The Young Lioness

Old Memories

They followed Littlefinger and the knights of the Vale to Winterfell. When they arrived, they rented a room at an inn, the room was not small and not large either, it only had one bed and the three of them agreed that none would take it, they would sleep on the carpet, on the floor near the fireplace. The room had a single window that had a view to all Winterfell, if Sansa needed them, they would be there in a heartbeat.
"She's far away from the Lannisters, this is her home. Maybe Lady Sansa is better off here." Pod said. "Better off with the Boltons who murdered her mother and brother? She is in danger even if she doesn't realise it." Brienne said. "The Boltons are the worst. Trust me, they're worst than any Lannister missdoing." Joanna said. However, they had to send a message to the girl, then an old man came to bring them food, "Thank you. Have you been living here for a long time?" Brienne asked the man, "Aye." he answered, "Did you know Lord Eddard?" Brienne asked. "I knew him. And his father before him. The Starks are gone now." the man said. "Not all of them." Joanna said. "Do you know who is inside of that castle?" Brienne asked. "Everyone knows, the Boltons." the man said. "I'm not talking about the Boltons. I need to sent a message to her. To Sansa Stark." Brienne said. "Who are you?" the man said. "Someone who swore to keep her safe." Brienne said. "Swore to who?" the man asked. "To her mother." Brienne answered. "Catelyn Stark's dead." the man said. "That doesn't release me from an oath. I served Lady Catelyn, I still serve her. Who do you serve?" Brienne said. "The Starks. What do you want me to say?" the man asked. "Tell her, if she is in danger, she just has to go to the top of the Broken Tower and light a candle, we'll save her." Brienne answered. "Aye." the man said. "Wait. Can you also tell her this phrase, 'I hope we see each other again, Stark.', she will know what it means." Joanna said and the man nodded and left. "What does the phrase mean?" Brienne asked. "It was the last thing I said to her. I know her, she won't forget it." Joanna said. "I hope you're right." Brienne said.
They spent months there, they practiced almost everyday, Pod was getting better at it. Brienne was doing a good job teaching him, Joanna helped her when she asked. Joanna thaught Pod how to hunt properly and helped him with the cookings a few times. Joanna and Brienne trained together as always and  Podrick watched with more atention. At night, they would talk almost all the time before going to sleep.
Joanna decided to cut her hair shoulderlenght. She could not be recognized and it felt like a new start for her, like the past was behind, like she had grown up to the person she really was all her life. Joanna still had nightmares almost every night, it was not easy, however she knew that Brienne and Podrick were there for her, if she needed. For Joanna that months they spent in Winterfell, it began to feel like a family and somehow, Joanna knew deep down that she cared for them like she cared for her blood, maybe she felt a different kind of love for Pod, because she really loved him, even if she tried not to. It took every will in her body to not kiss him, when he made a good strike while practicing, however she did not forget what had happened and from time to time it came to the surface and they fought. Silly fights, jelousy fights most of the time, and it was becoming impossible to be around them when they began to fight.
