#dani immediately mourns for her brother's half
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Current WIPs and Fic Concepts
I promised I would do this yesterday, and then I forgot!!! (I was very sleep deprived). Anyways, here are a bunch of the WIP premises that I have in my 'unfinished drafts' folder. Most have at least a few pages written for them, but I love them all! ☺️💕
- A Santa Clarita Diet AU (Jonsa) Takes place in sunny southern California, where a shitty dinner at a mediocre restaurant turns into a huge problem for Jon and Sansa when Sansa's heart stops beating. Although she seems fine, Jon is flabbergasted several days later as he watches his wife- who alphabetizes their pantry and refuses to let anyone wear shoes in the house- rip the throat out of one of the sleazy new partners at their law firm, eating half of him before anyone processes what's going on. Hilarity ensues as Sansa's inhibitions and filter disappear, Arya ropes an extremely confused Gendry into helping figure out what the hell is going on just because he moderates the zombie forum on reddit, and Jon tries to deal with the fact that the woman he loves more than anything is now a humanitarian. He really could use a drink. (This one is actually mostly complete, but i need to refine a few things- i really love it. It's as gory and irreverent as the show, so viewer discretion advised, but it's a BLAST to write).
- A Thor/MCU AU (Jonsa, Steve Rogers/Sansa)- Asgardian prince Aegon is banished to Midgard after one too many arrogant decisions, and is promptly hit by a van containing Dr. Sansa Stark, Dr. Barristan Selmy, and Margaery Tyrell- two astrophysicists studying wormholes and Sansa's best friend and pseudo-intern. Marg yells at him, he yells back, Sansa tases him, and Barristan didn't sign up for the kind of heavy lifting that getting a 200+ pound slab of muscle into the back of a van takes. And then Aegon's younger brother, Jon, shows up, in the middle of an identity crisis because, apparently, he's adopted. He wasn't intending to stay, but he's rather drawn to Dr. Stark and her brilliance, and against her better judgement, she starts to trust him, and maybe even like him. This story is in about three parts so far- the first is based on 'Thor' and the second on 'The Avengers' and are fully Jonsa, and the third started as a family bonding story between the Stark kids and Tony (Ned and Tony are second cousins, and Ned was really supportive of Tony in rehab without expecting anything in return), and accidentally turned into a Steve Rogers/Sansa Stark story, which is a pairing i am HERE for. A lot of this one is written, but it needs some fill in before publishing, although it's one of my favorites that i've written to go back and actually read.
- A Star Wars AU (Jonsa) where Sansa and Arya are Alderaanian princesses who are off planet when Alderaan is destroyed- Sansa as a senator and Arya as a pilot, both working for the rebellion, and jon is a smuggler who does not know how all of these people got on his ship and why two princesses are sassing him. His copilot, Tormund (yes he's a wookie), thinks it is hilarious. I started this one just the other day, and it's already thirty pages long, most of them involving Sansa and Arya sassing people. Dany is a leader in the rebellion, Roose Bolton is the emperor, and Barbrey Dustin is a disgruntled former jedi trying to live in peace on a remote planet until another Stark crashes into her life and harangues her into teaching again.
- A witches/magic AU (Jonsa) where the Starks run an apothecary and spellcasting supplies shop. Jon had been completely in the dark about magic before his mother confessed to being born into a family of witches. He finds himself traveling to her hometown, trying to understand her world more clearly, and what it means for him. On the way, he develops something of a crush on the red-headed shop clerk who brews the best headache potions in town. Featuring lots of magical shenanigans, this is one of my favorites in the folder :)
- A 24 hour diner AU (Jonsa) where Jon is a local mob boss, and Sansa works the late shift at Seaworth's diner to buy textbooks for the PhD she's working on in botany. Sansa's running from memories, and Jon has a soft spot for the red-headed waitress who always remembers how he likes his coffee.
- An East of the Sun, West of the Moon AU!!! (Jonsa) This is one of my fav fairy tales, and of course i couldn't resist Jon as a direwolf striking a deal with the starks!
