"I never asked", he tells his daughter while they take off another dragonglass sword from the Iron Throne, "how you killed all those three men without drawing attention."
He is, obviously, most curious about how she won against the Mountain. She probably knows it. "Qyburn was stupidly easy to kill", she begins. "He spent a lot of time alone in his quarters, and had no physical strength to fight me. I plunged Dark Sister in his chest and left him there to rot." A pause. "I caught Euron on his way to a brothel. Stabbed him on the back." Another pause, where she smirks. "As for the Mountain… Bran showed me the fight between him and Oberyn Martell. I knew all the weak points in his armor. In the end, it wasn't really hard. It was dark. He was caught by surprise, and I pierced his throat before he could raise his sword."
"I'm surprised he didn't hear you", he replies, frowning. "He always seemed to hear everything."
She finally pulls the sword off the throne, almost tripping in the process. "When we fled to Essos", she explains, more quietly this time, "we first went to Braavos, and we met the Faceless Men there. They didn't train us per se, but they taught some tricks, like water dancing. It's—even big people like us can learn to move silently. Mother did, and nobody was more surprised than her."
That earns a small laugh from him. Brienne is massive—bigger than him—so it is hard to imagine her not making a sound as she moves, but he is not surprised that she learned it. She can do anything she puts her mind to, he thinks, especially when it comes to fighting.
He inspects the throne one more time. There are no other useful swords to take from it, so he declares their work finished. "We deserve supper", Alys tells him in response.
"That we do", he agrees. "There is something else I'd like us to talk about over dinner. Nothing big, just to satisfy my curiosity."
She smiles and nods.
An hour later, while they are served their food, he asks, "You mentioned, in that book, that there were other possibilities. Other moments you could have gone back to. Do you know them?"
She nods. "Bran wasn't all that good at seeing the future in his own timeline, let alone in an alternate one, but he managed to figure out the possible days I could be sent to, so we planned accordingly. He found… six scenarios."
"Tell me about them", he asks gently. "The other ones." He knows, because she's already told him, that in this timeline, she arrived on the day of Cersei's coronation. Tyrion was the one to come up with the idea of saving Olenna, she'd told him, and catch you in Highgarden. Bronn wanted me to kill Aunt Cersei right after her coronation, but Uncle said earning your trust was more important than getting rid of her.
"The most troublesome possibility was the one in which I arrived in Winterfell on the same day as you", she begins. "Not because I had to worry about you—I knew Mother would successfully vouch for you—but because there was so little time to earn people's trust and warn them about the Night Queen." She grabs his plate, served with meat, and starts cutting it for him—she's been doing this since they started having meals together, much to his awe and delight. "I was also afraid of not being able to convince Daenerys to hold her forces in Winterfell after the battle against the Night King."
She shrugs. "All other scenarios had me arriving earlier. In one I arrived on the day you saw Mother last."
He squeezes his eyes shut. "Riverrun", he supplies, remembering more details of their conversation than he expected—It's yours; it will always be yours. His heart pounds loudly as he recalls how strongly he had wanted to close the distance between them and kiss her at the tent. How he wanted, later, to jump on the river and swim to her boat.
If Alysanne notices his inner turmoil, she doesn't show. "Yes", she replies. "We tried to think of a way to make myself known without potentially giving either of you a heart attack, but… it was the first we all agreed with Bronn on anything."
"What?"
"That the best way was to simply bust in the tent and interrupt you. He also claimed he'd guess my parentage within seconds of meeting me, but Pod told him off."
At that, he laughs. Bronn, in this world, has yet to realize Alysanne is Jaime's daughter, even though he's aware she's from the future—he has told his men about that, but not that she isn't Kevan's bastard. Nobody has realized yet that his uncle could not have sired her. It is a source of amusement for both of them.
When his laugh dies out, she gives him back his plate and continues. "Another possibility had me arriving on the day of my brother's wedding." He frowns in questioning. "Joffrey."
Oh. "What were you going to do there?"
She begins to cut her own meat. "It depended on how far the wedding had gone by the time I got inside. Plan A was to avoid Joffrey's death altogether; it brought too many people down on the short and long run. Plan B was to find a way to place blame on someone other than Tyrion; someone that could get away with it or could run away more easily. Plan C was to convince Uncle to not demand trial by combat. Plan D was to volunteer in Oberyn's place. Plan E was to kill Cersei as soon as Tywin died."
He snorts. "And what was plan F?"
