"Why am I doing this again?" Emma groaned while looking in the mirror. The dress she was wearing was awful: white as white could be and tailored in typical princess fashion. It had been made by granny, as was apparently tradition as well, and looked like it had been modelled after one of her childhood dolls. The white, layered fabric bulked up awkwardly and prevented any show of the body that Emma had worked so hard to achieve.
"Because you are a princess, you are of royal lineage and it is important to uphold traditions." Snow explained patiently while carefully using hairpins to tame the blonde's curling hair. Emma ignored her mother and kept her eyes focused on the dress.

"You look beautiful." Praised Snow, mistaking the contempt in her daughters eyes for insecurity.
"I look fourteen." Emma deadpanned trying, and failing, to flatten the poofy dress out by running her hands over the fabric.

"What is this party again?" Emma asked when she discovered that running her hands over the dress only made it bulk up more. It was at least the fourth time she asked, but she hoped that as her mother explained it again, she would hear the ridiculousness and she could go back to her waiting fiancée.
Snow sighed but proceeded to answer the question again. "It's not a party. It's a ball. The Virgin ball is a traditional ball organized by the parents of a soon to be bride. It is a ball where only those who have never been touched may enter. It is customary for the girls to dance with each other in an act of purity, so that the bride can go into her marriage with a clean and pure body."
"So basically it's like a bachelorette party without the alcohol, and the strippers, and the actual fun." Emma muttered.

Snow ignored her, instead repeating the words that seemed like her continual mantra. "It's tradition."
"But I'm not even a-"
"We are going to uphold it." Snow glared at her daughter before strutting away, accepting no more questions or complaints from her daughter.

Emma took one last look in the mirror, groaned, and prayed Regina would never ever see her like this.

Being away from the restrained culture of the enchanted forest had led to quite the sexual liberation in Storybrooke. It was the only explanation as to why the young girls standing nervously in the ballroom where all within the age of twelve to sixteen. Apparently it was hard to find girls of a noble lineage who hadn't been 'touched' yet that Emma would actually be able to socialize with. The girls where all dressed in the same horrible white bulky dresses as Emma and almost seemed to disappear into the white décor of the ballroom. Emma scouted the room in a vain hope to find any form of alcohol, but only found a large can of what appeared to be berry juice. And not the good, alcoholic kind.
"Have fun dear." She heard snow whispering into her ear. The woman pressed a light kiss to her daughters cheek before leaving, undoubtedly to attend something more interesting than a virgin ball.

Suddenly the music started playing. It was nice music, probably from the Enchanted Forest, but not the kind of music that Emma knew how to dance on. Her mother had futilely tried to teach Emma some ballroom dances, but eventually decided that her daughter just wasn't a natural at the craft and had given up.

Unfortunately, all the other girls at the ball seemed to dance with the poise and elegance that Emma lacked. The girl she was dancing with was a at least thirty centimeters shorter than her, but danced with more determination and grace that Emma would ever be able to muster. Emma had to stop herself from stalking off the dance floor to sulk in a corner as yet another girl pranced around her with frustrating ease while she was still fumbling with her feet.

Suddenly her dance partner halted and immediately dropped her hands from where they had rested earlier. Emma immediately checked her feet to see if she hadn't crushed yet another girl's feet underneath hers, but their feet remained at a relatively safe distance. When she looked up again, the angel in front of her was ushered away and made place for the devil.

Regina looked every bit the sinner in heaven and Emma couldn't be more glad about it. In the universe full of white she looked like a black hole, tearing away everything around her and leaving nothing but darkness in her wake.
She also looked absolutely gorgeous: the dress she was wearing wasn't the usual little black dresses that the mayor liked to wear to their dates. It was one of her evil queen dresses. Long dark black velvet that barely seemed to touch her skin at all, low cut at her back and adorned with jewels at the front, showing off one of the many assets that the queen possessed. It made Emma want to touch. It made her want to show exactly how much of a virgin she was.

"Enjoying your party dear?" Her fiancée drawled, tracing her collarbone with one finger and playing with the blonde's elegant curls. Emma tore away her gaze from Regina's … dress and pulled the woman closer to her.
"Hm increasingly so." She husked in her ear, earning a soft chuckle from the brunette. "I really enjoy this dress too." She murmured, tracing the tantalizing curves of her soon-to-be wife.
"I'm afraid I can't say the same about yours dear." Regina said as she pulled at one of the many layers of white fabric, causing it bulk up even more. "Did your mother make it?"
"Granny." Emma deadpanned, causing Regina to snort heavily into her Emma's shoulder.

"Well at any rate, we decided to spice up your party a little." Regina declared, directing Emma's attention towards the women walking into the room. Ruby, dressed in a short fiery red dress strutted in bearing two bottles of champagne. Katherine, though dressed classily, still stood out as a grown woman between the girls in the white dresses. Ashley had chosen one of the dresses she used to wear to their girls nights and Belle wore a cute dotted cocktail dress, high heels making up for her petite posture.

"You worked together to rescue me? With them?" Emma grinned against Regina's neck before pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "I'm proud of you."
"Well it is sure to enrage your mother, so I was willing to put our difficulties aside." Regina answered, a slightly smug smile forming around her lips before she pulled Emma towards her and pressed a feather light kiss to her mouth.

"Now dance with me, after all, it's tradition."

I hope you liked that. Please review? I have LOTS of ideas about ridiculous enchanted forest customs to throw at Emma. If you have an idea: leave it in a review and I might use it =)