Chapter 1: The Runaway Bride
The Enchanted Forest, Once upon a time…
It was starting to get dark. The last rays of golden light were setting above the tree line.
At that point it felt as if she has been running for an eternity. She could feel the sting of sweat and dirt above her brow. Little beads of perspiration continued to run down her neck. Despite her exhaustion, every fiber of her being had never felt more alter and present.
She was so far away, yet could not feel safe; especially not in the now darkening forest. Amongst the towering oaks, she felt remarkably small. At the very least the underbrush had finally begun to diminish in density.
She must have run for at least three miles after separating from her steed. The horse would continue making tracks along the river while she dove into the dark thorny undergrowth, kept running, and never looked back.
At the base of a maple, she finally let herself stop and rest. Her lungs were burning and her chest was heaving. Every hair stood alert along her backside; but even in this total isolation she could not feel secure.
Still panting, she looked down to survey the damage. The low lying branches had shredded the hem and most of the body of her dress. The left white sleeve had split at her shoulder from when she pulled herself up a rather large boulder. A once beautiful ivory wedding gown was now covered in dirt and completely disheveled.
There was a small stream near the base of the tree; she leaned down to grab fistfuls of water before unceremoniously dunking her head straight down. Ladylike behavior be damned, committing a social faux pas was the least of her worries now.
She looked up and saw that the sun was almost completely gone, twilight was upon her. The sound of the stream helped to soothe her and the feel of the running water over her filthy hands helped her to feel more grounded.
But nothing about this situation seemed real. One minute she was about to get married and become the most powerful woman in the kingdom, but then… She still could not grasp the totality of what happened.
Chaotic memories of the day whirled through her mind as she caught sight of her reflection in the water. Two horrified brown eyes stared back. Her once carefully painted makeup had run and was now thoroughly smudged. She dashed a hand into the water to distill the ugly image in front of her and then proceeded to wipe the remaining cosmetics off of her face. She felt like she was on the verge of a psychotic break.
"Damnit, keep it together!"
She was so frustrated at this point, but voicing such feelings did nothing but startle her after hours of silence. At this point, she really was one huge mess.
Sitting down, back against the tree, she was still breathing heavy but let herself relax against the soft mossy ground.
"What have I done?"
In the morning she woke up with painfully dry eyes, after having cried herself to sleep the night before. Today was the day that she was going to get married, she was going to become the queen, and her mother was going to get everything she had ever wanted.
With the sting of sun on her face, she realized that she had been lost in thought. The maids were now here, and she was suddenly being brought to her feet and helped out of bed.
It felt like her body was moving of its own accord, and she was merely watching the life of someone else. Small hands helped her undress and wash. After thirty minutes of warm bath, she still could not feel refreshed.
The maids gathered around her, dressing her in layers of the most expensive wedding gown the kingdoms had ever seen. There were diamonds sewn into the different strata, and caught light from every angle. All eyes would be on her.
Her long hair was brushed and pinned up just so. Next was jewelry, only the finest for her special day. Her throat went dry at the thought, and the weight that now lay uncomfortably over her neck.
After she was finally ready, she was ushered downstairs, barely registering all of the lively movement around her.
"You are so beautiful, m' lady!" cried one of her attendants. The young girl was practically beaming. That shook her out of her trance and she smiled back, remembering who she was, where she was, and what mask she would dawn for this most auspicious day. That or the rumors would go flying from day one of what an ungrateful little bride she was. Being a second wife was hard enough; she did not need additional handicaps crafted of her own design.
She walked with all of the grace of years of practice, but perhaps it was the all-encompassing numbness that gave her an ephemeral appearance, or rather the illusion of composed serenity.
Regina may be regal yet.
She descended the bannister and as soon as her heels touched the carpeted floor, she could hear the sounds of wedding bells and happy music echoing through the hall.
One foot in front of the other, she gracefully made her forward. Step after step, she finally got to the end of the hall. Mother was standing there, with a smile that stretched ear to ear. Her own smile faltered at the sight. She pushed aside another memory of her mother smirking while crushing her beloved's heart.
"We have finally made it! Today, you will be everything you were meant to be. This is just the beginning dear, you'll see", Cora spoke as she leaned forward to get a better look at her daughter. "And remember, smile." She spoke with a directness that set off a shudder down Regina's spine, the feeling she always got when she knew she was not doing what she was supposed to be doing. This was of course an order, not a request.
