyone. Not even the step-mother who had tried to kill her when she was younger. But she was lonely. She'd lost my father the night I was born and she'd never found him again. I didn't want to end up that way. Not at all.

Needless to say, I didn't think that things could get worse. Oh boy was I wrong. I'd decided to go to a party with a friend one night. She had told me that the party was completely safe, that nothing could ever happen to me there. She lied. Two hours into the party, a man who called himself Neal Cassidy pulled me into a back room and...well he raped me. I'm not going to go into details because it was horrible...but I ended up pregnant because of it. Pregnant at eighteen years old. I was too ashamed to go to my mother and so I kept it a secret. I gave birth to a boy and almost immediately gave him up for adoption. It was a closed adoption and so I didn't know the adoptive parents but that was the way I wanted it. My mother could never know what I'd done.

I didn't return to the small cottage where I'd grown up until the evening of my twenty-eighth birthday. Mom was hard at work when I walked in, baking a cake and cooking dinner. She smiled when she caught sight of me and rushed over to hug me. I had to smile. Mom was always so enthusiastic and it never failed to make me smile. She led me into the kitchen where she poured me a glass of lemonade.

"Happy birthday Emma, love."

"Thanks mom."

Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Mom left to go answer it and she came back with a small boy. He had short brown hair and eyes that I saw every morning in the mirror. Gods. This couldn't be...

"Emma, this young man is here for you."

"Can I help ya kid?"

"Actually, you can. My name is Henry Mills and I'm your son."

"That's...that's ridiculous! Emma doesn't..."

Mom's voice trailed off at the look on my face.

"Emma. Please tell me this isn't true."

"I...can't. He's my son."

"You'd have had to have him when you were nineteen, Emma."

"I was raped. Couldn't keep him. Also didn't want to tell you." I said, sounding ever the sullen teenager.

"Emma..."

"What are you doing here Henry?" I asked, voice quiet.

"I have something to tell you. Something you're not going to believe but your mother will verify that it's the truth. I promise you."

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"You're part of a fairy tale. Your mother is Snow White and your father is Prince Charming. The Evil Queen, who is also my adoptive mother Regina, cast a curse on the whole kingdom which brought them here. Your father has no idea who he really is and neither does anyone else in town. Your mom only knows because she avoided the curse by climbing into a magical wardrobe so that you could grow up and break the curse." He paused then said, "I know that sounds crazy. Okay? I hear it. If I were you, I'd kick me out. But I swear I'm telling the truth."

I looked at my mother. A part of me was screaming to just ignore the kid. He was probably insane. I mean, he was my kid and I was a pretty messed up person so it only made sense that he'd be a little insane too. But most of me kind of believed it. There was something about Henry. Something that told me he was telling the truth. And the look on my mother's face that said he wasn't lying. Besides...how else could I explain the way she never seemed to age. She should have looked much older...but she only really looked around my age. Maybe a few years older. Her next words, spoken in a soft, careful voice, told me that Henry was telling the truth.

"He's not lying. I really am Snow and your father really is Charming."

"My father's name is Charming?"

"Not really. Charming is a nickname I came up with when we first met. His real name is David."

"Wow. And now I'm supposed to...what?"

"You're supposed to break the curse, of course. You're the savior. Born of true love. Only you can restore everything to the way it should be."

"I kinda figured that out. But how?"

"This has happened before...sort of. There's a book that tells everything that's happened before and that will happen later. When it was written, though, Gipetto had insisted that his son go through the wardrobe with Emma. His changing his mind wasn't recorded in the book for some reason. In the book, I ran away to Boston where Emma was living. I brought her to Storybrooke and a lot of stuff happened. Eventually, I hate a poisoned apple that was meant for Emma and it cursed me with the Sleeping Curse. Emma kissed my forehead and the curse broke. Both curses that is. But...they missed something vital in that timeline. Something that could redeem my mom."

"Redeem Regina?" Mom asked, interested.

"In the book, I hated my Mom because she's the Evil Queen and I thought she wanted everyone dead. But I don't hate her in this timeline because I've talked to her about the curse and she was honest with me. She cast it before she really thought about what it meant. She only wants her happy ending. And...her happy ending is Emma."

"Emma? You mean...Regina's true love is Emma?"

"Exactly. In order to break the curse this time around, you and Mom have to fall in love. She wants the curse broken...but she was scared to come here herself. She knows that she's done a lot to hurt Snow and she doesn't want to make things any worse so she let me come and explain things."

"What do I do?" I asked quietly.

Henry smiled. "You have to go talk to her. Mom's a bit intimidating at first but she's not evil. Not anymore anyways. She's seen the error of her ways and all she wants is to have her happy ending."

"Does she know it's me?"

"Of course she does. But she wants to fall in love. She wants you to be in love with her. Which is the only way the curse will break. Please, please come back with me."

I looked over at my mother. "Okay kid. We'll go see Regina."

Mom kissed my forehead. "Tell Regina I'm sorry. Tell her I forgive her."

I smiled. "I will."

Henry followed me out to my car, a yellow bug. We got in and he directed me into Storybrooke and down the street towards a large mansion. He explained that they lived in the mansion because Regina was the Mayor. We parked in front of the mansion and he got out. By the time I got out, Regina Mills had come out of the mansion. She was...well beautiful to be honest. Black hair. Beautiful body. I stared at her for a moment before walking towards her.

"You must be Emma Swan."

"That's me. You must be Regina."

"Would you like to come inside? We have a lot to talk about."

"That would probably be a good idea."

Regina led me into the manor and into a tastefully decorated sitting room. She poured us both a glass of apple cider and then sat down. Neither of us spoke for a long time, both of us lost in thought. When Regina finally did speak, her voice was quiet.

"I know you've probably just had the shock of a lifetime but I appreciate you believing everything Henry told you."

"Well, mom backed him up and she can't lie to save her life. It's the one thing I can count on."

"Yes, I know."

"She told me to tell she's sorry. And that she forgives you."

"I'm grateful for that. Snow...she didn't deserve my cruelty. Of course, it wasn't until I adopted Henry that I realized how stupid I'd been for hating her."

"What did she do?"

"I was in love with a servant girl. We were planning to run away before I had to marry the king...and she let it slip to my mother that I was planning on running away. Mother killed the servant girl...and forced me to marry the king anyways. I...I hated Snow for something that all children do. I caused so much harm...and now I can't do anything to make it better."

"Yes you can. You can fall in love with me. You can break the curse. Reunite my mother with my father. You can help so many people. All you have to do is try."

Regina leveled a gaze at me before she said, "All right."

And so we'd begun...

Author's Note: So, Regina will be a bit nicer in this version. This is simply because this story is on a different timeline than OUAT. Hope you enjoyed chapter one. :)

JezzaRose20