Author's Note: Hey all! To clarify, this is a familial SQ fic, meaning Regina and Emma will be family (parent-child) only. No romance, just the love between a mother and her child. I know I usually do romantic SQ, but this seemed a fun re-imagining of the pilot episode opening. There's a bonus epilogue #2 for StableQueen fans as well. Hope you enjoy. :)

"Where are we going?"

Snow White's voice cracks with pain and fear, her green eyes wide with fresh tears as she clutches David to her chest. His breaths are shallow and his eyelids flutter, but he still lives, his hands resting over the bloody sword wound on his side. For a shepherd he is resilient, even if he's only a pale replacement for the original prince James.

"Somewhere horrible," Regina replies gleefully, smiling down at the Charmings with too much teeth, her red lips a crimson slash across her face. The crackling purple smoke of her Dark Curse has filled the room at this point, swirling around them as if they were in the middle of a tornado, wind whipping at Regina's hair and cape. She cradles the newborn princess in her arms, the tiny infant swaddled in a knitted blanket, wriggling and whimpering as if she can sense her parents' inevitable demise. Regina laughs darkly, stroking a finger along the infant's cheek, knowing full well that Snow White watches her in anguish. As the curse swirls fiercely and the smoke closes in around them, she looks up to meet the younger brunette's eyes one last time.

"Where the only happy ending... will be mine."

The Curse overtakes them, magic and smoke and glittering shards of broken glass obscuring Snow and her husband from her vision. Regina playfully bounces the infant in her arms, staring down into green eyes that look far too much like Snow White's. The distraction is enough for her to lose her footing in the whipping winds, a powerful gust pushing her backwards. Regina grits her teeth and stumbles backwards, falling into the empty wardrobe that she'd noticed in the nursery just a moment ago, and suddenly all is dark.

She's woken by a loud wailing, worse so because the sound is right next to her ear. Regina winces and jerks away, realizing she still has Snow White's infant clutched to her chest. The baby cries unhappily - it's hungry, Regina guesses, though that's hardly her problem. She lifts her head and frowns, finding herself curled up in what seems to be a tree trunk. Clambering out while keeping hold of the baby is awkward but she manages well enough, shaking loose bits of bark and moss from her black cloak and then glaring around her surroundings.

This is not the world she'd built into the curse. She's supposed to have a kingdom of her own to rule over - this is nothing but miles upon miles of trees. Even the trees themselves are unfamiliar, the look and smell of them different from the ones in the Enchanted Forest.

"Rumplestiltskin," she snaps out, because blaming the imp for everything is easiest. Besides, this was his damned curse that she'd enacted. How did she end up in the middle of nowhere?

The princess's wails bring her attention back to the issue at hand. She has no idea where she is, no resources, and no guards at her disposal. This is going to be problematic indeed. With a sigh, Regina waves her hand and changes her clothing into something less flashy and more practical for wandering through the forest.

Well, she tries. Except nothing happens, and when she reaches for her inner magic she realizes she can't even feel it anymore. It's gone. Go figure her own inner magic is completely inaccessible in a world without magic.

"Damn it!" she snarls aloud, actually stomping her foot in a fit of anger. This only makes the baby cry harder, and she has half a mind to toss the infant across the clearing like a skipping stone before reminding herself that she needs to keep it alive. What better way to torment Snow White than to corrupt her child? The product of True Love, nothing more than a willing pawn to the Evil Queen. How fitting.

Only now does she actually examine the infant in her arms, still snugly wrapped in a white knitted blanket with "Emma" embroidered on the corner in purple threading. Wisps of dark blonde hair adorn the child's head and her features are round and cherubic, with big green eyes and cheeks that dimple when she stretches her lips. She knew the Charmings were expecting a princess, but only now does she truly see the child as a baby girl and not simply an "it."

"Oh, hush, you're not in danger," Regina says, frowning down at the angry little face that squawks at her. A tiny fist escapes the blanket and flails in the air. "Stop that this instant."

Regina grabs the fist to halt her flailing - not unkindly - and manages to tuck the stubby limb back under the blankets. With a huff of annoyance, the Evil Queen begins walking.

