29 years ago in a different realm known as the Enchanted Forest…
Snow White stood in the balcony of her baby's nursery looking out over her kingdom. She wrapped her arms around her pregnant belly tightly. It has been a year since she and Charming got married, but she still thinks about Regina's threat against her family everyday.
Snow feels a pair of arms wrap around her pregnant belly from behind, "What are you thinking about?" Charming whispers in her ear.
"Just Regina, I just worry what she's planning and what that means for our daughters." Snow leans back into his embrace.
Charming sighs, "Snow you can't keep worrying about this, everything will be fine, I promise."
Snow turns in his arms, "Will it though? I feel like I need confirmation, I want to see him."
"No way," Charming shakes his head, "He's too dangerous."
"He's locked up Charming, he can't hurt me. Plus, if anyone knows what Regina is planning it's him." Snow put her hand on Charming's chest, "Please Charming, I need this."
Charming let out another sigh, "Okay," He relents, "But I'm coming with you."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." Snow said with a smile playing on her lips.
Charming leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips before walking towards the door, "Let's go see the imp."
—
Snow and Charming walked down to the dark one's prison hand in hand. As they approached his cell, the dark one stood up and pressed himself into the bars, "Ooh, must be my lucky day, a visit from the great King James and Queen Snow." He said with a little giggle at the end.
"Rumpelstiltskin." Charming said with his most commanding voice. "We have a question for you." Charming stepped forward and stared down the dark one in the cage in front of him, holding up the torch in his hand so that he could see him better. He could feel Snow tense next to him, he reached out and grabbed her hand in reassurance.
"Uh uh uh, dearie," Rumple said as he wagged his finger, "you know the rules, you can ask a question in return for a favor." Rumple smiled slyly. Everything was falling into place, the curse would soon bring them to the land without magic, and soon he would be reunited with his son.
"We are not making any deals with you Imp." Charming sneered.
"Well then, I guess you will never know what Regina is planning for your two daughters then." Rumple said sly as he peered down at Snow's pregnant belly.
Snow jumped forward, "What do you want?" Charming looked at Snow incredulously. He could not believe that she was playing into Rumpelstiltskin's demands. She knew as well as he did how dangerous the Dark One was, even locked up.
"Oh dearie, looks like someone is worried about what their step mother has been up to." Rumple smirked, "All I want is the name of your unborn daughters." Rumple wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell pushing his face up in between them. His eyes glued to Snow's pregnant stomach.
"Absolutely not." Charming said firmly.
"Well then I guess you'll just have to wait and see." Rumple replied, backing up in the cell. He knew that he was going to get what he wanted. The Charming's were too easy to manipulate, always motivated by love.
"Deal!" Snow yelled, the worry about her daughters getting the best of her. She knew she was being manipulated but she had to know what Regina had in store for her daughters. She needed to be prepared so she could protect them, and she would give anything to protect them.
"Snow." Charming said in a warning tone.
Snow looked at Charming with an apologetic look, "You have a deal," she said confidently, "Now tell us what Regina is planning." She commanded.
"Ah yes…" Rumple smiles widely, "The evil queen has been busy that is for sure. She plans to unveil a curse on this realm. One that would strip us from this land and separate us from everyone we love." Rumple waved his hands around him, gesturing to the space around them. His voice was theatrical, as if telling a magnificent story, not a tragic prophecy.
"And how do we stop it?" Snow asks, fear tinging her voice. She puts her hands around her pregnant stomach, holding it as if that would protect her unborn daughters from the curse that was to be set upon their land. She felt worry seep into every fiber of her being thinking of being ripped away from her husband and children.
"We can't." Rumple replies, he points one of his boney fingers at Snow's stomach, "But, one of your daughters will."
Charming moves to stand in front of Snow, wrapping his arm around her, as if that would protect her from this new threat. Snow steps sideways from behind Charming so she can look at Rumpelstiltskin, "What do you mean one of our daughter's will stop it?" Snow whispers out, her worry creeping into her voice.
"You will give birth to two twin girls." Rumple said, sticking up two fingers. "The first born is to be the savior, our savior, destined to break the curse in her 29th year." Rumple presses his face up against the bars, "The second born will face a similarly hard task, as her fate is in her own hands. She will help her sister decide the ending of the final battle, either letting light prevail or sinking all the realms into chaos."
