Chapter 11

Jon Snow was baffled. He was unsure how to proceed. The Night King had him reeling with his most recent actions. Not attacking Winterfell had him more worried than an actual battle because he worried over what sinister plan the White Walker had in store for everyone.

Would he head back North once he finished his business at Riverrun or would he keep marching South? He couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of Cersei Lannister and her broken promise to send aid. Serves her right, he thought but then he remembered all the innocent lives that would be lost in the King's Landing if the Night King headed there with their defenses completely down.

There was a large part of him that felt angry and cheated. He wanted this fight to be over with and now it was only going to drag on longer and longer. He wondered to himself if his life would always be this way, dealing with one crazy thing after another.

If they defeated the Night King and he lived to tell the tale, he was done being a ruler, it just wasn't the life for him. Born as a bastard he never imagined himself being in charge and he quite liked it that way.

Daenarys Targaryen wanted him by her side in King's Landing once she took her rightful place there, but was that what he wanted? He knew that he loved her he did, but was love enough? The only thing he had ever seen love do was destroy families and kingdoms.

He stood outside and watched his sister, Arya sparring with Brienne until the small girl stopped in her tracks, staring at someone. He turned his head to look and saw the Baratheon bastard looking just as shocked as Arya.

It was only a moment before the two were racing towards eachother and into a tight embrace. What had his sister been up to since they parted ways? He decided to walk downstairs and witness their reunion up close.

As he walked closer Gendry Waters looked over to him and exclaimed "I didn't know this was your sister!" happily

"How do you two know eachother?" Jon spoke to both, still somewhat unnerved by the Night King but at the same time relaxed knowing the threat was no longer marching straight towards them.

"I would probably be dead if it wasn't for 'Arry here!" Gendry replies

"Arry?" Jon inquires, sounding amused

"I had to pretend to be a boy when I first escaped King's Landing, they were looking for Arya Stark, so I became 'Arry" Arya replied with her own goofy grin

"She helped me and another boy, Hot Pie, escape from a castle where we were all being held in Riverrun. I don't know if I would have had the guts to do that on my own" he bowed to her slightly in thanks and added "I knew you wouldn't be dead"

She grinned back obviously happy to see an old friend. Jon smiled too, happy that even in the darkest of times they could all find reasons to be glad.

"She's a tough one, my sister" and he wrapped an arm around her proudly. With that he decided to let them continue their reunion without him as they were sure to have plenty to talk about. He was glad his sister had a friend. He worried about her sometimes.

Jon seemed to be looking for a distraction, something, anything really to take his mind off of recent events.

His true parentage. Daenarys Targaryen. The Night King. Cersei Lannister.

Ever since he had been brought back to life, the world as he knew it was crashing down around him. He wished sometimes that they had simply let him rest in peace. The world he lived in now reminded him more of hell than anything else.

Still, there were reasons to live. He was finally surrounded by his family again. Most of it anyways. And the people of Winterfell, he felt a pull within to do what he needed to help them survive winter.

What would those people think of they found out he was really a Targaryen? Under their noses all along.

If it was true, that the Lord of Light brought him back for some reason, he wondered what that reason was?

And then there was Daenarys. He heard the stories of her ability to withstand flames and remain Unburnt. Who was she in all of this?

There was more at play here than random chance. The fact that he was drawn to her magnetically only made him more confused.

He had always felt a great sense of duty and honor and given his vows with the Night's Watch he had not allowed himself to feel those kind of emotions until he met Ygritte and that was because she was so fiery and bold and determined to make him feel everything she felt. And he did, but he left her too, because of his sense of duty,

With Daenarys, it was different. There was magic in the world, and it ran through her just as much as it ran through him. It was easy, falling for her.

It was more than love that brought them together, surely he thought. She could sense it too, the darkness that was coming for them all.

He hadn't spoken to her since their shared night together, not really, not without another person there. He caught her catching his eye sometimes and though he did not avoid her, he didn't go out of his way to be alone with her.

It scared him, the way he felt about her. It was too late to stop it now. Too close to eachother, they were like heavenly bodies that were pulled together by gravity.

More than that, it seemed like there were events happening all around that were all leading up to something. He didn't understand it, but he could see all the moving pieces having great significance but still unable to figure out how everything was connected.

He wasn't sure he would ever understand, maybe he would be condemned to this body forced to move in ways he had no control over anymore, moving on instinct alone.

She scared him because she made him think about a different life he didn't even know he wanted until the possibility might be extinguished due to both of their untimely deaths.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was at her door. He stood outside much like he had the first night on the boat but this time he didn't need to knock. Like she sensed he was there, she opened the door gently to reveal herself.

He didn't speak as he entered her room and she closed the door behind them.

He simply walked over to a lounge by the fire and sat down. He stared into the flames and willed himself to see a vision.

