Author's Note: Thank you so much for the continued follows, favs, and reviews! A little bit of San/San in this chapter to give some good feels before the heavy stuff kicks in. (I give a brief mention of Gendry/Arya in this chapter, but there will be no romance there. Just the same bickeringly friendly relationship they shared in the books.)

Sansa wasn't surprised at the faint feeling of unease that washed over her on hearing the announcement that her long-absent spouse had arrived at the keep. Her anguish over Amarah's disappearance had kept thoughts of Tyrion's eminent arrival away from her fretting mind, but as she welcomed the Lannister Lord to the keep, every doubt and emotion that had fled from her now came rushing back in a dizzying swirl.

It wasn't that she disliked Tyrion. Far from it, in fact. He had shown her a rare kindness during their brief days together, and it troubled her greatly to tell him that their marriage could never be a true one. She wasn't certain that he even wanted a real marriage, but even if he did, her heart would not permit it.

The cause of her inner conflict paced before the fire in the great room, pausing every now and then to glare at the open doorway where Tyrion slowly made his way towards the pair of them. If Sansa would have had her wish, Sandor wouldn't be present for this first meeting between her and Tyrion, but she could see there would be no dissuading him in his present condition.

She shot a worried glance over her shoulder at the stonily silent master-at-arms and sent a wordless warning that he had better maintain his silence if he expected to remain in the room with them. Sandor gave a grunt that she took as agreement to the ultimatum before looking back at the man approaching her.

Sansa didn't remember a great deal of Tyrion from their short time spent together, but the strained smile he sent her indicated that he had lost none of the kindness she remembered from before. There were shadows under his eyes, presumably from the long hours spent riding to the keep from Castle Black. She suspected he had made the trip in a shorter time than usual due to Ser Jaime's eagerness to return.

At the thought of the golden knight, she glanced behind Tyrion with a puzzled look when she noticed for the first time since he entered the room that his more handsome sibling did not accompany him. "Where is Ser Jaime?" she asked a bit more loudly than necessary, an undercurrent of alarm creeping into her question.

Ignoring the question for a moment, Tyrion first gave a low bow as if they were back in the courts of the Red Keep. "Did you really expect Jaime to complete a journey to a keep where his lady no longer resides? He left for King's Landing the moment your messenger encountered our party on the road."

Sansa felt ten times an idiot that it had taken Jaime Lannister only moments to discern what it had taken all the residents of Winterfell two days to discover. No on in Westeros could have had an interest in a dethroned princess who posed no threat to the iron throne. No one but Cersei Lannister.

"But won't he need – ?"

"More men?" Tyrion completed the question for her. "Of course, which explains my presence here. My brother tends to leap before he looks where his emotions are concerned, so he's very fortunate that he has me to look after him."

Sansa pressed her lips together nervously before voicing the question on her mind. "Then you aren't here to resume our...?" she trailed off with her hands making awkward circles in the air as she failed to think of the right words to say.

Tyrion looked as if he wanted to prolong her awkwardness for another agonizing moment but graciously took pity. "I did want to speak with you regarding that particular matter, though I would prefer to do so in private."

He sent a pointed look towards Sandor that was difficult to misinterpret. Nodding in agreement, Sansa dismissed the agitated man behind her. "I'll call you if you are need, Ser."

The formality of her statement seemed to rankle his nerves, but he simply let out another one of his grunts before complying with the request. Though, his silence didn't prevent him from sending a rather menacing glare in the direction of Tyrion as he left the room.

"You didn't seem surprised to see him here," Sansa noted as soon as Sandor was gone.

"No," Tyrion affirmed. "I had already heard reports of Clegane's presence at Winterfell. I can't say it surprised me greatly as he always seemed to afford you a great deal of attention in King's Landing."

Sansa opened her mouth to deny his claim but shut it again after realizing the words she was about to speak were a flat out lie. Tyrion gave her a knowing smile that contained no trace of bitterness or resentment. "I'm a bit more intelligent than most men give me credit for, Lady Sansa. I didn't just come here for troops to bring to the capital. I also came to release you from the mock marriage my family forced you to enter without your consent. My queen has granted me my family seat of Casterly Rock as a gift for my loyalty to her, and you can't very well be a wife to me there while running things here."

Sansa's pleasure at his kind words releasing her from their connection was dimmed slightly at the unexpected news. "But if you are to take Casterly Rock, what about Ser Jaime?"

"I managed to convince my queen not to shorten my brother by a head in repayment of his slaying Aerys Targaryan. However, I was not able to salvage Casterly Rock for him in the bargain."

Sansa considered his answer carefully. "Then what about Amarah?"

"After we recover her from my mad sibling you mean?" Tyrion asked, sounding rather confident that they would be doing just that.

"Yes," Sansa affirmed, finding comfort in the older man's assurance of recovering her cousin. "She had hoped to marry Ser Jaime. I wouldn't see them wed without a home."

"I have a solution in mind that I think will agree with both of them," Tyrion reassured her with a gentle pat on her delicately folded hands. "I would never neglect the happiness of the two most dear to my heart."

