Happily Ever After
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from OUATW, but I do own any OC characters that may or may not appear throughout the course of this story. Please read the author's note at the end; it is very important! I hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter 1
Will wakes up just past sunrise and looks around his bedroom. After defeating Jafar, Wonderland is returning to a place of well, wonder. Alice and Cyrus are happily married and living in England. Taj and Rafi, Cyrus' brothers, are living in England as well. As for Knave, he is living in one of the extra bedrooms in Anastasia's castle. Did Ana and Will get married yet? Sadly, no, they haven't. After being brought back with water from the Well of Wonders Anastasia and Will decided to take their relationship slow. They've been dating again for about three months now. Will does have quite the surprise for Ana, though. He grabs a quill and a piece of parchment before writing his beautiful girlfriend a note, taking extra time to make his handwriting nice and neat. Once Will writes his message in calligraphy, he rolls it up and heads for Ana's bedroom. Knave stands outside the door for a moment before quietly pushing the door open. Quietly, he walks to her bedside and places the note on the left side of the bed. Anastasia subconsciously turns over in her sleep, and Will can't help but think that she looks so peaceful while she dreams.
"I love you, Will," she says in her sleep, a smile crossing over her lips.
"I love you too, Ana," Will whispers in her ear with a smile of his own.
Now that his note is planted, Will begins his descent down the spiral staircase of the castle.
After Will gets to the bottom floor he heads for the stables. Entering the stable, he grabs his saddle off of its hook and begins unlocking his horse's stall. The dark brown stallion whinnies as Will approaches him. Knave holds out a sugar cube, which the stallion eats while Will places the saddle on its back. Soon, both of them are ready to go. Will places his feet in the stirrups and kicks his heels against the stallion's flank. The two of them race towards the river, jumping over fallen logs and small ravines to get there. Will slows his trusty steed to a halt as he nears the river's edge. He dismounts before tying his horse to a tree at the shallow of the river. Cool water rushes over Will's boots as he looks around for someone. The water calms him, letting him connect with nature. He feels….
"You're late," Rabbit angrily says as he closes his pocket watch, thus interrupting Will's thoughts.
"To you, everybody's late," Will replies as he walks towards the rabbit.
"Fair point. However, you are one millisecond late, Knave," White Rabbit returns, looking at him in scorn.
"Oh, no! How in the bloody world am I going to right my wrong?" Will sarcastically remarks.
"Knave, I know that you may be just a common thief," Rabbit starts before Knave cuts him off.
"I'm no thief, not anymore. Besides, I'm the realm's protector and the greatest dragon fighter that ever lived. So what if I'm a bloody millisecond late?" Will retorts, his temper starting to flare up.
"You didn't let me finish, Knave. You're trying to impress royalty with this picnic, so timing is everything," Rabbit comments.
"Anastasia loves me no matter what. She always has, always will. That being said, Rabbit, she will enjoy the simplicity of this picnic," Will informs.
"I've been her advisor ever since you went off to live in this 'Storybrooke.' I know what she likes," Rabbit argues as Knave starts to set up for his picnic with Anastasia.
"Yeah? Well, then what does she like to do before falling asleep at night?" the ex-thief questions.
"She fluffs the pillows around her," Rabbit answers.
"Wrong! Anastasia likes naming the stars to fall asleep at night. Each time she names one star Will, and I name all of the others Anastasia," Will tells him.
"The Red Queen never names the stars," the rabbit scoffs.
"The Red Queen might not, but Anastasia does. She names the North Star after me. I name the brightest and most beautiful after her. We did that every night in Sherwood, Wonderland too, for that matter. It always makes Anastasia fall asleep content," Will returns, reminiscing in old memories.
"You know more about her than I give you credit for, Knave," Rabbit finally says.
"Told ya I did. Now, do you have what I asked for?" Knave questions.
Rabbit's response comes in the form of him tossing a small black box towards Will. Will hurriedly reaches out and grabs the box with his hands, checking to see if the White Rabbit damaged what is inside.
"Be careful, Rabbit! This belonged to my mother," Will cautions, sounding way more defensive than he had hoped.
"I don't see why it is so important to you. It's just a r…" Rabbit trails off before Will covers his mouth with a hand as the sound of horse hooves reaches both of their ears.
"She's here. Make yourself scarce, Rabbit. It's not too late for me to make rabbit stew out of ya," Will cautions, alluding to the joke he made when the Rabbit had betrayed Alice two times too many.
Anastasia dismounts her solid white horse, looking around for any signs of Will. She received his note he left her upon awaking and quickly got dressed per Will's instructions. Now all that remains is to find where her silly boyfriend is hiding.
"Will, where are you, darling? I'm here," Anastasia calls, still looking around for any sign of him.
"Ana, you're early," Will says suddenly, stepping out of the woods in the process.
He places a kiss on her lips before grabbing her hand. Will leads her through the woods, causing Anastasia to wonder exactly why Will called her out here this early in the morning.
"Where are we going, Will?" she asks him as they continue going through the woods.
"Now, if I told ya it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? Close your eyes, luv. We're almost there," Will tells her with a smile.
She obeys her boyfriend, letting him lead her through the forest for a little while longer. Will suddenly stops and comes up beside Ana. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze before whispering "Open your eyes now, luv," in her ear. Anastasia opens her blue eyes and lets out a happy squeal. Sitting in front of her is a picnic blanket with throw pillows and a basket full of delicious looking food, and even a bottle of champagne.
"Everything looks beautiful, Will. What's the occasion?" Anastasia smiles at him as they walk over to the blanket.
"Do I need an occasion to show how much I love ya?" Will teases before handing her a glass of champagne.
She takes the glass from Will before smiling at him. Anastasia knows that Will loves her, but this secret picnic is something she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams.
