Regina and her parents stood in front of Emma and her parents as they prepared to leave. The next time they would see each other was at the wedding.

The two young women hadn't said much to each other after leaving the stables and even now they stood with their eyes anywhere but on each other.

"Thanks again for having us," Snow said to Regina's parents.

"It's our pleasure. Soon we will be family," Cora said looking at Emma and Regina who both looked like they were ready to bolt.

There was a moment where no one spoke.

"Emma, why don't you say goodbye to Regina so we can get going," Charming said.

Emma looked at Regina who at least made eye contact with her. "Bye," Emma said.

Regina didn't say anything at first and Emma was ready to turn and leave. There was no way the two of them were ever going to get along with each other.

"Goodbye," Regina said finally.

After their parents said their farewells, they got into their carriage and began the journey home. Regina turned to go inside.

"Regina."

She stopped at the sound of her mother's voice, but she didn't turn to face her.

"Regina look at your mother," Henry ordered her.
She had just about enough of being ordered around. But still, she turned.

"Honey, I know this is difficult for you, but you are only making things harder on yourself with the way you are acting. You have to start treating Emma better. She is going to be your wife you have to respect her."

Regina laughed a little. "You know what; I don't actually because I've come to a decision. I am not marrying her. You can't force me to do this. What are you going to do, lock me away in the dungeons, disown me, fine do it? I don't care. What you can't do is make me marry her."

She started to walk away but her father grabbed her arm. He not only grabbed it, but he also began to pull her inside. Regina was shocked by the move and barely kept herself from stumbling over her own feet.

Henry led her through the castle and she realized after a while where they were headed when he took the stairs down. Her mother was following them and said, "Henry."

"No, you heard her," Henry said. "This is what she wants, this is what she gets."

He took her down to the dungeons and ordered one of the guards to open a cell door and then ordered the young man out, for which the guy seemed grateful.

"There you go," he said gesturing into the cell. "You say you don't care, then go ahead and get in there."

Something in his demeanor told Regina that her father was not fooling around, yet she didn't move to go into the cell, curious more than anything else about how far he would take this. He grabbed her again and pushed her toward the cell, but she got a hold on the doorframe to stop.

"Just tell me why?" she said looking at him and he seemed taken aback by the question. "Why must this happen? Don't tell me how this is some will of the other kingdoms. That can't be it. I've gone over and over it in my head and nothing makes sense to me as to why this has to happen and happen now. Why me and her? Why our generation and not yours or the next to come? You said you wouldn't stop this, why father?"

"Because if you don't marry her, Emma dies."

"What?"

Henry sighed and let go of her. "It was foretold by a seer that if our families didn't become one then Emma would die and with her death would be the end of the White family line. You are our only child which means you are the only one who can prevent this from happening. I know you find this horribly unfair but if you don't do this she will die."

Regina's eyes went to the floor before looking at her father once more. "She doesn't know this, does she?"

"No. We thought it best if neither of you knew."

Regina bit her bottom lip, trying to wrap her mind around this new information. She didn't want to marry Emma, but she also didn't want her to die. She realized she couldn't let her die, not if she could do something about it.

She merely nodded, unable to speak for a few more seconds. "I'll do it. I will marry her."

"You can't tell her," her father said.

"I won't," Regina said.

They left the dungeon and Regina asked to be excused to go to her room. They allowed it and Henry and Cora began to make their way to the throne room.

"Why did you tell her that?" Cora asked.

"You know our daughter as well as I do. She would have let us lock her away. We couldn't exactly have had armed guards around her at her wedding. She had to be told something."

"And when she finds out it was a lie she will hate us for it."

"Right now all she is doing is hating. She hates us, she hates this situation. What we can't have her doing is hating Emma. Too much is riding on this union. Emma would have gone through with it even though she has no desire to, but Regina, Regina would have fought us until the end."

"I know," Cora said. He wasn't saying anything they hadn't said before. "Perhaps we handled this badly from the start. Maybe if we had told Regina from the beginning instead of springing it on her when she was 16 things would be different."

"No," Henry said. "We did the right thing. If we had told her the truth she wouldn't haven't been able to grow up and enjoy life. Given the choice, I would do it the same. I will always do whatever it takes to protect my daughter, even if it means lying so she will go through with this marriage."

"Yes, but when do the lies stop."

Emma again remained silent as their carriage got further and further away from the Mills' castle. She wondered for the thousandth time how this was supposed to work. She realized she didn't have a clue of what it meant to be married.

"What happens after the wedding?" she asked suddenly.

"Well, we will then celebrate your marriage. There will be food, dancing, drinks," Snow said.

"I mean after that. After the wedding stuff is over."

Her parents exchanged a confused look.

"What exactly are you asking?" Snow asked.

"She and I don't get along and I don't expect a wedding to change that so how are we supposed to be married and rule a kingdom when we can't even talk for 20 minutes without extended periods of silence. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Emma, no marriage is perfect," Charming said.

"I think this one is not even in the same realm of perfect."

"We know how you feel about it," he continued. "Marriage is also work. No one ever tells you that but it's true. You have to learn to compromise, to work towards common goals and one thing that your mother and I have learned is that you should never go to bed angry at each other."

