Crossing Worlds (A Sandor Clegane fanfiction.)

Feeling

Sandor watched Aurora as she sat with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes never left the fire as Arya slept on the ground near her. Sandor sighed and got up from his spot on the ground. He walked over to Aurora and crouched in front of her. He looked closely at her face. There were dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks had lost some of their color. Sandor wasn't surprised. It had been nearly a week since the incident and Aurora hadn't slept with the exception of ten or fifteen minutes here and there.

"Ya need ta sleep, Aurora," he told her softly. She shook her head vehemently. "I can't," she whispered, "Every time I close my eyes, I see him. I killed him. An innocent man." Sandor scoffed. "Innocent? He was the furthest thing from innocent ya could get. He was a killer, like me but one without honor. If ya hadn't killed him, he would have killed the girl and then you. Or worse. He would have raped ya. Ya saved not only the girl and yourself but also others."

Aurora sniffled and gazed up at him. "I did?" He nodded once. Aurora was crying again and Sandor bit back a groan. She'd been crying so much the past few days. He let her wrap her arms around him again. Before he met Aurora, Sandor would never have let a woman that wasn't a whore be this close to him. He'd never say it out loud, but he was actually enjoying the physical affection. Sandor sank down to his knees and tightened his arms around the young woman.

After a while, she finally stopped crying again. "You probably think I'm ridiculous. Maybe stupid," she muttered, but he heard her. "Yer not ridiculous or stupid. You've never killed anyone before. 'S not yer nature. Yer only stupid for not takin' care of yerself. Ya gotta sleep, love." Aurora pulled back slightly and stared at him. Had she heard right? And was Sandor...blushing? "What?" she asked, her voice coming out in a squeak. "Ya heard me. Get some sleep."

Aurora let go of him and sat back down on the ground. "Stay with me?" Sandor nodded and settled in next to her. He closed his eyes, hoping that Aurora would follow suit. She did, but not before he felt her cuddle into him. The metal of his armor was slightly cold against her bare arms, but Aurora didn't care. She was just hoping that she's be able to sleep if she was close to him. She felt her eyes closing slowly and just before sleep took her, she whispered, "I love you."

Sandor's eyes flew open and he looked down at her face. He couldn't believe she'd just told him that she loved him. He hadn't expected it. He wanted to know if she meant it, but the woman was finally asleep so he kept quiet and drifted off to sleep himself. Who knew when he'd get another opportunity to be this close to her?

The next morning, Sandor woke to find Aurora and Arya missing. He felt a twinge of panic until he heard Aurora's voice. He followed the sound until he found them. Aurora was watching as Arya was twirling her sword around. "Maybe ya ought ta be wearin' a dress," Sandor said, making Arya nearly fall into the dirt and Aurora jump. The latter glanced at him and smiled.

She already looked much better for sleeping. The circles under her eyes were a little less dark and some color had returned to her eyes and cheeks. Aurora rolled her eyes as Arya began arguing with Sandor once again. "Little wolf, I really don't want to listen to this," she said, effectively shutting it down. Turning to Sandor, Aurora asked, "Where to now?" Sandor thought for a moment and replied, "The Vale. She's got an aunt there. We can get her there in a little less than a fortnight."

The trio mounted their two horses and were off. Aurora rode with Sandor on Stranger and Arya had her own white horse. When she was certain Arya couldn't hear, Aurora looked back at Sandor and said, "I meant it, by the way. What I said before I fell asleep." Sandor almost fell off Stranger's back. He hadn't forgotten what she'd confessed, but he hadn't expected her to bring it up. "We'll talk more when the girl is asleep tonight," was all he said, but it seemed to placate Aurora.

True to his word, Sandor called Aurora over to him as soon as Arya was asleep. When Aurora was next to him on the ground, he turned his head to look at her. "Say it again...please." His voice was barely above a whisper, which was odd for him but there was a part of him that was terrified Aurora would change her mind. She gave him a tired smile before getting to her knees. She brought her face closer to his and said, "I love you."

Sandor crashed his lips into hers frantically. Aurora's hands tangled in his hair as she matched his fervor. One thing that could be said for Sandor was that he kissed with all the vigor and passion he possessed. When they parted, Aurora's cheeks were flushed and her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Never in her life had she been kissed like that and she desperately wanted more.

As soon as she could breath properly, Aurora was attaching their lips again. His hands were gripping her hips so hard, Aurora was certain it would leave bruises. She didn't care. She never wanted the kiss to end. Sandor loosened his grip on her hips as she pushed back and they were both laying on the ground, her slightly hovering over him. He didn't want to let her go, afraid she would disappear and this would turn out to be a dream. Still, he knew they needed to stop before they went any further.

He gently pushed her away. She gave him a look of confusion. "Little dove, I already told ya, I won't bed ya out here. Ya deserve better and if we keep goin', I'm gonna end up ravishing ya. Besides, the girl is right there and I don't feel like havin' ta deal with that." Aurora giggled behind her hand so she wouldn't wake Arya. "I understand," she whispered, laying her head on his chest. "I love you, Sandor." Sandor couldn't fight the smile on his face. "I love ya too, little dove." 

(a/n: Thank you all for nearly 4.5K reads and over 200 votes!)