Title: Fate and Destiny
Author: 6helterskelter6
Rating: NC-17 (later)
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias, any of its characters. I own nothing. Just some CD's. Not even this computer.
Summary: Starts out in high school but later develops. It's AU too. For the NC-17 Chrismakkah Challenge 1) obviously...must be sarkney
2) include a flashback
3) a line in a different language
4) sun tan lotion
5) a toe ring
6) some character saying "What do you think you're doing?"
7) either Hannuka gelt or mistletoe

It's a LONG WIP. (I like long fics - like novel length).

Chapter One

Sydney Bristow was a girl who never fit in. Her mother died when she was only 6 years old and her father was never around. She was 16 years old when her life changed. She had always been the girl who sat at the back of the room in a corner, and no one ever noticed her. She just blended into the wall.

She never talked to anyone, never put up her hand in class. She wore thick-rimmed glasses and spent her spare time reading or writing. She was never late for class, got good grades and didn't participate in any after school activities.

She had a couple of good friends, Will and Francie, who were going out now, so it wasn't the same. Sydney felt like the third wheel when they went out now. She had dated two boys in her life; Danny and Noah. Danny broke up with her because well… she didn't really know. He was popular and she wasn't. They had dated when she was 15, and he was her first real boyfriend. Noah was her second boyfriend. They started out as friends and one day he asked her out on a date, she said yes. They went out for six months until his parents told him that they were moving to New York. She swore off dating at that point. All Sydney wanted in life was to finish high school and become an English professor, like her mother had been.

No one noticed her until, one day, something changed.

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Julian Sark was captain of the football team, soon-to-be the school president and the cutest guy in high school. He was popular, strong, smart and cute; all the things a girl could want. The truth was that he hated it all. He hated being popular, he hated all the girls who just followed him around. He just wanted to be Julian.

When he was 12, his mother died and his father, who had been abusive, shipped him off Los Angeles from London. He missed it terribly, but every time his father asked him how he liked Los Angeles, he said that he loved it here and didn't want to come back. He was truly just afraid of him. He was never going to go back home to that.

Girls were all over him, and he gave in sometimes. He dated girls, but he never really liked them. They weren't smart. He wanted to be with someone. He wanted a relationship, someone that he could talk to, but there wasn't anyone he was interested in.

His favourite classes were the languages. He loved his Latin and German classes. He already spoke Spanish, French, Russian and English fluently. Languages just came to him naturally. He didn't have any idea what he was going to do with his life, he thought about becoming a language teacher. Maybe that would be his calling.

One day, he was walking into his English classroom and sat right in the middle of the room. He heard someone drop their books at the back of the classroom and turned to help whoever it was pick them up. He bent down and gathered them up in his arms while she picked up her papers that had fallen out of her binder.

She thanked him and took the books from him, placing them on her desk. She smiled sweetly at him and pushed her hair behind her ears. He smiled back and stood staring at her for a moment. She blushed under his gaze. "Are you new here?" he asked.

She cleared her throat, forcing the blush down, "no, I've been going here for a while."

"Oh really?" he looked at her again, "How could I have never noticed you before?"

She looked away and blushed again. "Julian Sark" he said to her, putting his hand out for her to shake.

"I know who you are" she said. She shook his hand and replied, "Sydney Bristow."

"Nice to meet you" he turned at the sound of the door opening and saw the teacher walk into the room.

"I think we should sit down" she said to Julian.

He nodded and sat back in his seat. A few minutes into class, he took a piece of paper and wrote a little note on it.

Sydney, do you want to have lunch on the quad today?

-Julian

He passed it to Sydney discretely and tried to pay attention to the lecture on Hamlet that was going on in front of him.

He kept turning back to look at Sydney, and she would look down at her notes quickly whenever he did. He saw her open his note and smile. She looked at him and nodded quickly, then looked back down at her notes.

He turned around and smiled, looking back down at his notes. He knew it was pointless to try and concentrate on anything other than Sydney Bristow.

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Lunch came right after English class, and Sydney went to her locker and then to the quad. She saw Julian walk over to her smiling.

"Hey!" he called to her.

