I thank my friend BetteBealsFan for her trust. I am honored that she asked me to translate her story.
The whole story belongs to her, I'm only her beta and her translator.

Chapter 1:

Emma crossed the street with a blank stare, wondering why nothing had worked as expected.

It had been a week now that her son was in a coma, or rather under the spell of this mayor who is also a witch, the person she was avoiding to see now. Emma did not understand, she had kissed her son on the forehead with so much love and hope, but the wave of magic that passed through them only awakened the memory of the inhabitants of Storybrooke, her son still alive but inanimate.

The blonde wanted to rush over Regina to strangle her and finally see her give her last breath, but her pain was so weighty that she just froze near her son's hospital bed, like locked in a bubble. The world around her no longer mattered.

Regina leaned back on one of the chairs and cried like never before. She did not have as much time as Emma to assimilate what had happened. When her eyes rose in the direction of Dr. Whales, she knew … The other doctors and nurses circled her. She sharply understood that it was time for her to hide.

Back to reality, Emma was torn from her thoughts by Ruby, who placed the glass she had ordered in front of her. The wolf gave her a warm and concerned smile without daring to express herself. The blonde returned her smile, relieved to have a refuge as warm as Granny's. Without really trying to listen carefully, she still heard the conversation from the table behind her. She caught the words 'death', 'pain' and 'evil queen' within the same sentence. Among the voices, she quickly recognized three of the seven dwarves as well as Jefferson, there is also another person whom she can't identify.

For a moment, she wanted to join them, to just tell them that she would be happy to help them with their task and that their Queen should suffer as long as possible for torturing so many people in such a short time – a short time for her, but she suddenly remembers that this is not the case for the inhabitants of this town, who were stuck in a different space-time continuum and condemned to relive the same day again and again for 28 years – to the delight of an embittered and vicious woman.

Regina would regret it, for sure, but not like this … Emma had seen the mayor burst into tears when she saw that Henry was not waking up and Emma knew that guilt would surely be the most painful of prisons.

Emma turned on her stool to face the group of plotters. They had obviously not noticed that the Sheriff of the city was right next to them. They examined her with a look of anger and understanding and they listened carefully when Emma opened her mouth.

"Guys … I know how easy and how jubilant it would be to go find the Mayor to make her pay for all this mess …" Emma lowered her head, triturating her fingers she had often dreamed tighten around Regina's neck. "But we are not like that, we can't kill and lower ourselves to her level. She will have to pay for her actions, but not like that."

She raised her head to appreciate the attentive listening of her audit and was interrupted by Grumpy who has his teeth clenched and ready to stand up to fight.

"Listen Emma, I know what you're going through … in fact no, I can only imagine, but you know as much as we do that the Queen will never be judged here, your laws certainly don't include this kind of situation. So let's find her together and end her reign now!"

His companions got up together, noisily approving their friend's speech. Emma sighed, she understood their fury. She got up too and put a hand on the angry dwarf's shoulder.

"Indeed. You can only imagine what I'm going through, but I do experience it. I can feel exactly what Regina is feeling right now. Furthermore, I didn't raise Henry, she did. She made a lot of mistakes, but I know very well that at this moment she is even more miserable than you could wish."

As Emma looked up at the other members of the group, they tried again with a sad and frustrated face. She speaks again just before leaving the diner without looking back.

"You're better than that."

In the Mayor's office, Regina was sitting at her desk, stroking a picture of Henry with her fingertips. She should never have waged war on Emma, or rather, Emma should never have resisted her! She was convinced that nothing would have happened if this damn blonde had not appeared in their lives. Now she was stuck in the town hall and the street was full of people who wanted her death. Fortunately, her office had a shower room and she always had some spare clothes here. She wanted to be with Henry in the hospital more than anything, if only she was sure of going out herself.

Regina was suddenly startled by a presence in the room, the Sheriff stood in front of her. Emma was staring at her and the frame the mayor was still holding in her left hand. The brunette was suddenly worried that this woman would be the last person she would see, but the blonde stepped forward slowly and searched for her words as well as a way of speaking that was neither aggressive nor desperate.

"You're not safe in this town, but you can't run away." Regina hung on Emma's every word and waited to see what would fall on her. "I have an offer to make …" The blonde stepped forward until her hands were laid flat on the big desk, then stared intently at the brunette. "Save Henry with me and I will protect you from the inhabitants of this city."

While waiting for a response from Regina, she remained convinced that their collaboration would be the key. After taking over an air of composure, Regina finally expresses herself.

"I'm not sure you can do anything to protect me, Miss Swan, and there is nothing that can save Henry now … I know this spell and …"

Emma cuts her off and rolls her eyes.

"Yes. I do know. It takes a true love kiss to break such a curse and we tried, but nothing changed … That's why you refuse to save our son?"

Regina was destabilized by Emma's choice of words, the blonde was sure that the Mayor would not fail to remind her that Henry was her son. However, no complaint came out of the mouth of the brunette, just a sigh and then an answer.

"I never said that I refused your offer, simply that you will not be able to protect me from all the persons of this city who want my death. They will surely get their way."

This is the first time that I translate from French to English for another author than myself. English is not my first language so be lenient with me please.
Do not hesitate to tell me if there are any errors. I accept all the criticisms concerning the translation, they will allow me to improve myself.
I just want this story to be as readable as possible.