Author's Notes: This story is set before the series begins and it branches off into AU very quickly. There will be some canon elements, but majority of it will be stemmed from this crazy little imagination of mine, the muse guiding it in ways even I can't control and twisting canon left and right. Enjoy and if you like what you read, do let me know as it will be much appreciated as I dip my toes into the OUAT fandom :)

As the late summer sun lowered in the sky over Storybrooke, Maine, and the very last sunbeams disappeared beyond the horizon, nine year old Henry Mills sat at his bedroom window and let out a solemn sigh. His mother had returned home from her date early and it hurt him deep down inside to see the gutted look in her tearful eyes as she sent him off to his room so he wouldn't have to watch the emotional breakdown that would surely follow.

He didn't have to be there to know what she was going through. He knew. A son always knew what his mother was feeling even if he didn't see it from his very own eyes.

He may just be a child, but he knew loneliness when he saw it and his mother was definitely lonely, even with him. Maybe it wasn't enough for her, maybe she needed someone else, someone to love and to love her back in all the ways no man had ever loved her before.

Henry longed for a family much like his classmates at school had. A mother and a father. Maybe even a sister or a brother too. He had always felt, in his short life, that something else was missing in his life and it was family. A complete family, two parents, and a house filled with warmth and kindness and love and happiness. It was his wish, a wish he'd never shared with anyone before, a wish that seemed so utterly impossible to come true.

But, deep down, he believed in magic, because believing in magic meant that anything was possible, that anything and everything could happen. Believing in magic meant believing in true love; that there was someone out there for anyone, even his mother.

He frowned as he could faintly hear the sounds of his mother crying in her bedroom across the hall. It broke his already fragile little heart even more and he wiped away a single tear, turning his eyes up towards the darkening sky outside.

His head cocked to the side as he saw the first star faintly twinkling in the sky. Believing in magic, he knew that to wish upon the first star to appear in the night sky meant that wish could come true if he wanted it badly enough. And he did. He wanted his mother to find her one true love, he wanted her to be happy, he wanted the tears to stop, and for her to smile again.

"I wish…I wish my mother could find her one true love. To be happy again. It's all I want. More than anything. I wish for my mother's one true love will show up here in Storybrooke and who will make her believe in happiness and love again."

His voice, but a soft whisper and he watched as the star twinkled more brightly in the night sky and for a moment, it was still the only star as far as the eye could see, and then it was joined by others and he let out another solemn sigh as another single tear rolled down his cheek.

Little did he know, his wish came true, and no matter what he believed or what he imagined could be, he did not know the many ways not only his mother's life would change, but the ways his would too. All because of a selfless wish made upon a star…

Music blasted from the car radio as Emma Swan drove down the winding streets of rural Maine, no town for miles in each direction, nothing between her and the open road. With no destination in mind, all of her possessions in the backseat of her car, she had not a single care in the world and the only thing driving her on was to find herself a brand new life in a brand new city, somewhere far from anywhere else she'd ever been before.

As she drove around a wide bend, the old yellow Bug shuddered and came to a rolling stop. Confused, she looked at the dash as the music died out and the headlights flickered before turning off completely.

"Damn it, what now?" Emma said as she thumped her palms against the steering wheel.

She tried to start the car, the engine sputtering and whining in protest every time she turned the key in the ignition. Thumping her fists against the steering wheel again, she reached into the glovebox and pulled out her flashlight before she climbed out of the car and popped the hood. Steam hissed as she lifted the hood and she groaned loudly, turning to look up the road and back in the direction she had come from. Nothing for miles. No street lights, no signs, and not one single car had passed her in the last hour, now that she'd thought of it.

Pulling her cell phone out of the front pocket of her red leather jacket, she held it up, watching as the bars went from five, to two, to none. "Great," she muttered as she pocketed the phone and looked back up the road again. "Just great."

Emma walked back over to the car and grabbed her bag out from the back seat. She slipped the keys out of the ignition and locked the door, slamming it shut with her foot as she slung the strap of her bag over her left shoulder. Sighing heavily, she started to walk up the side of the quiet, dark road, the light from the flashlight dancing over the pavement a few feet in front of her. She stopped as she heard howling off in the distance in the woods that surround her and she shuddered, wondering if walking to find help was suddenly a very bad idea.

She shone her light up the road a little ways and she saw the sign just off to the side. "Storybrooke?" Emma said quietly as she approached the sign tentatively. "Must have missed this one on the map," she said under her breath and she continued walking along the side of the road and over a small bridge, the lights from the town ahead brightening the sky up ahead.

