Storybrooke, two years ago...
Rosalie had enough. She couldn't stay in town with her overprotective mother any longer. She had to leave in order to finally be free and happy with her boyfriend Alex. So today was the day. Her mother was in a council meeting so this would be the perfect time. She had packed a small suitcase with her most important belongings and money from her grandpa Henry. There was just one more thing to do.
The young blonde quietly went to her brother's room and opened the door carefully. Her little brother Henry was fast asleep so she quietly walked over to his dresser and left a letter there for him. Hopefully Henry would understand that she had no other choice but to leave.
She watched him sleeping for a moment before she left the room again. She grabbed her suitcase and back pack and made her way over to the staircase and walked down just as her mother came home. Rosalie gasped as she saw her. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Her mother wasn't supposed to come home until much later.
Regina frowned when she arrived home and saw the light was on in the foyer. She walked in and shoke her head as she saw Rosalie. She placed her keys on the counter and crossed her arms, giving her daughter a glare. "Where do you think you're going?" She demanded and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her young daughter.
Taking a deep breath, Rosalie got enough courage to step towards her mother and glare back at her. "I'm getting out of here. I'm leaving and there is nothing you can do about it." She spat out and also crossed her arms.
Regina chuckled, though it wasn't funny at all. It was quite frustrating that she had to deal with this again. She thought she had done everything in her power to keep her daughter away from that boy but aparently she had been mistaken. She shoke her head and looked into her Rosalie's brown eyes. "Rosalie, I know things between us haven't been easy lately but we can fix this. Where would you go? You are sixteen. You need your family. You have no home, no money, no means to get a job if you leave." She reminded the blonde and hoped she would see reason.
"I have money and I can finish school anywhere else. I don't need you, Mother. So please let me go." The young girl told her and tried to get past her but Regina grabbed her arm.
"No! You are not leaving. Go back to your room. You are sixteen, Rosalie. You need to listen to me." Regina pointed out harshly but gasped as Rosalie managed to get out of her grip. She couldn't let this happen again. She couldn't lose her baby girl again. Not when the curse had been done just to get her back.
"Just try and stop me." Rosalie pointed out and chuckled. She knew her mother couldn't stop her now. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She needed to stay strong and stand her ground.
Henry had woken up from the noises and quietly walked to the staircase and listened to what was going on in the foyer.
Regina couldn't believe this. She was beginning to get furious. The brunette tried to control it but then her anger got the better of her. She looked around and spotted a pair of scissors. She quickly grabbed Rosalie's long blonde hair and dragged her over to the pair of scissors. She grabbed it and began to cut her hair off. She wasn't thinking straight. She saw red in that moment. Blinded by rage she cut her daughter's hair off.
Rosalie struggled and cried out as she saw the scissors but as soon as her hair was cut she was free from her mother's grip and used that opportunity to grab her suitcase and ran out.
Henry was shocked when he saw what happened but he couldn't let his mother see him so he went to his room and got into bed again. He began to cry as he realized that his sister had left.
Regina was in shock as she realized what she had done. The mayor tried to run after her daughter but it was too late. The last she saw of Rosalie was her getting into that boy's blue pick up truck and driving off. She had lost her daughter once more.
She walked back inside and stared at the hair that was laying on the ground. Sighing, she went to find a bag and put the hair in it and stored it away in Rosalie's room before she sat down on Rosalie's bed and burst into tears.
Meanwhile on the way out of town, Alex looked over to his girlfriend worriedly. "Are you okay? Are you sure we want this?" He asked her as he knew she was clearly not okay but they had to leave. There was no other way for them to be together and for Rosalie to be one hundred percent save. They couldn't stay in Storybrooke. It just wasn't a save place anymore.
Rosalie was still on an adrenalin rush from what happened. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she realized what had just happened. She ran a hand through her hair which only reached to her shoulders now. It was most likely a mess. "I will be okay. And we need to do this. We need to leave." She reassured him as they crossed the town line and began their journey to freedom.
Graham had come to the mansion after he had gotten a frantic call from Regina. Something happened and he needed to make sure that everyone was alright. He opened the door with his spare key and entered, going upstairs in search for Regina. "Regina?" He asked and began to look around for her.
"In Rosalie's room" Regina said when she heard Graham, her voice cracking slightly from crying. She was still in shock over what had happened. Her daughter was gone.
Graham heard Regina and went to Rosalie's room and frowned as he saw Regina sitting on the bed and crying, holding something that looked like Rosalie's hair in her hands. "What happened? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly as he walked over to her. He gently took her hands and bend down to her level to look into her eyes.
