I own nothing, it all belongs to GRRM? (why do I keep saying it every chapter?)

This fic is being waaaaaaay longer that I expected. I don;t know if I ever said this, but the original idea was for it to be 7 chapters long. I just enjoy writing it way too much.

I hope that all of you, wonderful readers and reviewers, are having a wonderful summer! (Or winter, I guess, depending on the hemisphere?)

Anyways, ENJOY!

The knights of the Redfort approached them, until one of them ordered them all to halt and so they did in front of Lord and Lady Clegane and their son. Sansa eyes all of them with mistrust, she knew none of them, nor had she ever talked with anyone from House Redfort. However, she did not let that mistrust to show on her face, and instead she pulled off a polite and courteous smile like she always did. She wondered what business brought those men to her home, and she expected that they meant no harm.

Sandor's face wasn't so polite though, but Sansa didn't mind because it almost never was when it came to strangers, especially from the South. She would have liked to speak and greet their… visitors? But her husband was quicker.

"Who are you?" Sandor rasped, still with his hand on his sword, not minding his courtesies. Sansa rolled her eyes.

"My lord, my lady" the girl in the sorrel mare lowered the hood of her red cloak. The girl underneath that cloak was a pretty little thing, with long blonde hair and big brown doe eyes, and a small and delicate face.

Sansa heard her son gasp.

Does he know her?

"Elizabeth?!"

Yes, apparently he did.

The girl smiled a sweet and small smile. And Sansa saw through the corner of her eye how Sanjay returned the smile. Now, that was a surprise. She shot a questioning glare to her husband, who gave her a knowing look that meant 'I'll explain everything later. Long story.'

Sans turned her head then to her son, who had his mouth open in awe while looking at the pretty girl.

"I thought… I thought that you were…"

"I was travelling back home from visiting a friend when you saved me from that fire" the girl explained. "We had to stop in the inn of that town, and then we were attacked. Had it not been for you, my kind lord, I would have perished in the flames. I didn't want to reveal my identity then in fear that I would be discovered by some other robbers or outlaws who would have tried to do me harm."

A look of comprehension lit Sanjay's face, and Sansa started to put the puzzle together in her head. Sanjay had saved this girl somewhere in his way to Winterfell from King's Landing. She was starting to see the motive behind that unexpected visit.

"So… who are you, then?" Sanjay asked, as softly as he could.

"I'm Lady Elizabeth Redfort, daughter of Lord Jasper. I came here wanting to formally thank you for your bravery. I owe you my life."

Sanjay blushed. Even Sandor seemed to find that funny, but thankfully he didn't make any noises or any comments.

"There's no need to thank me anything, milady" she said bowing his head. Then he frowned. "But, how did you manage to find us? I don't recall us telling you where we were heading? This wasn't even our destination."

'I know. I was most distressed at first for not knowing who you were, but I gave your descriptions to my lord Father. Though he did not know who you were, he did recognize Lord Sandor for his… bravery and courage."

Sandor did snort then, and not in a good way.

For my bravery and courage, she says, huh? He thought bitterly. He hadn't been bitter about what they said to him in many years, it wasn't a hair off his arse, but he hated liars. Most likely for my hideous scars, isn't it?

He wanted to say it out loud, but he didn't. In part because he knew that the girl meant no harm, in part because his little bird would get mad at him, and in part because he heard his son clearing his throat in a rather threatening way.

Bloody hells, he is Sansa's son. So thrice-damned polite and courteous. And he has gotten to know me perfectly in no time!

So he said nothing, and everyone was happy. Elizabeth kept her shy and sweet smile on her face.

"I still don't know who you are, my lord" she told Sanjay. He cleared his throat again.

"I'm Sanjay Clegane and Stark" he said. He wasn't one of those idiots that bragged about their family name and titles, he was just showing how proud he was of being Sandor and Sansa's son, and it was the first day that he could officially do it. "These are my parents, Lord Sandor Clegane and Lady Sansa Stark."

Elizabeth bowed her head politely to both adults, and they did the same.

"Elizabeth, it's a long way from the Redfort to here. The Dreadfort is very up North" Sansa said then, with a warm and kind smile. She had liked that girl… And she could see how her son was looking at her. "You can be our guests for as long as you wish for."

Sandor's eyes went wide open with alarm, but he said nothing, he just stood still besides his wife. Sanjay's smile just got wider.

"I thank you very much for your offer, Lady Stark, and I would be most delighted to accept it" Elizabeth said. One of the knights that had scorted her there helped her to get down from her mare, and she walked to reach the Clegane family. Sansa met her with a bigger smile than before.

