Prompt: Nightmare
Rating: K
Characters: Eugene and Rapunzel.

Small fingers grasped his arm and shook him awake. Eugene awoke startled, his russet eyes quickly moving to the brunette next to him. "Rapunzel, is everything okay?" He asked, immediately sitting up. Eugene wasn't used to her waking him up in the middle of the night, unless she was sick. It worried him.

Rapunzel quickly shook her head. "Nothing bad has happened. Everything's fine, Eugene. I just, uh, had a bad dream." She said, chewing on her lip as she looked at him. "I'm sorry I worried you."

Eugene relaxed a bit when she said she had just had a nightmare. Thank God. Although nightmares weren't a good subject either. Eugene had had his fair share of nightmares since his childhood, and he never really learned how to cope with them. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her soft body and pulled her closer. "It's okay."

Her bright green eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him. "It seemed so real." Rapunzel said, chewing on her puffy, pink bottom lip.

He thought for a moment. How to comfort her? "Why don't you tell me what the dream was about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe that'll get it off your mind and you can go back to sleep." Eugene offered. Of course, it was just a guess but it made sense, right? Plus, he was curious.

She nodded. Rapunzel took a deep breath and thought for a second. She was trying to regain her composure and make sure she was able to talk without breaking down. "You died." She said softly. Her fingers moved to his chest and began to trace the scar that was there. The scar from where Mother Gothel had stabbed him, from when she almost lost him. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. "And I couldn't save you this time. It..it was horrible, Eugene."

Eugene sighed. That was a bad dream. He didn't like her thinking of things like that. He knew it only made her upset. He almost didn't know how to respond. "Well, the good thing about that is it was a dream. You did save me. We're married. Things are perfect. Bad dreams happen, Punzie. But things are fine now. Right?" He asked, lifting her chin to look up at him.

Rapunzel nodded. "Right. You're right, Eugene." She said, wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. "It just felt so real."

"That's the bad thing about nightmares. They seem so real." Eugene said, stroking her hair. He wasn't going to tell her that he had heard of people dying from nightmares, which would really worry her. Of course, that was probably just talk, right? He wasn't going to work himself up over that.

Rapunzel nodded, nuzzling her face in his chiseled chest. Her eyes were heavy, but she didn't want to go back to sleep. She was scared the dream would return.

"You need to get some sleep, princess." Eugene said, kissing her forehead. "I'll be here. I'll protect you." He said. "I'll always protect you."

Rapunzel smiled and laid back, her fingers entwining with his. She felt a bit more comforted but not by much. That was until Eugene curled up next to her and held her close to his chest. They both fell asleep a bit easier after that, breathing in rhythm with each other and their hands entwined.

A/N: Am I the only one who finds it easier to write for Flynn than Rapunzel? Anyway, this is the start of a bunch of horribly short drabbles/oneshots! Hope you enjoy! (Seriously. There will probably be about 200 of these, AU or not.)

P.S. Does anyone have a good title suggestion for this collection? I'll credit you and such. I'm just a bit blank!