A/N: This chapter is how they met for the first time. I highly recommend that this story is slow-burn SwanQueen. Enjoy your new chapter.

Chapter 1

At the café in Manhattan, Emma sat down on her usual spot outside of the building where she can hear the people walking, chatting and laughing. She always brings her excellent crime book to read while she has her coffee time alone. In the afternoon, the blonde woman started to read her new crime novel, sipped her hot chocolate in the mug and ignored the noise behind her. The tables always went to be taken every time, she was there on her usual days while off-duty as the police officer. The book made her focus until she finally was halfway with her book.

The brunette woman finally arrived at the café, searched for the empty seat but found out that all seats were taken except on the blonde woman's table. She was determined to take a position with the blonde woman and walked toward her. Emma heard the voice in front of her. It was a brunette woman, who was in the pantsuit and brought her coffee and a laptop bag with her. Emma looked up at her and stared at her longer. Another woman smirked and spoke in a velvet voice.

"Is this seat taken? Other seats were taken. So, may I sit here if you mind?"

"Oh. No, the seat is available. You can sit."

"Thank you. What's your name?"

"Emma. Emma Swan."

"Regina Mills, it's nice to meet you and thank you for letting me sit here."

"No problem. And you too."

The women smiled sheepishly and went to return to their pleasures. Regina put her laptop out from her bag and opened it then typed in silence while the blonde woman returned to read her crime novel. The waitress brought the hot chocolate for Emma and left. The silence took over by a phone ringing from the blonde's bag. Emma was startled and apologized at the brunette woman who was looking away from her work. The blonde woman picked her phone from the pocket and answered in her military tone.

"Hello, This is Lieutenant Swan speaking."

"Hi, Ma! I've been contacting you few times. Finally, you answered me. So, can I come over to Kyle's house and work on our science project? I will be there at before 1830 hours."

"Oh, you can. Please call me if you need a pickup. Be good. Love you son."

"Love you Ma. I will see you at 1830 hours. Good day ma'am."

Emma smiled at her son's knowledge of the army time and hung up on the call then returned to her reading. Regina was listening to the conversation and working through the work until she opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry that I interrupted your reading and listening to your conversation. That's sweet of your son."

"Thank you." The blonde was out of the blue when Regina was interrupting her and nodded then looked down at her novel. The brunette woman looked away at her laptop, decided to take a break and continued.

"What is his name and how old is he? If you don't mind at all?"

"I don't mind at all, ma'am. My son is 12 years old and his name is Henry." Emma smiled sheepishly and replied.

"How unique of his name. I'm sorry about being nosy in your business and I heard the army time in that conversation between you two. So, you are in the military?" Regina was desiring knowledge of the being of Emma Swan. The blonde was touched by the conversation about the army and reminiscing the times in the military then spoke with her pride. The brunette woman noticed the glint in the emerald eyes and knew that the blonde was proud to be the part of the military then smiled widely.

"Yes, ma'am. I was. Now, I'm a lieutenant of NYPD."

"Wow, It's been an honor to serve our country and I thank you for serving your time in the army."

"Thank you ma'am." Emma nodded, looked down at the crime novel and heard the brunette woman's laughter and words.

"Oh, please, call me Regina. Don't call me ma'am. It made me feel old."

"I'm sorry, Regina." The blonde glanced up at her and nodded.

"It's ok." Regina waved her hand to be dismissed for the apology and continued. Emma thought of the fresh start by introducing themselves and erase the old conversation. She would like it if Regina tried it too and continued to speak.

"It looks like that way we haven't met formally. Don't we?"

"You're correct. Let me put my laptop away and start a new conversation. Will you like it?" The brunette woman thought about it, nodded and replied.

"It would be nice if we start it over and erase our old silence." The blonde lit up and smiled widely. Regina nodded, put her work away in the bag and cleared her throat. Emma closed her book and put it on the table. They smiled sheepishly and didn't know who to start the conversation, but Emma began to open it.

"Hello, my name is Emma Swan."

"Regina Mills. It's nice to meet you."

"So, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a CEO of The NY Arts Magazine."

"Oh. I read that magazine rarely. It was a good issue of March 2015."

"Thank you for being a magazine critic. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm in New York Police Department as Lieutenant Swan."

"Impressive. How long are you in NYPD?"