The child does not cease her crying, however, and the noise grates on Regina's nerves with every passing second. Bouncing her does nothing to soothe her, and Regina has nothing to nurse her with, either. Multiple times she has to resist the urge to simply abandon the wailing child in the forest somewhere, but another part of her refuses to do such an inhumane thing.

Besides, the baby is part of her nefarious plan. That's all.

Half an hour later and Regina finally stops, sighing loudly at the wriggling, crying infant.

"Stop crying," she demands. The baby squalls. "Stop it at once."

No use. Now both fists wriggle free from the blankets and flail harmlessly in the air, bumping against Regina's collarbone like tiny, ineffective punches.

"Stop," the Queen stresses in frustration, aimlessly bouncing the infant in her arms and wishing she had a damned sleeping curse right about now. "Stop crying. Right now. Emma."

The cries cease quite suddenly and big green eyes are blinking owlishly at her. At least Regina thinks so, but she thought infants weren't able to make eye contact so early after being born. Regardless, she's staring into giant orbs of seafoam green, with the softest gleam of blue when the baby tilts her head just so. It no longer reminds her so much of Snow White - perhaps the shade is more of a mixture of Snow's green and Prince Charming's baby blues. Absently, she thinks it's the most lovely eye color she's ever seen.

"Well," Regina says after a moment, startled that the baby is simply blinking at her now. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Now if you cooperate, I might be able to figure out where we are and get us out of this damned forest."

Emma cooes at her, face scrunching together with a big smile, and does nothing more than gurgle and croon for the rest of the trek.

As much as she may claim to be entirely refined, the Evil Queen is like a spooked cat in a room full of rocking chairs when she and Emma are taken to a hospital. Everything is strange and foreign and she hates not knowing things. After an hour or two of walking, Regina had come across what looked to be a stone-paved road that cut through the forest. Without a better lead, she simply followed it in one direction until they came upon a small cluster of ugly little buildings. One such building opened up in front and seemed to sell food, and after a very awkward confrontation in which the woman working there looked at Regina like she was crazy, they were picked up by what she assumed was law enforcement. They, in turn, took them to some sort of medical building, if the scent of chemicals and illness were any indication.

This is a different world entirely and Regina isn't stupid, so as soon as they'd been left alone for a moment in a small room, she set the child down in a chair and tried to alter her own appearance as best she could. She pulled her hair down out of its elaborate updo so that it fell plain and unmenacing down her back, washed her face clean of heavy makeup (it took an embarrassingly long moment for her to figure out the strange contraptions in the powder room,) then wrapped her cloak more fully around herself to hide her clothing underneath. It was as close as she could get to looking like all the other women she'd seen on her way here, so it would have to do. She picked Emma back up too, before she could roll herself off the chair to an untimely demise.

A woman in a white coat eventually enters the room, much to Regina's impatience. A thin board is in her hands and she flips through some flat parchment, a curious look on her face.

"Miss… Regina Mills?"

"Yes," Regina says stiffly, hating that the law enforcement people had put her through so many questions on their way here. She'd bullshitted her way through most of it with some vague understanding that in this world, she needed some sort of personal identification paper, a "cellphone," and their form of money. All of which was going to be interesting to get her hands on without the help of magic or resources. "Is there a reason I'm being kept here?"

"It's just that in cases like these involving children-"

"Cases?"

"Well, you were found wandering the outskirts of town with no ID or, well, anything-"

"My personal items were stolen."

"Did you speak to the police about that?"

"Yes. They're dealing with it."

"Okay. But why were you all the way out there with a young infant?"

"We got lost."

"Lost?" The woman looks skeptical.

"That's what I said, dear."

"Right. And this child is…"

"My daughter," Regina says smoothly. She recognizes the look of mistrust and knows they'll take Emma from her if given a reason. The woman's eyebrows rise.

"She doesn't look like your daughter."

"Are you judging us based on the colour of our skin?"

"Wh- no! Not at all. That wasn't what I-"

"That is exactly what you said, and I don't appreciate you making ugly assumptions about my daughter and I."

