Chapter Text
It didn’t entirely hit Red that things were different now until the next morning.
Sure, last night she came back from a time travel expedition with her mothers arch-nemesis's daughter (whom might kinda sorta be her best friend now but they never entirely got around to talking semantics, so) to find said mother wearing pink and smiling so genuinely that Red was sure it was fake. She knew they’d stopped the younger version of her mother from being utterly humiliated at her school dance, and knew that, hopefully, when they came back Bridget wouldn’t be so tyrannical anymore. She just wasn’t expecting . . . this.
Red woke up at six in the morning on instinct, springing out of bed quickly and preparing for her mother to burst through her bedroom doors and berate her for sleeping in. But when Red opened her wardrobe and found her closet filled to the brim with pink frills instead of her usual red leather, the events of the last 48 hours came back to her in a rush.
She stood there, staring sleepily at what looked like a flamingo crime scene, and realized that maybe her life had changed a bit more than she’d expected. Honestly, who wears this much pink?!?!
Red slowly made her way back to her bed and plopped down with a sigh.
Ok, let’s think about this. My mom’s nice now, which I’ve known since yesterday. Apparently now we both wear a lot of pink, which isn’t that terrible of a change but I definitely need to get some of my old wardrobe back. And she doesn’t wake me up at the crack of dawn anymore, either.
Red tucked herself back under the covers and stared up at her canopy, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously.
So she’s no longer the tyrannical queen of Wonderland. She’s a nice queen now instead, so . . .
Holy shit, am I an HK now??
Any hope of falling back asleep was officially dashed.
I was only a VK because of how cruel my mother was, but she was still a queen. And now that she’s nice, and still a queen, which still makes me a princess, so I’m-I’m-
Red smacked her hands over her eyes and groaned.
This shouldn’t be a bad thing, right? I’ve always felt different, wanting to be rid of the evil stereotypes trailing after me all because of my mother.
Except now those stereotypes are strictly royal.
“Great,” Red sighed.
Red swung her legs out of bed and got up again, but this time any tiredness was gone, replaced by dread. She really wasn’t looking forward to today.
After rummaging around in her room, she found a drawer of robes that were, of course, a horrific pink. She managed to find one that was at least a bit more on the magenta side and shrugged it on before opening her bedroom door slowly.
Red stuck her head out and looked, expecting to see guards lining the hall. Instead, she was met with emptiness complete with more pink. Is there no other color she likes? Jeez. The carpet, the tapestries, the flowers on tables pushed against the walls, all of it was pink. The muted blue of dawn filtering through the windows gave the explosively happy coloring a darker appearance, making things a bit more bearable at least. Red stepped out fully into the hallway and closed the door behind her softly, padding on bare feet down the hall. Thankfully, the layout of the palace hadn’t changed, so Red was able to navigate the maze of halls easily.
There was a glass door at the end of the west wing that led to a giant balcony overlooking all of Wonderland. It had been Red’s favorite part of the palace when she was a little kid, a place where she could sneak away and watch the stars. It was the place of many stuffed animal tea parties and the occasional meeting with Hatter, until her mother found out about it and threatened to wall it up. There wasn’t any real reason for her anger; it was just another way for her mother to exert control over Red, and that was reason enough for the Queen of Hearts.
Red didn’t see the figure already standing on the balcony until she was turning the door handle, and by then it was too late to turn tail.
“Red?” her mother asked quietly as she turned around to look at her daughter, her eyes wide with surprise. “What are you doing up so early?”
The woman staring at her was her mother; Red would recognize that waist length red hair anywhere, but it was hard to see this person as the woman who raised her. Though, in reality, Red supposed this queen hadn’t raised her at all. Her old mother’s mouth was always pulled down into a frown, even when she wasn’t doing anything that would imitate her displeasure. This mother seemed to have a permanent smile stuck on her face, something so motherly and warm that Red’s heart couldn’t help but ache a little. Her old mother was all sharp angles and an even sharper tongue, but this mother was soft and kind. It was disorienting.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Red said, already backing out of the doorway. “I’m sorry, I’ll just, uh, go-“
“Nonesense,” her mother huffed, and the frown that flashed across her face was almost enough to make Red think she was making this whole thing up and she had in fact not fixed anything at all. But then Red saw the playful sparkle in her mother’s eyes, and she almost sighed in relief at the realization her mother wasn’t actually mad. “Come here, come here. Watch the sunrise with me, will you?”
Red really had no excuse as to why she had to leave, so instead she closed the balcony door behind her and walked over to The Queen of Hearts. Her mother put an arm around her shoulder once Red was close enough, smiling down at her with a grin so blindingly intense with affection that Red had to look away.
The kingdom was beautiful, no matter what time of day, but when it was spotted with lamplight and the streets were quiet and empty, it was truly something else. Red could see the sun peeking out over the hilltops; in just a few minutes its rays would be gracing the town with a warm glow.