"5 years. But I was on a part-time police officer while I was on the waitlist to be enlisted. But now, I am a retired soldier and getting my life together with my son. What about you?"

"Well, I'm in NY Arts Magazine for 7 years after my master's degree in arts and culture degree plus journalism degree at NYU."

"What year were you in NYU?"

"I graduated in 2013."

"Damn. I graduated from NYU in 2013 too."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yes. I graduated in spring 2013 to complete my criminal justice degree. How was it possible to not see you on the campus?"

"It's impossible to catch me. To be honest, I'm a nerd in some ways." Regina winked at her. Emma laughed in a carefree way but in her body language, she's all guarded. The brunette woman studied her very well and smiled widely. The blonde woman spoke in a timid tone.

"It might be that. So, what made you decided to take these degrees?"

"In my growing up, I always loved watching the fashion shows, going to the art gallery and tastes of the diversity through the years with my family. To acknowledge yourself, I'm well-known in the arts and culture in my 20s while I was in undergraduate and worked through the fashion runways and wrote the articles about the fashion styles and culture. It worked through my years until, I decided to take these degrees. But my mother didn't accept my lifestyle and always wanted me to be a politician like my father. I'm sure that you knew my dad, Henry Mills."

"No way! Your dad is Henry Mills!?"

"Yes, dear."

"It's a weird coincidence. Let me tell you a story if you have a plenty of time to stay here before you go back to work."

Regina pressed her lips to be straight, looked down on her phone and checked on the schedule until she found out that she had no meeting for the rest of the afternoon. She decided to stay and spoke in a happy tone.

"No. I'm staying unless my assistant calls me for the emergency with work. I'm good. Now, continue with your story. By the way, where is our waitress?"

"I think she finished her shift and let me call for you." Emma smiled and looked away until she found the server who was cleaning on the table in three tables away from them and called her. Regina watched the interaction between the blonde woman and the waitress.

"Ruby!" The brunette with a streak red woman looked up and turned around to hear the blonde woman on three tables away then spoke in a waitress tone.

"Yea, Lt. Swan?"

"Mrs. Mills need a coffee. I think I have a honey lemon tea in a hot mug. Please."

"Sure no problem, Lt. Swan. I'm on it." She finally left to get their order. Emma looked away at the brunette woman and nodded.

"Thank you, Emma. So, how do you know Ruby well?" Regina said.

"I knew her since she took my son to be taken care while I was in the army." The blonde woman replied.

"Oh. That's sweet of her to do that. Your story?"

"Right. The story." They chuckled while Ruby brought their drinks then left. Emma looked away at the people who were walking past them and remembered the memories then opened her mouth.

"When I was 17, I had a baby boy and I was saved by a kind man who helped me and carry me to the hospital for my son's birth. I was in distress and scared. At this time, I was homeless and didn't know what to do. I decided to find a shelter and do on my own, but I was stuck on the streets. No one was there. Until I had the contractions and screamed into a rage. I was lying down in the middle of the road. Henry was driving at this time, almost hit me and pulled over on the side of the road. He came to me and helped me to get myself to the hospital. We did on our way to the nearest hospital. All he did was to stay with me until my baby boy was born in the world. I asked him for his name and decided to call my son, Henry. Because of him, he saved me and helped me to bring my son to this world. Finally, I was out and found out that he left after I fell asleep on my last night in the hospital. I didn't know where he was and I had to find him then tell him my thanks. But I moved on and got on with my life until I found Ruby in a small town in Maine."

"Wow. It's a coincidence. My father told me about that story before. He referred you as the blonde woman. I heard that story, but it was a different version." Regina said.

"I can't believe that your father was Henry Mills. I was familiar with your last name when you mentioned it."

"Well, I will tell him about you."

"Please do. Oh, tell him that I thanked him for saving me and my son."

"I will." They smiled, forgot about time and Ruby told them to close the café in few minutes. Regina gathered her things, stood up and paid her bill. Emma got her novel and bag then paid Ruby the bill and a hug. They parted their ways with a goodbye and didn't think about exchanging the numbers. They hoped that they would see each other again someday.

A/N: Don't forget to review! Chapter Two is in the works. My mind is on other stories to type away. Don't worry, I won't take this one down and just leave there until I post more chapters. See you then.