Chapter 12

'The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes,

Another love grows cold on this sleepless night.

As the storm goes on, out of control,

Deep in her heart, the thunder rolls.'

-The Thunder Rolls (Garth Brooks)

'Alice, Alice,' his thoughts moaned as he walked away. Away from her, turning his back on the girl who had just seen the inner darkness in him, the despicable monster that he was. He was running now, fear and anger taking hold of him. He was running as fast as he could, away from her, away from everyone, everything.

His thoughts were less than coherent now, wordlessly repenting everything that he'd just done, everything that he'd ever done. Away he ran. He'd come back. Soon.

Alice sat there, still crying. Everything seemed awful. Everything. A tune was playing in the background of the melancholy scene, and she wished it would get louder before she realized that it was coming from her own throat. She was humming, so absentmindedly, it seemed almost like second nature.

With determination, she thrust everything that she felt at this moment into that song, all of the sadness and anger, and frustration, not just with Auron, but with herself, and with the entire world. The melody changed, from soothing to forceful and ragged, and then back to soothing.

Instead of being rightfully angry and frustrated with Auron, despite what he thought she should feel, she actually felt . . . nothing. Well, not 'nothing'. She felt . . . warm and fuzzy, and all these things that were illogical. Things that she rightfully should not be thinking about the Legendary Guardian. Something that really hadn't been thought about him for the last ten years at least. The last person to think about him this way was a priest's daughter.

She shook her head forcefully. He'd told her the story. So why did she get this burning feeling deep inside her when she thought about them together? Why did she get this weird feeling of bliss whenever she was around him? Why did her heart break when she saw how torn apart he was?

'Maybe,' a small voice inside of her head asked, 'Maybe it's the feeling that Leana feels for Braska, or the feeling that Kara feels for Jecht. Perhaps it's even the feeling that Tidus gets when he talks about his Yuna. Maybe your face smoothes over in that content grin whenever he's around just like Jecht's does. Or perhaps you subconsciously smile at him whenever he enters a room like Braska does. Maybe your breath even catches when you speak about him like Tidus's. Maybe . . . you've fallen for someone that you can't have.'

The realization hit her hard. She'd fallen . . . for him. And she couldn't have him. It just wasn't meant to be. The thought made her cry again, and she was suddenly thankful for the Waterga spells that gushed around her.

Auron finally slowed down as his temper cooled. Why was he so angry anyways? He'd caused a lot of people grief. He'd seen many people cry. So why did he feel like the worst criminal when he'd seen Alice's tears?

Calmly, rationally, there was no clue for it. Perhaps the fact that he'd caused her enough grief already by killing her. However, that was a small possibility. The percentage of that possibility was a minute one. So what was it?

Perhaps it was because she reminded him of Yuna and Rikku. There were even some parts of Lulu in her. Perhaps she reminded him of his old life, protecting them. 'You're grasping at straws, Auron,' he reprimanded himself, a scowl working itself back onto his face.

What was it about her? What made him instinctively surround her, protect her, even befriend her? What was it that attracted him to her?

Finally, it hit.

The word 'attraction' had been the alarm. What if he felt about her what the priest's daughter had felt for him? What if he'd finally found what Tidus and Yuna had found during the pilgrimage? That feeling that had always puzzled him, which so many people held so highly. What if he'd finally found it?

Relief suddenly flooded him. It was an explanation. It was one that made sense. It was the reason why he'd smile when she said something odd or hang onto every word that she said. He'd noticed the change in his actions days ago. Finally, a reason.

The second feeling was horror. His feelings surely weren't reciprocated. He was pretty sure that she thought about him like every other person thought about him; an emotionless Guardian. Besides, the difference between their ages made his . . . love (His mind had stuttered over the word, still halfway in shock, and halfway disbelieving) seem almost pedophilic.

He was resolved. He had to change his feelings. With purpose, he began to march back to the house they all shared.

A/N: Chapter 12! Wow! This was another difficult chapter to write. Do you like the pairing? Tell me! Was it obvious? (It wasn't for me, I just now figured out that it would be a cute pairing in my opinion.)

Okay, because I know that I will eventually have to explain this, here is my reasoning for not using any other pairing other than AuronxPriest's Daughter and AuronxAlice: I really don't like any other pairing. I think Rikku and Auron would end up annoying the hell out of each other (Plus, I would think that Rikku and Gippal would be a couple around this time.), Lulu and Auron are much too serious to be a real pairing, and while I think that Yuna and Auron are cute, it's Yuna and Tidus. Sure, flame me if you'd like, but those are my opinions. Besides, nothing was set in stone with the game, so I'm not going to use it.

Inspiration: The Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks (First Auron), Black Velvet - Alannah Myles (Alice), Hysteria - Def Leppard (Second Auron), Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisely/Alison Krauss (Second Auron), Every Light in the House - Trace Adkins (Second Auron), and Cold As Ice - Foreigner (Second Auron)

Read and Review! Please? Melody will love you foreeeeeeeeeeeever!