Jon had grown more and more worried as the night's grew longer, and the days grew ever shorter. His armies camped outside of Winterfell were growing more and more restless, and Jon worried that if they had to wait much longer, then the bannermen would abandon the effort and march home. They were already angry with him over the Lannister army, and he worried that if the battle didn't start soon, they would start to doubt their king.

He sighed as he approached the war room. He had spent far more time here since his return than he had before he left, and it always left him with a headache. Today's meeting was thankfully not focused on the threat of the White Walkers, even though they had already been talked about, and instead it was trying to put together the rumors and snippets of news that had come from the south.

He stood at the head of the table, with a large map of Westeros placed on the table for all to see, Robb stood to his left, with Ned Start on his right. To his left stood his Hand, Ser Davos and then on his left was Sansa. On the other side of the table was Arya, Jaime Lannister and Catelyn Stark, Bran and Brienne.

"It appears that all of the armies have stopped their movements" Davos was saying as his hand swayed over the frontlines of the war. Highgarden, which had declared for Daenerys Targaryen, looked as though it had just weathered another assault from the Lannister army, and with that failure they were to return to King's Landing. "If it were me, they would settle in for the time being, with Winter arriving, The Dragon Queen's armies will have problems with sickness, since they're not as used to the cold as we are" Of course the only people on the continent used to the snows were the Northerners and the Free Folk, but Jon knew what Davos was saying.

"What of her dragons?" Robb asked, and really, he was asking the question that had been on everyone's mind, where were her dragons?

Lannister was the one who answered "When I left, they had been kept in Dorne, but that was several moons ago" Jaime Lannister had been very willing to share information with them about his sister's movements, and her mental state. It had apparently deteriorated after the death of her last son, Tommen. Jon tried to remember Tommen from his short time at Winterfell, he had been a quiet and polite boy, if a bit shy, the opposite of Joffrey.

"Once the war with the others are done, we will need to prepare for who ever wins this war in the South" Eddard Stark declared, he points at the map "The Neck will be our best place to keep them"

"It won't matter where we keep them if they are on dragons" Sansa pointed out. Jon straightened out at that, it was true, dragons were a dangerous force on the battlefield, and it would be stupid to not take head of the stories.

"That's why I'm ordering the bannermen to begin building ballistas, the ones that Jaime Lannister maester gave us the designs for" Jon stated, while his main effort was to be against the Night King, he couldn't afford to be single focused, especially with Cersei Lannister and the Dragon Queen looming to the south.

"Yes, Your Grace" Davos said, he then he changed the subject "With the south engulfed in war, we won't be able to rely on the Reach for food supplies in the Winter. I have some contacts from my smuggling days in Essos, as you directed, I have been able to get some solid commitments from the free cities for food in exchange of northern wood and ice"

Good, good, he, Sansa and Davos had spoken about this before they went to the wall, and they had told him to get some solid commitments before they continued any discussions. "Well done Ser Davos, let Lord Manderely know that we are expecting food from Essos then"

Ser Davos nodded at that, and then Robb asked a question that Jon should've thought to answer sooner. "When we will know to move our armies to the wall?". In reply Jon turned his gaze onto Bran, who has always, had the fare away look to him.

"Bran has been watching the Night King's movements" Jon said "There's a special connection between the Three Eyed Raven and the Night King" Jon was sure that he didn't understand Bran's abilities to watch the Night King, but he thought it had something to do with warging from the way Bran had explained it to him.

Robb looked between Jon and Bran "What sort of connection?" Catelyn Stark asks from the other side of the table. To be honest, if it had been solely up to Jon, she wouldn't have been in the room to begin with, being in the same room with the woman made him want to get out of it as quickly as possible, but Sansa had asked him to include her on the meetings, and he couldn't bring himself to not do as she asked him to, so she was here.