She smirks. "It was 'Fuck this, I'm outta here!'" They laugh. "No, there was no plan F. Plan E was supposed to be guaranteed, since the Mountain wouldn't be revived yet."
They eat silently for a while. Then, she adds, "Bran also saw me in Robb Stark's camp on the day you and Mother met."
He raises his head abruptly at that. "I doubt I'd recognize you as my daughter with Brienne at that point. I barely saw her."
"I know. We believed Catelyn would. She'd seen both of you enough at that point to recognize your features in me." She takes a bite of meat. "Bran found it funny, and Mother prayed it wouldn't be the day I'd be sent to."
"With good reason", he retorts. "What in the world were you supposed to do?"
She takes a sip of water. "It was simple, even if hard", she says. "The plan was to reveal Grandfather's scheme to have Robb killed at the Twins, and thus convince Lady Stark to keep you hostage for longer—until the wedding at least, for Tywin wouldn't risk having you die." She grins. "I'd have Mother guard you, of course."
He raises an eyebrow. "And you think you could get us together just by that?"
"Why not? At worst, I'd just push you two to kiss and find out you are meant to be."
He can't help a guffaw. "The peak of romance", he says after he stops laughing. "Who taught you that, Bronn?"
"Maybe", she supplies, giggling. Then, "The final outcome Bran saw was the furthest I could go back in time." Her grin falls. "The sack of King's Landing."
He takes a sharp breath. "The day I became the Kingslayer", he whispers.
She nods. "He couldn't see if I'd arrive before or after you killed Aerys, but he saw me in the Red Keep. Of course, our plans for that timeline were very different. Plan A was to save Rhaenys and Aegon, raising the latter to the throne. If it was too late for that, plan B was to find a way to send you far away from Cersei."
He frowns. "If I was dismissed from the Kingsguard, Father would marry me off to someone who is not Brienne. She was an infant at the time, I think."
"Three years old", she confirms. "Uncle suggested to have you sent to the Night's Watch. Sam suggested to have you exiled. Mother suggested to sneak you out of the city and help you disguise yourself as an anonymous hedge knight. Bronn said to let you marry 'whatever plump lady' Grandfather would find and hope she'd die in childbirth."
"Fuck Bronn", he curses.
She nods. "Bran briefly wondered if we could find a way for Lyanna to survive. He thinks you two would have made a good couple."
He shrugs at that. He never met Lyanna Stark properly; only saw her from a distance. His curiosity lies on something else. "Do you know why you ended up here and now?"
It's her turn to shrug. "The Children warned me they could only do so much with one person's blood", she explains. "Had I managed to bring more people, they could get enough blood to send me back further—I could work to avoid the tragedy in Summerhall, for example, and find a way to prevent Aerys from taking the crown. With what they had, they only prayed I'd be sent to the best time possible."
She sighs, and he has a feeling she's not telling the whole story, but he decides to let the subject go. "Are you going to stay here permanently?", he asks instead.
"No", she says, although she hesitates. "According to the Children, my body would fade away to butterflies when it was guaranteed that the future was saved. I'd go back to my own time then, but with all the changes I made. I don't know what I'll remember. I can only hope I will still exist."
He reaches for her hand. "I'll do everything in my power to guarantee you will", he promises.
She beams. "What do you plan to do when you meet Mother?"
He swallows. "Court her", he replies. "I'm not very good at it—I never had to, with your aunt—but I'll try my best to make my feelings known. If it was for me, I'd propose to her right away, but… I don't want to scare her." A pause. "Can she know the truth about you?"
She tilts her head and bites her lip. "Mother said her past self would probably think it a jape, if she was told about my parentage. If she manages to guess, though…" She takes another sip of water. "I'm sure people will connect the dots sooner or later, especially if they figure out that I'm your daughter. Who else can be my mother but her?"
He smiles. "I plan to be very obvious about my interest in her, so no one can question it." Bronn has been sure of it since King's Landing. He bets Podrick figured out too. Once—back when he was half in denial, half in contemplation—he feared Cersei suspected something, but this is no longer a concern. His smile then falls. "I'll do all I can to assure your future self will live in a better world", he vows. "I'll make sure you won't ever have to be alone and desperate again."
She reaches for his flesh hand and squeezes it. "Help me defeat the Night Queen", she tells him. "I promise you, whatever future awaits us afterwards will be a better one."