Snow looks up at Charming, concern seeping into every line of her face. Her poor daughters, not even born yet and their fates written in takes a step forward, "It doesn't matter, we will stop Regina before the curse is cast." He says confidently. Good always prevailed and he would stop at nothing to protect his children. He looked down at Snow trying to convey his confidence with his eyes.
"Not this time Dearie, this is happening, and you will lose. Regina will take everything you have ever loved from you, and both of your daughters will grow up alone." Rumple states as if stating a common fact. He saw both the Charming's glare at him with anger, he could tell they didn't believe what he said but he knew it to be true. He had set this whole thing in motion, they would be brought to the land without magic, and eventually, one of the Charming children would lead him to his son. He remembers what the seer said all those years ago, this was what was meant to happen.
Snow covers her mouth as tears start to come to her eyes, "That's enough!" Charming yells, "Come on Snow, let's leave the Imp to rot in this cell." Charming turns to leave, putting his arm around Snow. They start to walk away from the Dark one's cell, leaving him in darkness.
"We had a deal!" Rumple yells, shaking the bars of his cell, "You promised me their names!" He bellows into the cavern. He needed their names, for his plan to work, he needed their names.
Charming keeps leading Snow towards the exit, "Ignore him." Charming continues to walk towards the exit, but Snow stops for a second as she hears Rumplestiltskin continue to yell down the corridor.
"Their names! What are their names!" Rumple yells louder banging against the bars.
Snow turns around slowly, "Emma and Mia," she turns back around and follows Charming out the exit.
"Emma and Mia," Rumple whispers to himself.
—
Two months later Charming walks into the baby's nursery to find Snow looking sadly around the room. "Gepetto finished the wardrobe." He says quietly, "He says it only has enough magic to take two, but we can leave at any time." He can tell Snow is struggling with the fact that they can't stop this curse. That they have to leave their home, the home they had built after years of struggles.
Snow turns around to look at him, her hands traveling to wrap around her growing stomach, "We can't leave now Charming, we have to help the kingdom prepare." She replies sadly. While her and Charming had been planning an escape route, she knew that everyone else would be left behind to a terrible fate. They would be separated from their loved ones for twenty-nine years, she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. These were her friends, and her subjects, she was supposed to protect them.
"Yes, of course, we will stay to help the kingdom, and then when the time is right, me and you will go through while you are still pregnant." He agrees. He felt similar to Snow, guilty at the idea of leaving their friends and subjects behind to bear a curse that was only set because of them.
Snow turns back around sadly, looking at the nursery they built for their baby girls, "They'll never get to see it." She says, a tear slowly dripping down her cheek. She had spent months setting up the nursery, planning every detail. She had daydreamed in her everyday since she had found out she was pregnant, dreaming of seeing her daughters grow up in this room.
"I know." He puts his hands over Snow's on her stomach, "But at least we'll all be together."
Snow smiles, worry still evident in her eyes, "It's not not fair that they are being born with all this pressure, all these expectations." She felt guilt creep up again. Her daughters didn't deserve this, they deserved to grow up normally, in their home, without a whole realm counting on them.
"You're right" Charming looks at her earnestly. "But they are our daughters, and we will help them every step of the way."
—
"King James!" A guard yells, "It's the Queen, she's gone into labor!" The color drains from Charming's face as he races after the guard down the hallway. He follows him into their bedroom where he finds Snow with Doc.
"Snow, are you okay?" Charming says running to Snow's side taking her hand. He pushes the sweaty hair out of her face before planting a kiss on her forehead. Even while in labor his wife was gorgeous.
"Yes, just our daughters decided to grace us with their presence early." She replies tersely, bearing the pain of contractions. "We have to get to the wardrobe, it only takes two." She bends over in pain as she groans, before looking back up at her husband. The gravity of what she said settled in the room like a ton of bricks.
Charming looks into her eyes, his worry for his wife momentarily making him forget about the prophecy and the curse, "Alright let's get you up, we have to go, now." Snow tries to stand with Charming and Doc's help but screams out in pain. Charming lowers her back onto the bed.
"It's too late." Doc says apologetically, "She's too far along." Snow and Charming exchange a sad glance, realizing the implications of what he said, they failed. Snow cripples in pain again, the contractions getting stronger. "It's time to push Snow." Doc says with encouragement.
After an intensive labor, Snow gives birth to two beautiful baby girls. One with a tuft of blonde hair like her father and one with a tuft of black hair like her mother. The first born was named Emma, while the second, Mia. Snow holds both her babies, one in each arm, and looks down at them lovingly. "My baby girls, you're perfect."