"I can see the Night King, and can feel him almost" Bran whispered, it was the first thing that he had said in the meeting "And he can see me and feel me and what I am feeling as well" his gaze turned from Catelyn to Jon "I sense growing frustration from him, things are not going as foreseen, and I think he might soon grow impatient"

Ned Stark leaned down on the table, to try to get as eye level as he could with Bran "Are you saying that the Night King could soon be marching upon the Wall?"

"I believe he could move within the next fortnight, and it will take him another two to get there" Bran said with the same tone he used for everything. "I will need to go with you when you go the Wall, the Night King will focus on killing me"

Jon didn't even want to take Robb and Ned Stark with him, but he knew that there was no arguing with them, and from his past experiences with this new Bran, he knew that it wouldn't matter if he objected anyway "Alright Bran, you'll come with us"

He stole a look at Sansa, whose mask was still up, but he had come to know it when she was angry at him, and the way her eyes were staring at him, he thought that she was. Her mother wore the same look as she stared as well. Looking between the two, it made Jon think that the gods had to have a sense of humor, because he was going to marry a woman who looked and acted like Catelyn Stark.

Deciding to quit while he was still somewhat a head, Jon finished the meeting. His family funneled out of the war room, and soon the only ones left in the room, were Jon, Robb and Sansa. Robb had hardly left his side since their fight/reconciliation in the godswood. And Jon could tell by the way that Sansa was looking at him, that she wanted to talk.

"What's wrong Sansa?" he asked, hoping to preempt a fight. He knew based on experience that she was angry with him over his decision to take Bran to the wall.

"Are you sure it's the best idea to take Bran to the Wall?" she asked, and she came around the corner of the table, closer to him.

He knew why she was so upset, she had told him after he had gotten back from the wall, that she had been angry with him for going beyond the wall, so soon after the other Starks had returned, and while he had come back in one piece, although the stubborn scab on his forehead said otherwise, she was still somewhat afraid of splitting the pack up.

It was Robb who came to his rescue "If the Night King is drawn to Bran as he says the King is, then we can be prepared to defend where Bran is at, rather than having to defend the entire Wall" he turns to look at Robb, who had come to his side. Robb was far more like his old self, than he had been. It was great to have his brother back.

Sansa sighed as she looked at the map of Westeros "I just don't want us to split up again, the last time we did, Father, Mother, you" she says as he points at Robb "and Rickon died because the pack split up". He had heard this before, and in truth, Jon was also nervous about splitting the Stark's up, but he knew he would be needed at the Wall, and he also knew that Ned and Robb Stark would also have to go.

"Sansa, I understand, I do, but we need to beat the Night King, and our best shot of doing that is to hold them off at the Wall". She nodded slowly, coming to the same conclusion that he knew she would.

There's a knock on the door that breaks them out of the conversation, Lady Brienne comes through "Your, Grace, Lady Sansa, Lord Robb, Gendry Waters is here for the meeting. Jon had met Gendry shortly after his return, and because of the fact that Winterfell's previous master blacksmith had been killed during one of the many battles fought around Wintefell, and it had largely been the men from the armies who were making the weapons, he had decided the skilled blacksmith from the south should take up the mantle of Winterfell's blacksmith. It also didn't hurt that Arya had seemed to take a liking to the boy.

"Thank you, Brienne, please send him in" Sansa says, and turns to Robb, who was standing there also waiting. "Are you going to stay for the meeting Robb?"

Robb blinks his eyes a few times, and then suddenly remembers where he is, and with a chuckle he says "Oh, I'm used to having to do these sorts of meetings. Guess I just forgot where I was for a second there". He turns to leave.

"Stay, Robb, I would appreciate your input here" Jon says, he wanted to make all of the Starks feel as important as possible, and it wasn't like Robb was inexperienced, he had led the North through the War of the Five Kings and had never lost a battle.

Gendry Waters came through the doors and walked onto the other side of the table. "Your Grace, Lady and Lord Stark" he doesn't bow, which Jon chalks up to him not knowing courtly procedure.

