Just Trust Me

Prologue:

I am a diehard SwanQueen fan, Lana Parilla is perfect and I love her more than life. So naturally, I wrote a SQ for all the oncers out there. Won't be my last either, js :) I love love love Regina, and I love love love Emma and their dynamic. So this'll be a fun story I'm super excited!! If you don't watch once upon a time that's still cool, I think you'd be able to understand it anyway. If you do, and you're a SQ fan like me, then enjoy :) hope you all like it!! I worked hard and I'm proud!!!

***TRIGGER WARNING, MENTIONS OF SUICIDE***

Emma's POV:

The first time I saw her (the only time I ever got the pleasure of seeing her), I was sixteen.

I had spent my entire life locked away in a castle, under the protective eye of every guard my parents had available. I was never allowed outside the walls of the castle courtyard, I had no contact with outside people, I never met anyone new, I never saw a lake or a pond, I'd never seen a forest (save for the one that bordered the castle, but I could only see it from my bedroom window; I'd never actually been in it), I'd never seen a village or even a large group of people. I'd never had any relationships, had any friends, fell in love.

My parents were terrified; they lived their lives in fear constantly. Before I was born, on their wedding day so I'd been told, the Evil Queen stormed in, ruining the celebration and terrifying my poor parents. She vowed to find a way to ruin their lives; vowed to destroy them and everything they loved.

And everything they loved was, well, me.

They feared for my safety, they both were convinced that the second I was out of their sight, she'd try to kill me without a second glance. So, they kept me close, never let me wander astray, and 'kept me safe'. But my poor deluded parents, they didn't know that for my entire life, I was a prisoner. And the way I saw it, I would've been better off dead than captive. My life was not my own, and there were only two ways I could fix my own unfortunate situation; by taking my life back as my own, or by ending it.

So, when I was sixteen years old and a stranger to the world, I tucked myself neatly into the back of a cart that had been at the castle delivering flour. Strategically, I hid under empty sacks, for hours on end without moving or making a single sound.

By the time the cart had stopped, it was the next morning. I was cold, hungry, and stiff.

But I was free.

I waited until I heard the sound of the footsteps getting out of the cart and walking a safe distance away before I swiftly rolled out from under the sacks and jumped out of the cart. I assessed my surroundings, and realized it was about five in the morning, and I was in the middle of a village. I saw houses, horses and carts, Inn's and a few stands where it looked like people sold food. I was the happiest I'd ever been in my life.

Deciding that the Inn was my best bet, I pulled my cloak tighter around me and headed for the Inn. It wasn't very large, a humble little shack at best, but I couldn't have cared less. I was just relieved to finally, finally, get away from the castle my parents naively called home.

I opened the door and was immediately greeted by the sounds of roaring laughter and the heat of the fireplace. There were men sitting wound laughing and drinking coffee, while a young woman bustled around busily, obviously keeping the place in order. She couldn't have been more than twenty, but easily ran the Inn like it was instinct; something she was born doing.

I approached her when she walked over to the main counter. I had some gold coins in my pocket that I'd managed to steal from my Mother's quarters before I made my grand escape. I was planning on paying for a room, just for the night, and then going to the next town over in the morning. I didn't want to stay in one place too long and risk being found.