Author's Note: I do not know why this chapter took so long for me to write, but goodness it felt like forever. I hope you all like it though. I am very happy with it. Enjoy! And thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Game of Thrones, I own only my ocs. Lyrics: Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift.

"I can see the end as it begins

My one condition is..

Say you'll remember me

Standing in a nice dress

Staring at the sunset, babe

red lips and rosy cheeks

say you'll see me again

even if it's just in your wildest dreams."

Chapter 11: His Goodbye

Robb

Stay.

Her words were lingering in his head as they rode south. He wished he could have stayed with her, could have held her all night but he couldn't. His duty was to his family, to his blood. When he first heard his mother was sending a woman north he had very little faith in it, he did not trust a southern woman. Then he saw her, standing there naked and unafraid. Something about her had captured his attention, from that moment he had fought like hell to keep himself in check.

She was just a woman, at the time a bastard, he had to keep that in his mind. But everyday it was harder, and when he took her maidenhood he wanted nothing more than to keep her. His honor had been at stake, but he didn't do anything but take her again. His plan was not to make love to her again, it was to say goodbye.

Stay.

Her voice had been so quiet, so fragile. He had never truly seen her in such a way and it broke his heart. Had she fallen in love with him? Had he left a woman who loved him? He couldn't explain to himself or anyone what he felt for her, but if it was love he hated the feeling. Robb left her, and with each step from her chamber his heart smashed against his chest, as they road from Winterfell his heart stayed behind him. His heart lay in the hands of a woman who would never know she held it. A woman who had sworn to protect his brothers with her life. He only hoped it didn't cost her that life.

Alara had found her family, and she deserved to have that life with them. How could he be so selfish asking a woman he barely knew to lay down her life for his family? The boys liked her, but she barely knew them. Robb wasn't looking out for her, he was looking out for his brothers. He never knew love to be selfish, but he felt for him it could be.

"M'lord." Theon came up beside him, placing his proper look upon his face. "How are you holding up?"

His friend knew him better than most, and he no doubt saw the look on his face. Robb knew he looked bothered, but he couldn't help it. He was leaving his little brothers alone, and Alara's words stuck in his head. He doesn't know if he's going to wake up one day to hear you're dead. He knew Bran would be better without him, but Rickon, Rickon wouldn't.

"I am fine, Theon."

He was a liar, but he was good one. He learned from his father long ago about being a Lord, about how sometimes you have to keep your own feelings aside. He always taught Robb that his family came first, his family and his men.

"M'lord-"

"Get off it."

He knew his friend was just concerned for him but it wasn't the time. They needed to reach Moat Cailin and Robb had not time to dwell on Winterfell. He was going south to get his father, and sisters, he would bring them all home. He would make sure of it. No matter what, he would make it home.

They set up their camp just outside Moat Cailin, and for a moment Robb found a sense of peace. He hated riding, and setting up a large camp meant he could start forming a plan. He would get his father and sisters back from the Queen and the damned King. He would make it all work out, he had to.

They had been at camp for only a few days when his mother rode in, she was truly one of the last people he had expected to see. He had not planned for her to show up, but once his men were gone, he took her into his arms.

"Mother." His voice was broken.

She held him, and for a moment Robb let everything crumble. He wanted nothing more than to see his mother, his worry for her had been great. She wished he could go back, and the nagging part of his head had wished for such a fate as well but he knew it would never come. He explained that to his mother, explained why he could do no such thing. He had to lead the men, he had to save his father, it all fell on his shoulders.

Put your pride aside.

Once more her words were in his head, filling every inch of his mind. He had to shake them away, shake her away. There was no going back, there was nothing he could do now. He had to fight the war, win the war and save his family. If he lost the war he would lose everything. He would lose his father, his sisters, his mother, her, his life. Everything weighed upon his shoulders but he would not fail he would not let his family down.

He smiled as he mother excused herself, having traveled a long way. Once she was gone he placed his head in his hands. He knew he could fight, he knew he was smart, but this was war. It wasn't a game he played with Jon in the yard it was real.

