Euphemia's eyes flew open and she jumped up in bed. She looked around the large room and realized she was perfectly safe in her own bed, in her own room, in the palace where she lived.
"It was just a dream." She told herself as she saw a sudden flash of light and heard a loud boom of thunder follow it. Euphie grabbed her teddy bear and was out of her bed, running down the hall to Cornelia's room before she could even hear the sound of the rain beating against the roof and walls of the palace.
"Cornelia-onee-chan..?" Euphie whimpered softly. The door was locked and Cornelia was obviously asleep. Euphie slumped down in front of the door, holding her teddy bear close and hugged her knees. She started crying softly. When she heard footsteps approaching fast she looked up and wiped her eyes.
"Euphie! There you are!" Lelouch said as he ran over next to her. He kneeled down beside her so that they were at eye-level with each other. "When I heard the thunder I figured I should go check on you but you weren't in your room so I got worried."
"Lelouch!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I had a bad dream and then I…I woke up and heard the thunder. So I-I ran here but Onee-chan's door is locked."
Lelouch hugged her back and helped her stand up. "Let's get back to bed, Euphie." He took her hand and began to lead her back to her room.
"What about Nunnally?"
"Nunnally's a heavy sleeper." Lelouch reminded her, smiling softly. "Besides, she's not afraid of thunder like you are. Now let's go."
Euphie followed him silently, but every time the thunder rumbled she would jump and hold onto his hand tighter. In return, Lelouch would tighten his grip lightly on her hand, reassuring her that everything was okay. They stopped at the door of her room.
"Here we are, Euphie. And I'm just down the hall, remember?"
Euphie nodded slightly and the thunder clapped again. Suddenly Lelouch found himself holding the pink-haired princess in his arms again. He whispered softly to her, "Shh, it's alright.."
"Oh, Lelouch, please…stay with me..just for tonight. I'm too frightened to sleep alone."
Lelouch sighed. "Well…I guess if it's just tonight…"
Euphie's eyes brightened and she smiled at her big brother. "Thank you, Lelouch!"
He couldn't help but smile at her as he opened the door and she led him inside the room.
A few hours later Cornelia woke up to the sound of thunder. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "A thunderstorm?" The she suddenly remembered: Euphie's afraid of thunder. She got out of bed and rushed to Euphie's room. When she got there she was surprised to see Lelouch holding the sleeping princess in his arms. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
"She just went back to sleep. She's been up almost all night." He told her. Cornelia didn't reply but just stood there staring at him. "She went to your room but your door was locked so I brought her here and she asked me to stay."
"I see…" Cornelia straightened her posture. "Thank you for finding her, Lelouch."
He smiled slightly at her and nodded while yawning. She smiled back and then smiled at her little sister. "Goodnight." She said and shut the door, going back to her own room.
Lelouch yawned again and looked at the sleeping little girl in front of him again. "Goodnight Euphie." He said and kissed her cheek. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep himself.