Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon a Time, or it's characters. Trust me, if I did, we'd be seeing a lot more smooching ladies. I own only my creative mind.
All mistakes are also mine, though I do try my best to get rid of them.
It had taken only four weeks to get everything planned and send out all the invitations to the limited amount of people they were inviting. Emma and Regina had stayed up late many nights just talking about who they would invite and where the ceremony would be held. They had decided they didn't want anything big and fancy, both having issues with mass amounts of unwanted attention. Snow had been only slightly disappointed that she couldn't give her daughter the wedding she herself had always dreamt of having, that was, until she heard the guest list. It included; Red and her grandmother, the dwarves-as long as grumpy agreed to behave, Jiminy Cricket, August Emma's child hood friend and Graham. Regina had been so happy to find that Emma would be more than willing to invite Regina's best friend. He had been like a brother more often than not and had helped Regina through all of her toughest times, always staying by her side. For that, Emma would be forever grateful. Snow had been slightly unnerved to hear that the huntsman would be attending but Regina assured that that had been a case of heart manipulation. Not one of her more finer moments but the brunette had been desperate. She'd thought after that little stunt that Graham would never wish to speak to her again but he simply responded with a crushing hug and a kiss in the forehead before walking out of Regina's massive castle, leaving behind one stunned owner.
The day had finally arrived, the day two women would pledge their undying love for one another and become wives. Emma was pacing the spare bedroom she had been shoved into the second Regina had awoken at the crack of dawn claiming that they mustn't see each other. Everything she needed had been delivered to her later that day with a note saying 'I'll be the one in white...I love you. R.' That had gained a wide Cheshire grin from Emma.
James knocked on the door of the room he had been informed was housing his daughter before the ceremony. He knew Emma would be pacing her room because it was an unfortunate trait herself and her mother shared. When he received no answer from the knock he pushed the door open slightly. "I'm going to pray to the gods that your not naked and then I'm coming in this room. Okay?" Still, no answer. He took a deep breath before pushing the door open fully and making his way inside. He stopped, however, upon seeing the beautiful woman before him that was his daughter. She had chosen a simple dress, much to her mothers dismay. It had off the shoulder straps, creating a low, swooping neckline. The main body of the dress was reasonably loose fitting, flowing gently over Emma's curves and the bottom of the dress fanned out almost like a mermaids tail. The dress had a small amount of intricate detailing along the bottom- from Emma's calf height right down to where the dress finished- little flowers or petals all created with white thread, only a shade darker than the cotton of the dress. No one other than Emma and her dress maker had seen the finished dress until now and James felt so lucky to be the first to see it. "Emma...you look..." Words lost him. Emma was happy to lend a hand however.
"Horrible? Ugly? I knew it. I told that dress maker I said I do not want to look like a meringue and now I just look awful, don't I? " James walked over to his daughter after finally regaining his senses at Emma's words. He placed his hands on her upper arms and stroked down to her elbows and back up again, trying to soothe Emma.
"My beautiful girl. You need to calm down." He smiled at her softly. "You look incredible." Emma relaxed slightly at his words and gave him a small, nervous smile.
"Is Regina...I mean...does she still want to marry me?" She finally blurted out. James was taken aback by her words.
"Emma, what are you talking about? Of course she still wants to marry you! Look at you, who wouldn't?" He span his daughter around softly to look into the full length mirror at the side of the dressing table. "It's okay to be nervous. Truly. You and Regina are taking a massive step in your lives."
"But Regina's done all of this before. She's had the big white wedding and that's when she was marrying a king-"
"Yes. And a man she didn't love. An unwanted marriage with no love that she was forced into. She is choosing to marry you today because she loves you. Take it from me Emma; nothing else matters." He smiled softly at his daughters reflection and the blonde returned the smile. Emma span around as quickly as she could in her heels and wrapped her arms around her fathers neck, resting her chin on his shoulder and closing her eyes tightly.
"Thank you dad." James nearly welled up at the term of endearment but quickly blinked his eyes shut and lifted his arms to wrap around his daughters waist. He picked her up of the floor slightly and tightened his arms around her before putting Emma down carefully and smiling brightly at her.
"Now come. You have an alter to get to and a soon-to-be-wife to wait for." Emma grinned at him before taking one last look at her reflection and then taking her fathers offered arm.