Emma shifted the strap on her shoulder as she walked down the street, stopping as the Sheriff's car pulled to a stop just a few feet in front of her. She smiled politely as the Sheriff climbed out of the car and re-adjusted his belt, smiling at her as he approached.

"Are you lost, ma'am?"

"My car broke down a little ways back," Emma replied, hitching a thumb over her shoulder. "I would've called for help, but, no service on my cell, unfortunately."

"That is unfortunate," he chuckled. "I'm Sheriff Graham." He retracted his hand when his handshake wasn't retaliated. "Can I be of assistance, ma'am?"

"I—"

"I can take you to the Marine Garage and have Billy come and tow your car into town. He'll have it fixed up for you in a couple of days, no problem."

"Uh, thanks," Emma said with a small smile.

Sheriff Graham chuckled as he motioned for her to follow him to his car. With a heavy sigh, she follows him and can't stop the eye roll that went unseen by him as he opened the passenger door for her. She let the strap of her bag slip down her shoulder as she climbed in the car, smiling politely at the Sheriff as he shut the door and jogged around to the drivers side. He turned off the police scanner as he shut the door and he quickly turned the car around, heading into town, awkward silence filling the car between the two strangers.

"I didn't catch your name."

"I never gave it," Emma replied as he came to a stop at a red light. "Emma Swan."

"And what brings you to Storybrooke, Emma Swan?"

"Passing through, or trying to," she replied honestly, choosing to keep the fact she'd failed to spot the town on the map when she'd checked it just an hour earlier. "Hopefully I won't be staying for very long, Sheriff Graham."

"Got someplace else to be, Ms. Swan?"

"Something like that."

The Sheriff smiled at her and turned left as the light turned green. As the awkward silence returned, Emma turned her attention to the town as he drove slowly down the street. Shops lined either side and people walked down the street with happy smiles on their faces, some even nodding at the car as the Sheriff drove by. He made another turn before coming to a stop in front of the Marine Garage and hopped out.

Emma followed him into the garage and after she gave her name and information, along with her keys to the mechanic named Billy, she declined the Sheriff's offer for further assistance. She was left to wander the small, charming town alone.

In hindsight, there truly wasn't much to explore as she quickly discovered. Her journey through the town brought her walking past Granny's diner and her stomach reminded her it had been over half a day since she'd eaten last. Unable to deny the delicious smells of diner food wafting out from the restaurant, she headed inside and took a seat at the counter.

Chatter from the customers filled the diner and Emma didn't fail to notice a few wayward glances cast her way. An elderly woman approached her from behind the counter, smiling as she slid a menu towards her.

"When you're ready to order, let me know, dear."

"Thanks," Emma smiled at the woman and looked over the menu quickly. "I'll have a whisky, straight."

"Coming right up," the woman smiled at her, placing a small glass on a napkin in front of her and reaching for an unlabelled bottle behind her. "New in town or passing through?"

"Car trouble," Emma replied and she lifted the glass. "Thanks."

She sipped her drink, sighing heavily as thunder rumbled outside, a storm quickly approaching. Her head was pounding, her stomach empty, and the chatter of the customers made her head spin. She took another sip, exhaling sharply as she scanned over the menu again.

"Try the burger."

"Sheriff," she said in surprise as he sat down on the stool next to her.

"Granny's burgers are the best you'll ever have, no arguments there," he smiled at her and nodded a silent hello to the woman behind the counter as she tended to another customer.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

Emma watched as he smacked his hand on the counter before slipping off the stool and sitting down in one of the empty booths. She breathed a sigh of relief and sipped her drink in comfortable solitude. Her stomach rumbled, once again reminding her of her hunger and after debating about whether to take the Sheriff's recommendation, she ordered one of the burgers with a side of fresh cut fries.

As the minutes ticked by into hours, Emma ordered her last drink, her third, as the diner grew empty, each customer leaving after their bills paid, bidding a friendly and pleasant goodnight to the woman working behind the counter.

"Do you have a place to stay, dear?"

"Uh," Emma paused as she stared at the woman across from her. "Uh, no, actually. I…I was hoping maybe my car would be fixed sooner rather than later. Apparently, that's not happening tonight. Do you know of a motel nearby I can—"

"I own the bed and breakfast in the back," she smiled warmly. "I can set you up for a room for as long as you're staying here in Storybrooke. It is, after all, the only place to stay while you're here in Storybrooke."

"Thank you…"

"Granny."

"The infamous Granny," Emma chuckled and upon the woman's distain look, she pointed to the sign. "Right. So, how about that room, hmm?"

