This is my take on Clockwork Princess and I'm still unsure if I should do the whole thing, but if people like this first chapter then I will make this whole shabang several chapters long. I WILL GO ALL OUT AND DO THE WHOLE THANG! PLEASE REVIEW! EVERY REVIEW IS EXTREMELY APPRECIATED!

Chapter One: Asphyxiating Apprehension

Somewhere far off, the sound of ticking could be heard, reverberating at a gyrating speed. As the bolts and bucks clicked and clacked louder and louder-cresting over a crescendo-they locked in place like puzzle pieces finally fitted together after so much searching, circling around and around countless times. The machinery had been stoppered; it seemed to cease to function-like everything was off the plan; wrong.

But no, they were wrong. Now, the bolts were stopped, and everything, after what seemed like eternity, would fall into place.

Everything.

"Do hold still, Miss Tessa. The next one might be a real huffer." Sophie's country lilt slipped in her frustration with tightening the corset strings of Tessa's new wedding dress.

"Oh!" Tessa cried loudly, holding onto the mahogany bed headboard as if for dear life.

"I'm sorry, Tessa. I shouldn't have told you before I'd pulled that one. Anticipation is the worst part after all." said Sophie, looking at Tessa apologetically.

"I'm not sure if it is. Not with this one." Tessa breathed in deeply. She felt as if her lungs actually contained less air with the corset restraining her rib cage. Nowadays, she often felt that her rib cage was like a real cage, keeping her over-whelmed heart from bursting. And the corsets and cumbersome wedding dresses were not helping. "Alright, slip it on, Sophie."

Sophie cheerily brought over the wedding dress: a massive, garish, and-dear God-frilly dress. She held the wide crinoline and voluminous bustle over Tessa's head and pulled it down, encompassing Tessa in a sea of creamy, rose-dotted, pearl-beaded wedding gown. Tessa lifted up her skirts, and walked over to the long mirror. Of all the dresses to choose, Jessamine had managed to convince her to pick the one with the most frills. Doing it for the "frill", it would seem, Tessa thought.

Sophie looked in the mirror from behind Tessa, beaming. "Oh, it's lovely Tessa!" She clasped her pale servant's hands together in glee. "Would you like to try on the veil that goes with it now?" Tessa drearily looked over at the vanity table where, in lake of white tulle, sat an equally tawdry headband, complete with a fake white goose on top.

"I'm not sure that this dress is the 'one', Sophie." said Tessa, turning an apologetic smile at her. The truth was, besides the fact of the dresses being terribly too garish, they were much too expensive, and Tessa couldn't bare the thought of making Charlotte pay such an in exorbitant amount on her. But she knew if she'd brought this up to Charlotte she would just say it was worth it for her and Jem's wedding. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to return it actually, in exchange for one," she held up the skirts by the innumerable frills, "Less goose-like."

Sophie cocked her head to the side, reexamining the wedding dress. "It does seem a little gaudy and fowl-related," She giggled. "Jessamine did seem more keen on getting this one than you did." Tessa thought of Jessamine, how she secretly married Nate, betrayed the whole Institute, attempted to get Tessa framed for stealing the Book of the White, and was sent to the City of Bones. Charlotte had defended Jessamine in front of the Clave, though she had completely and utterly betrayed her. Charlotte was so forgiving, had so much tolerance, Tessa thought, especially after handling Will for so many years.

Will, Tessa thought, staring at her huge dress in the mirror. Right after the engagement was announced, he had taken to spending most of his time in his room. Almost like he was avoiding her again. But yesterday, he seemed to want to spend as much time out of his room as possible. Strange, Tessa thought, but it was Will after all. Like a flickering flame that for a long time, was blown by an unknown wind. Jem was less sporadic. Always her rock, on which she could hold on to, though the storm, raged all around.

"I could ask Mrs. Branwell to take you to the stores again, Miss." said Sophie.

Tessa turned around to face Sophie. "That would be wonderful, Sophie." She looked down at herself. "I am simply just not feeling this one." Sophie walked out of her chamber, leaving Tessa to stare at herself in a huge the most kitschy, almost tasteless, wedding gown she'd ever seen. In the mirror, she saw the fake white goose headband once again. On a whim, she grabbed it off the vanity table and stuck it on her head. The goose's beady eyes seemed to stare down at Tessa, angled at a jaunt on her head.

Despite the situation, she whispered to herself, "I do think this wedding dress would infuriate Will," and she laughed.