Chapter 1: Love Is a Battlefield

"I hate you! You're not my mom! Emma is my mom!" was the last thing she heard her son, Henry, shouted at her before he ran through the front door and slamming it shut in her face. The loud sound echoes around the whole house.

Regina stood still facing the white door, tears flowing freely from her brown eyes. Taking a deep breath, she wiped the tears and made her way to her bedroom, foregoing making dinner for herself.

Reaching her bedroom, she started her daily routine before going to bed even though it's only 6.30pm on a Wednesday.

Once settled on her bed, she tucked herself until only her head was visible before grabbing her phone from the night stand and texting the last person she wanted to talk to right now, but just her luck, she just have to suck it up and do it.

Regina: Please make sure Henry has his dinner and check his homework. And don't forget, bedtime is at 9.30pm.

Done with the text, she puts back her phone on the night stand and covers her head in her blanket and soon, sobbing was the only sound heard through the mansion until the mayor was too exhausted and fell asleep.

…

It was 7pm when the tone of Katy Perry's Fireworks alerts Emma of a new incoming text on her phone. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was from the Mayor.

"What does she want now?" with a loud grunt, she quickly finds an empty spot to park her Bug, which to her great pleasure, was only 3 spots from her apartment stairs. Which she considers a small victory after the day she just had.

A frown was formed on her face after reading the text from the mayor. She checks her calendar and it appears that indeed, it was Regina's week with Henry. Emma quickly makes her way up to her apartment and surprise! Henry was sitting in her living room playing video games, oblivious to his blonde mother arrival.

"Henry. Not that I don't want you here, but what are you doing here and not at your mom's?"

"Hey mom. You're my mom, and I'm at your place." Henry answered her smartly and giving her a toothy smile.

Emma walked to the game console and turned it off and walked back to her son and sat next to him. Releasing a long breath, she asked him in a tired voice, "Do you want to tell me what's going on kid?"

She waited patiently for her son to answer but he just looked down and plays with the hem of his shirt. "Henry, what happen? You and I both knows it's your week with Regina, so tell me, why are you here and why did I get a text from her asking to take care of you?"

Suddenly, Henry sat up and shouted at her, "What's the big deal? I'm your son. You want me. I want you. I'm here now with you. Does it matter what happen?"

Emma took a deep breath and asked her son to sit back next to her. After he sat, in a calming voice, "So this is about the adoption again, I figured?" after receiving Henry's hesitant nod, she continues "I need you to listen carefully kid. You figuring out you were adopted and finding me again doesn't cancel Regina as your mom. She is as much as your mom as I am. You can't just ignore the fact that for the past 10years, she was the only mom you had."

"Why are you on her side? You hate her."

"Hate is a strong word. We might not agree on a lot of things, but know for a fact, that I love you as much as she does and we only want what's best for you." At Henry silence, Emma put her arm around her son's shoulder.

"Henry, I told you the reason I had to gave you up right? For your best chance. And I can never thank Regina enough for adopting you. She gave you your best chance. She took care of you, loved you, and still loves you even after these past 8months that you found me and be a brat towards her. So tell me, why are you still acting up? Aren't you grateful that someone, Regina, took you when you were a baby? And not being toss around in the system like I did?"

Henry still didn't answer her and kept his eyes on the open window. Pretending he didn't hear her but she saw the emotions going through his face. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it, she stood up and walked to the small kitchen.

"So I guess you're staying the night here? How about you do your homework while I call for takeouts yeah?"

"Okay mom. I'll be in my room."

After hearing the thud sound that signaled closing of Henry's bedroom door, Emma let her head fall on the kitchen counter for a few seconds, muttering to herself "I'm too tired for all this drama" before getting up and calling the pizza place.

While waiting for the delivery, she sat at the sofa and contemplates what to reply to the mayor and finally settled with a simple "On it."

…

It was the next Monday when Emma finally had the chance to have a talk with Regina. Since the last debacle last Wednesday, she barely saw the mayor. Henry still stays at the apartment, refusing to go back to Regina's. The sheriff only managed a quick work-related meeting with the brunette and every time she tried to have a talk with the woman, she was dismissed or the mayor's secretary would not allow her in with the reason that the mayor was not to be disturbed or she was in a meeting which Emma doubts she was actually in.

