A/N: Hello my little bowls of soup! Juliana speaking, known here and on Tumblr as kingdomkeepers365. This technically isnt my first ONCE multichap, but I deleted my first one due to the fact that I was neglecting it and events actually happening in the show made it pretty pointless. But that's not gonna happen here because this is a complete pre-show and season 1 AU! So ya. Let's just call this my first ONCE multichap. Planning another one as well. ope I can help you all through the hiatus! Enjoy!
Snow White sat in the magical wardrobe, cradling her new baby in her arms. She could barely see anything through the blur of the hot tears that filled her eyes, but refused to spill out onto her cheeks. Her husband was standing in front of her, but he was practically a blur through the water blocking her vision. She had to see him one last time, one last time before she lost him for 28 years. So continuing to hold her baby with one hand, she took the other and forcefully wiped away her tears, and she saw him.
It took all that she had to not let her eyes fill up again. The magic wardrobe only took two. It was supposed to be the two of them that went inside together, but little Emma had come earlier than expected, and now Snow had to go away alone with their baby.
"She's supposed to come back on her 28th birthday" Snow said, barely able to get a word out. "I can't be without you for 28 years."
"I know" Charming said. "It will be hard. You're going to be an amazing mother. And in 28 years I will see you again, you and our beautiful baby girl." Snow felt her eyes filling again, and she had no control over it this time. Charming leaned down and kissed her, then Emma, on their heads. Then, as Snow screamed, he put his hands onto the wardrobe doors and locked them shut.
Snow found herself sitting by a tree in a forest. She didn't know where she was, or what this new world would hold. She felt tiny streams flowing down her face. The ducts had burst. The tears had left her eyes and had started to fall. She looked down at Emma, still in her arms. She saw that she was crying. Snow knew she had to be a mother now. She wiped away and controlled her tears as best she could and hugged her daughter tightly to her chest.
"Shhh Emma" she said. "It's okay. Your Mama's here"
Snow finally found her way out of the forest, Emma asleep in her arms. Her eyes grew wide. She didn't know what she was looking at. This world was clearly very different from her own. She wasn't familiar with the buildings, or the clothing, or even the ground. Everything was different. She was scared, but she knew she had to be brave. She had to get Emma someplace safe.
Still, how was she supposed to do even that? All of her money was back in the Enchanted Forest, and the currency was most likely different in this world. She would have no credentials, no record, in this world she didn't exist.
After walking for a while, she came across a building labeled Portland Single Mother's Shelter. Hoping the owners would allow her to stay, Snow walked up and knocked on the door. She heard the clicking of lock, and then watched as the door opened. A kind looking, middle aged woman with red hair stood before her.
"Hello" said Snow. "I was wondering if I would be able to stay here. I'm afraid I can't pay you, but…" she didn't even get to finish. The woman put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes of course" she said. She put her hand on Snow's shoulder and led her inside. "We'll work out all of the details in the morning. It's late. You need rest. I'll bring you to your room."
"Thank You" Snow said.
"I'm Maggie" the woman said. "What's your name dear?"
Snow knew she had to think quickly. She didn't want to give her real name. Who knew how normal or abnormal it could be in this world? Who knew what it meant to people? Quickly, she thought back to the day when she had first met her best friend Red and was asked her name. Being on the run from the Queen, she had given a fake name then too, and that was the name, or rather names, that she chose to use now.
"Mary Margaret" she said. "My name is Mary Margaret. And this is my daughter Emma"
"It's nice to meet you Mary Margaret" Maggie said. She placed a hand on Snow's back and led her into a small bedroom. There was a young girl sleeping on a bed and a baby in a crib next to her.
"I'll get you a nightgown and some linens" Maggie continued. "In the morning they'll be fresh clothes laid out and breakfast in the kitchen. She left the room and came back a minute later with a white night gown and sheets for the bed and crib.
"Well, have a good night"
"Thank you" Snow said. Maggie left, quietly closing the door behind her. Snow put Emma in the crib, kissed her on the head and sat down on the bed.
What was this life she was getting herself into? She had only been in this world a few hours, and already she could tell how different it was. The clothing was different, the structures were different, the entire atmosphere was different. Everything about this world was unfamiliar and strange. She had nothing, including an identity. How was she supposed to make a life for her and little Emma?
