Blue Eyed Bandit

By LockedSoulsAM

Summary: Regina was expecting to find a thief in her garden at seven a.m. not a pint-sized blonde with blue eyes. AU one shot

A/n: Hope you enjoy =)

It was just another morning for Regina Mills as she stepped into the shower. Letting the steaming water hit her tan skin, Regina closed her eyes and tried to relax. Being the mayor of a small town was incredibly exhausting. She had so many responsibilities and people depending on her. It could be overwhelming at times, but Regina also loved the power of the didn't have any family and she didn't have a spouse or kids so this town was what kept her busy. It's all she had.

Grabbing her favorite dove soap from a shelf inside of her shower, Regina set about on washing herself clean. Usually, she would shower at night, today was a little different. It was her first free day and this meant nothing but relaxation.

Sometimes Regina got lonely. Inside of her big house, it was always quiet. There was no one to share her riches or fortune with and she had no one to come home to at night. It was just her. It always had been.

Once she was done with her shower, Regina wrapped her long hair into a messy, wet bun and slipped on a deep purple silk robe over her underwear.

She padded her wet feet downstairs to make a big pot of coffee. She would need it if she was going to be working from home today. She would always have the urge to fall asleep doing massive amounts of paperwork. Sometimes it was incredibly boring. Regina makes quick work of pouring herself a mug full of coffee. 2 creams, no sugar, and scolding hot, just how she liked it.

Regina steps up to the counter of her kitchen and looks out the window above her sink. She almost drops the coffee mug from her hands at the sight of small feet dangling from her apple tree. Her eyes must be deceiving her. It could not be.

Regina quickly slides on her slippers and sets her coffee down on the counter. She was seething and the day had only just begun. What in the world was this little child doing in her back yard? How did she get through the gate without Regina knowing? Why was she touching her precious apples? So many questions that needed answers.

Regina stood and watched the little girl jump down from the tree and land on her knees. Regina had no clue where this child had come from but she was determined to send her back.

The little girl had blonde hair that almost reached her bottom. She was wearing denim overalls with a red t-shirt matching red socks and converse. If Regina didn't know any better she would say the little girl was an Olsen twin.

"Got it." The little girl does a little victory dance and whispers to herself, clearly not aware of Regina's presence yet.

"Ahem." Regina clears her throat and raises an amused brow.

The little blonde girl turns around slowly and looks up at Regina. The piercing blue eyes cause Regina to gasp. This child was beautiful.

"Hi?!" The blue eyed bandit smiles sheepishly up at Regina.

Even in her silk robe and slippers, Regina is the essence of regal. With her hands on her hip and her mouth curved into a frown, the little girl is intimidated. She takes a few steps back from Regina.

"May I ask, dear, why are you in my garden ?" Regina's voice is soft but stern.

"I-I-I." The little girl can't seem to get a single word out. "I wanted an apple."

"What is your name ?" Regina crouches down to be eye level with the frightened little girl.

"Emma," Emma muttered and lowered her head. This was the moment the lady yelled at her.

"Emma, give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police right now and have you arrested for trespassing?" Regina asks the girl. She knew it was a bit harsh to say. To a child no less.

"Because I was hungry and I just wanted an apple?" Emma smiles cheekily. It was worth a shot. She didn't even know what trespassing was. From Regina's tone of voice, it had to be bad.

"Try again." Regina raised her brow.

"Because ...I'm the cutest little girl you ever did see ?" Emma grinned. "I'm five years old you know? "

"Do you know you could get into trouble for stealing?" Regina brings this to the five-year-old's attention.

Emma's smile is wiped off of her face. She didn't think she would get into trouble for taking the apple. Her foster brothers had made a bet with her that she couldn't do it. Wanting to be a part of the crowd, Emma was always up for a was easy enough to walk to Regina's house alone. Everyone knew this house. It was the biggest in town.

"Come with me." Regina grabs the little girl's hand before she has a chance to protests.

"No, wait, please don't call my parents." Emma pleads with her as she is lead into the tried to jerk away from Regina's firm grip but it proved to be unsuccessful. "They're going to send me back." Her voice squeaks with terror.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you stole from me."

Emma lowers her head and pulls away from Regina. She sniffles a little and closes her eyes. This was it. This would be the final straw that her foster father would talk about. They were going to send her back and she would have to live in another group home for god knows how long.

"Emma?" Regina questions. "I have to call your parents."

"But what if I put the apple back ?" Emma's blue eyes are wide and hopeful. "Then you won't have to call them. Please?"

Emma began to get more upset and her speech suffers along with her. She uses her famous pout and hopes that it works on the older woman.

