Innocence (OUAT/Peter Pan)

Chapter 12: Bad Dreams

She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she jerked awake and flung her arm out. Hair blazing, eyes wide and breathing fast, she thrashed and whimpered, reaching out and meeting empty air. No, she really was back. She'd dreamt them all up, the boys, Neverland, Peter Pan, Felix, it was all a dream after all. She was alone in her tower room, helpless and imprisoned. She had never left. Never been anything else but imprisoned.

            Then warm fingers wrapped around hers. Panicked, she leaned into them, needing the contact to prove she wasn't alone. She didn't realize she was on a bed, and fell. Right onto a very flat, very hard surface. But it was softer and warmer than a stone floor, so she twisted her fingers into the hand and put her head down, tears of relief falling down her face as she kissed the floor that wasn't stone.

            "Princess?" a voice thick with sleep called out from above her head. She inhaled sharply and tilted her head up, her cheek and hair rubbing against the surface. This made her ear press against it, and then she heard the heartbeat. Of the chest, not just a different floor.

            "Sorry, Felix, you weren't there," she mumbled, knowing he would understand. She curled her legs-which had landed on the forest floor- closer to her chest. Aware and awake completely, she realized only her own head and chest had fallen on him, the rest of her hitting the ground. One of her elbows supported a bit of her weight on one side of Felix, the other was stretched out to hold his hand.

            "I'm not Felix," the voice sighed, still mostly asleep. She stiffened. The arm not holding her hand snaked up and around her back, but she didn't move for fear of waking this person up more. With them so tired and unaware, she could escape or fight that much easier.

            "Where's Felix, then?" she asked, her voice low.

            "In his tent," the voice mumbled, though it went higher at the end as if questioning.

            "Then where are we?" she continued, still and calm. She tried to look around, but the angle of her head showed only the side of the bed she'd fallen from. It was made of the same cloth and nature, like Felix's.

            "My tent. Now why are you awake and asking this?" the voice whined. Then, the body under her stiffened and she could see the outline of a head-that was not Felix's-shoot up, the shoulders now elevated and the elbows back to prop the person up. "Do you remember where you are? Who you are? What happened?" The hand holding hers tightened. "Answer me."

            "I thought so, but I'm not in Felix's tent and you're not Felix. I remember who I am, I am Princess Ra-," she snapped her mouth shut. She'd almost said it, she herself. But she remembered what had happened. It didn't matter now. "Princess," she took a deep breath, and literally forced it out, "Rapunzel."

            "So that's your name..." he-she'd decided from the shape, head, and voice, that the person was male-drifted, his voice thick with...well, it didn't really sound like sleep anymore. "It's me, Peter. You fell asleep on my bed and I didn't want to move you, you needed rest," he said.

            "Oh," she sighed, her body relaxing. She shifted her head so it was more centered on him and turning so her face was mostly-hidden in his chest.

            "Getting comfortable?" she could hear the smirk in his voice. She just hummed.

            "You're warm," she said weakly, knowing it wasn't much of a dignified argument. She didn't care. She felt drained from the day and her recurring nightmares. Peter was comfortable and a comforting presence, and she needed something solid to hold onto at the moment when she was being ripped away from everything else. Her fingers subconsciously tightened and she shook slightly.

            Peter's arm around her back left, only to return with a blanket. "Hey, it's ok. What's wrong?" he whispered nervously. "Why are you awake?"

            "I always wake up," she mumbled, not looking up. "I keep dreaming that I'm back there, and this was a dream. I wake up, and Felix grabs my hand, so I know that I'm, I'm here, and," she trailed. She didn't like admitting it, she felt weak.

            "You're scared of being imprisoned again," he finished. She nodded against him, keeping her head tilted towards her feet. "Don't worry, we won't let that open. You're here, forever, like the rest of your brothers," he chuckled at the line he sometimes used as more of a threat.

            She looked up at him and smiled, then yawned. "Thank you," she mumbled, falling back asleep. Peter opened his mouth to remind her to get back into bed, then shrugged and went back to sleep himself.

About three hours away from dawn, she woke up gasping again. She made to reach out for Felix as usual, but a hand was already wrapped around hers. Her head tilted to see Peter sleeping under her, his heart beating against her cheek. His arm tightened around her and he groaned as he began to wake up from her movement.

            "Shh, sleep," she whispered. He relaxed and sighed, both of them falling back asleep immediately.