"I'll arrange for you and all your men to be placed in comfortable rooms. Will you be as kind as to follow-"

"Come!" her son quickly interrupted her, almost startling her. He offered his arm to Elizabeth. "I'll show you the Dreadfort. Clearly you will want to get familiar with the place?"

"That would be very exiting, my lord" she replied with a smile, accepting his arm.

"Please, call me Sanjay."

It was the girl's turn to blush lightly. At Sansa's side, Sandor grunted.

"Are you fucking kidding me? We don't have enough with our knight, and now we have to have these buggers in our home too?" he was hissing loud enough only for Sansa to hear, but somehow Sanjay managed to also hear him and he hit his father on the ribs with his elbow when he passed by his side, as a silent way to tell him to watch his manners and act properly. Sansa raised her eyebrows at that, pleased to see that her son was a courteous warrior. There weren't many of those around.

"Have you seen how he looks at her?" Sansa asked to her husband while she was brushing her hair, getting ready for bed. It had been a very long day, and she was exhausted. She had already made sure that all the servants and maids prepared comfortable rooms and beds for Lady Elizabeth and her knights to rest from the long trip and stay all the time that they wished to.

Sandor nodded. He couldn't hide it, he was amused.

"He's in that age…" he rasped.

"She seems like a nice enough lady" Sansa commented, but Sandor replied her with a grunt.

"Might be, but Sanjay is too young…"

Sansa stared at him in disbelief.

"Too young? He's two years older than I was when I got pregnant with him!"

Sandor thought about it, and realized that Sansa was right, but he didn't care much about it.

"Well, hopefully she will decide that she has thanked him enough, and she and all her bloody knights will return to their bloody Redfort" after that statement, he walked over to were the crib with little sleeping Catelyn was, and he gazed down at the beautiful baby. He didn't notice, but he was smiling like a fool. Sansa also smiled watching him watching their baby, while she brushed her hair sitting in front of the mirror. "She looks more like you with every passing day."

"Sanjay is the only one that looks more like you. I always thought that he would have the same coloring as his sisters, with my hair and your eyes, but it turned out to e the only way around."

"Good. You have beautiful eyes, little bird. It would have been a shame if they were lost" he walked away from the crib and over to where Sansa was sitting, took the comb from her hands and started brushing her hair himself. It was something that he liked doing sometimes. The little bird's hair was so nice and soft and smooth as silk, and he enjoyed the feeling of it between his fingers. After a few minutes, when Sansa's curls were perfectly neat and combed, he let the comb down.

"Now come to bed, little bird" he said, and she stood up and blew out the candles before following her husband to bed. She fell peacefully asleep in his arms, feeling safe and happy.

The following morning, just as Sansa had requested the previous night, the entire family went for a ride together. Almost all of them were already mounted on their horses, except Sanjay. He was trying to convince Elizabeth to accompany them, and she kept politely declining the offer.

"I'm so very grateful for your offer, Sanjay, but I insist, I can't. It's a family ride. I understand that you've been away from them for far too long. And besides, if I stay I can take care and entertain your lovely little sister" that was right. Sanjay had presented Catelyn (now fully awake) to Elizabeth, who was carrying the baby in her arms. Catelyn seemed to have taken a liking to Elizabeth, or rather to her hair, because she kept clinging to it and she wouldn't let go while laughing little cute laughs. Finally Sanjay accepted that it was impossible to convince Elizabeth otherwise, so he mounted his horse and rode away with his entire family.

His sisters insisted on racing him, so they did. Sandor and Sansa watched their three children riding away.

"Be careful!" Sansa shouted.

"They'll be fine" Sandor said.

It wasn't long until Robb and Rickard joined the race, and their mother Arya followed. Next were Ygritte, and her children Lyanna, Aegon and Rhaenys. Sandor shot and amused glance at Gendry and Jon.

"You can't keep them still, can you?"

Gendry and Jon shook their heads, but they smiled.

"They're wild spirits!"

"I was lucky, and I got myself and good and proper lady wife" Sandor said, looking over at his little bird proudly, but turned serious when he saw that her eyes were far off, as if she was thinking of far away places. "Little bird? Are you alright?"

He caught her attention, and she looked confused for a moment, as if she was still coming ack from her distant thought.

"What? Oh, yes. Yes, Sandor, I'm fine. I was just… thinking."

"Thinking? Of what?"

"Of something that Sanjay said yesterday, last night…"

Sandor frowned.