She finally spoke and it shook him out of his reverie.

"Jon, is everything okay?"

It was a moment before he spoke up "I'm just wondering what my place is in all this. How we all fit together in this war against the Night King."

She nodded to him, most likely understanding where he was coming from, a huge destiny thrust upon her as well.

"When he moved his troops through here and didn't attack, it made me question everything."

"I can agree that was strange behavior" she replied as she sat down next to him

"I've had dark thoughts." He admitted

"What kind of dark thoughts?" her eyes were curious as she pushed him to explain

"Like, what if the Night King is just a victim in all this?"

It looked like she was going to interrupt but he quickly said "Hear me out"

She closed her mouth as she waited for him to continue

"Now, I'm not saying it excuses any of the terrible things he has done, but he was originally created from an innocent man with the purpose of using him as a weapon"

Daenarys recalled the conversation they had just the other morning.

"Maybe the magic the children crafted to create him can be undone" she wondered out loud

"I've been thinking that myself. Perhaps his lack of an attack here is indicative of his wishes to destroy the remaining children as his true reasoning for coming South of the Wall."

"He is a terrible creature though, I doubt that is but one of his reasons. Men are, in most cases power hungry even if they do not want to be, and he was created from a man."

Her words rang true and he was ashamed to admit that he also believed that the Night King wanted more than revenge and he was thinking about leaving Cersei Lannister to fend for herself.

Daenarys didn't think those thoughts were out of line. "That woman deserves whatever she gets" she argued back to him

"Not the people of King's Landing" he returned

She could agree on that and they both knew that soon they would all have to march south.

And if they went to the aid of the capital, would Cersei use that as an opportunity to attack them, even as the Night King attacked her? He would eventually continue to march south.

"You know, I was thinking about what happened to you by the Red Priestess Melissandre. "

These words peaked his interest, wondering where she could be going with this

"I know you are something special or you wouldn't have been brought back to life, but I wonder how many others could be returned?"

He wasn't sure he was following her and so she continued

"What if we recruited as many Priests and Priestesses as possible to resurrect people on the battlefield before the Night King can?"

Never in a million years would he have come up with something like that, the thought actually kind of disturbed him and he said so.

"I often wish I was never brought back, I wouldn't force that upon people so lightly"

She sensed his pain and reached out to cup his face in her hand. "I'm sorry for what you've got to go through" she genuinely meant it

As he leaned in to her touch he needed to let her know that even though his existence was painful he was glad she was in his life.

"I'm happy that our paths have crossed, Daenarys Targaryen" he took her hand in his and softly kissed it as he looked up at her with his head bowed.

"I'm glad to have met you as well, Jon Snow" she arched an eyebrow and smiled at him, curious still about the man in front of her.

He was glad that she called him Jon. He didn't feel like he was anyone other than the same Jon he had always been.

He knew he had things to do today that he had been avoiding. Talking to her had helped him clear his mind somewhat. He knew that events would continue to unfold out of his control and he would just need to be ready to act when the time came.

Before he excused himself to finalize plans, speak with his men and prepare for their next move he was bold enough to reach out, lift her chin up and place a kiss on her lips and then again on her forehead.

She looked at him with her usual intensity and then he was gone.

He walked outside, looking for his brother and found him by the godswood, a place the young man went to meditate.

He greeted Jon as he approached and when he asked him about his visions, Bran confirmed that it was as he had suspected and the Night King was headed straight towards Riverrun.

"What do you think we should do?" Jon asked his brother

"The only way to truly defeat the Night King is to let him exact his revenge on the children. If he can break their magic, we might be able to defeat him."

"Maybe he wants to be defeated" Jon mused out loud

"So many years living in a prison of ice" Bran reflected

"Immortality, I believe is a curse that no one should have to suffer. Death is sweet in its own way, being in this reality is extremely painful. "

Jon knew that his brother could understand, little bits of his personality began to shine through here and there as he acclimated himself to being the Three-Eyed Raven. Bran was magical too. He knew how it felt.

"It's good to have you back brother" Jon placed his hand on Bran's shoulder with love and pride.

"I'm glad to be back, and though I am Bran, I know that, it's still hard to find that person within everything I now possess."

Jon didn't truly understand but he had an idea, and felt a stab of guilt at how much he relied on his brother's powers. It was an incredible asset to them.

"Don't feel bad" Bran said out loud, as if reading Jon's thoughts

"This was all meant to happen exactly as it is"

Jon was starting to believe that.

A/N: Sorry for the long time in between updates, it's been kind of hard to write chapters recently, trying to figure out how exactly I'm going to get to my conclusion.

I've also been obsessed with Star Wars in the wake of the new trailed that dropped a couple weeks ago.

Anyway, I got inspired to write tonight so let me know what you think?