One of the days, Brienne went to find more wood to the fire, they each took turns, for it not to be so exaustive. Joanna stood inside the room looking through the window seeing some men battling in the yard. Then, Pod asked her, "What are you doing?" He was gathering the things for making a fire when Brienne came back. Time for payback, Joanna thought. "Just checking the views." Joanna said. "The views? What do you see?" Pod asked curiously. "Some guys fighting." Joanna answered with a tone that told that she was liking what she was seeing, eventhough she really was not, they sucked at fighting. "Some guys?" Pod asked unsurely. "Yes, the cute one is wining." Joanna said with a smilling tone. He walked to the window and Joanna showed them the guy, "He's not cute." Pod said right away. "Yes, he is. He is a handsome man." Joanna said bitting her bottom lip. She was enjoying the game she was playing. "Man? He's a boy. And he's not even handsome." Pod said jelous. "He is. You don't see it because you're a man." Joanna said rolling her eyes and then walking to the door. "Where are you going?" Pod asked. "Talk to him." Joanna said with a devilish grin. "Are you mad? What if they recognize you?" Pod said concerned and a bit angry. "I've never been in the North and I cut my hair. He won't recognize me." Joanna said and then left smiling. Yes, you did, Pod thought angry. He hoped the guy did not notice it. Outside, she met Brienne. "Where are you going?" Brienne asked. "To hunt something, it's my turn. But, if Pod asks, I went to talk to the handsome man in the yard." Joanna said bliking. What will I do with these two?, Brienne thought. It was becoming anoying. "Are you turturing the lad?" Brienne said. "He deserves it, if he can check the girls at the inns then I can check a guy on the yard too. Besides I don't want to hurt him in a sword fight." Joanna said. "I hope that someday you two will stop acting like two lovesick idiots and finally work things out, because it's becoming impossible to be around you two." Brienne said. "Now, you're sounding like my brothers." Joanna said. "Maybe they're right." Brienne said. "So, you're telling me that Jaime's right?" Joanna asked. "I never said that. Don't tell him." Brienne said. "I won't. Tell Pod what I said if he asks, please." Joanna said. "Fine, don't take too long." Brienne said. "Thank you." Joanna said and then went to hunt. When she came back, Pod was still a bit angry. "So, what did he say?" he asked. "Nothing of your concern." Joanna said. "Come on." Pod said. "I'm not telling you." Joanna said. "Fine." Pod said. "Will you two talk about the kiss someday or are you going to act like this the rest of your lifes?" Brienne asked them. They just rolled their eyes and did not say a thing, however after a few days everything was back to normal.
Months later, they were already loosing hope. They had stayed there for months and without a word from the world, just waiting for a candle. The last day, Joanna and Brienne were watching the tower, Podrick had gone hunting, it was his turn. "Do you think she is still alive?" Joanna asked. "They won't kill her, she is the key to the North. They wouldn't dare." Brienne answered. "I hope she is allright. She has suffered enough with Joffrey. She doesn't deserve this. She is just a girl." Joanna said. "You still think she is a girl still?" Brienne asked. "Sadly, I don't. That leaves marks, but she is a though one. She will survive. And we will help her." Joanna said. "Yes, we will. How do you think she will react when she sees you and Pod?" Brienne asked. "Well, I hope... I honestly don't know because she has grown up and... the things she saw and passed through, I don't even want to imagine it. She is not the same person." Joanna said. "No, she is stronger now. I hope." Brienne said.
Then Pod came running, "My lady." They went to him, "Stannis. Stannis Baratheon is coming and his whole army." Podrick said. "How do you know it's Stannis?" Brienne asked. "He is carrying a flaming heart banners...From the Blackwater... I learnt the figure..." Pod said. Brienne hesitated, however Joanna would not let her not going to take her revenge, she knew what it meant to her, so she said, "Go. I'll stay here. I'll meet you if I see anything." Brienne nodded and went away. Podrick took Tyrion's axe and was going with her, but Joanna grabbed his hand, "Pod, be carefull. Don't die." Joanna said. "I'll come back, I promise you." Pod said squeezing her hand. Then he went away. Memories poping in her and his heads. They had seen all this before, in different times. Were they so different from the current one?
Joanna kept looking at the tower, waiting. She did not have to wait long, because a little while later the candle was lighted. Bad timing, Sansa. Really bad timing, Joanna thought. She ran through the florest to where they had gone. She searched and searched for them and, as she could not find them, she was begining to worry. Then she heard Pod and went to where he was, "Pod, where is Brienne?" Joanna asked. "I don't know she went that way." Pod said. "Come, we have to go save Sansa." Joanna said. And then they went to find her.
They found her, "Brienne, she escaped. Sansa escaped, we have to find her." Joanna said. "Where did she go?" Brienne asked. "I don't-" Joanna was saying when they heard dogs barking and people shouting. "There!" Pod said looking at the woods.