"What was it?"

"He wants to see Cersei"

Sandor tensed as soon as he heard those words coming out from the little bird's mouth, and he feared the worst. She realized that, and proceeded to explain the situation.

"He said that there are questions that he needs to ask her. He also talked about… punishment."

"Punishment? What in seven hells does he want to do with that bitch?" Sandor asked. He had an idea, though. He himself wanted to tear the Lannister woman to bloody shreds, but he had to admit that Sansa had done a pretty good job with her. Cersei was curled up in a corner of her cell the entire time, shaking, crying, and tearing at herself with her nails. Whatever beauty had been left of her was gone, her looks were decrepit and her hair was poor and gray, and she had lost everything. Her children were dead, and the rest of her family hated her. Everyone looked at Sansa with a mix of pride, respect and fear for what she had done to the mind of the woman that was partially responsible for destroying her life.

"I told him that I would listen to his proposition" Sansa said, looking at her son in the distance. "However, I still haven't finished with Cersei Lannister. I'm keeping her in a cell until the time is right."

Sandor raised his eyebrows with curiosity. He had no idea of what his little bird was planning on doing, he had never asked. But he really wanted to know, so he finally asked. However, Sansa shook her head.

"I can't tell you now. Maybe later."

Sandor grunted, but he had to agree. They continued to ride in peace for the rest of the day.

They had a quiet family dinner that night to which Elizabeth was invited as their guest of honor. She talked a lot, especially with Sansa and Sanjay, to whom she told that her father had invited him to the Redfort in gratitude for saving his daughter's life, and that he could stay for as long as he wanted. Sanjay was flattered by the offer.

"It would be an honor, milady" he said, and the girl smiled.

"You are invited as well, Lord Sandor. And of course, that includes you as well, milady" she told Sansa. "I would love to show you the Redfort and that part of the Vale. You could make use of that trip to visit your brother Rickon, our liege lord."

It was actually a good idea, so Sansa accepted, and Sandor did as well, though he had been in the Vale not longer than a month ago. However, he had been fighting.

"I have been in the Vale, though only for a very short period of time, barely some days" Sanjay said.

"Was it during the war?" Elizabeth asked with curiosity, and he nodded. Sandor remembered the night of the battle, when he had seen his son for the first time.

Aye, and I thought of killing him he remembered bitterly.

Mentioning the war reminded Sanjay of the little talk that he had had last night with his mother, and he looked at her without saying anything. When Sansa's Tully-blue eyes met his identical ones, she understood was that look meant, and she nodded slightly, letting him know that she remembered too. So Sanjay relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the dinner with his parents, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and Elizabeth.

But later, when everybody was going to their chambers to sleep for the night, Sanjay waited for his parents. He had thought that only Sansa would go, but Sandor was also with her.

"Your mother tells me that you want to see Cersei?" he rasped, and his son nodded. "Why?"

"I spent my entire life living a lie because of her, why do you think that I want to talk to her?" Sanjay said, and Sandor was surprised by his son's bitter tone. Sanjay was always cheerful and calm. However, he knew that Sanjay had less than no reasons to be cheerful when referring to that woman.

"Alright. I understand…"

Sansa placed her hand on her son's shoulder, and led him through the hallways and corridors towards the stairs that led to the dungeons. Cersei was in the deepest and darkest of them all, but they could hear her sobs echoing from the distance. She had not stopped sobbing in weeks, ever since that day in Winterfell…

There were two guards guarding the door of the cell, and they opened it when they saw their lords and lady approaching. Sanjay looked at his parents and they smiled supportably at him.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Sansa asked, worried about her child.

"No, Mother, it's alright" he assured her. Then he went in, and the guards closed the doors. Sansa and Sandor stood close to the door to be able to see and listen through the bars.

Cersei was, as always, curled up in the corner. She was filthy, broken. Sanjay approached her, and knelt next to her in silence. When she sensed a presence next to her, Cersei slowly raised her face to look at him.

Sansa hadn't bothered to go and see Cersei again ever since she told the woman that her children were dead. She just knew what the servants and everyone else told her, but she found out that it was much worse that she had imagined.

Cersei's face was like that of a skull with dry and broken skin pulled tight over it. Her eyes were lifeless and buried deep in her face. It was a pitiful image.

But those lifeless green eyes lit up with rage and anger and hatred when she saw the face of the boy that she had taken away from his mother's arms, the boy that she had raised and trained to kill, the boy that had escaped her.

"What are you doing here?" when she spoke, her voice sounded like a dying animal. Sanjay didn't even blink.

