Fate

As fate had it, it was to be.

Just not yet.

Currently I had to contend with not one, not two but three children and I thought that was a fairly good excuse for not searching. Sansa and Robbert (not named for the King as there seemed to be a constant on-off war between the North and South) Stark were finally in this realm and if Eddard didn't tell Catelyn about Jon before sunset tomorrow, I had full permission (I extracted a promise from the man after all!) to spill the beans and shout at him a bit (he hadn't explicitly agreed to the last part) but that wasn't going to stop me.

So I can be forgiven for not being as diligent as possible.

But the truth was, I still wanted a child and everyone knew it. I was probably never going to see these Southron ladies again. It was rather obvious that I wanted to adopt.

In my first incarnation, I had adopted and I really wanted to do so again.

Now, I could have simply gotten pregnant but my problem was that I was not only Aromantic and Asexual (and therefore not interested in such things) but also extremely reluctant to carry around a baby for a nine months. I would be absolutely heartbroken if anything happened and there were already so many children in the world without parents. Personally, I had never felt the need to have them so I was content to simply adopt.

In Westeros though, I wasn't sure how to go about the process. I could technically just kidnap a babe but it didn't sit right with me so I wasn't going to.

I pushed aside my thoughts as I rose to answer Eddard's calling. I had been pleased to notice that, yes, my time-flickering had made some difference. Alwin wasn't the only heir I'd met and most of the people I'd met seemed to have a good understanding of hard work and morals. Of course, I couldn't generalise but on the whole, I found that I rather enjoyed the whole atmosphere.

The young seemed to think that pulling wool over the Southrons' eyes was a great game and the elders knew it was good to have the advantage so between them, no Southron could really detect the key differences. It was sad that I couldn't really do much to help the people down South but I'd had to satisfy myself with 'prophetic visions' for those who were badly treated or were more suited for the North. Magic was really a wonder.

Unfortunately, magic wasn't going to solve this situation.

Eddard was finally sucking it up and admitting the truth to Catelyn who was sure to be very angry when she found out. The most likely reason for my summon was that I'd helped generations of Starks before him so he somehow hoped I could help him out. Tough luck mate. I was not getting involved in this argument. I'd be downright mad if I was in Catelyn's place but I also understood why Eddard had kept if from her until now.

I was not going to get in the middle of it.

It went much how I expected it to.

Catelyn, sharp as she was, had already suspected this although she assumed Jon to be a bit more distantly related. Upon hearing his mother was Lyanna, she made the connection instantly. She was anything but a slouch. As also expected, she mage the connection almost instantaneously.

"Rhaegar?" she gasped, half questioning, half sure.

Eddard simply nodded.

I stood there awkwardly, keeping my face in its neutral position. Like I'd said, I wasn't getting involved and I certainly wasn't going to pick sides when it came to blows.

Catelyn very quickly moved on to the next order of business, her little shock fading.

"And just why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Eddard was a very straightforward man. "I didn't want anything to happen to you or the child."

Understandably, she was still mad.

"As if coming home with child didn't give me a shock!"

As he recuperated, Catelyn turned to me. Her eyes were blazing and if her temper had a colour, it would be as vivid as her hair. It was clear I wasn't going to be able to stay as out of this as I had hoped.

"Did you know about this?" she hissed.

I raised my hands in surrender, "I didn't know until two days ago and only because he assumed that I knew."

Catelyn looked as though she were about to say something else but instead chose to storm off. Eddard looked at her path and as he moved to sit down, I decided to do something.

"Go after her" I urged, "Go." Catelyn seemed to need someone more than no one so I wasn't going to let her go off alone.

When he had well and truly gone on his way, I walked towards the children's room. Someone had to keep an eye on the little devils. Not even a child and the little Targaryen was already causing problems! Not that it was his fault. It wasn't really anyone's fault except for Aerys' mad rage and Rhaegar's obsession and I could go on and on. But did it really matter whose fault it was?