They went to get the horses and followed the sound and, when they arrived, Bolton men were attacking Sansa and a man that Joanna did not know who was helping her.
Brienne and Podrick delt with the soldiers and Joanna slayed the men on the ground, jumping from her horse and sending the dogs away. Then she went to Sansa, "Are you allright? You're freezing." Joanna asked. "Joanna?" Sansa asked suprised. "It's me. I'm here, I have to go help them, stay here, don't move." Joanna said. And when Sansa nodded, she joined the fight, Brienne had fallen from the horse, "Brienne! Are you allright?" Joanna asked, fighting. "I am, keep going." Brienne said and then she managed to slay the man. When Joanna was finished, she glanced at Pod, he was on the ground, the man was going to kill him, she could never reached them in time to save him. "Pod!" Joanna cried. And then, the man she did not recognize, saved him. Joanna went to him, right away, "Pod? Are you allright?" Joanna said. "I am. I am." Pod said and she hugged him. Then they got up and went to where Sansa was and Brienne put Oathkeeper to Sansa's feet and knelt, Joanna was worried Sansa might said no again, so when she looked at her, Joanna nodded for her to accept. "Lady Sansa, I offer my services once again. I will shield your back and keep you counsel and give my life for yours if need be. I swear it by the old gods and new." Brienne said. Sansa hesitated a little and then said, "And I vow that you should always have a place by my heart and..." Sansa said. She did not remebered the words. "Meat and mead at my table." Pod helped her. "Meat and mead at my table. And I pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you dishonor. I swear it by the old gods and the new. Arise." Sansa said. And then Brienne got up.
Joanna went to Sansa, "Are you allright?" Joanna asked. "I am. I recieved the message, but I didn't think it was really you. What are you doing here?" Sansa said. "I promised Tyrion I would find you. He was really worried. How do you manage to escape?" Joanna said. "He was worried? Theon helped me." Sansa said. "He was freaking out." Joanna said smiling. Then she turned to Theon, "Thank you for saving her and for saving him." Joanna said. "You don't have to thank me. She is like a sister to me and he was in need for help. I don't know who you are, my lady." Theon said. "Don't call her that." Sansa said with a small smile. "You remember?" Joanna asked. "How could I forget? You were always saying that to me and to Pod. Hello, Pod." Sansa said. "Hello, my lady. It's good to see you again." Pod said. "Well, I'm Joanna...Lannister." Joanna said. "You're a Lannister?" Theon asked. "She is the good one, Theon. She saved me from Joffrey." Sansa said. "In that case, I'm Theon Greyjoy." Theon said. "Nice to meet you, Theon." Joanna said and gave him the hand for a handshake. "Likewise, Joanna." Theon said giving her a handshake.
Then they made camp and a fire. Joanna, Brienne and Sansa were talking while the boys made the fire. "What about Arya?" Sansa asked. "I saw her, she was with a man." Brienne said. "She was with the Hound." Joanna said. "The Hound?" Sansa asked. "I don't think he hurted her. She didn't want to leave him, he didn't want to leave her." Brienne said. "You don't know which way she went?" Sansa asked. "We spent three days looking for her, she disapeared." Brienne said. "She will be allright. Don't worry, she'll come back one day." Joanna said. "How do you know?" Sansa asked. "Because I did." Joanna said. "How did she look?" Sansa asked. "She looked good, she wasn't exactly dressed like a lady." Brienne said. "No, she wouldn't be." Sansa said. "What happened at Winterfell?" Brienne asked. Sansa looked down and Joanna put a hand on her shoulder, "We're here. Don't worry." Joanna said. "I should have gone with you when I had a chance." Sansa said. "It was a difficult choice, my lady. We all had to make difficult choices." Brienne said looking at Theon. "Go talk to him, Sansa." Joanna said. And then Sansa went to talk to Theon. "I'm going to help Pod with the fire." Joanna said to Brienne and then went to help him. He was trying to light the flame, however it shot out every time. She put the hands around the flame, stoping the wind, "There, try it again." Joanna said. He tried and the fire alighted. "Thank you." Pod said. "I thought I lost you." Joanna admited. "I thought that too." Pod said. Then Joanna hugged him again, "Never do something like that again, did you hear me?" Joanna said. "I won't. You have my word." Podrick said hugging her back.