Jon

He wished his brother was there with him now, fighting beside him in this. It was their father he was trying to get back, their sisters. Jon should have been with him, but he couldn't be and it bothered Robb. All his brother remained north while he had to go south, all the way to the Red Keep to get his family back.

Bend a knee, bring your father and sisters home that way.

Alara didn't understand, she didn't know what they were capable of. She had lived in Kings Landing all her life and yet she knew nothing of what that world was like. She knew sex, and men, and nothing more. She now knew more thanks to him filling in the gaps of her family, and he didn't doubt she would raid the library in his absence, but even still. Alara knew nothing. She wanted him to bend a knee, that was signing his own death warrant.

He had to get home, one way or another, and going to bend a knee would never bring him home. Brandon Stark had went to a King once seeking his sister, and it only got him killed. Robb would not make that mistake, if he wanted his sisters, his blood, he would fight for it. Die for it if he must.

You won't come back, Robb Stark, they never come back.

He would prove her wrong, he would make it back, make it home. If she wasn't there, if her family had taken her back by then, he would march farther south. He would ride into Starfall and prove to the stubborn woman she was wrong. He would come back, he had to. For Bran, for Rickon, for his mother, father, sisters and for himself. He had to.

"I will come back, you'll see Alara Dayne." His voice was nothing more than a whisper. "I will see you again."

Alara.

The days after Robb's departure were hard on Rickon, he wouldn't leave his chambers. No amount of begging, bribing or pleading would change the young Lord's mind. He was angry, despondent and bitter. She didn't want to leave her chambers either but she did, she pulled herself up and forced herself to act like the adult she had to be.

"I miss him." Bran's voice spoke as Alara sat beside him.

"I know you do, he's your brother." She wanted to say she missed him too, but she didn't. "He'll be home soon, I know it."

She lied, but she had to. She knew Bran didn't believe the lie but it wasn't for him, it was for herself. She had needed to believe the damned wolf Lord would make it back, and maybe she'd be there. Maybe he'd come back and she could finally tell him, tell him the words that had failed to leave her lips that night. She had to hold out hope.

She read Bran the poems, hoping that Rickon would find his way to them but he never did. She spoke to Bran of her family and she watched his eyes light up at the mention of her father. He told her all the tales, the same ones Robb had spoken to her, but from Bran's mouth they seemed much more fantastical. He made them seem almost unreal, like her father was some great unimaginable man. As he spoke she wished she could have met him, could have met his eyes for just a moment.

Would he love her? Would he have wanted her as much as everyone seemed to think?

"He broke his vow for your mother, for you." Bran said it with such wonder.

"He did," she whispered, "I wonder if he regretted it."

Bran placed his hand upon hers a smile on his young face, and for a moment she saw Robb in him. Her heart beat against her chest at the thought of him again.

"I doubt it, he must loved your mother." Bran spoke.'

She was sure the young boy knew nothing of love, she didn't know a thing about love. She only the pang in her chest when Robb Stark left, the aching feeling in her stomach. She missed him, missed everything about him.

"I am sure he did." Her voice was soft and almost sad.

Love didn't save her father, and love wouldn't save her own hero. A solider was meant to die, it was their life. She wouldn't resign herself to her mother's fate, she would let go of him, let go of Robb Stark.

Alara didn't see Rickon until almost a week later when the boy had finally left his chambers, a permanent scowl plastered on his lips. She had tried to hug him, tried to do something to calm his anger but he shoved her away. He glared at her, his little blue eyes burning with rage. She wished he hadn't been so angry, but she could not blame him. His brother was going off to war, and may never return. How could she blame him?

She was training with a wooden sword when he came to sit on the fence behind her. He didn't speak but she knew he was there. She slashed at the dummy, the wooden sword doing nothing. She could have used real steel, but she was afraid she would swing it too hard. That she would hurt someone. Her sadness was overwhelming.

"He's never coming back."

She didn't turn to look at Rickon, she knew it wouldn't matter. She could swear by the Old Gods, by the New Gods, and by every God in between, he would not listen. In his mind Robb was never coming home, in his mind, his family would never come home. Instead she just swung the wooden sword hard and it shattered in her hands. She was angry.

"They will kill us too, when they finish with them."

