DISCLAIMER:: do not own ouat or any of its characters. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.

A/N:: wasn't going to post this because i'm already juggling several stories, but it would not leave my brain alone. my muse was kicking my head trying to get me to pay attention, so i'm posting this to appease my muse and stop her violent tendencies. just note that the dividers change in this story... if there is only one line of SWAN QUEEN, then it's just a break in the scene, but if there are two lines of SWAN QUEEN, it's a break between the storyteller and the story. i'm sure you all will catch on easily. you're smart cookies. hope you enjoy. reviews would be greatly appreciated

first chapter means my usual indicator of not being native with the tongue. so all mistakes are mine.

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-Chapter 1: Autumn Meets Winter-

"Tell us a story Daddy."

The man sighed and looked at his children, their faces tilted eagerly up at him, eyes expectantly assuming he'll give in and he knows in an instant that he's already caved. If there is one thing he is, it's a slave to the whims of those two little faces. "What kind of story?"

One child grins, the more adventurous of the two. "A story about battles."

The other, much more subdued, got a dreamy look. "A story about love."

Their father grinned. "How about I tell you a story with both?"

Both little heads nodded eagerly and the man sighed contentedly as he sat down in the chair beside their bed. "You both must promise me that you'll go to bed right after."

Again, both little heads nodded.

The man tapped his chin. Where to begin? Well… why not at the beginning? "Once upon a time their was a beautiful land called the Enchanted Forest. In the beginning the Enchanted Forest was ruled by a King and Queen, but one day, the King's three brothers, consumed by their jealousy that he was the first born and therefore rightful ruler of the kingdom, attacked their oldest brother. But a faithful servant, a fairy, was able to warn the King of their attack right before it happened. A big war followed, and for many years, the brothers fought. Until one day, the brothers' sister, a fair Princess who'd chosen to stay away from the fighting, wanting no part of the crown for herself, got caught in the middle of a battle and was killed. All four brothers, aggrieved over the loss of their kindhearted sister, met under parley…"

"What's parley?" His more adventurous child looked confused.

"Parley is when opposite sides meet under a temporary banner of peace to negotiate terms. Everyone involved agrees not to attack until the discussion is over."

The children both nodded in understanding.

"Now where was I? Ah yes. So the four brothers met under terms of parley to discuss how to peacefully end the war. They were all growing older and their children were starting to pick up their hatred for each other, their feud getting passed down from father to son. The four brothers, deciding they wanted the fighting to end with them, divided the Enchanted Forest into four kingdoms. Addword, the eldest brother and rightful King would claim the North, to be called the Kingdom of Winter for it's mountainous terrain and constant snowfall. The second eldest brother, Zekarias, was to rule the West, where the Enchanted Forest met the Endless Sea, the Kingdom of Spring. The next brother, Nicomedes, took the South, a land of desert sands, the Kingdom of Summer. The youngest brother, Mharc, chose for himself the East, a land entirely made up of forest and meadows, the Kingdom of Autumn. And the four kingdoms fell into a time of great prosperity, each flourishing under separate rule as generation after generation after generation lived in peace with each other. Until one day, when the King of Autumn married the woman who wanted to see it all undone."

"Why would the Queen want to ruin the peace Daddy?" His soft spoken child looked troubled.

"Because Queen Cora had a hatred that passed through her family from mother to daughter since the time of the war and she didn't think the land deserved peace. Power was what she wanted. She believed her husband, and therefore her, should rule all four kingdoms. And so Cora hatched a plan and at the center of that plan was her daughter, the Princess of Autumn, a girl of six. But what Queen Cora could never have planned for was the Princess of Winter, who was no more than a girl of four at the time, and what would happen when the two Princesses met…"

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"Emma dear, I know you don't like socializing with the visiting royals, but it is what proper Princesses must do."

The four year old Princess and second heir to the Winter throne, shook her head, her small arms coming across her chest in a gesture of defiance, her little face scrunching in protest. "No!"

Snow sighed and set the gown she was holding down on the bed next to her first (and with the way this girl acted she was thinking only) daughter. She crouched in front of the bed and the little girl. "The Queen of Autumn is bringing her own daughter. You'll have someone new to play with. Won't that be fun?"

The Princess perked up just the slightest bit. She didn't uncross her arms, but her face did become slightly less scrunched.

Snow took this as a good sign and a platform from which to launch her efforts to get Emma ready for the Autumn royals to arrive. "She's only two years older than you. And she's looking forward to meeting you. The Queen assures me it's all she can talk about."

Emma uncrossed her arms. She glanced at her mother's pleading face and then down at the dress beside her. Finally she nodded. "Okay Mommy."