"I love you," is all Ana can get out, for she is too caught up in thinking of how much hard work it must have taken Will to set all of this up by himself.
"I love you, too," Will agrees before placing a kiss on her hand, similar to what he did when they were teenagers in the Enchanted Forest.
They clink their champagne glasses together before beginning the picnic, which Anastasia loves.
They sit facing each other the whole time, which normally, Will loves to no bounds. Today, however, is different for the Knave of Hearts.
"I just need her to turn around for a second. That's all it will take," Will thinks to himself, still trying to determine a way to get Anastasia's attention off of him.
An idea suddenly dawns on him.
"Ana, what's that behind you by the lake?" Will suddenly asks, starting phase one of his plan.
Anastasia turns around and looks behind her, hoping to see whatever it is that Will is talking about. Instead, she finds nothing and decides to turn back around.
"I don't see any-"Anastasia begins before looking at the scene in front of her.
Will is down on one knee, a goofy smile on his face and a gold ring with a small emerald on it in his hand.
"Anastasia Tremaine," is all Will can get out before Ana throws herself in his arms, a huge smile on her face.
"Yes!" she happily shouts, wrapping Will in a hug and pressing a kiss to the side of his cheek.
"What?" Will questions, partly out of surprise and partly out of amazement.
He hadn't expected her to say 'yes' so quickly.
"Yes, yes, I will!" Ana tells him with a huge smile.
"No, but I had a whole speech. It was charming and had-" Will starts before Anastasia cuts him off by kissing his lips.
He returns the kiss, holding her chin in his hand as he kisses her lips passionately.
"I never even had a chance to give you…this. I believe I was about to ask you a question," Knave laughs, returning to his position on one knee.
"I said yes so quickly, I didn't let you make your speech. Go ahead, get it out. I'm sure you worked hard on it, darling," Ana smiles at him, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Anastasia Tremaine, when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I realized a long time ago that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I've always loved you, always will, and I want to make our love permanent. So, Anastasia, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" Will asks his girlfriend with a huge and adorable, but goofy, smile on his face.
"Yes. And yes again and again, forever," Anastasia answers before Will slips the ring on her left hand.
He then proceeds to kiss her lips again, feeling happier than he has ever felt in his entire life. She kisses him back, enjoying every last second that their lips are pressed together. When they absolutely have to pull apart to breathe, they do.
"This ring is beautiful, Will. Where did you ever find it?" Anastasia questions as she look down at the ring in amazement.
"It was the engagement ring that my father gave my mother. Before she died she gave me her engagement ring and both of their wedding rings. She told me to give them to the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, which she knew was you. I hope you don't mind," Will explains.
Both of Will's parents died before he was seventeen, his father in the war against Prince John, and his mother to a horrible plague that swept through the Enchanted Forest.
"I could not hope for a better gift. I'm sure your mother and father would be very proud of you, Will," Anastasia tells him while running her fingers over his knuckles.
"And they would have loved to have you as a daughter-in-law," Will assures with a small smile.
Many hours after sunset, the two lovers return home to the castle from a long day of horseback riding and just wandering through the woods, enjoying being with each other.
"There you are, Your Majesty. We were beginning to worry; we haven't been able to find you all day," Tweedledum breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing his mistress safe and sound.
"How many times must I ask you to call me Anastasia?" she replies as she lets go of Will's hand when they reach the main hallway.
"At least one more time. Are you all right? You don't look like yourself," Tweedle asks out of concern for the queen of Wonderland.
"I think we should tell him, Ana," Will smirks, knowing that someone would find out sooner or later.
"Tell me what?" the Tweedle questions in confusion.
"Will proposed to me today," Ana smiles as she shows her loyal servant the ring.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. I wish both of you the best," he responds.
With that, Tweedledum makes his exit, leaving Will and Anastasia alone in the hallway. Anastasia grabs Will's hand again and the two of them walk upstairs to head for their respective bedrooms. Upon reaching the door of Anastasia's bedroom, Will releases his grip on her right hand and places a kiss on her left hand.
"Goodnight, Anastasia. Sweet dreams, my love," Will whispers before Anastasia kisses his cheek.
"Goodnight, Will," Ana returns before opening her bedroom door.
She carefully shuts the door behind her as Will walks towards his bedroom and lets out a contented sigh. Her happily ever after is finally just around the corner.
Author's Note: Well, that's Chapter 1, my dear readers! I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review with what you thought, those are always greatly appreciated. I want to also point out that I am accepting prompts for this story's chapters. Now, there are obviously going to be some chapters that I make up myself that aren't based on prompts, but for the most part, they will be chosen by you. Now, I am going to do these in a chronological order, meaning, don't be upset if yours isn't done in the order that you submitted it. I am going to try to make it a whole story, so if you say, suggest a Scarlet Family Christmas complete with Will and Ana's child/children, that will have to take place after the chapter where their child/children are born. (Not that those two ideas are not both amazing, I would love to do both of them. :) Also, I want to say please keep your prompts at a K+ rating! We want this to be clean fluff between Will and Anastasia. You can suggest more than one prompt, just not all at once. Wait until the next chapter to submit your second prompt, etc. (Meaning each reviewer please only post one prompt per chapter, if you would be so kind.)
I also want to point out that the first part of Will's speech was taken from "When Harry Met Sally." I, personally, have never seen the movie, but I found the quote on one of the cards in my sister's game of "Apples to Apples" and knew I wanted to use it in this story.
P.S.: If my Christmas Vacation guest from A Scarlet Christmas is reading this, I would love it if you left a review and a prompt. (Just let me know it's you first.) Your reviews are always inspiring, along with everyone else who reviews my stories. You guys are amazing, and I hope to hear from a lot of my fantastic readers! Until Chapter 2, my amazing supporters!