A/N: First dip in the Swan Queen ship. I actually ship Regina with almost everybody, as long as she is happy, and this idea I had on the roads of Spain was actually working better with Emma. I'm actually quite nervous to hear what you think of it. The idea is to see the relationship between Regina and Emma evolve through a series of karaoke nights with or without Henry. This chapter is just an introduction though so our two favorite ladies will start singing in the next one.

For it to work I actually changed a few things. The main thing is that Henry never got the book so he never turned against Regina. The curse is still real though, and Emma is the savior. Henry and Regina looked for Emma together because Henry was curious, so Regina is a lot nicer to Emma.

Anyway, I hope you'll like it and don't hesitate to tell me what you think and what could be better. :)

As for my other fic (the EC one) for the ones reading it, I'm not giving up on it. It's just that I wanted to start with this idea before writing the next chapter.

All mistakes are mine (English is not my first language).

Disclaimer: Surprisingly, I own nothing. Though if someone offers me the show, I'd gladly take it.

"Henry, did you brush your teeth this morning?"

The ten-year-old rolled his eyes at the question coming from the kitchen. "Of course mom, like every other morning." However he knew that the cause for his mother's nervousness was him and his desire to meet his birth mother, so he didn't add anything to this sentence. He didn't want to piss her off. He knew he should be thankful for her acceptance of the fact that he had wanted to invite his birth mother. It hadn't been a given, knowing his mother and her protective nature.

That's why all morning he had answered all of her questions dutifully, even if she already knew all of the answers. Yes, he had brushed his teeth. Yes, his hair was combed. Yes, his shirt was clean. Yes, none of his toys were hanging around the house. Everything was ready, except for his mother who couldn't calm her nerves.

The dread had settled in the day Henry had told her about his intentions to find his birth mother. She had been hurt at first, not understanding why he would want to look for another mother when everything was going so fine between them. Sure she wasn't here a lot, her job as mayor keeping her away from home a lot more than she would have wanted. And she hadn't been able to offer him one big happy family, all her relatives being dead and her want to find a partner close to zero. But still, things were going great between the both of them. It had always been like that, ever since she had welcomed him into her house. The mayor and her son, the only one who had been able to break her hard shell.

Henry had sensed her discomfort and had been quick to reassure her. Looking for his birth mother was mainly him being curious and he didn't want anything to change between them. And she had assured him that she believed him. She had tried to convince herself that she believed him. Although in the end she wasn't sure she had managed to.

And now, only ten minutes away from finally meeting this Emma Swan who had given birth to her son, she was pretty sure that she, in fact, hadn't succeeded at all in convincing herself that Henry wasn't trying to replace her. She was too used to the good things in her life being ripped away from her and she was afraid of this happening one more time.

The realization made her breath quicken. Why had she accepted to look for the woman in the first place? Why had she been looking for something that might ruin her?

She didn't get the chance to panic much further as Henry suddenly appeared in the kitchen and threw her a curious look. He was obviously wondering what was happening to her and she didn't want to worry him, so she managed a small smile and tried to speak in her calmest voice. "I'm just a little bit nervous, that's all."

"Don't be, mom. Everything is going to be fine." And to add to his words he went to hug her, wrapping his little arms around her middle. She quickly responded to the hug by wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her head on his and they stayed like that for a little while.

Feeling the love coming from her son seemed to calm her a bit. However it had the complete opposite effect on Henry.

Seeing his mother so nervous made him wonder if he had done the right choice. To be truthful he wasn't really sure of why he had gone looking for his birth mother. It hadn't even been a real plan of his before Mr. Gold told him that he might know of some ways to find her. It had merely been an idea that had been trotting in his head ever since his mother had told him about his adoption.

But what if his birth mother didn't like him? Or what if he didn't like her? It was possible after all. His mother had warned him that his birth mother's reasons for giving him away might be ones he wouldn't like. She didn't want to see him hurting, she had said. He had brushed it off, seeing it as one more tentative to go back on her decision. But what if she was right? What if this meeting would turn out to be a total disaster?

