Chapter One: The Wedding

Regina sat on her bed, her excitement ready to boil over. Today was the day. Her day. Her happy ending. She had dreamed of this day ever since she was a little girl. She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest as she thought about Daniel. She squealed with delight and fell backwards on the bed landing softly. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face.

Leaping off the bed, feeling lighter than air, she made her way to the bathroom to start getting ready. She smiled at herself in the mirror, her brown hair falling just past her chin, slightly messy, her eyes bright and full of hope, she then looked down to her hand, the diamond on her finger sparkling in the light, she breathed in deeply, "Todays the day Regina!" she said to herself, "Today you finally get to marry Daniel!" She laughed to herself. She had never felt this happy before.

Tearing her eyes away from the ring she started to get ready, reaching for her toothbrush she began to brush her teeth. Humming to herself and dancing around the bathroom, as soon as she spit there came a knock at the door. Regina raced from the bathroom to the door and threw it open, her friend Kathryn was on the other side. They stared at each other for a moment and then broke into giddy screams of excitement. Jumping around the room together. Kathryn pulled Regina into a big hug, "I can't believe you're finally getting married! You and Daniel are going to be the cutest married couple ever!" They embraced one more time before smiling at one another and running off to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

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Emma Swan rolled over in her bed looking at the alarm clock that was ringing like crazy, 8:15am. She yawned and then reached over, hitting the alarm clock to silence it. She stumbled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, turning on the light and pausing to take in her reflection. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess, the impression of the sheet still on her cheek. She yawned again before leaning down and splashing cold water on her face to further wake herself. "And so it begins, another wedding to get through."

She was already running late so she opted out of straightening her hair, deciding instead to just tame the mass of curls. When she finished with her hair she moved on to her make up, quickly throwing on some eyeliner and mascara, to make her green eyes pop, and then some lip gloss to complete the look. The blonde than ran to her closet to find something to throw on, she settled for a pair of black dress pants and a white button up blouse. She looked herself over in the mirror and then laughed, she looked like a waiter, "eh what difference does it make?" Emma said out loud, "technically I'm the help anyway." She chuckled to herself and then made her way to her office. She strode over to her desk to grab her dslr and some lenses and carefully packed them into her camera bag. She glanced around the room one more time, "oh shit, I almost forgot." The blonde went back over to her desk and grabbed her other bag that contained her hard drive, laptop, and spare batteries. With both bags in hand Emma bolted out the door of her apartment.

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"Regina! Do hurry up dear! You don't want to be late to your own wedding! Imagine how that would look?! People would never stop talking about it!" Cora Mills yelled towards the room Regina was getting changed in.
"Oh honey, don't rush her, we'll be on time." Henry Mills, Regina's father, tried to assure his wife. She just turned to stare at him coldly.
"I don't believe I asked you, and fix your tie you look a mess!" The shrill woman yelled at him. Henry shrugged her off, she was always so bitter, and adjusted his tie.
"REGINA! RE—" Cora speech suddenly caught off, Henry waited for a second before turning around, hoping that perhaps his wife had choked on something or fell down dead of some unknown cause…no such luck…when he turned he saw Cora was very much alive but looked completely stunned, then he looked up and saw what had caused Cora to shut up. Before Cora, standing in the doorway was Regina in the most immaculate gown ever. Her dark brown hair intricately braided into a beautiful bun. A sparkling tiara sat upon her head. She looked absolutely stunning. Henry couldn't help the smile that spread upon his face, the love he felt for his daughter in that moment. He was so happy for her.

"Regina I wish you would add a necklace to this…something…you look so plain. The dress is nice, but itd be even better with some nice diamonds or something to accent it!" Cora would find something to complain about.
"Never mind that Regina, You look lovely!" Henry said as he beamed proudly at his daughter.
"No one asked you," Cora shot at him.
As soon as Cora had her back turned Henry made a face at her, Regina caught it and giggled at it. Cora caught this and looked between her daughter and her husband, both had stopped their joking as soon as they caught Cora's icy stare.
"Shall we go then?" Regina said as she lifted her dress and began to walk towards the door.
"Yes lets! We're going to be late enough!" Cora said as she followed her daughter out of the apartment and to the waiting car.

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Emma loaded both bags into the back of her yellow VW bug and slammed the trunk shut then got into the drivers side, slamming her key into the ignition and taking off as fast as she could. She flew down the side streets, taking every short cut she knew to make it to the church on time. Fifteen minutes later and she made it with five minutes to spare. Emma jumped out of the bug and grabbed her bags from the trunk and ran across the street to the church.

