A/N: I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read my story! I never really thought that this one would be read by very many, but I do appreciate every one of you 3 Some of the plot points within this chapter come from the books (his reaction to a certain piece of news-info on what having greyscale is like) just a heads up there. The healing process for both of them will take some time, but hang tight. :3

Chapter 2: Time to Heal

After their time that Dany and Jorah had spent together, Daenerys had decided to send Jorah away to spend the next few days locked away in his old chambers. He had food and water and a nice bed to sleep on and she had given him new clothes to wear and a bath along with a few books to read to pass time. All things considered it was better to spend time in this cell than it had been to spend time alone in the dark cells beneath the great pyramid of Meereen. He finally had some time just to rest his head for the first time, in a long time, knowing that his Queen was on a mission to see to it that she would find the cure to the affliction that was still growing up his arm.

The greyscale itself did not hurt and Jorah could only guess it was because he had lost all feeling where it started to grow. He would sometimes sit and touch the scales there on his forearm hoping that he would feel something whether it be pain or pressure and felt nothing at all. Even a knife trailing across his skin wasn't painful enough to make him feel there again and it was almost as if it were another man's hand and arm growing where his should have been. It felt dead and lifeless and cool to the touch, like the scales that grew on a serpent.

He flexed his hand, watching his muscles move just beneath his skin and wondered how much longer he would be able to move his hand or if it would stiffen up and harden like a rock. The Stone Men could still move and quite well, he reminded himself as he rolled down his sleeve and lay back down on his bed. He had considered cutting his arm off a time or two, but there were no guarantees that it would stop it from spreading. He had heard many tales of desperate men who would cut off their own arm or leg only to find out the very next day that it had sprung up on another appendage and then they would be without their arm and would still have to face the horrors that had awaited them.

Many men feared death; even the bravest of them, but most men would rather die than to catch such a horrific disease that made nearly everyone cower at the sight of it. He had thought about ending his life shortly after catching the disease himself, because he was one of those men, but he had thought better of it. If he had ended it right there and then he would never make it back to his Queen so he could explain everything to her. He needed to ask for her forgiveness before he perished from this earth and to be sure that she would be alright without him.

Jorah had planned on leaving afterwards, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to stay there as it would put her at risk of getting the disease herself and if he had somehow managed to give it to her, he would never be able to forgive himself for it. He had caused her enough damage already and the thought of being the source of more of her pain and anguish wounded him deeply.

"Jorah the Andal." An Unsullied opened the door to his chambers and Jorah immediately sat up on the side of his bed and curiously looked up at the man. "The Queen, Daenerys Targaryen would like to speak with you. Follow me."

Jorah's heart leapt in his chest and nodded as he stood up and followed the guard to Dany's room and Dany dismissed him and he did as he was bid and left the room.

"You look like you're doing better." She noted as she placed her hands together in front of her. "I hope that your old chambers were more to your liking than the dark cells beneath us."

"My chambers were fine, thank you, my Queen." He placed his hands behind his back and kept his eyes leveled on some random decorations on the wall on the other side of the room to keep himself from looking at her.

"The tournament that you wanted to fight in is in a few days down in the fighting pits and I would like for you to join me and my husband there, along with Tyrion. Would you be willing to come and watch it with us?"

"Your husband?" his eyes widened and met with her gaze now. His heart was starting to pound away in his chest at the thought of her being with another man and the worst part of it was, he knew that it was unreasonable to feel this way about her and yet he also knew that he couldn't control it or how he felt about her. Jorah was in love with her and he had told her as much just the other day. He had told a married woman that he was in love with her. Jorah was starting to feel sick at his stomach now as he felt himself being torn apart from the insides, but he couldn't show it, not to her. "He was the man that you were sitting next to on the stage?" he asked.

Daenerys nodded and came closer to him. "That doesn't seem to please you." Her voice was without any empathy when she spoke, but what she said next came as an even greater surprise to him. "It was a political marriage, Jorah. I don't love him. It was my duty as the Queen… I had to find some way to bring this city together and I wanted to show them that I was fully committed to bringing unity to their city by marrying one of their own."

Jorah nodded in understanding, though her words didn't seem to bring him any great comfort or to ease the pain that he was currently experiencing as she might have hoped.

