DISCLAIMER:: do not own ouat or any of its characters. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.

A/N:: sorry for the long delay. please red, review, and enjoy.

SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN

Chapter 6

James left the front door locked and secure. He couldn't have people trying to break into the mayor's impressive manor once word spread that she'd been kidnapped, exiting through the back door through which he'd entered. A hanging set of hooks in the pantry had provided clearly labeled shiny spare keys for the basement and back doors. There had been a empty hook for the front door as well, but Emma had claimed that spare when she'd moved in with Regina post-curse, a decision Snow still railed her about to this very day. He had his suspicions; he was far from blind after all; he had seen the way Regina cast longing looks at his daughter when she thought she was unobserved. But Snow had always refused to see the obvious truths that her mind didn't care to process.

He had pilfered the spare back door key and locked up as he left, scanning the backyard. There were prints in the immaculate lawn, obviously made by the heavy tread of Emma's favourite Docs. But they could have been made anytime over the last week. It wasn't evidence that she had been out here since her reversion to her younger self.

Coming up empty on his quick search of the backyard, he was left no choice but to return to the front of the house and his waiting grandson and... the word 'wife' seemed wrong for the young teenager who sat next to Henry in the middle seat of the old truck, still looking around as if the vehicle were about to fling her from the cab and run her over.

Henry looked up when he opened the driver's door and slid into the cab. "Where are my moms?"

James tried to keep his expression neutral but there was no way to mask the apologetic look on his face. "Someone must have broken in."

Henry shook his head. "But who would risk breaking in to my mom's house? Everyone in Storybrooke knows what she would do to them if they did. Nobody's that stupid."

"Whoever it is, they must be the one who turned them younger. They had to know that Emma and Regina were vulnerable enough not to know how to properly use their magic."

Henry's eyes widened; it hadn't occurred to him that his mothers were without their magic, both being in their teens again. "But without magic, how are they going to defend themselves? We have to rescue them!"

James nodded. "And we will. But first we have to figure out how all this happened. Once we find out whoever is behind this, we can start to figure out a way to rescue Emma and Regina and change the three of them back."

Snow, who had remained, surprisingly, quiet during the exchange, now cleared her throat softly. Both Henry and James turned their attention to the girl seated between them.

She looked back and forth between them. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't seem to form the words. Her hands wrung nervously in her lap as she glanced between them. Finally, blushing a deep scarlet, she turned to Henry and whispered something in his ear before she glanced back at James, only to avert her eyes once more to her lap.

James raised his eyebrows at his grandson, who was looking quite amused, in askance.

Henry was trying to hold back a laugh. "It would seem a trip to the... little princess' room is needed."

James groaned. How was he ever going to explain indoor plumbing?

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"Here." Emma scanned triumphantly around the little clearing they'd emerged into only moments before. It was concealed by thick tree growth to three sides and a fallen tree to the fourth. It would offer them adequate cover from any passerby, at least enough so that they would hear an intruder before one would hear or see them. The roundabout pattern at which she'd taken them had them far enough away from town that they weren't likely to be discovered by someone taking a casual stroll, but it was close enough that she could hike back for supplies or help if need be. The only visible downside to the small space was that there appeared to be a lack of flat ground. They'd need the small space near the center for a fire pit, but beyond that, there were no comfortable looking areas to sleep. She didn't mind; she'd roughed it worse than this. But one glance at Regina told her she wasn't going to get through tonight without complaint.

"Here?" Regina stumbled through the brush behind her, nearly crashing into Emma's back as she tripped over her shoelaces for the millionth time in the last hour. She glanced around the clearing with a mixture of uncertainty and disgust. "Is there not a better option?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Sure, I could take you back to the House of Pedophiles I just helped you escape from." She trudged forward to the center of the clearing. "Until I can find out who we're dealing with, it's better to camp out here where no one is likely to find us. As far as we know, the whole town could be in on it. Haven't you ever read The Stepford Wives?"

Regina shook her head haughtily. "As a matter of fact, I haven't."

Emma dropped the duffels to the ground, before searching the forest floor for decent sized rocks. "The point is, Princess, that until we know who took us and what they were planning, it's safer out here." She stooped down upon the discovery of a decent sized stone. She stood, holding it up so Regina could see it. "Now, if you're done whining, think you could help me find more of these?"

