Three moments of Shireen's life through her father's eyes. 3rd person POV, primarily focusing on Stannis. Rated T.

Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones

Arya Stark

Stannis stood off to the side of the playground; Selsye had instructed him before departure that he was to leave Shireen to deal with her peers herself. He understood the concept of Shireen making her own friends and learning to defend herself. It did not make standing there as his daughter was ignored, or worse teased, by the other children any easier.

Shireen sat resolutely on the swings though, ignoring the cruel words and funny faces. She watched the other girls play by the slide with their dolls, eyes glued to them as if she might convince them with her stare to invite her to play. They never did of course, Stannis had watched this ritual three times a week for over a year – ever since Shireen's fever had broken and she left the hospital with permanent scars from grayscale.

It was a harsh world for a six-year-old to deal with Stannis knew, but Shireen would come out stronger in time. Still, it was hard for a father to watch.

A little brown-haired girl plopped herself in the swing next to Shireen, "Don't bother, my sister and her friends are boring anyway." Shireen looked over at the girl, Arya. She was in the same class as Shireen in school.

"I suppose." Shireen responded in a whisper as Arya began to pump her legs.

Arya paused for a moment, "How high can you go?" Shireen looked at her quizzically, "On the swing? I like to go really high, but it's not as much fun by yourself."

"Who do you usually play with?" Shireen was nervous as she spoke, half expecting her cousin's name to come out of the girl's mouth. Cella was in the same grade as them and very popular, everyone loved her.

Arya shrugged, "My brothers, Bran and Rickon." She started pumping her legs once more, going slowly higher each swing, "But they went fishing with dad today and mum wouldn't let me go."

"I'm sorry," Shireen said. She bit her lip before she too began to pump her legs. Arya grinned over at her, a wolfish grin that took up half her face. No one smiled at her much anymore, Shireen quite liked it.

"We could play knights next?" Arya suggested as they flew through the air higher and higher. Shireen smiled, nodding her head as she flew just a little higher than Arya. The loss did not seem to affect the brunette's spirits as she jumped from the swing.

Shireen looked back at her father, the tightness of his jaw. Jumping would be bad, so instead she dragged her feet on the sand as she came back down. Arya stuck out her tongue, "I'll teach you how to jump next time, it's not so scary as it seems."

"Alright," Shireen agreed, "How do you play knights?" Arya's grin returned in full forced as she grabbed Shireen's had to drag her along, but Shireen didn't mind. She nodded as Arya began rambling about knights and dragons and damsels in distress.

Shireen scrunched up her nose, "I don't have to be a damsel do I?"

Arya paused in her stride, looking back at Shireen with awe in her eyes, "Oh, thank the gods! I was afraid you were going to be too prissy for this like Sansa." Shireen chuckled at Arya's idea of a compliment as they continued on their way to grab their weapons.

"Is that your girl?" Stannis looked over at the woman next to him. It took him a moment to recognize her as Catelyn Stark. The wife of one of Robert's friend, he cringed internally.

He nodded, "Shireen."

Cat smiled softly, far to use to her husband's stoicism to find offense in Stannis's clipped response. "It's good to know I won't have to worry about Arya falling in with a bad crowd then."

Stannis's eyes followed Shireen's movements as she and her new friend parried back and forth with sticks. The girl was a Stark. Ned was a calm man, but Stannis remember Brandon and Lyanna as well.

"Might I ask who she takes after?" Stannis knew the question was a bit rude, but he had a duty to ensure Shireen kept appropriate company. And the more he looked the more the girl reminded him of Lyanna as a child.

"I suppose Lyanna mostly," Cat noticed the way Stannis was grinding his teeth, "Ned and I keep a firm hand with her though. She's a bit rambunctious I will admit, but you needn't worry. She'll look after Shireen."

Stannis nodded, a bit uncomfortable as Catelyn continued to chatter on about her children. Apparently she'd been concerned that Arya didn't have any friends besides her brothers. There was also something about her sons, but he was more concerned with keeping an eye on Shireen that listening to her prattle.

There was a smile on Shireen's face. Absolutely beaming. He was surprised to find he had missed that smile. It putting up with the Starks again was the price he had to pay, he'd pay it to keep that smile on her face.

With a silent sigh Stannis focused his attention on Catelyn once more, listening to her and asking questions were appropriate to show his interest. It seemed to please the Stark matriarch and they exchanged numbers so they could get the girls together letting Shireen chose her own friends inevitably meant she chose his as well.

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