A chill breeze swirled around them, and Red found herself shivering in her robe. She wasn’t expecting her mother to pull her even closer and begin to rub her hand up and down Red’s arm. The gesture was addicting and so foreign that Red was overcome with the strange urge to cry; she’d known she had an affinity for physical touch (you know, after being denied even the slightest pat on the head her whole life) when Chloe would touch her arm or hug her, but this blatant love from her mother was almost overwhelming. This was the woman who stopped letting her play with toys when she turned seven and didn’t even eat meals in the same room as her.
Except this wasn’t the same woman. This was Bridget, the kind, sweet, cupcake loving girl Red saved, not the fearsome Queen of Hearts. Unconsciously, Red leaned into her touch, leaning her head on her mother’s shoulder as they looked out on their kingdom.
“I come out here every day to watch the sunrise, and for the past 32 years it hasn’t gotten old.” Red glanced up at her mother, who was watching the kingdom wistfully. “I tried to get you and your sister to join me, but it’s impossible to get you two out of bed before noon.”
Wait, SISTER?!?!
Red has a sister. A real life, genuine sister???
This world just keeps getting freakier and freakier.
“Did you say something, love?”
Red startled when she realized she’d just muttered her thoughts aloud, and stared up at her mother with wide eyes.
“Oh, no, it’s nothing,” Red was quick to say, shaking her head with an apologetic smile, trying to seem as undistracted as possible. She was still reeling from this complete and utter, major, second life development and didn’t think she’d be ok for at least another two hours. “I just said, um . . .”
It was then the sun decided to fully breach the mountains, and Red was practically blinded from the flashbang of sunlight that slammed into her eyes. But after copious amounts of blinking, her vision adjusted and the sight laid out before her really took her breath away.
The kingdom was awash in gold, the shadows chased away by the brilliance of the rising sun. Every building glowed, every tree sparkled emerald, and even the birds started singing their song as they woke up. If someone had described this scene to Red in her old world, she would have cringed at the sheer royalness of it. But truly experiencing something like this?
“It’s beautiful.” The words left Red’s mouth of their own accord, a breath of awe escaping her lips.
Her mother gave a soft chuckle and squeezed Red’s arm affectionately.
“It really is, isn’t it.”
—————————————
Red stood out there with her mother until the sun was well over the mountains, just watching in silence as their kingdom woke up. It wasn’t until Red’s stomach gave an untimely growl did her mother propose they go wake her sister up and eat breakfast before school.
Red trailed after her mother through the halls, unsure of where they were going. They headed back towards Red’s wing, much to her surprise, and walked past Red’s bedroom all the way to the end of the hall. A large double door was set in the wall, mahogany with pink hearts carved into the wood. This door wasn’t here in Red’s old world; if she remembered correctly it was just supposed to be another window, but apparently this is her sister's room.
Her mother pushes open the door and strides across the space towards the thick curtains lining the far wall, leaving Red to stand alone in the doorway. The room had the same build as her own, but with even more pink (if that was even possible). A pile of stuffed animals took up an armchair, and what looked like an army of hair brushes and cookbooks were scattered everywhere. Red wondered if her sister was younger than her. It was a little hard to tell, with said sister completely buried under a mountain of plush pink blankets.
Red’s-their-mother threw back all the curtains, letting the golden sunlight in to fill the space with its warm glow. “Good morning, Pink! Time to wake up!”
My sister’s name is Pink? Of course it is.
At this point, Red wasn’t even surprised. Her old mother did name her Red after all.
Red took a few steps into the room, not wanting to seem as if she was being awkward. The Red that they know must have done this countless times, and literally grew up with Pink, so if Red looks lost then they’re going to think something is wrong.
The figure underneath all the blankets slowly rose to a sitting position, much like someone rising from the dead. The blankets fell away to reveal a perfectly pleated pink braid and a very sleepy, pouting sister.
For a moment, Red was convinced she was watching Bridget climb out of bed instead of her sister. They had the same full lips and soft features and hair color, but it wasn’t Bridget at the same time. This girl, Red’s sister, had tanner skin and her locks weren’t curled, though the differences between the two ended there.
She really is her mother’s daughter.
“Up, up,” their mother said as Pink rubbed her eyes and stretched. “I want us to eat breakfast together before you leave. You wouldn’t want to be late for your first day at Auradon Prep, would you?”
It was like a switch was flipped. Suddenly Pink’s eyes flew open and a dazzling grin split her face. She already looked high on caffeine and sugar at the sheer mention of school.
“I can’t believe I forgot!” she squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet and clapping her hands together. She even sounded like Bridget. “Come on Red, we have to hurry!”
“Wha-?“ was all Red was able to say before Pink barreled at her, looping their arms together and yanking Red down the hall so forcefully it was a miracle Red’s shoulder didn't dislocate.
“Today’s going to be so fun!” Pink exclaimed as she dragged Red through the palace towards the dining hall, their mother trailing behind them with an amused smile on her face.
“Uh, yep. Sure is!” Red said, though she totally sounded uncertain.
I am not looking forward to today.