Hello again!
So, this is the first real chapter of the story. This is where the story truly begins and we'll get to know more about Kaya/Morgana.
We will also understand her "family life" better.
Small note - in every chapter, there will be a small flashback from Morgana's past in the Enchanted Forest and this is how we will truly understand her better, hopefully.

Last but not least: THANK YOU to everyone who gave this story (and me) a shot. Thank you.

Enjoy.

I carry the weight of you in my heavy heart
And the wind is so icy, I am numb
I carry the weight of you heading back to start
With a thousand eyes on me, I stumble on

The Enchanted Forest

... many years ago

Her father was having the time of his life, she could tell you for sure. He was sitting on top of a pile of books, making the big armor attack her with only a flick of his wrist.

The armor kept attacking her with the sword while she tried her best to defend herself, while her father cackled madly, entertained by the scene displaying in front of him.

"Be careful, Morgana, dearie! Hold your sword higher!" he instructed her.

She nodded and tried her best to concentrate, but when the enchanted armor made another move toward her, she lost her footing and fell to the floor.

In a heartbeat, the armor had fallen forgotten and her father was kneeling in front of her. "Morgana?"

"I'm fine, papa, but why do we have to do this?" the six year old asked, now seeming even younger than her real age, her big eyes looking up at him.

He smiled and got closer to her. "Papa will not always be there to save you, my little fox. There are evil people out there, people who would like to hurt you, to hurt me. Do you understand this?"

She nodded, her expression suddenly thoughtful. "I think I do, papa" she answered and the Dark Lord could not help but feel his heart swell at his daughter. True, the Dark magic had taken a lot from him, but it could never take away the love for his children. Both of them. Morgana reminded him so much of Bae, he knew if they met, no, when they met, they would be the best siblings the world had ever seen. He would be truly happy, then.

Focusing then on the task of protecting his youngest child, he turned his attention back to her. "People can never know who you really are, not yet"

"Then when, papa?"

"One day, little fox. One day the world will know" he promised her.

She seemed to think for a minute, quite intense thoughts judging from the frown on her face. "I'm confused, papa. If I always stay here, nobody sees me and nobody knows who I am, so why do I have to do this? Why can't I go play with my new doll?"

She truly is a little fox, he thought to himself. "One day, dearie, I will have to leave and do something very very important, so that we can find your brother. I will not be with you for a long time, but you will be able to go and explore the world as you wish. You will have many great adventures, you will meet many people... but adventures are for heroes, and true heroes must always know how to defend themselves, don't you agree?"

The Dark Lord discussing heroes with his daughter, he thought, could this be any more ironic?

His daughter though now looked convinced enough to stand up and pick up her sword again. Well, at least it was worth it. Heroes can turn out to be useful, indeed.

Storybrooke

Present day

It was already half past eight when Kaya entered Granny's and, as always, it was full of people who gathered there to enjoy a few beers in good company after work. Regina may have been the Evil Queen, but she did built a nice town where everyone had a strong sense of community, she had to admit. She planned to sit at her usual table waiting for her father, who was supposed to have dinner with her, when she saw Emma Swan sitting on a stool at the counter, all alone.

The perfect occasion to get to know her, she thought to herself.

She walked closer to her and when she was sure she had the blonde woman's attention, she nodded to the stool beside hers. "Is it occupied already or can I sit here?" she asked, smiling.

Emma studied her for a moment, unaware that the girl in front of her was doing the same. "It's free, you can sit" she finally answered.

She's not used to new people. She's guarded. She doesn't trust people easily, no, she doesn't trust anyone at all, I guess. She held out her hand. "I'm Kaya, by the way. Kaya Faye Fox"

"Emma Swan. You probably already know everything about me, so I'll spare you the tale"

"It's a small town, you cannot really blame people for being curious, especially when the Mayor's son is involved. My father must have told you this"

"Your father?"

"Mr Gold"

Emma immediately raised her eyebrows. "I thought you said your last name is Fox?"

Kaya smirked to herself. "Observant. Mr Gold's my adopted father. When he adopted me, he decided to let me keep my real last name" she explained gently. An inside joke between us, she added then to herself.