"Hey!" she replied.

He sat down beside her and they started eating their lunches.

"I wanted to get you out here so I can learn more about you. All I know is that your name is Sydney Bristow and you're in my English class."

"Well, I've been going here since grade 9, and since I'm in grade 12 now, that makes this my fourth year."

"I can't believe I didn't notice you before! Are you just in my English class? Because if you're in more, then I'm surprised."

"I'm in your German and French classes too," he looked at her shocked and ashamed, "but I didn't expect you to notice me. I'm pretty quiet."

"But still, I try to talk to people, I'm the school president, I should know at least the people in my class!" he said exasperated.

"Really, don't worry about it" she said smiling.

"Well, I guess I'll have to spend extra time with you to get to know you then."

"OK" she smiled, blushed and then took a bite of her sandwich, "So, how about you? How long have you been living in LA?"

"Well, my mother died when I was 12 and then my father shipped me off here so I could live a better life."

"I'm sorry about your mother… how did it happen?"

"Cancer. And don't be sorry, I'm over it."

"You can never really get over losing your mother, I know. My mother died in a car accident when I was 6. My father was totally destroyed, he's never around. It's really annoying. I've basically been living on my own or with my nanny when I was little."

"Well, we both grew up without mothers and with absentee fathers."

"That's a nice thing to have in common," she said sarcastically. "So, what do you want to do after high school?"

"I want to become a languages teacher. I love learning languages."

"I want to be an English teacher!"

"Well, we have something else in common then."

Sydney and Julian sat talking for most of the lunch hour until his friends found him outside. There were four of them. Jessica, Meleana, Robbie and Danny.

"Hey Syd," Danny said, "How are you doing?"

She looked down, "I'm doing just fine, how are you?"

"Good" he sat next to Julian, "Jules, what are you doing with her?"

"What does it look like? I'm having lunch with her, and it was going very well until you guys showed up."

"Well, why her? I mean, just look at her" Jessica nodded in Sydney's direction.

Sydney gathered up her things and stood, "you know what? I'm just going to go. I'll see you later Julian."

"Syd!" he cried out to her when she was walking away, "please stay."

"No, I'm going to go inside and go back to the way things were" she walked away.

He stood and watched her walk away before turning back to his friends, "What the hell is wrong with you guys!" he screamed at his friends, "The first girl I actually enjoy being with at you guys have to go and screw it up! I can't believe you! Why don't you guys ever leave me alone!" he walked off in a huff.

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Sydney went home that night and called Francie. When she heard Sydney on the phone, she knew something was wrong and she came right over.

"Syd! What's wrong?" she said when she saw Sydney at the front door.

"Do you know Julian Sark?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, he's the school president and the football captain. Why?"

"I like him. And I think he likes me, but I can't stand his friends. They're so horrible! I was talking to him at lunch and then his friends came over and made everything bad. They asked him why he was talking to me and he just asked them why it mattered and then one of them said 'why her? Just look at her'" Sydney broke down into tears.

"Syd…" Francie hugged her friend.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Sydney asked tearfully.

"Sydney! Of course there isn't anything wrong with you! You're so smart and nice and you're gorgeous!"

"I'm horrible looking! My hair is so frizzy and my glasses are horrible!"

"Well, you can use special stuff on your hair and why don't we go, right now, and get you some new frames! Would that make you feel better?"

Sydney nodded and ran to get her purse. She made herself look presentable and they were off to the mall.

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"Sydney, those look great on you!" Francie exclaimed. Sydney was wearing a pair of almost rectangular frames which were a dark blue on the front half and gold on the back.

She fiddled with her hair in the mirror, she looked back at Francie smiling, "you really think so?"

"Yeah, Syd, if you don't buy these ones you're crazy. These are the ones for you."

"Alright. Let's buy them."

They paid at the cash and walked out of the store, "Syd, we should go to a salon and get some help with your hair, and then we'll head back and pick up your new glasses!"

The hairdresser took a look at Sydney and started chopping away. When they were finished, she looked completely different. She had a fringe hanging just below her left eyebrow and it was cut just above her shoulders with layers. The Sydney Bristow that picked up her new glasses a few minutes later was a new person. She was more confident, which made her and Francie feel better.

