Home is where the heart is

Chapter 1: Welcome to Storybrooke, Daniella

Regina's head whipped around, the knocking on her door startling her. She frowned as the sound made it's way through her empty mansion and Regina was once again reminded that she was all alone. No one lived here except her, Henry's room was as empty as it had been before the curse that took them back here.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as the knocking started once again, this time louder than before. A frown made it's way onto her face once more and she mumbled a quiet 'I'm coming' with a roll of her eyes.
An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach once she made her way towards the door though, and Regina stopped for another moment. She wasn't expecting any visitors, so who would want to visit her? Except, of course, if the townspeople had already found out that there had been another curse and wanted someone to blame, preferably her.
Regina sighed and shook her head, trying to push these thoughts away from her mind. She had enough to worry about, and if she had to, she had her magic to defend herself.
So she started walking again, paused in front of the mirror in the hall, hoping that there wasn't any trace left of the little breakdown she had earlier. Finding none, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Can I help you?", she asked as she looked at the two woman standing in front of her. Well, one of the two was an adult, the other one looked like about sixteen. She had long brown hair, chocolate brown eyes (that reminded Regina of her own) that stared into space. The clothes that they both were wearing, told Regina that they weren't originally from Storybrooke. The younger girl wore a simple, satin red gown that complemented her complexion quite well. It had long sleeves and a boddice that followed the form of her body.
It would've looked beautiful on her, if it wasn't completely ruined and the bottom. Mud and grass decorated the underside of her dress, ruining the soft material it was made of. The other woman wore something similar, though much more elaborate, something she would've worn herself during her reign as the Evil Queen, though not in the awful shade of green.
Regina decided both of them were either quite highborn or had a lot of money, because of the materials the dresses were made of were quite expensive in their land. Her suspicions were conformed when the redhaided woman started talking, her British accent sounding strangely familiar.
"Yes, it appears we've been swept up by the second curse?", the woman asked, her voice showing confusion, though Regina wasn't sure that it was genuine. But she nodded, confirming that there had been a second curse, prompting the woman to continue.
"My name's Zelena", she said, reaching out a hand.
Regina looked at it for a moment, before deciding to accept the handshake.
"Regina." The woman's grip was firm, her hands cold, sending a shiver down Regina's spine. She kept her face neutral, but she felt that uneasy feeling intensify, the longer she held Zelena's hand. It was weird how a woman she'd just met could pull such a reaction from her.
After a few seconds she pulled away and Regina directed her gaze back towards the young girl standing beside Zelena. The redhead followed her gaze and Regina thought she saw her face lit up with a smile, one that pulled at the corner of her mind, like her brain was trying to tell her something. She pushed her feeling away though and directed her attention to the girl once more.
"Daniella", Zelena asked. Regina had to stop herself from gasping. The name had to be a coincidence. Her daughter wasn't the only one with a name such as the girl standing before her, right? But that didn't stop the strike of pain that went through her chest at hearing it after such a long time. She tried to keep the feeling and the memories at bay, as she had done for the past decade, and mostly succeeded. She couldn't keep herself from taking in a sharp breath though, and she ignored the looks she got from the two women.
Regina heard Zelena vagely say something in the ways of 'introduce yourself' and before she knew it, the girl, Daniella, was making her way towards her.
The younger girl was nervous, Regina noticed and she took a deep breath, trying to focus on the girl in front of her.
"Hello", Daniella said, her voice silent and Regina thought there were tears in her eyes. Concern washed over her, she couldn't help it, the instinct to protect the girl in front of her, becoming very hard to ignore, but she pushed it away. She didn't know why she felt this way about the girl. It was a foreign feeling, though familiar as well, like she had felt it before. Regina frowned momentarily, but pushed away the expression before Daniella could see.
Regina heard Daniella clear her throat and she returned her attention back to the girl, pushing her thoughts aside.
"Hello, my name is Daniella." Regina reached out to grab Daniella's hand as she returned the greeting. Daniella nodded and pulled her hand away, looking anywhere but her.