To say Regina was nervous would be an insult. 'She was on the verge of bloody exploding' Graham thought to himself with a smirk and a shake of the head. As soon as Regina had woken up and kicked Emma out of their large room, she'd been overwhelmed by a surge of servants bringing her breakfast or bringing up buckets of water for her bath or asking her to sit still so that they could brush her hair. She'd actually snarled at that one. Graham had walked into her room during the thick of it all. She was having her very tight dress being yanked and pulled to extremes Graham thought shouldn't be possible, she was having her hair styled by about three maids all at the same time while two others worked on her make up. She had her eyes closed so tightly and was gritting her teeth so hard that she was clearly trying not to turn them all into a bunch of sniveling rats. Graham scoffed at the thought which apparently was the right thing to do. All of the maids then stopped what they were doing to look at him which in turn got Regina's attention. Waves of emotion rolled through her eyes as she looked at the reflection of the man she called her brother. "Girls, could you step outside for a few minutes please." They all looked between themselves then at Regina and then back to Graham before filing out of the room in a ridiculously ordered fashion. Graham winked at the last one to leave the room who turned a bright shade of red all over her face. He turned back to look at Regina who was now facing him and staring at him, trying to decide if he was really here. Graham, noticing this muttered a quite "I'm here."
They ran towards each other and wrapped their arms around one another so tightly it was like out of a film. "I missed you so much Graham." Regina mumbled into Graham's neck.
"I know you did sis'. I know. I'm here now. I'm here." Graham tangled his fingers in the hair at Regina's nape and rubbed soothing circles at the base of her back with the other hand. "I'm just sorry it's taken me this long. But I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world."
They stood just holding each other for a few more minutes before they pulled back and burst into a fit of laughter. "You look amazing by the way." He said after the laughter had died down.
"I'm not even ready yet!" Regina shrieked as she whacked his arm forcefully.
"Ooww! What was that for?!" Regina had ran back to the door and was ordering the maids back inside.
"You distracted me and my ladies before we could finish." She tried to hide the half smirk as Graham rubbed his arm with a pout.
"You mean they weren't finished trying to pull you in half?" That earned Graham a scowl from two or three of the maids.
"It's called a corset, it's meant to be tight."
"No Regina. There's tight and there's extremely tight and then there's that!" He finished his comment while pointing to Regina's waist. "If you turned to the side I'm pretty sure you'd turn invisible." More scowls. "Okay then, well I'll just sit here and wait." Regina nodded at him in the mirror before taking in a sharp breath as one of the maids tugged forcefully. Graham just shook his head.
About 20 minutes later and the maids were all admiring their work in Regina and Emma's full length mirror. They made their way out of the room again in their orderly fashion. The last maid couldn't even bring herself to make eye contact with Graham and he chuckled.
Regina had spent a long time arguing with the dress maker about what kind of dress she was going to have. Eventually the pair had agreed on white silk. It was a strapless dress that showed great amounts of her cleavage. The dress, as Graham had pointed out, was very tight which accentuated all of Regina's curves. Once the dress got to thigh level it got looser and eventually created a train at the bottom. The back of the dress was the most detailed. It was held together by fine silk threads and around the fastenings was very intricate lace detailing. The detailing went from the top of the back of the dress to just below where the fastenings finished and created an 0 shape around them. Regina's very high heels had the same detailed lacing along the sides. Her hair had been done in a very large messy bun at the top of her head which made her look even taller however her makeup was soft and natural. She looked every bit the opposite of the evil queen Graham had once come to know. In fact she looked so much like her younger self, the self Graham preferred to remember, it actually brought a tear to his eye.
The rest of the guests that Emma and Regina had invited had arrived to the castle a few days previous. Wanting to spend as much time with their friends, the king and queen, as possible. Graham had taken it upon himself to only arrive today. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been nervous about coming. He hadn't heard from or made any attempt at contact with Regina since the night he'd left her castle after having his heart controlled. But seeing Regina now, like this, made it all worth it.
"Graham, I want to ask you something."
"You can ask me anything Regina, you know that." Graham stood up and made his way over to Regina, standing just behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her deep chocolate eyes.
"Will you walk me down the aisle?" Regina had just blurted it out. She hadn't meant to and she hadn't wanted to. She'd wanted this to be special. Emma Swan your rubbing off on me! She thought to herself.
"It would be my honor." And he meant. He smiled at her sincerely and tried to express to her just how much that question had meant to him. Regina saw it, she could read it in his eyes. She'd always been so good at seeing straight through Graham and knowing exactly what he was thinking. She turned around and wrapped her arms around him. "Now let's get you married, shall we?" Regina nodded and took Graham's hand. This was it.