There were a lot of people outside mingling, Emma made her way through the crowd looking for someone familiar, specifically the woman who hired her but she was no where to be found. There were two men standing at the center of the crowd, Emma assumed one of them had to be the groom since everyone seemed to be walking up to him and shaking his hand or patting him on the back. Emma adjusted the bags she carried so one hung over each shoulder and she made her way towards the groom. She waited for a heavyset woman to finish hugging him, and congratulating him, before she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, I'm Emma Swan…I'm assuming your Daniel?" she questioned. The man in the tux looked confused, "yes, that's me…" Emma smiled and then continued, "Hi, its great to meet you, I'm here to photograph the wedding." Daniel laughed and then shook Emma's hand, "Ohh! Wonderful! Its great to meet you! So right…yeah…I'm Daniel and well this is my friend and best man Killian." Emma looked from Daniel to the man standing beside him, his dark hair styled perfectly, he quirked an eyebrow and smiled at her before extending his hand, "Killian, nice to meet you Emma." Emma took his hand and he gave it a quick squeeze and then brought up to his lips to kiss it, Emma raised her own eyebrow in question, "yeah…nice to meet you to," she said as she freed her hand from his grasp.

"Don't mind him," Daniel laughed, "He thinks he's smooth."
"Whoa, what do you mean think I'm smooth? I am smooth." Killian shot back, winking at Emma. Emma gave a half smile and then looked to Daniel awaiting instruction.
"Right, well I suppose you can go set up where ever you'd like to in the church. I think the first 2 rows on both sides are reserved for you so you can move around as much as you'd like."

"Perfect, thanks…and congratulations on today!" Emma smiled and then made her way into the church to set up.

The limo cruised down the street, Regina leaned her head against the window as she watched the buildings pass one right after another.

"How long have you been married?" Kathryn's question brought Regina back to reality. She looked at her parents who pondered Kathryn's question for a moment.

"Almost 40 years," Cora answered, her tone seemed rather annoyed. Kathryn didn't seem to notice, she just smiled to herself. Henry sat back in his seat, his vision going glassy. He seemed lost in thought, finally he spoke, "38 years we've been married. 38 Long years." Cora rolled her eyes at Henry as he spoke.
"If only I had killed him when I first thought of it, then I'd be free." Cora shot out coldly. Eying Henry. HE didn't falter a bit, he glanced up at Cora and just laughed, "I wish you would have, then I would be free to. Marriage…what a joke…I only wish that on the way to the church to marry her I would of yelled stop! And made a break for it! Only good thing that came from this marriage was Regina." Henry looked to his daughter who was seated to the right of him, her facial expression was unreadable but she appeared to be in deep thought. "Stop the car!" Regina yelled out. The limo came to a sudden halt, Cora and Kathryn both looked at Regina with shocked expressions; Regina looked at them both and then laughed. "Only joking!" Kathryn laughed; Cora just rolled her eyes and then yelled to the driver to step on it.

Five minutes later and the limo was pulling up to the front of the church. The crowd of guests in front of the church started to dissipate making their way into the building for the ceremony. Daniel and Killian remained outside. "Daniel! We're here!" Cora yelled as she made her way up the walkway to the church. "Lovely to see you Cora." Daniel said as he leaned in and kissed his soon to be mother-in-law on the cheek. "I thought for a second perhaps you weren't coming," Daniel admitted.
"Oh God No! After all the money I put into the ceremony!" Cora smirked, "Theres no way I was letting Regina out of this marriage." She winked and then made her way into the church. While that was meant as a joke it didn't exactly sit well with Daniel. He shrugged it off and made his way to the church with Killian.

The two of them stood in the front of the church before the alter. Daniel hoping from foot to foot, nervously glancing around the church, "She's coming…right? I mean she is coming? This is happening?" He looked to Killian for reassurance. Killian glanced at him, then at the crowd, then back to Daniel, "of course she is. Relax mate. You're about to be tied down to one woman for the rest of your life. Enjoy the last few minutes of freedom you have." Daniel smiled and let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I'm perfectly fine with being tied to one woman, thank you." Daniel said with a smile. "Suit yourself mate, but it wouldn't be right of me as your former wing man to not point out the absolute beauty that stands just feet from us." Daniel turned again to face Killian, watching as his eyes followed someone who was standing just behind Daniel. He turned to inspect who his friend was watching so closely, the blonde was leaning over her camera bag, changing lenses and attaching a flash to the top of her camera. Daniel then looked back to his friend who wiggled his eyebrows and smirked, "I'm so getting with that." Daniel just laughed at his friend. Then the organ started. He turned in time to see Regina as she entered the church.

