Chapter Two
Regina's POV~
Thirty minutes before the ceremony~
The sunlight pours into the car through the huge windows, cascading across my white dress.
I feel so at peace right now.
I'm finally getting my happy ending. Can it be true?
After all this time (always) of being a monster, could I in fact be seeing the light? Is all my hard work, all my change, finally being acknowledged by the universe?
In just a few minutes, I'll be at my mansion. But, it won't be that cold empty fortress anymore. For the first time, it's going to be home, because after today I'll be sharing it with the one person that ever made anything feel that way.
Emma Swan.
Everything about her is perfect, gorgeous, breathtaking. The way I feel when I touch her. The way she kisses me. The way she walks and talks and breathes…. Every minute movement is world-shaking. I fell in love with her fire, her passion, her determination, her search for good in places no one else thinks to look.
And now I get to marry her.
The car turns a corner and there's a moment where the world stops.
Everything slows down.
For just a minute, everything freezes.
Headlights speed toward us, and it's only seconds before ours collide with it, causing both cars to flip over and spin into a building twenty feet away. The world is thrown into an explosion of metal, a gruesome celebration of how fleeting life is.
But before the collision ensues, there is silence and peace for the seconds that drag on as I feel the world freeze around me. Even though I know that a collision is coming as soon as I see the swerving car ahead of us, I still feel at peace. I still feel free. And I realize something; because if I die in this moment, I am dying as Regina. Not the Evil Queen I spent so long trying to escape from, but as Regina. If I die now, I am dying as myself. And I could want for nothing else.
I close my eyes shut, breathing in how good that feels.
I only wish I could have escaped her, the Evil Queen, sooner. I only wish I could start over, to spare myself so much pain inflicted on myself, and so much hurt inflicted on those around me.
I open my eyes again, and the car is right before us, about to crash into us.
A strong voice utters three words. I have no idea where the voice is coming from. It's probably my scattered brain screaming confused thoughts… but it seems like so much more than that.
"Make a wish" the voice says.
I can feel the words pulling inside of me. I can feel their truth, their meaning, their light.
And so I close my eyes.
And when the car collides with mine,
When I'm thrown into the window
When darkness envelopes my eyes
When I sink into unconsciousness
I make my wish.
But what my wish was, I cannot remember.
In fact, I can't remember anything.
The only thing I remember is waking up in a hospital wrapped in monitors and wires and electronics.