Spoiler Alert for Game of Thrones

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Serious.

Fire and Ice

She felt so warm and cold in his arms all at the same time. Her hair seemed to glow like the dying embers of fire in the darkness. The sticky blood that flowed from the wound on her chest was inky black in comparison. The wildling woman lay back in Jon's arms, her head lolling back and each breath a pained struggle. There was a glassiness to her eyes that made Jon's vision swim with unshed tears. He tried to say her name through numb lips but nothing came out save a weak whimper. Ygritte made a valiant attempt to smile but her body was failing her and it came out as little more than a grimace.

"Do you remember the cave?" she uttered, the words as heavy and thick on her tongue as the blood that seemed to cover her from head to toe. Jon shook his slightly, an almost incredulous look dancing over his features as he remembered; the heat of skin on skin, the feel of her tender, chapped lips upon him, the water rolling between them. Such a thing could not be forgotten.

"Shhh… Don't talk."

"We should never have left that cave." The wistful, defenceless words caught him by surprise but the young steward couldn't help but agree. There had been something powerful, magical, something pure about their time in the cave. Out here, in the real world, everything broke eventually, even the greatest men failed and the tallest walls fell. Jon Snow would have sacrificed everything in the world to be back in that cave with Ygritte with nothing between them, not distance, nor clothes or words or bad blood. I am yours and you are mine. Those were the words, the promise, and with each passing second Jon could feel more of himself slipping away.

"We'll go back there, I promise." The lie slipped off his tongue without conscious thought. He realised now, rather succinctly, that Ygritte was already lost to him and that the world would be that much bleaker because of it. But he clung frantically to the brightest light in his life of black. She was his candle in the dark, his moon in the deepest night. You are mine, and I am yours. A brief thought crossed his mind; the idea of forcing his own blade deep through his flesh and sinew seemed tantalising, crimson blood on the white stone pommel of his sword. Red like Ghost's eyes…

"You know nothing Jon Snow…" Ygritte looked up at him with the softest expression on her face. For the first time since the cave her defences were down and she appeared tender and painfully beautiful. The look she bore was reminiscent of a doe- eyed calf gazing mournfully up at him, her magnificent eyes filled with a deep sort of knowing. She saw him in a way that no one else did. She was Ygritte and she was free.

Jon lay his head on his woman's chest and shut his eyes, blocking the tears that sought to leak out. When Ygritte's chest refused to rise again he looked up at the star-studded night sky, heart tearing itself apart in agony. No one, he thought, will remember you. Except me. I will always remember you for I am yours and you are mine.

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A/N this is something I wrote when this episode first came out so please don't knock it, I just thought I would share.