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Regina stood outside the backdoor of the church with Kathryn and her father. "Are you ready sweetheart?" Henry asked her in a gentle voice.

"Yes daddy, I am." Regina smiled at her father. He leaned in and hugged her and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. He linked arms with her and they stepped towards the door. Kathryn leading the way, as they approached the door she gave a nod to the organist and the music began. Kathryn walked down the aisle, then came time for Regina. Henry squeezed his daughter's arm and they both looked at each other and shared a smile, then they took that first step down the aisle together. With each step Regina's heart began to pound louder and louder. She thought for sure everyone in the church could hear it. She watched Daniel up ahead; she was getting closer and closer. Her palms began to sweet. Daniel watched her as she approached, smiling sweetly at his soon to be wife. Regina tried to focus on her steps, one step at a time. Trying to steady her heart rate that was rapidly increasing, then a flash caught her eye. She turned in the direction it had come from only to find herself locking eyes with a stranger. Those beautiful green eyes locking on hers and everything else in the world seemed to stop. She looked intently at the owner of the eyes, her pales flawless skin, her blonde hair cascading down her back in gorgeous curls. Regina felt her chest growing warm as she continued to stare into the glass green eyes. Then her mind kicked back on, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She thought to herself and quickly jerked her head from the attractive girl back to the man she loved…the man she was marrying.

When Regina finally made it to Daniel he took her hand from Henry and kissed it. "You look beautiful Regina"
"thank you, you don't look so bad yourself," Regina and Daniel shared a smile and then turned to the priest.
The rest of the ceremony continued on and in just under half an hour Regina and Daniel were finally married.

The newlyweds proceeded out of the church, guests throwing rice in every direction; they finally made it into their limo where a bottle of champaign was waiting for them. Daniel popped it open and poured them each a glass. Handing one to Regina she took it without a word and downed it. Daniel quickly following suit.
"You've made me the happiest man in the world today Regina." Regina looked at him, tilting her head to the side she smiled and took in the man before her. He was the sweetest man she had ever known and he was always there for him. She was happy too. She was sure of it…at least that's what she told herself. The rest of the ride to the reception they sat in silence. Regina laid her head on Daniels shoulder as she thought back the moment she locked eyes with that stranger.

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The organ has just began as Emma finished attaching the flash to her camera, she quickly lifted the camera to her face and looked through the viewfinder, adjusting the focus ring to bring the bride into focus as she came down the aisle. As soon as Emma had adjusted the lens, and Regina came into focus, she was struck by how gorgeous she was. She was absolutely breathtaking. Emma snapped the shutter repeatedly, capturing every moment as the brunette walked down the aisle. She lowered the camera from her face, and looked the beautiful bride up and down. At that moment their eyes locked briefly and it was like all the air in the room had been sucked out. Everything got quiet. Emma was only aware of herself, and the woman who stood before her, eyes locked on her. The brunette looked away quickly and suddenly the air came rushing back into the room. Wow. Emma was having a hard time thinking straight, let alone getting the exposure setting right. Now is not the time to fuck up she thought to herself, she took a deep breath and went back to work. She's just a client, just a paycheck.

The rest of the ceremony went on without a hitch. Emma managed to capture every moment perfectly, from the presentation of the rings, to the first kiss as a married couple, to the exiting of the church and the rice being thrown by guests. As the guests made their way out of the church Emma packed up her equipment and slowly made her way for the door. Trying to give the wedding party enough time to leave the parking lot so she wasn't caught in the middle of all that traffic. When she got to her car she pulled her laptop and hard drive from her bag and uploaded the pictures she had just taken. As they loaded on the drive she couldn't help but think back to that gorgeous brunette. As the thumbnails popped up on her screen she smiled to herself at each shot, she had to admit she did a damn good job. Once the photos had finished uploading she packed her equipment back up and took off to the reception. This was the part of the job that she hated the most, everyone was mingling and she just creeped around snapping pictures. She always felt so out of place, but at least this time there was an open bar.

