Later on that night, Laurenza had taken refuge in her room. Thorn and Kuja had been arguing again. She knew things Thorn did not. She knew why Kuja hated Thorn so much, but she could not tell Thorn. Not yet, at least. Her mind suddenly rested on Levanté. She had said that she had moved on, but this was just to make Thorn feel better. Levanté was still in her mind, whether she wanted him there or not. She stared absent-mindedly out of her window and watched a large bird glide over the still lake that spread out behind Castle Medra. It flew a little more before closing its talons on a wriggling fish. It ascended and flew off into the night. Laurenza's attention was then drawn to the clear reflection of the moon in the lake.
"Why...?" She said absent-mindedly, as her thoughts on Levanté reached a sudden climax. "Stupid me... forget him. But what shall I do now? Garin's gone... Thorn and Kuja are fighting..."
"You have yourself..." came a voice from behind her, " That's all you need now..." Laurenza knew it was Thorn. She continued to stare out of the window, into the night.
"Eavesdropping isn't nice, you know." She said, slightly surprised at how childish her voice sounded compared to Thorn's. But he could not have been that much older than her. He only looked about seventeen, but he had said himself that he had been around for a thousand years at least. Laurenza's ponderings were brought to an end with a strange comment from Thorn.
"You were screaming it, my Queen," he said. "It's hard not to hear it."
She did not really understand what Thorn meant. She had not been speaking that loudly, but he could have meant her actions since Levanté's death.
"I am sorry to disturb you." he said softly, bringing her out of her contemplation yet again. "My place is not in your room..." Laurenza did not want him to go, she grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to the window, next to her.
"Don't go," she said, as she looked into his eyes again. She felt oddly attracted to them. She wondered whether his red eyes might be a birth defect, but she decided not to ask, and instead carried on talking. "I need some company, because if I'm alone, I'm left torturing myself in my own mind."
"You should find company in yourself, my Queen." said Thorn, as if he was delivering some kind of speech. "One time, there were fourteen great armies around me. It was the loneliest time of my life. And there were over 14,000 people around me." He paused for a moment. "When I awoke, I knew I had died. It felt strange. I knew that I had to keep myself company." Laurenza fell into deep thought again. She thought for a moment about Thorn fighting thousands of people single headedly, before failing and collapsing on to the ground.
"You... died?" she asked, in a mixture of surprise and confusion.
"In a way." He said, as if explaining a theory on why the sun rises. "There is only one thing that will truly kill me." Thorn paused for a moment; he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "Only I know what it is and that it how it will stay."
"Good plan', Laurenza said, though she silently craved to know what it was, just out of interest. Thorn felt compelled to tell more of his story.
"I was sent to the Eternal Etheria, the place the dead go when they 'die'. I got my powers back, though, and made a new body to inhabit. I knew I had to keep low, I stayed in a cave for about three months, totally alone, but I felt that myself was all I needed. That is how you must feel."
"No..."Laurenza stated. She felt compelled to disagree with Thorn, but was not sure whether it was the sensible thing to do. "I don't want to feel like that. I want to have people around me. People I can trust in, people whom I can care for, and who care for me." She looked at Thorn for a moment, willing him to understand.
"Isn't that what everyone wants?" he inquired.
"Maybe, but I want it too."
"Me too." said Thorn. He was not really sure where this conversation was leading, or what to say.
"Really?" asked Laurenza, puzzled. "I thought that you were Mr. Solo."
"I have never had anybody to trust, I had to be Mr. Solo."
Laurenza willed him to understand again. "Well, you do now."
"Huh?" Thorn exclaimed, confused slightly.
"You have people to trust in."
Thorn understood, but still wanted to see how far he could lead Laurenza. "Really? I can't think of anyone." he grinned.
"Oh, you're terrible!" moaned Laurenza, as she began to pout.
Thorn decided to act more sensibly. "Do you mean to say that I can trust you?"
"Yes. I mean, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't give you a roof over your head, now would I?"
Thorn thought about the word 'trust' for a moment. He felt he could trust Laurenza and knew he would have to if they were to get closer. He nodded, as he realised that he could indeed trust her.
"Thank you." Laurenza said, as she let out a silent sigh of relief in her mind. Gaining Thorn's trust had not been so hard, but she still felt unsure of his feelings about her, as she did her own. She then noticed that he had put his hand on her shoulder. She began wondering whether she ought to do something or not, when Thorn spoke again.
"Do you trust... me?" Though still not sure, Laurenza didn't want to spoil the moment.
"Yeah... I guess." She said. She could hear the uncertainty in her voice and wondered whether Thorn could also.
