Disclamer: I do not own OUAT or Enchanted. If I did Regina wouldn't be in tears every episode!
A/N: Thank you to silentmuse24 who wrote out this amazing plot and I hope I do it justice. They are also on tumblr : talkswithherhands, check it out! Also thank you to my wonderful beta: FashionableRaid. This fic is a Once Upon A Time/Enchanted Mash-up. Reviews are welcome and HIGHLY encouraged! Enjoy!
Anxiety churned in Emma's stomach. The days came and went, bringing her closer and closer to the day in which she would be wed. An arranged marriage, for the sake of her people. Emma had a kind and caring heart, she would do almost anything to keep those in her parent's kingdom safe. She had agreed to the union only because she truly saw no other way. At first the princess had felt fine about the deal, but as the event drew closer, the reality of it ate at her from the inside out. Her whole life she had heard of true love and how it created such happiness, how it was practically magic. She thirsted for such a thing, ever since she had come to truly understand it. That picture-perfect happy ending that her parents spoke of so often. Every time her mother, Snow, spoke of her husband, she got that sparkling twinkle in her eye, that's what Emma wanted. But that no longer seemed to be in the cards...
The White Kingdom was on the edge of destruction and there had been nothing the King and Queen could do. That is until an offer came to them, an offer from The Dark One himself. The same man who was to blame for the kingdom's current predicament. The whole situation still struggled to make sense in Emma's mind. Had it not just been the other day when Rumplestiltskin and his son had lived in this very castle, alongside her? Her mother had simply told her that people change, but how could someone change so drastically in such a short amount of time? It wasn't until Emma had come face to face with the man, the day he appeared to propose a deal, that she saw the true extent of what had become of the man she once knew.
His once slightly tanned skin was now a strange glittering gold, more scaly than real skin. It wasn't just his physical appearance that had thrown the princess, no, his entire manner had changed. Long gone was the timid, kind man. Now stood a man, no, monster, with a flair for dramatics. His eerie, giddy laughter still rang through her mind. As Emma had watched him from her place in the throne room, she could practically see dark magic rolling off of him in waves. This man was not the Rumplestiltskin she knew, this was The Dark One.
Rumplestiltskin had not just changed; he had been devoured by darkness. But one thing had not changed, his love for his only son. Baelfire had always seemed shy to Emma. He had kept his distance and had always shied away from her when she went to talk to him. Little did she know that the boy had always been watching her, catching glimpses of her whenever he got the chance. Admiring her from afar for years.
It had caught her completely off guard when The Dark One had told them his price for peace: marriage. The union of "the dear princess" and his son. Emma's parents had, of course, refused the idea. No daughter of theirs would wed the son of a traitor. They would not sentence their child to such a fate. But Emma knew that the people of their kingdom would not last if this deal was not struck. Fires burned fields to the ground, ogres and other evils ran about, all because of The Dark One. He was bringing great harm to The White Kingdom and it broke Emma's heart. She would not stand by and allow her parents to hold her life above all those the subjects they ruled over.
"I'll do it!" She had shouted over her parents. And just like that, Emma had struck a deal with The Dark One. And, oh how she wished she had not...
It wasn't that Baelfire was as horrible as his father, quite the opposite, actually. Bae was much like Emma remembered him just older and with a dash more confidence. He wasn't cruel and being his wife would not be a horrid thing. But Emma wanted love, true love. That was not Baelfire.
It still puzzled Emma, why was it that what The Dark One wanted was his match? He could have demanded anything. Gold, land, jewels, anything this dark soul desired. But he had chosen that his son be wed to her. It wasn't like it was a merging of kingdoms, The Dark One was powerful, but he was no king. Emma could truly not see how her marrying Bae would benefit him.
She let out a sigh as she paced the length of her bedchamber. Nothing made sense! She shook her head, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that her kingdom survived, that her people survived.
Her parents had been furious with her for the first few days following the day of the deal. Their fury slowly turned to desperation, begging her to reconsider, that there had to be another way. But they all knew there wasn't.
Bae came around periodically to check in on them. It had helped calm her parents when they saw that he hadn't become a monster like his father. Now, just days away from the wedding, Snow seemed almost excited. Almost like she chose to ignore the fact that the groom was Rumplestiltskin's son. She had bombarded her daughter with wedding planning. It was all quite stressful for the blonde. The fact that she had yet to pick a dress was driving her mother insane. The Queen had this thing about wedding dresses. Ever since Emma was small, her mother avidly talked about the pure beauty of white gowns. She still had the one she had worn when she had wed the King. Snow had hinted, not so subtly, that she wished her daughter to wear it. Emma was not fond of that particular idea.
Even though this wedding was not ideal, it was still hers. She wanted the perfect gown and her mother's was simply not her style. She wanted something simple, and her mother just did not seem to understand that. Earlier that day they had been discussing dresses with the seamstress. Emma had clearly stated she wanted something simple that flowed well without an abundance of cloth. But, there her mother had been, talking about full bloom skirts and embellished corsets.
Snow just wanted her daughter to look stunning, but just couldn't see that her daughter had no love of over extravagance. In the queen's mind this wasn't just a wedding, it was almost like a send off. These last few days with the princess could very well be the last she ever saw of her for a very long time, if The Dark One had anything to say about it. So she threw all the wedding planning and preparations at her, a sad attempt at getting time with her child. She failed to see the stress she was causing Emma.
Emma threw herself onto her bed, irritated and exhausted. Just a few more days and it would all be over. The stress, as well as her freedom. She knew Baelfire wouldn't treat her poorly, quite the opposite in fact. He was always a gentleman during his visits, always respectful to her parents, even a bit apologetic. No, it wasn't Bae who would limit her freedom, it would be Rumplestiltskin. Emma had the awful feeling that the man had some evil scheme brewing but she just couldn't think of what it could be!
Turning so she could look up at the ceiling, Emma silently pleaded that there was another way to save her kingdom. A way to save her kingdom, but also a way to get her own happy ending. A way that allowed her to find true love. But Emma knew that being a princess meant having to make sacrifices for the good of the people, and so she would. It didn't end the yearning though, and with that thought, the world went black...