By the time Emma arrived at the reception all the guests were already out on the dance floor. She watched them all dancing and having a good time as she set her things down in a corner and started setting up her camera. As soon as her camera was ready she started snapping pictures left and right. Capturing all those "hallmark moments." She slowly made her way over to the bar, stopping to take pictures every few steps, she didn't want to miss a moment. Candids were always the best in her opinion. When she finally managed to make her way to the table holding the different punch bowls she noticed the bride standing over one, looking down into it. "Well that's odd," Emma thought to herself, she continued to walk over to her regardless of how odd the situation was. She tapped her on the shoulder, the brunette turned and gave her an odd look, "um..hi…we haven't met yet, I'm Emma. I'm doing your wedding photos." She extended her hand and the brunette took it, Emma couldn't help but notice how softer her hands were.
"Regina," the brunette replied. Emma nodded and then released her hand.
"Well its lovely to meet you, I just came over to grab something to drink." Emma tried to make her way for the punch bowl but Regina stepped in her way and shook her head.
"um…is something wrong? I'm here to help?" This made Regina laugh and then she eased up and stepped aside so that Emma could stand next to her and look into the punch bowl.
"Okay, well I came over to get some of this punch and my ring slipped off…"
"oh…well…wow. So your ring is in the punch bowl. Aright I assume you tried the ladle?" Emma questioned though she knew the answer by Regina's giggle and roll of the eyes. "Yes you tried the ladle, and we cant really dump it out, so theres really only one thing to do." Emma began to roll up her sleeve, and Regina's eyes grew wide, "you're not gonna do what I think youre gonna do are?" Emma gave Regina a quick glance and flashed a smile, "Oh yes I am! I'm going in! Cover me!" With that Emma moved behind Regina and plunged her arm into the punch bowl and began feeling around the bottom for the missing ring. Regina stood in front of Emma blocking her best she could with her petite frame. She couldn't contain her laughter, and neither could Emma. Just then a tall blonde man started making his way towards the punch bowl. Regina quickly stopped her giggling and intercepted him as he got closer, "Hi So glad you could make it Doctor Whale!" Regina said feigning interest in the man. Emma continued to feel around the punch bowl for the ring, listening to the conversation that was being had inches away.
"I see your dress is pure white Regina, but you married Daniel so for some reason I bet the only thing that's truly a virgin here is the olive oil" Whale joked as he grabbed a cup and tried to reach for the ladle of the punch. Regina forced out a laugh, "Good one Whale." Just then Emma found the ring and pulled it out of the punch, giving it a quick shake before slipping it back onto Regina's finger and popping up on the other side of the brunette.
"Hi!" Emma said as Whale eyed her suspiciously.
"um this is Emma…shes a photographer" Regina said trying to hide her amusement at the situation that was unfolding.
"Doctor Whale…but you can call me anything youd like" he said as he extended his hand to Emma. She took it, her hand sopping wet.
" I'm sure I will," Emma said as Whale grimaced at the wet handshake. Emma released his hand and then excused herself to get back to work.

Emma then made her way out onto the dance floor to get some close ups of the wedding guests dancing. Suddenly the fast past song that was playing cut out and a slow song replaced it, as she turned around she came face to face with Killian. "Oh, well, look at that…you and I…dance floor…slow song…what'd you say? Care for a dance?" Killian asked extending his hand to Emma.
"I really shouldn't, I'm working"
"oh come on! Live a little!"

Before Emma could even respond Killian was pulling her into him, his hands on her waist as they swayed to the music.
"Look how well we fit together"
Emma rolled her eyes and just continued to dance with him; she didn't feel like crushing his hopes right now. She'd finish this dance and then get on with her job. As Killian and Emma twirled around the dance floor they came side by side to Regina and Daniel. Emma glanced over at the newlyweds, her eyes lingering on Regina. She could feel the world around her fading out completely, it was like it was just her and Regina. She didn't know why she felt such a connection to her, but she was so drawn to her. Regina glanced up and locked eyes with Emma. They continued to look into one another's eyes as they moved around the dance floor; neither of their partners seemed to realize that the girls were worlds away. The music came to an end, and their gaze broke suddenly. Both quickly looking elsewhere. Emma grabbed her camera and captured the last few major events; toasts, bouquet toss, and then made her exit as quickly as possible.

She got home and went straight to her refrigerator grabbing a beer and some leftover pizza. She popped open the cold drink and chugged it, she sat down on the bar stool and put her head down on the cool counter. She rubbed her temples and decided to just go to bed.

As she lay in her bed she stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the day, thinking about Regina. She could not get her out of her mind.