"What do you mean the real reason?" Emma asked in confusion after they had moved to their outer chamber. They sat next to each other on the couch.

"What we were told by our parents, about how we had to marry so that our kingdoms would never go to war again. It was a lie. That's not why we had to marry."

"Then why did we have to get married?"

"First let me say, I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner," Regina said. "I was told the truth shortly before our wedding. I was told by my parents that I couldn't tell you, ever. They even reiterated it last night while you were out of the room after they learned I told you about the magic – another thing I was never supposed to speak about. But I don't like all of these lies. I don't want our marriage to be defined by lies."

"I don't want that either," Emma said, the look of concern growing on her face. "It can't be that bad though, right?"

Regina looked away for a moment and then turned back to Emma taking her hand. "There was a seer who had a prediction about you before you or I were born," Regina said. "This seer told our parents that you were going to die – that your family's line would be over with your death if our families didn't join as one. Since I am an only child, it had to be me. If I married you then you would be safe, you wouldn't have to die."

"Oh," Emma said, pulling her hand away from Regina. She stood up, prompting Regina to also stand as she watched her wife process this information. Emma stepped away from her now and walked over to the fireplace, placing a hand on the mantle as she faced it.

She stayed that way for a long time before Regina approached her.

"I'm sorry," Regina said.

Emma kept her eyes on the fireplace. "Your parents kept your magic from you and my parents kept the fact I was going to die from me," Emma said. "How was it supposed to happen? How was I supposed to die?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I don't know that our parents even knew. Your parents may have kept this from you, but they did what they could to prevent it. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for them, but I don't think they kept it from you for malicious reasons. I think they just wanted you to be able to live your life without this hanging over your head."

"They should have told me," Emma said softly. She leaned over, her forehead resting on the mantle now. Regina stood there wanting to give Emma the space she might need to process but she also saw the effect this was having on her.

"Maybe they should have. Maybe I should have told you a long time ago instead of keeping this secret. Or maybe I shouldn't have told you at all to spare you this pain I can now see. I just didn't want there to be secrets between us."

"How long did you know, before we got married?" Emma asked as she stood back up, but she kept both arms spread out to her side, each one gripping the mantle.

"That last time you visited my parents' castle after you left I um … I told my parents I wouldn't marry you. I told them they could lock me up if they had to but I wouldn't marry you," Regina said. "My dad, he was going to do it, lock me in the dungeons. We were down there and I asked him why, why this had to happen, why you and me and why now. I couldn't work it out in my mind why us, why did it have to be you and me at that particular time when our kingdoms hadn't been at war for generations. That was when he told me the truth of it, that you would die if I didn't go through with it."

"So you did it, even though you didn't want to," Emma said, still not looking at her. "You were the one being forced to marry me, not the other way around. You never wanted to marry me. I knew that. I didn't want to marry you either, but …"

Regina put her hand on Emma's. "But things have changed," Regina said. "We have changed, both of us have. We aren't those two bratty girls who couldn't stand to be around each other."

"You were the bigger brat," Emma said. This time she did look at Regina and gave her a small smile. She let her hand fall from the mantle but turned it so she could keep Regina's hand clasped in her own.

"Yes, I was," Regina said, giving her a bigger smile in return. "I am sorry though for all of it."

"It wasn't your fault," Emma said. "You were put in an impossible situation. I should probably be thanking you for saving my life."

"Don't," Regina said. "You shouldn't thank me for that. We made no secret that we didn't want to marry each other a year ago. But when my father told me that … there was no other decision for me to make. I wasn't going to let you die, not if I could do anything about it. Turns out it was the best decision of my life."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Regina said moving in and kissing her.

They pulled apart. "Are you ok?" Regina asked

"I will be," Emma said. "It's just … I feel like an idiot. I too had questioned why you and I were the ones who had to get married but I never really pressed the issue with my parents. I had a moment on our wedding day, sort of like you did I guess. I was getting ready and all these attendants were around me to help with the dress. I felt like I was suffocating and I made them stop and leave the room. My mom was there and I told her I wasn't going through with it, that I couldn't. She essentially told me I had no choice and I felt like I didn't have a choice so I let them parade me out there and I was standing up there and then you appeared and I could tell that you felt just like me – like you had no choice."