Emma pulled the rose coloured comforter over her head as the early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows. The sound of birds chirping happily flowed in through the partially open window and she groaned again, wanting nothing more than to sleep just a little bit longer.

"All right, all right, I'm up," Emma muttered as the birds sang their happy song even louder outside the window. She picked up her cell off the nightstand and found the battery dead, her charger still in her car. "Damn it. That's just…perfect."

Still half awake with a plan already unfolding in place, Emma showered and changed before she headed down to the diner for some coffee and breakfast. Just like the night before, the diner was bustling with customers, the same customers that had been there last night. Chalking it off to a small town, one diner town, she took a seat by the window and ordered her breakfast from the brunette-haired girl who greeted her with a smile and a cheery good morning.

Is everyone in this town always so happy? She wondered as she spotted a newspaper on the empty table next to hers and snatched it, feeling like she needed to get her mind off of being stranded in a small town she'd never heard of with no car and a dead cell phone and overly happy, friendly people all around her.

"Mom, please?" A young boy whined as the door opened near her. The pleading tone in the boy's voice made Emma look up at the woman he followed to a booth along the far wall.

"Not today, Henry, I told you. I have meetings all day. You're lucky I have time to take you for breakfast this morning."

Emma raised an eyebrow, turning her attention back to the paper laid out in front of her.

"But, Mom, you promised me we could spend the day together. You promised!"

"Henry, please," she groaned and she snapped her fingers at the waitress who had greeted Emma a few moments before. "Ruby, can we have two breakfast specials, please? Make it quick too? I have a meeting that I cannot be late for in half an hour."

"Of course, Madam Mayor," Ruby smiled, scribbling down the order on her pad before heading back to the kitchen.

Emma couldn't help but feel drawn to the young boy and his high-strung mother, who seemed to have her mind on everything else but enjoying breakfast with her son. Her attention danced between the newspaper and the boy with his mother, and to the other customers sitting at the counter and in the booths, each and every one of them starting their day off in Granny's diner on that sunny late August morning.

The boy and his mother were served long before her breakfast plate made it to her own table, but even as hungry as she was, she didn't mind much, finding the mundane musings of the news happening around the small town in the paper far more intriguing than they were. Storybrooke, as she found out after a few articles, was truly a close-knitted small town, the kind where everyone seemed to know everyone else that lived there and always had such a sunny disposition about their mundane, normal lives.

Definitely a far cry from all the places she'd been throughout her life, that was for sure.

"Uh, Ruby, is it?" Emma asked as her empty plate was cleared away.

"Yeah, Emma right?" Ruby asked, popping the piece of gum she chewed on loudly. "Granny said you checked in last night."

"Right, um, which way is it to the Marine Garage from here? I'm—"

"New in town, just travelling through," Ruby finished and she scribbled down quickly on her pad of paper and tore it off, handing it to Emma with a dazzling smile. "You can't miss it. Do you want me to put your meal on your bill?"

"I…sure, that'd be great," Emma said with a smile and grabbed her jacket and headed out the door, nearly running straight into the boy and his high-strung mother on the sidewalk as she struggled to read the directions to the garage Ruby had given her. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Apparently," the woman said through gritted teeth and she turned to look down at her son. "Run along now, Henry. Dr. Hopper is expecting you this morning."

"Mom…"

"Now, Henry, go on. I'll see you when I get home tonight."

The boy grumbled under his breath, stopping to look both ways on the street before walking across. Emma watched him curiously before turning her attention back to the woman, who was fumbling to get her car keys out of her purse. Emma stammered as she tried to apologize again, but the woman had already turned on her heels and was approaching the black Mercedes Benz that was parked nearby. She stood and watched the woman as she drove off and with a shake of her head, she followed the directions given to her to check on the status of her car at the garage.

"What was the name?" The man behind the counter asked for a third time, wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag.

"Swan. Emma Swan. My car broke down just outside of town last night and it was towed here to be repaired."

"Ah," he muttered as he checked through a clipboard he'd grabbed off the wall beside him. "Right. The yellow Bug," he said and he sucked in a breath of air sharply. "Dead."

"Excuse me?"

"The engine?" He said, speaking slowly. "It's dead, Ms. Swan."

"How much?"

"How much for what?"

"To repair it," Emma replied, enunciating her words as he had just done to her. "How much is it going to cost me for you to fix it?"

"An engine rebuild with foreign parts?" He asked and he whistled loudly, making her ears ring as Billy, the man who had towed her car joined them at the desk. "How much you reckon to rebuild the engine on the Bug?"

"Couple grand, three at least."

