ONE DAY

I want to say thank you to Black-Sakura-44 for basically beta-ing this story and letting me know if it was any good. I am not sure how this idea was born, but here it is.

Disclaimer: "If wishes were horses…" and all that… Nothing is mine.

One Day

I stared at the woman in the mirror. 'That can't possibly be me,' I thought. That woman was too beautiful, too poised; there was no pain or strain in her eyes and face, instead they glowed with happiness.

I ran my white, silk covered hands over the white lace of my dress. It was a rather simple dress really – white, strapless, lace covered, that belled out from my hips to brush the floor. Unlike most women I had opted to leave my hair down for the most part, only the sides were pulled back by the simple circlet I wore and tiny white flowers had been woven into the long curls that fell down my back. The necklace was larger and more ornate than I generally preferred, but my mother had worn it, along with the earrings I was wearing, for her wedding to my father; and when she had offered them to me for this day, there was no way I could say no.

My mom's reflection appeared next to mine, smiling lovingly at me. She looked radiant in the pale green dress she wore, which had a high waist to accommodate her growing belly; her jewelry was simple; the most ornate piece she wore was her wedding ring. I had thought at first it would be awkward having parents who looked just about the same age as me, but what awkwardness there was didn't last. It was a little strange to think of my parents having a baby when they were already grandparents to a pre-teen, though.

My mom gently brushed back a curl from my shoulder. "You look beautiful, Emma."

I turned my head to look at her. "Thanks, Mom."

She grinned broadly. "You ready to go out there?"

I turned and looked at the door, a little apprehensively, taking a deep breath. I wasn't particularly fond of having to do this in front of so many people, but it was all part of my life now, a life that I wouldn't trade for what I had back in the other world for anything. I looked back at her. "Let's do this."

She laughed at my bracing tone, wrapping an arm around me and leading me out the door.

My father and son were waiting in the hall outside and both turned when we came through the door. Both were dressed in new suits and cloaks that Mom had had made for the occasion. Henry in shades of blue and Dad in darker greens.

Henry was grinning that broad, knowing grin of his.

"Shut it, kid," I told him, smirking.

His grin just grew wider. "I didn't say anything."

I poked him in the shoulder. "You were thinking it." Which he didn't deny.

My dad shook his head at the two of us; then leaned over and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes, enjoying this simple gesture of affection, one of many I had enjoyed since our world was put back to right, but the, I suppose you could say novelty, of it never wore off. After my affection-starved life prior to finding my family, I suppose it isn't surprising I coveted any such gesture from any of them.

He pulled back, "Ready?"

I glanced at my mom, who was trying to suppress a smile at the repetition of the question; I turned back to my dad. "To go out there in front of all those people…never." Henry snickered at that comment, while my dad grinned and my mom shook her head. "To get married…definitely."

He took both of my hands in his, looking at them contemplatively. "I don't know if I'm ready to let you go, though." He looked back up at me, there was a mixture of pride, joy and sadness.

I stared at him for several moments; then I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, becoming comfortable with giving such gestures had taken longer than receiving them had, but as my dad wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck in a tight hug, I was grateful for the time and patience my family had invested in teaching me such things.

"You're not really loosing me, you know," I told him quietly. "I mean," we pulled apart and I looked up at him, smirking, "who else is going to look after Henry when we need to get away from him?"

My dad threw back his head, laughing while Henry gave a "Hey!"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Come on, you three." She wrapped her arm around Henry's shoulders, steering him in the direction of the grand chamber. "It's time to get in there."

Dad offered his arm to me, which I accepted, and we followed after them. I could hear the din from the chamber from down the hall, but the moment Mom and Henry stepped into through the doors a hush fell, leaving only music playing in the background.

I halted for a moment, just out of sight from those inside; Dad glanced at me. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and gave him a firm nod, before opening my eyes again and proceeding.

The room was packed. I wasn't surprised per se – I mean it's not every day that a royal gets married – but it still threw me. The butterflies that had been flapping around in my stomach turned into something closer to flying dragons. I had pasted a smile on my face, but I was basically white-knuckling my dad's arm; I felt like throwing up. Dad placed his free hand over mine, drawing my attention to him; then he nodded to the front. I looked in the direction he indicated, just as we turned the bend in the crowd.

And the nerves were gone.

There he stood, pulling at his collar, looking incredibly uncomfortable in the formal clothes he was completely unaccustomed to. Then his eyes locked on mine and the discomfort was gone, his mouth began to fall open, but he managed to snap it shut before it could fall too far. His warm, brown eyes lit up and a grin spread across his face.

My dad brought me up to stand next to my husband-to-be; he kissed my hand; then offered it to my groom who reached to accept it.

My eyes snapped open.

I stared at the ceiling for several moments, trying to orient myself. My hands skimmed over the soft coverlet that Mary Margaret had given me to use on my bed. I turned my head to look out the window at the clock tower in town square, 5 am. I turned back to stare at the ceiling, trying to come to terms with the dream I had just had.

I decided to chalk it up to spending too much time around Henry and his whole fairy tale thing.

I was ignoring the part of me that wanted to go back to sleep and try to return to that place. That place where I was so happy, where everyone was so happy. A place where I had a loving, supportive family and a wonderful man waiting for me under that gazebo-thing.

I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts. Henry needed me grounded in this world so that I could help him. I went back to mentally sorting things back into their proper order.

It was strange seeing Mary Margaret and David in those roles; it would be even stranger when I saw them again and had those images in my head. However I was fairly sure that even if I couldn't entirely shake off those dream-images of them by the time we met up that I could put on a good poker face.

There was only on stumbling block.

How was I ever going to be able to look Sheriff Graham in the eye again after seeing him as my groom in that dream?

So I have a fairly twisted sense of humor and found the ending entertaining in a way… Anyhow. Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!

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