Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Brother Mine

Winterfell 302 AC.

Dany.

As impressive as the keep was from the air. When they landed outside it, it was even more so. The sheer scale of it was much easier to relate to when you were stood looking up at the walls rather than looking down on them from atop a dragon's back. Her guards were immediately on alert when the Northmen moved their way, but Jon moved even quicker than they did. She looked on as he spoke to the Northmen, one of whom then ran back in through the gates and the other who was looking at her dragons warily.

Then as Jon moved back towards her, she moved to speak to her children. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Jon was speaking to her own guards now and then within a moment he too had moved to the dragons, and as she spoke softly to Drogon, she saw him do the same to Rhaegal. Jon once again removed his glove and stroked her son's head softly, it was a truly wonderful thing to watch. To see someone treat her son as she herself did, to see him unafraid, and more so to see just how eager Rhaegal seemed to be by his touch. After she'd then spoken to Viserion and Rhaegal herself, all three of her children took to the sky. None of them leaving for some time as instead they simply flew over the keep.

"They're being protective of me," she said happily as Jon nodded.

"As any child would be for their mother or any mother for their child," he said and she smiled at him before he bid her join him inside the gates.

Walking through the gates of Winterfell was an experience she'd not forget. Nor were the looks she received from the guards and men and women who had all stopped whatever they had been doing to look to her and to the dragons. Dany herself gaining more of the looks much to her surprise. They entered a large courtyard and she saw the group of people there ready to greet them. A young boy who wore no crown but given his age and appearance she'd name him King Rickon Stark. Beside him stood a tall young woman with striking red hair and eyes so blue that she could see them even at the distance they were from each other.

A little further down stood a young girl who scowled at her, she was perhaps the same age as King Rickon. Dany looked to Jon to see if this was the little sister he'd talked so fondly about, but she found him still looking at the young boy and woman. There were men she assumed were the Lords of the North, gruff-looking men and one who was as large as some of the masters had been. Among them were other men too, men who seemed better dressed and more cleanly shaven than the Northman and one of them who wore a look in his eyes that she liked not. Something about that look and the false smile on his face rubbed her the wrong way and she was about to ask Jon who he was, only for the propriety that had been presented to suddenly be broken.

"Jon." King Rickon said as he ran from where he was standing, Jon then moved to his brother and she looked on as both of them embraced each other. Words were whispered between them that she could not hear and instead it was the reproachful way the young woman spoke that broke the spell that Jon and his brother were under.

"Your grace, we must greet our guests properly." the red-headed woman said and Dany looked to see how she looked at both Jon and King Rickon with annoyance.

"He's not a fucking guest, Sansa, he's our brother for fucks sake." King Rickon said exasperatedly and Dany couldn't have stopped her giggle had she the wish to.

"Our sister, is right, brother. Let's do the formal stuff and then we can speak together, hmmm?" Jon said and King Rickon just nodded, far more eager to speak with his brother than with her she was sure, and yet she felt no slight in this.

She looked on as Rickon moved back into position in the line, the glare he was sent by the woman she was now sure was his and Jon's sister, Sansa, ignored for now. Jon moved to her and motioned for her to walk with him, the two of them only managing to make it two steps before a white blur appeared out of nowhere and knocked Jon to the ground. Dany was not the only one who laughed at the sight of Jon and the large white wolf rolling on the ground. The smile that he wore when he did so was one of his true ones and one she'd come to enjoy seeing and looking to the King and even to the scowling young girl, she could see they too wore the same smiles on their faces, as did one or two of the Northmen.

"Aye, I missed you too, Ghost." Jon said, finally rising to his feet, Dany laughing still as the white wolf licked his face and then she, her guards, and everyone in the courtyard stilled as Ghost moved to her.

Had she a looking glass when she'd first seen Jon touch Rhaegal then she would wager she had worn the same expression as he now wore. His eyes were split between her and the white wolf and he held his breath as Ghost licked her hand and made her giggle loudly. As she knelt down and rubbed the white wolf's soft fur she found herself looking up at Jon and the look he gave her almost made her melt. As did his words when he moved to them and rubbed his own hand over the white fur, his fingers coming so very close to her own as he did so.

"I knew he'd like you, I knew." Jon said almost breathlessly.

She rose to her feet to find most of the eyes in the courtyard looking her way and so with a last longing look at the white wolf, she and Jon moved to the line of people to be greeted formally. When they reached them she watched as Jon took a knee in front of his brother.

"My king, I've returned from my journey to Dragonstone as I swore I would." Jon said overly formally.

"Arise, Jon Snow, arise and be welcomed back to your home." Rickon said happily and she felt that she and the others were intruding somewhat, only for Jon to move to her and touch her elbow and make her feel she was very much not.

"King Rickon Stark, the King in the North. Her Grace, Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the First of Her Name." Jon said as a way of greeting and though it was less impressive than the list of titles that Missandei would give her, she found she liked it just as much, perhaps because of who spoke it.

"Queen Daenerys, welcome to Winterfell." King Rickon said and she noticed the small smile that appeared on Sansa Stark's face at his words, one she didn't truly understand the reason for. Only later finding out that it was because he'd not said Winterfell was hers, which was a typical greeting given to the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.

"It is good to be welcomed, King Rickon. Your brother has told me much about Winterfell and of the North, I've looked forward to seeing it for myself." she said truthfully.

"I hope you find it to your liking, Queen Daenerys." Rickon said a little stiffly.

"My sister, Lady Sansa Stark, your grace." Jon said, moving her to the tall willowy redhead.

"Lady Sansa, It's a pleasure to meet you, at last, Jon has spoken of your often and I see his words are truthful and that your beauty was not exaggerated by him nor by my Lord Hand." she said and while Tyrion had indeed said so of his former, or current wife, Jon had barely spoken of the girl and had misliked having her brought up in conversation.

"Your own beauty has not been exaggerated either, Queen Daenerys, perhaps we could speak more when you're settled."

"We should get her grace and her guards' guest rights before we see them settled." Jon said to a nod from King Rickon and an angry glare from the girl in front of her.

"You believe we would harm your queen, Jon?" Sansa said affronted.

"Her grace is not my queen and should be offered guest rights as any visitor would be." Jon almost snapped back at his sister.

Dany though barely heard that last part. Instead, it was him saying that she was not his queen that she found herself reflecting upon. Even long after the guest rights had been given and she was escorted to her room by Sansa Stark and not by Jon, it was his words and not the conversation with his sister that she was thinking about. She found they had hurt her somewhat. Even though she knew he'd not knelt to her and was still sworn to his brother, something about him saying it so casually had hurt her.

At dinner that night she was quiet and withdrawn and thought she joined in the conversations; she felt very much what she was, an outsider. Jon sat with his brother and a large red-headed man while to his other side sat an older grey-haired one. All of them laughing and japing as she sat and ate quietly, her mood only improving when Ghost made his way to her and licked her hand. Once he did so she found her eyes going to Jon and was surprised to see him staring at her, almost longingly. The small nod of his head and the beginnings of a smile on his face showing her that he had sent the wolf or that he had at least wished for Ghost to be by her side.

He escorted her to her room himself later that night and she was on the verge of asking him about what he had said earlier, only for him to bring it up before she got the chance.

"My sister is a politician, Daenerys. I'd not noticed just how much of one she truly was for the longest time." he said and she looked at him, eager for him to continue "I am sworn to my king, my brother, yet I am your ally. However I believe there are some who would use that fact for their own ends and so I'd prefer to take that option away from them." he reached out and touched her hand and she allowed him to hold it gently in his own.

"I understand." she said softly as she felt his fingers brush over her palm.

"Sleep tight and have pleasant dreams, Dany." he said and she felt herself grow tense "Dany?" She heard him say again and she looked at him concernedly.

"Why did you call me that?" she asked, her voice a little choked as she fought back the emotions she was feeling.

"Daenerys is such a mouthful, I thought it suited you better." Jon said and she nodded.

"It's been many years since I've been named as such. I can't truly remember who the last one was who did so, my brother perhaps." she said shaking her head, feeling herself calm.

"I'm sorry, forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive, Jon.." she said softly as she opened her door.

"Goodnight Daenerys." his words were spoken softly and so she looked at him challengingly." Goodnight Dany."

"Goodnight Jon" she replied, before then closing the door behind her.

She awoke and dressed early the next morning to find the white wolf had slept outside her door or had at the very least come to her door much earlier. With a nod to two of her guards she reached down and ran her hand in the wolf's fur and then asked him to show her to the Great Hall, Ghost only too keen to do so. Making her way through the keep she enjoyed the warmth she felt as she did so, her room had a roaring fire already in its hearth when she'd been escorted there the night before and so she'd not noticed just how warm the keep itself was.

