Crossing Worlds (A Sandor Clegane fanfiction.)

A Story

A few weeks later, Aurora was sitting in her room reading a book when the door burst open and the two Stark girls came running in. "What's going on?" Aurora asked, seeing the girls' pale and frightened faces. "Father's been injured!" Sansa cried and Arya continued, "He was attacked by Ser Jaime!" Aurora's brows furrowed. "Shh...it's alright, calm down," she said softly. Sansa began crying and laid her head down on Aurora's lap while Arya did her best not to cry.

It took several minutes, but Aurora was finally able to find out that Ned was injured in the leg outside of Lord Baelish's brothel. He would heal and be just fine. "Alright. Why don't we go out to the gardens and just take a few minutes to relax? Get your mind off of it?" The girls reluctantly agreed and Aurora gave them a soft smile. She didn't have much experience with children, but she knew if she showed signs of panic, it would only make things worse.

Aurora lead the girls outside for a bit of fresh air and sat among the flowers of the garden. After a few minutes, Sansa piped up, "This is not helping to take my mind off of Father." Aurora sighed and the girls looked at her, eyes full of fear. Aurora pondered for a second and then smiled to herself. "How about a story?" They both nodded eagerly and Aurora began wracking her brain for a story that would appeal to both girls. She finally settled on a story from a newer movie.

Soon, the Stark girls were enraptured by that tale of a young princess who refused to simply accept her fate. A tale of magic and family. As Aurora told the story, she gained a small audience. The princess Myrcella and young prince Tommen joined them. Even Joffrey stopped his stroll to listen in, although he stood further off and listened with a scowl.

By the time the story finished with its happy ending, all the children were grinning and there was even a small smile on Joffrey's face until Aurora looked at him. Then he said something to the Hound and stomped away. The children all rose from their seats and moved back inside. Aurora got up and dusted herself of. It wasn't until she was almost inside that she realized the Hound was still standing there.

Aurora opened her mouth to ask what he wanted, but he spoke first. "Ya shouldn'tbe tellin' stories like that. It won't 'em any good," he said. Aurora cocked her head looked up into his brown eyes. She was trying to decide whether or not he truly believed that. "It did what it was supposed to do. It got their minds off of their father for a few minutes. Besides, these kind of stories do some good for children," she replied and watched as his face contorted in confusion. "They give them hope. Something to look forward to. Now, excuse me." The Hound watched her go, the look of confusion still on his face. 

(a/n: I know this chapter is a bit short, but I wanted to get a little bonding time in with Aurora and the girls and a little fluff before the angst. Fair warning. Plus, I won't have time to write anything this weekend meaning it may be a little longer until the next chapter. :D)