The brunette sighed deeply. "Rosalie is gone." She said through sobs and threw herself into his arms, crying into his shoulder. She couldn't believe this had happened. She had been so careful this time in protecting her daughter and still she lost her.
"What do you mean gone? Tell me what happened." He asked her and made her look at him. He thought the worst in that moment. Could Rosalie be hurt?
"She ran away with that boy. I lost her, Graham. We had a fight and she ran off with him. She got into his car and they took off. I don't know where she is." She explained to him and tried to stay calm but it was hard. "I was so angry with her that I cut her hair and she ran." She added softly and gestured to the bag of hair. She felt terrible.
The sheriff sighed. It wasn't surprising that Rosalie and Regina were fighting again as that ocured quite often lately but that Rosalie actually ran away worried him deeply. Rosalie was like a daughter to him since he had basically raised her together with Regina. He tried to stay calm so Regina wouldn't freak out even more. "Alright. I'm sure it will be fine. Rosalie is a smart girl. She wouldn't have left town. I'm sure she is just with Alex to clear her head. She'll surely return soon. If not, I'll put together a search party. We will find her, don't worry." He reassured her as he was sure that Rosalie and Alex were still in town. Little did he know that Rosalie and Alex were already far away from Storybrooke.
Storybrooke, present day:
It was a cold winter morning in the small and sleepy town of Storybrooke. The sun was shining and the weather was nice though the temperatures had dropped drastically over the last few days.
For Sheriff Emma Swan it was just a normal day. During her break she went to the diner and sighed as she entered and saw Henry sitting in one of the booths on his own, reading in his fairytale book. She walked over to her son and sat down across from him, looking down to his book to see which story he might be reading. "Hey, kiddo. Shouldn't you be in school?" She asked him, shaking him out of his thoughts.
Henry shook his head and smiled as he looked up at Emma. "No, it's vacation, Emma. It's almost Christmas." He reminded her and chuckled slightly.
"Oh, yeah, right. What are you reading?" She asked, deciding to play along with his fantasy for once.
Henry's eyes lid up as he heard this. It was nice that Emma showed interest in his believes. But then he sighed a bit saddend. "I'm reading Rapunzel's story. She is my sister." He explained to her and showed him a picture of Rapunzel in the book.
The blonde looked at the picture and frowned. She had no idea Henry had a sister. No one had told her so far. "Sister? You have a sister?" She asked surprised. Now she was really interested in that story.
"Yes. Her name is Rosalie. She ran away with her boyfriend two years ago after a fight with my mom. She was always unhappy the last few months she was here in Storybrooke. Mom and her were fighting a lot." He explained sadly. He missed Rosalie a lot and wished she hadn't run away.
The blonde listened carefully to him and felt bad as she heard this. He really seemed to miss her. She was also intriuged by the story since no one had mentioned Rosalie before. She needed to know more. "And you think she is Rapunzel?" The young blonde questioned as she looked at his book. Maybe through his fantasy she would find out more.
"Yes. Rapunzel is the Evil Queen's daughter. Snow White's sister. The Evil Queen cast the curse to keep her and the prince apart and to get revenge on Snow White." He explained but still didn't cheer up. He missed Rosalie so much. "I really miss her. My mom misses her too. She doesn't want to show it but I can tell that she is sad too. Especially around Christmas. I sometimes hear her go in Rosalie's room to cry." He told his biological mother. Regina probably didn't want anyone to know about this but he couldn't help it. He needed to get it out.
Emma didn't think Regina was the type to cry about this but then again it was her daughter so she guessed it made sense. "I'm sorry, Henry. Maybe I could help. I could try and find Rosalie for you." She suggested to him as she got the idea to find Rosalie. Finding people used to be her job after all.
"You would really do that for me?" Henry asked, getting excited. He missed his sister so much and really wanted her to come back.
Emma nodded. She could tell it meant a lot to him and it might make things between Regina and her easier if she found her daughter for her. "Yes, Henry. But it won't be easy. I'll try my best though. Do you know if she had any friends here in town?" She questioned, wanting to know more about Rosalie and her life in Storybrooke to maybe get some clue as to where she could have gone with her boyfriend.
Henry thought about it and nodded as he remembered. "She didn't have many friends. My mom was very protective of her and barely let her leave the house. Her best friend was Ruby. She was also really close with Graham. He was like a father figure for her. And she had some sessions with Archie. I don't know why though." He explained to her. He didn't remember if she had contact with other people though.
Emma listened to him and took some notes. She wondered why no one had ever mentioned Rosalie before. "Alright. I will talk to Ruby and Archie then. But first I need to talk to your mom." The blonde answered. "Is she in her office right now or at home?" She asked since it was already afternoon and Regina might be home by now but she couldn't be sure.
