Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Walking Dead.

Aurora's Fire

Chapter 1

Daryl Dixon was halfway up the watch tower when he heard the snap of a tree branch from down below. He startled but didn't flinch and only gripped the rungs tighter. He looked down to see a freckled red head with blue eyes staring up at him. He sighed heavily and frowned.

"Whaddya want?"

"Daryl Dixon, you know you're not supposed to be climbing the watch tower! Your brother'll have your hide!"

"Don't care what he thinks," Daryl snorted. "He ain't the boss of me."

"Technically, he is. He's eighteen, and he's your guardian, so…"

"So? He still ain't the boss of me." He turned back to the ladder, tip of his tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth, and he continued to climb, while eight-year-old Carol Mason watched from below. He knew what would happen next, and he smirked when he heard the creak down below, as Carol began to climb. "Careful. Best not fall."

"I won't fall."

"Well, if you do, it's yer own fault, and I ain't gonna feel a bit sorry for you." Daryl pulled himself up into the empty watch tower, long ago abandoned for newer, better-equipped towers. Daryl spent a lot of time there, reading and watching and longing for the day he was old enough to not have to be under his older brother's thumb.

He heard Carol grunt as she struggled up those last few rungs, and he sighed, extending his arm out and waiting for her to grip it. When she did, he helped pull her up, and she huffed, red-faced as he helped her in, and they collapsed side by side on the floor.

"You stink at trackin', you know that?" Daryl grumbled.

"I wasn't tracking you," she pointed out, folding her arms. "And one day, Daryl Dixon, you'll be glad I followed you. You're always getting into some kind of trouble, and you're gonna need help one of these days."

"Don't need no help. Do just fine on my own. 'Sides, you're just a girl."

"You're just a boy," she shot back. Daryl glared at her for a minute before sitting up and moving to the window. Carol followed and knelt by the window with him. They were silent then, looking out at the orange and pink sky as the sun began to set in the valley.

"Almost looks like a, whaddya call em? Aurora," Daryl said slowly, squinting into the sunlight. If there was one thing Daryl was fascinated by, it was by the collection of old school books in the town library, printed years before he was born, years before the world was overtaken by the dead.

"I don't think that's what that is," Carol pointed out. "Not like the one that happens in the desert."

"That's why I said almost," he shot back. Carol sighed then, and she was still for a moment. Daryl finally opened his mouth again, and his shoulders slumped. "He's leavin' tomorrow."

"I know," she murmured. "Daddy told me. But they'll be together. My daddy won't let anything happen to your brother. You'll see. And…and if something does happen? If the monsters get him? Well, you've got me."

"What about you?" he huffed, fighting off the hot feeling in his cheeks and the sting of tears in his eyes at the prospect of never seeing his jerk-face brother ever again. He might have been a jerk-face, but he was still Merle. And Merle was all he had.

"I'm your friend, Daryl. I'll protect you."

"Pfft. Don't need no girl to take care'a me," he muttered. But he didn't shrug her hand off, when she put it over his. "You should go back. Your mama will be lookin' for you."

"I'll leave when you leave." Daryl sighed heavily and glared at her again, but there was no use in arguing with her. She was about as stubborn as he was, and you couldn't tell that girl anything.

"Let's just stay a little while," he finally said with a nod. "Alright?"

"Alright," she replied. She reached into the little pack she constantly carried over her shoulder. "You eat today?"

"Sure," he replied grimly.

"You're lying."

"So?"

"Here." She shoved a cloth at him, and he opened it up to see two cookies inside.

"Well, what about you?" he asked.

"Mama made more. I can have one later." Daryl looked down at the cookies in his hand and then back up at Carol. With a sigh, he handed her one.

"We'll share." Her face lit up, and she smiled, accepting the cookie from him. "Ain't so hungry, anyway." She knew he was lying, but she wouldn't dare call him out on it. Not when she'd finally got him to start talking to her. Daryl Dixon had been the boy that her mother had warned her about. He didn't have friends. He didn't talk to anyone but Merle. Until she came along, anyway.

Instead, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He groaned, brushing his hand over the spot her lips had touched.

"Gross," he mumbled. She blushed and took a big bite of cookie, and then they both turned their gazes back to the window and watched the sun continue to set as the valley became shadowed in darkness.

...

TWELVE YEARS LATER

"Dixon! Hey! Dixon!" Daryl shot up with a start, throwing off the blanket as he rolled over the creaky floorboards of the old watch tower. He grunted, rubbing his eyes in the morning light and sticking his head out the door to see Rick Grimes, the young man training with the sheriff, Hershel Greene.

"Whaddya want?" Daryl shot down, wincing as the sun glinted off of Rick's pistol and right into his eyes.

"You remember what today is, right?"

"Fuck if I remember what my last name is most days," Daryl grumbled, grabbing his crossbow and pack before starting down the rickety old ladder. When his feet were firmly planted on the ground, Rick gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"Huntin' season."

"'Course I remember," Daryl lied.