"Three grand?" Emma groaned as she hit her palm against the doorjamb. She didn't have a couple grand to spare to fix her car. She barely had enough to make it on the road for more than a week and to find herself someplace new to start the next chapter of her life.

"Better off scrapping it and buying yourself a more reliable used car for the price it'll cost to fix that lemon."

"That lemon has never broken down on me, not once in the last ten years I've been driving it," Emma said angrily and between the two men and the looks they exchanged, she knew she wasn't getting anywhere with them. "Fine. I'll pay whatever it costs to fix it. How long?"

"How long do ya figure it'll take, Billy?"

"Couple of weeks to order and ship the parts, maybe two weeks after that to rebuild it, depending on how busy the shop is. I'd say close to a month, Michael."

"Is that right?"

"Sounds just about right, yeah."

A month? She couldn't stay there for a month and afford to pay for her car repairs, not to mention the bill at Granny's Bed and Breakfast on top of it. She was screwed. Royally screwed and stranded in a town she'd never even heard of before or even saw on the map that was tucked away under the driver's seat.

"What is it then, Ms. Swan?" Michael asked her, wiping his hands on the greasy rag again, a move that she spotted as a nervous tick. "Do ya want the car fixed or not?"

"Yes, I do," Emma replied with a heavy sigh. "I need to get a few things out from my car. Do you mind?"

"Billy, show her where her car is waiting and have her fill out that invoice while you're at it too, will ya?"

"I already gave you my information."

"Make sure she pays the deposit, too!"

"Come on," Billy said, offering her a friendly smile as he led her around to the back parking lot where her car was parked. "Don't mind him. It's early. It's Saturday and well, between you and me, he spends too much time at The Rabbit Hole. He's not the most pleasant man this early in the morning."

"I know the feeling…"

Billy just smiled sympathetically as he handed her the keys.

It was the lunch rush at the diner and Emma sat at the same table as that morning, flipping through the two pages of classifieds in the back of the newspaper, her eyes scanning over the scarce amount of job postings in town, none of which she was qualified for considering her last job had been as a bail-bondsperson in Boston. Only one listing caught her eye, an ad looking for a bartender at The Rabbit Hole. The others were tradesman jobs looking for skills not even she could fake having just to land a job for the month she'd be stuck in town.

Emma absentmindedly tapped the pen she held between her fingers on the paper, the tip of the pen hovering over the ad at for The Rabbit Hole every so often. There was no number, just a request to apply in person. She'd walked past the establishment on her way back to Granny's Diner, and it had been more or less a resemblance of some of the dive bars she'd ended up working at or drinking in during her early twenties. Did she really want to go back to that life? Did she even have a choice? She needed the money to fix her car so she could get out of town sooner rather than later, start her life somewhere else, somewhere new, in a big city teeming with opportunities Storybrooke definitely didn't offer.

"Hey," Ruby said as she held the pot of coffee and smiled as Emma lifted her head to look at her. "Are you ready to order?"

"I'll just have another coffee for now, Ruby, thanks."

"Searching for something?"

"Something that doesn't appear to be in here," Emma replied with a dry chuckle.

"Jobs are kind of hard to come by here," Ruby replied and she placed the coffee pot on the empty table next to them and took the seat across from Emma. "Are you planning to stay in town?"

"Just until my car is fixed," Emma replied. "And the only prospective job available is one down at The Rabbit Hole."

Ruby stifled a chuckle as she shook her head no. "Trust me, you don't want to work there. Anywhere but there."

"Well, unless I can pass myself off as a skilled roofer, I think I'm pretty much out of luck on the job front. Not to mention broke if I ever want to get out of this town."

"What did you do before?" Ruby asked and from the way the woman seemed so interested in her, Emma couldn't just brush her off in a way she normally did with people who tried to pry into her life that way. "I mean, before you came here?"

"I worked as a bail-bondsperson."

"You did?"

"I did," Emma smiled and she placed the pen down on the paper and picked up her hot mug of coffee. "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's tracking people down."

"Really? That sounds so exciting."

"It can be at times."

"Did you ever chase someone down, I mean, physically?" Ruby asked, genuinely interested in hearing her story as she leaned forward on the table. "Did you ever have to, I don't know, beat someone up because they tried to run away from you?"

Emma laughed and nodded, but her stories weren't easily or even readily shared with perfect strangers she'd just met. Ruby was different than most women she met that were around her age. There was a sense of sweetness and a wild side Emma had no doubt was hardly tame, but there was something else, something she quite couldn't put her finger on. Before she could come up with an vague answer to her question, Granny cleared her throat from behind the counter, a stern finger beckoning Ruby back to work.