But before the both of them could let their nerves get the best of them, they heard the doorbell. There was no going back now. They had made their choice and they'd better stick with it. That's what Regina had always taught her son: never give up. Although she often wondered if sometimes she should not have given up some grudges she held. But then she remembered that in the end it had gotten her Henry.

They entangled themselves from the hug and Regina started taking strong strides towards the mansion's entrance, her determination back up again. She was Storybrooke's mayor, former Evil Queen, and she would be damned if she didn't appear as such. Henry followed her, fueled by her determination. If his mother could do this, then so could he.

That's in this state of mind that they both opened the door to find a fidgeting woman standing awkwardly on the other side. That she was beautiful was the first thought that crossed the brunette's mind before she could shake it off and focus on other considerations. For example, she noticed how similar to Henry her facial expressions were. It made it really easy for her to decipher the intense nervousness the blonde woman was sporting and she felt a little better for it.

Just like his mom, Henry also took his time in studying the woman before him. She was tall and blonde. Though the first thing he noticed was her red leather jacket, something he didn't see that often in Storybrooke. Surely something he wouldn't see his mother wearing either. She was… different. Different from all the other people in Storybrooke and he found that he quite liked it. Little did he know that his brunette mother had reached the same conclusion, although she wasn't quite so ready to admit it, still feeling a little bit threatened by the bond Henry might form with her.

Feeling a tad bit uncomfortable under the staring of both the mansion's inhabitants, Emma decided to break the silence. "Hi, I'm Emma."

A grin broke on Henry's face and he continued for her. "Emma Swan. 28 years old. Has been living in Boston for two years. Works as a bounty hunter."

Emma chuckled at the speed with which he recited all of this. This was definitely a weird way of being welcomed, especially for someone who didn't like people knowing anything about her. But the grin on the boy's face didn't make it threatening. It was actually kind of cute. "Yep, that's me. Though it's a little bit creepy that you know all of that and I don't know anything about you."

"Well, you do know that I'm Henry Mills since we wrote it in the mail. You know where I'm born and when, obviously. And you also know where I live since you're here."

"He is a smart kid, isn't he?" said Emma while turning to the silent brunette, curious to find out more about the woman standing next to her son. She was breathtaking, that was for sure. If Emma had known that small provincial towns like this one were hiding such beauties, she would have come here sooner. However her neat clothes -red blazer, white shirt opened up just low enough to suggest without showing, pencil skirt looking like it was molded on her, killer heels- were telling her that they did not play in the same category. This woman was class itself and Emma was just… Emma.

Regina startled at the interruption, having retreated to the back of her mind. She recovered quickly and put on a smile, one of her bright political ones, and extended her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke."

Emma shook the extended hand, not too surprised to find out that it was one of the softest hand she had ever touched. She met the mayor's deep brown eyes and almost got lost in it. But she wasn't here for that so she just shook these thoughts away and smiled. "I'm glad to finally meet you." That she had been imagining her ever since she gave Henry up for adoption was something she didn't dare to say. She didn't want to put too much pressure on the woman.

The small exchange was followed by an awkward silence which Regina eventually decided to break, being the perfect hostess that she was. "Maybe you could come inside. I cooked us lunch and I wouldn't want for it to get too cold."

It was all the invitation Emma needed to come into the house and sit at the table with her new-found son and his mother. The afternoon quickly went away, Henry being his curious self and making the discussion for everybody. Emma was thankful for it as she wouldn't really have known what to say otherwise, the situation being kind of strange, especially with the weird looks Regina was throwing at her. Apparently looking for Henry's birth mother hadn't been her idea.

But Emma had to admit that she was being very gracious about it. Sure, she wasn't welcoming her with open arms, but still, she was being polite and almost friendly. The job as a politician probably helped, Emma thought bitterly. She didn't know exactly why but she wanted this woman to like her, really like her, not just to pretend to.

Or maybe she knew why, after all her eyes were drifting a little too much to the brunette's cleavage.

When six o'clock came around, Henry started looking nervously at his watch and at his mother. Emma noticed the movement and wondered if she had maybe overstayed her welcome. They had only talked about having lunch together and here she was, imposing herself on a family that didn't need her. She would always be the third wheel anyway. With these thoughts on her mind she rose from the couch they had moved on to somewhere in the afternoon, and started looking for her jacket. "I'm sorry. It feels like you have some things to do and I have already been there for quite a while. I should go."