"C'mon, brother. What's gotten into you? You're usually up before the rest of the town when hunting season starts."

"Nothin'. Just tired is all."

"Wouldn't have anything to do with you pining over Carol Mason would it?"

"Would ya shut up with that talk? She's my friend. That's it. We're friends."

"Friends who spend more time together than I spend with my damned wife," Rick pointed out. "And we got two kids. If you two ain't a thing, then I'll eat my shiny new sheriff's badge."

"Hope you got an iron stomach," Daryl smirked, punching him right back in the shoulder before shrugging his pack on and checking the string on his bow.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that if you two ain't a thing, maybe you best get around to doin' somethin' about that."

"What makes you think I should?"

"She's crazy about you."

"She say somethin' to you?" Daryl asked, stomach twisting into knots.

"No, but it's pretty obvious to everybody that isn't named Daryl Dixon," Rick pointed out. "And you're crazy about her. C'mon, I've seen the way you look at her. But it ain't just you lookin' at her."

"The fuck you talkin' about?"

"Saw Tobin gawking at her day before yesterday. And that Ed Peletier."

"Peletier's a simple sumbitch. She ain't goin' for nobody like that."

"Anybody ever tell you that you don't talk like anybody else around here?" Rick asked with a smirk.

"You do. Every goddamned day." Rick laughed then, shaking his head. "Can't help it. S'way my daddy and Merle talked. Guess it kinda stuck. Why? You think Carol don't like it?"

"I think Carol likes everything about you." Rick cleared his throat. "Speaking of." He nodded toward Carol's house which she shared with some of the other girls in town. She came walking out, short, reddish-brown hair sparkling in the sunlight. Daryl felt his pulse speed up just at the sight of her, and Rick snorted. "Nope, you ain't got a thing for her at all. No, sir."

"Shut up," Daryl muttered, slinging his crossbow over his back. Carol smiled at Daryl, giving him a little wave as she walked over with her pack slung over one shoulder, a sentry knife with a knuckle guard slipped into her belt and a crossbow of her own in one hand. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of her.

"You ready?"

"Ready for what?" Daryl asked dumbly, mouth open slightly as Rick snickered beside him.

"You're taking me hunting," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm doin' what now?"

"What? You thought all those lessons were for nothing?" she asked. "I'm going with you."

"You talked to the council about that?"

"Daryl Dixon, we aren't children anymore, and I don't need a council telling me what I can and can't do outside of those walls. Now are you coming with me, or am I going to have to go out there all by myself?"

"Fuck," he grumbled. "You're gonna get us both killed."

"If I do, it'll be all your fault, because you're the one that taught me, remember? You're the one who taught me to track, to fight, to kill walkers, to hunt. I'm ready, and I want to go with you." She stood strong in front of him and slung her crossbow over her shoulder, mirroring his position.

"Thought you wanted to work with the kids? Teach the kids survival skills and all that?"

"I'm not saying I don't. But today, I want to hunt. That ok with you?" she asked. For a moment, he could have sworn she batted her eyes at him, and he felt a tightening in his groin.

"Fine. You can come with me. But you best not slow me down." He eyed her then, and she just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I'll be waiting at the gate." She took off, and Rick shook his head.

"What?" Daryl grumbled.

"If you don't make a move, I ain't gonna feel a bit sorry for you when one of those other assholes in town sweeps her off her feet. She's a catch, Dixon, and she ain't gonna wait for you forever." Rick patted his friend's shoulder and then headed off to find Hershel. Daryl cleared his throat and adjusted his crossbow over his shoulder before turning to meet Carol at the gate.

He wanted to shrug off everything that Rick had told him, but as he was walking, he noticed Tobin Murphy giving Carol a wave and a smile. He stopped her, said something that made her laugh, and then he was on her way, but not before brushing his hand over her shoulder. Daryl's gaze narrowed in on that gesture, and he felt his neck and chest grow hot.

"Hey, Dixon," Tobin said with a friendly smile as he passed by. Daryl said nothing, only nodded, and he moved to stand next to Carol while they waited for the gates to be opened.

"What was that all about?" he grumbled.

"What was what?" she asked.

"Tobin put his hands on you."

"He touched my shoulder," she laughed. "Why? You jealous, Pookie?" She nudged his shoulder, and she expected him to scoff or tell her to stop like he usually did when she teased him, but he said nothing. She sobered and swallowed hard, noting the change in Daryl's demeanor. Suddenly, she wasn't too certain if going out there with him was such a good idea.

"M'sorry for sayin' you'd get us killed. Was just jokin'."

"I know," she said slowly, eyeing him uncertainly. "Daryl, is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine," he said quietly, chewing his bottom lip, waving at the gate-watchers to open the gates. The snipers in the watch tower fired several silenced shots before the gates opened, and Carol took a deep breath in. "You ready for this?"

"I've had a good teacher," she said with a confident nod, nudging his shoulder. "Come on. Let's go."

Author's Note: Thoughts? Is it worth continuing? Please let me know your thoughts. :)