In some of her talks on Winterfell with Jon, she'd been told that there were hot springs under the keep and that water was piped through the walls to help heat rooms and halls. It hadn't made much sense to her at the time, but now as she felt the warmth while she walked, she'd wager Winterfell was even warmer than Dragonstone had been. Entering the Great Hall alongside Ghost was a different experience than entering alone or even with Jon as she had the night before. All eyes looked to her as she walked to the table where the Starks sat and seeing her with the white wolf, they perhaps looked at her less warily than they had the night before. Well, all eyes barring two sets of them at least. Sansa Stark still looked at her suspiciously as did the thin man she'd heard named as Lord Baelish and who'd introduced himself the night before.

She was a little upset to not see Jon there, but when she noticed the King was not there either she was certain it was because they were together. Taking her seat, she'd only just requested her meal when they both entered, Jon far happier to see her than his brother was. Though she was sure Rickon's look was more because he wished for alone time with his brother than for anything truly to do with her. The meal was hearty and she ate every morsel, her guards enjoying it as much as she did and while the conversation was somewhat stilted, she was included in every aspect of it, Jon keen to do so and his brother following his lead, while his sister very much did not.

"Perhaps it's time to show your queen the wight, Jon." Sansa said bitingly and she watched as Jon placed a hand on Rickon's own to stop him from repeating what Jon himself had said the day before.

"Aye, perhaps it is." Jon said and she heard the small little gasp that Sansa made, her expression changing to one she liked not as Jon and Rickon rose to their feet and asked her to join them.

Before he moved from the table, Jon whispered something in his brother's ear and she saw him nod. Then he offered her his hand to help her to her feet and together all three of them and Ghost walked from the Great Hall. Dany had no need to look back to see the expression on Sansa's face and she knew that she and the young woman would need to have words before she left and flew back to the South.

"What does a wight look like?" she asked as they walked out into the cold, the chill in the air catching her off guard and she was shocked when Jon took off his cloak and placed it around her shoulders, the small smile she gave him one which was returned just as truly.

"It depends on how long they've been dead for, your grace." Jon said looking at Rickon.

"This one has been dead for some time, Queen Daenerys." Rickon said to prepare her for what she was about to see, something she'd thank him for later.

She, her guards, and even Jon himself took a step back when they saw the thing, for that was the only way you could describe it, in the cage they held it in. There was no smell, though there should have been, no way this thing could move, yet it did, and no way to kill it other than how Jon had already told her, which he then proved. The dagger that he stuck in the wight's neck had no effect whatsoever. Looking at it and its bright blue eyes she felt a chill go down her spine, one that only increased when Jon answered her questions when she asked how many of them there were.

"Thousands, tens of thousands, more. For every one who falls while facing them, their army only increases." Jon said and as she looked at it, she knew now just how important her children truly were.

Winterfell 302 AC.

Beric Dondarrion.

He had already met King Rickon the day he arrived at Winterfell with his companions and while he'd heard rumors about the boy's resurrection when he was at the Wall, he was not who Beric wanted to meet at first.

He had heard many tales about Jon Snow when they first arrived at Castle Black. The current commander of the Night's Watch, Eddison Tollett, and some of the people who called themselves Free Folk had all but confirmed that Eddard Stark's bastard came back from the dead the same as Beric himself had done. He had been told that he had been resurrected by a Red Priestess, one they had previously met according to Thoros, and that he had made the same priestess give the Last Kiss to his dead brother Rickon. Thoros had been surprised, not that she could perform the ritual, as Melisandre was very well versed in magic and a priestess for a long time before Thoros, but that she could do it twice to nonbelievers of the Lord of Light.

"They must still have a part to play in the war to come," Beric simply deduced.

"Jon Snow, maybe, but the child?"

"May be important for R'hllor to revive him. We do not know of his plans, Thoros."

Rickon Stark had seemed perfectly normal at first, a little on edge, assuredly, but who in his position wouldn't be? He was a boy of ten, who seemingly died in a gruesome way, then he took another breath and was named King in the North. The crown was given by the Lords of the North and he felt it like a bullseye directly over his heart. When the boy spotted him, he immediately sensed something about him.

"You're like me, aren't you?" Rickon asked him.

"Like you?"

"A dead man walking."

"Are you?" Beric questioned, surprised and hopeful.

Rickon opened his shirt to show him his fatal wound just over his heart and Beric smiled at his nonchalance. At first, Beric had thought his physical appearance had given him away or that Arya Stark might have told him something, as she stared at him with anger in her eyes, but he had it all wrong.

"Your stare," the boy said.

"What about my stare?"

"You're like Jon. Like a part of you is missing." Beric had shivered while the sadness of the boy resonated in him. It had been so long since he'd felt sadness he couldn't even remember the reason.

They didn't dwell much on the subject as the wight manifested itself, making those who hadn't seen one jump in surprise. Clegane had suggested they prepare a cage to show the undead to those still doubting and Rickon gave them leave to rest once it had been put in it, but Beric preferred guarding the cage. He didn't need to rest as much as the others, and food was something he had no interest in either.

He wasn't surprised to see her that night, and even less to feel the cold of her blade on his throat.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't end your life right now."

"I've been prepared to die for a long time. If it is my time, so be it."

"You shouldn't be alive."

"Yet six times now my God has brought me back."

"And has robbed my God six times."

"As he did with two of your brothers. Are you ready to kill them too? To become a kinslayer twice over to serve your God? I do not think so, for Rickon is still breathing." Beric stated matter of factly.

"You do not get to talk about my family." The blade trembled against his skin, more and more as Arya Stark's resolve weakened.

"I believe they are the reason why I live. To help them bring the dawn after the Long Night. At least your brother Jon."

"What about Rickon?"

He remembered her and Rickon's reaction the first time they saw the wight. They were the only two who weren't afraid of it and who walked to the cage out of curiosity. The Lords of the North and the Vale all but cried out when Clegane pierced it with a sword, the thing's wriggling and screaming, freezing them in shock.

" This, my Lords, my Ladies, dear sisters. This is our enemy. As my brother Jon said, it doesn't tire, doesn't sleep, and isn't easily disposed of. And as my brother Bran added, there are hundreds of thousands of them coming for us."

" And you say they're coming?"

" The Wall will protect us." one of the Lord said shakily.

" The Wall is but a shadow of its former glory, my Lord. There are not enough men to man him as it is. Even with the Free Folk helping." Thoros stated.

" We should retreat to the Eyrie, Lord Baelish. If we have to fight those things, we should do so in our territory."

" You do so, and you're dead already." a man who Beric knew once intervened.

" You dare threaten us?"

" I am merely offering the facts, Lord Royce." the man said. "If we don't fight together, if you leave us to face the enemy alone in our hour of direst need, it will not be the Dead alone you will have to survive. Every man from the North who falls will be raised and join their army. Imagine every single one of our men, women, and children, growing their ranks by the time they come to you. I can but guarantee you that if you don't want to face that outcome, you best stay and fight with us now."

Lord Royce nodded reluctantly, his eyes still fearful as they focused on the wight.

" Jon has sent us Dragonglass which is one of the means to end a wight's life. The second one is Valyrian steel and there's also fire, to an extent." Rickon stated. "I've already ordered the smith to follow the plans given by Samwell Tarly from the Citadel for the crafting of weapons."

" Your Grace, if I may, I would like to help. I'm a smith and I saw the weapons they used at the Wall."

" Granted, Ser…"

" It's only Gendry, Your Grace." Arya answered before walking away abruptly.

" Oh… So you're the famous Gendry…" Rickon said almost playfully.

" Famous? Did Arya… I mean Lady Arya talked about me?" Gendry stammered and once Beric would have smiled at that, but no more.

" Just that you helped her when she was younger. And that she thought you were dead. Nothing more. I welcome your offer, by the way, Gendry, and I give you leave to start in the smithy as soon as you want."

" I thank you, your Grace. I will go now, with your leave."

Rickon nodded and his attention went back to the Lords.

" From now on, I want everyone to train, whether you are my subjects or not. Northmen, Valemen, Freefolk, we need to be united in this fight and we have to start now if we're to stand a chance against the dead. No more games and fake jousting. We train together to survive, for this enemy will not keep to the rules of knighthood. And the ones more able to teach you to know how to survive are those who've already fought them. The men of the Watch and Free Folk alike. Am I clear?"

At that moment, Beric had understood why Rickon Stark was important, enough to be granted a second chance at life, and that was what he told the boy's sister.

"From what I've gathered, he is helping his brother too, by being the King in the North. He is assembling forces to fight against the dead and we will need every man, woman, and children we can to vanquish this thing and the things like him." he said to Arya, pointing at the cage.

"I know Death. He's got Many Faces. I looked forward to seeing this one. But now…" she replied, showing some nervousness for once.

"Now you're scared. Because of all you hold dear."

"I have trained to become No One. I have erased a lot of feelings from my life…"

"You would be no better than this wight if you didn't feel anything. No better than me. You still have life inside you. Anger, hope, fear… Love… That is why you cannot be No One, why you never truly served your God, and why you cannot kill me."

She said nothing and just walked away, as swiftly as she arrived, and Beric sighed as he had been granted another day to live which meant the work his god had in store from him was far from done.