"I am sorry, Miss Mills, just-"

Emma starts crying at that exact moment. Regina shoots a glare at the woman before gently rocking the infant, softening her gaze as much as possible when she looks down upon green eyes. She doesn't know what a good and loving mother may act like, but it's safe to say it's the opposite of whatever her own mother was.

"Shh, shh, don't cry, darling." She sneers up at the woman. "Now look what you've done. You've upset her."

"I'm so sorry. Um, would you like me to bring some formula for her?"

"Yes."

The woman retreats and returns a few minutes later with a bottle for Emma. Settling down in a chair, Regina feeds the child with as much confidence as she can, considering she has no idea what she's doing. Emma suckles greedily and seems pleased, however, so she figures she's doing it right. She's nearly done with the bottle, big green eyes at half mast, fingers gently gripping Regina's where she holds the bottle steady. This time Regina is sure the child is staring at her, and she can't help but stare back, swallowing down the oddest feeling of content. Emma is relaxed and warm in her arms.

"She's very beautiful," the woman offers after a moment, reminding Regina that she's still there.

"Thank you, dear," is the brunette's distracted reply.

"What's her name?"

"Emma." Regina lifts her head and briskly returns the bottle. "On that note, we need to return home. I will have my… ID replaced soon, so don't worry yourself about that."

She rises with Emma cradled in one arm, the other giving a dismissive wave. The woman startles.

"But how will you get home without a phone or any money?"

"I'll walk."

"How far away do you live?"

"Not far."

"Wait, here." The woman pulls some sort of flat pouch from her pocket and slides a green slip of paper from it, handing it over. "Here, money for a taxi. I can't in good conscience let you walk home."

Money, good. She doesn't know what a taxi is - sounds like some form of transportation? - but she'll jump that hurdle when she gets to it.

Two months. She's been in Boston for two months and is no closer to finding out where her kingdom is, nevertheless if they're even in the same world. They'd damn well better be, because she refuses to have worked this hard and sacrificed so much for it all to amount to nothing.

It had been apparent after they left the hospital that they couldn't afford to stay in the bustling city. That, and the crowdedness made Regina uncomfortable. She ended up finding a taxi simply because a man leaning up against an ugly yellow metal thing asked her if she needed a ride somewhere. He seemed thoroughly amused by her "costume" but proved rather helpful when she inquired about somewhere she could work for meals and lodging. Shelter and money were their priority if she wanted to be able to start searching for her kingdom, and in a world where she was clearly a nobody, Regina could swallow her pride. He'd invited her into the taxi - that had been an interesting first ride - and took her to a ranch and equestrian stable just on the outskirts of the city when she mentioned she had no ID and no real job experience other than being a monarch and working with horses. (One required actually existing on paper so the choice was obvious. That, and he'd thought she was joking about the monarch bit.)

He ended up driving them for free and bid her a cheery goodbye once the owners of the ranch and stables agreed to hire her. It wasn't a hard decision either; they were an elderly couple, Walter and Pearl Swan, and needed more able-bodied folk working the ranch, not to mention another trainer for the horses. That, and Pearl just about fell in love with Emma upon first sight. Walter was happy so long as Pearl was happy.

Regina and Emma were set up in the guest house, a tiny building just off to the side of the main house. It was more than enough room for them, and Regina was surprisingly happier with a cozy space compared to the massive empty palace she'd spent so many years isolated in. Pearl didn't ask many questions and instead willingly helped her acquire the things she'd need for Emma, offering to babysit while Regina worked. It was a generous deal and Regina adapted to her new job well enough. Biding her time was something she excelled at, and as Walter insisted on paying her alongside the free shelter and everything else, it was a smart and stable situation to stay in for a while.

"Regina! Come take a break!"

Pearl waves enthusiastically at her from the porch, surprisingly spry for her age. In hand-me-down jeans, a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and some worn but comfortable boots, Regina dumps the last armful of hay down and jogs across the paddocks towards the house. The two young men who currently work the lands of the ranch grin and wave as she passes them along the path, but as always, she ignores them.

"Pearl," she greets with a small smile upon hopping up onto the porch. That last time she'd tried to call either of them Mr. or Mrs. Swan, she'd gotten smacked for it. She genuinely likes Pearl and Walter; they're kind to her without being an annoyance, unapologetically transparent in nature, and in some ways they remind her of Daniel. Warm, compassionate, loyal to a fault.

