own no one but my own people
Based on the AMAZING manip by ReginaLocksleyy on twitter. I hope I did you justice
A light snow had fallen, sprinkling the forest floor with a blanket of white. Icy crystals hung from the trees, creating an orchestra of soft twinkling when the wind blew through them.
The few that had gathered were bathed in pale moonlight and in soft firelight from the torches places every few feet while the stars shone high in the heavens above.
Chairs had been carved out of fallen trees from the forest for their guests, not that there had been all that many. The band of Merry men who had welcomed the two of them with open arms, the small boy who still quite didn't comprehend that the man who looked like his father actually wasn't, and a few of her friends who had not only accepted the Queen's presence but had become friends with the woman who had cursed them years prior.
He asked if she wanted to invite anyone from Storybrooke, more importantly the person he knew she missed more than anyone else, but she declined his offer.
"Those are her friends, her family… That's her life. Not mine," she had told him. "I want to start our adventure fresh."
The brisk night air shimmered with the magic that surrounded them, keeping them all from freezing as they waited on her arrival.
The good friar stood at the head of the aisle, a blindingly white carpet littered with soft red rose petals while Robin of Locksley stood to the right of him. He was dressed as elegantly as a man of the forest could dress; a woolen cloak dyed white, white billowing silk sleeves, a simple dark green leather tunic with brown leather trousers and doeskin boots that laced up to the knee.
There was no music apart from the wind, there was no grandeur, there was no pompous circumstances… Her requests had surprised Robin when she first told him.
Her first wedding had been every bit the royal event her mother had wanted. An unflattering dress she hated, hundreds of people she didn't know while long standing traditions and noble elegance dictated every single step she took that day.
She didn't want that. She wanted something that was hers and hers alone. Not even what she had wanted when she was 'Regina.'
Robin took a deep breath as the crowd stood as the man in the back motioned them to rise. He kept his blue eyes locked on where she would come around the corner of the dense trees on either side and enter the clearing.
Then, suddenly, there she was. Stunning and breathtaking and graceful and almost hauntingly radiant and a thousand other words that men's tongue had yet to utter, for sheer beauty such as this had never been seen by the likes of man before, so were the words that could possibly describe her.
Her dark brown hair almost appeared black in the moon and torch light hung down low with a slight curl and she wore a crystal crown atop her brow that matched her earrings, the only jewelry she wore. Her dress was a deep velvet crimson, a corset and bell skirt that made her appear almost floating above the sharp contrast of the white of the snow.
The bottom half of the dress appeared as if the crystals of the snow had wound its way up her skirt in a brilliant wine color that sparkled in the pale light the same as the snow on the ground did. The crystal branches poked up along the bodice of the corset which slanted downwards at the top of her breasts as well with two simple thin straps to hold it in place with a belt the same deep red color cinching at her midsection.
She had forgone a veil, instead choosing a scarlet wrap that draped along her bare arms that blew in the soft wind.
The fire from the torches reflected the brilliant color of the dress, making a melody of different shades of red dance behind her in the show and the trees were bathed in the crimson color.
In her hands she held a bouquet of red roses wrapped in white, and as she made her way slowly down the aisle, Robin could scarcely breathe. She was so beautiful. So enchanting.
She was, truly, stunning. In every way.
The Queen made her way to her Thief, a smile on her lips that shined even brighter than the torches around them.
"Hi," Regina breathed to the man who had stolen her heart, once before and now again.
"Hi," he answered, taking her bouquet from her and handing it the large curly haired man standing beside him before grabbing his hands.
"You're stunning, M'lady," said Robin as he stared into the deep brown of her eyes while she stared into the soft blue of his, neither one of them paying attention to anything going on around them apart from the person in front of them.
The words that Tuck was saying didn't matter. The words about everlasting love and hope didn't matter. Because they both knew words couldn't describe what these two people felt, who had found one another by tragic circumstances and broken hearts and anger and bitterness for what the world had forced upon them.
But now, here, in the middle of the forest under the stars while the snow fell lightly on them, their past didn't matter. Their old loves didn't matter. Nothing mattered; except the two of them.
When it came time for the vows Robin went first, speaking loudly for the whole clearing to hear, wanting to shout his love for this woman from the rooftops.
"By rights, you and I should not be together," the thief began. "We never should have met, we never should have existed, the two of us. But fate had different plans in store. Fate wanted us together, fate wanted me to find you, fate wanted you to find me. Fate wanted us to fall in love. And I vow to you, Regina Mills, that I will spend every waking moment I have left on this earth proving to you that you deserve the happiness you've waited far too long for. The happiness that fate is finally allowing you to have."
He reached out and lightly brushed the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.
Her breath shuddered, as evidenced by the cloud of white that blew past her lips. When she had finally regained her computer she spoke. Unlike her thief's, Regina's voice was soft and audible only to the man standing in front of her. As if the proclamation of love was for him and his ears only.
"Before you, I thought my chance for happiness had disappeared. I had lost so many people, I destroyed so many lives, I took away so many happy endings and I thought what right did I have to my own? And then I met you. And you didn't judge me, you didn't try to change me, you didn't do anything but show me that I could have a second chance at love. So I pledge to stand by your side, to share everything with you, my heart, my mind, my body, my… my soul. Because you are my soulmate, Robin of Locksley. And I love you."
By now the tears that had only been only slow trickles were falling even faster. Even Robin had trouble swallowing the sudden lump in his throat.
Tuck cleared his throat, the emotion of the lovers words choking him up as well, before he looked down at the leather bound book and read the words he had once read to the man's twin and mother of his son and the words he thought for sure he would be reading again to his old friend.
"Do you," the man read as the two of them looked deep into one another's eyes. "Robin of Locksley, take unto thyself as husband to the fair Queen of Misthaven Regina Victoria Mills and pledge unto her before God and these witnesses to be her protector, defender and sure resort, to honor and sustain her, in sickness and in health, in fair and in foul, with all thy worldly powers, to cherish and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?"
"I will," Robin vowed as he took the ring from the satin pillow Roland had carried and slid it onto her waiting finger.
"Do you, fair Queen of Misthaven Regina Victoria Mills, take unto thyself the Noble Robin of Locksley to be thy rightful Wife and pledge unto him before God and these witnesses to honor and cherish him, to cleave unto him, in sickness and in health, in fair and in foul, be his one true and lasting counselor and solace, and forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?"
"I will." Her hand shook as she took the slightly larger ring from the pillow and repeated the action he had done to her.
"Then, By the Power Vested in me by this Realm, I now pronounce you husband, and wife. King, and Queen, of Misthaven. You may kiss your bride."
Regina wasted no time in throwing her arms around him and kissing him long and hard. He wrapped his arms around his Queen, dipping her low as he kissed her, putting as much love and hope into it as he possibly could while the cheers and applauses of their friends rang all around them in the winter wonderland they had chosen to say their vows.
He steadied her on her feet, both of them with beaming grins illuminating their faces with sheer joy and radiance.
"Ready for that new adventure, M'lady?" he asked her once more.
She replied with another grin as she took hold of his calloused hand while the snow fell heavier and the winds whipped around them, as if nature itself was celebrating the two lovers.
"Always."
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