"Yes, Mother."
With that, her mother's maternal grin fell back in place and she stepped to the side to allow her father to take her arm and walk her down the aisle. With her father now standing beside her, this was perhaps the most at ease she had felt all day. But then he looks at her with glassy eyes and a sad smile, and all she could do was stare straight ahead.
From behind the pair, rushes an excited young girl, and she dashes out into the church, smiling brightly for all to see. "How cute!" yells out one aristocrat from the left aisle, "Fair as snow indeed!" echoes from the right.
The young girl nearly dances down the aisle, gracefully tossing white rose petals to and fro as she went along. Regina may be the bride, and she did not even want this attention, but all eyes were on the young happy princess. She could feel her stomach tighten in knots. This young spoiled brat was getting everything she wanted, and in that moment she wanted to die. Instead, her father pulled her forward.
At the end of the church, up in front of the alter stood the King, her future husband. He was in his finest attire and looked as elegant as possible. But he was not what she had wanted, at the end of that aisle; THIS was not what she wanted.
She felt like hyperventilating but kept her breathing in check, taking deep and silent exhales until she reaches their destination.
Her father must have stepped to the side; she was now standing alone beside the King.
The priest began to speak, and she could hear the guests take their seats. She looked off to a corner, anywhere but into her betrothed's eyes. When she did look up though, she was somewhat relieved to see that his gaze was equally evasive.
"And do you King Leopold, take Lady Regina to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do", her husband lips twitch upright into a lopsided smile.
Is she breathing? Is she alive? She waits for the next words and dreads them as one would fear the sound of nails being driven into their own coffin that they lay trapped in, she felt like she was being buried alive. She was trapped.
She lets her lashes gently close over her eyes as she awaits what feels like an impending death sentence. And she waits, and waits… and even waits some more, but no words follow.
Confused now, she opens her eyes and looks up at the priest and sees him frozen in place. Then she looks over and sees her husband-to-be, also still as stone. She leans forward unsure of how to comprehend the scene before her, and ungracefully waves her hand in front of the King's face. No response.
She steps back and looks at the audience, now seeing that everything is tinted in lavender. And there they all are, staring back at her, but also transfixed in space and time.
Did she faint? Did the horror of the situation lead to her passing out?
She pinches herself. For good measure she really twists into her arm until her skin turns bright pink. Nope, she is definitely alert and awake.
And then adrenaline shoots through her and she is certain she has never felt so awake in her life. She looks out around her and starts to walk around.
She waves her hand in front of young Snow White's face, the girl too remains unresponsive. Heaven knows what struck her in that moment, but an immature bought of glee washed over her as she grabbed the girl's flower basket and dropped it upright onto her husband-to-be's head. The remaining flowers fell to the ground. The sight before her looked absolutely ridiculous.
A giggle escaped her lips. This whole situation was utterly absurd, and with her new found agency THAT was what she decided to do!? She really must have been losing it, and started laughing even harder. Crazy.
And then an even crazier thought hit her, as she looked over and really took in the sight of her mother frozen in place. She could run, she realized, and her mother would not, could not follow.
She gingerly approached her mother, and seeing no change in state, she took a slight turn and started running. Insane!
Panting outside of the church, she looked over and saw a horse standing outside next to a guard. This particular guard was about to go off on an expedition, she notes by the presence of his riding sack, and sees that the steed is saddled and ready to go. This was it, now or never.
She hoists herself onto the animal, only to realize it was as still and unmoving as everything else around her. Regina wants to cry, "Oh for the love of—"
And that was when she felt a jolt of electricity in the air, and everything faded back to its normal color scheme. The horse under her buckles in confusion at the weight that has magically appeared on top of it and the guard next to her looks up confusion, "Hey! Aren't you—"
She then hears confused murmurs that quickly escalate into shouting behind her, "The King is under attack!", "Wait, did Snow White throw her basket onto her father's head?", "WHAT HAPPENED?"
But then she heard the loudest voice of them all, "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!?"
And with that she kicked down on the horse and took off at full force, like a bat out of hell.
The crowd was still so confused; she knew she had more than a sufficient head start. The rest, was history, or would go down as the legend of the bride who was spirited away. It depends really on who you talk to and how many pints they've had to drink.
