A/N: This has always been one of my favourite unlikely-but-marginally-possible pairings, and a recent (or rather, still on-going) re-read made me want to write this. Set in the Two Rivers, before the arrival of Perrin & co. in The Shadow Rising.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of the characters/settings, nor am I making profit of this.

Different By Moonlight

The night was still, almost deceptively so. One might have thought the woods around Emond's Field peaceful and free of danger. Might have, had one not been hiding from Trollocs and Whitecloaks both for what felt like half an eternity. Only weeks in reality.

Alanna Mosvani, Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah, pulled the large cloak closer around herself. It was too big for her, nearly brushing the ground as she walked, and wide enough to cover two women her size, besides. Ihvon, her remaining Warder, had insisted that she take it if she was going to go wandering around alone and order him to stay behind. Alanna sighed as she lifted her skirts slightly to step over a fallen branch. Since Owein, her other Warder, had died, Ihvon had been trying to fill the space of two Gaidin, and while she loved him for it, it could get just a tiny bit... stifling.

She had promised not to go too far from the old sickhouse, where Marin al'Vere and the Emond's Field Women's Circle had hidden them – herself and Verin Mathwin of the Brown Ajah – but she really needed a moment on her own, away from Ihvon's concern or Verin's pondering looks. It was as if the other woman kept expecting her to collapse in a fit of hysterics at any moment. She glared at the dark forest. She could push back the pain of Owein's death and hold herself together for long enough to... For as long as was necessary. She released a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. For as long as necessary...

Without conscious decision, her wandering took her deeper into the forest, towards the place where Tam al'Thor and Abell Cauthon had made their camp. She did not see the camp until she was very close – both men were experienced hunters, and the primitive shelter they had put up against weather blended into the woods as well as the colour-shifting cloak she was wearing. One of them would have been keeping watch, of course, and should have heard her by now. Yet nothing stirred. She took a few hesitant steps closer-

And a voice spoke quietly behind her. "Good evening, Alanna Sedai."

She gave a start and quickly turned around to face Tam al'Thor. The man lowered his bow and gave her a questioning look, just this side of demanding. She tilted her head slightly and gave him a small, wry smile. "Master al'Thor. I did not mean to startle you." She looked pointedly at the bow with the last words.

Al'Thor merely nodded; he was not some fool of a boy who would be embarrassed over being cautious, times being what they were. No, the Two Rivers man very well knew the distinction between caution and cowardice, and nobody could accuse him of the latter. Slowly, deliberately avoiding sudden movements, he returned the arrow to the quiver at his belt and slung the bow on his back. "Will you tell me what brings you here in the middle of the night, Aes Sedai?" he asked casually. "If there was trouble you would not have come alone, nor would you be letting me do all the talking."

She shook her head. "No trouble. Not since the last..." Not since the unfortunate encounter that had got Owein facing a Whitecloak patrol on his own, without neither her protection nor Healing. She bit back on the wave of grief that threatened to sweep her away. Not now. No time for this now.

Al'Thor nodded again; even if he did not know the extent to which a Warder's death affected their Aes Sedai, he seemed to catch the source of her sudden silence. His hand twitched, as if he were about to reach out and give her a reassuring pat, only to remember what she was and reconsider. For a moment he watched her in silence, then, finally, he cleared his throat and said, hesitantly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Alanna blinked; had she really looked miserable enough to make this man offer comfort and companionship to an Aes Sedai? She managed a chuckle, although it sounded weak and hollow to her ears. "And you claim to be an ordinary farmer, Tamlin al'Thor..."

The man didn't move, but his expression closed up. "I am what I am," he said, a touch of steel to his voice. "No more. No less."

Mentally scolding herself, Alanna nodded. "Of course." Naturally the man would take her comment as an attempt to pry into his past; she and Verin had been asking questions about anything related to the al'Thor family. Same was true for Cauthon and Aybara's families, of course, but al'Thor especially. She made a placative gesture. "I apologise. Will you walk with me for a while?" she asked, then, half surprising even herself with the request.

His stare told her that he was no less astonished. He recovered fast, though. "Will you promise to not ask questions?" he countered.

She smiled thinly. "I will not promise that. How am I to make conversation without asking questions?" she said wryly. "But I do promise that I will not press you for answers if you do not wish to talk about something, tonight." After a moment, when he gave no reply, she added, "And I promise not to ask questions about Rand. Tonight. Will that do, Master al'Thor?"

He did not quite smile, but she thought she could detect an amused glint in his eye as he finally nodded. "Very well, Alanna Sedai." He actually offered his arm to her, as if they were strolling through one of the gardens in Tar Valon.

She accepted it.