They were summoned to the King in the North's solar after Jon Snow's arrival with the Targaryen Queen and Beric felt his interest spike for the first time in years. He was finally about to meet the one he thought would bring the Light during the war to come. Tales of how Jon Snow fought for the Free Folk at Hardhome and then brought them behind the Wall's protection despite their animosity, proved that he was a man of valor.

Thoros was as anxious as he was when they arrived in the room and he felt his heart stop as he stared at Eddard Stark's bastard. There was something about him, something very different from his brothers and sisters. As if the whole room was impregnated with his presence. His solemn face immediately commanded respect and his eyes were unlike any he'd ever seen before

Just as Rickon Stark had mentioned, it looked as if he had lived things so horrific that part of him was missing. The deep sadness however disappeared whenever he glanced at his brother or the Targaryen Queen, and Beric couldn't help but feel that he was intruding in their life by just being present.

"I know my brother has already thanked you for your service my Lord, good Sers, but I wanted to extend my thanks as well. To hunt a wight must have been difficult and that you volunteered to do so and succeeded in your task is more than important to us all." Jon Snow said and he nodded.

"We were lucky, truly, my Lord," Beric said. "King Rickon had sent word for a ranging to be held and I am ashamed to say that we weren't successful in finding one by ourselves. We encountered many wights, we fought them and gave them the true death, but didn't come close to capturing one alive."

"How did you do it, then?" Daenerys Targaryen asked, frowning.

"Benjen Stark was the one to help us. He came to our camp during the night with a wight and warned us to go back to the Wall as the Night King was getting closer."

"Uncle Benjen? I thought…" Jon gasped.

"Bran said he was alive, sort of…" Rickon said, looking to his brother. "I will tell you more later."

"What did he say?" Jon Snow asked eagerly.

"He… He warned us that the Night King was on the move and that he knew what we were trying to do. He apparently wanted to lure us into a trap."

"How did he know about it?" Jon asked, his eyes still bearing that same stare that Rickon had spoken to him about.

"It is… Complicated, my Lord."

"Call me Jon, I'm not a Lord."

"He said that the way he has been… Maintained in life gives him a link with the Night King. And that sometimes he can see what he plans to do. That was how he'd saved your brother Bran and how he was able to warn us before something tragic could happen to my companions and me."

"So, he's a… Wight, too?" Daenerys said, shivering.

"I wouldn't say he is. Wights don't have a conscience, your grace. They act on instinct and follow the orders of their master. Benjen could still speak, think and he remembered his past."

"How can the dead come back to life and not be under the Night King's influence?" she questioned and Beric was about to answer when he saw the Stark brothers shake their heads at him.

"Where is Benjen right now?" Jon Snow asked.

"He brought us back to Castle Black and said he still has things to do beyond the Wall. But he had a message for his family."

"What was it?" Rickon asked. His eagerness a match for his brother's earlier one and Beric wondered if that was all that made them so alike.

"Be prepared if the wight arrives in one piece at Winterfell, for it means Winter is coming and the magic of the Wall will no longer stop it."

"How?" Jon whispered.

"We don't know," Beric admitted. "Benjen told us there was still some magic there, but that the Night King would not need much to counter it."

He could see the fearful looks of everyone present as they understood the true extent of Benjen's warning. The army of the Dead was marching for them all and what was meant to protect the realms of men, to be their first line of defense, had somehow been rendered useless.

The Godswood of Winterfell 302 AC.

Arya Stark.

She had waited for this moment for so long that when it was finally time to meet him, to see her brother after all this time, she found out that she couldn't do it.

She watched him from afar, not daring to approach him, afraid to be disappointed by his reaction to seeing her again. She couldn't bear it if he rejected her, and knowing how honorable Jon was, how he was stated by the Lords of the North to be much like their father not just in looks, she feared he would question her past actions and not accept them.

She had been more than impressed to see him on the back of a dragon. Daenerys Targaryen riding in front of him looked every bit as Arya had imagined her throughout the years that she had spent in Essos. A conqueror, and as beautiful as she seemed. Ruthless when speaking about politics, but not shy to show a bit of fondness with those who had suffered. And Jon… Jon looked so much like their father, so much like her that she felt the empty space he had left in her heart when they separated was now finally beginning to be filled once more. He looked more serious, more sure of himself, not that she forgot how stern he was to her when she was younger, but their closeness had made him be more himself with her than with the others. Rickon was young still, but he had been the only one to witness Jon as he truly was, which was their protective brother.

She knew he would be in the Godswood with Rickon and that their little brother would want to spend time with him, but she hadn't counted on Daenerys being present and was surprised when she approached her while Jon and Rickon prayed.

"You must be Arya Stark." Daenerys asked, a fond smile on her face as she did so.

"And you are Daenerys Targaryen."

"Jon has talked quite a lot about you. He was disappointed not to see you when we arrived."

Arya frowned as she caught the fond tone lacing the Queen in the South's words when she spoke of her brother.

"He needed to spend time with our brother. Rickon has missed him greatly." she replied unemotionally, though it was hard to do so.

"I'm sure you did too."

"I was in Essos, you know? When you liberated Slaver's Bay." Arya said, not wanting to talk about her feelings.

"Oh, really?" Daenerys said surprised.

"Aye. I Heard what you did in Astapor to get the Unsullied."

"I set them and the other slaves free," she replied tersely.

"And yet we heard you command an army of Unsullied." she retorted.

"They travel with me of their own free will. Firstly they wanted to help me liberate the other cities so that their slave brothers and sisters could have the freedom to make their own choices back, just as they did. Once it was done, I told them they were free to leave, and they chose to stay by my side."

Arya could detect no lies in her answer, but she could see the repressed anger in Daenerys' demeanor.

"Did you truly succeed in ending slavery there?"

"Some of the slavers tried to get back to their old ways while I was… Away with my dragon." Daenerys said drifting off into Some memory she had no wish to share.

"Away?"

"It's a long story."

"Humor me, as it seems my brothers are not ready to stop praying." Arya said looking to where Jon and Rickon still knelt.

"I'd been attacked by some people who intended to bring slavery back to the city I'd freed and Drogon saved me. When I later arrived back at Mereen I saw that the slavers were attacking the city."

"I heard that you'd allowed for them to bring slavery back for a time, only to get back on your word and burning them alive."

"I've never given my word to bring slavery back. That world should never have been given in my name." Daenerys said angrily.

"Who gave it?"

"Tyrion Lannister."

"Interesting…"

"What is?"

"That you still have him in your service when he went against your orders."

"He didn't know at first, but now he knows better." Daenerys words were not spoken as truly as the others she had and it pleased Arya to know she could tell the woman was lying so easily.

"And there, we have it."

"What?"

"Your first lie of this conversation," Arya smirked as the woman in front of her seemed shaken by her affirmation.

Before she could take advantage of Daenerys' moment of weakness, she heard her name being called and she froze in fear. There he was, her older brother, the one person who had prevented her from ever truly becoming No One. She couldn't move, couldn't run to him, and she tried to keep her expression neutral as she evaded looking him in the eyes. She may even have managed it, until his arms wrapped around her and she felt herself being held by him for the first time in so many years.

"Thank you…" he whispered and she found herself melting into his embrace. "Thank you for coming back home. Thank you for coming back to us… to me." Jon said, and she didn't need to look into his eyes to know how true his words were

She closed her eyes and hugged him back, and they were soon joined in their embrace by Rickon, who it seemed didn't want to be left out.

"See, I told you he would be happy to see you!" the youngest of them said in a singsong voice.

"I'm sorry, Jon… I should have been back sooner…"

"Shh… All is well, sister. You're here now and that's the most important thing in the world, truly it is."

Feeling his love and relief to have her there was too much for her, and so for the first time in years, she crumbled and sobbed in his arms. She forgot about Daenerys, about anyone who could see her at that moment and enjoyed the warmth of the person she loved the most. She reluctantly let go of him and he gasped as Rickon showed him her blade.

"You still have it." Jon said as he looked at the blade wistfully.

"Needle. Aye."

"Have you ever used it?" he asked.

"Once or twice." she replied nervously.

"Arya is so skilled with a blade now! She's been trained by -" a glare to Rickon and a motion of her head to the woman who stood near them made him stop talking immediately. She was not ready to talk about her life before now, especially since she didn't yet fully trust Daenerys Targaryen.

"Valyrian steel," she said as she spotted the blade attached to Jon's hip.

"Jealous?" he smirked but she could guess he had a lot of questions for her and he had realized she wouldn't answer them. Not when they weren't alone.

"Too heavy for me. We shouldn't keep the Queen in the South waiting. She might be cold."

Jon nodded and walked toward the Targaryen Queen, whose face immediately lightened up when his attention was on her. Arya frowned at the change in her demeanor. Could it be possible that she might feel something for her brother? Something other than gratitude for having saved her campaign in the South?.

She watched with interest Daenerys' interactions with Jon, and even though his brother tried to divide his time between their family and their guest, it was clear to her that he was attracted to the dragon queen. Something Sansa had obviously caught up on too, judging by her stance during dinner.