Henry was quick to get up and stop her though. "No, it's just that we usually go to this karaoke night on Friday. But it's okay, you should stay. We can miss it this time." He turned towards his mother then, suddenly thinking about something. "I mean, if it's okay with you, mom, of course."

Before Regina could hesitantly nod, Emma shook her head. "No, please, don't miss it. I wouldn't want to get in the way of your family traditions."

Emma couldn't help but notice the gratefulness in Regina's eyes. Apparently this karaoke night meant a lot to her and Emma could easily see that Henry canceling it to spend time with her instead could have hurt her very much.

But Henry wasn't so easily deterred. It took him only a few seconds of thinking before a big excited grin covered his face. "You could come with us. It's a lot of fun."

The blonde was about to protest some more, trying really hard to find some other excuse when in fact she really wanted to go, but Regina got up too and laid her hand on her forearm, effectively calming her. "He is right. You should come with us."

Emma was surprised by the way Regina seemed to really mean it. She would have thought that the brunette would do everything she could to get rid of her, but apparently Henry's excitement mattered more to her. Although she tried to rationalize it by thinking that if Henry didn't get to have her come with them, he wouldn't be so much fun during the night, and Regina probably wanted to avoid that, but she couldn't shake the thought that maybe Regina really wanted her there.

"Okay. Though I'm not much of a singer."

"You have to sing, Emma! Everybody sings!"

Henry's excitement was nice to see but Emma shook her head anyway. "Nobody will make me go in front of a lot of people and sing, not even you, kid."

And that's when Regina did something completely unexpected that had Emma almost drooling due to the sheer sexiness of it. She leaned towards her and smirked with her perfectly red-painted lips and spoke in a low tone that had Emma's stomach dropping. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Regina couldn't not notice the effect she just had on the blonde and she couldn't deny that she really liked it. She liked knowing that she could make everyone drop at her feet without doing much of anything at all. Her smirk only grew and she pressed her fingers under the blonde's chin. "You shouldn't keep your mouth open like that, dear, it's unbecoming."

The blonde promptly closed it, not even having realized that her jaw had dropped. Embarrassed, she swore to herself that she wouldn't get caught off guard like that ever again. Now that she knew that Regina wasn't as innocent as she seemed, she would know how to answer back next time. Nobody could outdo her, not even one very hot and sexy mayor.

Regina saw the change in the woman in front of her. Even if it was only the slight squaring of shoulders, the standing up a little straighter, she could tell that maybe this Emma character would be kind of interesting.

Henry looked at the exchange curiously but didn't really think anything of it. He was quick to snap them out of her thoughts though. "So, can we go?"

"Of course, Henry. Just grab your coat and put on your shoes." The words weren't even out that he was already running off somewhere, not wanting to miss the beginning of the weekly event. Regina went to the entryway, checking that Emma was following her, before grabbing the red leather jacket and handing it to Emma.

The blonde was quick to slip it on and noticed Regina's gaze directed at her. She raised an eyebrow in question, but Regina just shook her head. "It's an interesting choice of clothing."

"Is it your way of saying you don't like it?"

"No, just that it's interesting, that's all."

She turned to grab her coat and purse, and Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Madam Mayor."

Although she pretended not to have heard anything, Regina found that she rather liked the way her title rolled off the blonde's tongue. She wondered if her previous title of 'Your Majesty' would sound just as good but she didn't get much chance to think it over. Henry was already coming down the stairs and they were off to their usual bar for their traditional night of karaoke, all filled with a lot of expectations.

Emma was curious of hearing the mayor sing. With the exception of their last exchange, the mayor had seemed to be very uptight and she would never have pictured her as a karaoke addict. However she couldn't wait to hear what that sultry voice could do when singing.

As for Henry he was very happy about introducing his birth mother to one of his favorite family traditions. He wanted to include her in his family, at least for one day. For once he would not be the kid who only had one family relative, one who was feared by all the town.

And Regina was just intrigued by Emma. 28 years with the same people could be quite boring and she had the feeling that Emma was way more interesting than all of them. One night wouldn't hurt anyway.