A/N: I should get to bed, but I'll just drop this chapter off here, first. OUAT characters do not belong to me.

Snow sat on the sidewalk, trying hard not to cry. She had no idea where to go or what to do and she had no one but the baby inside of her to talk to. Besides how to get here, they hadn't planned this out carefully. They had thought of very little beyond escaping Regina and her curse. Then again, this world scarcely resembled their own. Gone were the deep woods where one could get lost for days; gone were the dresses and knee breeches and capes; gone were the mermaids and pirates and fairies; gone was the magic. From all that she could see of this world from where she sat, which wasn't much but was certainly enough, there was only honking metal beasts who shook the ground as they roared past and rude women clad in bright pink.

She shook her head and tried to be optimistic, tried to think of everything that there could be that she simply hadn't seen yet. Babies. There were obviously babies in this world; the woman hadn't seemed surprised by her pregnancy. Forests. It was small, but it was something. Houses. She could just make them out down the road, though they didn't resemble the houses or castles in the Enchanted Forest. Everything was similar just…different. Was a lack of magic the cause of the differences in this world?

She looked up at the sky, slowly darkening now, and found comfort in it as she had before. Parts of the sky were still bright with light, pale blue and cloudless, but the dark had started to creep in, tinting other parts violet and indigo. The moon began to reveal herself, and brought with her her offspring: the stars. She turned her attention away from the sky and back toward the metal beasts. As the sky had darkened, their fronts began to shine, bright lights that stretched for miles in front of them, highlighting the darkness and bringing the shadows to life.

The few times their lights had passed over her, she had jumped in surprise, startled, as if she were being singled out. They quickly passed over her small frame, however, leaving her dazed and the edges of her vision white. She was murmuring reassurances to Emma to steady her nerves when it happened. One of the beasts turned its illuminate eyes on her and stayed there as the metal machine rumbled. She didn't think that it was really a creature that could eat her, she had come to the conclusion that they were some new type of carriages, but it didn't scare her any less. She took a deep breath and stood, drawing herself up to her full height as she stared down the beast. A loud honking emanated from the inside, but it was unlike most of the honking she'd heard so far. This time it sounded…friendly?

She took a tentative step toward it and it roared off, surging forward until it reached the end of the street, turning just as suddenly until it pulled up alongside her. This time the lights shined forward instead of directly on her and the window rolled down to reveal a smiling face.

"Hi!" The woman inside chirped brightly. Another, duller light from inside illuminated her and Snow could see her smile, wide and genuine and slightly concerned. "Looking to go somewhere, sweetie?"

"I…hi. Yes."

"Where to?"

Snow faltered. She wanted to say the Enchanted Forest, but had little desire to be called crazy again. Besides, she doubted that she would be able to get back. If there was even anything to get back to. She pushed down that thought firmly as tears began to smart at her eyes. "I don't know," She admitted. "I'm new here and I have no idea where to go or how to get anywhere."

"Looks like you've met the right person then." There was click and the woman leaned over and pushed the door open to Snow. "I'm Vicky." Snow's smile was grateful and she got into the car after the smallest hesitation. The woman seemed nice and being inside the beast with her was better than sitting alone in the dark.

"I was a traveler myself in my youth, though never with a little one on the way," The woman explained as she drove off." She shot a curious look over in Snow's direction, noticing but not commenting on her attire. "Boy or girl?" She asked.

"Girl."

Vicky nodded in approval. "Got two of 'em myself. Any names picked out?"

"Emma," Saying her daughter's name aloud to this stranger, to this other mother, somehow made everything more real than it had been moments ago.

"Nice name. Katie and Lauren, my two. But not babies anymore. 12 and 15 going on 25, you know?" She laughed and her laughter filled the car. It was loud, but warm, and Snow felt herself relax some as she stared out the window.

The beast went faster than it had seemed to go from the outside, the images blurring faster than she could process them. She could make out tall candles that illuminated the night at various intervals and beneath them, other people. People with children or dogs, couples holding hands as they whispered into one another's ears words that cause the smiles on the face of one another. The sight of them made her heart ached she looked away idly twisting the ring on her left hand.

"What is this called?" She asked finally, to distract herself from her thoughts.

"What, this song?" Vicky asked, nodding toward the radio. A song played that Snow didn't know, but she wasn't altogether interested in it.

"No, what we're in."

"Oh, the car." A car, Snow thought. Short for carriage, maybe? "It's nothing special, an old Ford Taurus.

"Oh." Snow was enjoying the conversation, and decided to use it to learn more about this strange land. "Where did you travel to, when you were young?"

The question seemed to make Vicky happy, she perked right up. "Oh, all over. All 48 continental states, plus Hawaii and Alaska, though I needed a plane to get to those two. Couldn't hitch a ride, of course. Let's see, where else? London, and Paris. Amsterdam, too. Boy, that one was fun." She laughed and Snow, feeling as though there was a joke she should understand, laughed along with her. "What about you?" Vicky asked. "Where'd you come from, and where're you headed?"

Snow fell quiet, avoiding the older woman's questioning gaze. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," She assured the woman. The other one certainly hadn't.

Vicky shrugged. "Try me."