The 31 lives of JonSa

1. Fantasy AU

"I'm so sorry you came all this way for nothing." Sansa smiled politely while she closed the door. She counted to sixty and just to be sure she counted to sixty again. "Jon? You can come out of the closet."

Jon threw the wooden door of the closet open. The frown in his forehead, that had finally started to relax slightly, was once again deeper and pearls of sweat covered his cheeks. "Are they ever gonna give up?"

Sansa shrugged. "Every once in a while the world needs a hero and you are the last one this kingdom has known. I assume it is only natural that they try to find you in times of need."

Jon sighed. "I guess." He swallowed.

He didn't look like the hero he had once been. His long dark curls were now way shorter and he couldn't tie them into his man bun anymore. His white shirt hung loosely around his torso. Beneath it his skin was covered in scars and barely healed wounds. Whenever he tried to run he had to force his right leg along.

"Jon..." Sansa walked towards him and she placed a hand carefully on his chest. "You're not the only one with the skills and talent to save this world. You saved it once and now it's up to someone else to deal with whatever threat is looming over us."

He bent his head and the warmth of his breath touched her lips. "Don't you feel ashamed of me?" He swallowed. "You married the famous hero who slayed the dragon queen. I'm now barely a man..."

"I never married you because you were a hero." She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "I married you because you were kind and brave and just followed your heart." She kissed his other cheek. "You weren't after fame. You didn't want to be known by everyone in this kingdom." She kissed the tip of his nose. "You simply saw people being hurt and did whatever you could to help them." Eventually her lips touched his. "And that heart is still beating inside you."

"Is that why I hide when they come looking for me?" He raised his eyebrows. The hands resting on her shoulders formed fists and grabbed the fabric of her simple dress. "Because I see people in need and want to help them?"

They had this conversation almost weekly, every time another group of begging people had turned around to find themselves another hero.

"Yes." Sansa nodded firmly. "You know that you are not as strong as you used to be. You know that when you killed the dragon queen something broke inside of you." She swallowed. "You know that you can't be that hero anymore." She locked her glance with his. "The new heroes don't know it yet, maybe, but they are better suited for his job than you are."

"What if they're not?" Jon rested his head on her shoulder.

Sansa smiled. "If there's one thing I learned from reading countless of stories, it's that whenever a hero is needed, a new hero stands up. You've survived your story and now all I want and all I need is for you to stay with me and love me."

Jon returned her smile, although a little hesitantly. "I can do that."