"What are you doing here?" Twelve looks up to see a human girl shyly approaching him.

"Oh just resting," She's a strange thing, boyish black hair framing sad eyes. She looks like she's seen a lot, but at the same time they hold so much innocence.

"I know the gods bless those who show hospitality-" The way she she speaks of them, as if they were wise and all-knowing, makes him smirk. "-but I'm sorry, I don't have anything to offer a traveler, you do better to go looking in the village down the hill."

Instead of answering her apology, Twelve just bends down and picks one of the flowers growing nearby. "These are your's, right?"

"Uh, yes, please don't-" She's stopped by him leaning in close to her and tucking the yellow plant behind her ear.

"They're very nice," With that Twelve heads down the hill as suggested.

"Hey wait!" But when the girl tries following him, he's nowhere to be found.

"It's your turn," Nine says as he washes the blood off his lance.

"Met a human today," Twelve replies, ignoring Nine's order.

"Why do you still associate with those creatures? Especially considering the war right now."

"Oh I was catching my breath when she had to quote the gods to get me off her property." He laughs as he remembers the girl's trembling lip and fearful whimper. "She kinda reminded me of some of our siblings."

"That's not necessarily a good thing," Nine replied. "I don't care what you do during your shift, but remember your duties. Don't let this human interfere with our plans."

"Yeah, yeah," Twelve waves his warnings away and grabs his knives. It's time for another night of blood and destruction.

After finding Nine and passing his burden over to him, Twelve tries to rid his mind of those horrifying images as he goes to work.

Six was badly injured, the humans will be wondering what they did wrong when the sea refuses to rise. It's a miracle he still hasn't been harmed too bad. For who would raise the sun if he couldn't? The humans would be forced to live under Nine's cold night forever.

As Twelve spreads his warm light throughout the land, he thinks back to his conversation with Nine. He understands his apathy for humans, when he rules, all they do is sleep or indulge in sinful pleasures. But Twelve, he sees them live, grow, and prosper. He doesn't understand all their ways, but they intrigue him nevertheless.

Hours pass, and he comes along the little garden and house from yesterday. On a whim, he touches down to admire them again. For centuries he had seen all types of flora, but these days, he needs something not bloodied and torn to keep him sane.

"I thought I told you yesterday, I don't have anything I can offer you." The girl from before breaks the tranquil silence Twelve had enjoyed so much.

"Well then you can offer me your name, since you seem so bent on bothering me."

"Lisa, and you?" He looks up to see her bending over his prone body.

"Twelve," He picks another flower and again places it behind her ear.

"Please don't do that, Mr. Barrett will be furious if I don't have the tulips he needs for his order by the end of the week."

"Flowers should be wasted on pretty ladies, not boring vases." A light blush paints her cheeks, but the girl, no Lisa, tries to ignore his flirtatious comment.

"Wait a second, your name is Twelve, like the Sun god?" He can't help the smirk that creeps up his face.

"Nah, my father was just not that creative when it came to naming us."

"You have eleven siblings?" Her jaw has practically come unhinged.

"My father's a powerful man, he can afford having many mistresses and such," It's a lie, at least mostly, his birth was under more unique circumstances.

"How does he support you all?" She stares at him, wide dark brown eyes trying to absorb every detail. He remembers this area is greatly underdeveloped, most of the inhabitants live in poverty. Large families aren't strange, but ones where all the children are acknowledged and even named are.

"If he did, do you think I'd be traveling like this?" With that Twelve disappears down the hill, taking off once she's out of sight. He has a job to do, but this strange human who actually seems interested in him as a person can't be left alone.

"Her name's Lisa." Twilight is falling as Twelve passes this bit of information to Nine. "She lives on that hill north of Gadero."

"And why do you think I should know this?"

"Oh, I just think you two would get along," He leaves out how for a week now he's been visiting her, that he might feel a certain comradeship with her.

"If she's anything like Five, no thanks," His words cut deep as Twelve remembers their sister, the Queen of Chaos who wants nothing more now than to deliver their heads on a silver platter.

"Honestly though, Nine," Twelve turns to face him. "You need something to distract you from the war. These things leave permanent scars on humans and gods alike."

"I'm not interested in mistresses and whores if that's what you're suggesting Brother." Twelve opens his mouth to clarify, but his words are lost. "Remember our plan, I don't want your human getting in the way."

"So what's your favorite color?" Lisa asks as they sit basking in the warm sunlight.

"Yellow, it's the symbol of the sun, life itself." He smiles and Lisa can't help but grin as well. It's been a crazy last few months. She was apprehensive of his offer of friendship, what with him killing some of her precious flowers. But once Lisa relaxed, they got along fantastically. Twelve liked to think she smiled more thanks to him.

"What about you?"

"I like green, it's another sign of life," Lisa answers. "Ok here's another one: what's your favorite animal?"