- A Roomates AU (Jonsa)- Arya, Jon, Tormund, and Sam have been renting the same house together off Winterfell's campus for years- but when Sam moves in with his girlfriend, they need one more person on the lease. Sansa, about to relocate to Winterfell for grad school, finds out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her and that her housing plans have fallen through, all on the same day. Needless to say, she's a bit upset when she calls Arya to relay the news. There's a simple solution here, if Arya and Tormund can stop teasing Jon about his crush for five minutes. (any excuse to write tormund and arya roasting jon, tbh).
- A Fae AU (Jonsa)- When Sansa, a baker living in the city, washes her face in an enchanted spring on a camping trip, she gains the sight as a result. Suddenly able to see the fae underworld all around her is disorienting and terrifying. Sansa tries to conceal it- afraid of what might happen if the fae around her know that she can see them- but slips up, and catches the attention of Jon Snow- one of the lords of the unseelie court.
- A nuclear winter wasteland AU (Jonsa)- (?? I don't even know how to describe this premise, haha) where the Starks are living and running the Free Winterfell settlement in Siberia after a worldwide nuclear meltdown. Before the fallout, Sansa was one of the world's preeminent researchers in plant genetics and pathology, and works at the settlement to create newer, disease and radiation resistant crops to distribute for free to other settlements, aiming to break up the monopoly that Lannister Corp has on the market. Jon is a scavenger, searching throughout Siberia for his sister Rhae who disappeared several years previously. When he runs across Arya Starkovna, helping her fight off another band of radiation ravaged scavengers is just instinct- he doesn't think twice about it. In thanks, she brings him to the Winterfell settlement, where her brother Robb offers Jon sanctuary and resources, in exchange for serving as a bodyguard for Sansa when she travels to other settlements. Sansa is not particularly thrilled by this arrangement, but given that multiple parties seem to want her dead, she doesn't have much of a choice but to accept his company.
- A reincarnation AU (Jonsa)- of sorts. Robb is an archaeologist who finds a strange set of runes at a site up north, and immediately calls in Jon Snow- a historian and expert in said ancient language, as well as an old university friend of Robb's. When he arrives though, Robb shows him their most valuable finds- two mysterious ice blocks, with what appear to be perfectly preserved bodies from over a thousand years ago. No one could ever have imagined that either of them were still alive, but when the ice melts, revealing two very alive girls, the entire crew is instantly buried in NDAs, and given an assignment from the Westerosi government to figure out what the hell was going on. Sansa and Arya wake up, extremely confused about the world they live in, trying to adapt and mourning all that they've lost, even as the people around them wear familiar faces.
- Soulmates AU (Jonsa)- (Yes, another one, I love this dumb trope) Trauma surgeon and medical resident Sansa Stark is having a very bad day, and ends up meeting her soulmate during what she thinks is a mugging gone wrong. Fortunately, he’s not the one mugging her, just an intervening bystander, but she ends up slightly shot nonetheless. Sansa’s fretting about bleeding on the upholstery in his car, but Jon is a bit more worried about her injuries than the blood stains. He’s a bit confused when she threatens him if he takes her to a specific hospital, nearly has a nervous breakdown when she insists on doing her own triage, and is very charmed when she insists on ice cream after taking pain meds at the hospital. On Sansa’s part, she’s a little less concerned about being shot, and a bit more concerned about whatever weird first impression she’s making to her soulmate while high as a kite on pain pills. (this one just needs some tweaking to be postable- I'm not sure if it's going to be a oneshot or a series, but i love what I have already)
- A Demon/Archivist AU (Jonsa)- where Sansa works in the university's historical archives in Oldtown, and is learning to restore old texts with her fellow student and friend, Alleras (Trans Sarella is an amazing concept). When Joffrey Baratheon shows up with a pile of old books from his family's library to donate, Sansa is eager to get away from his sleaze, and accidentally takes one of the books home with her in her rush to leave. Unbeknownst to her, it's more than it appears, and when she leaves it open overnight, she accidentally summons forth Jon- an ancient, powerful, and extremely annoyed demon who is under a curse, and now hers to command. As Jon and Sansa try to get used to this new normal, the Lannisters (unaware that Joffrey had donated the tome) try desperately to find the book and it's owner, wanting Jon's power for themselves, and putting Sansa in considerable danger unless she can figure out how to break Jon's curse. Fortunately, she's a pretty good researcher, even if Jon is initially a bit of a grump. (This is based on a total wish-fulfillment mary-sue type premise for something I wrote when I was thirteen, and I revisited it and wanted to see what it would look like if i took it very seriously, and i am really enjoying it so far. It's a love letter to the terrible, heartfelt writing i was doing in middle school that created the foundations for my writing today, and so much fun).