1 year later
"Happy Birthday Emma" Snow said kissing her sleeping daughter on the head.
They were in an apartment below someone's house. In the year passed, Maggie and the other women who ran the shelter had helped Snow to get ID papers and a job. She was on financial aid, but at least now she and Emma had a place to live.
She felt a tear streak down her face. It was Emma's first birthday. This occasion was supposed to be commemorated with a big party. They should have been hosting a huge ball with all of their friends and family. She should have been able to give Emma her first tiara, not a small little teddy bear from a convenience store. Her husband was supposed to be with her as she leaned over Emma's crib, bidding her goodnight. Instead, they were alone in a small living space on someone else's property.
This world was so odd. It was nothing like what she knew. She had done a lot of reading about it in libraries, scouring through loads of volumes about anything she could find. It wasn't easy but she had definitely learned a lot. There were some things she still had trouble wrapping her head around: like the carriages that moved without horses, or the ice boxes. The most confusing was the moving, talking picture box. Still, she was figuring it all out.
The young princess wiped a tear from her eye, kissed her daughter on the head again and climbed into her own bed again, preparing to drift into a soft sleep.
Life was simple, life was confusing, but it was what she had. She knew things would get better for her and her little girl. She had hope.
2 years later
Emma was three years old. It had been 3 years since Snow White was ripped from everything she knew, her daughter being the only thing she had. Now she sat in her bed, Emma cuddled up next to her, stroking her golden blonde hair. She was telling her a story, like she did every night, a story about who she was.
"…so I trusted your daddy. And I let him kiss me again. And this time…" Snow said, in the midst of a tale. She was cut off by her daughter guessing how the story ended.
"You remembered him?" Emma said in her toddler babble.
"Yes!" Snow said. A huge grin lit up Emma's face.
"Just like when he woke you up from the sleeping curse!"
"Yes but that didn't happen yet." Snow said.
"Oh." Emma said. She sat there for a few more moments leaning into her mother. After a while, she broke the silence in the room.
"I wish daddy could kiss me" Emma said. Snow tried to hold back tears, hearing this come from her daughter.
"Me too Emma. Me too" she said solemnly. Then she clapped her hands. "Time for bed" she said.
"But I'm not tired" Emma whined, like any typical child.
"Well you need your rest because we're going to pick out a Christmas tree tomorrow." Emma sat up and looked at her mother, her face full of excitement.
"Really?!"
"Yes of course! We need to get this house looking festive."
"Lots of Tinsel and lights?"
"As much as we can afford Emma."
"Okay! Goodnight mama!" Emma stood on her tippy toes. Snow leaned down and Emma kissed her on the forehead. They always kissed each other on the forehead. It had become somewhat of a special thing between them.
Emma ran to her room, her socked feet bouncing on the floorboards. Snow smiled. Her little princess was so beautiful. She only wished that Charming could experience it with her.
The next morning, Snow held Emma's hand as they walked to the Christmas tree farm. The youngest of the two was skipping, her mary janes clip-clopping on the pavement.
"Mama what was Christmas like in your castle?" the excited youngster asked.
"Oh it was wonderful" Snow said. Emma looked up at her hopefully, her eyes full of anticipation.
"We always had a huge tree in the parlor. And there was garland and tinsel all over! And we used to have this big ball on Christmas eve, and everyone would be dancing all night long!" At this last line, Snow spun Emma around, as if they were really at the ball she described. Emma giggled. The smile on Snow's face was enormous, filled with the happy memories of a time not too long ago, before the curse destroyed everything.
"That sounds amazing mama!"
"Oh it was" Snow's smile shrunk when the memories faded, and she realized that that wasn't her life anymore. She was here, her husband and her friends were gone. But she managed not to let her heartache show, for Emma's sake.
"Now" she said. "Let's go get that tree" Emma smiled up at her mother and continued to skip along the sidewalk.
A few weeks later, it was Christmas Eve. Emma and Snow were eating sugar cookies as Emma watched the tape of Frosty the Snowman that they had rented from the library over and over on repeat.
