I do not own Game of Thrones

"I am Lyanna Stark, daughter of Lyarra and Rickard Stark. Today I want to announce something to you people. I know you have never met me, it is likely rare for you to see spoiled lordlings among you. I cannot deny that I am one of them, even if I believed otherwise until yesterday. This message is for my family so please pass it around when you get the chance...

...I know how much I owe to my family and my kingdom. I wish I knew how to repay it as even my life is not enough. Having said that, I cannot sacrifice my freedom and dignity. I was using Robert Baratheon as an excuse and pretending to see him as a villain but it was never about him. I want to make my own mistakes rather than have things arranged for me. I have decided to leave but at the very least I want to lower the indignity to my family even a little bit at the cost of my own. I give up my family name, from this moment on I am no longer Lyanna Stark. She is dead.

To my brothers, I know its probably pointless to ask but if and when you hear about this, please don't look for me. I will be alright, I have a plan. Farewell."

This was a remote village of Riverlands where merchants on an average visited with less than a weekly frequency. It also had none of Varys's little birds. This should give them enough of a head start to make finding them difficult. Still the population was of several hundreds so the information dying out was no longer a problem. After her speech, she felt like she had lost something precious. It was too late to turn back now though as she rode quickly with the horse she had given her whole speech on.

She may or may not have left a letter in addition with our favorite fanon postal guy Peter. Though why she would think that a person who was nearly split in two by her brother is the best person to carry the letter is a mystery.

Rhaegar had no idea what had happened. He was happy right now which was a rarity for the brooding man as he went on an escapade with the blue rose of North who would give him his Visenya.

Ever since childhood, he had hated his life. The shadow of Summerhall always loomed over him. What made it worse was his father's growing madness and the treatment of his mother. Any other child would have complained and their innocence might have given strength to his mother or sanity to his father. Instead of changing things for better or worse, prince simply accepted it as something natural as he was too mature for his own good.

How he wished he was a simple bard and spend his life travelling and singing at taverns. He looked for a purpose why someone who was so much ahead of his time would be born as a prince. When he found it, he decided that he must become a warrior. He traded letters with Maester Aemon at castle black to ask (hoping) if anything strange had happened beyond the walls. It turned out he was not to be the hero. Everything was peaceful including the wildlings.

Meeting Arthur Dayne was the best and worst part of his life. Arthur was talented but his life was normal, not a tragedy like the prince's. All the books in the library stated that hero's were born through tragedy. Then why was his friend the one wielding Dawn? He hated it, being married to a women he didn't love and who couldn't give him three heads of the dragon.

He wanted to name his first daughter Visenya to mirror the conquerors but she was gentle like Elia so he named her Rhaenys. Then Aegon was born, like the mirror image of the conquerors as in the opposite order of birth. Did he love Lyanna? Even he may not have known. From the moment he thought of getting a Visenya before ever seeing her, he never had a choice. It was a need instead of a want so he likely never even bothered to think about it. The rumors spread slowly and he would only find out after reaching their final stop in Dorne.

The result of her actions became apparent as there was no confusion left. She was not kidnapped so Brandon Stark no longer had an excuse to throw his life away and claim that its for his sister. Instead of going to king's landing, he decided to set out to look for her.

Robert did not know what to do as he considered himself a free spirited hero. His pride was hurt but he had never been a possessive person. Taking possession of a person meant being responsible for them and he hated responsibilities. No other husband in Westeros would have given Cersei as much freedom as he did. He did not have an excuse to look for his betrothed but he could look for targets to fight alongside Brandon. The two of them set off leaving the kingdoms to their younger brothers, the second sons.

With no one available to blame or burn, Aerys gladly disinherited his heir and replaced him with Viserys. Jaime Lannister had reached a critical point of his honor as a knight realizing that he was just a hostage like Elia. Getting Elia and her children out of King's landing and towards Dorne seemed to be the best way to escape his predicament and at least be loyal to the saner royal. He did not realize that it left the two kingdoms free to act for Rhaegar starting the civil war.

The war turned into Westerlands, Dorne and Riverlands in an unlikely alliance for Rhaegar against Vale, Stormlands and Reach for the crown. Tyrell's were hoping to get a marriage for Viserys as Rhegar was unavailable. Jon Arryn and Stannis Baratheon were simply far too honorable even for a mad king unless it came to their family. Tywin was hoping for Cersei to be queen which Aerys had rejected while Doran had no intention of letting go of his nephew's birth right.

The North and Iron Islands had no part in this as even if they wanted to join. The gathering and march of North would be too slow to make a difference without proper motivation of their liege lord being burned alive. Iron Islands could only raid a few locations but they had no attachments to either side. They were hoping for as much collateral damage as possible.

"Was this for the best?" Present ghost asked.

"Naturally. Preserving the strength of the North is vital for the long night. We might have been able to do more for the other kingdoms but no matter what numbers we get from them, men unused to fighting in the cold will only be a burden. They will die, rise as wights and add to the problem." Past ghost said.

"And it has nothing to do with them being your descendants?" Present ghost sneered.

"I never said that. It is also a selfish desire of mine." Past ghost confessed.

"I don't know how to feel. I might not even be born. Even if I do, if my uncle is alive then I won't be Brandon." Future ghost said.

"Then why did you help?" Present ghost was curious.

"It was the most logical choice. Being the king of seven kingdoms is not enough recompense for being a cripple." Future ghost said with melancholy.

"It was hard work for you though, using warging for perception alteration to allow them to escape without a tail and laying out false trails." Past ghost wondered.

"It needed to be done either way, even in the original timeline. Do you really think that the entire Westeros would be so blind for them to conveniently disappear without magic? Literally the most handsome man in the seven kingdoms? Hoods and such would only draw more attention. My work remained the same either way." Present ghost admitted.

"Iron Islands will be a bigger nuisance in the future though. They are going to have a lot more of their strength left which will not help with long night at all. Even little children are so indoctrinated into piracy that there is no saving them." Future ghost reminded them.

"It depends on how long Quellon lives. Even Balon isn't stupid enough to go after a well established dynasty. Robert sucked as a king and had only one heir at the time so it was practically an invitation to rebel." Present ghost clarified.

'"Lets hope for the best."' They all said in unison.