Alara finally turned to the boy, a fire in her purple eyes. She had grown attached to the boy but he was saying things that would never happen.

"You listen to me, Rickon Stark, and you listen well." She placed her hands next to him on the fence. "No one is going to harm you as long as I am here. Do you understand me?"

"You can't promise that." He was bitter.

"I can promise it, and I do." She grabbed him from the fence and set him on the ground.

Alara smiled down at the boy a lightly tapped his shoulder. A wicked grin reached her mouth, as she looked at him.

"Bet you can't catch me."

That night after putting the little Lord to bed Alara found herself walking toward Robb's chambers. She had never been inside, never dared to, but for a moment she sought closeness. She opened his chamber door and crept inside. She knew it was empty but she didn't care. She felt ashamed making her way into his chambers, it was not her space. When she entered she lit a few candles, lighting the room up for her. It looked similar to her own chambers, the furs on his bed were darker and for a moment reminded her of his auburn hair. She closed her eyes, but she snapped them open when she realized what else was on the bed.

On one side of the bed sat a sword, and a piece of parchment.

Alara, I hope you never have to use this, but just in case. I had it made for you.

Alara picked the sword up in her hand, checking the balance of the blade. It was perfect, and a smile came to her face. He had given her a sword of her own. She noticed the hilt had a hint of purple in it, and an even bigger smile grew on her face. He thought enough of her skills to have a man make her a sword, a connection to him. Laying on the desk in the room was a sheath. Gently Alara secured the sheath to her waist, placing the sword inside.

She left the room unable to stay there any longer. She left with a smile though, the sword on her hip and for a moment the pang in her chest wasn't as bad. She walked the halls of Winterfell, walked the grounds finding herself lost in it. Snow was falling outside and Alara felt herself shiver, it was no summer in the north. She held her arms close to her body in an effort to keep warm, but she made no move to go inside. Instead she let the snow fall in her dark hair, and let the flakes fall on her nose. She wondered if the children of the north would play in the snow, if it was just like the sun was to her.

Once she was thoroughly covered in snow, Alara made her way back inside a smile on her face. She was frozen solid, but she felt good. After stripping from her wet clothes, Alara found herself in bed. She didn't think before she closed her eyes, she just let sleep come to her.

Gendry.

Alara had been gone months, and missing her was hard. He would find himself at Blackwater bay each night, swimming in the water longing for her again. She was the closest thing he had to family, the closest thing he had to anything really. He thought of her words often, the words she said about getting married. He should have listened, should have taken her up on it. He hated Kings Landing without her, it was an empty place. Alara had a way of lighting things up for him, for bringing him joy. Without her everything felt hollow.

The new hand of the King had come to him just like the last one, speaking about his past. Gendry knew nothing of his past, but the constant questions made him wonder. And when the Lord had told him to come find him if he ever wished to hold a sword, it only raised more questions in his mind. Why would the Lord even care about a bastard like him? Though he learned from Alara that he was also the man who found her family. The family she had spent years searching for.

Gendry was beyond happy for her, and whenever he would see her mother he felt like rubbing it in her face. Telling her that she could no longer hide the truth from Lara, but he didn't. He wasn't cruel, the woman missed her daughter no doubt. He could only imagine the pain it was causing her, losing her only child to the far north. Now that she found her family, he wondered if she would come back for her mother. He didn't doubt it.

He would even go with her if she asked him. Being with her was better than being alone in Kings Landing. He was never going to be as lucky as she was, her father would never be found. He doubted the man even gave a shit about him, even knew he existed. Alara was his family, always was and always would be.

Alara's last raven had brought him chills, he could tell in her vague words that she was leaving much out of it. She didn't mention the Lord of Winterfell, a man she had come to complain about. Instead her words mentioned only her fighting training, and the young boys. He had never pictured Alara doing well with kids, she was could barely do well with people in general. But he was glad she found comfort in the kids, at least she wasn't alone up there. Part of him thought to go north, and find her there. Bring her the comfort of home, but he knew better. He knew that he would find her when she came south, when she came for her mother. When Alara came back he would talk her into taking him, and then he would never have to say goodbye to his friend again. They would be a family.