Emma threw up her hands, "Then she and I will never sleep."

"You aren't angry at Regina," Snow said. "She isn't angry at you either. You both hate the situation, not each other. You need to remember that."

"I don't see anything changing is my point. Marriage means something to you two. You love each other. It doesn't mean anything to me and it no longer has meaning for Regina. It's a good thing that castle is so big because we are probably going to be in opposite ends of it all the time."

"No you won't be," Snow said. "You two will be married, which means as a married couple, it's expected you two will share a chamber."

"Putting us in the same castle is one thing, in the same room and you are asking for disaster. She and I aren't compatible at all."

"You don't know that," her father said. "You won't know that until you two both try and both learn to respect the other."

Emma sat back in her seat. This wasn't anything she hadn't heard before. She just wished someone would give her the answer she was looking for, but if she was being honest with herself she wasn't even sure of the right question to ask. All she knew was that something about this hadn't seemed right from the beginning. She didn't know what it was though.

Regina sat up in her room until dinner thinking about what her father had told her. It had changed everything about how she viewed this marriage. She still wasn't happy about being forced into it, but at the same time, she understood why her parents were so insistent.

She wanted to ask her parents more questions, but when she dined with them that evening they weren't alone so she kept silent.

That night she couldn't sleep though and she slipped out of bed and did something she hadn't done since she was a kid – she knocked on her parents' door. Her mother answered it.

"Regina, honey, what's wrong?"

"I … I don't know," she said feeling foolish all of a sudden. "I will let you go back to sleep."

"Wait," her mother said. "Come in."

She entered to find her father sitting up in bed. He had lit one of the candles at the bedside.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about what you told me and I have questions."

"I will answer them if I can."

He indicated that she should come closer and she ended up taking a seat at the foot of the bed while her mother resumed her place on it.

"When was this prediction made by the seer?"

"It was before you and Emma were born."

"Why not tell me before this?"

"We were hoping you and Emma would not be so opposed to this so there would not be a reason to tell you. This information, it's a lot to have weighing on you."

She hadn't even known a day and she knew he spoke the truth. It was why she couldn't sleep – knowing she held Emma's life in her hands.

"I don't … I don't know how to be married to her."

Cora smiled, "No one knows how to be married to someone. It's trial and error. Mistakes will be made, there will be petty fights, but all of these things mean nothing when you really love someone."

"But I don't love her."

"You may in time," Henry said.

"Don't you think Emma deserves to know this?"

"She can't know," Henry said. "If she knew it would cloud everything else."

"I guess. It seems unfair though. Not just the marriage, but the idea that her life could end if it weren't for this one thing."

"It is unfair," he said. "It's unfair to you and her."

"The marriage, that's all there is to it though, right. I mean I marry her and she's safe?"

"There is nothing else you need to do, just marry her."

"Ok," she said. She got up and did something else she hadn't done in a while, she gave each of her parents a kiss on the cheek as she said goodnight.

Once she was out the door, Henry and Cora looked at each other.

"This has to work," Cora said.

"It will."

Emma was so nervous she didn't even pay attention to the flurry of activity around her. Her eyes were stuck on the mirror and the image of her wearing her wedding dress. This was happening. She was getting married today.

"Can you, can you all stop talking?" When no one answered. "Stop," Emma said loudly this time, stopping all activity in the room. "You all need to leave the room."

Everyone continued to stand there.

"Everyone, give us a moment," Snow said.

All the handmaidens and attendants left the room,

"What's wrong?" Snow asked as soon as they left.

"I can't do this," Emma said. "I am sorry. I can't get married to her. I can't."

Snow took her hands in hers. "This is just pre-wedding jitters."

"No," Emma said breaking away. "It's not jitters. I don't want this. She doesn't want this and if you won't stop it, then I simply won't go through with it. Marriage is supposed to be about love, not some contract."

"You have to go through with this. Everyone is here to see you and Regina get married."

"I don't care," Emma said. "You shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't have."

"I am sorry, I really am sorry," Snow said. "But you don't have a choice. You are going to have to go out there."

"No," Emma said, putting more distance between her and her mother. "You can't make me."

Snow took a seat on a nearby chair, careful not to wrinkle her dress too much. "Emma, you don't know how much I wish things could be different. That you could meet your true love on your own like your father and I did, but not every story gets to start like that. I am asking you to trust that your father and I want what is best for you and that we didn't make this decision lightly. Honey, you have to do this. The fates of the kingdoms, of our very world rely on this. I know it's unfair to lay this on your shoulders but you have to do this."

Emma's teeth clenched inside her mouth. She wanted to be anywhere but here at this moment. She wanted this to not be happening.

She also knew that she wasn't going to disobey her parents. She was merely hoping her mother would see how unhappy this was making her and call it off.

Snow stood up. "Let's get the attendants back in here. We wouldn't want to be late."

Emma could only nod.

Regina paused even as she heard the music begin. She felt her father, who had his arm linked with hers, give her a little nudge and she began to walk down the aisle.

The closer she got, the closer she got to Emma who had already completed her walk up the aisle. Emma wasn't even looking at her.

Each step closer she thought – I can't let her die. It was the only thought that kept her moving forward and not running away from this.