"Good..." said Thorn, who also sounded uncertain and nervous, but Laurenza took this as an invitation to get a little closer. She placed her head on his shoulder, and they placed their arms around each other. For the first time in a while, Laurenza felt not only warm and safe, but loved. She lifted her head off his shoulder and began to kiss him. At first, she thought she was doing something terribly wrong, and that Thorn may not even want to be kissed, but she soon realised that Thorn was not only accepting her lips, but also kissing them passionately in return. This may have continued for several minutes, or several seconds, she was not sure. Time seemed to lose all meaning after a moment. She felt Thorn's lips smoothly touch her own, sending feelings of sheer pleasure to her mind and body. It was after a few minutes, though, she realised she was being watched.

Tifanel, Arkun, Falos and Kuja are standing outside the open door, watching them with deep awe, except for Kuja, who was in his usual pose, standing against a wall with his arms folded and his head down, several feet away from the others.
"Hand me a barf bag," He groaned, with a slight smile to his face.
With Thorn's mouth being occupied, he seems to project his voice with his mind. "Stop and watch, Kuja," said the echoing voice of Thorn. "You might learn something."
"How often Kuja speaks of canaries, but does not have his own." growled Arkun, as the others
laughed.
Kuja scowled. Arkun commented on how sweet they looked and Tifanel sighed.
"Reminds me of someone special back home," he reminisced, with his eyes slightly out of focus. Thorn, who had stopped kissing Laurenza and now was looking at her with a kind smile on his face, waved his hand towards the door.
"I believe you've all seen enough." he said, as the door closed in their faces.
"First a kiss," said Kuja icily, audible from the other side of the door, "then your life. That woman will do nothing but hurt you."
A booming voice then came from Thorn's side of the door. "Never refer to her as a mere woman!" There was a slight rumbling and the door blasted off its hinges, pushed by a gigantic dark force. Thorn was behind it. He was floating in the air, not suspended by his wings, but by an unseen force. His face was showing pure fury and his eyes seemed to be glowing red again.
Everyone but Kuja stepped back slowly, keeping their eyes on Thorn. Kuja seemed calm; he felt he had nothing to fear of Thorn.
"What?" asked Kuja, laughing. "Shall I call her a man?"
Thorn turned his body, which was still floating, towards Laurenza. "How can you let him say those things about you?" Laurenza stood silently for a moment, her hair flowing as if blown by unfelt wind and her eyes shining with malice.
"I don't..."
"That's my girl." said Thorn, laughing. "Remember what I said, you don't need him!" But Kuja still showed no fear. He did not understand why, but Thorn did not scare him.
"What a charming couple." he mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Mr. and Mrs. Evil, I presume?" It was then that Thorn got angry. He lifted his hand towards Kuja and sent some powerful black light in his direction. At the last minute, Kuja transformed into a fog-like state, and hovered for a moment. Thorn's attack hit the wall behind him and sent large cracks in all directions.
"No one..."Thorn said softly, before raising his voice suddenly so everyone jumped. "NO ONE lives when I want to kill them! "Kuja re-appeared, but still with a mist surrounding him, so Thorn couldn't attack him. Thorn looked at the mist for a moment, and then back at Kuja. He was no longer floating and his eyes had returned to normal. Kuja spoke again, mirroring Thorn's anger.
"I am not like that fool, Garin!" He said, as he suddenly made around five, odd-looking Demons appear out of nowhere. He threw his hand forward and the Demons charged at Thorn. Thorn threw them away, one by one, using only the power of his mind alone. They hit the ground and disappeared in small explosions of light, one by one.
"You can't hide, Kuja." barked Thorn threateningly, as the last of the Demons disappeared.
"Think again! " cried Kuja, as he faded into fog once again. Thorn closed his eyes and began to chant.
"Mirror, Fog, Smoke, Illusion!" He quickly spotted the soul of Kuja, focusing on it and laughed.
"I see you, boy!" he called, almost hysterically.
"Waah! That's not fair!" Kuja cried out, exasperated.
"I told you." said Thorn. It was difficult to determine who seemed the most insane, they were both standing with their fists clenched and teeth bared, Kuja had his demonic glint in his eye and Thorn's kept flickering between glowing and normal. Kuja, knowing that his fog was now useless, seemed to pick it up and throw it at Thorn, who blasted it away from him, causing it to dissipate like a cloud.
"Drat." cursed Kuja. He was panting slightly, but still looked ready to kill. He held up his hand, as if he were saluting the sky, and began to talk under his breath. "Oh elemental forces from which this world was born... Cleansing flames that erase the evil... Torrential storms that ravage the land... Purifying ice that immobilizes all... Tetrastorm!" A mixture of red, yellow, white and blue energy was drawn to Kuja, and began to mix in his hands. Thorn watched him, making no attempt to protect himself. Kuja brought the energy crashing down towards Thorn. Thorn tried to throw it back, but was too late. It collided with him and he was flipped back across the room. He landed and slid for about a meter before coming to a stop, but did not move. He lay there, completely still, showing no signs of life.