Rickon was sitting at the center of the High Table, between Daenerys at his right and Jon, who Arya sat next to. Bran was sitting next to the Dragon Queen and Sansa had been relegated to the end of the table.

She was enjoying the moment, listening to Jon talking to their little brother about fighting with the Dothraki and their guest punctuating his tales with some of her own, when her eyes caught the ones of the person she had managed to avoid up to now. Ever since his arrival during Rickon's speech thanking him and the other members of the mission who brought the wight back.

Gendry had tried to see her more than once and she hadn't been ready for a reunion as of yet. She had been very relieved to find out that Bran had been right and that he was alive all this time, but the fact that he was in the Hall with the Hound, who she thought was dead too, and the Brotherhood without Banners made her angry and fearful on his behalf. She had heard from Ser Davos when the knight had seen Gendry arriving, that Melisandre had chosen him as a sacrifice because he was Robert Baratheon's bastard. With the last Targaryen in their home now too, she hoped Gendry wouldn't do anything stupid to draw the attention to himself. Who knew what Daenerys could ask or do if she knew that they hosted one of the last if not the last Baratheon alive?.

"King Rickon has given me leave to bring the wight to my allies," Daenerys declared. "To show them the proof of the reality of the army of the dead. I understand that should the North fall, then we are all at risk, so it is in our interest to set our political disagreements aside and work together to rid ourselves of the dead. I intend to come back with my forces as soon as possible to help you fight the Army of the Dead. I also intend to show it to Cersei Lannister, as we will need every man we can to defeat our common enemy."

She could feel the Northern Lords' hesitation about her involvement and Bran's intervention didn't make it easier.

"We shall need Daenerys Targaryen's dragons if we are to have a chance to survive. Without her, all is lost." Bran said to angered looks.

"What about after the war? Would you then leave the North to its independence and focus and be content with the ruling of only Six Kingdoms, Queen Daenerys?" Sansa asked snidely, making the Lords of the North grumble and the Dragon Queen tense.

"That's enough, Sansa. Have you not heard what Bran just said? We need her here!" Jon exclaimed. " In case you have not let me repeat it for you and for you all. The dead are coming, you've all seen it with your own eyes. Yet you are still arguing about what is to come afterward when there might not be a North to fight or argue over should we lose that war?"

The crowd grew silent while Jon stood up, capturing all of their attention.

"The wight you saw does not tire, it does not need to rest nor to eat. The Brotherhood can testify how hard it is to kill one of them, let alone bring one here," he said to the nods of said men. "Ask Tormund about Hardhome. About the thousands that we lost and who all rose up again simply by the Night King's will. We were in luck that day, we had ships to transport us to the Wall, and yet make no mistake, my lords, Sansa, make no mistake we lost that battle.

We all know that we will have to fight them once more. Each man we lose is one the enemy gains, and we will not be quick enough to burn their bodies to prevent them from fighting against us when they rise again, not when we will be far too busy fighting for our lives. Queen Daenerys has already helped us greatly by allowing us to mine the Dragonglass. She could have turned us away but she did not. Instead, and against the advice of some of her council, she came here to see the threat. Bran has told you all that we need her and I believe it completely too. Her dragons breathe fire, her men are skilled and weathered on a battlefield, and most of all, she is willing to set aside our differences to come to our aid. Once we will be back from the South, we -" Jon said his voice passionate and firm and though he looked to each man and woman in the Great Hall, he looked to the Dragon Queen more than any and only Rickon's interruption stopped him from speaking more.

"We? What do you mean, we?" Rickon growled.

"Queen Daenerys has asked me to help her convince her allies and Cersei Lannister to fight with us," Jon said softly.

"She said that she will do it! Why do they need convincing?" Rickon snapped.

"I gave you my word, King Rickon, but I need to settle things in the South before and to convince people to follow me. And I need your brother for that." Daenerys said reassuringly.

Rickon stood up, his fists clenched and his body trembling, and Arya feared that he would explode, but he didn't. Instead, he just turned around and walked away, ignoring Jon's calls and prompting the audience to roar out its disapproval at what had seemingly been agreed between Daenerys and her brother.

Jon ran after him and she ten went to follow, only to be stopped by her other brother.

"They need to speak. Alone."

She shivered and nodded before walking back to her seat, though not without sending a glare to the Dragon Queen. She had learned by now to be suspicious of Bran's interventions, which made her wary of him needing to have Daenerys Targaryen here.

Winterfell 302 AC.

Jon Snow.

The journey back to Winterfell had truly proved just how incredible the dragons really were, more so than even hearing about the events in the Reach. What had taken him almost a moon to do when he'd left, was now done in a little over two days. So fast did they travel in fact that when he saw Winterfell in front of him, he was almost disappointed. Not by seeing the keep, but more because he'd enjoyed his talks with Daenerys without worry or concern about who was paying attention to him. It seemed more intimate somehow and they had spoken even more freely because of it, something he found he wished for more of.

When they landed though he put that out of his mind, for now, the excitement of seeing his family again quickly taking over. Thoughts of seeing his brother brought a smile to his face as did the thoughts of seeing Arya again. It had been years since he'd seen her, the little girl who he was closest to in the world and who he'd missed more than any over the years and he hoped that she'd not suffered as much as the rest of their family had. He prayed that she wasn't as broken as Sansa was in some respects or that unlike Rickon she hadn't gone through what had stolen his brother's childhood from him. Bran too, his other brother had already gone through so much, long before he ever traveled Beyond the Wall, and he hoped he retained some of the same fire that Rickon had rediscovered.

Rickon greeted him just how he expected and the feel of his brother's arms around him was welcomed greatly. Sansa was her usual proper self and wished for them to do this as custom dictated, something he both agreed and disagreed with. Hearing Rickon speak mainly of the latter, showing that his brother hadn't changed in the moon or so since he'd seen him last. He had worried that the pressure of his crown and of being king would force him to be more how Sansa wished him to be, a King of the South and not the North. Rickon's words showed that not to be the case and brought yet another smile to his face. There was no sign of Bran or Arya and he thought that strange, but seeing the look on Sansa's face and noticing that the Lords of the North were all looking his way, he felt it was best, for now, to be proper and so he took a knee and let the introductions happen how they should.

He almost lost his composure when Sansa tried to play some game as she tried to shame him in front of the Lords and questioned his loyalty to the North and to his brother. His words were spoken for her and their's benefit and it seemed to have the effect he intended. Despite wishing to walk and escort Daenerys to her rooms, he knew it was for the best if he allowed Sansa to do so. Later he could speak to the queen and ask her own thoughts on his sister and see if he was just being warier than he really should be. That it gave him time to speak to his brother and to others was a blessing too and as he looked to the white wolf, he saw how happy he was that he was back and he was pleased with how Ghost greeted Daenerys. His truest friend had welcomed her to their home with no reservation whatsoever. That alone proved her as true as he believed her to be and far truer than some who resided in this keep and it made his heart still to see it as well.

"What was the South like, brother?" Rickon asked as they walked to his solar.

"Warm." he chuckled "Dragonstone is much like Winterfell, brother. It has a feel about it that reminded me of home. I can see why the Targaryens made their own there."

"The queen?" Rickon asked.

"Is a good woman. brother. I believe her to be true." he said and his brother looked at him studiously before nodding "Arya, Bran?" he asked and Rickon's expression changed at the mention of their brother.

"I don't know where Arya is, she….she was nervous about seeing you again."

"And Bran?"

"He is not nervous about anything." Rickon said pointedly.

When they entered the solar, he saw just how nervous his brother truly was, how his shoulders slumped and he looked as if he bore the weight of the world on them.

"I missed you." his brother said softly, his eyes looking down and not at him when he spoke and Jon moved to him before hugging him tightly.

"Aye, I missed you too, brother. Very much." he said feeling Rickon relax some.

In less than an hour, they were japing with each other, Rickon asking him about dragons and telling him about Glover and Jon telling him of them and his time spent with the queen. He told him about Missandei and the Dothraki, The Sand Snakes and the Greyjoys, Tyrion, Varys, and Lady Olenna, the latter whom he spoke fondly on.

"It seems you made some new friends, brother."

"What can I say, people like me." he said before they both burst out laughing, Jon moving to grab his brother from his chair and mussing his hair as the two of them acted more like boys than a King and a former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Dinner that night was one of the most enjoyable he had in an age. Though each time he looked to Daenerys it was clear that she was feeling left out, So closing his eyes he bid Ghost to go to her and the white wolf soon seemed to change her mood. The look she gave him and that he returned seemed to show that while he was spending time with those he'd not seen in a while, he was not forgetting about her and that she appreciated that he was not.

When he escorted her to her room, he spoke briefly about Sansa and then felt he'd done something wrong when he named the Queen as Dany and not Daenerys. Though it seemed he had in fact done something right. While tired he was not yet ready for his bed and so he ended up back in the Great Hall and was happy to see both Tormund and Davos had not yet taken to their beds either. The warm smile on Tormund's face showed that he was a little drunk and was happy to see him.