Regina took a step back and Emma immediately recognized the thoughtful expression her wife would get when thinking of something important.

"What is it?"

"Our wedding was awful, wasn't it?" Regina said.

"It really was," Emma said.

"That settles it then," Regina said. She reached out and took Emma's hand and before Emma could stop her, Regina pulled the ring off of her finger.

"What are you doing?"

Regina dropped down on one knee and held the ring up.

"Emma, will you marry me?"

Emma laughed; her smile going wide as she did.

"Yes," she said, holding out her hand. Regina stood up but didn't put the ring back on her hand. "Hey, that belongs to me."

Regina kissed her. "Don't worry," she said as she pulled her ring off of her finger. "You'll get yours back as will I after our wedding."

"Our wedding? Didn't we already go through with that part?" Emma said.

"Yes, but we both agreed it was not the best wedding in the world," Regina said. "So this time we will get the wedding we both want."

"And when is this wedding taking place?"

"Today," Regina said moving toward the door.

"Today?"

"Yes," Regina said. "Our parents are here. Our people are in a celebratory mood. We can have it outside so they can all see. We'll do it at sunset in the big arena."

"You're being serious?"

"Yes. I organized this festival, I can put together a wedding in a couple of hours,"
Regina said. "Unless you've changed your mind about marrying me."

"No, I haven't changed my mind."

"Good. I will see you at sunset," she said.

As the door shut behind Regina, Emma looked down at her now empty ring finger. While it had only been off of her finger for mere moments, it felt weird not to have it or see it there. A smile graced her face though as she thought about the anniversary gift she had yet to give Regina – and now she had the perfect opportunity to give it to her.

Even as she thought it, her mind went back to a dark place – she was supposed to have died. She could be dead now if Regina hadn't gone through with the marriage. She had never really thought about dying. Yes, she had known people who had died, but she had never personally felt like she had been close to death.

No wonder Regina had been so unagreeable in the beginning. She too had been sold the lie that they must marry to keep their kingdoms from warring. Then she was told the truth when the truth was the only thing that would compel her to marry Emma.

She took a seat on the couch, trying to think all of this through.

She had grown up adoring her parents. Until they had told her about her marriage to Regina she had unquestioning faith in them. Had she wavered before the wedding, yes, but in the end, she had done what her parents had told her to do – like she always did.

Now the idea that they had been holding something back from her – something as monumental as her own death made her question whether her parents had other secrets. She had decried Regina's parents for their choices, but what about her parents?

She needed to know. She needed to know if this was it if there were any other big secrets out there that she had a right to know.

One thing was certain; she was going to find out.

…

Regina gave instructions to several of the staff to get things ready for the wedding that night before she went and saw her parents in their chambers.

"We were wondering if you were ever going to make an appearance today," Cora said after Regina entered. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes," she replied. "Everything is great. That is why I'm here. Emma and I have decided to get married."

"Married? But you already are married."

"I know, but after last night … she and I were talking and we both agree that our wedding was somewhat of a disaster. Neither of us was happy that day and we just went through the motions of it because we had to. But things are different now. I want to be with her and so I just asked her to marry me and she said yes, and now we're going to have the kind of wedding we should have had a year ago."

"And when is this wedding going to be?" Henry asked.

"Tonight."

"Tonight as in tonight?"

"Yes."

"How?" Cora asked. "Your wedding was planned out two years in advance."

"You are here, Emma's parents are here. The plan is to have it outside at sunset in the big arena. I've already got the staff working on preparations. It doesn't have to be a big production like our first wedding. The fewer similarities between the two are probably for the best," Regina said. "This is being done in haste, which is why I came here to ask for your assistance."