The one that I am MOST excited about though:
- A Pacific Rim AU!!!! (Ned/Cat, Gendrya, Braime, Sansa/Jon Umber)-Twins Sansa and Robb Stark have always been completely in tune with each other, and when your parents are Jaeger pilots and your mother invented the neural handshake, what option is there but the Jaeger academy? Sansa studies to be an engineer, but ends up copiloting the Jaeger 'Winter Wolf' with her twin brother, after they lose Ned Stark to cancer. When Robb is ripped out of the conn-pod and killed by a kaiju while he's still connected to Sansa, she barely manages to kill the creature before stumbling back to shore, traumatized, grieving, and swearing that she'll never pilot again.
Unfortunately, the Kaiju don't stop just because Sansa does, and when the end of the world is imminent, Marshall Catelyn Stark orders both her daughter and former pilot Jaime Lannister (who lost his twin and copilot, Cersei, several years previously) back to Hong Kong for one final stand. Forced to face both her demons and an irate Arya, furious that Sansa had abandoned the rest of them after Robb's death, Sansa and Arya have to figure out how to pilot Winter Wolf together before the apocalypse comes for them all.
Featuring Marshall Catelyn Stark (commander of the Hong Kong Shatterdome, inventor of the neural handshake, former Jaeger pilot, and BAMF), Sansa x Jon Umber (Yes i know it's a rare pair but i've always kind of loved the idea of them, even though we know so little about him), Kaiju parts dealer and smuggler Petyr Baelish, bickering kaiju biologist Dany and theoretical mathematician Jon Snow, LOCCENT officer Theon, lots of snark, lots of angst and heartfelt conversations, and a weird friendship between snarky-grieving-asshole Jaime Lannister and kind-quiet-grieving Sansa Stark, who are the only two people in the world who know what it's like to lose a copilot and a twin in the drift.
Thanks for reading guys!! There are more, but some of them I just don't know how to explain quite yet, haha. I'd love to hear what you guys think about these!
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Return
((an au of an au with @criminarchy))
This: the song of sons and daughters
Hide the heart of who we are
Making peace to build our future
Strong, united, working 'till we fall
Chrona swallowed hard as her eyes opened, Mimi’s old alarm clock trilling out the time.
Five forty five in the morning. The time she’d wake up to pack lunches for the younger siblings during gradeschool. The time on Saturdays she’d wake up to start french toast. A sound too familiar to give up.
So Chrona took on a role left behind when they called Mimi and Quickdraw away.
She still remembered the letters. Official and heavy, held in Perceptor and Whirl’s shaking hands as Mimi packed her bags and quietly advised Quickdraw.
The unhealthy tinge her older brother’s face had taken on before bolting to the bathroom to be sick. The deadness in Mimi’s green eyes as Perceptor propped a mourning Whirl up in silence.
Chrona sniffed hard, willing herself not to cry when she remembered saying goodbye. Quickdraw ruffling her hair and warning her not to cause any trouble. Mimi gathering the remaining to her in a tight hug and with a promise they’d come home.
Chrona’s back had begun getting sore from these mornings.
But she trudged out, messily fixing her braid as she yawned wide and wondered if she’d stashed any energy drinks in the back of the fridge. She grunted at the figures she passed on the couch- seeing only the glimpse of a patch and a messy mop before she stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.
Whirl and Perceptor weren’t home.
They’d had overnight shifts, she was fairly certain.
She turned slowly, bare feet making no sound on the edge of the carpeted living room-dining room combination and covered her mouth before she could scream.
Quickdraw yawned in his sleep, chin resting on his chest as bandages poked out from under a patch over one eye. Mimi lounged against him, snoring grandly with one leg out and one foot on the floor. Pantlegs tied to show newer prosthetics and a new tattoo on an exposed arm.
Quickdraw groaned and stretched, opening one gold-coin eye and nudging Mimi before his spoke, a serpentine rasp to the words.
