Till Time Do Us Part

Zia Scott tightened her grip on the bouquet of lilies as the sound of her beating heart was trying to devour her whole system. Her hands were trembling, the red aesthetic on her lips were starting to dry. With her slight movement, the silver sequins on her white gown gleamed as it reflected the sunlight. She felt restless.

She could barely stand still as her sweat dripped on her forehead and her weakening legs underneath the heavy dress. She had lost count of how many times she repeated the breathing exercise to calm herself down. And given the situation, she was reminded about the time when she gave the valedictorian speech back in high school. She hates attention. But here she is now, about to be stared at by about a hundred sets of eyes in the next two minutes.

Looking past her veil, she noticed that the people crowding in front of her slowly disappeared past the wide door. Hearing the faint orchestra and singing hinting her queue to come in, she slowly moved closer to the door.

Her shoulders rose as she took another deep breath. When the door finally reopened, a cool breeze passed her face, as if to punch her nervousness away. And as the song reached the climax, she started to walk down the aisle of petals. Everyone stood as the star of the day entered. Even as the sunlight shone on the massive chandeliers and stained glass on the church's windows, everyone couldn't take their eyes away from her. After all, no other jewel shone brighter than her smile.

Taking her steps slowly, she could see expressions she had never seen before from people she had known for decades. Her highschool and college friends and professors projecting the sweetest smiles she had seen in their faces for the first time, her tough and badass best friend, Gray Stewart, crying even when she didn't cry when she once failed a subject in college. Zia's mother was sniffing, trying to hold her tears in in order to not ruin her makeup she had spent hours trying to put on. She had stayed inside instead of escorting Zia in, for she had promised her late father that role and her mother respected that. And Edward Bartlett.

The man that brought colors into her life and the one that will be with her to discover new ones. The teacher that taught her how to love herself, the captain that navigated her past the big waves of life, the doctor that healed her broken soul, the lawyer that sided with her through thick and thin, the policeman that kept her far away from danger, and the lover that cherished her deeply. Was her neighbor, friend, classmate, boyfriend, fiance and now her groom, soon to be her husband and father of their future offspring.

As she stood before him, Edward's shoulders trembled as tears escaped his eyes. "You look beautiful," he whispered as he took her hand.

"I know." Zia smirked, which stopped Edward's crying and made him chuckle.

As Edward had finished reciting his wedding vow, the minister turned to Zia.

"Zia Scott, repeat after me," the minister said, holding a page from the book he was holding. "I, Zia..."

Zia gazed into Edward's emerald eyes. "I, Zia..."

"...take thee, Edward..."

"...take thee, Edward..."

"...to be my lawfully wedded husband..."

"...to be my lawfully wedded husband..."

"...to have and to hold..."

"...to have and to hold..."

"...from this day forward..."

"...from this day forward..."

"...for better or for worse..."

"...for better or for worse..."

"...for richer or for poorer..."

"...for richer or for poorer..."

"...in sickness and in health..."

"...in sickness and in health..."

"...to love and to cherish..."

"...to love and to cherish..."

"...till time do us part."

"Time?," Zia thought to herself. "Isn't it supposed to be death?"

"Zia?" The minister tried to get her attention, seeing that she'd spaced out.

"Till time do us part," Zia continued and curved up a smile as she met the green hues in Edward's eyes.

BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP

Along with a sudden beeping, a white flash appeared out of nowhere. Zia closed her eyes to the piercing rays of light devouring the place.

"Ughhh." Zia groaned as she opened her eyes to the sunlight hitting her sapphire eyes.

BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEP

Still half awake, she struggled to reach her hand for the phone to turn off the 7 AM alarm. When she did so, she closed her eyes. After enjoying a momentary silence, she opened her eyes again. "Oh, yeah, today's the big day."

She sat up from her bed and her eyes met the white gown she hung on her closet's door. An off-shoulder gown with long lace sleeves and shimmering silver sequins on the skirt with a long train that drags on the floor. It was a gown that her mother had sewn herself.

Still feeling sluggish, she crawled out of the bed. "Ow," she exclaimed as she fell down and felt as if she fell down from a table.

"Was the bed that high?" she thought to herself, eyes barely opening. She immediately brushed off the thought and continued to crawl her way towards the closet.

Sitting on the floor in front of the closet, she tugged on the gown, still too tired to stand up. As the gown fell on her lap, the hanger landed on her head. "Ow." She scratched her head. "Why am I so unlucky today?" Then her eyes shifted on the white gown in front of her and she automatically smiled from ear to ear. "Whatever, I'm the luckiest woman today."

She finally stood up and held her gown up, but half of the gown was still lying on the floor. "Why is it suddenly so long? Did mom adjust my gown yesterday?"

As uneasiness began to knock on her mind, she unzipped the gown and tried it on over the loose shirt that she was wearing. But to her surprise, the gown was awfully loose on her and her feet were only on the waist level of the gown. "What's going on?" Her eyes quivered as her mind was full of questions.

"I should call mom." She turned behind to walk towards the phone, but she tripped on the seemingly big gown. "Oww." She groaned and touched her face that fell flat on the floor. But instead of her hand, a tiny hand reached for her face. She fell back in surprise. "What was that?!" Her lips trembled as she scanned her room. And then a figure in the mirror caught her attention. It was of a little girl in a gown which was obviously not her size with a baffled expression on her face.

"Who are you?" Zia shouted, but as she moved her lips, so did the little girl's lips reflected on the mirror. And then she touched her throat. "Wait, I just realized my voice is suddenly high-pitched...like a child's."

As confused as she was, she crawled towards the mirror. And as she drew closer, so did the little girl. Then she touched the mirror with her hand, and the tiny hand that surprised her earlier had appeared once again.

She looked at the hand and held up the other one. She moved the joints as she instructed in her mind and as she stared into the little girl in the mirror, it stared back at her sapphire eyes. Only then did the surreal realization come to her head.

"I turned into a little girl?!"