Pearl reaches out and yanks the glove off of Regina's right hand, pressing a glass of cold iced tea into it. "Come over here, Emma's been babblin'!"

"Doesn't she always?" Regina shakes her other glove off and swipes the sweat from her brow, following Pearl through the front door (it's been permanently propped open since the summer heatwave hit them) and sipping her iced tea. Emma's sprawled out on her belly in an old crib by the living room's bay window.

"Oh, she makes sounds, but this here is real baby babblin'." Pearl looks immensely proud as she scoops Emma up into her arms. "Come on baby girl, make some noise for your mama, huh?"

Regina shifts uncomfortably. She's grown to be rather fond of Pearl in particular, and this just reminds her of how many lies she's living on. She's learned to handle Emma well enough that no one, not even the handful of employees who work on the ranch, question her relationship to the child. Her maternal instincts, however, don't seem to exist. Pearl's had many children of her own - all flown the nest and off with their own families now - and gladly swoops in to help whenever Regina can't get Emma to stop crying.

"I'm afraid I don't know how to be a very good mother," she'd once told the elder woman, an excuse for her lack of affection with Emma. Pearl had just chuckled at her.

"Every mother n' child bonds differently. You'll get there with Emma so long as you keep tryin' your best," Pearl had told her, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Here, you hold her," Pearl says now, trading Regina the baby for her drink. The brunette cradles Emma with a small sigh, offering up a smile as those big green eyes lock onto her.

"Mmmnnnahh," Emma sounds out, and Regina pretends to be excited over the nonsensical gibberish.

"Good girl," she says, rocking her gently. Tiny hands pat at her shoulders, searching. Regina pulls her long hair loose from a hair tie and drapes it over her shoulder where Emma can touch it and tug on it. The child seems to love playing with her hair, and since it keeps her from crying, Regina willingly suffers it.

"I'll have dinner ready in an hour if ya wanna finish early today and catch a hot shower," says Pearl, one hand on her hip and looking pleased. Regina blinks in surprise. She hadn't expected any generosity or kindness when she first showed up here but Pearl and Walter have been nothing but, constantly surprising her with their thoughtful and oftentimes selfless acts. She certainly works hard for her keep, but they treat her almost like family.

Probably just because of Emma, she thinks. No one can resist the cute little princess after all.

"Thank you," Regina breathes out, happy for the respite. Pearl holds out her arms to take Emma off her hands and shoos her off for her shower.

Six months since they arrived. Regina's somewhat disgruntled at how easy it is to get lost in work, for the hours to meld into days and weeks as she tends to the horses and runs them through their courses and feels like she's flying astride their backs. Walter tips her off about the trails in the woods nearby and on the occasion that she has free time to spare, she hops onto her favourite stallion of the bunch and rockets off into the wilderness as if she were chasing after her father's hunting parties again, in both her youth and his. Mother had always punished her severely whenever she found out, but it had always been worth it.

She has to remind herself to return to her search every so often. She's become quite familiar with the internet after Pearl allowed her use of their old computer in the main house. They'd asked, once. She said something vague about finding the only family member she had left. They didn't ask again. Pearl would just pat her shoulder whenever she walked by and saw Regina searching, searching, searching.

She never found anything.

Regina drags the comb through Rocinante's mahogany coat again, gently swatting him away when he tries to playfully chew on the hem of her shirt. His name is really Rochester, but she calls him Rocinante and he responds to it as if it had been his name since he'd been a foal.

"You would have liked the Enchanted Forest," she tells him absently, pulling her fingers through a small tangle in his mane. He just huffs through his nostrils and shoves his face back into his bucket of oats.

"Regina! Regina! Come quick!" It's amazing how easily Pearl's voice carries across the fields. Regina sets the brush down and hurries out of the stables, turning towards the main house to see Pearl's matronly silhouette on the porch. It's late evening, well after dinner, and Emma should be sleeping right now. Furrowing her brow, Regina hops the paddock fence and hurries up the path.