Arianne Martell herself arrives in King's Landing a fortnight later. After a long talk, she is convinced of the truth about the White Walkers, but she's still hesitant to ally herself with Daenerys. "I'm only pledging myself to you because your sister avenged my family", she tells him, "and because, to be entirely honest, my father always said you killing Aerys was a blessing."
He grins at that; it's rare to have someone say something positive regarding his kingslaying without knowing the truth behind it. "I'm glad you did", he replies sincerely. "I wouldn't deny you independence, but the realm needs to stay as united as possible. That's why I'm willing to set differences aside with Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow."
She frowns. "And afterwards?"
He sighs. "May we all be blessed with an afterwards", he tells her. "That's not a concern for now. For now, we must worry about living."
She offers her hand. "Fair enough", she says as he shakes it. "Dorne will back the Crown."
On the last night before they depart to Dragonstone, he goes to Alysanne's chambers. "Won't people think we're fucking?", she casually points out as she closes the door.
"I don't think anyone saw me", he replies. "Also, ew. I may have fucked my twin sister, but there are limits."
She laughs. "Should I tell you the story of a wildling who beds his own daughters?"
"I don't think I want to know."
"Tarly's wife was one of them."
"Okay, you've told me more than enough already."
She laughs again. "What are you doing here?"
He runs his hand through his hair, slightly nervous. He's never done this before. "Did—did anyone hug you or kiss you goodnight, when you were a child?"
She visibly softens at that. "Mother", she answers gently. "She tucked me in bed and told me stories. About—you, mostly, even before I knew you were my father."
His heart melts at these words. "Do you—do you want to hear stories about her?"
"From your perspective? Yes!"
As if she was once again a child, she lays down and covers herself. Chuckling, he sits on the ground beside her. "Your mother has always been a force to be reckoned with", he begins. "Even when I found her ugly, she was a sight to behold, a storm—fitting, since she's a stormlander."
He proceeds to tell her about the loss of his hand, and how she cared for him. I was her enemy, and she still made sure I'd not die. He talks about the bath in Harrenhal and—
"You don't need to tell me all the details, you know", she interrupts him, mockingly grimacing.
"I don't see why not", he replies jokingly. "You could have been conceived there, if I was brave enough."
"Oh, please, Mother would have gutted you if you tried."
He chuckles. "She would", he agrees, and tells her about their time in King's Landing.
She laughs. "Coming from you, it sounds like flirting", she comments.
He groans. "How messed up I was", he complains, "that my idea of flirting was pointing out she could be a Lannister."
"You should have asked if she wanted to be one anyway", she suggests, "through you."
"I'd have to be dismissed earlier from the Kingsguard", he reminds her, then tells her about the day he gave Brienne her sword, armor, horse and squire.
She smiles at that. "All that was missed was a proposal."
He snorts. "I should have followed her", he says wistfully.
He talks about Riverrun, and she lets out an 'awn' at the story. "She loved to recall that day", she tells him. "Despite all the tension, she said it was sweet."
"It was", he agrees. "Pity none of us realized the meaning behind my words at the time." He huffs. "How could I be so oblivious?"
"Denial is a powerful thing", she offers. "Mother said you once boasted about having been loyal to Aunt Cersei your whole life. It can't have been easy to realize things changed in your heart."
"To be entirely honest", he admits, "you helped me realize that." She frowns. "Our first conversation in Highgarden, when you said Brienne was made Kingsguard. I couldn't help but wonder if she'd have married me, had I lived, and I realized how badly I wanted to—marry her, I mean." He takes a deep breath. "It—everything made sense then. Why I couldn't bring myself to follow Cersei as blindly as I used to. Why my heart never seemed to be in it whenever I was with her, and why I thought of Brienne in the most unrelated moments. It was like a curtain had been lifted from my eyes—no wonder I quickly realized who you truly were then."
She smiles widely, and once again he imagines she took her smile after her mother's. "I never asked her when she fell in love with you", she says, "but I think she already is, at this time. You may not have too much trouble courting her."
"I hope you're right." He begins to stand up, but stops when he is on one knee. "May I—would it be too odd if I kissed your forehead?"
Her eyes seem warm for the first time ever. "Maybe, but I don't mind."
He smiles and goes to place a light kiss on her forehead. Flashes of an infant Myrcella pop in his mind, but it goes away as quickly as it came. "Good night, Alys."
"Good night, Father."
He prays to whatever gods are out there that he will be able to listen to that countless times in the future.