So today, the sheriff managed to block the mayor's way out of the meeting room. It was 15minutes to 6pm which left the only two of them in the building as everyone else hurriedly leaving the town hall to go back home. So Regina was left without a reason to avoid Emma.

"Sheriff Swan, care to explain why you are standing in my way?"

"It's after office hours, I think you can call me Emma, Regina." Emma said to the brunette and giving her a cheeky smile. But Regina was not amused. She simply rolls her eyes and tapping her feet waiting for whatever it is that Emma wants from her.

Shifting from foot to foot, Emma finally breaks the silence that was between them. "So about Henry…"

But she was quickly cut by Regina "Yes, why are you here and not with him?"

"Seriously Regina? Calm the frosting down will ya?" at that, she got a glare from Regina and quickly continues, "Henry is at Granny's, I sent him there before coming to the meeting so he can get something to eat while doing his homework and Granny said she'll keep an eye on him."

At Regina's small nod, she carries on, "So Henry, I just want you to know that he doesn't mean what he said. He is just a kid you know? But an adoption dissolution letter that I found on my desk this morning? You can't be serious Regina. I'm really sorry about what happened and that he still refuses to go back to you. But if you want to, I can try talking him to spend the week with you. You know, since half of his week with you was spent at mine, last week?"

She saw Regina clenches her jaw before muttering in a low voice, "That would be really nice but I think you'll only waste your effort as this issue has been going on longer than you've been here. And guess what sheriff? Tomorrow will mark 1 year of Henry deciding that he no longer needs me nor I'm his mother. And you being here? Only solidify it for him. So yes, I think the letter was about due."

"Come on Regina, you know that's not true. And you know I'm not here to take him away from you right? Please don't do this."

"Well that might be true but Henry will never see it that way. So I suggest you read through the letter and call my lawyer if you have any question about it. And once you sign it, please drop it to my secretary."

Emma watched the vulnerability that ran through the brunette's face while she talks and even saw the watery eyes that the mayor seems to fight hard against, and her heart clenches seeing it in the tough and fierce woman. She was about to try and convince Regina again when the mayor walked past her to get to the upper level of the town hall to her office.

The sheriff ran to catch up with Regina and just managed to grab her arm when the brunette opened the door to the second level and both women was blasted back by a fire from behind the other side, sending them a few feet back and with a loud thud against the back wall.

Glasses, woods, and other pieces of god knows what was everywhere and black smoke thicken in mere seconds. Emma let out a loud grunt and saw the fire rapidly coming their way and hurriedly crawled to Regina.

"Regina! Come on! We got to hurry if we don't want to get burn alive!"

The mayor let out a small whimper and a coughing fit before responding, "I can't move! You have to get me out."

"What?!" Emma quickly scans Regina and saw that her left foot was stuck under a metal panel. "Oh whoa. That's. Whoa. That looks painful."

"Emma!"

"Yes! Yes! Don't need to shout!" the sheriff said while trying to lift the panel but just as she moves it a bit, Regina let out a scream. She gently settled it back and ran to get another metal panel she saw nearby to help her lift and hold the other panel.

When she reached back to Regina's side, the mayor was letting out a loud wheezing sound while clutching her chest. "Hold on. Stay with me Regina." And Regina gave a small nod of her head.

With all her might, Emma managed to freed the mayor's leg and carried Regina bridal-style out the town hall while muttering mostly to herself, "Wow, I thought you would be heavier."

Once outside, paramedics hurried to assist the sheriff and took the mayor to a stretcher at the back of the ambulance and one paramedic named Stacy asked to have a look at the sheriff too, but Emma was having none of it because not long after Regina was out of her arms, she heard Regina coughing fit again and saw the petite woman fell unconscious.

She ran to the back of the ambulance but was stopped by another two paramedics. "Sheriff. I need you to calm down. You cut yourself and we need to take care of it before it gets worse."

"No! I'm okay. What's happening to Regina?!" Emma was shouting and fighting the paramedics to get in the same ambulance with Regina that was about to be driven to the hospital.

She was not aware of the people gathering watching the fire and scene that she was creating. One of the paramedics managed to gave sedative to the sheriff and she too fell unconscious.

"Peter, lets get the sheriff to the hospital too. That cut looks deep and we better move fast before she wakes up." One of the paramedic said to the other.

*So how bout that for the first chapter? Sorry I'm a bit rusty.