Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Prologue

Once upon a time in the Enchanted Forest, Snow White and Prince Charming were about to face a curse, cast by the Evil Queen, that would trap the entire realm in a place where all their happy endings would be stolen. They were also about to have a baby. It was revealed that the baby Snow White carried would be the Savior, and on her 28th birthday, she would find them, break the queen's curse, and the Final Battle would begin. An enchanted tree would be fashioned into a wardrobe that could carry Snow White and Prince Charming safely to this new realm where they could raise their daughter to defeat the curse in 28 years' time while everyone else remained frozen, trapped in a prison of the Evil Queen's making. However, the wardrobe could only carry two, so only Snow White and Prince Charming would be spared from the curse.

After weeks of preparation, the enchanted wardrobe was almost completed. As the curse descended upon the realm Snow went into labor, and Emma was born into the world, the Savior. Word came down that the wardrobe was completed, but the happy new parents looked down at their daughter and realized not all of them could go through, someone would have to stay behind. As Snow White said goodbye to her Prince she was suddenly struck by pain, and not long thereafter she was holding a second daughter, with hair black as night.

Twins.

Snow White had had twins. Nobody had predicted this, they were not prepared for twins, they hadn't planned for this.

They decided to name their second daughter Hannah. With little time left to think, Snow White and Prince Charming decided to send both the twin girls through the wardrobe alone, trusting they would find them and break the curse, confident that as long as they had each other the girls were being given their best chance.

Prince Charming wrapped his daughter Emma up in a blanket that had been made for her, her name embroidered along one of the corners, while Snow White bundled up their second daughter, Hannah, in her favorite blanket, scrawling the baby's name onto a piece of parchment and pinning that to the tiny sleeping bundles blanket. Snow handed the tiny baby off to Charming and he raced off towards the wardrobe, both babies in hand.

Her wails could be heard throughout the castle grounds.

As Charming ran through the corridors, he could hear the sounds of the Evil Queen's black knights overtaking their castle and storming the halls, but he was so close, just one more corridor and he'd have the girls safely sent off through the wardrobe. There wasn't time to think or second guess the decision he and his wife had made, there wasn't time to do anything but run and protect the tiny helpless bundles in his arms, until his dying breath if need be.

It was as he rounded the corner into the last corridor that the black knights revealed themselves, cutting off his path to his twin daughters' only chance at escaping whatever horrible curse was going to befall them all, the only way to keep Emma safe so she could find them again and break the curse. And now that she had a sister, a perfect match, she would never be alone. He had to protect them, no matter the cost to himself. Getting them through that wardrobe was the only thing that mattered.

He drew his sword, shifting the weight of the two newborns to one arm, playing a dangerous balancing game as he was rushed by the first black knight. He deflected the blow easily, sending the knight sprawling to the floor, a quick glance down confirmed the girls were still fine, safe, when a 2nd knight rushed him and he had to duck out of the way, narrowly missing the blade, but a second swipe had him clipped on the shoulder right above the girls sleeping heads, blood staining his shirt from the injury.

Too close.

He took no pleasure in the swift precision with which he dispatched all three of the black knights, adrenaline pumping, the only thought to protect the two innocent babies he loved more than life itself he held in his arms.

Protect. Protect. Protect.

He ran into the room, what was supposed to be their nursery, and found the enchanted wardrobe completed. He looked down at Emma, his blonde-haired daughter, so much like him, destined to be the savior, laid a kiss on her forehead, and set her onto the floor of the wardrobe. He then looked down at his second daughter, Hannah. She had black hair just like his beloved wife, the perfect opposite of Emma's brightness. Her shadow, he thought to himself. They would be alright. So long as they had each other, the girls would be alright.

He bent down to kiss Hannah and say his final goodbye when blood from his wound fell on her head, right where her hairline began. He was going to wipe it away when a noise alerted him to more black knights descending upon him. He hastily put the baby in the wardrobe, blood still on her forehead and smeared into her hair, saying a silent goodbye before quickly shutting the wardrobe door, hoping the faeries were right and it would truly carry his daughters to safety.

He faced the coming onslaught with bravery, but all it took was one second, one brief moment and the Prince felt the blade of a black knight slide into him, sending him to the ground. He fell, facing the wardrobe, and watched as the knights busted the doors down only to find the wardrobe completely empty. It had worked, they had gotten away.

As the world around him faded to black, his blood spilling out on the floor of his daughter's nursery they would never grow up in, he thought of his twin girls. They would always find their way back to them, and maybe his daughters would get the chance he and his own twin brother never had. They were together, they were safe, and they would find each other again.

A smile was on the Prince's lips as blackness swept in and consumed him.

..............................................................................................................................

What the Prince and Princess didn't know, is that the realm they sent their beloved twins to was not a kind one, and the man who built the wardrobe had made the faeries lie – it wasn't two that could go through, but three. The man had sent his own son through the wardrobe first, to protect him from the curse and keep him safe. He hadn't known Snow White had gone into labor early or given birth to twins, he just wanted his son to be safe from the curse.

This eight-year-old boy now had two infant girls, stranded in a new land, with no idea where to go. The three children were taken into the U.S. foster system once they were found and given placements in new homes. The boy ran off not long after arriving at their first home, leaving the girls alone. They managed to stay together in a nice home until they were three, then the family sent the girls back. 

Emma and Hannah were a handful, the latter developing white-blonde streaks at the crown of her head, the former getting into anything she could. The girls were inseparable, but there were too many children and not enough homes, so the girls ended up getting separated - Emma staying in Boston and Hannah being sent to Oklahoma.

Emma remained stuck in the foster system, flitting from one home to another, never finding a family, never getting to settle down, and never staying for more than 6 months in any one place.

Hannah, on the other hand, was taken in by a woman who worked in the foster system in Oklahoma, who desperately wanted to have her own daughter but, due to fertility issues, was unlikely to be able to do so. The woman began the adoption process after only a few short weeks of having the girl with midnight hair and streaks of white that no doctor could explain. The woman demanded everyone treat Hannah as if she had been her own daughter - not a little girl she was fostering and only beginning to start to adopt - began doctoring photos to make it look like Hannah had always been hers, and started weaving the lie. She ended up divorcing her husband before the adoption process was complete but took advantage of an already bogged-down system and decided to erase the girl from the system entirely, stealing her away and quitting her job. Nobody found out, nobody noticed the missing girl with no name and no family to claim her.

She raised Hannah like her own, and the family around her went along with it, thinking the girl had been adopted and not wanting to question the woman. But the woman was unwell, deeply unwell, and the older the girl got, the more neglect and abuse she suffered.

At least, until she turned 17...