Chapter Text
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man of good fortune must be in want of a wife--"
Emma flung the book across the room and it landed against the wall with a satisfying thud.
She rolled her eyes at her own behavior before flinging back the covers and getting out of bed.
She shivered as she walked across the floor toward the book, frowning down at it before releasing a noisy sigh.
It's not like she had a choice.
She had a point to prove.
It didn't matter how stupid this book was, in order to prove her own intelligence she had to soldier through it.
ONE WEEK EARLIER
Things had calmed considerably since the curse had broken.
It hadn't all been unicorns and daisies, not at first--and come to think of it Emma had yet to see a unicorn. Not that she'd be surprised.
Regardless, things were better.
The peace had helped. Regina had not sought revenge on anyone, but instead remained inside her house baking copious amounts of perfect chocolate chip cookies in the hope they would lure Henry home.
So if anything she was turning into another witch entirely, not the Evil Queen of yore.
Their lives had been a disaster for a while. But now with Pan defeated and Henry home and safe it all seemed rather...ordinary.
If ordinary was being a thirty-year-old who lived with her parents who remarkably looked her same age.
Said parents had decided, for some reason unknown to Emma, that it was time to throw a ball.
"Emma, darling, come downstairs," Snow yelled from below. "It's time for your dress fitting."
As Emma ambled down the stairs she overheard Snow's whisper to the dressmaker, "she certainly needs a new dress to find a husband."
Okay, the reason for the ball was apparent. That didn't mean Emma had to like it.
"Really, a dress?" Emma wrinkled her nose as she stood before the seamstress, a little old lady she was fairly certain she'd never seen before in her life.
"Yes milady," curtsied the dressmaker. Who must have been at least seventy years old.
"Margaret has been the palace dressmaker for generations." Snow stated, following Margaret's lead and ignoring her daughter's petulance.
"Woah! So does that mean you made Regina's dresses too?"
The woman looked hesitantly at Snow, as though unsure of what reply would be best.
"Yes." She eventually admitted.
Emma wanted to ask more but decided that now was not the time, the old woman was coming at her with a handful of pins and she didn't need one of those to end up in the wrong place.
"Woah Mom," Henry said as he barreled through their front door, skidding to a stop right in front of Emma. "That's a cool dress."
Emma scoffed, then shrugged. "Thanks Henry, I guess."
"You'll totally find an awesome boyfriend with that dress."
"Ew."
"What? Snow said this was a True Love Ball, so you're gonna find your true love."