Hi, everyone.

This is the first story I decided to publish, so PLEASE be good to me :-).

I have spent many years on this site while I was writing my own stories but I never had the guts to publish anything. Until now. (Hope it won't be a complete fiasco. :-))

Just a little WARNING - English is not my native language. I'm sure there'll be mistakes but I hope it won't be THAT bad :-) ... And I don't have a Beta, so please tell me if my story sucks :-) just don't be to harsh :-). THANK YOU.

CHAPTER 1 - BLUE ROSE

Only three men stood between them. They all had swords in their hands and were the best fighters that Seven Kingdoms has ever seen. Gods themselves could stand there, old and new and it wouldn't matter to him. Ned has lost a father and a brother and he spent over a year in the heat of war. All that for his sister. Nothing will stop him now. He will fight his way over to her, take her into his arms and they'll both return to Winterfell together. Let Robert Baratheon and rest of the South burn in their seven hells. They will be home and all will be well again but for now he and his men must kill three brothers of Kings Guard. Ned knew he exchanged words with them before their swords were drawn but that was of little consequence. The only thing that mattered was her. Lyanna needed him and he would kill every man standing between them.

He fought ser Arthur Dayne, the sword of the morning. If he'd be able to think straight he would probably be scared. Their swords clenched together, one from Valyrian steel and the other forged from a falling star, Ice and Dawn. They danced around each other and their swords sang a song every time they touched. Ned noticed that one white cloak and some of his friends were lying on a ground. Dead or alive, Ned didn't know and ser Arthur didn't give him enough time between strikes to find out.

He was watching his opponent same as a wolf watches its prey, waiting for his next move, when they heard a heartbreaking cry from the tower before them. The fighting ceased and everyone raised their eyes towards the tower as if they were told to do so.

"Lyanna," Ned screamed and started running towards entrance.

"Ned," Howland called behind him but when he tried to follow his friend and lord, ser Gerold Hightower stepped in his way.

"Ser Arthur, get him," he ordered his brother. There were only three northern men left, he could handle that much.

Arthur nodded and followed Ned, who was frantically running through the Tower of joy screaming his sisters' name.

Lyanna wasn't hard to find, considering there was one cry after another from her room. He was in the middle of the stairs that led to her room when he heard one last cry. He kicked the door open and froze where he stood.

"Is this a way to enter a lady's chambers, brother?" she asked tiredly with tears in her eyes. He couldn't answer, the picture that lay before him was too much for him. "There, there, my darling. You do not have to be afraid anymore, your uncle is here," she whispered to the newly born babe in her arms and kissed its forehead.

Ned knew ser Arthur stood behind him, still holding Dawn in his hand just as Ned still held Ice. He was aware that there was also another woman next to Lyanna's bed but he couldn't care less. She was here, right in front of him. His sweetest little sister, the sun that had made this world a better place. He closed his eyes in a silent prayer and dropped Ice to the ground without even realizing it. He walked to her slowly and fell on his knees right next to the bed she lay on.

"Lya," he whispered tearfully, taking her hand in his.

"My dearest, sweetest Ned," she smiled, while tears fell down her cheeks. "I am so sorry, brother, please forgive me," she managed to say.

"Shh, sweet sister, all will be well, do not fear," he said, rising from his knees to sit on a bed beside her. "Boy or a girl?" he asked, stroking the child's cheek.

Lyanna smiled proudly. "His name is Jon."

Ned returned her smile. "He is beautiful."

"He is, isn't he?" she laughed weakly. "He looks just like his father."

"He has your eyes, though," replied Ned.

Lyanna started to cry even more. "I loved him."

"I know," answered Ned, smiling a little and stroking her hair.

"I killed them," she whispered so quietly that Ned was almost certain he wasn't supposed to hear her.

"That's not true, Lya," he said strongly. "The Mad King killed them."

"Because of me," she sobbed. "I never meant to… I just wanted… I am so sorry…"

Ned pulled her and her son into his embrace while she mumbled incoherently. She calmed down a little after a while. "You must keep him safe, Ned. We have heard what happened in Kings Landing, all of Dorne talks of nothing else. You cannot let my son to share that fate."

"Of course not, Lya. We'll return to Winterfell and we'll protect him together."

Lyanna smiled sadly. "You will have to do that on your own, I am afraid." Ned looked completely bewildered. "I will soon follow father and Brandon… and Rhaegar."

Ned felt as if someone just banged an axe over his head a hundred times over. "What do you mean?" She hasn't said anything but looked at the grey blanket that covered her. Ned followed her gaze and after a deep breath, he raised the blanket. It took all the strength he had not to scream at the pool of blood his sister was lying in.

He smelled the blood as soon as he entered her room but he assumed that the blood was his and not hers.

"You're… you… you're going to be alright, sister. This… this is absolutely normal, right?" He looked into her eyes, silently begging her to say yes. A little shake of her head filled his eyes with tears. "You are not going to die, Lyanna, you hear me?" he sobbed a little. "I forbid you to die."

Lyanna laughed humorlessly. "When have I ever did what any of you told me to?" she asked him and for a moment, Ned saw a spark of mischief in her grey eyes again. For one last time.

Ned was blinking rapidly to prevent the tears forming in his eyes from falling down. Lyanna didn't even try to stop hers. She clenched her newborn son to her while holding her brother's hand in hers.

"Don't leave me, Lya, please… not you, not you," he cried. He never felt so hopeless, so weak, so broken. "I beg of you, stay with me." He was sobbing openly now, not caring about anything else than the woman in front of him who was a center of his universe for as long as he could remember.

"Promise me you will keep him safe."

"No, no. You are going to do that."

"Ned, please, promise me you will keep him safe," she said desperately, cupping his cheek. "Promise me, Ned. Promise me."

"I promise," he managed to say after a while.

As soon as he spoke those words Lyanna obviously relaxed. She stroked the silver hair on her son's head and then kissed him on his forehead. "Fear not, my little one. Your uncle will protect you, raise you, and love you. There is not a single person in all of Westeros and Essos I would trust more than him, my son. And I know you will love him just as much as I do."

Ned saw she had trouble to keep her eyes open but she used all her strength to stay with them just a little bit longer. He was holding her hand, kissing it and sobbing into it, clinging to her every breath. Under any other circumstances he would never allow himself to be so vulnerable but this was Lyanna. Everything was always different when his little sister was concerned. Her hand felt colder in his grasp and she barely managed to look at him but she smiled anyway.

"Tell me of your new wife, brother."

"She, ehm… she is very beautiful and very polite… I, uh… do not know her all that well… but she's expecting my child… it is possible she had already given birth."

Lyanna's smile even widened, Ned couldn't comprehend how she did that. He was sure his ability to smile and laugh is dying with her.

She was still smiling when she closed her eyes, when her fickle breath ceased, when her son started a heartbreaking cry as if he knew what just happened. She was still smiling when her sobbing brother rocked her dead body, begging her to come back.