“Oi, sis. C’mon. I think I hear your alarm ‘n shit.”
“Hmf. Hwa?”, was the half-awake answer, “Mm. Right, french toast day. help me oil my knees and I’ll start it up, you damn chowvoid.”
“QD?”, said Chrona weakly, her hand dropping to hold tight to the end of her braid, “Mimi? Are... is this one of those dreams again?”
They both jerked awake now, and looked at her. Quickdraw couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him, and giving his old goofy smile- even if it looked more tired than normal.
A whine of mechanical parts as Mimi got to her feet and walked quickly over to Chrona- immediately beginning to fuss, “Kiddo, have you been using conditioner in that hair of yours? The right one? You know mine makes your hair all limp and raggedy-”
And then the tears came, and just wouldn’t stop. Chrona was two again, three again, wrapping her arms around Mimi and wailing her sorrows to the morning as Mimi cursed under her breath and went down with the weak-kneed Chrona’s crystorm. Quickdraws lumbering morning gait brought him close enough to kneel down with them as Chrona buried her face in his chest and shrieked for her parents.
Drift came first, armed and already aloof before stumbling against the wall as Mimi waved a hand dismissively at him to relax. She smoothed her hand over Chrona’s hair, kissing the top of her sister’s head and wrapping her into a hug as she sniffed loudly with watering green eyes. The den came to life, the figures of Ratchet and Perceptor stumbling in- Perceptor’s labcoat rumpled from sleeping where he shouldn’t and Ratchet half-ready for a hospital shift. Cyclonus was last, phone already in hand as he spoke in hushed tones.
They’re home.
They came back.
They’re safe.
Dani and Kickback, rubbing eyes and yawning wide, stumbled from their shared room before lighting up in tired joy as they saw Mimi and Quickdraw, running at them full force to leap into the puddled pile of tears and welcome backs.
Mimi carefully untangled herself, straightening the half-baked pieces of old uniform before smiling through her own sniffles.
“Who wants french toast, huh?”
Quickdraw stood, easily lifting Chrona like he had so many times when she was small and carrying her on a hip as she clung with clawed hands- no intent to let him go until she saw fit.
“Sounds good after what we’ve been eating.”, he laughed- before he was immediately bowled over by a wailing flash of messy white hair and baby blue pajamas.
“YOU CAME HOME OH THANK GOD I’VE BEEN SO SCARED ARE YOU OKAY WHAT DID THEY DO- OH SWEET GOD YOUR EYE HONEY WHAT-”
Quickdraw wheezed, quietly being crushed beneath his sister and Brainstorm before he could speak, “It was just a freak accident, Papastorm, no worries. I’ll be fine in a few weeks. Now c’mon, I gotta help Mimi with breakfast- she still can’t reach the plates in the cabinet-”
“I HEARD THAT, BEANPOLE.”
“...See?”
A splutter of thick-voiced laughter from Chrona as Perceptor seemed to float into the kitchen, only to collapse on Mimi with a single sob and squeeze her in a hug so tight it made her cough. Drift could only stare, blinking the tears out of his eyes as she returned Perceptor’s embrace, lifting him off the floor a few inches. Ratchet sat, dumbfounded but happy, at the dining room table and dazedly directed Dani and Kickback to find their seats as the smell of cinnamon soon bloomed into the air.
And then, Whirl came home. He had sped the whole way back, white knuckled and teeth gritted, and nearly shouldered the door off it’s hinges to find Cyclonus proudly smiling on the other side- the old warrior nodded at the slowly noisier kitchen and Whirl took heavy steps; afraid of what he would find.
He’d been told they were alright. he’d been told they were safe. But the shrewd and cynical part of him he’d never really gotten rid of warned him about the last time he’d been hopeful.
“DAD”, shrieked Chrona, “DAD THEY’RE HOME!”
Mimi waved, one hand wrapped in a towel to hold the frying pan’s handle as she fried eggs to match the tower of french toast. Dani and Kickback bounced excitedly in their seats, talking to-
Quickdraw.
QD looked up at Whirl, and smiled weakly, touching the patch over his eye. The patch that mirrored Whirl’s.
“It’s not permanent. Just until the stitches heal and I get get a vision test. Got me sent home permanently though. Mimi lost her other leg and then they just decided we’d both done enough. Longest six years of our lives though.”
“Peacekeeping my pasty pale ass though.”, griped Mimi as Dani slunk away from the table to stand by her sister and bounce on her tiptoes for a taste of the bacon and sausage already done and set aside, “We heard more damn explosions than the time Papastorm hid fireworks in Si-Si’s lab storage as a prank.”
Whirl nodded, silent and staring. Quickdraw, worried, rose from his seat and slowly approached his father with confusion on his face. Whirl looked down, seeing his son draped in old uniform scraps and boots Whirl himself once used to wear.
“Dad?”
Whirl hiccuped. He coughed softly, and hiccuped again. Then his arms went around Quickdraw’s shoulders and Whirl buried his face against his son’s neck-
And began to sob.
“I-I-I. I didn’t th-think-”
Quickdraw nestled into his father’s hold, and simply nodded.
“I know, pops. I know.”
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Ideas for a season 8 rewrite:
I’d honestly keep the first two episodes the same. Actually, I’d keep things the same up until part way through the third episode. Because I feel like we missed a really, really good chance for an epic fight scene between NK and Jon?
Obviously I’m talking about the scene just before NK raises the dead everywhere, but an arrogant NK who just survived a face full of dragon fire facing down Jon. And losing, so badly that he ends up fleeing and raising the dead to keep Jon at bay while he hurries to do what he came for. (Intermixed with our other Heroes/Survivors fighting off the other White Walkers, because those WWs just stood there doing nothing???)
Plus, it gives credence to the Azor Ahai prophecy: “[H]e who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him."
(Arya still kills NK, because I loved that fucking twist)
Then the fourth episode. Gendry still asks for Arya to marry him, and she in turn reasserts her “I ain’t no lady” status. Except he doesn’t give up and says something to the effect of “then don’t be my lady, just be mine” or something sappy/romantic to that effect.
(Flash forward to the end and Arya still goes West of Westeros, but Gendry is with her.)
((He’s rowing))
Still keep the “I am the true heir” drama between dany/jon, because... Because.
Ghost stays at Winterfell while Jon rides Rhaegal south with Dany. Rhaegal isn’t killed, but the fleet is still destroyed, because Dany is still impatient and haughty.
(Missandei still dies, wishing fire upon her murderer)
Varys is still burnt to death for treason, but he’s already successfully spread the word of the True Heir to the other Lords. Jon watches, beside Dany and beside the dragons, and he ignores his regrets for now.
Arya and the Hound make it King’s Landing, as does Jaime (still freed by Tyrion.) Arya kills Euron, takes his face. Jaime makes it to Cersei. Dramatic scene involving Euron!Arya, and the twins, plus the Cleganes. Arya tries to kill Cersei, but Gregor nearly kills Arya. She’s saved by Sandor, and Cleganebowl begins.
Jaime begs Cersei to end it, to surrender and live peacefully with him in exile. She refuses. He has no sword, having lost it at some point, but he has his love and with his hands around her neck he goes out the highest window.
(”The things we do for love.”)
There is only One Queen now, Daenerys Stormborn, and she has started her siege of the city. It is burning, people are dying. Jon and she both are on dragons. The bells start to ring, and Jon calls for the men to stand down.
Dany does not.
Jon at first tries to talk her down, but she has seen one of her children die (twice)((the same one)), she has had Ser Jorah die in her arms, she has witnessed this city murder her closest and oldest friend. She has come all this way for a birthright that has been promised her since before she could count to twenty, and she has nothing to show for it except death and death and loss and more death. This city will burn, like her heart is burning. They will scream, like her heart is screaming. (She is in pain. She is in mourning. This city does not get to simply ring a bell and be spared the same pain, the same mourning. They will feel as she feels.) When talking does not work, Jon tries to stop her with Rhaegal.
The dragons dance, as they did above Winterfell, and as they did more than a hundred and fifty years prior. Dany vs Jon, Drogon vs Rhaegal. Size and experience matter, and Jon is grounded next to a severely wounded Rhaegal. Dany has been forced to harm her own child.
(The coin was flipped, and it has landed. Nothing but madness now.)
More talking, Jon trying his best to get Dany to see reason. Dany sees betrayal. “Dracarys.”
Except, Jon is a Targaryen. He is of the ice and snow, yes, but he is of fire and blood, too. The fire ends and Jon stands there, amazed and with sword in hand.
(He still stabs Dany in the ruins of the Red Keep throne room.)
((Cleganebowl still ends with the brothers toppling into fire.))
(((Arya grabs Jaime’s sword to give to Brienne. Does she know it used to be her House’s ancestral sword, before it was melted down and reforged?)))
Greyworm is not best pleased with the death of his Queen, nor are the Dothraki. Except Jon has (a wounded) Rhaegal, and a Drogon who does not wish to leave his injured brother.
(Drogon is not stupid. He still melts the Iron Throne, he still understands his mother’s death. He understands the why.)
The Lords still meet, and they elect Aegon Targaryen/Jon Snow as their new king. Why elect Bran? He doesn’t want it, has no claim to it, would be awful at it. The only other viable candidates are Tyrion and Gendry. Tyrion doesn’t even want to be Hand (he still becomes Hand) and Gendry just wants Arya. But more importantly, this man has helped save the Seven Kingdoms twice. This man killed his beloved, chose duty over love, to prevent more death. This man has died doing what was right and kept doing it after being brought back. He was named the King in the North for a gods damn reason.
Sansa still becomes Lady of Winterfell. Arya still goes West. The Unsullied go to Naath (and then are immediately murdered by butterflies) while the Dothraki remain. King’s Landing is in ruins, and the Wall is unnecessary, yet still has Castle Black.
So of course Jon makes Castle Black his seat. He is a crow, he is a Snow, he is half a wildling. And the wildlings fought and died for the Seven Kingdoms, they deserve to be a part of it.
(Maybe only until the Red Keep is a bit more structurally sound?)
Old Houses are extinct, new Houses rise in their place.
The wheel is broken, but the world still spins.
(Ser Podrick is still a thing, and Ser Brienne is still Kingsguard.)
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You Know Nothing, Jon Snow
Title: You Know Nothing, Jon Snow
Author’s Notes: This is a little ditty that’s my answer to all those, Jon can’t help but fall for Dany because she’s so awesome and Sansa will be left brokenhearted. Really, how often do things work out in Game of Thrones? Just a warning, some may find it angsty.
The invitation is a surprise on many levels; one that she was getting married and two that she had invited him to the wedding. However, it isn’t a surprise, for who would not want to marry the beautiful Queen of the North who saw her people through the long night and has brought them back from the brink of extinction to prosperity now that the winter snows have melted away. And protocol dictated that she invite her cousin, the King of the South, to her wedding.
But the invitation was followed by a letter, this time from the woman he still considered his sister and it contained a simple message.
Do not come if you intend to make trouble for Sansa. You’ve broken her heart once. I will not let you do so again.
His fist crumpled the wedding invitation and he felt old wounds reopen at Arya’s words. Jon had half a mind to not go to the wedding, but he had to. As King of the South his presence was required, but he was not sure how he could bear to see the woman he loved married to another.
So he gathered the overly large retinue that for some reason a king must always travel with and made the journey North. The people bowed to him respectfully, but without love. There was no hatred there either. That was reserved for his late wife, Daenerys, who after a year on the throne showed that she did not escape the Targaryen curse of madness. Now the people in the South waited. Waited and watched to see if he too would show the illness that plagued his family. In the meantime, the South accepted that his rule was better than that of his wife who before she accidentally fell from her balcony on a windy day, made it a sport of burning small folk and nobles alike.
As Jon traveled further North, excitement and dread filled him. The weight of the South and the throne he never wanted seemed to slip away as he encountered the cooler temperatures, the foliage and fauna he grew up with and the accent and attitudes of the people he loved best. But he was also dreading his reception at Winterfell.
After the war, he had believed himself to be completely in love with the beautiful dragon queen. She had lost all of her dragons in the Great War and had asked Jon to help her take the Throne in the South. Sansa had asked him not to go, reminding him of his promise to help her rebuild Winterfell and of something else.
“You said you loved me,” she had murmured quietly. “You were all that father promised me, someone brave, gentle and strong. Why, Jon? Why?”
A pang went through Jon. He had never fully figured out his feelings for Sansa and then he had met Daenerys, so vivid and beautiful, so overwhelming, that he had pushed aside those confusing emotions for another. “I do. I always will. But not like that.” He had kissed Sansa’s forehead. “I love, Dany.” He truly believed that at the time, caught up in the majesty that was the Mother of Dragons, but only looking at the surface and not what was truly beneath the intoxicating veneer of her blonde hair and power over dragons.
Sansa had stiffened in his arms and nodded curtly. “Then I wish you safe travels and success, Jon Snow.”
Those were the last words she had ever spoken to him. But Sansa was not the only Stark who felt betrayed.
Arya glared at him. “So, you’re abandoning your family in favor of her?”
“Dany is my family as well. I’m a Targaryen.”
“You’re a Stark,” Arya had spat. “Or least you were until something you thought was better came along.”
“Arya-“
“Don’t speak to me! You’re no brother to me!”
Jon had much time to think over his actions in the four years he had been in the South and away from Winterfell. After the war, the South was in disarray, the years of Baratheon and Lannister rule as devastating the war with the Night King had been on the North. It was with ease that Jon and Dany had taken the Iron Throne, but as they soon found out, it’s easy to conquer a broken and bleeding land, but much harder to stitch it back together. Tyrion and Varys perished in the Great War, and while Davos tried his best, they found themselves ill-equipped to rule. Jon wanted no part in ruling so left many matters to Daenerys which in hindsight proved to be a grave error.
The events across the sea in Meeren should have been a lesson. Daenerys, without any experienced advisors, struggled daily to rule a land she was not familiar with. Coupled with the feeling from the South that she was a foreigner who had no right to the throne, dissent occurred almost immediately. Without her dragons to enforce her rule, she relied on the brutality of her forces to keep order. And they were brutal. While the Unsullied could be counted on for their discipline, the Dorothki were another matter, and Jon found himself horrified by the rampages they would unleash on the lands. Without her dragons to cow them, Daenerys struggled to keep them in check, but found she could accept their actions if they limited their rampages to the ones who opposed her. Jon and Davos had tried to be a tempering force, but soon realized she was slowly slipping into a madness and cruelty.
But there were times that Jon glimpsed the woman he thought he had fallen in love with, the silver-haired beauty who warmed his bed. Then the children came. Misshapen and deformed, living only a few painful hours before the Stranger took them. Rumors spread the Mother of Dragons had become the Mother of Monsters.
In their third year together, one windy night, she stood on her bedroom balcony. No one heard anything or saw anything, but the next morning, her broken body was found on the rocks below. Some believe she thought she was going for a ride on her dragon. Others thought King Jon had pushed her or an assassin hired by some of the wealthier families. The more charitable few had called it an accident. Few mourned her death.
Jon found himself then sitting on a throne he never wanted. He had his struggles too, but as the hero of the Great War, raised in Westeros by Ned Stark, a man who’s good reputation had been restored to an even more vaulted status, and cousin to the Queen of the North who had become an admired and beloved figure even beyond her own lands, the South was willing to give him a chance.
He wasn’t a great ruler, but he was fair and for now, the South was stable, but it was nowhere near the prosperity it once had and strangely, was being quickly out-paced by developments in the North. Sansa had learned her lessons well, and paid for them dearly, in her time with the Lannisters and Littlefinger. She had turned into a great ruler and a savvy businesswoman, setting up profitable relations with lands that reached beyond Westeros and ensuring her people were fed and secure. The North was flourishing.
It was after the first year of Jon’s reign that Davos approached him about marrying again. A king needed a queen and more importantly, heirs. Jon had neither. The most logical and appealing choice would be the Queen of the North.
“I remember you had a certain affection for you cousin, Your Grace,” Davos had mumbled in embarrassment. “And more importantly, the South now needs the North. We need their strength to help us in our recovery.”
Jon’s heart leapt at the idea. He knew he had made a mistake following and marrying Daenerys. Deep down, it was Sansa he should have married and now he had the chance. For his heart and politically, it was the perfect solution.
Except two days letter, a marriage invitation came by raven and all of Jon’s hopes were dashed.