With that reminder of Tyrion's heart, Sansa cautiously broached the subject that had prompted Sandor to leave the room. "Are you truly content with ending our marriage, my lord? I know it must cause you much pain and embarrassment – "

"Sansa." Tyrion spoke her name just forcefully enough to halt whatever it was she had meant to say. "You've experienced enough pain for two lifetimes in the last few years. Don't worry about my pride. I'll recover well enough, but I think you should consider yourself. You would never truly be happy married to me. I think we can both see that." He briefly looked in the direction Sandor had left before continuing. "Take some happiness for yourself, my dear. You deserve that much."

Without thinking, Sansa stooped down to embrace him in a heartfelt hug. "I don't deserve your kindness."

Tyrion pulled back and curled his fingers under her chin in an affectionate gesture. "Yes, you do."

"Now," he continued, pulling away from her encircling arms. "I shall see to securing more men. Where is that wayward sister of yours? I hear she's acquired quite the set of interesting skills in her time away from Westeros. She might be helpful to consult before I take my leave."

"She's with Amarah's brother," Sansa replied. "They've apparently renewed an acquaintance from before and have been strategizing with each other the entire day about the best way to recover my cousin. They've clashed heads so much over differing opinions though, I'd wager you might find them in a wrestling match when you eventually find her."

Tyrion's eyes took on a curious gleam at that information. "The Starks surprise at every turn," was all he said before turning to take his leave. "I'll be leaving at first light," he informed her as he walked away. "Time is a valuable thing, and not one moment of it should be wasted."

Sansa considered his meaning after he had left, wondering if he had been implying something else by his statement on not wasting time. Deciding to take him up on the unsolicited advice, she took off in search of Sandor Clegane.

Tyrion was right. Time was precious, and she was through wasting it.

After much searching, Sansa was disappointed to find that she was going to have to endure a bit more wasted time. She had asked almost every solder she had come across as to the whereabouts of her master-at-arms, but no one seemed to know where he had gone off to.

She fervently hoped he hadn't done something foolish like finding a hidden spot that would allow him to drink himself into oblivion. He had done it enough times before, though she truly hoped that on this one night in particular he would be able to resist the urge. She didn't particularly relish the thought of declaring her love to a drunken sod.

Entering her rooms weary to the bone, Sansa shut the door with a loud thud behind her and proceeded to undress for the evening. Since Amarah's disappearance, she hadn't slept a wink with worry over her missing cousin and her little child. The lack of sleep had finally caught up with her, and she could barely stand up long enough to distort her arms to reach the back of her dress in order to remove the fastenings.

"Allow me."

The roughed voice sounded from the other side of the room, startling Sansa enough to jerk around in a flash of panic. After she realized who occupied the other side of the room, her panic dissolved like ice in the warm sun. She didn't say anything in response to his offer but merely turned her back to him in silent acceptance.

With each footstep nearer, she felt her heart hammer in anticipation of the moment his hands would brush along her partially exposed back. "So soft," she heard him murmur under his breath once his hands had brushed the fall of her hair away to give him better access to the small ties that held the dress together.

He continued to pull each tie slowly apart, one by one, but as the dress began to loosen, her nerves did just the opposite. By the time the dress had fully fallen open, she was wound tight enough that any touch from him, innocent or otherwise felt like it would make her break into a million pieces.

Turning back around, she faced him in silence as she removed the sleeves and pushed the dress down, leaving her in only a light shift and the shoes she had yet to remove. He bent down without her even needing to ask it. "The little lord is leaving in the morning?" he breathed the question softly as he reverently removed each shoe from her aching feet.

Focusing on the top of his head while his face was pointed downward, Sansa answered in the affirmative. "I don't think he'll be coming back."

Sandor had finished removing her shoes by now and had stood once again to tower over her. Despite his imposing physical presence when she was so raw and exposed, Sansa had never felt safer. "You could have been a great lady," he whispered harshly, some of the old anger she was used to seeing in his eyes momentarily pushing out the softness that had been present since she entered the room. "Why?"

It was a small word but it contained so much. "Because I love you." Sansa never took her eyes from his as she answer his question without artifice or shame.

"I don't deserve you, little bird," Sandor whispered, echoing Sansa's words from earlier in the evening without even knowing it. "But I love you too much to give you up."

Reaching up to pull his half-scarred face down to hers, Sansa kissed him softly on the lips, lingering to give an affectionate nuzzle before pulling back to answer his statement. "You do deserve me, Sandor Clegane." She couldn't resist leaning back in for one more kiss that tasted sweet as honey. "We both deserve happiness, and I don't mind spending the rest of my life trying to prove that to you."

"Just start with tonight, little bird," Sandor practically growled before scooping her up in his arms and marching towards the bed.

Sansa smiled, burying her face in his neck as he marched them both quickly to the other side of the room. She was rather going to enjoy spending the rest of her life with this man, and neither of them would be wasting their time any more.

Yes, there is a fade to black here simply because the chapter would have been pretty long if I had thrown in an entire love scene at the end. Also, this is Amarah's story and while she is on Sansa's mind, she is not physically in the chapter, so I didn't know if anyone would want to linger on San/San while Amarah's is somewhere fighting for her life. However, if there is anyone who would prefer that I include the love scene for Sandor and Sansa, let me know in the comments because I will gladly throw that in as a bonus for the next chapter if there are enough people who want it. If not, I was pretty happy with the way their love story ended up. Thank you so much for reading, and remember, if you would like some San/San lovin', just drop a comment and I'll make it happen. Stay tuned!