"How about we go see a movie and call up Will?" Sydney asked, "I want him to be the first person, other than you, to see the brand new me!"

"Sure, but you sit in the middle at the movie. I know how you feel like the third wheel all the time now, and if you're in between us, then nothing can happen."

Sydney smiled and laughed, "ok sure, we can do that."

Sydney and Francie continued to browse the mall and stopped in a couple of stores, trying on clothes and playing with accessories. They ended up spending loads of money that afternoon. Sydney went home before the movie carrying many bags full of clothes. She felt so confident and walked, holding her head high.

When Will picked them up at Sydney's house, he stopped in the doorway when he saw her. "Wow, Syd, you look amazing!"

"Thanks" Sydney replied, smiling.

"What caused this change?" he asked.

"She likes a boy" Francie cut in.

"WHO?" he cried.

"Julian Sark" she smiled, "And I think he likes her too."

"Really? That guy's the captain of the football team and the school president! Plus, he's a nice guy."

"I know" Sydney said, "but I can't stand his friends."

"That's Jessica and them right?"

"Yeah."

"She's a bitch" Francie said, "Remember in the 10th grade she spread a rumour about me?"

"Was that the one about you making out with a pillow or something?"

"Yeah"

"That wasn't as bad as the rumour about Noah before he left."

"Let's not talk about Noah alright?" Sydney interjected.

They were silent in the room. Sydney didn't like to talk about Noah because she would never truly get over him. He had been her best friend and then boyfriend. He left town suddenly last year and Sydney had lost another of her few friends.

"Do you want to go now?" Will asked.

"Yeah sure!"

-------------------------------------------

When they dropped Sydney back at home, she noticed that there was a new message on the answering machine, probably dad saying that he won't coming home for a while longer, she thought.

She pressed the button and Julian Sark's voice came through the speaker.

"Hey, Syd. It's Julian. Um… I wanted to apologize for everything that happened earlier today. My friends are real pricks sometimes. I wanted to ask you to have coffee or something with me later this week because… well… I like you. So I really want to see you some time. Please call me back at 555-6782. See you on Monday."

Sydney saved the message quickly and called Francie's cell. "Francie, you have to come back right now and listen to the message Julian left me!" she shrieked. She heard her yell something at Will and him reply and then Francie told her she was on her way.

She ran into the house and Sydney played the message again. They were jumping up and down and Will left the house. Sydney asked Francie to stay over and they could gush about guys and have a girl's night. Jack Bristow was out of town, again, so he would never know.

"God, Syd I'm so happy for you! Everything's going to be so good this year! Sure, it's already January, and our final year is almost over, but things are going so well now!"

"Don't talk about that. I don't like thinking about being away from you and Will. We've been together every year and now soon we're going to go to different Universities."

"I know. I don't want to leave LA though, that's why I applied to UCLA."

"That's why we all applied to UCLA."

"Yeah. Well that talk sure made me depressed, how about we change the subject?"

"OK, so maybe we should watch a movie. We've got loads of them. Dad buys them before he leaves so I have something to do. I never watch them though…"

"Well, I see you have a lot of good things here. How about we watch… this one" Francie quickly ripped a dvd case off the shelf, "the Notebook!"

Two hours later, they had bawled for an hour through the movie, "I love this movie. It's so happy and sad."

"So, you and Julian, do you think that it's real?"

"I hope so. I mean, if this is some joke that's supposed to make me feel bad I'll kill him."

"So will I, and Will… and your father, if he ever finds out."

Sydney chuckled, "Yeah, he really would."

Francie yawned, "I'm tired. Do you want to go to sleep?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I think I'm going to call Julian tomorrow morning."

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"Syd, it's 11, do you think it's time to call Julian?"

"I don't know, maybe I should just wait until tonight…"

"Syd! Come on! If you don't call him now, you never will" Francie handed her the phone.

"Fine," Sydney sighed. "I'll call him."

Her hand was shaking. Francie was staring at her with a broad smile across her face. She lit up and Francie heard a mumble through the phone. "Hi, is Julian there?" Sydney asked.

