Disclaimer: I do not own anything, of course. This fic follows the main storyline until AFFC and diverges from canon after that. Sansa and Arya are a bit aged in this fic, so they are 16 and 14 respectively. English is not my mother language, so be kind and forgiving with my grammar. The tittle is a quote from LOTR. Please, enjoy!

Prologue

"You can use a sage tea to bring down fevers" the old healer was saying "and a bit of it also helps when someone has a stomach ache. To make the tea you use the leaves, not the flowers or the root. And you can use honey to help with the taste…"

Sansa was listening carefully to the lecture, trying to memorize everything. There were so many plants, and each one of them had so many uses, she was hardly able to keep up. But she committed herself to learning, and so every day she would follow Lyara around the garden, with a basket in her hands to pick up the flowers, leaves and roots they would need to make a potion, all the while listening with genuine interest to everything the old healer said.

It has been almost four months since she got there. Sometimes she still doubted she actually made it so far, amazed at herself that she managed to escape the clutches of Petyr Baelish to find refuge in that little house, far in the woods near the Trident. After all, she wasn't like Arya, the strong-willed, assertive and ferocious Arya, her fearless little sister. She has always been a scared little thing. "A little bird, indeed" she thought. Sansa was almost resigned to her destiny: to be a valuable pawn in the game of thrones, marry whoever Littlefinger wanted her to, in order to put his plans to motion. She never thought she would actually muster the courage to escape the Valle, if wasn't for the wolves. One night, Sansa was standing in her room, gazing at the moon for no particular reason when she heard it: the howling of wolves. "Nymeria", she thought immediately. Her rational mind told her that it could be any wolf in the world, but her heart knew it was Nymeria. And while the wolves howled, something inside her awakened, as if it was answering to a call. That night she decided she was done with the game of thrones, she was done with Petyr' schemes, she was done with it all. She wanted nothing more but to be free. She had no idea how she would manage it, but she had to try.

It took her a month of planning, bribing servants and eliciting the help of an uncertain Mya Stone, before she could finally leave the Gates of the Moon. Since she arrived at the Vale, under the guise of a bastard girl called Alayne Stone, Sansa befriended Mya Stone. It has been her first real friendship since Jeyne. "Poor Jeyne" Sansa thought "I wonder what happened to her". Mya and "Alayne" bonded, as two bastard born girls from the Vale. Sansa took this to her advantage. She made up a story of how she fell in love with a hedge knight from the Riverlands, while she was growing up in the motherhouse. She told Mya she would more than often "escape" the vigilant septas to see her beloved, and how she and the poor knight planned to escape and marry, but her plans have been disrupted since her "father" took her to the Vale. Oh, but if she could escape, she would find her way back to him, and they would wed, and eventually her father would forgive her. "In time" Sansa used to say "we could even come back here". Sansa was a cleaver girl: since Mya have been denied the chance to marry her own lover, she had a soft spot for star-crossed lovers. She promised "Alayne" she would help her escape. Sansa was dressed as a servant girl, and one particular night Mya and her left the gates, with a simple excuse: "Lady Alayne wants us to buy some clothes for her. For a new dress" said Mya. The guard at the gates didn't look twice at her direction and let them trough. Once they were out of sight, Mya said:

"Now, you take the horse and go. I packed very little, otherwise they would suspect something, but there is enough coin for you to buy enough food for your journey. The Riverlands aren't very far anyway."

"But what about you? Will you not get into trouble for helping me?"

"I won't. I will wait to come back, and when I do, I will tell them we were attacked and I lost you in the chaos. They might look for you, of course, but I trust you will be far by the time I go back to the Gates. Now go, Alayne. I hope you and your lover find the way into each other's arms. I wish you a better luck that I was granted"

"Oh, Mya…" Sansa said, hugging the girl. "I will never be able to repay you for this. You have been the best friend I could hope for. Oh, I will miss you"

"So will I, Alayne. But you can come back here, after you find your man. We will see each other again, I bet. Now go, we are wasting time"

And so, Sansa left, riding away as fast as she could. She only hoped Mya wouldn't be blamed for her scape. Certainly, Petyr Baelish was looking for her, but she could only hope he wouldn't find her so deep in the woods. She found her refuge by chance: after escaping the Vale, her plan was to go to the Saltpans and find a ship to Essos, but she was injured when she fell from her horse. Hurt, alone and scared, she was found by Lyara, the healer, who took Sansa to her cabin and nursed her back to health. Sansa's cover story was simple: she told Lyara her name was Alysanne, daughter of a miller from the Vale, and her family was killed during one of the raids of the Mountain Clans. After that she gathered all of her few belongings and decided to leave for Essos to find a better life. While traveling to the port she fell from her horse, and that was how Lyara found her. Easy and believable, or so Sansa hoped. After a few days she was healed, and still safe from Baelish's man. She was unwilling to leave, and when Lyara offered her a place to stay she readily agreed. She loved her new life: no game of thrones, no plots, no schemes, and no war. She lived a rather peacefully routine in that cozy cabin in the woods, her days spent between gathering plants, tending to the gardens and the animals, and learning about herbs and healing.

Lyara was a good woman, simple and straightforward. She was a head shorter than Sansa, but broad of shoulders. She had strong arms and steady hands, traits much needed in her profession. Lyara's hair was grey and her eyes were green. She never disclosed much about her life with Sansa, but the girl couldn't complain. After all, she wasn't exactly sincere with Lyara either. But they lived a good life there, one that Sansa hoped wouldn't be crushed by her own past.

"Now, this is nightshade. Poisonous, but can be helpful when used in very small doses. It relieves pain, relaxes the muscles and also helps with moonblood pain. You can use either the leaves or the berries, but the dosage has to be very small. Get some of them, Alysanne."

"Yes, Lyara"

"Now I think we should call it a day, girl. Give me the basket, and go gather some firewood. It's almost sunset, we should get inside"

"Yes, of course".

"You are learning very quickly, child. Might be you will become a healer in my place when I die…"

"Oh, Lyara. Don't talk like that. I am sure you will live for many years. Now I better go and get that firewood. Winter is… nearly here" Sansa answered, smiling.

xX Aya Wolf Xx

Hello, Fanfiction world. I first started to post on this platform by the pen name AyaWolf27. Then I was caught up with college, and family, and I had to stop writing, which was a bummer. Between then and now much happened. This year, as the pandemic started, I decided to get back at writing because I had a lot of free time. I wrote a few original works that probably will never see the light of day. But I also wanted to get back here and finish the fanfics I started. The problem is, I didn't remember my password, and this account was linked to an email that I haven't used in years, so I didn't remember my email password either. I almost decided to leave it at that, and just forget about these fics, but I think they deserve an ending. So I created this account and I am reposting the old fics, and I will start to update them as well. If you already accompanied the old fics on my former account, please, don't report me, I am the same writer, only in a different account.