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"Who would take my moms?" Henry leaned forward so he could look past young Snow White to regard his grandfather in the driver's seat as they turned out of the residential part of Storybrooke and towards the main part of town.

David considered the question. Now that they weren't confined in their own heads to the belief that they were part of this world, as they had been before Emma broke the curse, the possibilities were a little more widespread. Every single citizen of Storybrooke knew who she had been. Time, and the good deeds she had performed since the curse's breaking, had healed old wounds, reduced grudges to nothing more than the occasional bitter memory. At least for most people. There were a small select few, he suspected, who had never forgotten the villain Regina used to be. Emma's friendship and her own magic had offered her adequate protection, but if they had been reduced to their teenage selves, they were vulnerable to any form of attack.

"Whatever was done to them, had to be done through magic of some sort. Either Gold is behind it himself or he knows who is. I think we should stop by the pawn shop, see if we can't get some answers there. Maybe once we figure out who did this," he glanced pointedly at Snow, "then we'll be able to find out who took them and where."

He turned onto Main Street and parked the car just down from the pawn shop. As he unbuckled his belt, he glanced over at Henry. "Why don't you take your gra... er, Princess Snow over to Granny's and get her something to eat? I'd rather not have Gold see her like this, in case this spell wasn't his doing." Rumplestiltskin never failed to twist situations to his own end, and the last thing James needed was to be tricked into a deal and be beholden to the imp once more.

Henry, having already unbuckled both himself and his young grandmother, nodded in understanding. He opened his door and offered his free hand to the young girl. Though, even at fourteen, she was still older than his twelve years, she was much more innocent of the atrocities of the world, both this one and all the others beyond it. In many ways he was much older, and that led to him being protective of the young royal. "Come on. You'll love Ruby; she's super nice."

Snow didn't hesitate to take Henry's hand and allow him to help her down from the truck. She looked positively relieved to be getting away from the 'carriage'. She glanced around at the little shops that littered both sides of the street with open curiosity. Her fear of the truck had kept her from truly taking in this odd little village. It was unlike anything she'd seen before. "What an interesting kingdom you preside over Prince Henry. What did you say this land is called again?"

"Storybrooke." Henry looked both ways to make sure no cars were approaching before he led the girl across the street by the hand.

"Storybrooke." She smiled. It was a beautiful name for this odd land with its horseless carriages and weird contraptions. Surely they were far from her home in the Enchanted Forest. Her tutor during her childhood had made her memorise all the nearest kingdoms, their capitols, and their rulers. A neighbouring kingdom had a prince by the name of James, but she knew of no Kings named James. She knew once of a prince named Henry, but he would be of an age with her mother were the Queen still with them today.

"King James must be great friends with my father for me to be entrusted to his care without my father's accompaniment. Perhaps they met in alliance on the battlefield some years ago. I'll bet he saved my father in some heroic act of courage. My father must owe his life to King James." She sighed dreamily, lost in her own thoughts of True Love.

Henry turned his head away to hide his grin. It was as if the pages of the beloved book that had started his own personal tale were coming to life right before his eyes. Snow White was just as sweet and naive as the book had described her as. Then the grin fell away as he realised what was in this girl's future, the moment she would lose her innocence as she was forced to run for her life from his own mother. He glanced sadly over at the girl, still too lost in her imagination to notice his gaze.

He led her up the steps to the front door of the diner. But the door was locked when he tried the handle. Granny's was never closed. The old woman was a workhorse, unwilling to shut the doors for even a second during business hours. But one glance in the window confirmed that all the lights were off and no one was inside. How odd.

"Prince Henry, what is that there?" Snow pointed one block down from Granny's to the spire of the town clock tower.

"That's the library."

"I love our library at home. Can we go?"

Her look was so hopeful, yearning for something for her to recognise from her own life, that he found himself nodding. Granny's was closed anyway for whatever reason and they would still be between the diner and Gold's.

Snow clapped her merriment. "Wonderful."

As they walked out through the arch in the picket fence in front of Granny's, the Snow Inquisition began.

"Is King James a fair ruler?"

"The fairest I know."

"Do his people love him?"

"Yes."