"Hi Julian!" Sydney blushed.

"Hey! I was hoping you would call."

"Well, I got your message, and I thought that I should call you."

"So, do you want to go have coffee or something, sometime?"

"I'd really like that."

"Are you free this afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"Great! Um… Can I pick you up around 2?"

"Yeah, sure!" she gave him her address then hung up the phone. She was glowing. "He's picking me up at 2 and we're going for coffee!" she told Francie.

"It's 11:15 right now, so why don't we get you upstairs and get you ready! I'm so excited!"

"From the way you're feeling about this thing, it sounds as if you're going out with him."

They ran upstairs and Sydney jumped into the shower while Francie tore apart her closet. Sydney entered her bedroom to see the entire contents of her closet strewn across her bed. Francie was sitting in front of her closet, on the floor, looking at shoes.

"Syd, you need shoes!" Francie called to her.

"I already have shoes."

"You don't have enough," Francie said, "I'm going to go to my house really quickly and then come back with shoes. You need more shoes."

"I really don't need more shoes. I have enough" she walked over to her closet and picked up a pair of converse all stars, "See? Shoes!"

"Those aren't date shoes Sydney," Francie sighed, "Those are running shoes."

"Francie, it's just coffee. Do you really think I should wear something fancier?"

"I think you should wear either these," she held up a pair of black pumps, "or these," she held up a pair of black kitten-heel ankle boots. She definitely favoured the boots though, because she was moving them back and forward in front of Sydney, and she had a suggestive look upon her face.

"Ok, I'll take the hint. I'll wear the boots" she took them from Francie and set them on the floor. "Now, how are we going to figure out what I should wear?"

"Why don't we look at every shirt, and then look at the bottoms."

"Sure."

Two hours and fifteen minutes later Sydney was looking in the mirror. She was wearing jeans and a black velvet, military-style blazer with gold accents with a black tank-top underneath it.

"Syd, he's going to be speechless when he sees you," Francie looked at the clock, "fifteen more minutes!" she shrieked.

"I know! I'm so nervous Francie. What are we going to talk about? I have no clue what to do. And what if we do end up dating? What are the people at school going to say about it?"

"Syd, who cares about what people think! If you and Julian are together, you should care only about yourselves. No one else in the world should matter," she hugged the nervous Sydney, "Well, maybe your father matters a little. He'll kill him for even thinking about you."

Sydney laughed, "I think you're right about that. My father can't know anything about my life. He'd kill everyone who came near me."

They froze when they heard the sound of the doorbell. Sydney looked so nervous, Francie just smiled and dragged Sydney to the front door.

Sydney opened the door and Francie stood beside her. "Hi," Sydney said smiling brilliantly.

He echoed her exuberance. "Hi."

"This is my friend Francie."

He put out his hand, "Nice to meet you Francie."

She shook his hand and smiled, "You guys should go…" she whispered into Sydney's ear.

"Shall we?" he said to Sydney.

She nodded and they walked to the street, "So, where exactly are we going?" she asked him.

"There's a little cafe that I found downtown, is that ok?"

"Yeah, that's just fine."

They walked side-by-side to his car and got in. He drove them to the cafe downtown and they ordered their coffees. "So, how long have you lived in Los Angeles?" Sydney asked.

"Since my mother died which was when I was 12. My father just shipped me off."

"That's horrible."

"Well, it's better than being with him."

"Why? Why would you want to be away from your own father?"

"Well, I think that's a story for another time…" he paused and took her hand, "I really don't like to talk about that."

"I understand. I get that way too, but in my case it's because my father is never around. And then he feels that he can be so overprotective! It's just… hard."

He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Well, I guess we're just from broken homes."

She laughed, "Well, that's not a thing to be happy about."

"How long have you known Francie?"

"Forever. We grew up together. Same with Will."

"That must be nice, to have grown up with people like that. I never had that."

"Well, you have a lot of people around you at school. It must be nice… for people to notice you, for people to see you and know you're there. I'm just the invisible girl, who sits at the back of the room."