And now here she was. In the woods. In the dark. Alone.
Regina felt for the hunter's pack she had carried with her. There were some modest supplies inside, but she knew next to nothing about wilderness survival. Somehow, she suspected that carefully honed dinning etiquette was not going to keep her fed out here.
The reality of this most surreal situation was really starting to sink in and she now felt utterly hopeless and just wanted to cry.
"WHAT NOW?"
She pulled her knees forward and slammed her head down on top of them, allowing the tears wash over her, and finally letting out strangled sobs. That was until she heard a loud stroke of lightening.
Perfect, rain was really just what she needed at this point.
But upon looking up she did not see dark storm clouds, but a flashing array of lights and bolts of electricity flying in every direction. She quickly ducked down for cover. Whatever magic this was, it had a similar feel to what she had experienced earlier at the wedding that never was. Perhaps this was her mother coming for her to fix her mistake, yet again, and a wave of terror crashed over her.
Surely, the King would not forgive her slight, but perhaps her mother would weave yet another tale, resolving the situation and put her back on the path to the throne. Nothing would stand between that woman and the power she was on the cusp of finally achieving.
Maybe if she apologized and promised to be good, she would not be too severely punished. Either way, she was done with running, and would face her fate with whatever remaining dignity she had left.
It was all too much, but she pushed herself up and forced herself to speak, "Fine! You've found me! I won't run! Here I am!" She stood and held out her arms to prove her point.
And then out of the crackling abyss, at the center of the flashing lights and electricity, came a response. What the brunette could not have guessed would be that said response was an angry blonde teenager in an orange jumpsuit. All Regina could comprehend was a fury of orange falling directly on top of her. The next thing she feels is her head hitting the ground with a hard thud.
She feels blades of grass tickle her brow. Slowly she starts to move her neck, her head feels like it weighs a ton, and everything remains disoriented as she struggles to open her eyes.
"Fuck, lady are you okay!" She hears a panicked voice over head.
Horrified green eyes stare back at her, "I think I'll live," she manages to say in response as she pushes herself up.
"I still have no idea what happened, or where we are, or who you are, or whatever the fuck that splooshing light was, but holy crap, thank you for catching me!" The girl above her goes on like a hummingbird.
"I did not catch you, you fell on top of me and knocked me to the ground," Regina grumbles as she rubs her temple.
"Oh yeah, well, either way thanks!" The blonde looks at her genuinely grateful, if a little rattled. Regina looks down and sees that nothing is broken or majorly injured and stands trying to gain control of the situation.
"What is your name?"
"Emma, Emma Swan"
"How is it that you came to be here, specifically WHAT was that which brought you here?"
Blonde eyes shifted around, "I was kinda hoping that you would know, actually. I have no idea whatever the hell that was, but oh man, I really can't complain. I mean, people talk about prison breaks, but I never thought it would happen to me! Fuck, that was like some Wizard of Oz shit there!"
"You were a prisoner?" An eyebrow shot up and horrified brown eyes stared back at the crude girl in orange.
"Well yeah," Emma gestures at her get-up, "this is hardly a fashion statement, heh".
"In your kingdom they make prisoners wear such ugly attire? Are you from Wonderland? Or… Oz, as you mention?" An already confusing situation was now beyond perplexing.
The way this girl talked. The way this girl dressed. The way this girl simply was, there was no way she could have been from around here.
"Haha, good one. Ah, well, I am from all over really, here, there, most recently from Portland… prison. It doesn't really matter. More importantly, where are we now?"
Regina could only stare at her, "Who rules Port Land? Is that a maritime kingdom? As of right now, we are about 12 miles north of the White Kingdom, in the Enchanted Forest."
"Enchanted Forest? Is that a new theme park? I've only been locked up for about a month, but wow I guess things develop quickly. Is that why you are wearing that costume?"
Regina could only continue to stare. "Well no, I was about to get married, actually, but then… something inexpiable happened, I suspect it was a magic not unlike what brought you here, and I was able to get away…" She hesitated to mention the King. This odd stranger may have been from another land, but she was not about to trust a tried convict. Even if that convict had striking, and in that moment, honest-looking green eyes; Regina was past the point of trusting anyone, it mattered not.