Emma nodded, not saying anything, so Kaya decided it was up to herself to keep the conversation going, if she wanted to know more about the woman in front of her. "Anyway, Emma... I'm waiting for my father for dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"I have eaten already"

"Oh. Shame. Then how about you keep me company while I wait and we have a drink?" she proposed, waving over to her friend Ruby, who immediately came to them. "Good evening, pretty lady! What can I get you?" she greeted her, cheerful as always.

"Two beers, please" she asked politely. Emma remained silent.

"Long day at work?" her friend asked. A simple look from Kaya was enough of an answer, so she went to get the beers, leaving Emma and Kaya alone again.

"So, long day at work?" repeated Emma.

Kaya laughed at that. "It's a... it's a joke between us. I'm a doctor, every single day is kind of long. What about you? What do you do back in Boston?"

"I'm good at finding people when they don't want to be found, so that's what I do"

Kaya suddenly slightly turned around and saw her father was entering the diner, so she leaned closer to Emma. "Be careful around the Mayor, Emma. She's powerful and she wants you out of this city. Don't let her win. No one is invincible"

"Why are you telling me this?" asked the blonde woman, warily.

"The people you have to find. Do you always find them?"

"Always"

"Then you'll have no problems figuring out this puzzle" replied Kaya, smiling, before she stood up and left to join her father, leaving behind her a very speechless Saviour.

Later that night, Kaya and Rumplestiltskin were in the basement of their house, working on a potion. Since the arrival of Emma Swan and the return of their memories, they had in fact noticed that small traces of magic were slowly returning to them. It was strange magic, though, fleeting and difficult to control and that was the reason why father and daughter both agreed to investigate and research the matter. None of them wanted to be caught unprepared the moment the curse was broken and if there was one thing they knew, that was it: the curse was going to be broken soon.

"I see you have met Miss Swan, dearie" commented Rumple, stirring the potion they were trying to prepare.

Kaya nodded, adding another ingredient under her father's careful eye. "She's a very interesting woman. I think breaking this curse will be quite entertaining, after all"

"Indeed, dearie, but be careful. Don't be too open about all this, I don't want the Queen after you, not when we don't have magic to protect us. Remember we don't choose sides, we have our own side. The fight between Snow White and the Evil Queen has never been our problem"

Kaya smiled and leaned closer to kiss her father's cheek. "I know, papa, I know. Don't worry. We just need to have the Saviour break this curse, get our power back and get Bae back. Let's just make it... worthwhile for us"

Rumple smiled wickedly and Kaya could almost see a glimpe of the Dark Lord's wicked humour, the one she grew up with. Her father had talked to her about Bae, about her brother, about how he couldn't accept his dark power. She could. She could accept it, because that was the father she grew up with. It wasn't hard to accept him that way, because that was the only way she had ever known him, before Storybrooke. Bae had, instead, grown up with the human version of their father. It must have been difficult for him. He must've been scared of magic. She wondered if he still was. Would he be afraid of her, as well? How ironic it was that the two siblings could be so different.

"You're thinking hard about something, little fox. If you think hard about something, your pretty head will break" said her father, lightly nudging her head with his fingers.

"I was thinking about Bae, papa. You always said he doesn't like magic... and I have magic... what if he doesn't like me?" she asked, insecure.

Rumple smiled. He couldn't count all the times his daughter had those thoughts, ever since she was a child. No matter how grown up she was, she was still his little girl. He just hugged her to him, hoping to reassure her. "Nonsense, little fox. He's your brother and, you know, he had always wanted a little sister. He was such a good boy. Now he must be a very nice man. Kind. Brave. Compassionate. Of course he will love you" concluded the man.

Kaya just smiled, feeling better. She said goodnight to her father and went to her room, a big smile still on her face. She walked to the window. She opened it. She loved to sleep and wake up with the wind sweeping in.

Looking out, she froze.

She could do nothing but standing there. Completely still.

She should have known.

The moment her memories came back... she should have known.

She should have known.