A guard runs into the room breaking them from their thoughts, "King James, Queen Snow, the curse, it's coming. Regina's men are storming the castle, we don't have much time." Charming and Snow share a concerned glance. It's over, they lost. They had failed, and now they were going to be trapped in time, with no memories of each other, their daughters subjected to the same fate.
"Hold them off as long as you can." Charming commands. He looks down at Snow and his newborn daughters with sadness in his eyes. "Well, at least we're together," he leans down and kisses each baby on their head.
"No." Snow says quietly. She knows what she has to do, even if it is the hardest thing she has ever done. Emma was destined to break this curse, she needed to escape, she needed to go through the wardrobe. If she sent them both, at least they would have each other, at least they wouldn't grow up alone. "You have to take them to the wardrobe."
"What?" Charming asks in surprise, "Snow, you're not thinking straight."
"No, you have to take them to the wardrobe, you have to save them from the curse." Snow starts to sob, unable to control her anguish at the thought of having to be separated from her daughters. She has been through a lot of heartache in her short life, but nothing ever this painful. Choosing to send her daughter's alone to an unknown world, knowing she wasn't going to see them for twenty-nine years. But this was the only way, she had to protect her daughter's, and she had to save the realm from this curse. "We have to give them their best chance."
Charming looks at her with tears in his eyes, both of them understanding the implications of what she is saying. "You're right." He takes Emma and Mia from Snow, one in each arm. He looks down at his daughters. They were so small, so helpless. He felt his heart shatter at the thought that they were going to grow up without them, that the next time he would see them they would be adults. He felt a tear slip down his cheek.
Snow leans down and gives a final kiss to each of her daughters. "Goodbye Emma, Goodbye Mia, I love you so much." She sobs out. Snow had never felt heartache like this. It felt like someone had ripped her heart out of her chest and shattered it to pieces, but instead of killing her she had to live with the pain. She would never get to see her daughters as babies again, she was going to miss their whole childhood, their whole lives.
They hear clashing outside their room, the queens men are getting close. Charming dashes for the door, determined to get their daughters to the wardrobe. As Charming leaves, Snow lets out a sob of anguish, knowing that her daughters are going to grow up without their parents, and Rumple's prophecy was right all along.
Charming runs to the nursery, he runs to the wardrobe opening the doors up, he places Emma in first, then Mia. He kisses them both on the head, saying his final goodbye, he whispers, "Find us." Charming closes the wardrobe doors just before the queens men enter the nursery. What he didn't know was that Gepetto had lied to them. The wardrobe did take two, but he had used one of the spots already for his son, Pinocchio. After closing the doors, Emma, having been placed first, gets portaled off to a new land. Mia on the other hand, stays in the wardrobe in the Enchanted Forest, left to the fate of the curse.
The curse washes over the Enchanted Forest, ripping them all from their land and bringing them to a land without magic. Their memories stripped, implanted with false identities and memories. They are now stuck in time until the savior comes in 29 years.
—
12 years into the curse in Storybrooke….
The characters of the Enchanted Forest had all been stripped of their memories and placed in a small town in Maine called Storybrooke. With new false identities they were trapped in time, separated from their loved ones with no chance at a happy ending. Snow was now Mary Margaret Blanchard, a fourth grade teacher at the elementary school. She had no memory of her husband, her daughters, or her past life. She lived alone in a loft, with no changes to her mundane life. She volunteered at the hospital twice a week. She always found herself drawn to two patients in particular. A John Doe coma patient and an abandoned newborn baby, waiting to be adopted.
Snow found her way to the pediatrics unit during her shift. There was only one patient ever in the nursery area. "Hi Mia," she said sweetly as she lifted the baby up into her arms. The baby gazed up at her, she had the most beautiful hazel eyes and a little tuft of black hair. Mary Margaret didn't know what it was about the infant but she looked familiar somehow.
Regina was doing her daily rounds around town, when she found herself making her way to the hospital. It wasn't somewhere she usually walked around but after 12 years, she found herself even getting bored of the monotony. She walked around until she found herself peering into the pediatrics unit when she caught sight of something. Snow White with a….a baby.
Regina walked into the nursery, "Ms. Blanchard." She sneered.
Mary Margaret turned around surprised to hear someone's voice, "Madam Mayor, hi, what are you doing here?" The quiver of nervousness evident in her tone. The mayor had always scared her, she made her feel less than. Mary Maragaret was never quite sure what she had done to upset Regina, but she could see the hate in Regina's eyes everytime Regina looked at her.