"Come Jon Snow, we need a tall tale to go with this fine ale." Tormund said and Jon chuckled as he moved over and took a seat beside the two men.

"Shouldn't you be abed?" he asked as he poured himself a mug of ale, Tormund laughing loudly as he did so.

"If the big woman would let me steal her, then Aye, I'd be abed."

"If you try and steal Brienne, you'll be gutted you fool." he said as Davos smirked at him.

"She loves me, truly." Tormund replied and Jon felt it for the best to leave him with his delusion.

"What have I missed?" he asked and when Tormund went to tell him all that had happened since he left the room, the more sober Davos spoke on all that had occurred since he had left Winterfell.

Jon listened as he was told of Glover being an arse and being put in his place by Rickon, of Littlefinger whispering in Sansa's ear, and of how she and Rickon had still not resolved their issues. When Davos spoke of Bran it raised his hackles, something about the way he said his brother's name not sitting right with him and so he asked him to be more clear.

"What is it exactly, Davos? Other than him being odd?" he asked and Davos sighed before speaking.

"Your brother is more than odd, Jon. His grace says he's unfeeling and I suppose that's the best way I can explain it. You heard what he said when he first saw the king?" Davos asked and Jon shook his head.

"You should not be alive." Tormund said and Jon looked at him disbelievingly only for Davos to confirm it.

"He truly said that?" he asked and Davos nodded "I'll speak to him on the morrow, Arya, have you spoken to my sister?" he asked and Davos nodded again.

"She's a fierce little thing, Jon, though odd in her own way." Davos replied and Jon was then told of how his sister looked at everyone warily and spoke in a manner that discomforted him to hear.

As the drinks flowed, the conversation turned to Dany and her dragons, to her army, and to the Dragonglass. Jon was eager to speak on as much of it as he could and the picture he painted of her soon had Tormund laughing loudly.

"And I thought I had it fucking bad, at least the big woman only has a sword to gut me with when I go to steal her. I'm sorry Jon, but you're fucked. No man can steal a woman with a dragon, not even you." Tormund said laughing all the while.

"I'm not….I don't…." he spluttered.

"Sure you don't. Wet as a baby seal, Jon, wet as a baby seal, Har." Tormund said before slapping his back.

A few moments later Davos got up to go to his bed and Jon rose with him, walking to the edge of the Great Hall so he could speak to him more privately.

"He's been good, Rickon? He's been well?" he asked softly.

"Aye, he's been good. He missed you, lad, you should have seen his face when the raven came saying you were coming back North."

"Thank you, for being with him, for looking after him."

"There's no need to thank me, Jon. He's a good lad, just like you." Davos said before walking away.

How many more drinks he had with Tormund he knew not, only that he thanked him more than once and was slapped on the back more times than he cared to remember. He was called a lovesick fool too, which he thought was a bit rich coming from a man who made moon eyes at Brienne every single chance he got. When he finally went to his bed it was with thoughts of silver hair and with a name on his lips and before finding his sleep, a name that he spoke aloud.

"Dany."

Despite the headache he felt when he woke the next morning, he soon found himself in the sparring yard with Rickon. His brother had come to his room early to wake him and though he wished to stay in his bed for far longer, he rose and was dressed in moments. Soon enough they were joined by Lyanna Mormont and some others. Jon having to be told that one of the boys was Larence Snow and that Rickon wished him to be the new Lord of Hornwood, his brother looking to him to see if this was the right choice, and Jon's nod saying it was.

When they went inside to break their fast it was to see that Dany was already up and he offered her his warmest smile as he took his seat. He did his best to include her in the conversations and was happy to see that Rickon did the same. Though once again Sansa decided to play whatever game it was she had decided upon. That Rickon readied to call her out on her words was a surprise, but he felt now was not the time for it and so he stopped him, his brother calming at the touch of his hand. Instead, he simply concentrated on the content of those words and not the subtext of hidden meaning behind them. It was indeed time for Dany to see the wight and so they made their way to it and he showed her the truth of what they faced.

After seeing it he needed to speak to Dany alone, but his brother wished for them to spend more time together, in the end, it was to the Godswood and to pray that he went. Dany, joining him as Rickon, knelt beside him while he offered up his thanks for the return of more of their family. Even if he'd not yet seen his other brother or Arya. When he heard her voice for the first time he wished to rise to his feet, and yet something kept him on his knees. The quietness of the Godswood was broken only by the sound of Dany and his little sister speaking to each other and for some reason, he wished so very much for them to get along.

Whether it was that, the prayers he was offering to the gods or sheer nervousness that stopped him from opening his eyes, rising to his feet, and running to his little sister, he knew not. Only when he had finished his prayers did he do any of those things though and when he looked and saw her for the first time since he'd left to go to the Wall all those years ago, he did so through tear-filled eyes. She'd grown, her hair was shorter than ever, she was more of a woman than a girl and yet she was his little sister still. Her dark hair, her eyes that were so much like his, and the look on her face, all were things he'd dreamt of and imagined for so many years.

Feeling her in his arms, what words he said to her, he would never be able to recount. All he knew was she was here, she was alive, and that the gods had shown him favor when he deserved so very little from them. It was perhaps more awkward than he wished and he resolved to speak to her alone later, something that it turned out would need to wait for some time. Looking to Dany he could see she was happy for him, and yet she felt somewhat left out and alone too and he didn't understand why that was, or not at first at least. Only later that day did it strike him and so he asked her to join him on a tour of Winterfell. It ended up being outside the gates and not inside them that he took her.

"Jon?" she asked confusedly.

"I felt you'd like to spend time with your own family, Dany." he said and she looked at him curiously.

"My family?"

"Your children." he said and the smile she gave him then was a true one.

The dragons rested in a large open space near the beginning of the Wolfswood, around them it was clear that no one had come this way in some time, fear of the dragons' wrath no doubt. He felt no fear and as they reached them, he could see how Rhaegal perked up when he saw them and him in particular much to his and Dany's surprise.

"My son seems happy to see you, Jon?" she asked as she stared at him.

"He must miss showing off for me, Dany. Each time I would brood upon the cliffs of Dragonstone he'd do so nearby." he said and she giggled as she moved to Drogon.

"Dragons are just like men who spar it seems, they enjoy doing so with an audience as well." he heard her say before she was speaking to the black dragon and he moved to Rhaegal and was soon speaking to the green one.

The sounds he made as his fingers touched the dragon's scales were repeated by the dragon himself and Jon felt Rhaegal lean into his touch as he spoke softly to him.

"You truly are magnificent aren't you." he said to a loud trill from the dragon "As much as either of your brothers." he added to another trill and then he heard Dany's worried call.

"I don't know what's wrong with him." she called out as she moved from the golden dragon.

"Is he hurt, or does he feel danger?" he asked as he moved to her and in front of her to offer whatever small amount of protection he could.

"No, I don't…"

It was Rhaegal who moved to his brother, the green dragon making sounds that were much different from the angered ones that he felt Drogon was making. Jon looked on as did Dany as the two dragons seemed to speak to each other before with a look to him, Rhaegal and Viserion took to the sky and as he watched them fly, it seemed that Viserion had calmed somewhat.

"Perhaps he just wished for attention." he said softly and Dany nodded.

"Perhaps."

The walk back to the keep was a short one and yet it was one they took their time making. Dany seemed to enjoy the open spaces outside Winterfell and the lack of people watching her every move and it made him think of their journey here and how he had felt the same. Seeing the path to the stream where he and Robb would play as boys, he reached out and took her arm and felt the little shudder she made when he did so.

"I've something I'd like you to see." he said and he found himself blushing at the way she looked at him, her raised eyebrow and smirk showing she'd taken another meaning from his words, though thankfully she didn't speak it aloud.

It was just as he remembered it, Jon wondering how long it had been since he'd seen it last and thinking it must have been when he and Robb were no more than boys. He remembered it had been one of the few places that had been theirs. One of the few that Robb hadn't shared with Theon and for that reason, it meant more to him than perhaps it should.

"My brother and I would fish here, or pretend to fish." he said with a small laugh as he laid his cloak on the stones so Dany could sit on it.

"Rickon?"

"Robb." he replied sadly.

"I'm sorry, Jon."

He took a seat beside her and the two of them just looked at the water, the fish swam close to the surface and he knew that if Ghost was here then his wolf would be enjoying their taste. In a way, he was glad he was not, the peacefulness of the stream being something he welcomed, only for that peace to not last as long as he'd hoped.

"I will help you, Jon. You and the North, Me, my dragons, my army, I'll fight with you against the Army of the dead, but…"

"My father used to say that everything before the word but is horseshit." he said and she looked at him with an expression he couldn't read on her face "We will not kneel.."

"Yet you seek my aid, my armies, my dragons, were I to but give it to you freely…"

"Then you may find us more likely to return the gesture, your grace." he said, rising to his feet.