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"Don't you look lovely?"

Emma ran across the grand hall, well as much as she could manage in the poofy skirts of her gown, and launched herself into her father's arms. Snow had learned the hard way from the last time they'd hosted one of the other royal families to not put her daughter in the traditional white; she wasted no time in soiling the gowns. Instead, she had put her in a cream and silver. It wasn't likely to fare much better, but she was hoping her daughter could keep it pristine at least through the arrival of their guests.

"She's not the only lady in the room you know."

James smiled at his wife. "Ah, my love, you are as ravishing now as you were on the day we wed." He leaned down to kiss her as she came to stand beside them.

Snow smiled. "And you look… Charming."

"Sire, Your Grace, Your Highness. The Autumn carriages have been seen passing the first gate." Her father's advisor, Marx, appeared in the entrance to the grand hall.

James set Emma down and took her little hand in his. "Shall we Princess?"

"We shall."

Snow rolled her eyes and followed the Princess and the King out of the grand hall and to the outer bailey, where they stood in wait with a small contingent of guards to welcome the royals from the Kingdom of Autumn.

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"Perk up Regina! Royals don't slouch!" Cora glared across the carriage at her six year old daughter. Princess Regina was dressed in the traditional deep red of their kingdom, gold thread embroidered through her bodice in the shape of the apples their kingdom was famous for. Her hair was done up high on her head at Cora's insistence, because "Princesses who wear their hair down appear flippant and undignified."

"Now Queen Snow White and King James have a young daughter as well, Princess Emma. You will do whatever Princess Emma asks of you, is that understood? She is the apple of her brother's eye and if we are to convince him to join our kingdoms, then you must do whatever it takes to gain his favour."

Regina nodded. "Yes mother."

The carriage pulled to a halt and the footman came around to open the door. He held his gloved hand out to the Queen and she allowed him to help her out of the carriage.

"Queen Cora. You grant us such an honour by visiting our lands. I know they must pale in comparison to the beauty of your kingdom." A woman stepped forward. Regina watched her through the carriage window. Her hair was black and long, though she wore it up just as a Queen should. Her silver crown was glistening on her head. She was pale, as almost all individuals born in the Kingdom of Winter were, but there was a rosy glow about her cheeks. Her gown was white and stunning. No one in the Kingdom of Autumn wore white and she'd never seen something so beautiful before. Her green eyes were bright and had a liveliness to them Regina hadn't seen before.

Her eyes drifted briefly to the King. He was a handsome man, younger than her own father and more dashing. He had a carefree air about him that she instantly liked. And then her gaze fell on the little Princess of Winter. She was the most breathtaking child Regina had ever seen, not that she'd seen many. Her mother did not tolerate children around the palace. Her blonde hair fell in soft, loose ringlets around her small face. Her eyes, though green like her mother's, were much more subdued, an almost sage green in hue. She was dressed in cream and silver and wore a sparkling tiara in her hair. She wore her loose blonde curls down but Regina felt there was nothing flippant or undignified about her.

"I had thought the King and the Princess would accompany you."

"My husband King Naythin, unfortunately, has been detained due to matters of the Kingdom. However my daughter, Princess Regina, is here." Cora turned back towards the carriage. "Regina dear, come out."

Regina reached for the footman's extended hand and let him help her from the carriage. As soon as she was on solid ground, she fell into a deep curtsey. "Your Grace."

Snow crouched down to her level, an action that would cause her mother to frown, and did. "Welcome Princess Regina. Aren't you just the fairest of them all?"

Regina curtseyed again, though not as low this time. "Many thanks, but my beauty compares not to that of Your Grace and the Princess of Winter."

Queen Snow White smiled. She looked over her shoulder and gestured for the other little girl to come forward. "This is my daughter, Princess Emma." She took the little girl's hand once she was close enough and gently pulled her forward before returning her attention to Regina. "It is my hope that you two will become great friends."

Regina inclined her head. "As you wish Your Grace."

Emma was staring at her, studying her every movement and she held still in the examination, lest her mother become cross with her. It was her mother's wish that she marry the first Prince of Winter. He was a boy two years Regina's senior and if rumours were to be believed, just as dashing as his father. He wasn't present today, which she found curious but she knew better than to inquire. Since her future husband had the Princess as a younger sister, Cora had stressed that her only responsibility here was to keep in the good graces of the younger Princess. So she held still until finally, Princess Emma must have seen something she liked, because she pulled her small hand from her mother's grasp and reached for Regina's hand.

Regina smiled. Maybe being friends with the Princess of Winter would be easier than she thought.