Speaking about Targaryens, how many were there left?

I deeply regretted the fact I had not been able to save Elia and her children but at least Jon was still alive and presumably Daenerys and Viserys.

I should probably check up on the two, I hadn't done so since I arrived at this time and it seemed like a good idea. Viserys had gone mad in the original timeline - perhaps I would be able to prevent it. I dearly hoped so. I didn't want him and Daenerys to suffer simply for being born. That wasn't in the least bit fair.

I knew life wasn't fair. Gods, the amount of people who said that to me was truly astonishing. They seemed to think it was their duty to squash my attempts and dreams. While I understood it was their way of 'looking out for me', it hadn't helped in the slightest. I didn't need a harsh reality check, I needed some time to dream. They didn't seem to understand that. It was rather sad actually.

Before I could get too lost in my thoughts, I Apparated away to Essos.

Now I didn't know where exactly in the continent they were which may have been a problem if I hadn't acquired some wood to cast a point me spell. The only problem was, it didn't indicate distance so I had to make medium sized Apparation jumps.

Twentish stops later, I'd finally found them and I decided I was done for the day. I had a rough idea of where they'd be and it would give me time to think up a reason for approaching them.

I couldn't very well say 'Hi, I'm Shaman, messenger of the gods and I wanted to check up on you' could I?

So, I decided to retreat for the day. Our illustrious guests would be leaving Winterfell soon and I was penciled in for tidying up duty. Everyone had to help out. We all probably would have helped out anyway but the guests seemed accustomed to more servants or at least servants with fewer responsibilities.

Either way, I was rather relieved that they were leaving. I didn't understand what Robbert had been doing here anyway. Further wool-gathering revealed that he appeared to have had a crush on Lyanna and so came to visit her remains under the guise of discussing trade with the North.

As far as excuses go, it was made a terrible one by the fact that everyone and I mean everyone had heard him saying her name in a rather intimate manner. He didn't even have he decency to be discrete.

I could see Cersei fitting in if she'd grown up here but alas it was not to be and she'd become a bitter young woman, Queen or not. Unfortunately, I hadn't traveled far enough to save her and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. It was an extremely depressing thought.

Meeting

The next day, it was time to face the two Targaryen children. Right after breaking my Fast, I Apparated to where I'd been last time.

They hadn't seemed to move as they'd probably been asleep.

It was eight in the morning when I approached them. The two had spent a night (or several) in the alleyway and they looked like street rats. When I say approached, I mean I sat near them and while I was walking past them, I dropped some coins into their laps.

I don't know why I thought I'd get away with it.

Viserys launched himself at me.

"I'm not a beggar!" he hissed, tugging my hair.

"I never said you were." I replied casually, trying not to wince in pain. Man, this kid pulled hard.

He didn't seem sure how to respond to that.

"Then... why?" he pulled even harder now but I could deal with confused child.

"You look filthy and I don't see any parents or people who look after you -"

Here he tugged even harder.

"There are."

"Are there?"

My honest question seemed to throw him for a loop. He'd been expecting hostility, anger that kind of thing not this.

He tilted his head and I could almost see the cogs turning in his head.

"Are parents good?"

"Not always."

"You're good to me."

Here he straightened up. "You have the honour of being the parent of King Viserys Targaryen and Queen Daenerys Targaryen."

Well. Looks like I was going to be adopted as a parent before I could adopt a child.

This was moving unusually fast but that was generally an indicator of the gods' meddling. I didn't really have a choice in the matter (and let's be real, it would have happened anyway).

"Well, with an offer like that, who could possibly refuse?"

Now I had to figure out how to explain this. At least I had a 'blame it on the gods' argument.

Throne

As it turned out, I didn't. Need that excuse I mean.

The first thing I did was rent a room in one of the posher hotels (better security and I had the money). Then, I got the Viserys to take a bath. Daenerys was barely one and I wasn't leaving her in the tub unsupervised.