Regina much preferred this mousy version of Snow, she was easy to intimidate, easy to squash like a bug, "That's my business, now who do you have there?" She said pointing at the child. She had a feeling she knew who this child was, and she knew what she had to do.
"Oh! This is Mia, she's been here forever, the poor baby was abandoned by her parents and is just looking for a home." Mary Margaret looked down sadly at the baby. Who would give up such a beautiful baby girl?
"Mia…" Regina sneered, "Well, don't worry about that, I will find her a home." A sly smile crept onto Regina's face.
Mary Margaret gave a weary look to Regina, "That's very kind of you Madam Mayor, but I don't think there are any foster parents in Storybrooke."
"Oh, I promise you, she will NOT be staying in Storybrooke." Regina replied. She knew who this baby was, this was Snow White's daughter. There was no chance she was going to let this stupid infant mess with her curse.
As Regina promised, Mia was sent out of Storybrooke, out of the curse. Regina places her in the foster care system in Boston where she finally started to age and grow up.
—
17 years later…
"You did it Emma, you broke the curse." Mary Margaret or well Snow said as she embraced her daughter for the first time in 29 years. She had come to love the blonde as her cursed persona, and now that she remembered Emma was her daughter, all she wanted to do was hold Emma and never let go. She had let go once and had lost twenty-nine years of her daughter's life. She thought back to everything Emma had told her about her childhood during the curse, she grew up so alone, Mary Margaret felt sadness tug at her heart.
"Yeah I guess I did," Emma replied awkwardly. This was a lot, she definitely was going to need a drink later. The fact that fairytales and magic were real was making her head hurt. August had convinced her to come to Storybrooke a few months earlier, telling her it was a good way to make a new start. Regina, of course, tried to get rid of her, making Emma want to stay more. August had been trying to convince her for months about this fairy tale stuff, but she had never believed him. After she had kissed Mary Margaret's forehead in the hospital, she had felt it, she had felt that it was all real.
"You found us." David or Charming said as he cupped the back of her head. He was finally back with his family, but he couldn't help but feel sad at all the years he had missed. He didn't know Emma as well as Mary Margaret but he knew that she had a tough life, that she was hardened by it. He was incredibly proud of the strong woman she had become, but sad that her life had made her that way. They had missed everything.
"Well it was the only command you gave me so.." Emma replied as she pulled out of their hug, she looked down at the ground feeling out of place. This was all too much, she had imagined meeting her parents her whole life, but she had never imagined this. She felt like her mind was spinning, unable to focus on one feeling, leaving her in a whirlwind.
"Wait, where's Mia," Mary Margaret asked after a second, how could she forget about her other daughter. Emma had never mentioned her in the last year that she lived in Storybrooke. They should have been found together, grown up together, that was her hope, that they would have each other through everything.
"Where's who?" Emma said, confused. Her thoughts were moving so fast she wasn't even sure she really comprehended what Mary Margaret had said. Yeah, she needed a drink, or several, bottles.
Charming's face morphed to one of concern, "Mia, your twin sister, she was sent through the wardrobe with you." He remembers placing them in the wardrobe together as if it was yesterday. They were both so small, destined to face the world alone. He had been comforted by the fact that they would have each other though in this new world.
"Oh yeah, that's right, I remember seeing that in that book August gave me, I had a twin." Emma said with wonder in her voice. In one day she gained parents and now a twin. After almost 30 years on her own, it was surreal to think about. "I…I'm not sure where she is," Emma continued, "I was the only one that was found on the road that night when I was a baby."
Mary Margaret gave Emma a sad look, her statement hitting her in the heart, her daughter had been through so much. She grew up her whole life alone. The feeling was replaced by worry though, "Well if she didn't go through the wardrobe with you, then she must have been cursed." A part of her felt guilty about the spark of happiness that gave her, that one of her daughters might still be a child, it wasn't fair that Emma was the one that was destined to break the curse, that she had to grow up alone.
"Okay, then she would still be a baby." David had a hopeful tone in his voice that made Emma look down, a tinge of anger going through her. It wasn't her fault she was all grown up, her parents were the ones who made that decision for her, subjected her to growing up without them. Mary Margaret saw that look pass Emma's face, having gotten used to reading her the last few months. She reached out and took Emma's hand, a silent reassurance.
