Soon the hall was empty. Aoto seeing the silence prevailing around, he stepped back and sat on a table. There was an apple on it and he took a bite at it with leisure while John and Arya kept standing. When Aoto moved a bit, Ned who was holding the sword and kept it on the table clenched it and was expecting some kind of move from Aoto but there was none.
After clenching the sword a bit, Ned felt a bit embarrassed by the actions of Aoto. This guy was treating the hall as his home. What the fuck is wrong with this guy.
"Speak. You have come a long way and even took out this thing in order to talk with me. What do you want?" Ned couldn't bother with Aoto anymore and asked the duo who were standing. John and Arya took a deep breath as Ned asked them.
They moved their hands a bit and in a matter of seconds their real appearance came into the picture. Ned's eyes went wide as he saw both of them.
"It's been some time. Father." Arya spoke as tears ran down her face. John just stood there stoically, not uttering a word, but one could see that his eyes were wet too.
"What kind of bad joke is this?" Ned almost roared as he asked that. He could easily recognize John and Arya here. Though they looked much older than his children but he could easily tell that these two were John and Arya.
"Remember the day I found the injured bird in the godswood? You showed me how to mend its wing, and we released it back into the sky. Mother was angry because I again sneaked away and while mending its wings you said that everyone has their own paths in life and I didn't need to follow the rules always. You said the bird would one day fly south and then come back. That everyone has their home and even though sometimes I don't like it here, I will be always welcomed." Arya spoke and as she did so, tears seemed to have just burst out from her eyes.
She had been holding herself all this time but seeing her father again made all her emotions come out. When Ned heard her say that, his eyes went wide. It had not been even a year that this had happened, and he was sure that nobody was nearby when this went down.
So how could this woman say that. He already had the sword in his hand ready to swing at her but now when he heard the story, his hands trembled. He could see the tears and didn't know why even his eyes were wet a bit.
"Arya..." Ned mumbled as he couldn't believe it because it didn't make sense.
"C'mon out with your emotions Lord Stark. I think her story is proof enough to show that they are your children. Though John here isn't your actual son, at the end of the day you raised both of them." Aoto said while munching on the apple. Ned shook a bit and looked at Aoto. The words that John wasn't his actual child wasn't known to anyone.
That was a secret that should have been with him. He looked at Aoto with deep eyes while John and Arya just stood by and waited for Ned to accept that they were his children.
"What are you looking at me for? Both of them know that John's real name is Aegon Targaryen. You thought you hid it quite well?" Aoto said. This made Ned shudder and almost plunge at Aoto to kill him and shut his mouth forever but then he saw John. He could see that John wasn't affected by the words of Aoto at all.
By this time he knew that they were his children. The words of Aoto confirmed that but he didn't understand what was going on.
"Are you really Arya and John?" Ned slowly asked. His voice shaking as he did so. They both nodded their heads.
"What is happening?" Ned then demanded to understand.
"Father.. We are from the future." John answered this time. Ned looked confused and asked.
"Future?"
"Yes future. A future where we have grown up. We have time traveled and now we are here. That is the reason why you see us as grown up." Arya replied.
"I still don't understand." Ned said as he couldn't wrap his head. Arya then explained what time travel was and how they did it.
"So you used magic to come back here?" Ned asked as he remembered how their disguise fell off with a simple hand wave.
"Uh.. Something like that." Arya didn't explain what exactly was going on as what she said was already too hard for Ned to grasp but seeing that her father got the gist and believed her made her happy. Ned was in awe. He had never heard something like this before but by now he knew that these two were definitely were his children.
Arya and John spoke the same way they used and he also saw the changes time brought to them. John was more confident and knew what he needed to do while Arya seemed to be brave and was ready to take on the world.
"So why are you here?" Ned asked as finally the confusion was removed from their part. He could tell that time travel wasn't just for show and there must be something they needed since they 'time traveled'.
"To establish trade." Aoto replied.
"To save you." Arya replied. Both of them said at the same time so Ned heard two sentences.
"Oh yeah, that too." Aoto said. Ned didn't care about the part of them saving me but looked at Aoto.
"Your name is Aoto right? And from the looks of it you saved them. Thank you for taking care of my children. Seeing that now they know magic and something I have never seen before, I presume it was you who taught them. Thank you." Ned came forward with his hand.
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Read 45 chapters ahead on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost