Dream Of Winter | C. Stark & H. Targaryen

Natural Mystic

Sansa POV

"I knew I would find you here."

The eldest Stark sister looked in the gloomy and haunting crypts. It's very dark and uninviting to most those not familiar with Winterfell. She herself remembers the one time Robb had dragged her and Arya here as children. She was more scared every step she took. Her heart might as well climbed out of her chest when a ghost sprung from the shadows.

At least she thought it was a ghost. In fact it was her half-brother Jon.

That's not what he is anymore though.

Aemon Targaryen. A prince hidden in the snow.

It's kind of a jumbled mess. Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell and had two children by her. One of whom is at this very castle. So an annulment is out of the question. Of course Bran said her aunt Lyanna had wed him at the Isle of Faces. But polygamy had been outlawed in the south since Maegor's death.

Not that Jon cared about his claim to the Iron throne. He spent his entire life thinking himself a bastard. Ned Stark's bastard. Even the winter crown sat uneasily on his head. He never wanted to leave the North. Neither did she to be honest.

These feelings for her brother-cousin were frustrating at the best of times. Now she doesn't know if she can keep them hidden any longer.

The Others are very nearly upon them. He might die. Again. This time he won't rise as flash and blood. But a cold undead husk.

That can't happen.

"Sansa."

The way he said her name caused shivers down her spine. It was unsettling to even consider at first. She hated herself for it. Felt unclean. As if Cersei had conditioned her somehow to follow along her path.

Jon had came to her looking lost and aimless. His entire existence thrown off its axis over night.

She however was torn between sadness and joy. She was relieved her heart wasn't fixed on a lost cause. That she could one day find happiness by his side. But a larger part of her mourned his loss of self. He was a Stark in her eyes. And always would be. But it seemed like a white lie in his eyes.

"I just wanted to calm my mind a bit." He sighed and stepped away from his mother's statue. His eyes were empty of grief. But she knew he hid his emotions nearly as well as her.

"Rickon was looking for you earlier. I'm almost positive Tormund had him drink some of his goat milk because he was challenging every man in sight to arm wrestle and sang about his imminent victory." She chuckled at her ten year old brother behaving even wilder than usual.

Seeing him return at the head of the Skagosi after Jon sent word of the Others stitched parts of her soul she thought dead long ago. He had been an innocent babe the last time she saw him. He even confused her and Jon for her parents when he first disembarked. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"He won though, right? I'll have to discipline him if he bragged without the means to back it up." Jon quipped in amusement. Incorrigible Northmen.

"He did. But that's beside the point. He challenged the king in the North. Such displays of disloyalty must be nipped at the bud. For the sake of the Realm." She didn't know she had it in her to jest. A prisoner for years. From one gilded cage to another. Her smiles bled away as the treasured pieces of her family were snuffed out. But she's always in a playful mood around him. Strange.

"Of course. Insurrection can't be tolerated in this castle. Shall I go to him at once or delegate Arya to hunt him down?" Jon was forever carefree when mentioning Arya. She knew he considered her his true sister. He had broken his vows for her. Or at least for someone who held her name. Even if it was Sansa's oldest friend that's taken that title. In a way it didn't bother her how much he loved her little sister. Arya deserved every kindness and affection in the world. And the feelings Sansa bore for Jon were decidedly not sister-like.