Before anyone else, mainly Sansa, can comment on the lack of a bow, Jon asks "How much longer until everyone has a dragon glass weapon in their hands?"

Gendry stands a moment, and then answers "We've been able to make a sword for everyone in the Northern and Vale armies, with the Lannisters showing up, it'll take another week to finish getting them armed"

Jon nodded his head, that was good, they were moving more quickly than expected, Sansa asks him the next question "How much Dragon glass do we have left?"

"Another ships worth, mi'lady" A ships worth? That was still a lot, but it would take up most of that to use to arm the Lannister army.

"You said that there will be giants in the Night King's Armies, correct Your Grace?" Robb asks, with his arms crossed. Jon looked at him, he appeared deep in thought, and Jon nodded his head as a answer "I know that we said that we would just use fire for our arrows, since we can make that easily enough, but I think we should use the left over dragon glass to make arrows to kill the giants."

Jon brought his hand to rub his beard, that was a good idea, and as long as they didn't waste them, it solved the problem of fighting the giants, so he turned to look at Sansa, who nodded her head in agreement, and turned to Gendry "Let's do that, can you see to it that the rest of the smiths learns of this Gendry?"

Gendry nodded his head. The rest of the meeting went as expected, with Gendry speaking of the dragon glass weapons he created, to the additional smiths from the Lannisters helping out. After he left, Robb left as well, going with Gendry to make sure that the smiths got the new information about the arrows, and Jon and Sansa left to finish their respective duties.

The day soon turned to night, and with it, the Castle turned in for then night. When the castle was asleep, Jon left his rooms, and went to the Lord's Solar, where he was luckily enough to find that Sansa had already dismissed Brienne and Podrick. With a quiet knock on the door, Sansa quickly opened and let him in.

His feelings towards her were still confused, and they had become only more confused since the two of them had started sharing a bed. They didn't do anything inappropriate, but that first night together and led to him getting the best night of sleep he had had since he joined the Night's Watch, and she had admitted it was better for her as well. So that had spent more nights together than they had apart since his return. They had gone out of their way to keep their arrangement, as they called it, a secret, knowing that their family would be none to pleased to learn about it, so Jon usually was back in his room by the time that Castle would be waking up.

Sansa was finishing brushing her hair as they sat in companiable silence. "I'm sorry for the way I acted with you and Robb after the meeting" Jon looked at her a moment. He wasn't angry with her for it, it had been understandable, and he told her as much. She finished brushing her hair, and got up and laid down under the furs, which Jon did so as well "Still, Jon, I should've accepted your decision and left it at that"

Where was this coming from, Sansa accepting his decisions she didn't like? She had made a habit of questioning his decisions from the get-go, and while it had at first bothered him, he had grown to appreciate her candidness with him. he rolled over to look at her, she was on her side facing him. "Sansa, you know that I appreciate your support and your questioning my decisions, why would that have changed?"

She sighed and replied "I don't know, I'm just so worried with the Night King bearing down on us, and then even if we do defeat them, we will have to contend with whoever wins in the South, I'm just worried for the future is all"

"I am too, but we need to focus on the Night King first, he's the far bigger threat than anything to the South"

He could see it in her eyes that she didn't agree with his assessment "If you had spent three years with Cersei Lannister, you wouldn't say that"

"Well, if it's any consolation, I doubt it will be Cersei Lannister who wins the war with Daenerys". Despite his attempt to make her feel better, she didn't seem to appreciate that comment, and pulled her head up to rest on her elbow.

"I know you said that you plan on fighting her is she wins, but how can we hope to beat her if she has dragons, I know you said the ballista, but they don't seem like enough". It was his turn to sigh, and Jon rolled over so she couldn't see the look of uncertainty pass through him. He knew that he probably wouldn't win if they fought the dragons, and he had been planning what he would do if it came to that.

"I would announce myself as Aegon Targaryen, and I would offer her to renounce her claim to the North, and in exchange I would renounce my stronger claim to the Iron Throne". It wasn't the strongest plans he had come up with, but it was better than nothing.