"She should be home now. Let's go." He said and closed his book before putting it in his back pack and leaving the diner with her.
They walked the short distance to the mansion and Henry opened the door. "Mom! I'm home!" He called out and kicked his shoes off before running upstairs to his room, leaving Emma in the foyer.
Regina came out of her study as she heard Henry and sighed when he immediatly ran to his room without saying hi. It hurt her but then she saw Emma and quickly put on her poker face. What could Emma want from her? "Ms. Swan, what are you doing here?" She asked and raised an eyebrow at her.
Emma looked at Regina. "I...Henry told me about his sister. Can we talk?" She asked curiously and looked around, noticing for the first time the photos of Rosalie all around the place.
This made Regina put her walls up even more. Rosalie was her daughter. Hers and hers alone and it wasn't Emma's business to talk about her. "I don't see why we would need to talk about my daughter. Last time I checked I actually gave birth to that one so it's none of your business." She shot back and crossed her arms. She wouldn't lay out all her family drama in front of Emma.
Emma knew Regina was putting up her walls so she wouldn't see her true feelings but Emma saw right through her. She could tell it hurt Regina a lot. "It makes Henry sad that she isn't here. He misses her and therefore he told me. Finding people was my job before I came here. I could help you. But for that I need more information." The sheriff explained calmly and hoped Regina would agree to talk to her.
The mayor sighed. She wanted her daughter back and maybe Emma was right and she could find her. That small beacon of hope made her soften up slightly. "You...you would do that for me?" She asked surprised. Even if Emma didn't find her daughter it would buy her time to get Emma out of town so this seemed like a good idea.
"Yeah. So can we talk?" She asked and when Regina nodded they walked into the study and sat down.
Emma looked around some more and picked up a framed photo that was on the table next to her and studied it. It was a photo of Henry and Rosalie she assumed since the girl looked just like Regina, only blonde. It was crazy that she had noticed all of these photos before. "Is that her?" She asked Regina and looked up to meet Regina's eyes again.
"Yes. That's Rosalie. She was around 14 when that was taken." Regina explained and sighed as she thought about her daughter and the good times they had. She still didn't understand where she went wrong.
Emma nodded and put the picture down. "So Henry told me Rosalie and you were fighting a lot." She said and looked at the brunette, starting her questions in order to get to know Rosalie better so she might get an understanding of why she ran away and where she could be.
The mayor sighed. She got up and walked over to the bar and poured herself a drink. She felt like she needed one before she would get the courage to talk about all of that. She sat back down and took a sip. "Well, Rosalie was a very sweet child. But things took a turn when she became a teenager. She wanted more freedom. I was afraid she would get hurt. I didn't want her to drift away from me so I kept her as close as possible even if she hated me for it. She wanted to rebel, do stuff other kids her age did but I never let her. And then she met that boy. She was spiraling out of control so I had to get her away from him but she didn't listen. One day when I got home late from a council meeting I caught her trying to run away. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me. She kept saying that I didn't understand her and that she needed to get away." She explained to the blonde. She didn't want to get too much into detail about the mishaps in their relationship as she felt like that wasn't any of Emma's business.
Emma thought that the story seemed like a normal story about a rebelious teen at first but something seemed off. Regina wasn't telling her all of it, that was for sure. She would have to get more information elsewhere. "I'm sorry, Regina. That must have been hard for you. Did Rosalie have any friends or other people she was close to? Maybe someone knows something." The blonde asked and sat up straight again. She wanted to appear proffessional but it wasn't easy around Regina.
Regina rolled her eyes slightly at the sheriff. She wished she had been the only person her daughter was close to well and Henry of course but sadly that wasn't the case. "Well, she didn't have many friends but she was friends with Ruby Lucas. I never wanted them to hang out because I think Ruby is a bad influence but of course my daughter didn't listen to me. She was also close with Graham, she saw him as her father. And well Mrs. Lucas watched her from time to time when Graham and I were busy." She explained to her and hoped that was all the information she needed.
Emma was surprised. Graham had never mentioned Rosalie and neither had Ruby. It was almost as if they had forgotten about her. "Alright. Thank you, Regina. I will start with my search and I'll inform you if I find anything." She said and got up. She knew for Regina it wasn't easy to put her trust in her and she wouldn't disappoint her and Henry.
"Alright, Ms. Swan. Thank you." It was strange for Regina to say thank you to Emma but she did mean it. She was very grateful that Emma was willing to search for Rosalie. She showed Emma out and then made her way up the stairs to Rosalie's room. She sat down on her daughter's bed and hugged one of the pillows as tears gathered in her eyes. She really hoped Emma would be successful.