At three years old, Emma Swan had been through more drama than most people go through in a lifetime. A few days after being born, Emma was found on the side of the road and was put into foster care. She got adopted pretty quickly, but as soon as her adoptive mother got pregnant, Emma was send back.

Today she had just been send back from her seventh foster home and was completely heartbroken. Her social worker picked her up. "I know it's hard, sweetie, but I'm sure this time will be better." Emma just shook her head sadly. "You always say that." A tear rolled down the little girls cheek.

"I don't want to go." The blonde child cried as her social worker tried to get her to sit in the car. "Sweetie, you have to. If this one doesn't work out, I promise you can stay at my house for a while, okay?" Finally, reluctantly the little girl sat in the car and buckled up.

Driving all the way from Boston to Maine took some time, during which Emma had fallen asleep. The social worker smiled sadly at the child; she knew what the kid had already endured and had tried adopting her herself, but it had failed. She really didn't want to put her through this, but unfortunately she didn't really have a choice. At least, she picked someone who seemed a good fit for Emma, although from letters you could never be entirely sure.

They finally arrived at the address she had written down. Looking out the window, she saw a huge, white mansion. Surprised, she double checked the address and smiled inwardly. This was definitely going to be a better home for Emma than the last one.

"Sweetie? Wake up. We're here." She woke the blonde little girl. "Can't I stay with you?" She looked at her with her adorable eyes filled with hope. "I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we have to go." Both of them got out of the car and the social worker grabbed Emma's bag out of the back.

They walked up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later, a brunette woman, dressed formally, answered the door. "Hi," the social worker said, "you must be Regina Mills?" The brunette nodded. "I'm Karen, Emma's social worker, and this here is Emma Swan." The blonde little girl was practically hiding behind the social worker.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you. Would you like to come inside?" Karen nodded and followed Regina inside the house, Emma clinging to her as if her life depended on it. "Emma, aren't you going to say 'hi'?" She asked her and the child shyly stuck out her hand to Regina, but staying hidden. "Hi" she said quietly. Regina smiled and took Emma's hand shaking it. She then kneeled down to the child's height. "Hi, Emma. I'm Regina. Do you want some cookies and juice?" Emma nodded shyly. Regina stuck out her hand to Emma, who hesitated a moment before taking it.

Once Emma was sitting at the kitchen table, eating her cookies and drinking her juice, the women started filling out the paperwork. "Ms. Mills, I want to inform you that Emma has had a few bad homes and that she's been send back a lot. That is the reason why she's so shy and scared. I hope that you'll treat her right, because she's truly an amazing child." Regina nodded understandingly.

"What do you mean by 'bad homes'?" She asked, already fearing the answer. "The last homes she's been in, she was abused, raped, ignored. Emma told me that one family even starved her for days at a time." Regina's heart broke. How could people do that to such a small, innocent child? "Well, I can assure you that she's safe here." Karen nodded gratefully.

"My work here is done. I'll be on my way then." At that Emma jumped up and ran towards her. "Please, don't leave me." She begged. Tears rushed down her little face. "Emma, you know I have to. I'm sorry, Sweetie." She picked up the child and held her in her arms. "But Regina seems nice, doesn't she?" Emma looked up at the brunette and shrugged. "Yes." Regina smiled gently. "See, and you have my number if you need it, okay?" Emma nodded and hugged Karen tightly.

The social worker put the child on the ground and stepped outside. Emma rushed to the window and looked on as Karen got in her car. They waved one last time at each other and then she was gone.