"What if she refuses?"

What if she did? What then? That was the big problem with that plan, Jon knew that they couldn't hope to win if they had to fight dragons. "I'm not sure to be honest, I haven't really gotten that far". There was a sharp intake of breath, and Jon could tell that she didn't like his answer, and he certainly didn't either, he liked having plans, but he couldn't come up with one, it was so hard for him to focus on the future past the Night King "It's…. It's hard for me to plan for the future after the Long Night" he admitted, it felt good saying it out loud, he had felt as though this was the reason he was brought back, to defeat the Night King, and a part of him wondered if he would just collapse or stop living when the Night King was stopped.

Sansa let out another breath in surprise oh shit, did I say that out loud? Jon thought to himself, he had never mentioned that to anyone, and he hadn't meant to start now. Her arm snaked it's way through the crack between his arm and his chest, and she pulled herself up against his back "Jon, you are going to survive this, and lead us to victory against the Night King, and you are going to come back to our reunited family" she said softly. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek and continued to hold him.

He didn't want to disappoint Sansa, and so Jon put the thoughts out of his mind, and instead thought about Sansa. Jon doesn't remember falling asleep, and when he wakes the next morning, with a smile on his face, he slowly extradites himself from Sansa as carefully as possible, to not wake her up and, after putting on his jerkin and clothes he had brought with him, he heads out the door to leave to make his way to the godswood. He opens to the door to the solar to find Catelyn Stark waiting for him.

"Hello, Jon, we have things to talk about". Jon suppressed a groan, he didn't want to be here with her, but he stepped forward, and put on his best kingly face.

"Lady Stark, it might be better if we speak on this somewhere more private" She narrowed her eyes at him, and he suppressed another groan, he suddenly felt like he was a kid again, and he knew he had to be subconsciously acting like it, looking for any way to get out of this conversation with this woman.

"No, the maids and the servants are still a while off yet, as I'm sure you know" She replied. She crossed her arms and continued "When did this start?"

Jon sighed, he was going to have go through this and answer this woman's questions "A fortnight ago, the day I returned from the Wall". If it was possible to narrow her eyes anymore, Jon's pretty sure that she would have "Both Sansa and I were upset from the-"

"Don't bring Sansa into this" Catelyn Stark said with a snarl, and Jon gulped in his nervous fear. It was ridiculous, being afraid of Catelyn Stark now that he was King, but he had grown up being afraid of the woman before him, and he didn't know to steel himself with her now.

"She and I were upset from the night's conversation, we spoke about and both of us didn't want to be alone, so we decided to keep each other company" he paled as she grew wide eyed, and then returned to the stern expression that she had worn before. I'm such a fucking idiot "That came out wrong, we haven't been doing anything like that, just sleeping and talking"

Catelyn Stark chuckles at that "Ah yes, I know of how men are when they get women in their beds" she held out a finger, pointed directly at him "Have you considered her honor in this?". He had and had even brought it up a couple of different times over the last few weeks, with Sansa scoffing each time and telling him to lighten up about it, that no-one would care.

"Yes of course I have, but Lady Stark, we are to be married and-"

"Jon Snow, I would not bring up that marriage again if you know what's good for you, you and I both know it won't happen". What did that even mean? Was she aware of some plan that he didn't know of?

He stepped forward, a frown on his face "What do you mean by that?"

She laughs, actually laughs at him, and when she finishes laughing she looks up at him "After the North beats the Night King, the council that Sansa called for will almost certainly declare for Ned or Robb as King in the North" she regards him coolly a moment "They certainly won't declare a Targaryen bastard or Prince or whatever you are as King" she leaned in and said "You will have better luck staying as King of the Free Folk, or you could go back to the Wall, but you won't stay here."

So, there it was then, the fears that had plagued him since the Stark's return being the catalyst for him being regulated to the side. He didn't think he could do that again; he was never going to the be the bastard of Winterfell again, he couldn't go through it again. He turned away from Catelyn Stark, and began walking away, willing for the tears that he could feel coming to stop, at least until he was in the privacy of his own chambers.

