This is a story I wanted for a long time and I´m happy to write it now. It was originally a prompt I had for a writer but the writer asked me to write it myself so here we are now. Hope you all like it and please review!...

It had been a few days since she married King Leopold and she already felt how the darkness was tugging at her heart. All the young girl ever wanted was to be happy and free but now her life took a turn in the opposite direction. She was trapped unhappily locked inside the castle´s stone walls with her mother and the King constantly watching her. All hope was lost however she still felt love towards the girl who had ruined everything for her. She still felt sorry that the young princess had lost her mother and understood that Snow just wanted her to be her mother. Although she thought of herself more as a sister to her because of the very small age gap between them.

It was a warm spring day when the young princess sneaked into her stepmother´s room and watched the older girl brushing her almost foot long hair. It looked so soft and glossy so she stepped further into the large room to get a better view. She thought it to be the most beautiful hair in all the lands and wished her own her hair was like this.

,,Regina? May I brush your hair? It is so pretty," the child suddenly found herself asking. The young Queen just nodded at the girl and handed her the brush. Not seeing any harm in it she leaned back and enjoyed how her stepdaughter ran the brush gently and carefully through her thick brunette locks.

The strokes she made were as careful as could be seeing as she was afraid to hurt her new stepmother and also a bit nervous. She had never done this before.

Regina enjoyed every bit of it. It was that moment she had experienced so often in her life but it only held importance in it with Daniel. The boy often sneaked in her chambers at night and would brush her long hair for her. In these moments she had been truly happy however now this happiness was gone. Pain was everything she could feel now. Even Snow couldn´t take that pain away from her although she seemed to do her best to make her stepmother happy. But all was in vain.

,,I wish I could be as pretty as you." Regina heard the younger girl mumble in wonder. The princess looked up to her and all Regina could think of was revenge. She really tried her best to not let her anger show but it seemed to get more difficult every day.

Flashback:

The sun was setting and the young princess got ready for bed. Suddenly she heard a noise at her window and went over to see what it was. It was Daniel, the stable boy, her lover. He always sneaked his way into her bedroom when he was sure Cora wasn´t there to intrude. They shared a passionate kiss before they went to her vanity to brush her beautiful long brunette hair. It was never cut before and for that he was grateful. Her hair was the only thing she had control over. Everything else was controlled by her mother.

She could never leave the small castle without her permission. She was trapped and Daniel was the only freedom she had. The young boy stole her heart with one single glance at her and with her it was the same. She captured his heart with a quick flick of her long eyelashes and a whip of her long hair.

When he was finished they kissed again and took comfort in each other´s arms.

,,I love you." He whispered before climbing out of the window and vanishing into the night. It was all she needed. This was her Happy Ending and not even her mother could take that away from the brown eyed beauty.

,,You are, Snow. You are very pretty." She smiled at the girl and they both laughed. But unfortunately they weren´t alone. Cora was watching them with jealousy gleaming in her cold brown eyes. She knew what her daughter was thinking of and she needed to put an end to that. Seeing her never ending curls made her even more angry. She always hated her daughter´s hair and now it was just enough. She had endured this long enough. It was time to get rid of every good memory her daughter had left of her beloved Daniel. She needed to make a move. And she needed to do it quickly.

It was night when the old witch sneaked into her daughter´s chamber and watched her sleeping for a moment. She looked at the long curls the girl seemed to love so much and snapped. Extending her hand she stroked it roughly and instantly woke the girl.

Regina flinched at seeing her mother only inches away from her and knew this wasn´t a good sign. To say she was scared was an understatement. Her mother always unnerved her to the core but this was just plain creepy. Seeing her standing over her so tall and strong made her feel weak.

,,Hello, darling." The older brunette greeted her with a smirk etching her aging features. Regina was very nervous. She knew this wasn´t going to be good. Something just didn´t feel right about her mother.

,,Mo-Mother?!" the young girl stammered nervously and sat up. ,,What are you doing here this late?" she asked. Cora just smirked at her and took something out of her pocket. It was a big pair of scissors.

Immediately Regina want to run but Cora grabbed her hair and she fell onto the cold stone floor. As Cora kneeled down with her she thought about pushing her but decided against it since her mother was far to strong for her. Unlike her mother who was tall and big she was tiny, small and thin. She stood no chance against the older woman.

,,Mama, please! I´ll be good I promise. Just please don´t do this. Don´t cut my hair!" she cried but Cora couldn´t care less. Her daughter always got away without a haircut but now there was no escaping the scissors.

,,Because this dirty stable boy loved it so much? Because he loved it you shouldn´t have this. This time it will go my way, missy." With that she picked up the scissor and began to cut through the long rope of hair. There was no stopping the flood of tears now. Her hair was always there. It had never been cut and now it would be gone forever. Her mother would make sure of that. Not even her father could help her now. She was all alone.

More and more hair fell and her body was raging with violent sobs. This was her life now. A life without control. A life where her mother held all the power.

As the last curls fell to the floor Regina´s hair was so terribly short. It was barely touching her ears. Crying, the girl threw herself onto the floor, where her hair was now lying, and cried her eyes out.

With that Cora disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, leaving the weeping girl in her misery.

,,Regina?" she suddenly heard and looked up to see Snow standing in the doorway. ,,What did she do to you?" she asked stepping further into the room. This brought even more tears to her sad brown eyes. The young princess saw this and went over to hug her tightly.

,,How long did you stand there? How much did you see?" Regina questioned sobbing.

,,I saw everything. I couldn´t sleep so I came here to ask if I could sleep with you tonight. Why did she do that?" the small girl responded worriedly and hugged the older girl even tighter.

,,I don´t know, Snow. She just always seemed to hate my hair. Come on. You can sleep with me tonight, sweetheart." The young Queen said before standing up and leading the girl over to her big queen sized bed. Drabbing the covers over both of them. However she never got any sleep that night. Seeing her hair lying lifeless on the floor showed her what happiness and love would get her in the end. Her mother was right. Love was weakness!

This was the first chapter! Hope you all liked it and please don´t forget to review! This is a two shot and chapter two will hopefully follow suit.