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Regina spent the entire rest of the day with the Princess of Winter. Her first impression of the younger girl was that she was spoiled rotten, pretentious, and the biggest brat Regina had ever met. She could go on and on about the trappings of her four year old life as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. With any other child, Regina was sure she would find this personality insufferable. But there was something special about the Princess of Winter, though she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Gina, just wait until you meet Addy!" The little girl was skipping through the palace gardens in front of her, the skirts of her cream gown already caked with grass stains.

Regina looked down at her own skirts with dismay at the small spattering of stains on her own gown. Her mother would be utterly appalled the moment she saw her and likely to scold her, but Princess Emma had insisted Regina play with her and Cora had said to do anything she had to, anything at all, to keep the Princess happy. So she'd played… and found it quite enjoyable. She'd spent her whole life devoted to her lessons with her mother and her instructors that she had never really had time to just be a child. Mother always told her she was to be a proper Princess first and foremost, not running around like a peasant child. "Where is your brother Princess?"

Emma giggled as she plucked up a few dandelions and blew the seeds into the air. "Addy is away until tomorrow morning." The Princess of Winter ran down the trail until she reached the center of the gardens, where the path widened and circled around a fountain, made of cold white marble. Planted all around the path were Frost Roses, the most stunning flower in not only the Kingdom of Winter, but in the entirety of the Four Kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest.

Regina, not used to exerting herself so, sat down on the lip of the fountain to catch her breath and observe the little Princess.

Emma reached forward and, despite the thorns practically covering the stem, plucked a beautiful Frost Rose from the nearest plant. She expertly plucked the thorns from the stem, cleaning it of anything harmful and then she walked shyly back over to Regina and held the rose out to her.

"For me Princess?" Regina looked at the flower curiously. No one had ever given her a gift just because. She received presents on her name day and special occasions of course, but never had she received something without reason.

Princess Emma nodded. "The fairest rose for the fairest of them all."

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They royals of Autumn and Winter were breaking the fast together the next morning when the Prince arrived home.

"His Royal Highness, Prince Addword, the fourth of his name, heir of Winter."

Of all the jobs Regina could ever dream of doing, she despised Page the most. It would be quite insufferable to keep oneself apprised of the current titles of every noble in not only one's own kingdom but in the other three as well. It hurt her head just to consider it.

The Prince was just as handsome as the rumours had implied. He had his father's charming good looks, with his mother's bright green eyes. His skin was as pale as hers (his father was more tanned, being that he was a third son from the royal bloodline of the Kingdom of Spring) but his sandy blonde/brown hair was all King James. Regina looked on him fondly. He would grow up to be a great King someday, she was sure of it. All in all, not a bad match. She could do much worse for a husband to be sure. Either way, marriage was still years off for both of them yet.

Princess Emma launched herself from her seat and ran across the hall, flinging herself very un-Princesslike into her older brother's arms. "Addy!"

He hugged her back, obviously happy, a huge grin on his face. "Hey, Little Swan. Did you miss me?"

The toddler nodded her head furiously. She slid down out of his arms and to the floor, taking his hand. She dragged him insistently down the dining hall to where Regina was sitting.

"Addy, this is Princess Regina. She's mine." Emma's free hand grasped her own possessively.

Regina's eyes left the Prince to look first at the hand that clasped hers and then to the little face of the younger Princess in wonder. It was just a word, something that shouldn't bother her in the least. In fact, it should thrill her that she'd so easily gained the little girl's approval. She could feel her mother's proud smile over her shoulder. But there was something about the word that warmed something inside her. She belonged to Princess Emma… there was something that felt so right about that.

"Princess Regina."

Regina's eyes flashed back to the Prince of Winter as he grasped her free hand in his own and leaned down to place a chaste kiss to her knuckles. "I must say you are as beautiful as the Frost Rose you're wearing in your hair."

Regina had the decency to blush at the compliment but the only thing going through Regina's mind was that he was comparing her beauty to the rose Emma had given her.

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"Did you see how taken he was with you, my dear?" Cora looked over her daughter's shoulder to their reflection in the mirror as Regina brushed her hair for bed.

"He has invited me riding tomorrow."

Cora clapped her hands together and grinned menacingly. "Thank the Gods that they at least blessed you with beauty."

Regina was stung by her mother's barely cloaked insult, but years with Cora had taught her not to show her dismay.

A knock sounded at the door and both the Autumn Royals looked up.

"Who would be calling on us at this hour?" Cora waved to Regina's handmaid to answer it and the young woman disappeared into the anteroom. They heard the door open and a mumbled exchange and then the handmaid reappeared, but not alone. With her was the Queen of Winter.

