Disclaimer: I don't own Game of Thrones or anything associated with the show or books. Just a guy getting his feels out via writing. As always please read, review and enjoy!

A Duet of Ice and Fire

It was several days before Jon could find the strength to get out of the warm bed, much to the ever increasing exasperation of Ser Davos.

"You climbed out of a fucking frozen lake. You can take a few more days in bed."

"I'm fine Davos," he said as he slowly put on his undershirt. Making a slightly conscious effort to not have his fingers brush against his scars.

"I've had worse remember?"

"Oh aye, I remember alright. And I would think that you would not be in a hurry to repeat such an experience."

Jon did his best to just brush off his…Hand's? Advisor's? The old knight's remarks. He wasn't in any hurry to die again but there were some moments that came upon him in the night, moments that the feeling that he wasn't supposed to be here anymore plagued his thoughts, moments when he was certain he couldn't feel his own heartbeat though try as he might.

"I promise you, I'm alright. And if it makes you happy, I don't plan on ever going back over the Wall ever again if I can help it. That's twice I've come back from there slumped on a horse more dead than alive," he winced as he put on his overshirt. "I don't think I'll get a third time."

Davos sighed. "You might just be either the toughest, most stubborn or the luckiest man I've ever met."

Jon began to gradually put his armor on.

"I don't feel very lucky most days."

"You're certainly in a bit of a mood for someone who's cheated death again."

The truth was, he had been brooding a bit over the past few days. Ever since Dany…Daenerys had all but run out of the room.

Northern fool, he had reproached himself. You should have just let her go.

But he hadn't. When she had first begun to pull her hand away his hand had almost acted on its own, refusing to let go. He was honestly almost as surprised as she must have been.

Even now his heart leapt a bit when he remembered the warmth of her hand, it had almost been like holding onto fire.

Instead, over the past few days, Davos and Tyrion had been visiting him to talk of how they would present the wight to Cersei. He had given his thoughts on the matter, and they had reached what felt like a suitable plan. Tyrion had suggested keeping the wight…"alive" to show other lords in the country but there was no time for that. They needed Cersei's support or at least a truce and they needed it now. The army of the dead was less than a day's march from the wall when they left. And who knows how much longer the dead would wait before assaulting the Wall?

So he would demonstrate the effectiveness of dragonglass on the wight himself. After they had hacked some pieces off of it. All in all, it promised to be quite the demonstration.

As he finished putting his armor on, he couldn't help but think that perhaps Daenerys had been visiting him as well. There were some mornings when he woke up and he could swear he smelt that exotic scent he had come to associate with her. But more likely than not it was just wishful thinking.

His armor fitted he grabbed Longclaw and fastened it to his waist.

"How much longer until we make it to King's Landing?"

"About a week. Maybe five days if the winds favor us. The Unsullied and Dotraaki can be surprisingly good on ships once you give them the proper advice."

Jon threw on his cloak and made to leave the room.

"I knew there was a good reason to bring you along."

"At least there's some people who listen to the proper advice when I have it."

As Jon opened the door the sea breeze hit him like a gust of a blizzard. Sailing from Whiteharbor to Dragonstone had been his first time on a ship and it was both exciting and strange to him. He wasn't overfond of the strange way the floor moved but the salty breeze the view of endless ocean horizon were undeniably beautiful and spoke of the promise of far off places. After he made his vows to the Night's Watch he had tried not to think about traveling anywhere else besides North of the Wall. He had longed to travel to new and distant lands when he was younger, to the Free Cities of Braavos, Dorne, even the ruins of old Valyria herself. Maybe if he lived through this war he could go there with…

He shook his head of the thought as he saw Daenerys walk down a set of stairs from the upper deck.

Her eyes widened as she realized he was up and about.

"Your grace,"

"I'm surprised to see you walking. Are you sure you shouldn't still be in bed?" she asked as she descended to the main deck.

"Don't bother trying to convince him your grace," Ser Davos chimed in before Jon could reply. "You'll have better luck trying to drink the whole ocean." One of the Dothraaki caught the Onion Knight's eye as he was trying to tie some sort of knot. "Mother save me," he grumbled as he moved towards him. "You! That's no way to tie a knot on a ship. This isn't a bloody stable…" as he marched to give someone else proper advice he had left him and Daenerys alone. For which Jon was both thankful and…nervous about.