"I don't know how I didn't notice you before, I mean, you're so beautiful," Sydney blushed, "I really like your new glasses… and your hair cut. It's really nice," she blushed more, "And as for the people who are always around me… well, I don't actually like any of them. They're all pretentious popular freaks who think that they're better than everyone."

"Well, until yesterday I thought the same of you. I'm really sorry about that. It's just that they're always with you and… well… you know."

"You just assumed that I was one of them," he said smiling, "So I guess your opinion has changed today then."

"Yes, it really has," Sydney threw her empty coffee cup into a garbage bin, "What's your opinion of me" she asked when they walked to the pier.

"Well, I think that you're intelligent, kind and beautiful. And I'm very happy that I finally noticed you yesterday…" he kissed her palm, "Oh, and you're a complete klutz."

She laughed, "I think you've got me down right there."

"And I didn't even have to spend too much time with you… but I want to. I want to spend more time with you Sydney. Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight? Make this afternoon of coffee into a full afternoon and night with dinner?"

"I'd love that."

"You know, I'm really enjoying myself right now. And I know I just met you, but I really like you, Sydney."

"Well, that's good, because I like you too."

They continued walking on the pier for hours until it became dark, then went to dinner.

---------------------------------------------------

They stood at her front door, he was holding her hand and she sighed, "I don't want this night to end. It was perfect."

"I know what you mean."

"Well, um… I guess I should go."

"Yeah," she let go of his hand and took out her key, "I had a really nice time today."

"I'm glad," he looked to the ground, "I guess I'll see you on Monday then."

"Yeah," she turned around and put her key in the lock and turned, unlocking the door. She turned back to him, "Goodnight Julian."

She entered her house and closed the door behind her. A few seconds later there was a knock at the door. Sydney answered it quickly because she hadn't moved from her place yet. "Syd," Julian whispered and pulled her to him softly and placed the smallest and sweetest kiss upon her lips, "Goodnight," he whispered when they parted.

She blushed and tuned back into her house with a smile on her face.

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Monday morning was very interesting. Sydney came to school and went straight to her locker, as per usual, and saw Julian standing there, waiting for her. She smiled when she saw him, and he did the same, "Hey!" he cried.

"Hey," she said softly.

He took her hand and kissed her palm, the people in the hall stared at the couple in shock. "I missed you yesterday. Isn't that funny? We've only been on one date and I already can't stand to be away from you."

Sydney blushed and looked him in the eyes, "I can believe that, because I felt the same way."

She opened her locker and took out a couple of books, "So, what do you have first period today?" she asked him.

"I think I have Bio this morning. What about you?"

"Chem. I really hate that class. When am I ever going to need to know how explosives are made? Never, that's when. I'm only taking the course because of my father."

"Same thing about Bio. I don't care about anything in that class."

"Oh well, that's high school."

"Let's get to class, Syd."

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Two months passed and it was now spring. Sydney and Julian had been dating for two months, and were now inseparable. It was March 11th and it's Julian's birthday. Sydney is planning a surprise party, and she's planning on telling him how she feels about him. She is pacing her bedroom, twisting her fingers with her nerves and then the phone rings. She nearly jumps into the air because of the shock.

"Hello?"

"Sydney, it's your father. I'm going to be coming in later than I originally thought."

"Oh… when are you coming back then?"

"I should be back on Thursday. We could go out for dinner together that night… would you like that?"

"Yeah, sure. That would be nice."

"Are you alright Sydney? You sound a little off."

"I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting the phone to ring, and it surprised me."

"I'm being called away. I'll see you soon sweetheart."

"See you Thursday dad."

"See you. I love you Sydney."

"I love you too dad."

Sydney hung up the phone and frowned. Her father wasn't going to be home again. He had no idea what was going on in Sydney's life. She tried to talk to him, but it never worked. He never listened. She picks up the phone and dials Julian's number. "Hey Julian."

"Syd! I was just about to call you," Sydney could sense something was wrong, he sounded distracted, "I need to see you. I have to tell you something important."

"Oh, well… I have to tell you something important too. Do you want to come by?"

"I'll be there really soon. See you!"