The location had been discussed, agreed, re-discussed, scrapped and changed so many times during those few weeks Charming had stopped keeping track. One day Emma had had what she described as an epiphany while lying in bed with Regina. She'd shot up and ran from the room in nothing but her undergarments claiming she needed to talk to her parents. Regina had just stared after her. Emma returned with a wide grin plastered on her smug face saying that the location was sorted and that it would be a surprise. Regina had spent the next days trying to worm the location out of everyone she came across, they all either gave her a smug look or an extremely confused expression.
Even now she had no idea where she was being led to in the back of a carriage with Graham by her side looking even more smug than Emma had done.
"I wish someone would just tell me where I'm getting married!" Regina huffed out. Graham's grin only grew. "You'll see soon enough." And at that exact second the location came into view. Regina almost burst into tears, instead a small sob escaped her throat at the view before her. The carriage came to a halt and Regina forgot all about regality as she rushed out and took in the sight before her properly. For the last few weeks Emma had been practicing her magic more than she did normally, and now Regina could see why. The blonde had created a small area, just large enough to house the limited amount of guests and give them ample room to move freely. It was a round area with intricately tiled flooring, columns that seemed to spin in place, and on top of the columns lay what looked like an invisible roof that simply shimmered. It let in the days blinding sunlight whilst keeping the guests covered. From one side of the structure there was a long walk way which led to an alter. All along the walk way was covered in rose petals which seemed to be perfectly placed. In front of the alter and to each side of the walk way there were two benches where the guests were sitting and waiting. Regina squinted against the sun and then she saw her. Emma. Her love. A wide smile bloomed across Regina's face. She was standing in front of the alter with her father at her side. Long blonde locks cascaded down Emma's neck and shoulders. She could not see her face and she couldn't yet make out Emma's dress. Yet it was more beautiful than anything the brunette could ever have hoped for.
Graham came tumbling out of the carriage and stood beside Regina. He took in her overwhelmed face and made a mental note to congratulate Emma on being the first to truly shock Regina like this. When he noticed Regina was still just standing there he chuckled softly and took Regina's hand, placing it into the crook of his bent arm. "Regina?" She looked at him. "Are you ready?" She blinked. She nodded. And then she started walking. Towards her love. Towards her Emma. Towards her future.
Emma was scrunching her hands together so tightly her father thought she might pull them out of their sockets. She was sweating and her hands were shaking. "Is it just me or is it really warm?" Emma mumbled to herself but her father caught it.
"It's just you dear." He chuckled softly when she turned sharply towards him and stuck her tongue out. And that's when she saw her. Making her way over to the beginning of the walk way with Graham by her side. The oxygen in Emma's lungs came out in a big whoosh as chocolate orbs locked onto bright green. "Oh my god..." Emma whispered to the breeze. James turned to look in the same direction. "She looks...I mean... Wow..." The last word again came out as a whisper and James chuckled at his daughters expression.
Regina nearly collapsed when Emma's eyes locked onto her own. Her knees went weak, the butterflies increased their pace in their mission to break through her stomach and her heart skipped about a thousand beats. She held onto Graham more tightly and he took the hint, using all of his arms strength to hold Regina up straight. She finally got to look at Emma properly then. Her face was in much the same type of makeup as her own, natural and light. And her dress, 'oh my god that dress' she thought to herself. It was so simple and yet so beautiful. It gently flowed over all of Emma's curves, which in itself sent a wave of something incredible to the pit of Regina's stomach. She noticed the intricate patterns at the bottom of the dress and thought that they were much like her own. Maybe that damned dress maker wasn't as bad as she first thought. The off the shoulder straps just made Regina want to run her finger tips all over Emma's collarbone and shoulders. She couldn't stop the breathtaking smile that crossed her lips when she noticed her loves expression as she moved closer and closer with each step she took. The rest of guests had stood but she barely noticed, it was just Emma. Her and Emma. That's all that mattered. Before she could even take a deep breath she was standing at Emma's side looking straight at her. She managed to shake her brain back into action and let go of Graham's arm before kissing him on the cheek, leaving a pink tinted lip mark in place of her lips. Graham winked at Emma before he moved to sit at the seat to the right of Regina. The rest of the guests, including James who took the seat to the left of Emma, sat back down also. Snow was standing behind the alter and was officiating the ceremony. She had well and truly broken down when Regina had asked her about it, exclaiming "nothing would make me happier!" between her sobs.
Snow cleared her throat and fought back the extreme urge to cry at the sight of her daughter and once step-mother looking at each other so lovingly. The two women looked towards Snow and smiled happily.