When he got into his chambers, the room he had grown up in, he slid down the door that he had just closed, and he held his head in his hands as he thought. Sansa was wrong, he wouldn't go on after the Night King's death, he wouldn't return to Winterfell, he would give the crown to Robb and go North. Because he knew what Catelyn Stark said was true, The North would never ever support a Targaryen, not matter how trueborn he was, when there were two, or three if you counted Rickon, perfectly good Starks to choose from.

He doesn't get up after that, he just sits in front of the door, and when there's a knock on the door, he yells at them to go away. What was the fucking point of coming back, of retaking Winterfell if he was just going to be treated like this? Why did he abandon the Night's Watch in the first place then? A thought of red hair and blue eyes, reminds him why. Why he had done all of those things, because of her. He lets out a shaky breath, he remembered that had a larger purpose to his life, and until he beats the Night King, none of them, not the Starks, not the whole of Westeros, not Sansa, will be safe from the Night King. He pulls himself up from the door, and dry's the tears that he hadn't realized that he had shed.

He may not be King for long, but he would protect the North and fulfill his duties as King in the North and Beyond the Wall, for as long as it took to stop the Night King, and he wouldn't count on doing much more after that.

Sansa wasn't sure what had caused the change in Jon, one night, they're laying in bed talking about the future, and then the next day, he's acting like he was the unwanted bastard of Winterfell again. She wished she understood what had caused the change, but with the night's growing so long that Winterfell had only a few short hours of sunlight, her days only got busier and busier.

Still though, she wasn't sleeping as well, and based on the way that Jon acted and looked, he certainly wasn't getting any either. She finally has the time, one evening to enjoy a private meal with her family, sans Jon, who no longer eats with them. Robb or Arya will sometimes forgo their meals to spend time with him, but more and more, it's more like when they were children, and even though he's the King in the North, he's gone back to acting like a bastard.

She has a feeling she knows exactly what caused this, the day that Jon had begun acting like this, her mother had appeared to be in a great mood, the best she had been in since her revival. Sansa fears that her mother may have found out what they were doing and put a stop to it in the worst way possible, attacking Jon rather than being an adult and speaking with them both about it.

So, it's when their sitting in Sansa's solar that she asks "As anyone seen Jon? I've been wanting to talk with him, but I think he's been avoiding me" It's a question designed to make the family speak, and she's hoping that Arya or Robb will unknowingly help her.

"I saw him in the training yard this morning" Robb said in between bites of bread "He was tearing a training dummy apart with that sword of his" Robb says it with such admiration, and a hint of jealousy.

"He's acting like he did when we were kids" Arya announces, as she throws down the slice of bread she was eating "He won't even eat with us like he was when he got back" She throws a look at Sansa "What did you do to him?"

"Me? I haven't done anything to him. I want Jon to be back to the way it was" In truth, she's a bit insulted that Arya would accuse her, but she understands that their history was spent with Sansa being mean to Jon.

Arya turns to their mother, who hasn't said anything, and while she doesn't look guilty, she doesn't look innocent either. "What did you do?"

Her mother coughs, and replies with such grace and innocence that Sansa nearly buys the story "Dear, I haven't done anything to Jon, we had a discussion was all" That admission makes Sansa's blood run cold.

Robb leans in and with a clenched jaw asks, "What sort of conversation?" Sansa was happy to have Robb back to his somewhat normal self, and he was going to be good back up if this went the way she thought it did.

"We talked of the future, was all" Mother says, and takes a last bite of bread.

"Where did you have this conversation?" their father asks with a puzzled look on his face.

Catelyn spares a look towards Sansa, which all but confirms her fears, she had found them out, that Jon and her had been sharing a bed, like she had feared. "I found him sneaking away from the solar early one morning, and we discussed why that was wrong"

Ned looked between his wife, and Sansa and turned to Sansa "Why was he in the solar?" Sansa swallowed, she figured that she would have to tell them this if she wanted to get to the bottom of why Jon had changed.