"Oh dogs, of course." Three always had her faithful hound wherever she went. Memories of them helped him forget about the civil war, tearing his family apart.

"Now, I have one just for you. What's your dream?"

"Dream?" Her smile fades and the sparkle in her eyes is gone. Twelve hates himself for doing this to her. "I guess I've always wanted to run my own flower shop."

"Then do it!"

"Easier said than done. I'm a woman, it's a miracle Mr. Barrett even works with me." She fiddles with a strand of her hair. "And there's a reason I live alone up here."

Suddenly, everything clicks. Short hair on a female was another human symbol. It meant she was an outcast, like them, all alone in the world.

Something about that made him want to spirit her away from this world, bringing her to the plane where gods dwelled. For he could relate to her so well, they were outcasts leading a war against their father. And there Lisa could grow her hair as long as she wanted, and at least she'd be alone with him and Nine.

"Do you have a dream, Twelve?" Her question brought him out of his foolish fantasy.

"I guess I really just want my loved ones to be happy and safe." Images of Seven's and Two's corpse filled his mind. Of Ten, who used to play pranks on One with him, but now wouldn't hesitate to kill him. His dream wouldn't come true til Nine led them in overthrowing father.

"For such a simple dream, it can be hard to achieve," Lisa sighs, deep in thought

"I'm getting there though," Twelve smiles, trying to enjoy this moment to its fullest.

It's tiring always having a corporal body. Twelve's used to spending the day as pure energy, lighting the world. But now he needs to do all of his usual work while walking and talking in his human form.

However, it's so so worth it. He gets to hear Lisa ramble about how well her sunflowers are doing, despite the cloudy days. (Twelve always has to hold back a smirk at this; he makes sure to give her garden the purest light) He gets to tell her ancient stories, watching her dark brown eyes widen in excitement. He realizes she's humanizing him, and that may not be the worst thing.

"You're awfully happy nowadays." Nine comments one sunset.

"Oh that's just the way I am. You on the other hand, are just a ball of sunshine now."

"That was an awful joke," The Moon god deadpans, but Twelve doesn't miss the ghost of a smile that lingers on his face.

"See! I bet you took my advice, didn't you?" Twelve gives him a cat-like smile.

"Well, I did start reading a book."

"A book?" He turns to Nine, not even bothering to hide his shock.

"It's a good book," Nine shrugs. "Now listen, Fourteen gained a lot of ground for us. Don't lose focus, and we might be able to end this war soon."

Twelve nods in agreement, curls bouncing up and down. "Got it," He moves to enter the war-zone when he turns around and adds, "A book?"

"Shut up!"

It's a cool fall day when Twelve realizes he loves Lisa.

On one hand, it doesn't surprise him at all. Their relationship went deeper than the simple intrigue he held for her earlier. But on the other hand he was terrified, for it's Lisa, a frail, fallible human, this is the biggest taboo he could think off.

After calming down and stopping himself from ripping out his hair, the Sun god, tries to think rationally about this.

Do you like Lisa? Yes.

Do you love her romantically? That was harder. Twelve was a stranger to romantic love, though he watched the humans experience all the time, he had only seen bits and pieces.

'Do you want to hold her?' The thought was tempting.

'Do you want to kiss her?' Kissing, another one of those strange human customs. The thought was not that appealing, nor that revolting.

'Do you want to indulge in sinful-' Twelve cuts off the question there. This was getting too complicated.

'Do you want to be with her?' Father knows he did. He enjoyed Lisa not just for her, but the way she was a sanctuary. Around her enchanting laugh and peaceful smile he felt at home, even human. The war seemed frivolous, an insignificant nightmare. Twelve decided that was all he needed for now.

"Lovely sunset," Lisa's words bring him out of his conflicting thoughts.

"Drat, I should be going." He starts to get up.

"No, wait!" Lisa moves to grab his hand, pulling him down and throws both of them off balance. The two fall, and before he knows it, he's lying in the flower bed with her resting on his chest.

"Ah, I'm sorry-" but his words are cut off by Lisa leaning forward, and pressing her lips to his.

In that moment, Twelve was never more overwhelmed, for she is gentle and soft, a healing presence to his broken self. The taste of her lips were intoxicating, but all he could do was lay there, frozen in shock.

After what feels like an eternity Lisa pulls back, dread plain to see. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry I shouldn't have-"

However she stops when Twelve sits up and cuffs her face, his warmth overflowing. And as naturally as breathing, he kisses her back.

Twelve's kiss is the opposite of Lisa's, wild and desperate. He knows now why human/gods relationships are taboo, for he feels as if he'll burn them both with this act.

And so they end up laying there, fingers tangled in each other's hair.

"I love you," the words slip out before he can stop himself.

Lisa laughs, and her smile is brighter than even him. "I love you too."