I didn't have any new clothes with me so I cleaned their old ones up and mended the rips. It was better than nothing.

Viserys seemed to appreciate it anyway.

He didn't appreciate it when I told him he'd have to change his name. We had a long fight about it before he finally agreed that Alysanne and Aegon weren't terrible names. (Jon was going to stay Jon regardless of surname so I didn't see a problem).

Perhaps he was remarkably smart for a seven year old. Perhaps not. But I had an extremely honest conversation with him about the fact that I was practically 'Sleeping Beauty' and how he'd better not betray the North or I'd use my 'wicked powers' on him.

Compared to my last task, all of that was a piece of cake.

Now, I had to actually get him and Daen-Alysanne there. While I would have to be careful with my Apparation, the physical journey wasn't the matter.

What I was incredibly concerned about was my upcoming talk with Eddard and Catelyn. How was I to explain this?

I Apparated the three of us to my room. It was a calculated risk, I was fairly sure Baratheon was gone so there'd be no one to accidentally chance upon the children. At least no one who wasn't loyal to the Starks.

Steeling myself for a wearisome conversation, I asked the two to come with me. To put Vis-Aegon at ease, I'd asked if we could take the other children too. Maybe they noticed the state I was in or maybe they simply weren't feeling very talkative but the two were silent until we reached my room.

"I..."

I was saved from further explanation as the door opened of its own accord. Aegon had clearly heard my voice.

I turned towards the Starks to try to gauge their reactions.

Eddard looked unsurprised and Catelyn looked like she'd expected it.

"Aegon, Magnar Edward Stark, Magnar Catelyn Stark and of course Alysanne."

I was fairly sure Catelyn and Edward had twigged who the two were and we retreated into the corridor, leaving Aegon to keep an eye on the children.

Obviously, we didn't close the door. That would be extremely neglectful.

Our conversation went much better than expected.

First, I was congratulated for becoming a parent and then it was business time.

As suspected, the two knew who the children were. They assured me it wasn't that easy to figure out, it was simply because they knew I'd been to Essos and the ages were right.

However, they had my hair and there were always ways to alter eye colour but I could simply say their father's eyes were purple (I didn't even think that was a lie).

Then came up the inevitable question about the Iron Throne.

I wasn't sure what to do about that. I decided to just give it some time. If Aegon still wished for the throne after twenty years, I would have no objections. By that time, he would be past fully grown and if he could take part of the Northron culture South, that would be good for the realm. Maybe the gap between the two could be bridged.

More than anything though, beyond being a good king and man, I would raise Aegon and Alysanne to be satisfied. As their parent, I owed them that at least.

Sansa's wail broke my train of thoughts.

Always the same that one, just had to be loud. I wasn't going to let the contents of the original series happen to her.

A week into this new time and I was already getting attached. But I meant it. I'd grown to care for not just the children but also Catelyn, Eddard, Alwin and the head cook whose name I still didn't know for sure. His had a wicked sense of humour and we got along like a house on fire. I'd just learned to talk to him without mentioning his name. It wasn't that hard.

But all of this just proved what I already knew - I was actually enjoying myself here. I really hoped the gods chose to be kind and let me stay a bit longer.

I could never guess what was going on in their minds. Did gods even have minds? Probably. They had said though that it would be a longer 'mission' so I hoped that meant I could hang around a bit more.

Maybe this was some sort of reward for being tossed about the timeline or they just liked screwing with it. Maybe I was doing what they wanted me to do in the process of this. A mutually beneficial (at least as far as you could go with gods) task.

I found myself not really caring.

Why should I?

Might as well enjoy the good times while they last. I was not looking forward to their 'rebellious' phases. Maybe they wouldn't have any. I hoped so. It was likely futile but I can hope, can't I?

And maybe just maybe it might work. Hopefully.

But that is a tale for another time.

This was my happily ever after and I intended to enjoy it before I went back to doing work for the gods who like messing up timelines.

What more can I say?