Then Theon ended up going home and they went to the Wall. However, they had only three horses and they were four. Therefore, either one of them would have to go on foot or two would have to share the horse. Joanna did not want to propose it, however she had thought that she had lost Podrick, due to that she would not let him walk on the snow until reaching the Wall. "Come on, Pod. We can share the horse." Joanna said. "I don't mind going on foot. You can have it." Pod said in pannick. "You're going to freeze. No way." Joanna rebutted. "You don't mind it?" Pod asked suprised. "I don't, if you don't." Joanna answered. "But-" Pod was saying. "Get on the horse, both of you." Brienne said interupting them and Sansa giggled. Joanna climbed on the horse and then Pod did the same behind her. "Hold on to me or you're going to fall." Joanna said, she was not thinking of what she was saying. "I-I won't fall. I'll be fine." Pod said tense. "You will and you won't be, I ride faster than you at a normal pace and if I have to stop you will fall. So unless you want to fall or take the reins, which will be worse, you're going to have to hold on to me." Joanna said anoyed, why did I have this idea? This is going to go wrong at any moment, Joanna thought. She had not thought about what she had said at all, it just came out. Gladly, Podrick held on to her as carefully and unawkwardly as possible and they did not have to talk about what she just said. "Are they always like this?" Sansa asked Brienne. "Most of the time, yes." Brienne said. "Interesting." Sansa said, she knew them and they were way past their breaking point, the emotions were just boiling on the surface. "Give it, two days and it won't be so insteresting." Brienne said. "And they never?" Sansa asked. "Not that I know off." Brienne answered. "How can they?" Sansa asked suprised. "I don't know, but it is becoming impossible to be around them." Brienne answered. Joanna was blushing obviously and Pod too, however they were too into their minds to hear what Sansa and Brienne said. They began to ride and the movement of the horse did not help anything.
After sometime, Brienne and Sansa were talking, however neither Pod or Joanna were listening. Joanna was trying to focus on riding the horse in order not to be thinking about other things. He has his arms around me, Joanna had thought unbbiden at some point. And Pod was trying to focus on the journey and not on the awkward position they were in, I can't believe this is happening, this can't be happening, Pod had thought in pannick.
"Can we stop?" Sansa asked. "Yes, my lady. I think this is a good place, right? Joanna? Podrick?" Brienne said. "It's like they're in trance." Sansa said. "They are just into their minds, which is weird because they're always talking. We will make camp here. Joanna? Pod?" Brienne said. "Joanna?" Sansa said. "I'm sorry, what?" Joanna asked after the third time. "I said, we can make camp here tonight. It's hidden so they won't find us." Brienne said. "Yes." Joanna and Pod said at the same time and Sansa giggled, she was just enjoying the show.
They got out of the horse and Joanna and Pod did not look at each other, the entire time.