There was a tinge of awkwardness between them, some sort of tension that hadn't been there before. Or at least, not in this amount.

God's she's beautiful he thought as he stared at her for what was probably an almost inappropriate amount of time.

Apologize you idiot Jon finally realized.

"Your grace I'm…"

"Jon it's…"

They had both started to speak at the same time and Jon couldn't help but chuckle with a small smile that she returned.

She nodded for him to go first.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I was being improper the last time we talked. I didn't mean to offend or to…" frighten? Worry? These words didn't seem to fit so he changed tack. "And I wanted to say thank you for saving our lives."

The Dragon Queen looked solemn.

"There's nothing to apologize for, we were both…well it's in the past now. And I'm glad to see you feeling better."

Surprisingly, that made Jon feel quite a bit better. He smiled.

"Thank you, your grace."

He felt lighter but there was still a tension in the air between them. Mercifully though, she began a new conversation.

"Have you sailed much in your lifetime?"

"Sadly no. Most of my travels have only been to beyond the Wall. Dragonstone was the furthest I've ever been South. I hear you've done quite a bit of traveling yourself."

She smiled a bit sadly at first. "When I was a child, my brother and I fled to all the cities in Braavos. I don't remember too much about those places, we never could stay long. But over the past few years I've been a Khaleesi in Vaas Dothrak, survived Quarth, been to Yuunkai and Astapor, even lived in the great pyramid of Mereen when I was Queen there."

Jon couldn't help but feel a small twinge of envy. To see so many new places and meet so many new people…

"Sounds like quite the adventure."

Her smile turned sad again. "I wish I could say it was. It was more of a fight for survival through each and every place I'd been. I almost lost my dragons in Quarth. A group of warlocks known as the House of the Undying had captured them. I essentially sacked Astapor and Yuunkai. And Mereen…" her face fell.

"Mereen was a bloodbath for most of my rule there. I never really had much of a chance to explore the cities for themselves. But I hope that I managed to leave those cities a just a bit better than I found them."

"You freed the slaves of those cities," Jon responded. "It wasn't easy and still won't be easy for the people there for years to come, but you started something. Maybe that's all we can really do at times. Get things started and hope they end as we envisioned them."

She stared out at the horizon for a moment thinking about that.

"Is that what you were thinking when you let the wildlings past the wall?"

He nodded. "Aye, something like that. There's a lot of bad blood between the North and the Freefolk, but maybe in time, if we survive, they'll come to accept each other. For now though the threat of a greater enemy will keep them from tearing each other apart."

She nodded in understanding, her smile brightening.

It was then that he noticed that they were both at the side of the ship, the crew giving them a wide berth, they were well and truly as alone as they could be here.

The wind blew her hair back and Jon felt the breath leave his lungs at the sight. He was starring again he knew but this time, he let himself stare just a little longer than he normally would have.

"What about your time beyond the Wall? Surely there was some wonders aside from the Army of the dead."

He thankfully shook himself out of his latest staring at those words.

"Mostly it's just a lot of snow and ice. Even in the height of summer, the snow never really goes away up there. It's a harsh, unforgiving place but it is…beautiful in a way. Peaceful. I remember staring out at a white plane as far as the eyes could see, with not a sound to be heard."

"Surely there's more to it than that?"

He smiled. "I suppose the more interesting things beyond the Wall are the people who live there."

For a long time, they talked about their experiences, Jon told her about wargs and the giants he had fought with and against, she told him about watching her dragons grow up and what it was like freeing the Unsullied or how she had managed to outsmart her enemies.

"Your grace," Tyrion called out. "I believe we have another meeting today."

They both looked up in surprise, they must have been talking for at least an hour now.

Clearly irritated, she turned to her Hand. "Thank you my lord. I shall be there shortly. Perhaps have some food set out for this meeting."

"Excellent idea your grace, I'll have something brought up. You're welcome to join us Jon."

He nodded. "Aye, I'll be there as well."

As Tyrion left the two of them regarded each other again.

"Duty calls, your grace."

"So it does. Hopefully it's not yet another rehearsal for our meeting in the Dragonpit. "

"Ah he's been going over that a lot with you as well."

"He enjoys talking," she smiled.

"Aye, he does," he laughed. "Shall we then?"

She nodded and together they made their way to their impromptu council room.

And for the first time in a long time, Jon felt maybe he was a bit luckier than he thought he was.