Cora could see Regina had been smiling from the moment she had entered the room. It had been a long while since she had seen such sustained joy on her daughter's face that she smiled back. "Whatever you need us to do, we will see it done."

"Thank you," Regina said. "Now here is what I need you to do."

….

Even though she knew she should be getting ready for her wedding that evening, Emma knocked on the door to her parents' suite.

Her father answered the door and she remained silent as she stepped into the outer chamber. Her mother came out of the bedroom.

"Emma," Snow said, approaching her and taking her hands in hers. "We can't tell you how happy we were when we heard that you and Regina were going to renew your vows this evening. And that this was Regina's idea. You must be elated."

"Yes," Emma said, unable to keep herself from smiling.

"I wish I knew a wedding was going to happen and I would have packed more appropriate clothing."

Emma pulled back from her mom. "It doesn't matter what you wear. It's not about any of that stuff. This is about me and Regina and us choosing to be together instead of being forced to marry."

"Of course it is," Snow said. "I didn't mean to imply..."

"I know you didn't," Emma said quickly. "Look, can we sit and talk about this, about my marriage?"

Snow nodded, unsure what to say and she took a seat with Charming joining her. Emma stayed on her feet.

"I know," she said after several moments of silence. "I know about the seer and the prophecy."

Her parents exchanged a quick look. "How did you find out?" Charming asked.

"So it's true," Emma said. This time she took a seat in the chair next to the couch. "I was hoping this was some sort of mistake."

She bowed her head and rubbed her temples before looking back up at them.

"How did you find out?" Charming asked again, a little more stern this time.

"Regina told me."

"What?" Snow said. "How did she know? Who told her?"

"Her parents did," Emma said getting to her feet. "At least they gave her the courtesy of telling her the truth before our wedding last year. You kept this from me. How could you do that? I deserved to know the truth."

Charming stood. "Regina has known about this since last year?"

"Yes. Her parents told her about a month before our wedding because she had refused to go through with it. But she did once they told her the truth. She didn't want to marry me any more than I wanted to marry her back then, but she did it. It must have been torture for her those first months of our marriage. I just … I don't understand why you would keep this from me."

"We're sorry," Snow said as she stood up and approached her. "We thought it was for the best for both of you not to know. I don't know why her parents would tell her this. We had an agreement in place that the two of you would not be told. She of all people couldn't know about what the seer told us."

"Why shouldn't she know? If she hadn't have been told this she might not have married me and I could be dead by now. Is the price of this secret worth my life?"

Snow was the one to step back this time and her eyes immediately went to her husband's. Both now realized that Emma was referring to the lie Regina had been told to get her to marry their daughter.

"What?" Emma said; when they remained quiet. "You don't have an answer for me? I want to know why you never told me. If I had known, maybe … maybe I wouldn't have been against the marriage. Maybe if you had let me and Regina be around each other growing up we wouldn't have had to be forced into this. Oh wait, I wasn't the one being forced, she was."

"Emma, calm down," Charming said.

"No. I'm done being calm. All my life I have done everything that you asked of me. I even married someone I didn't like because you told me I had to. Now I want some answers."

Again her parents exchanged a look. "Maybe it's time," he said. Snow nodded and took her seat back as did Charming.

"Please," Snow said. "Sit down. If you want answers, we will try our best to give them to you, but there is something you need to understand. What Regina was told by her parents was not the truth. They merely told her that to get her to marry you. You were never prophesized to die if Regina didn't marry you. That's not what the seer predicted."

"But there was a prediction?"

"Yes," Snow said. "And it involved you and Regina and the need for our two families to be united through the two of you."

"Why? Why was it so important that she and I marry?"

Snow looked to Charming. "The seer said that … that Regina would destroy our world with her magic," he said. "The only way to prevent this from happening was you. The seer said your love for Regina would stop it. That is why you were forced to marry her."

Emma sat down. The impact of her father's words hit her in the chest. She felt it tighten around her heart.