At the same time, Emma was also observing the disheveled brunette in front of her. The girl had some impressive rhinestones shinning on her dress, and flashy rocks on her neck, but really taking in the woman before her and sizing her up like she would any mark… or random person who broke her fall, she realized that this woman was probably cut from the upper crust. Maybe those weren't knockoffs… not that she'd know how to tell the difference.
But amidst a million thoughts whizzing through her head she realized she wasn't paying attention. She distinctly heard some nonsense about magic, and even though she could not explain what happened, her brain decided to gloss over that ridiculous little tidbit.
"…and either way what is a theme park? The White Kingdom has famed gardens at the palace, but even our most benevolent royals do not allow them to be publicly accessed." Those last words were laced with thin layer of sarcasm.
Still utterly lost, Emma did pick up on the brunette's tone, and could definitely appreciate what she decided was a marked 'fuck the man' mentality. THAT she could get on board with and understand. "Royals… is this, like Europe, or something?"
Clearly getting nowhere fast, at this point they simply stare at each other in silence.
Regina, unexpectedly out of character, she would later chalk it up to exhaustion, began to punch out in frustration what she knew to be true, "I ran away from a wedding. Time stood still, and I was able to escape. I got this far, we are in the Enchanted Forest. Then you fell out of the sky, out of some… magical vortex, I can only assume. You are from some distant Kingdom – Port Land. You are an escaped convict. And now I am also a wanted… And now, and now…"
And now Emma watched in horror as the brunette started to laugh, collapse, and then start to cry. There was a girl. In front of her. Crying. In a frickin wedding dress. What the fuck was she supposed to do?
Emma was definitely not one for affection, but she leaned down and awkwardly put her arms around the now shaking girl. "It'll be okay", Emma had no idea if anything would ever be okay again, but they desperately needed to pull themselves together, the both of them.
The runaway bride instantly stilled underneath her, but then leaned in to Emma's touch. They remained that way for some time.
"Look, clearly we are both in some weird, deep unexplainable shit. I'm not usually one for alliances, but since we're both clearly lost and screwed, let's stick together and figure this out, okay?" The brunette peaked up at her, gave her a firm look and then a quick nod.
She then shifts her gaze and Regina forces her features to fall back in place, "…Thanks, my apologies for that horrible display."
"It's cool." Emma smiles easily at her.
Almost on cue two sets of growling stomachs erupt at the same time.
"Sooooo, do you have, like, anything to eat?" the blonde awkwardly looked down at her.
Regina dug into the hunter's pack and pulled out a loaf of bread. She broke it in half, and extended the morsel to the kind, if foul-mouthed, convict in front of her.
Together, they ate in silence.
The blonde turned to her, and clumsily leaned forward realizing she probably needed another important piece of information. "Umm, by the way, you got a name?"
Regina looked over at her new companion, and held out her hand the way she had seen the guards do when making casual introductions, "I am Regina Mills. Pleasure."
Emma smiled and shook the very scraped, yet soft and fragile hand. "Nice to meet ya, Regina. Sorry I… fell on top of you."
"That's okay, it just may be that breaking your fall was the one decent thing I did today." Regina hoarsely responded.
Both were still processing this most bizarre turn of events, sitting with their backs against the maple tree. It was like this that they both let exhaustion wash over them, and within minutes were both sound asleep, side by side.
Storybrooke, Present Day… several hours earlier
"You can't possibly be serious," the mayor looked aghast at the scene before her.
"I could not be more serious, dear sister." Zelena smiled in elation, before slamming the Dark One's dagger into Merlin's wand. An eerie and sinister sizzle of electricity shot forward, the pulse so strong it leveled everyone to the ground.
By the time Regina looked up there was a swirling whirlwind and blinding light, the magic in the air had ignited in an unsettling frenzy.
"What on earth do you hope to gain from all of this?" She stared at her sister in horror.
Zelena's stared aside, slightly despondent, before wickedly turning her head up to meet her dear sister's gaze and gleefully responded, "Chaos."
Author's Note:
It's been a while since I have written anything, but this series has me hooked and full of ideas, so here we are. I guess I should include some obligatory disclaimer: I own nothing. Does that suffice?
If you enjoyed this brain fart, please like/comment/subscribe. Or whatever the equivalents are on this site; you are people of the internet, you know the drill.