"Emma." Regina leans down. "You have to know that stealing isn't okay."

"But I'll get a spanking and then I won't be able to eat dinner for two days." Emma clasps her hands over her mouth and her eyes widen. She wasn't supposed to say that.

Regina's eyes widen at the confession. Surely the tiny girl was lying. Regina squats down making sure her robe was covering her lady bits. She takes Emma's hands into her own and looks into her eyes that are already filled with tears.

"You were hungry?"Regina speaks up. "That's why you took the apple?"

Emma nods. "My foster brothers told me if I came here you wouldn't find out. They dared me to. They never feed me when Mr. and Mrs. Williams are gone."

Regina's heart almost falls out of her chest. What horrible people did this little girl live with?

"Emma, I have to call someone." Regina sighs. "you can't be left around town like this. You are only five years old."

"I'll be six October 28th." Emma challenges.

"Be as it may, you are still far too young to be alone."

"I'm sorry," Emma mumbles.

Regina was truly lost on what to do. In her mind, she would call Emma's foster parents and tell them just exactly what their child had done. But looking into Emma's eyes she just couldn't do that.

"How would you like pancakes and eggs?" Regina doesn't exactly know what she is doing but she needs to feed this little girl.

"Really?"Emma asks.

Regina nods and holds out her hand for Emma to shake.

"I'm Regina."

Emma takes the woman's hand and shakes it.

"Thank you, Gina."

Regina internally cringes at the nickname. No one has ever called her that and now she knows why. Coming from the blonde it was kind of endearing.

Emma was seated at the counter eating her breakfast when Regina stepped back into the kitchen fully dressed.

"I just hung up with your foster parents they are on the way."

"They are really going to send me back now," Emma speaks up. She fiddled with her fingers consciously avoiding eye contact with Regina.

"I didn't tell them about the apple, Emma." Regina sits next to the girl and speaks softly. Something about this little girl gave Regina chills. She felt for the child.

Emma smiles widely and hugs the brunette. Regina is taken aback for a second before hugging Emma back.

"Tell me, Emma, what's it like at your foster home?"

"Well, I have three older brothers, Jackson, Andrew, and Steven." Emma scrunches her nose. " They are the Williams' real kids. They are all mean to me. All they do is boss me around and tell me what to do all day. When my foster mommy and daddy are away they leave me with the boys, but they don't give me food all of the time."

Regina frowns. "Did you tell your parents?"

"They don't believe me." Emma fiddles with the ring on Regina's finger. "In my file, it says I'm a liar. But I don't like to lie, Gina. In my last foster home, my foster dad did some bad things and I told and they called me a liar. They didn't believe me. No one does."

Honestly, Regina didn't want to know what those bad things were. She felt for the pint-sized blonde. She wanted to hug and hold the little girl forever.

"I believe you." Regina takes Emma into her arms.

"You do ?" Emma looks into her eyes hopefully.

"I don't have a lot of family either, Emma," Regina said. She shrugs and looks down at Emma. "my mother ran away when I was five and my dad died when I was in college."

"That's sad." Emma pouts.

"It is."Regina agrees. "I've never really had anyone on my team. I've never had a family."

"You aren't married? " Emma's gestures to the kitchen around them. "You have this big house all to yourself?"

Regina laughs at Emma's facial expression. "Yes, I do."

"That's cool." Emma leans into Regina. "I wish I could stay with you, Gina. Then we could be family."

"That would be nice wouldn't it." Regina smiles a is a slight pause before Regina speaks again. "Emma, promise me that if you get hungry you will call me and I will come and pick you right up and we can eat."

"You'll be my friend?"

"Yes, I'll be your friend."

Emma hugs Regina tightly. The first real hug she's ever given anyone. The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupts the moment. Emma startles and sighs.

"Your parents are here." Emma slides down from Regina's lap.

"Foster parents," Emma mumbles miserably.

They both walk to the front door hand in hand. Regina makes sure Emma is fine before opening the door to her house.

"Emma." The five-year-old is picked up by whom Regina assumes is. "Thank you for helping her. When you called I was so afraid she had done something terrible."

"Emma knows our rules about running away."

"She was fine." Regina smiles over to the Williams.

"Well, we should get going. Right, Emma ?" Mr. Williams looks over to the little girl.

Emma nods and hides her face into the neck of her foster mother.

Once they are walking down the pathway to their car, Emma lifts her head to take one last look at her new friend. She figured she wouldn't be seeing her for a while. Regina waves back with a smile. For almost an hour she had a friend. Granted that friend was five-years-old she had one for an hour.

The blue eyed bandit was her friend.