But perhaps they weren’t, Jon mused as the gates to Winterfell slowly opened for him. This was obviously a political match for Sansa, something she had to do but likely did not want. Maybe he could still stop this wedding. She couldn’t be in love with this other man. There was still a chance that he could marry Sansa and they would be together.
All hopes died when he met Sansa’s betrothed, a second son of a minor Northern house. He was tall and broad of shoulder with light brown hair, a trim beard and kind eyes. This was no political match. Aside from a consort, Sansa had nothing to gain by marrying this man.
Except love.
Jon saw it clearly in how she looked at her betrothed, Ser Malcom of Galeswood. Her eyes shone, her face gentled, and a becoming blush tinted her cheeks. So different from the polite, cool gaze she favored Jon with.
Ser Malcolm was clearly besotted with Sansa. He gazed adoringly at her and spoke to her with a gentle voice.
If his eyes did not tell him the truth, Arya did.
“They’re completely in love and Sansa is finally happy,” Arya warned him. “You had your chance, Jon and you threw it away. Don’t try to ruin this for her. He’s a good man. She’s finally found someone worthy of her. Some brave, gentle and strong. Let her have this.”
A pang went through Jon at his sister’s words. He was supposed to be that person, but he had not been. Instead he chased a glimmering dream that quickly turned into dust and all he was left with was a crown he never wanted and a lonely life.
Jon could have said something and almost did several times. Especially when he would catch Sansa alone, looking more beautiful than she ever had. His mouth would open, a hand reach out to touch her, but then she would catch sight of him and her lovely blue eyes would turn to ice and she would inquire whether he needed something.
The day of the wedding came and it was Bran and Arya who escorted their sister to Ser Malcolm. Jon did not even have a place by their side, instead regulated to a place of honor only for his position as King of the South. He nearly wept when he saw Sansa, a lovely weirwood tree come to life with her red hair and the grey Stark dress embroidered all over with silver threads.
The wedding feast was a boisterous and happy affair, but Jon simply brooded into his cups. While he had, again, a place of honor at the head table, he could not help feel as he did when he was the bastard of Winterfell, looking from the outside in on the happiness that surrounded the Starks and the latest addition to their family. That should be him in Ser Malcom’s chair, next to Sansa, holding her hand and brushing a kiss against her soft cheek. But it was not and all he had to warm him was his cup of Dornish wine.
Protocol dictated that the bride dance at least once with the King of the South. Jon eagerly anticipated the opportunity to hold Sansa in his arms. As one wrapped around her slim waist and his other hand engulfed her small one, Jon felt a moment of utter contentment and peace settle upon his soul. He inhaled her sweet scent of lemon and roses and allowed the strands of her silky hair to tickle his cheek. This was how it was supposed to be, he and Sansa together, in his arms forever.
“I have to thank you, Your Grace,” he heard her say.
“Please, Sansa, it’s Jon. It’s always Jon for you,” he murmured, still enjoying the illusion she was his, if even for a moment.
“Jon. I do want to thank you. You were right.”
Jon pulled back slightly and frowned at her in confusion. “Right? Right about what?”
Sansa quirked her lips at him, the first hint of a smile since he arrived at Winterfell. “About us. You were right to go South with Daenerys. I thought there was something between us. That maybe we were fated to be together. But I know better now.” She looked over at her husband and smiled happily at him. “I understand you only loved me as your kin. Not how I wanted you to. I realize that now that I’ve found true love.
Jon felt his heart shatter in two. He now understood what Sansa must have felt when he had said similar words to her four years ago when he declared his love for Daenerys.
Sansa sighed and turned back to Jon, her face solemn. “Thank you, Jon, thank you for being the level-headed one. I think, I think I can finally be happy.” She gave him a small smile and then leaned forward to kiss him chastely on his cheek.
Jon stood mutely as the song ended. When she tugged on his arm slightly, he started and escorted her back to her groom before he mumbled some excuses and left the Great Hall. He strode outside to breathe in the cold, Northern night air, not realizing tears had begun to leak from his eyes.
Too late. Too foolish. I’ve lost her and I have no one to blame but myself, he chastised himself silently.
In the cold night air, he heard a voice from the past.
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
The End.
(Meh. Maybe there might be other parts.)
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