"Your Grace." Cora gave an incline of her head.

"Apologies for disturbing you so late, but Princess Emma wishes to have Princess Regina sleep with her in her chambers for the remainder of your stay."

Cora clutched her shoulder firmly and Regina knew that even if she wished to refuse, to do so would mean serious consequences. But she could think of nothing she'd enjoy more than getting a break from the arduous company of her mother for that of the young Princess. She smiled at Queen Snow. "Nothing would make me happier Your Grace."

Queen Snow beamed, looking more than slightly relieved. "Splendid. If you'd like to accompany me, I'll see that your trunks are transferred to her chambers by the maids."

Regina stood and followed the Queen out of the room without even bothering to glance back at her mother. She didn't need to check to know that Cora would be grinning wickedly.

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"My daughter is very taken with you Princess." Queen Snow glanced down at her. "You're all she seems to care about since the moment you arrived."

"That pleases me Your Grace. I enjoy her company immensely." Regina smiled to herself.

Queen Snow nodded. "And what of my son?"

Regina frowned, her brow furrowing. "The Prince, Your Grace?" She hadn't really considered how she'd felt about him. She figured she'd draw an opinion after the week was through. "He's… lovely Your Grace."

Snow smiled to herself but didn't comment. She had kept an eye on all the interactions between her children and the exotic Princess of Autumn. Both her daughter and her son were quite taken with the dark haired girl, but only one of her children had caught the foreign Princess' eye. "I have considered talking with your mother about an exchange. Would you be agreeable to having my children visit your kingdom soon?"

Regina tried not to let her excitement show. "It would please me Your Grace. The Princess would love our orchards."

"And the Prince?"

Regina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, we have wonderful stables."

Again Snow smiled to herself. She wouldn't let Cora know what she thought, the Queen of Autumn was older by almost a decade and much more traditional in her values; she would never entertain the ideas that were flourishing in the Winter Queen's mind. But she was not as simple minded as Queen Cora assumed she was. This whole trip had been about bringing the Prince of Winter and the Princess of Autumn, both heirs to their kingdoms, together. She was hoping to make a match of them and thereby force the Kingdoms of Autumn and Winter to combine their lands. It was an admirable plan, but Snow saw right through it. It hung on a million different details going perfectly right. Chief among them being that the Princess and the Prince got on well. Queen Cora knew Queen Snow White would never force Prince Addword to marry someone he was not in love with. But fortunately for Cora, Snow had to admit that Regina had caught both her children by delighted surprise. But it seems that only one of her children meant something to Princess Regina. "I must warn you Princess, my daughter is infamous for stealing the blankets."

Regina giggled as they came to a stop before Emma's bed chambers. "I must admit she will have quite the challenge on her hands Your Grace, as so am I."

Snow grinned. She opened the bed chamber doors and entered. "My darling daughter, I have brought Her Royal Highness the Princess of Autumn at your behest." The Queen dipped into a deep curtsey at the foot of the young girl's bed, shocking Regina. Her mother would certainly never bow to her.

The blonde Princess sat very regally on the bed and inclined her head gracefully. "You have pleased me. You may retire; your services will no longer be needed til morning."

Snow curtseyed once more and turned for the door, trying to hide her joking smile.

Regina stood near the door, her night robe over her shift, looking between the blonde on the bed and her departing mother.

"Good luck Princess." Snow whispered it as she passed by.

The second the door closed behind her, Regina's gaze shifted back to the Princess on the bed.

Emma held a small hand out to her and Regina went to the bed, slipping off her robe, crawling up onto it and taking her hand. The blonde Princess said nothing, just crawled under the covers, then leaned over and blew out the candle at her bedside, casting the room in darkness.

Regina followed suit, crawling under the covers, making sure to keep distance between them, as was appropriate, their clasped hands stretching the distance and filling up the emptiness between them.

But the minimal contact obviously wasn't enough for Emma. She crawled across the distance, eliminating the space between them as if the very idea of it existing was ludicrous to her. She curled against Regina's side, completely ignorant of the tension that suddenly slipped into the body of the Princess of Autumn. But Regina began to relax quickly and she'd come to realize in the days and years to come that Emma was most likely born without knowing the meaning of personal space.

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The man stared down at his children as they struggled to keep their eyes open. "I think that is all for tonight."

"No Daddy." Their protest was in unison.

"Don't worry, my loves, we will continue on the morrow." He leaned down, placing a kiss on both their foreheads and then turned out the light.

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A/N 2:: so, what does everyone think? worth continuing? let me know!