A few minutes later they were at the edge of the forest, gazing over the moonlit field towards Emond's Field. Too far, and obscured by the shadows, to be spotted by anyone who might be looking out of their window, yet Alanna felt somehow exposed. The landscape looked so different by moonlight, and the silence gave the moment a dreamlike feel. She opened her mouth to speak – she wasn't sure what she would say, but she suddenly felt the need to hear a human voice – but a glance at her companion silenced her before she could utter a word. Tam al'Thor was not looking at the village; he was gazing into another direction. The direction where his farm had stood, not so long ago. Not wanting to intrude on his thoughts, the Aes Sedai simply watched him in silence.

Emond's Field was not the only thing that looked different by moonlight.

It was not as if she had never seen him before; there was no great revelation to sweep her off her feet. She had noticed from the very first time she had seen him that whatever he said, this man was no simple farmer. And she had been right; he had been a soldier, a good one at that, and a skilled swordsman. The way he moved was not just that of a practised hunter; he wasted neither energy nor time, every move was deliberate and economical. Oh, he didn't quite have a Warder's physique, not anymore, but had he been ten years younger, or even five... And even now, he was by no means out of shape. She idly wondered what he could be like if he had been trained by the Gaidin in Tar Valon and had the benefit of being bonded to an Aes Sedai...

The trail her thoughts were taking was a dangerous one and she mentally shook herself. She must have twitched, for suddenly he glanced at her with a questioning look. "Everything all right, Aes Sedai?"

She looked up at him – she was not a short woman, but he was a tall man, tall and broad-shouldered... oh, I've got to stop this, Verin will skin me alive! - and gave him a small smile. "Will you rebuild your farm?" she asked instead of answering.

He nodded slowly. "I assume so. As soon as it's safe... Or as soon as I can be relatively confident that it will not be burned down again before I'm finished," he added wryly. "Even though I don't suppose Rand will be coming back to help with the sheep any time soon." The last part held only the slightest hint of a question, but he was looking away from her again, this time towards Emond's Field, as if to deny that he expected or even hoped for any kind of an answer.

"No, I don't suppose he will," Alanna said softly. She had raised her free hand to pat al'Thor's arm comfortingly, then realised what she was about to do and changed the motion into adjusting her cloak. Ihvon's cloak. Her Gaidin, whose presence she constantly carried at the back of her mind, was restless and agitated at her continued absence, and more than a little puzzled by the emotions the bond must have been sending back to him.

The Two Rivers man must have detected something in her voice that she hadn't intended to put there, for he glanced at her sharply, but it was impossible to tell whether it was the reference to Rand or her runaway emotions. He asked no questions, however. Instead, he said, "It is best we returned. Abell is light enough a sleeper that I don't worry for his safety, exactly, but I am supposed to be keeping watch." He hesitated for only a heartbeat before he went on, "If you allow me, Aes Sedai, I will walk you back to the others. Ihvon must be driving himself crazy."

Alanna suppressed a sigh; he was right, of course. It was past time they went back, he to his watch duty and she to where Ihvon and Verin could keep an eye on her to their hearts' content. "Very well, Master al'Thor."

The walk back was shorter than she would have liked. The terrain was not as difficult as it might have been in a forest, and she could have managed perfectly without aid, but al'Thor didn't seem to mind that she clung to his arm harder than necessary. She couldn't begin to explain to herself the intensity of her feelings; she always appreciated a nice male figure, she was of the Green Ajah after all, but this... She decided it must have something to do with Owein's death and the fact that he was different from the other men in this backwater village, and that he simply happened to be there.

He halted before they came to the clearing around the old sickhouse. "I trust you can make your way from here," he said, to a somewhat ridiculous effect considering that the house was right in front of them, but apparently he felt the need to break the silence with something, anything. Gently he extracted his arm from her grip. "Good night, Alanna Sedai." He turned to leave...

"Wait!" The word was out of her mouth before she even realised she was about to speak. The tall man looked back at her over his shoulder with questioning eyes. "Please," she added softly. She never made the decision to move, but suddenly she found herself in front of him, so close that she had to crane her neck to look up at him. He watched her still, suspicion battling something else, something undefinable, in his dark eyes. In way of explanation – if it could be called that – she wound her arms around him, pulling his head down so that she could reach to kiss him on the lips.

To say that he was startled would have been an understatement. Too stunned to do anything except to go along, he returned the kiss, hesitantly at first, and then his arms were around her, holding her close. It was he who broke off the kiss, but he didn't draw back from her. He was breathing heavily, as if he had ran ten miles. "Light, woman..!" he said harshly, but left it there, as if he didn't know how to continue.

Alanna said nothing, just let her head rest against his broad chest. She felt like weeping. She knew better than to allow herself to break down in front of a near stranger. A near stranger she had just kissed. No; she would hold back, for as long as necessary. She drew a shuddering breath and made herself straighten and step away from him. He let her go immediately; she couldn't suppress a flash of disappointment as the strong arms no longer enveloped her. She couldn't make herself look him in the eye as she said, "Good night, Tamlin al'Thor."

Leaving him standing there in the night, she all but fled inside.