"Duty calls."

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll have the lunch special," Emma smiled and it was one that was returned as Ruby grabbed the pot of coffee and headed back to work.

Emma flicked her eyes back down to the paper and groaned as she flipped it shut. She wrapped both hands around her mug and took in the busy diner as the tables, booths and the stools along counter filled up with customers.

Despite the lack of opportunity that presented itself in Storybrooke, Emma knew she'd figure something out. She always did, one way or another.

Regina Mills sat behind her desk in her office, stacks of papers laying out in front of her, virtually untouched. Her so-called date with Sheriff Graham the night before had ended well before it had started. While she was looking for something a tad more formal to evolve between them than the sordid affair they were carrying out beyond closed doors, he had other ideas and had simply given her an ultimatum; continue what they had together or it ended then and there.

And she'd chosen to end things, unable to carry on feeling nothing more than a conquest, a mistress of sorts to the town's sheriff. It had broken her heart, yet it made her question her motives when it came to Graham. Did she love him? No. She cared deeply for him, longed for his affection, but love it was not. The two had had an understanding for far too long, their affair stemmed on lust and not love. It truly wasn't love. Love was something she'd sought for far too long, never finding it in any of the men she had briefly dated.

Her mind wasn't solely on the night before, not after the brief run-in at Granny's Diner with the mysterious new stranger in town. She had been so caught up in her distraught state and her mind on other affairs, she hadn't paused to ask the stranger new in town her name. It piqued her curiosity and thoughts of the woman settled deep in her mind as she tried to focus on her work and the stacks of papers she needed to get signed and handed over to the town council before the meeting in just a few short hours.

Pinching at the bridge of her nose, she rose from her chair and turned to look out the window. Despite the heartbreak she'd encountered the night before, she'd woken up feeling as if that pain was no longer settled in her heart, that dejection and disappointment and loss, gone. What had changed over the course of the night? What was it that she was missing?

Or was it all true what the people in town said of her, that her heart was black as coal and cold, unable to love anyone other than herself and her son? Regina wasn't blind. She knew how she came across to the people in her town and she knew that she'd never once tried to change their opinions of her.

"Mom?" Henry asked quietly as he knocked on the partially open door. "Are you busy? Can I come in?"

"What is it, Henry?"

"I thought maybe we can have lunch together?"

Regina sighed as she stared into the hopeful hazel eyes gazing up at her. They'd been growing distant over the last few years, something she hadn't truly seen until she spent the last handful of hours contemplating all aspects of her complicated life. She smiled as she grabbed her purse and placed a gentle hand on the top of his head, playfully mussing his hair as he managed a thin smile back up at her.

"Lunch it is," Regina said as she let Henry lead the way out of her office. "How did your appointment go with Dr. Hopper this morning, Henry?"

"It was okay," he shrugged and they turned down the stairs, neither speaking until they were in Regina's car. "Mom?"

"Yes, Henry?"

"I—it's nothing."

"What is it?" Regina asked as she slipped the key into the ignition but didn't start the car. "Whatever it is you need to ask me, you know you can talk to me about anything."

Henry smiled a half smile and shook his head. "It's nothing, Mom, really. I'm just happy."

"About what, Henry?"

"Spending time with you, just like you promised we would."

Regina smiled warmly as she turned over the engine and backed out of her spot. The drive to Granny's Diner was a short one, but it was one that had her mind filled with a hundred different thoughts, just as it had been from the moment she'd woke up early that morning.

There was no denying there was change in the air, she could feel it all around her. Just what it was, it almost terrified her because change was not something Regina Mills was used to, because change denoted the fact she wasn't as in control of her life as she thought she was. And there was nothing more terrifying to her than not being in control.

The diner was filled with its usual slew of regular lunchtime customers as they entered. Regina allowed Henry to run off to their usual booth ahead of her and she joined him, smiling at Ruby as she approached their table. The usual banter flowed between Ruby and Henry easily, but Regina wasn't paying attention to them, not as her eyes caught sight of the blonde stranger sitting at the table by the door.

She was mesmerized as she allowed herself to stare at the blonde stranger, watching her as she chewed on the cap of her pen, her fingers fiddling with the paper that laid out in front of her, a look of confusion and disappointment splayed across her features. There was a sense of familiarity about the woman, something Regina just couldn't quite put her finger on.

And it truly intrigued her, more so than it had all morning, about just who this mysterious blonde-haired stranger was and just what she was doing there in Storybrooke. One way or another, she knew she'd find out, for strangers in Storybrooke were far and few between.