"Jon and I have been sharing a bed, and no nothing was going on, we simply didn't want to be by ourselves" Robb takes it with a shaky breath, her father doesn't show any emotion, as is usual, while Arya wears a disgusted face for a second.

"As I said" Their mother repeats", I told him why that was wrong, and then we spoke of the future"

"Mother" Robb says "They are to be married, It's not that big of a deal"

She glares at him "Please, Robb, we all know well that they are not actually going to be married" Her mother says with such conviction that it surprises Sansa.

Sansa leans back in her chair in shock "That's certainly news to me, Mother, when did this happen?"

Her mother just looks at her, with a barely concealed eye role "You know as well as I do that the bannermen won't support him to be king after the war, and I told him as much"

Sansa shoots to her feet, she can't believe what she's just heard, that's it, why Jon has been acting so distant, because he thinks that things will go back to the way they were before all of this started. "I have to go find him" she declares quickly, she barely hears Robb begin, not yelling, but speaking towards their mother. She doesn't catch what is said, because she's set her mind on finding him.

Luckily, she comes across Sam in the training yard, he looks like he's in between places and when she comes up to him, he stops and turns "Sam, where is he?"

Sam takes a step back, and says "I'm not sure who you are speaking off, Lady Sansa" She just looks at him, and he caves "He's down in the crypts, but he doesn't want to be bothered!"

She's gone before she hears what he has to say, pushing through the crowd of soldiers, she's vaguely aware of Brienne and Podrick struggling to keep up behind her, but she continues on. She enters the crypts with a "Don't let anyone else down here, and if Jon comes through stop him"

She finds him sitting down in front of Aunt Lyanna's statue, going through some reports or something. She finds it odd that he's doing it down here, but she pushes it off. "Jon" she says as she approaches.

He looks up, and he looks nervous as he finds her eyes, he stands up and breathes out "Sansa, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, Jon" she's approached him as far as Uncle Brandon's statue, Jon looks as though he might run if she comes any closer "Please listen to me, what Mother said to you was awful and unacceptable." The past week had confirmed to her something that she had been afraid to admit, that she had gotten close to Jon and no longer felt as she should have towards him. "I…. I want you to know, that the lords will support you, Robb supports you, I support you"

He's shaking his head "No, Sansa, she was right, the lords won't support a bastard turned Targaryen, I'm just a place holder is all". She couldn't stand to hear him talk about himself like this.

"Jon, that's not true and you know it! Remember Lyanna Mormont, and all the other lords who supported you over father at announcement feast, there is support, and once you beat the Night King, you will gain the support of the rest!" He doesn't look convinced, and she can see that he's upset, she takes another step forward, and is close enough that she could grab ahold of him if she wanted to "Please, I want things to go back to the ways things were, we miss you Jon!"

"I'm sorry, Sansa, but I don't know-"

"Damnit Jon! Do you realize what I'm saying here? I'm saying that I would rather have you has my betrothed! Don't you understand that?" Her outburst surprised her.

He regards her for a moment, and he takes a small step forward "I want that to be true, Sansa, I do, but I'm afraid that she's right, that I am just a bastard, I can't go through that again "

"And I'm not? I was afraid to admit that there were actual feelings for you, and I and I" she turns back and throws herself at him. He grabs a hold, and they stand there for a second and just hold each other. "Jon, it wouldn't take you being King for me to marry you"

He chuckles and she pulls away, bodies still entwined, she looks up at him and after a second's hesitation, they press their lips together. She wishes that this moment would last forever, and while she knew that it wouldn't, there was still so much to be done, she could enjoy it for a moment.

A/N: So yeah, I love drama. I hope you guys are enjoying this chapter. I still appreciate the reviews, follows and favorites, and I hope that you all are still enjoying the story!