"Am I to just accept that you will, Lord Snow? That this is not some game being played at my expense?" she retorted and the two guards with them moved towards him only for her hand to be held up to stop them as the argument they were about to have was allowed to continue.

"You believe I made it up? That what? The wight is not real?" he asked incredulously.

"I know it's real, gods, I can see that. But what you ask of me, no queen, none would do so for nothing in return, Jon, surely you can see that?"

He could, he had, he understood the position he was putting her in, he wasn't a fool. His own position was just as difficult though. The Lords of the North, his sister, his brother, what they'd lost and could lose, to ask them to kneel would bring up all of that and for sheer stubbornness alone the North would face the dead without her. Were they to do so then they would soon be joining them and yet he knew no words he said would bring them to her side, not yet. They had to see it for themselves, see that she was someone they should kneel to and were she to fight with them, then his sister, they, all of them would see her that way.

"Fight by our side, Dany, fight by our side and they'll see you how you wish them to." he said pleadingly.

"I cannot, not without something in return, Jon, my allies would demand it of me, my people would."

He looked at her and she back at him, both of them lost and he could feel the gap between them widening. The feelings whatever they truly were that had been forming between them were threatening to become no more than a memory.

"Fight with me, Jon. Be by my side when I take back my throne. Give me your sword and your counsel and I'll do the same in return." Dany said after what felt like the longest time.

"My brother, I need to be by his side, Dany, I need to offer him my counsel and my sword." he said hoping she understood.

"That's my price, Jon Snow, your counsel, and your sword to see the war in the south over with and to see my family's throne returned."

"You don't need my sword, nor my counsel, what of…"

"I seek it, Jon, I need it and that's my price, what say you?" she asked determinedly.

He moved from her, the truth of what she asked of him finally becoming clear. Why she wished for him to be by her side he couldn't be sure, though given how badly she'd been advised up to then, perhaps he should see it more clearly. Yet it was the thoughts of leaving his brother again, of how Rickon would react to him traveling south and how that may be seen by the Lords of the North.

Had he looked to her, he'd have seen her biting her lip, the nervous way she watched him as he paced, and yet his mind and thoughts were far from her and instead with those in the keep off in the distance. His brothers, his sisters, the people he had to prepare for what was to come, the war that truly mattered and that he needed to be ready for.

"Have you any idea what it is you ask of me? What it is you wish for me to give up?" he asked angrily and saw that she was taken aback by his words.

"Have you of me, Jon. I've named my price, do I have your word that you'll live up to it?" Dany asked, her words heard, and yet again he didn't notice just how concerned she was when speaking them.

"Aye, you have it. I'll see you crowned, your grace." he said as he moved to walk away, angered as he was at her and what she was making him do, he needed to leave before he said something he shouldn't.

"I thank you, Jon, truly." she said, her voice so full of relief that he felt his anger go away, or most of it at least.

Walking with her back to the keep was a silent affair after that and when Ghost came running his way it was a surprise to him that it was to her rather than him that the wolf went. It wasn't the only surprise he was to get as he looked to see his brother sitting in a chair with an odd look on his face. Bran looked at him and at Dany and yet not at the same time and though he wished to move to him, to speak to him, for some reason he felt now was not the time. Instead, he moved from Dany's side and walked to the sparring yard, he needed to hit something and to hit it hard.

Later that night as they ate, he felt somewhat less angered, though when the announcement was made and he realized just how much Rickon was hurt by it, he felt it once more. Only the thoughts that he needed to be with his brother forced that anger away and as he ran after him and out of the Great Hall, it was Rickon and not Dany that he was thinking about. His shouts were to his brother, his words were for him and his heart ached with the knowledge that he had caused him more pain when all he wished for was to do the opposite.

Winterfell 302 AC.

Sansa.

She tried to sleep, the argument still raging in her head and the tears still falling on her pillow. It had gotten to the point where she feared that Arya would strike her or worse and yet her sister held back. Each little thing she did drove them further away and though some were her fault, some she felt were very much not. Perhaps she could have expressed it better, spoken her doubts better but he had struck a nerve as he always seemed able to do and Bran hadn't helped her any.

The line between the mummery she had to perform daily and what she really felt or thought was getting narrower too. Only here in her room was she able to get any respite and even that wasn't enough, as she barely got any sleep when she retired each night. Ramsay may be dead and she may have been the one to kill him, but he'd left marks on her. Physical, mental, and emotional ones and she feared they'd be with her for the rest of her life.

Littlefinger's marks were simply mental and emotional, he didn't do physical, and it wasn't in that way he wished to hurt her. Though what he wanted to do to her physically was perhaps even worse. Ramsay was a monster, he'd taken her by force over and over and yet the thoughts of giving herself to Petyr Baelish willingly, somehow seemed even worse to her mind. The false smiles, the promises that she knew were lies, the way he looked at her, all of it made her want to scratch his eyes from his head or see him brought low. Racing from her bed she emptied her stomach in the privy, feeling herself retch as the memory of him touching her cheek came to her suddenly.

"Damn you, Bran, Damn you for not letting me see him dead." she said as she cried against her pillow a few moments later.

Waking up early, she put on her mummer's face and readied for the day ahead. She broke her fast and was doing so when the Queen walked in with Ghost alongside her and she couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous. The white wolf had comforted her greatly when she'd gone to Castle Black, to see that one of them still lived had been a boon to her soul. When she'd lost his affections in favor of Rickon she'd been upset but had her brother had gone through almost demanded that Ghost does for him what he'd done for her. To see him now walk beside Daenerys Targaryen though was less understandable.

It was a few moments later when Jon and Rickon walked into the Great Hall, both of them laughing and japing and she almost sighed. Only the sight of Littlefinger and knowing his eyes were on her stopping her from doing so. He watched her every move, readied his plans, and changed them accordingly and she knew the moment he felt he'd lost her, would be when he was at his most dangerous. If only she'd allowed Jon to end the man before Bran had come back. Why hadn't she? What had been her reasoning for letting him breathe longer than he deserved to? How much longer did he need to breathe for?

Looking to Jon as he spoke to Daenerys and Rickon, she knew her expression would be one that Littlefinger welcomed. It was one that she didn't have to perform as much as a mummery with. The feelings she had about the Dragon Queen at least allowing for her to be true and real with how distrustful that she looked at her. Despite all she may say or how she may act, Sansa knew the price for her help would be the North. Her brothers may not see it, or worse may not even fear it, but she knew and it was a price too high. Without an independent North, they lay at the beck and call of the South. When they called they would have to answer and Starks didn't fare well in the South, she knew that now. With another look to see that Littlefinger was watching her brother's interactions with the Dragon Queen, she knew it was time for more mummery.

"Perhaps it's time to show your queen the wight, Jon." she said and she noticed how Rickon seemed ready to say something to her, only for Jon's answer to make her gasp involuntarily.

"Aye, perhaps it is." Jon said, and she didn't need to look to Littlefinger to see the small smirk on his face.

She watched them go and then felt a little more able to relax until she saw Arya walk into the Great Hall the moment that Jon was not there. Her sister was hiding from her brother and it surprised her somewhat, she was not hiding from her though and she looked at her with eyes that scared her. What Arya could be, scared her, even though she was sure she was her sister still. Had she not been then she'd be dead by now and so that along with a heart that willed it so, made it true. Rising to her feet she walked from the Great Hall and out into the cool air of the courtyard. She knew that he'd follow and so it proved to be true, Sansa not even making it halfway across the yard to the Sept before he caught up with her.

"Your brother seems to have fallen even further under Queen Daenerys's spell, Sansa." he said, his voice sounding like the screeching of ravens to her ears.

"Jon is Leal to my brother, Lord Baelish, he's shown that many times." she said knowing that he wished to bring her around to his way of thinking, and as much as she wished this conversation to end and could do so by agreeing with him. A man like Littlefinger needed to feel he won each and every encounter.

"While he may have made a show of saying so upon his arrival, perhaps that was all it was. A show for the benefit of those present." he said looking at her, his eyes boring deep into her the depths of all she was and all she tried to keep hidden from him.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, feigning both curiosity and ignorance.

"His words spoken just earlier in the Great Hall. They were words spoken more softly and with fewer around, perhaps more truly."

"Or perhaps those words were simply an answer to a question and had no ulterior meaning, Lord Baelish." she said, the fight in her voice was one he so wished to hear, giving his expression. He then looked at her both smugly and with a small shake of his head, he began to tell her how wrong and naïve she was.

By the end of the conversation, she'd agreed with him, in her words if not in her heart though she was finding it to be troubled in regards to Jon too. While she knew he was Leal to Rickon and to their family, a part of her wondered if he could be swayed. Not to act against them in the manner that Littlefinger suggested, but for reasons that to Jon would seem to be good and true. To fight the Army of the Dead and beat them, would he give up the crown they'd fought so very hard for? Would his time spent with a woman who even Sansa would admit was as strikingly beautiful as the tales of the Targaryens of old named them so, would it sway his heart? She'd heard talk of a Free Folk woman and given how Jon was with the Free Folk and the bond he shared with them, would another woman's interest sway him?

