The girl reminded Regina of herself.

Sitting there alone by the water's edge.

Her face was blank, apparently she was long past the point of caring. It had probably happened to her before—this kind of exclusion. When enemies chatted happily and former friends no longer looked your way.

The girl undid her topknot and let a curtain of thick black hair shower over her slender shoulders. She dipped her fingers beneath the water and cast a glance back. Her gaze mostly falling on the boy with the scar and the energetic girl with the long bouncy braid.

They had meant something to her at one point, Regina speculated.

Regina watched the girl turn her back on them again and pretend to be preoccupied with her hair. She gnawed on her lower lip thinking about something. Maybe she was pondering whether or not it was worth staying. Maybe she was considering trying to start a conversation. Possibly both. Regina had speculated both.

She is a pretty girl, Regina decided, with her delicate sun-kissed skin and her golden eyes rimmed elegantly with expensive looking makeup. She let a dazzlingly blue flame lick at the tips of her perfectly manicured finger nails.

The girl looked over her shoulder again to see the energetic girl standing alone. She herself stood, striding rather boldly over to the other. And Regina worried for her.

Worried in the way that she had when she was in the girl's position that night at Granny's diner.

She hoped that the confrontation would go better for the raven haired girl than it had for her.

Regina couldn't make out any of their words, but she could clearly see the frustrated and angry gestures. It wasn't going well for the girl—her expression growing darker, more hopeless with each word her companion uttered.

Regina wanted to tear her gaze away. The girl's distress bring tight knots to her belly and unwanted memories back to the front of her mind.

The girl seemed to grow more irate, but before she could say or do anything else the entire group seemed to pounce her; a trail of water constricting her right arm, a box of rock incasing her left. The scarred boy had flames bursting from his hands ready to use and the boy with the arrow tattoo marshalled a ball of air.

Regina winced, half-tempted to step in.

She watched the girl relax just long enough for them to let her go and then storm back to her spot by the water, hands balled into fists.

Regina cringed, she shouldn't meddle. She should just return home through that portal she'd stumbled across in the forest. It was a mistake to have gone through it in the first place.

The girl aggressively picked a few of her belongings up off the ground and headed away from the party. She wiped furiously at her eyes.

She's crying, Regina realized. Small teardrops clung to those beautiful long lashes.

Regina bit at the inside of her lip.

She waited for the girl to pass her before reaching a hand out, setting it softly on the girl's shoulder. Reflexively, the girl showered Regina with a burst blue fire. The former queen reflected it. "I. I'm sorry." Regina apologized quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that…" she trailed off. "It's just that, I saw what happened. I've been there before."

"You weren't supposed to." The girl snarled. "See what happened, I mean."

Regina was never one to fall short of words, but for once, she didn't really know how to respond so she let a silence befall them. It only took that single heartbeat for the girl to shove past her. Regina should have just let her keep walking.

"I'm not here to make any judgements." Regina called. "I've done…questionable things too."

The girl came to a halt. "Don't assume you know what I've been through." She muttered.

Regina sighed, the girl was right. She had been projecting herself onto the girl. She ran a hand through her brunette hair. What a rude thing to do, she chided herself. She should have left it at that. There had been a lot of should have's that night. What did one more 'should have' matter? So she spoke again, "then tell me."

"Tell me what you've been through. What you're going through."

"If I wanted to talk, I'd go see my shrink."

Regina flinched. Perhaps she had assumed completely wrong. Maybe the girl didn't have a bad past other than growing mentally exhausted. "Wouldn't you prefer better company?" Regina offered. "Someone who wants to listen, free of charge." She paused and held out her hand, "My name is Regina Mills. Who are you?"

"You're not from around here are you?"

Regina cringed again, she'd taken special care to pick up some new clothes before wandering around. "What would make you say that?"

"There aren't many people who haven't heard of me. I'm Azula. Princess Azula."

Regina nodded. "I've met a few princesses in my days. I'm royalty myself."

"Right." Azula grumbled. "I haven't been quite right lately. But I'm no fool." The princess drummed her fingers against a tree. The same tree Regina had been hiding behind.

"This is going to sound crazy…"

"Crazier than yours truly." Azula motioned to herself.

Regina couldn't tell if the girl was amused or slowly losing her temper. She slapped her hand against her forehead, realizing that she should have chosen her words more carefully. "You were right. I'm not from around here. I'm from an entirely different world."

The princess raised an eyebrow.

"It's a world with magic and spellcasting. Well, technically that's another world all together. The one I live in now has…" she looked around, "technology, cars, phones…" she was rambling. Making a fool of herself. "You know what. I'm sorry I'm going to just…"

"A different world?" Azula mumbled to herself. She turned her attention back to Regina. "Like the Spirit World?"

"I suppose, something like that."

"Sounds better than here." Azula declared.

"What's wrong with here?" Regina asked.

"I thought you said you saw what happened? I…messed up. No one wants to be around me. I don't want to be around any of them."

"You were trying to make things right weren't you?"

The princess looked away, "how did you know?"

"I told you. I've been there. Party in all. I tried to bring lasagna, an ill-tempered dwarf had the nerve to accuse me of poising it."

"Did you poison the…"

"Lasagna." Regina filled in.

Azula nodded. "Did you poison it before?"

"Well it wasn't lasagna that I poisoned. It was an apple. Or two." Regina confessed. "But I didn't poison anything else."

The girl snickered. "Well there's a fascinating tale. Perhaps I'll share it with my brother and my dear ex-friends and they'll start talking to me again."

Once again Regina couldn't tell if the princess was being genuine or sarcastic.

"Oh! And then maybe my mother will finally realize that I'm not a monster and she'll..." the girl seemed to momentarily choke up.

Without thinking, Regina pulled her into a hug. "I never had the best relationship with my mother either dear. By the time we finally patched things up, I lost her." She brushed her hands over the girl's hair. "I'm sure you're mother doesn't think that. I have a son, I couldn't hate him for anything."

"You're a mother?" Azula asked softly.

"You want to come with me don't you?" Regina asked. "Don't you want to keep trying…"

Azula cut her off again. "I've been trying!" She shouted, "they don't and won't trust me." She kicked at the ground. "I'm tired of trying. I just want to leave. And if you have somewhere for me to go, even if it's the streets, I'd rather go."

Regina thought about just how badly she had wanted an escape. How Henry had been the only thing keeping her grounded. The girl didn't seem to have a Henry of her own. Regina continued to absently stroke the girl's silky hair. She pictured the princess as she was only moments ago; surrounded and out-numbered.

"Will you continue to talk to me?" Regina asked, "about the things that bother you?"

Azula shrugged. "You going to be a better mom than the one I had?"

Despite her better judgement, Regina answered with a breathy yes. This is kidnapping, she thought to herself. But is it really, if the girl was the one who made the suggestion? She took Azula's hand.

She'd make sure the girl felt loved and never lonely.

Regina would finally have a child of her own. One she didn't have to share.

She shot Azula a soft, hopeful smile and led her through the portal she'd entered through.

Just one more 'shouldn't have'.