"Pearl? What's wrong?" Her heart twinges with the beginnings of worry. They're usually very good about keeping quiet in the evenings as to not wake Emma, but Pearl is just about bouncing on the porch after having bellowed across the ranch at her.

"Come on! Hurry!" She rushes into the house with Regina on her heels. To the brunette's relief, Walter has Emma sitting balanced on his knees, holding the infant as carefully as ever with his big calloused hands. Big green eyes lock onto Regina as she tromps into the sitting room.

"What's going on?" Regina asks again, confused. Pearl sits next to Walter and they beckon for her to come closer. Regina lowers herself down onto her knees in front of them, eye-level with Emma now.

"Say it again, baby girl," Pearl coaxes, giving Emma's belly a little rub with her fingertips. The child giggles and looks back and forth between the women, mouth moving experimentally without actually making a sound.

"What did she say?" There's a twinge of something in her chest - mild jealousy? She's not Emma's real mother but she thought she'd be there to hear Emma's first word. Apparently not.

"She said 'abba,'" Pearl chuckles. "Oh, Walt, we still have some old ABBA records, don't we? We should put 'em on to celebrate."

Regina has no idea what they're talking about but flashes a smile as if she does. When she looks back at Emma, the infant is most definitely staring at her, green eyes big and focused. She can feel Walter and Pearl watching her too, breaths held in anticipation.

"How about you say something for mommy?" Regina asks softly, feigning excitement. Emma blinks at her, eyes crinkling at the corners as her little face scrunches into a smile.

"Mama."

The fake smile drops from Regina's face, her eyes widening with genuine shock. The little gasp from Pearl and the hearty chuckle from Walter assures her that she'd heard right, but still she asks in disbelief;

"What did you say?"

"Mama," Emma gurgles out again, beaming a gummy smile. Regina jumps to her feet and scoops Emma up into her arms, a brilliant smile splitting her features as she laughs in amazement, unable to contain the burst of warmth and excitement in her chest.

"Yes! Say it again, sweetheart. Say it for mommy."

"Mama," Emma squeals, clearly sensing Regina's delight at her babbling. "Mama! Mama!"

Regina laughs and spins and nuzzles Emma, nose rubbing against the infant's soft cheeks and peppering her face with gentle little kisses, unexplainably happy that this child has laid claim to her as her mother.

A single word should not mean so much to her, but it does. It means the world. And little does Regina know, it will change her life forever.

"What'd I tell ya?"

Pearl appears at the window, her gray hair looking silver in the moonlight. Regina is sitting on the wide ledge with Emma curled up asleep on her chest and a book in her free hand. The summer nights are warm and she's taken to sitting in the window to read before bed.

"You were right," Regina admits with a wry smile, her other hand rubbing Emma's back in small, soothing strokes. The infant's fingers are curled into her shirt and her cheek is pressed to Regina's skin where her shirt doesn't quite cover her, the direct contact warm and reassuring.

"You two are real darn cute together," Pearl says, nodding to herself. "I'm proud of ya, Regina."

At that, Regina hesitates, one brow lifting. "Proud of me? I haven't done anything."

"Well sure ya did." Pearl scoffs. "You show up here without a dime to your name, a single mother to a babe, all alone. You work with the horses, you help on the ranch, and you've finally hit your stride with Emma. Helluva way you've come. Walt's proud of you too, though I tell ya he's too shy to say it aloud."

Regina sucks in a breath, unsure of how to respond. Her own mother had never been proud of her, not in a genuine way, yet Pearl says it with this sparkle in her eye that warms her from the inside out. "Thank you, Pearl," she manages, voice wavering only the slightest.

Pearl reaches in to pat her on the thigh, smiles, then salutes her and toddles off back to the main house, humming a melodic tune that Regina ends up humming softly to herself before she goes to bed that night.

"Emma! Come back here, child!" Regina growls softly under her breath, lurching forward to catch the toddler and swing her up into the air before she can go much farther. Emma squeals and laughs, wriggling as she's slung onto Regina's hip, the brunette giving a long suffering sigh.

"Walter, I'm so sorry," she says as the elder man enters the hallway, amused. After escaping the guest house, Emma had managed to track muddy footprints right down the hall of the main house before Regina caught up to her.