Daenerys Targaryen was interested in her brother, of that she had no doubt and already Ser Davos had suggested an alliance of marriage. Would she seek one with Jon? Would Jon accept it if it was offered and what would it cost the North to see it done? It was these thoughts she found herself concentrating on over the next few hours. These, the rift that had formed between her and Arya, Littlefinger and his plans and so many other things. When she noticed him she couldn't tell why she'd not noticed him until now, only the gods themselves knew. Surely she'd seen him around, after all, it was hard to miss him, and yet somehow she had.

"Are you a little bird today or wolf?" Sandor Clegane said as he moved to her and Sansa rose from her feet and turned to face him in the Sept.

"I find I know not." she said truthfully, the words coming out before she even had a chance to think about them.

"It's good to see you so well. Though not the company you keep." he said looking at her.

"Company?" she asked curiously.

"Baelish, that man is not someone you want close by." Sandor said and she almost smiled and perhaps would have was she sure that there was no one to see her do so.

"Lord Baelish has been most helpful." she said and she hoped he could see it in her eyes that what she spoke and what she meant were two different things.

"Good, a wolf, it's about fucking time." he said before turning and walking away from her.

Taking to her knees again, she offered a prayer to the father for sending him to her. Sandor was someone she knew who would do what was needed to be done should she just ask it of him. Her thoughts soon turned to a night many years earlier and though she didn't mean to, she found for the rest of the night she couldn't truly concentrate on anything else. What would have happened had she left with him when he asked her? How would her life have turned out and would it have been better than the one she now knew? She believed it would and as she took her seat in the Great Hall that night and looked to Littlefinger, it was that which brought the small smile to her face.

She hated that it made him sit up a little straighter in his seat, the small excited look he got on his face was one that was only to grow larger as the night went on. The words that were spoken, Rickon's reaction to them, Jon's, even the Dragon Queen's. All of them played right into his hands and as she watched one brother run after the other, she could see the smile on his face was now even larger. Looking to Arya who had risen to her own feet, she saw Bran hold her back and she knew then even more truly that she was her sister.

Seeing Rickon pained may force Arya to react, seeing Jon so certainly would and that more than anything proved her true. Arya was not the only one who wished to run after her brothers, the Dragon Queen too seemed to wish to do so too only for Bran's words to keep her seated. Sansa wasn't immune to the worries either of them felt and she felt it too, while she may be wary of Jon's actions, she was not of his motives and she knew he wished to comfort their brother. As for her own comfort, she saw him look to her out of the corner of her eye and though she wished to turn to see him more clearly, she could not. It was for the best if Littlefinger didn't know too much of Sandor and what he may do for her, for now at least.

Winterfell 302 AC

Rickon Stark.

"Rickon please, wait for me!" Jon pleaded and yet he didn't stop running for a while. "I know you're angry at me, but I swear to the Old Gods I have a good reason for leaving!"

"You're leaving because you like her! Because you want to help her more than you want to help the North!"

"You're wrong, Rickon. All I'm doing right now is for you. For You, Arya, Bran, and even for Sansa. I would not be able to look at myself if something should happen to you because we could have had the men we needed and I didn't convince them to fight with us. She has promised me to bring her dragons and her armies in exchange for my help to deal with Cersei."

"So she lied to me? She lied to the North by saying she would come to help us?" he said angrily.

"No, that's not it. She wants to end the war in the South so that the men from Cersei camp adds in our forces." Jon explained.

"And why does she need you with her? Isn't the wight enough to convince everyone?"

"Were they enough for the Vale? Truly?" his brother's snort would have made him chuckle if he was not still angered and saddened by what he's just learned.

"Some of them wanted to go back to the Eyrie when they saw it," Rickon admitted. "But in the end, they understood that the dead are coming from all of us."

"Because you talked to them."

"Sansa did the talking."

"I wish I could stay longer with you, but Bran has said that time is running out. That they're already near the Wall and that Danaerys is our only chance to win. And then she bid me come with her in exchange for her help."

"Fucking Bran and his confusing predictions! Do I have to remind you that he told me you should have been King in the North and lead our Forces? Doesn't that mean that you are needed here more than in the South?" Rickon snapped.

"Her council knows not how war is fought and her Hand is an arse, they would ruin our efforts rather than helping. She is right, we need them to send men, and they won't do anything until Cersei is no longer a danger."

"If the Dragon Queen keeps bargaining after having seen what's coming for us, instead of coming right away, then she is not worth helping."

"You don't know her as I do." Jon said softly.

"I don't need to know more about her. She wants my brother, you're the only one who could prepare us to face the dead the best way we can, yet she wants you to go south with her to win her war for her. And she basically threatened not to come back to help unless she gets what she wants of you. In your last letter, you said "fuck their war, I have to come home to you" and now… Sansa was right. She knows how to get to you and that is not a good thing, Jon."

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like you had a choice and you've already made it. You chose her over us." Rickon said sadly.

"Everything I do, I do with the North in mind. With you in mind. Rickon… I swear to you that there is nothing more important to me than you and our family." Jon pleaded.

"Do you like her?"

Join froze and it was telling enough for Rickon.

"I… I think I do, but that has nothing to do with anything."

"It has everything to do with it!" Rickon retorted.

Jon sighed loudly and then he sat on his brother's bed, looking defeated.

"When I arrived on Dragonstone and when I met her, I thought that there was something about her that made her special. Not the dragons, not her army, and even less so her council. She actually cares about people. She decided to come to see the threat because part of her wanted to believe me. I was no one to her, Rickon. Just the regent of a King who was desperate to save his family, and she saw that. Even Sansa didn't believe me and she was my sister." Jon said, his words sounding both hopeful and defeated at the same time.

"That's how she got to you? By believing you?"

"She listened to my counsel. She values my opinions. And she's not afraid to ask when she needs help"

"I do, too… And I need you. There's an army of dead men coming for us and… I cannot do it alone. I tried, Jon, but they don't listen to me." Rickon whispered, his heart clenched.

"They do listen, brother. Maybe not all of them, but most of them do. I've seen the changes in Winterfell when I arrived and it's all thanks to you. You did well, even more than you set out to do when I left. Do not underestimate your accomplishments." Jon said, and he heard the pride in his brother's voice, it was just another reason why he needed him by his side. For no one else spoke to him such.

"But it is not enough, is' it?"

"I want to make sure the North is best prepared for the fight to come. And as much as it breaks my heart to leave right now, that is the reason why I have to go. From a strategic point of view, having Cersei at our backs while we have something even worse coming for us would be suicidal. We have to deal with her, not only for Daenerys but for the North too. She's not asking us to bring our forces to deal with Cersei, not with the Army of the Dead coming. I'd not agree to it even were she to do so, and yet we needs must offer something. It seems that I'm that something, brother. "Jon said with a laugh that he didn't join in with " We both know that the Northern Lords would refuse to march south and they would be right to do so. Winter is here and a Storm is coming. But it's not a Storm we can withstand alone."

"So you'll use Daenerys' army to stop Cersei while we fight the Dead?" Rickon asked, not sure about his brother's intentions.

"No. I will be here to fight with you. I do not plan to stay for long, Rickon. But I have to make sure that Cersei Lannister can pose no more threat to you. She wants all of the Starks' heads. All of them. She has declared me a traitor, as well as Sansa, and you too for not bending the knee to her. The last thing we need is to be stuck between the Dead from the North and the Lannister Queen from the South. We don't need to fight on two fronts. Do you understand?" Jon asked hopefully, his eyes on his own when he did so.

Rickon nodded. Jon's points were definitely sound ones and his rage and anger started to fade, though his sadness it seemed would take some time to do so. He could see how serious and honest Jon was being with him. He could have denied his attraction for the Dragon Queen or played it down, but once more, he had stayed true to himself and didn't sugarcoat things for Rickon's sake.

"With Cersei dealt with, the South will then have no excuse to refuse to come here. And if they still don't want to do so, then at least I would have tried everything I could to weigh the odds in our favor."

"Why can't you just stay here and give your advice to her before she leaves?" he asked forlornly.

"Because I don't trust others to give her good advice once I'm gone, and because I want to make sure that she keeps to her word."

"I don't trust her, Jon."

"I know and I can't blame you. I'm not exactly happy with her right now." Jon chuckled darkly. "I'm really sorry, brother. Will you let me stay with you tonight?"

Rickon shook his head, too exhausted by the argument and the pain he felt thinking about Jon leaving again to talk more about it. He wanted to push him away, to hurt him as he was hurting, but he could feel Jon was already feeling bad enough and he cursed himself for being weak while facing his older brother.

Jon, Arya, and Sansa broke their fast with him the next day, the room feeling off and bearing in on him as they did so. Jon explained his motives to his sisters and while Arya seemed to understand, Sansa looked ready to argue some more.

"I don't like it anymore now than I did when you first left, Jon," Sansa said.

"Yet had you told me about Cersei's message, then perhaps I wouldn't have left so quickly," Jon retorted.