Then they made a fire, ate and then went to sleep. Joanna was sleeping, until she suddenly awoke from a nightmare as always. Heaving breathing and a little sweaty. "Nightmare?" Sansa asked. "Yes, I'm used to it. Still... And you?" Joanna said. "Same thing." Sansa said. "What happened since I last saw you, Sansa? I'm worried about you." Joanna said. "Littlefinger helped me escape and then I realized he wanted me. Then, he delievered me to a monster. Ramsay Bolton. He is worst than Joffrey. He raped me, beated me. He broke Theon. I survived, but there are things that..." Sansa was saying before her voice trailed off. "There are things that you can never erase even if you try. I know. I'm sorry about what happened. I wish I could have been there to protect you. There's something you need to know." Joanna said. "What?" Sansa asked. "I talked to Arya. She told me that she had to find her place in the world and I let her go. She will come back one day, I know it. And I discovered something about Littlefinger. He was the one who started the War of the Five Kings. He killed Jon Arryn and he was the one who sent your mother that letter saying that it was the Lannisters. He is the one that cause us all this pain. He hurted our families. I'm going to kill him." Joanna explained. "I hope she will. About him, you can kill him when I'm done with him. If we're going to take back Winterfell, I need his men." Sansa said. "As you say. I wish I could have been there when you have to marry Tyrion and when all that happened next, to help and protect you. I'm sorry." Joanna said. "It's not your fault. And Tyrion was always kind to me, he was the best really. When your brother returned and you didn't, I thought that something had happened to you. What happened?" Sansa asked. "I went to find Jaime and I lost the horse, I get lost and was caught by Bolton's men and then they tried to rape me and to put me in a bear pit, I should have ran away, but one of them cut off Jaime's hand and I had to do something. I put him in the bear pit and ran away. I got shotted. When I reached the capital, I passed out, after finding out Joffrey was dead." Joanna told her. "Wow. That is a hell of a story too." Sansa said. "Yes, it is. Now, my sister has a bounty on my head, so..." Joanna said. "I'm sorry about your father and Tyrion." Sansa said. "Thank you. I still don't understand it, that's why I have nightmares. I would have killed myself by now, if it wasn't for Brienne." Joanna said. "They don't deserve your life, Joanna. No one besides you is worth your life." Sansa said. "I know. We passed through so much, didn't we?" Joanna said. "I guess, we did." Sansa said and Joanna smiled. They were together again, she could not believe it. "What about you and Pod?" Sansa asked with a devilish smile. "Don't even talk about it. He told we should remain friends after a kiss, so..." Joanna said. "He's totally in love with you, Joanna. I mean no one takes that long to piss." Sansa said with a giggle. "Gods, I didn't hear that. Besides, we've been riding for hours without stop, so it's possible." Joanna said blushing and trying to be reasonable about what she had just heard. "Yes, we've been riding for hours and he had been holding on to you for hours, with his arms around you... you can't tell me you didn't like that. You're literaly in love with him, besides you two can't stop fighting." Sansa said. "Sansa! I can't say, I didn't like it. The fights are our dynamic." Joanna said. "You two have been acting like an old married couple." Sansa said with a giggle. "Stop it, you're sounding like Tyrion." Joanna said. "I did say he was the best, didn't I?" Sansa said. "For gods' sake! We better get some sleep." Joanna said puting an end to the conversation. "Fine. Think about him, maybe you won't have nightmares that way." Sansa said smiling. Joanna rolled her eyes and then turned around to sleep. It worked suprisely.
When they woke up, they returned the journey. Joanna and Pod had to share the horse again and it was like a turture. The position, the movements of the horse, the warm, the thoughts, everything.
After sometime, they were near the Wall already. Joanna looked at it amazed, it was beautifull. She and Pod had made it to the Wall, together. She could not believe it. It was amazing. Pod was looking at it amazed, as well, and thinking the exact same thing. Joanna did not think what she was about to do next. She stopped the horse and took her hand to his, that was around her waist, their fingers locked and Joanna said, "We made it." "We did. We're at the Wall." Pod said. "Together." Joanna said. "Yes. It took almost three years, but here we are." Pod said. "Yes, finally." Joanna said.
Then Sansa and Brienne noticed they had stopped, "Is everything allright? Why did you stop?" Brienne asked. "Old memories..." Joanna said. After that, they unlocked their fingers and Joanna started riding again she had to speed up a bit to keep up with Brienne and Sansa, so Pod had to held thightly to her, this time, however, Joanna did not notice how awkward it was, they had made it to the Wall.

A/N: Hi! Thank you for voting in this story. I hope you're engoying it.