"Who is this Gold? Is it King Midas? I have heard the rumours whispered about him, that his touch has the magic to turn whatever he wishes into solid gold."

Henry frowned. How to explain Gold without using his true name. He had little doubt that the young Princess would know who he was; his reputation did proceed him, especially in the Enchanted Forest. But it wasn't fair to lie to her. They knew nothing of what had happened yet. What if the Snow in the past was switched with their Snow? His grandmother was knowledgeable enough of the world she grew up in to survive there while they figured this out; she'd proved that when she and Emma had been pulled back into the remains of the Enchanted Forest by the wraith. "He's... he's my other grandfather." There, that was a safe response, and it wasn't even a lie. "He's my father's father."

Snow was curious and wanted to ask further questions, but the sadness in Henry's tone was enough that she knew better than to press the issue, so she let it go.

They stopped in front of the double doors at the library's entrance. Henry tried the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. He peered inside. The lights were on but dim. He couldn't see anyone milling around, not even Belle.

"Hello?"

Snow pushed in past him, heading straight for the first shelf of books, looking up at it in wonder. "It's not as open as the library in my father's castle, but it is lovely." Her fingers traced over the spines.

Henry stared around, examining the room in the dim light. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes, but when he turned his head to fully look, he saw no one, nothing that could have moved. Leaving Snow to browse the shelves, he moved deeper into the building, searching for anyone. Someone was here, he could sense it.

He found her hiding between two shelves in the back, trapped against a dead end with nowhere else to run. She was young and beautiful, with brown loose curls that fell just past her shoulders. He didn't immediately recognise her until he saw that her clothes fit a little too loosely. He'd seen that once before, and she was in the library. There was only one person he knew who would go to a library to find solace. His eyes narrowed. "Belle?"

The girl relaxed, standing up fully, a mixture of uncertainty and relief on her face. "You know me?"

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Emma glanced through the two duffels she'd brought, taking a mental inventory of everything she'd grabbed. She'd done this enough to know what to bring. Her haul had been good, but there were several things she'd forgotten. In her haste, she'd only managed to grab an awesome red leather jacket that was more for style than practicality and a long black wool trench coat, both from the room where she'd found most of the clothes she'd packed. And she'd forgotten blankets. She knew enough about sleeping in the woods to know they got cold at night.

By the sun's position in the sky, she could tell they didn't have enough daylight left for her to return to town and make it back before nightfall, and she didn't trust herself enough to be able to find this clearing in the darkness. She would grow familiar with this area, simply out of necessity, but for now, this area was still new to her. They'd just have to make due with what they'd brought until morning.

"Do you like granola bars? Or fruit snacks?" She glanced up to look at Regina. She'd grown awfully quiet after they'd finished the fire pit, taking residence on a fallen log they's dragged over next to the pit to use as a bench.

Regina looked at her. "I don't know."

Emma shrugged as she pulled a bag of fruit snacks and a granola bar from the duffel before zipping it and walking over. She sat beside the brunette. She'd never met someone who didn't know if they'd ever had fruit snacks or granola bars before, but then again Regina looked to be the type who grew up on a healthy diet of champagne and caviar. Her parents probably shopped exclusively at Whole Foods and bought organic and stuff like that.

She ripped open the small packet of fruit snacks, Scooby Doo shaped and held it out to the other girl.

Regina glanced into the packet before looking up into Emma's eyes. "What are they?"

Emma selected the lime green Mystery Machine shape from inside the bag, popping it into her mouth. "You eat them; they taste like fruit." She offered the bag again.

Regina reached in and pulled out a red Daphne head, slowly pressing it between reluctant lips and into her mouth. She'd never seen such garishly coloured food before. As she chewed, she found she rather liked the taste, it was sweet. Not as sweet as her apples but still pleasant. "Is this what your people eat?" She withdrew another gummy, a bright blue Scooby head this time.

Emma's lips pursed. She had expected this, of course. She knew sooner or later Regina would treat her like what she was, just some street urchin who wasn't good enough to shine her shoes, let alone be friends with her. She had been stupid to hope for any different. She pressed the package into Regina's hands and stood. "Yea, I guess this is exactly what people like me eat. I'm going to go scope out the area around us." She left without a goodbye.

Regina was left shocked, wondering what she could possibly have done or said to upset the blonde girl so suddenly.