Once Upon A Time... in a land far, far away. Who could have guessed that that's the only part we got right.

Everyone grew up knowing that Prince Charming simply kissed Snow White awake from the glass coffin surrounded by the seven dwarves. And then they all lived happily ever after.

Everyone knows that Peter Pan is the hero, and that the villainous Captain Hook has a perm and waxed mustache. That Neverland is a place of bliss and dreams.

That there is a definite line between what is good and what is evil. The separation, the difference of light and of darkness. But when has life ever been simple?

So what if someone were to tell you that every single cuddly fairytale you know isn't exactly what happened. If someone showed you the truth?

That the Evil Queen has a reason to want her stepdaughter dead, jealousy of looks having hardly nothing to do with the tale.

That Geppetto told a lie worse than any his son has, or that Jiminy Cricket wasn't always a cricket.

And oh it is strange with one simple truth. . .
it all happened Once Upon A Time.

Storybrooke, 28 years ago

A raven haired woman tangled in silk sheets wakes with a gasp. Her heart beats in a hurried pitter-patter as she gapes at the popcorn ceiling above her. This bed, these clothes they don't belong to her or to her world. Odd clothes replace the soft pajamas, the mirror reflects her darkened eyes as they glaze over her shortened hair.

Painting her features with smugness, Regina smirks happily as she steps out of the manor and into the town that is all her own. She did it. The entirety of the Enchanted Forest under her spell, forced apart from each other to do whatever she wishes for them to do.

"Good morning, Madam Mayor!" Dr. Archie Hopper waves at her with his free hand. The other holds tightly to the leash around Pongo the Dalmatian's neck. Regina smiles at the cricket, she'd thought about crushing him beneath her heel only a few hours ago.

Rumplestiltskin limps past the River Boutique, a cane in hand and she can hardly believe it's the Dark One trapped in her curse as well. An older man finishes drilling a screw into the space above a shop to hold a sign in place, advertising the home of the shop on the corner. A glowing neon blue open sign makes her do a double take, thinking it to be something other than a few light bulbs.

Regina takes in the sights, head turning with a dark grin until a woman's body crashes into hers.

"Oh Madam Mayor, I am so sorry!" Mary Margaret Blanchard trembles, flower petals falling to the ground from the bouquet in her hand. Regina's eyes widen at her nemesis quaking before her, the bold Princess Snow White nothing more than a weak little leaf tossing in the wind.

Regina moves past the woman sneering, "you should be."

Crossing the street, Regina enters the boutique on the corner filled to the brim with comfortable clothes and leather from this strange, strange world. Once inside Regina is pulled into arms that feel stronger than they look, Calypso hugging her best friend close.

A smile graces her features softly, "Regina luv, how are you?"

"I'm fantastic!"

Regina turns to glare at the employee who bumped into her. Callie clucks her tongue, smirking, "Gina, you know I'm the only one allowed to scare my girls." She laughs gently as Regina leaves with a royal like wave thrown in her direction, all the while Regina's grin grows wider and wider because she won.

Storybrooke, earlier that morning

Waking up before the sun Callie Rivers yawns as she stretches. The heavy navy blue comforter on her king bed makes it hard to even want to get up. After she rubs her eyes free of any sleep, her eyes wander around the room as though for the first time; the whole feel of the room is new along with the rest of the house, the book shelves strewn throughout all in need of a little dusting.

After pulling on stretchy athletic wear, Callie is marching out of the house with a clean duffle bag full of clothes at five thirty a.m. to get to the gym. And after an hour or so of working out, Callie is up in the loft of her boutique showering quickly the same as every day in Storybrooke. Walking past the staff room door she can hear her three employees Amber, Thalia, and Lynn giggling about something in the paper. She has to lean up to flick on the neon blue open sign after unlocking the doors of the shop for the day, grumbling as her usual black leather jacket messes with the tee she's wearing underneath.

The day begins like they always do, a few customers here and a few more there. Everyone just the same as they were yesterday, all marching along to the tick of seconds going by that the clock tower refuses to count any more. But then again, Callie doesn't quite remember when it ever worked...

Twenty eight years later, a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy double checks the address once more before knocking on the apartment door. Inside a blonde groans, wondering who it is at this time of the night on her birthday of all days. The door swings open and the ten year old grins up at her, everything he's ever wished for.

"Hello?"

"Hi! I'm Henry, and I'm your son."

As Emma Swan stared open mouthed at the kid pushing his way into her apartment, something was launched into motion.

And so it began, Once Upon A Time...

➤𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬!➤
➤𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐭𝐬𝐝; 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥.➤
➤𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞!➤

➤𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎➤

Rewritten once again 2-20-21