"Regina was born with magic," Snow said. "She doesn't know how to use it though. Her parents have kept her from learning about it to keep her from doing this – from casting this curse that would destroy everything we know and love."

She went on to tell Emma about that day in Midas' kingdom when the seer showed up and what she had said. Snow told her of the agreement they made to marry the two girls and how despite their initial meeting when they were just babies it was she who had been reluctant to bring Emma around to see Regina more in those early years.

By the time she told Emma of their vote to let Rumplestiltskin try and remove Regina's magic and how Emma had burst in on them, Emma was on her feet once more. She listened as her mother told her of how she was inconsolable until they would let her see Regina and how Cora had used her magic to make the girls forget the encounter. After that, it was Regina's parents who had been reluctant to let their daughter anywhere near them until it came to the time when they had to be told of their arranged marriage.

When she finished Emma sat again, this time holding her head in her hands as she tried to absorb all that she had just been told.

"I know this can't be easy for you to hear," Charming said. "And maybe we should have told you sooner but knowing that if the seer spoke the truth that you would come to love Regina as you do we felt it best not to burden you with all of this. We hoped that in marrying you to her that you two would find love and this would never be anything that needed to be concerned about. The fact you two are having this wedding tonight of your own accord shows that if nothing else the seer was not wrong about your love for Regina."

Emma raised her head. "Regina knows nothing of this, does she?"

"No," Snow said. "And she must not."

She felt tears in her eyes that were threatening to drop any second. "But …," Emma started to say. She tried to find the words and couldn't. She wanted to be able to explain to them that the only reason Regina had told her of the seer was that Regina didn't want a marriage where there were secrets and lies between them.

"She must not know," Snow reiterated. "Think of the impact it would have on her. To have this knowledge that she could pose such a danger to everyone around her, to your kingdom, to you, to her parents; it must not be risked."

"Think of how upset you were when you came in here," Charming said. "Think about how upset Regina would be if she knew the truth. I don't like lies. I don't like that we had to keep this from you and I hate that we have to ask you now not to tell Regina, but we have to. If you told her, Regina could doubt your love for her."

Emma thought about it, thought about all of it. Two things kept popping into her mind – one being that Regina, despite planning this wedding, had yet to use the words I love you to her. Would she, if told the truth, believe that Emma did indeed love her? The second thing she kept thinking of was Daniel. Regina had told her that magic could be dangerous. Regina believed Daniel's death was her fault because of not being able to control her magic.

"Regina would never do something like that," Emma said. "She wouldn't cast some curse even if she knew how."

"We don't believe she would," Charming said. "She's a good person. We know this. We don't know why the seer said what she said about Regina. But we weren't willing to take a chance. This seer knew Henry and Cora were having a daughter and she predicted your birth as well. If there was even the slightest chance she was right about this …"

"She wasn't," Emma said. "I know Regina. I know her. She wouldn't."

She thought about Regina's parents and how they had kept her from learning about magic all of these years. This is why they had denied her that knowledge – they were afraid that she was going to cast this curse.

Some part of them must have believed Regina would do it or they wouldn't have taken such precautions against it.

"Honey," Snow said getting up and kneeling in front of her. "You love her. That was the key to all of this. Nothing is going to happen. You two are going to stand before your subjects tonight and you will exchange vows and you are going to go on to live long lives together with lots of love."

Emma leaned back in the chair. Her wedding. She was supposed to get married again tonight. She was supposed to stand in front of the woman she loved and show that this marriage was something they both wanted, something they didn't need to be forced into.

"I have to tell her," Emma said, standing once more, her mother shuffling out of her way.

"You can't," Snow and Charming said at the same time.

"But how am I supposed to stand there in front of her knowing this?"

"She can't know."

With her hands on her hips, Emma looked up at the ceiling. If she told Regina the truth there was no way to know how she would react. If she didn't tell her it would be a secret that would always stand between them.

"I … I have to think about this," Emma said. "I'm sorry, I have to go."