"I know all the truth now, Cersei" he said calmly. There was no hatred in his voice, no anger. "I know what you did."

"So… you already know whose little bastard you are?"

"I'm not a bastard. Sorry if that makes you bitter" he said, and for the first time Sansa heard a hint of mockery in her son's voice. "Why did you tell me that my mother was a whore, and my father a traitor?"

Sansa turned her head to Sandor. He hadn't told her that! He just shrugged his shoulders, and she kept listening to the conversation between Sanjay and Cersei.

"Because they were. Still are. Your mother… she went around the Red Keep and out, fucking the Hound like the good wolf-bitch that she was… And you father, he was my son's sworn shield, and still he attacked the city, hoping to find my Joffrey and put him to the sword… The only reason that he didn't do it was that Joff was already dead…"

Cersei sobbed then, but her cries meant nothing to Sanjay. He just stood there watching her and listening.

"Joff… My little Joff, and Tommen… Sweet Tommen… Myrcella… my only daughter!"

"Why did you hate me so much?" Sanjay asked. "I was a boy, I had done nothing."

Cersei stood up suddenly, startling Sanjay, Sansa and Sandor. She walked towards Sanjay in a mad rage, and he backed to the wall behind him. Sansa looked at the mad woman, and it reminded her of the specters in Old Nan's scary stories.

"Because of her! Each time that I looked at you, I only saw her! Your whore mother! It's those eyes, those cursed eyes that you both had! All I wanted was to rip them out of your face, so I wouldn't have to look at them anymore!" Cersei screamed, and she raised her hands with nails like claws and she scratched Sanjay's face. She tried to tear at his eyes, but he pushed her away, and Sansa and Sandor had rushed inside the cell. Sandor glared at Cersei in a menacing way, and Sansa looked at her son's face. He had six long scratches, three at each side of the face, not deep but very close to his eyes.

"Sanjay!"

"I'm fine, Mother, it's nothing" he said, not minding the scratches. He just looked at Cersei, who had returned to her corner. "I don't care what she does to me. But what she did to you and Father… I can not forgive her that."

"Sanjay, she's already being punished…"

"She's has been punished for what she did to you. She is suffering exactly what you suffered when they separated us. Justice had been made with you. But what about Father, for example? He spent a year in the Wall, not knowing what was happening to you, or me, and then he believed that you were dead. He suffered his own deal, Mother."

Sansa had to admit that Sanjay was right. Sandor had been at the Wall risking his life everyday in pain believing her lost forever. She knew that, and that's why she had always said that Cersei's punishment was not yet done.

"I was planning to send her to the Wall" she finally confessed, earning her husband's stunned stare. "I was planning to let her rot there."

However, she could see that her son was still not satisfied.

"It's not enough."

His eyes were hard as stone and cold as ice. It scared Sansa, and it made her think… What had Cersei done to provoke such a look in her son's eyes? There had to e something else behind it, something that she did not know…

"What's wrong, Sanjay?"

"Nothing. I just want justice for you."

"I'm not going to kill Cersei, if that's what you are suggesting. I want her alive, she needs to stay alive" but something was wrong, she could sense it. So she asked again. "What's wrong, Sanjay? Son, tell me" she insisted, but Sanjay didn't say anything. So Sandor intervened.

"Show her, Sanjay?"

Sansa looked at him with confusion.

"Show me what?"

Sanjay didn't move.

"Show her" Sandor rasped, with anger in his voice. Sansa looked at her son again when he suddenly started removing his doublet. She did not understand anything…

Once her son's upper body was bare, he turned around to show her was Sandor was talking about, and then she saw it. His scars. His entire back covered in white long lines that disfigured his skin. Scars made by a whip.

Her blood was boiling. All of a sudden it wasn't her son the one seeking for justice, but her. She wanted justice. Cersei had crossed a line, and she had gone too far. There was no going back now.

She looked at her husband, who also looked like he wanted to flay Cersei alive. It would e appropriate, since they were in the Dreadfort, and that had been the custom for thousands of years. But they were not the Boltons, and Sansa had already made up her mind.

"Sandor…" she said, voice cold as ice and deadly as a dagger. Cersi was shaking, knowing that something terrible was going to happen to her. "Exactly how far up North did you go?"

"Up North where?" he asked, just to make sure that he was thinking exactly what Sansa was thinking.

"Beyond the Wall."

Not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter. But I do know that I'm going to have the time of my life writting the next one.

I hope that you liked it! Remember, review! ;)