Nights are filled with pain and destruction for Twelve, despite its constant presence, he knows he'll never get used to it.

But then Day comes around and everything else seems like a bad dream. During those precious hours, he lives in a daydream with Lisa. Not much has changed, but now they'll kiss (which Twelve's found he's actually enjoys) and hold hands and turn into a warm pile of tangled limbs during the chilling winter.

Sometime he wishes things could stay like this forever, but then reality comes crashing down. How dare he think like that, forsaking all of his siblings' sacrifices, Nine's sacrifices.

So instead he wishes to have Lisa ascend with him. After all what is a king without his queen? A god without goddess? He gets accustomed to calling her his little sunlight. And Lisa laughs at such a silly pet name, for she still doesn't know. He is the Sun god providing warmth, but she is his sunlight, brightening the world.

But even that's only a dream, Twelve won't dare take her out of her peaceful, if lonely life.

As expected, one thing leads to another, and this time at dawn Twelve's not returning from war, but waking up in Lisa's arms.

First all he feels is bliss, but slowly dread eats away at him.

"Nine!" How could he do this? He remembers Nine's constant warnings: 'remember the plan' 'remember your duties'. In one night he's broken both of those promises.

Quickly, Twelve gets up, shame eating away at him. However before leaving he can't help but trace the side of her face.

But then he's gone, waking up the world and trying not to think about how he's let down the two people he loves the most.

"Nine-" Another sunset, Twelve looks at anywhere but him.

"-I know where you were," He bluntly cuts off Twelve's apology.

"What? How?"

"After you didn't show up last evening," The words hurt despite his indifferent tone. "I went to visit Lisa and then found you doing whatever you were doing."

"Wait a second, you know Lisa?" To call Twelve surprised should be an understatement.

"Yeah." Nine says it like he was confirming the sky was blue, and grass was green. "I saw it coming though, she's head over heels for you."

"Why in the world, didn't she tell me about you then?"

"That was just a little secret I decided to keep," Nine smiles like he used to do, friendly and teasingly.

Twelve took the opportunity to let out some curse at a certain god, before he calms down and breath again. "So you like her, don't ya?" He returns a cat-like grin.

"She's cute in an endearing way."

Twelve couldn't hold back the smile that broke out. "I told you so!" He wraps an arm around him in a hug. He had missed the old Nine.

The next day, Twelve works up the courage to approach the little house on the hill. It's terrifying, but Nine's acceptance of his apology makes it easier.

He raps his knuckle on the door as usual, and when Lisa opens the door tears are already forming in her eyes. "Oh, Twelve I was so worried about you!" She wraps her arms around his neck. "You went missing yesterday, and... and I just imagined the worst."

"I'm fine, sorry about that," He moves a strand of hair out of her face, before planting a peck on her cheek. "It was horrible, but my brother needed me."

"Nine?"

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Twelve sighs.

"It took me a while to figure out you were related first," She pushes his curls back. "You guys look and act nothing alike, and when he let it slip he made me promise to not say a word." Lisa let a little laugh out. "It's kinda funny isn't it?"

Funny isn't the word he'd use, but there are more pressing matters.

"Hey Lisa," Dark brown eyes look up at him lovingly, and he's so so scared. "Remember when we first met?"

"How could I forget it?"

"Well I wasn't completely honest about how I got my name." He sends as much warmth through his hand, and he sees a look of shock paint her features.

"I'm sorry for lying to you, but I swear that was my only lie." She doesn't look at him, probably disgusted with him.

"I... I had my doubts about you being human," She replies after what feels like an eternity. "Even then, it's still mindblowing, just thinking what I've done to a god..."

"You know I still love you, right?" He cups her face, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"Yes, and I still love you too, I was just kinda caught off-guard." Lisa gives him a smile, it's weak but genuine.

"There's more," Twelve pauses, afraid of overloading her with information humans shouldn't know. "Right now at this very moment, Nine is leading me and some my siblings in a rebellion against our father." She opens her mouth to speak but he continues anyway. "Nine says at this rate, though, the war will be over soon. And... and after it's all over, I want to make you a god like me."

"A god!"

"Only if you want, but if you were immortal then you wouldn't have to worry about dying, or separating!" He realizes this is a selfish gift, her dying would hurt him more then her.

"Honestly, Twelve-" Her hands are trembling, but she makes sure to hold his. "I don't know, this is all so crazy!"

"Then you don't have to decide yet, I'll wait." He picks her up, and carries her inside where they lie in each other arms. Twelve knows nothing really has been solved, far away his family fights and he's still in love with a fragile, fallible human. But for now, it'll do. Just laying there and feeling her heartbeat against his chest is all he needs.

A.N. There's no way I'm leaving this ship. The show may be over, and my children dead, but you can count on me writing more! Btw, I noticed I like starting of things with dialogue a lot, weird.