Guardians Rising

3: Dreams of Fear

'Rapunzel rushed over to him, "Rapunzel," he said weakly, "Wait," he coughed. She smiled sadly, tears running down her cheeks. He pushed her hair back. . . and cut her golden locks with the mirror shard.

"Eugene! Wha-"

"No!" '

Rapunzel sat up, breathing hard and wide-eyed with shock and fright. The small living room was darker than when she had fallen asleep, and moonlight crept through the glass doors, accenting the faint light from the fireplace.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene asked. The dim light from the dying fire cast soft shadows on his face, creating a romantic light, but concern was etched on his face. Rapunzel shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt cold, and the nightmares were still hovering on the edge of her mind.

"It- it was- just a dream," she said shakily. "I'm okay now." Eugene looked unconvinced, so Rapunzel smiled to reassure him. Not that it worked. He knew her too well for that.

"It was that dream again, wasn't it?" he asked. "Gothel?"

Rapunzel sighed. "Yes. It keeps coming back and I don't know why." He put down his mug of tea and came over to her.

"It's okay, Punzie," he said, and hugged her tightly. She couldn't help it; tears came pouring down her cheeks and sobs racked her so she could hardly speak.

"I- I can't help it," she sobbed. "It's been a year, and still I can't forget it!" She gazed at him imploringly. "I- I-"

"Hey," he said, pulling away from her and pushing her hair out of her face. "It's okay," he repeated. He was so calming, and she almost found it unbelievable that she hadn't known him until a year ago. He smiled, and she smiled back. A real smile this time. The fire was nearly ashes now, and moonlight was prominent in the room.

"Well," she said, and brushed the tears from her eyes. "I guess we should go to bed. It's kinda late."

Eugene gave her a look. It said, "Late? I think it's almost midnight."

Rapunzel giggled. "Okay, okay, so it's very late."

They rose. "Ow," Rapunzel grunted as she found that her legs had fallen asleep.

"Here, allow me," Eugene swept her up and carried her.

"Eugene!" she exclaimed. "This is-"

"What?" he said with mock ignorance. "I'm just taking you to our room. What's wrong with that?"

"Well . . oh, fine." He grinned roguishly as she relaxed in his arms. He carried her all the way down the moonlit halls to their room, and deposited her on the bed, then climbed in next to her.

"Goodnight," she murmured.

The moon shone brightly on her face as her eyelids grew heavy, and the wind glided through the drapes like a ghost. A whisper formed on the breeze.

"Whooo-whoooo!"

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