As promised, the tree, along with the entire house, was covered in tinsel, garland, and every decoration imaginable. One time, in between viewings, Emma took a break to talk to her mother
"Were those Christmas eve balls you talked about fun Mama?" she asked.
"Very much so" Snow replied.
"I wish I could go to one" Emma said, looking down. Snow suddenly got an idea.
"Well why don't we have one right here, you and me" she said. Emma looked up, a look of pure wonder in her eyes
"Really?!"
"Ya! Go put one of your sundresses on. We'll have a fancy ball, just the two of us." Emma smiled and sprinted to her room, her feet pounding across the floor.
So the two princesses had a ball in their small little apartment. They drank apple juice in plastic champagne glasses, ate mini frozen pizzas for dinner and oreos for desert. In the middle of the winter, the mother and daughter danced around their living room in sundresses and sandals. They danced all night, just as it had happened at the castle balls.
They twirled. They skipped. They sang along to the Christmas carols. Eventually, after being all partied out, Emma fell asleep in her mother's arms on the couch. Snow picked her up and carried her to her bed where she tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead.
"Merry Christmas Emma" she whispered. Then she went to put the presents under the tree.
The next morning, Snow was abruptly awaken by the sound of Emma's feet pounding into her bedroom.
"Mama Mama wake up Santa came Santa came!" she shouted. Snow smiled and stretched out her arms. Before she got the chance to say or do anything, she found her three year old daughter jumping up and down on her bed.
"Alright Alright" Snow said. "Let mama get out of bed Emmy" Emma climbed down and stood at the edge of the bed bounding up and down, grinning from ear to ear. Snow got out of bed, stepped into her slippers, and put on her bathrobe. Emma grabbed her hand, and before she knew it, Emma was bounding, dragging her towards the living room.
"Emma slow down!" Snow said, but she couldn't help but laugh. Emma and Snow sat on the floor by the tree and Emma immediately began to tear into the presents.
There wasn't much. There was only so much that Snow could afford, but she tried to give Emma the best Christmas possible. There was a Barbie doll, a stuffed Frosty the Snowman, a pretend beauty kit and hair bows.
"Now Emmy that's all that Santa brought, but there's a present for you from me" She handed Emma a large rectangular box. Emma excitedly tore through the paper and threw open the cardboard box to reveal…
"A princess dress!" Emma squealed.
"So you can dress up like you were really back home. You're a princess Emmy, so you deserve to dress like one." Emma stood up, held the poofy white dress up to herself and twirled around.
"There's something else in there too" Snow said. Emma kneeled back down next to the box and pulled out a plastic tiara.
"I know it's not what you're really supposed to have, but I still wanted to give you your first tiara. Plastic is not as good as diamonds but…." Emma cut her mother off by kissing her on the forehead and wrapping her arms around her neck.
"I love them mama thank you!" Snow smiled. "Wait here I have something for you!" Emma dashed to her room and came bouncing back. She handed her mother a rolled up piece of construction paper.
"I drew you a picture" she said. Snow unrolled the paper and tried not to cry. Emma had scribbled out a picture of a castle with three figures in front.
"It's you me and daddy" Emma said. "In front of our castle, like we will be one day." Snow hugged her daughter tightly and Emma giggled loudly.
"Come on let's have some breakfast" Snow said. "How about some Christmas tree pancakes?!"
"Ya ya!" Emma squealed. Emma grinned and jumped on the couch, admiring her new gifts. Princess Snow White looked at her daughter, so happy always. Maybe this life wasn't as bad as it seemed.
A/N: So I hoped you like it! Let me note, and please don't let this turn you off. I tend to be really bad with updating. I'm trying to get better at that. Problem number one is I say I'm gonna work on these and then Tumblr happens. Other problems, to write well, at all, I have to be completely and totally in writing mode. Either I'm typing 100 words a minute or type one word and click out of the document. I also have another multichap that's official for a book seires and am planning another OUAT multichap. Whatevs. I promise I'll try my best. Just a casual reminder, this will eventually be a Swanfire story so if you don't like them, feel free to keep reading but no hate please. Hope you enjoy the story! I'm really excited about it. Bye!
-Kingdomkeepers365