"Wait! I just remembered, there was a baby, Mia was at Storybrooke Hospital in the nursery, I used to go to see her during my shifts." Mary Margaret had a thoughtful look on her face like trying to pull out a memory that had been locked away, "but I haven't seen her in a really long time, not since…Oh no." Mary Margaret felt a blurry memory surface, her in the hospital nursery with a baby Mia. But they weren't alone, Regina was there too.
"What is it?" David asked, the fear evident on his wife's face.
"Regina, she caught me with Mia in the nursery one day, she told me she was going to 'find Mia a home' outside of Storybrooke." Mary Margaret looked down, "I can't remember exactly how long ago that was, the years all seemed to blend together…" Mary Margaret looked down sadly. They had finally broken out of the curse, gotten their memories back, and now one of their daughters was missing.
"Don't worry, We'll find her, I promise." David pulled his wife into a hug. He would stop at nothing to get his whole family together again.
"Well, I guess Regina has some explaining to do." Emma added, happy to have something to do to take her mind off all the madness.
—
Meanwhile at the same time in Boston….
Mia slowly opened her eyes to the sound of her alarm blaring next to her. She turned over to shut it off. Forgetting she was on a couch she rolled right onto the floor. "Ouch." Mia pushed herself up, finally turning off her alarm. She rubbed her hands over her face, it felt like she had just gone to sleep a few hours ago. Well….she had just gone to sleep a few hours ago.
She sleepily stumbled into the kitchen of her friend's apartment. "Good morning, you look like shit." Her friend Ava said with a playful tone. Ava had been allowing her younger friend to stay with her for the time being. They had met in a foster home about twelve years ago. Mia had been five and Ava had been fifteen. Ava wasn't sure what it was about Mia, but she had felt herself pulled to the young girl. She had this light inside her that Ava didn't want the system to beat out of her.
"I feel like shit, I need coffee." Mia poured herself a cup from the pot Ava must have made earlier that morning. "Thanks again for letting me crash here Avs." The gratitude is evident in Mia's voice. She knew that Ava was putting herself at risk helping her hide from her social worker there, but Mia couldn't go back. She had decided to run away when she got into Northeastern, determined to start her life. Her social worker had told her that they couldn't place her close enough to Northeastern for her to start this semester, so Mia had run to Ava's. That was two months ago now, Mia was now only three months away from being eighteen, when she could finally make her own decisions.
"Of course, but your social worker is going to find you sooner or later Mia, you're still seventeen…" Ava said, her voice drifting off at the end. She didn't mind Mia staying with her at all. She was a great roommate, always cleaned up after herself and kept everything tidy. She would never kick her out but she wanted Mia to know that if her social worker found her, there was nothing Ava could do.
"Pfft… I doubt they're even looking for me. They probably don't even know I'm still in the foster system. And besides, I'm not going back without a fight." Mia yawned big and laid her head on her hand. She had been working more shifts at the cafe recently, trying to save up as much money as she could to get an apartment when she turned eighteen, but it was starting to take a toll on her.
Ava gave Mia a concerned look, "I know you don't like people telling you what to do, but Mia, you're working yourself too hard, you're trying to do full time college classes while also working, you're going to burn yourself out." She knew that her young friend hadn't even got home from the library until 3 AM, and it was only eight now, meaning she barely got five hours of sleep at most. Ava knew Mia hated when people worried about her, insisting she could take care of herself, but she had always felt protective of Mia, whether she liked it or not.
Mia raised an eyebrow at her friend, "And what is my other option? I need to save up enough money to get my own place and put myself through school, I don't really have any option Ava, you know that." Mia replied, "They don't exactly give you anything when you leave the foster system, just a pat on the back for surviving it." Mia's tone lightened, giving Ava a goofy smile. She knew her friend just cared, and she appreciated Ava helping her out the last few months.
"Okay, okay, but just…be careful." Ava stated, giving Mia a pointed look. They had been having more arguments about her health recently.
"Ava." Mia said with a warning tone, she knew her friend was just looking out for her but she didn't like to be micromanaged
Ava put her hands up in mock surrender, "I'm going to the store later today, do you need anything?"
Happy with the subject change, Mia replied, "No, thanks though."
As Ava left, Mia looked out the window into the bustling city. She had no idea what she was doing. She felt like she was a kid pretending to be an adult, putting on a show everyday just to get by. Ava was right though, her social worker was probably looking for her, but there was no way she was going back into the system for three months. She looked at the time, and shot up from her seat. She rushed to grab her bag and ran to the campus to make it in time for her first class.