"But you would have anyway." Sansa said snippily.

"Aye, to seek an alliance to destroy her, I would have. But I would have made sure that she couldn't cross the Neck. Send Lord Glover there to protect the border, have him send a message to Lord Reed to make sure that he too is aware of the threat." Jon said and Rickon cursed himself for not having thought of this.

"See? This is why I need you here, Jon! I wouldn't have thought of the Crannogmen to help protect us from Cersei's army!"

"Howland Reed didn't march for Robb when he's was summoned." Sansa pointed out.

"But he sent Meera and Jojen to protect us," Rickon countered, growing angry when Sansa rolled her eyes. "We would be dead if it wasn't for them, or maybe that's what you would have wanted?"

"How many times will I have to apologize for you to really forgive me for that?" Sansa exclaimed.

"Try once more."

"Rickon, that's not nice." Jon said though the smirk on his face belied his reproach.

"I don't care. And don't tell me to be nice when you're leaving. I don't have to be nice. I don't fucking want to. I have a right to be pissed."

"Then take it on me, not on Sansa." Jon said, looking at him and forcing him to turn his head away.

"She deserves to be reminded of her mistakes, Jon." Arya said curtly, staring at his other sister who returned her glare.

"What is going on between you two?" Jon asked, frowning.

"Nothing." both Arya and Sansa replied in concert.

"See! That's what I have to endure while you're gone! That and Bran being his creepy fucking raven self! Littlefinger lurking around while everyone wants him dead except Sansa and the fucking Lords of the Vale who think they're too accomplished to train alongside the Free Folk! I need you here and you're leaving today!" Rickon insisted.

"He's a Stark, brother. His resolve is set and nothing will change his mind." Arya, the traitor to his cause, said. "The sooner he leaves, the sooner he comes back."

It was too much for Rickon who stood up and walked away, stating he needed to release his anger out in the sparring yard. Ghost followed behind him, ever the faithful companion. He knew that the Direwolf was unhappy to see Jon leave too and would help him find his target. He had learned to strengthen their bond thanks to one of the Free Folk who Tormund had recommended and now he didn't need to talk to Ghost to share his thoughts with the Direwolf. He was still Jon's, as Rickon didn't want to replace his brother and he doubted that Ghost would accept him if he tried. It was more that he wished to learn how to use his ability with someone he trusted.

He walked through the yard, greeting the people already there and telling Tormund he had something to do. Jumping on Ghost's back, he let the Direwolf lead him near to the broken tower. He should have guessed that she would be there, near her dragons, and he was suddenly hesitant to talk to her when she was surrounded by what she called her children.

" He's a Stark, brother. His resolve is set and nothing will change his mind."

He too was a Stark, and he also had a mission. He was about to call her name when she turned around and froze, surprised to see him there.

"King Rickon? What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you before you leave." she nodded and he took a deep breath, feeling the dragons' eyes on him. "You cannot leave with my brother."

He could see her guarded gaze soften and the sad smile on her face make him angrier.

"What about the army he would bring back upon his return?" she asked.

"What use will we have of a fucking army if you're not willing to bring them without us paying a price? Even knowing what's coming for us all. Or were your words as hollow as your honor?" he asked bitterly.

"I shall let this insult pass because I know how you're feeling. Jon told me it would be difficult for you to let him go."

"And he told me that you left him no choice. That you gave your conditions for the use of your dragons."

"I did. I shouldn't have, but I did." she said a little shamefully he felt.

"Then will you let him stay here with his family, with… me?"

"I need him, but if he wants to stay with you, then I will not go against his wishes."

"What if I gave you the North?"

"I… I don't understand…"

"He is set to leave, now. He won't change his mind unless you tell him to. Tell him to stay here and I will give you my Crown in exchange for my brother."

"Oh, Rickon…" the softness of her tone almost made him break, but he stood strong.

"I don't want nor need your pity. Do you want the North as part of the Seven Kingdoms or not?"

"Not like that, I don't."

Rickon paused, surprised by her answer. She was looking at him with more pity and something else he couldn't place and it was at that moment that he realized he would not be able to persuade her.

"I must say you did make a really good counteroffer, King Rickon, but you are too emotional right now and I don't want you to regret bending the knee because of your brother. Your Lords would not forgive you for this slight and neither would Jon."

"So you're refusing because of Jon?" he asked curiously.

"Do you know how many times we argued because he would not tell you to bend the knee? One day I offended him because he thought I was offering to usurp you. How do you think he would react knowing that you wish to give up the lands you're trying to protect because of him?"

"He would feel guilty and would never forgive me for this…" Rickon whispered.

"See? I meant what I said, Rickon. This is not the time to talk about politics. I came here to see the threat and report it back to my allies, and I am really sorry for separating you from your brother."

"You like him, don't you?"

"I have a certain fondness for him, and this is why I promise you on all of I hold dear that I will bring him back to you as soon as I can."

"I don't trust your word. Each time you've given it has been under conditions."

"Fair enough. Well, trust your brother to do his best to come home soon." she said with a soft smile on her face.

"You're seriously refusing the Crown for my brother's sake?" he asked again, confused and confounded by the woman in front of him.

"Probably as much as you seriously contemplated kneeling for your brother's sake." she retorted smugly.

As his brother knelt in front of him, a few hours later, Rickon tried to stay strong but couldn't hide his tears and the abandonment he felt. The Dragon Queen's guards were struggling to tie the coffer containing the wriggling wight onto her dragon's back, and the beast didn't look too keen on transporting it either.

"Be careful, Jon. Watch out for anyone suspect and return safely to us," he said as he hugged his brother fiercely.

"Aye, Arya told me. I will be careful and I'll ask Melisandre to help us too. Try to contact Lord Reed, brother, together you can I'm sure, make sure that our borders are secure. You be careful too. Be brave and protect our people, and our family, will you?" Rickon nodded and Jon then turned to Arya. "I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together, little sister."

"Come back to us, brother…" Arya whispered as it was her turn to hug him.

Daenerys had the good sense to leave them alone during their farewells. Their eyes met while Sansa was fussing over Jon and giving him the new cloak she had made for him and so Rickon walked over to her.

"Until we meet again, King Rickon," she said, her tone guarded but her eyes still warm.

"If anything happens to him, there isn't a dragon in the world that will be able to protect you from me, Queen Daenerys," he warned as Ghost stood by his side, for once not looking forward to licking her hand.

She looked hurt but he didn't care. She was the one that was separating their family once again and Rickon would show her no sympathy or kindness until Jon came back home.

He watched them fly away in silence, determined not to shed another tear until the moment that he would be able to vent his repressed anger alone in his rooms. He politely refused his sister's offer to train with them, stating that he would go to the Godswood and pray before spending the rest of the day with Ghost. He was grateful to see that they didn't insist upon it.

The Godswood was peaceful, as usual, Rickon feeling somewhat appeased by the mystifying atmosphere surrounding him. It reminded him of Osha and the way she tried to translate the Gods' words by listening to the rumbling of the leaves that were shaken by the wind. He knelt down in front of the weeping Weirwood and prayed for the safety of his family, the people close to him, the North and Westeros, and for the Gods to give him the strength to do what should be done in the next few days so that his brother could be proud of him upon his return.

"Rickon."

The young king yelped as his heart skipped a beat. His brother was watching him, his expressionless face making it hard for Rickon to look him in the eye.

"By the gods! What the hell is wrong with you, Bran? and who pushed you here?"

"A guard. I need to talk to you."

"Now? Can't it wait?"

"I've been holding it back for too long. I cannot keep it from you anymore."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You saw how infatuated he is with her. I thought that it would help him at first, and help the North too, but I've seen it clearly today. It is going to be his undoing." Bran said, his words forcing Rickon's breath to grow short.

"What the fuck does that mean? Are you speaking about Daenerys?" Bran nodded and Rickon felt his ire flare up. "You were the one who insisted that we needed her and her dragons!"

"For the war to come, we do. I'm afraid that our needs and the positive outcome of the War for the Dawn will come at Jon's expense. We win, but Jon…"

"Damn you, Bran! why didn't you tell Jon about this?" he asked angrily.

"Because he loves her, and his love will be his doom. I couldn't break his heart. Not now. Not when we need him so much."

"Why are you telling me this now? Why not sooner?"

"I tried to talk to Jon, to tell him, truly I did, but I couldn't. I couldn't say the words, and now I fear it is too late."

"Too late? For what?" his panic and fear rising as he spoke.

"I thought that things would have changed with you being king, but they do not. Daenerys is still far more obsessed with the throne than everything else. She is still willing to do anything to be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. She acts differently from what I've seen so far, way quicker to reach her goal, but she's already forcing him to choose their family over ours."

Bran's words send a chill in Rickon's body. The way he said it made it difficult to know if he was really worried for Jon, but the words of his older brother resonated with his most secret fears, one of them more than the others it confused and scared him.

"What do you mean by 'their family'?" he asked, finally locking his gaze to Bran's emotionless one and immediately wishing that he had never uttered those words.