"Sansa... Wait."

He catches her by the hand, forcing her to turn back to face him there beneath the heart tree. She's forgotten her gloves and her skin is cold... And yet it still lights a fire within him. Behind her, Arya turns back but they meet eyes over Sansa's shoulder and she shrugs as if to tell him good luck, before she turns back and continues pushing Bran back towards Winterfell. "Sansa, about before... About in the war council...What I said..."

"You don't have to explain yourself." She snaps suddenly and though her tone implies danger, Jon shakes his head. "You made your thoughts quite clear."

"You don't understand." He says softly, as if these three words would make her see.

"You're right... I don't." She seethes through gritted teeth, pulling her hand from his grasp and turning to go. But again, Jon takes her by the hand, forcing her back around. "Let me go." Her sapphire eyes are narrowed, but her lips tremble as she tries to hold herself together. "You've made your choice, Jon." The words slip free before she can stop them and only then does Jon let her go, shock registering on his features.

"You don't understand," he says again, feeling hopeless as he looks at the girl he'd fallen in love with, the girl he once called sister. The truth was there on the tip of his tongue... If only the words would come. If only he could say them aloud.

"I understand that you've chosen her over me-" she stops fast, a crimson blush staining her cheeks as she realizes what she's just said. Jon's head snaps up and their eyes meet, his mouth falling open with his shock. "The North... You've chosen her over the North." She tries to fix her mistake, but there's no taking it back now. Now he's heard the truth from her own lips.

"You are the North." He whispers, taking a single step towards her, closing the gap between them. "Sansa, please... Listen to me!" He cups her cheeks with his palms when she tries to look away. "I swore I would protect you... I'm trying to do just that." Tears fill her eyes and he swipes the first droplets from her skin with a brush of a thumb. "She's on the edge, I know you can see that. Everyone can." In his chest, his heart beats faster than it's ever beat in all his life. "If you continue to provoke her..." He heaves a sigh, shaking his head. "Even I can't protect you from her once you're her enemy."

She's beginning to understand now- the distance he continued to put between them, the secret looks with the dragon queen... Was it not as she feared, then? Was it not love for Daenerys Targaryen that kept him from her side, but rather fear? For a moment, she's reminded of the conversation she had with Daenerys just days before and the flicker of hope she'd had for Jon then. Have you no faith in me at all? He himself had asked her those words and she'd not been lying when she told him that she did. And yet... She could not help but to doubt him. How could she not?

"Do you understand?" He's asking her and after a long beat of silence, she nods. She watches as relief floods his face and for a moment longer they remain as they are, his hands on her face, their gazes unwavering. "I swear it to you, everything I've done has been to protect you." Without Sansa, he had nothing. Here in this moment, he knew things could change, he knew they could be different. Gone were their sibling ties- the only thing that had ever kept him from acting on the feelings he felt deep within himself. But now... His fear for her life outweighed anything else. The last thing he ever would do would be to put her into more danger with Daenerys. "Promise me you won't provoke her. It's only one more night."

At his words, she presses her lips together, frowning. "Only if you promise me you'll come back." She whispers, true fear tugging at her heart. "Promise me, Jon." His hands have long since slid from her cheeks and she reaches for them then, flushing when he suddenly draws her into a tight embrace.

"I'll always come back to you," he says, voice muffled as he buries his face into her neck, breathing in her familiar scent. Suddenly, with her in his arms, it mattered not who saw them in such a way. "Always."