"Dearest friends and family. We welcome you here on this wonderful day to celebrate in the union of two beautiful women." Snow smiled brightly at both of them before continuing. "Emma." Snow looked towards her daughter. "If you would like to say your vows?"
Emma nodded and took a deep breath before looking back to the brunette who was looking at her with such tenderness.
"Regina Mills. What would I do without you?" A small smirk crossed over the brunettes lips. "There's so much that I want to say to you, so much that I fear I could never express to you. I think I'd run out of words before I was finished telling you how much you mean to me. I love you so incredibly much that when I'm apart from you, it physically hurts. That's why I'm making it my duty to never be apart from you again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I'm never going to stop fighting for you. People might think that we're different. People might look at us and think horrible things but you know what? I love you, and you love me." Emma quickly looked back to her father and smiled happily. "And nothing else matters." She said softly as she turned back to Regina. The brunette had tears flowing down her pristine pink-tinted cheeks and a wide bright smile that practically broke her face into two. Emma hummed softly at the sight.
Snow had to clear her throat twice more to stop the sea of tears from escaping her eyes. When she finally had herself under control she looked out into the guests and noticed that everyone else was doing similar things. Even grumpy looked emotional! Snow looked back to the woman she had once grown to love like a sister. "Regina. If you would like to now speak your vows?"
Regina nodded and tried to stop the onslaught of tears. When she realised it wasn't going to happen she gave up and spoke anyway.
"Emma Swan. You have been a pain in my backside from the moment I met you." She was rewarded with a Cheshire Cat grin and chuckles from the guests. "You fought for me when I didn't realise I wanted fighting for. I'm not an easy woman to love as most people know.." She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at the awkward coughs and "nooo of course not"s. Emma just laughed softly. "But you managed it. Whereas most people would have started taking down the walls brick by brick you charged head first and knocked them down in an instant. Working your way into my heart. You took over me piece by piece until I found it hard to breathe without you in my presence. I don't care about what anyone else thinks of us because your all. Your everything Emma. You have taken over me and I can't ever be without you. I love you." Everyone was crying. Emma was sobbing quietly, which in turn set Snow off. Charming had been rubbing furiously at the tears in his eyes, 'kings don't cry..'. Graham had never seen his best friend be so emotional and talk about someone like that and he had let a few tears slip past his almost un-destroyable barrier. Red had given up half way through Emma's vows and was crying freely into her grandmothers arm, who was choking back a sob herself. The dwarves had broken down with Snow and grumpy was sniveling. Everyone else was sniffing and wiping at the few falling tears. Regina looked around her, any other day and she would have burst into evil laughter at the sight of them all. But this was her wedding day and she was too emotional.
"Does someone have the rings?" Snow spoke desperately between her sobs, wanting nothing more than to run to her daughter and once-step-mother and crush them with an embrace. David stepped forward and gave the rings to his wife, trying to hide his tears. Snow passed Regina's ring to Emma and said "Emma, if you will repeat after me..."
Snow spoke the vows and Emma repeated them to Regina;
"I, Emma Swan, take you, Regina Mills, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live." As Emma spoke the last words she slipped the ring onto Regina's slim, long finger and smiled brightly at the gold band that looked so much like it belonged. She looked up to see Regina's breathtaking smile and nearly kissed her right then.
Snow passed Emma's ring over to Regina and said the same things, which Regina repeated;
"I, Regina Mills, take you, Emma Swan, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live." Again, as Regina spoke the last words she looked up to Emma and slid the ring onto her delicate finger. They smiled brightly at each other, there teary eyes filled with love. Snow cleared her throat.
"It gives me great, overwhelming pleasure, to announce you wife, and wife! You may now kiss the bride!" Snow was practically screaming with happiness as her role came to its end. The two women looked at each other before leaning in and pressing their lips together. Eyes fluttered closed at the sensation of lips gently brushing lips. They both poured their hearts into the kiss, trying to express to the other the great deal of happiness within. They pulled apart when oxygen became a necessity. They pressed their foreheads together and laughter bubbled up from each of their throats. They had almost forgotten about the world around them, the cheers, the clapping and the throwing of confetti. That was until a weight was thrown at both of them...a weight with arms. Strong arms. Snow wrapped herself around both of the women, weeping mercilessly onto both of them and mumbling utter gibberish. Both women laughed at Snow and pulled away from each other to look into each other's eyes properly. Their lives together were only going to get better.
Hey guys! Once again I would love to know what you guys think of my stuff. As I mentioned before, I'm currently working on a really long fanfic and would love to see some support for these one-shots to know what you guys think. The first chapter is written so if you wanna see it, please review! Thanks again for reading.