"Don't fret," he laughs, moving to retrieve some towels from the hallway closet. "Ain't nothing a bit of cleaning won't fix. Need help wrangling the filly?"

"I've got her." Regina flashes another apologetic smile and quickly carries Emma out the back door, down the short path back to the guest house. She somehow blackmails the child into cooperating by offering her bubbles and some bath toys, and an hour later she's wrapping her up in a fluffy towel and combing down her wet blonde hair.

Of course, the moment she turns away to look for a hair tie, the child is gone again.

"Emma?" Regina huffs, hurrying around the small guest house. She finds the child at her desk, clutching a sealed manilla envelope in her hands, eyes big and curious.

"Mama, whassis?" she asks, holding it up. Regina gently takes the envelope with a sigh. It had arrived weeks ago from an inquiry she'd sent out more than half a year prior. She'd been surprised that it had finally turned up, but she hadn't had the time or energy to open it. After a moment, she sets it back on the desk.

"Just some boring paperwork. Now come on, darling, let's get you dressed. If you cooperate, maybe I'll put your hair up in pigtails today."

"Pigtails!" Emma squeals gleefully and stampedes her way into the bedroom, jumping up onto the bed and then dropping onto her butt. After she'd outgrown the crib she'd taken to sharing the bed with Regina. There wasn't much room anywhere for another bed and besides, Emma was still at the age where she loved snuggling in with her mother.

Regina pulls out a change of clothes from Emma's drawer and helps her dress, then she gets to work on the blonde's hair. Emma loves having her hair touched and it's one of the only situations where Regina can get her to sit absolutely still for any length of time. Of course, as soon as she's done, Emma's on her feet and grabbing for the hair brush.

"Mama's turn," she says, dead serious, and Regina holds back a chuckle as the child situates herself behind her, carefully pulling the brush through Regina's hair. It has grown out significantly since they'd arrive here a little over two years ago, and though the length is starting to be a bit of an inconvenience, she lets it keep growing, knowing how much Emma loves to play with it.

"Come now, sweetheart, we should go help set the table for dinner." Regina scoops Emma up and carries her to the main house, where she promptly unleashes the child on Walter and then sets the table herself.

"That girl gets bigger n' bigger every day, I swear," Pearl laughs, watching Emma and Walter scurry past the kitchen doorway. "Got any ideas for when she's gotta start school?"

Regina pauses in putting out the cutlery. "I hadn't really thought that far ahead." Absently she thinks she'd like to have found her kingdom and returned before then, but the thought is weak. Sometimes she forgets about her reasons for wanting to go back, when every day is full of work and horses and Walter and Pearl and Emma.

"Well, you're in luck. There's an elementary, middle, and high school nearby, and the school bus route goes through here. Nothin' fancy but the education's good. All mine went there."

Regina nods along. They're old schools then, if Pearl's children used to go there (and they're all around her age and older now, from what she can tell from Pearl's family albums.) The idea of sending Emma off on a bus to some school at least a good few miles out makes her stomach flip uncomfortably, though.

"Y'know, when she's comin' of age, Walt and I can take you both out there, show you around and settle your nerves."

"Was I that obvious?" Regina laughs, stepping back as Pearl toddles over with a large platter.

"You look just like I did when I sent my first child to school," the woman snorts. "Walt had to toss me over his shoulder to stop me from gettin' on the bus with William."

"Your eldest son?"

"Mmhm. Nearly did the same thing with my eldest girl, Lauren. Managed not to embarrass the twins like that when it was their turn. Then Pam and Danny had it easiest." She gives an affectionate sigh and a shake of her head. "Been too long since we've had the whole family together, and now we got Emma underfoot, I miss havin' little ones around. I should talk to Walt, see about gettin' all the kids and grandkids together one year. What'dya think? Emma'd like to have some cousins to play with, hmm?"

Regina blinks. "Cousins?"

Pearl swats her on the arm as she passes. "A'course, child. You two are family. As far as I'm concerned, you're both Swans."

Regina watches the elder woman toddle off back into the kitchen for more platters, and wonders if this is what having a mother is supposed to be like.