Her features softened as she reached out to take his right hand out from behind his back and took it into her own and he felt himself nearly flinch, thinking for the briefest of moments that she might have accidentally taken his bad arm instead.

"You lock me away in the dark cells and then in my own chambers and now you're asking me to join you to watch the tournament in the fighting pits and you're also holding my hand… I-I don't understand…" he told her giving her a look that clearly expressed his confusion.

"I'm just as confused as you are." She admitted as she looked up at him with a weak smile and then laced her delicate fingers together with his old calloused ones. "I feel as though I am supposed to hate you, for all that you had done, but I can't find it within me to hate you. You were my dearest and most loyal and trusted friend before and you still are after. I still care a great deal about you my dear bear and I have never stopped caring if I were being completely honest with you. I thought about you a lot while you were away, still wishing that you were here by my side giving me good council during these more trying of times… I missed how we could talk and laugh together and share our secrets. You are my strength…"

"As you are mine." Dany's smiled brightened as he repeated her words to him. It was something that they had said to one another while they and many others were lost in the Red Waste so many years ago. Everything had seemed hopeless at the time, but they were able to rely on one another to make it through the vast deserts of red sand that surrounded them for many of miles to come, but he knew that they could make it through anything together.

"We have always made a good team." She responded.

"That we have." He nodded in agreement.

"And I still need you by my side… and that's why I had to have you locked away for as long as I did."

Jorah was now more confused than he had ever been before and his face must have clearly expressed it to her because she was quick to respond.

"I found it to be easier to be angry with you and do my duty as a Queen if I didn't have to look at you." She swallowed nervously and looked away from him as if she were deeply ashamed of herself for what she had been doing to him. "That sounds awfully petty of me, doesn't it?"

"You can't allow someone who betrayed you stand next to you in court as if nothing had ever happened."

Dany nodded at his statement and let go of his hand to cross her arms over her chest, still not looking up at him.

"What has changed?" he asked.

She bit her lip and fidgeted a little at his question. "It's hard knowing that you're so close and yet I still cannot speak with you as often as I would like. I would like to give you another trial now that I have had more time to reflect and think everything through more carefully. But I won't send you away again… you have my word on it. I only hope that it will be more than enough for the entire city, so that I can accept you back into my services. Will you accept my offer?"

"The entire trial will be just for show?" Jorah asked with a raise of his brow and to that his Queen gave him a nod and a gentle smile. "When will it be?"

"Tomorrow, which is the day before the tournament. I hope that you're still not thinking about entering it." Her smile brightened again. "It was sweet of you to even think about fighting for me, Ser Jorah, but I cannot allow you to gamble with your life like that."

"Of course not." He allowed himself to smile now. "But I will take part in another trial if you think that it will be for the best."

"Good."

"What is your husband's name?" he suddenly asked.

"Hizdahr zo Loraq."

"Is he good to you?" Jorah asked, feeling sadness starting to seep in once again.

"We are only wed out of duty, and I assure you that can handle things on my own."

Jorah nodded, knowing perfectly well that every word of it was true, and Dany edged a little closer him, standing on her toes to kiss Jorah's cheek. "You're always so protective of me, even now. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He told her and then took a step away from her. "I think that I would like to return to my chambers now. I'm starting to grow a little… tired." It was a lie of course. Jorah was far from being tired but he needed some time alone now and away from her to let everything seep in and to process in hopes that everything would put itself together and start making some sense to him. And above all, he wanted to cry and to be able to let everything out, but he couldn't do that in front of his Queen.

Daenerys seemed to be confused by his sudden request to leave the room, but without question, she summoned the Unsullied guard who had brought him up to her chambers to come in and take him back down to his own chambers where he sunk down onto the floor and finally allowed himself to let his tears flow freely down his cheeks. His protectiveness of her, this time, was due to his own selfishness. He knew that he could never truly be with his Queen in the manner in which he had always wanted to be and yet it still hurt him to see her in the presence of another man and to be wed to another. He knew that the day would eventually come, but he could have never imagined the immense pain that he would feel when it actually happened. Tyrion Lannister had once called him a fool in love and he was starting to see the truth in his statement.