So it's time for the excuses… I've been unforeseeably busy over the last few weeks, and that mixed with the ongoing World Cup has taken up all of my time and energy. I'm sorry it's been such a long time without an update but I've barely been at my computer in weeks and so updating has been way down the list of priorities. I doubt I'll be back writing any time soon, but I had a few chapters ready already and so I can upload for a couple of weeks without writing anything.

I hope you like the return chapter anyway! In this chapter the location times switch, so King's Landing is happening earlier in the overall timeline than in the North.

I own nothing but the OC's. All other characters and locations are the property of HBO or George R R Martin.

The plains and forests that surrounded Winterfell were covered white with a light dusting of snow, but Jon only had eyes for the castle in the distance. He felt a tear fall from his eye at the sight as they had stopped their horses on top of the hill, and so he quickly wiped it away before Ygritte saw. As he thought of the red-head, he turned towards her, noticing her open mouth as she stared at the fortress in awe. They had travelled the Kingsroad and so hadn't passed any visible castles on their journey, so Winterfell was the first intact castle since Queenscrown that they had passed, and it showed in Ygritte's face.

"That, is a castle." He grinned over at his lover. "Welcome to Winterfell."

"It's huge…" Ygritte trailed off. "Who built it?"

Jon shrugged. "My ancestor, Brandon the Builder erected the first castle, but it's been added to a lot since." He looked at the sky to judge the time. "Come on, if we want to arrive before nightfall we best get moving.

They managed to make it an hour before dusk, travelling through the Wintertown and up towards the main castle. The East Gate was shut, but on the battlements above it Jon noticed two guards staring down at them.

"Who goes there!" One of them called down in a recognisable voice.

"It's me, Malck. It's Jon!" Jon called back up.

"The fuck it is…" Malck called back, before getting a better look from over the ramparts. "It is you! Open the gates!" The guard called, and after a moment the large ironwood gates swung open, allowing Jon and Ygritte to walk their horses and Ghost inside.

The courtyard looked newer than Jon remembered it. New wooden walkways and barriers had been put in, and there were more tents and stalls than Jon remembered that were clearly labourers. "This is crazy…" Ygritte exclaimed from his side as a new stableboy came to tend to their horses. Ghost meanwhile went running off inside towards the kennels.

By the time Jon had dismounted, Malck had descended from the battlements and had wrapped Jon in a hug. "It's good to see you Jon."

"You too, Malck." Jon replied, wincing at the painful contact.

"That's Ser Malck now." The guard grinned. "Got knighted at Oxcross, didn't I." He looked at Ygritte. "Who's the lady?"

Ygritte snorted at that. "I'm no Lady." She smirked.

Jon rolled his eyes. "She's a… friend." He said. "Where's Robb?"

Malck nodded. "Stay here, I'll go and fetch Lord Stark."

Jon watched as the man disappeared, only to get a punch in the arm by Ygritte. "I'm your friend now?" She asked.

"Just…" Jon sighed. "Malck was the son of a carpenter in Wintertown. He's our age so together with Robb we used to go and visit him every now and then, even gave him some fighting tips a few times. He was sweet on a tavern girl before I left and would join in everybody making fun of me when I wouldn't go to a whore."

Ygritte nodded. "Well I'm no friend, Jon Snow, I told you, I'm your woman."

Jon chuckled and nodded. "Aye, you are, but I've not even been back for five minutes. Best we settle in first before we go flaunting that."

Ygritte cocked her head inquisitively. "What's flaunting?"

Rolling his eyes again, Jon realised that he had seriously missed these talks with the woman. "Showing off."

Ygritte snorted again. "Oh I plan on… flaunting… you off to everyone. You're mine, Jon Snow." She closed the distance and kissed him, nipping at his lip with her teeth.

"Alright." Jon grinned, pushing her back gently. It was in good time too, as Malck was back with Robb.

"Jon!" Robb called, and almost collided with him as the two brothers embraced. Jon winced again, but he didn't let go, pulling Robb in closer. "What are you doing here?"

Jon noticed that a crowd was starting to gather. "Not here." He said quietly.

Robb looked confused, but he nodded. "And Ygritte…" He said cautiously. "You're not here to steal my castle are you?"

Ygritte looked around. "I might do." She shrugged.

That only caused Robb to laugh. "You're welcome here. Come, you both must be hungry, we'll get you some food and you can explain yourself there too."

And so Robb led them into the Great Keep and up through the castle to the Lord's Solar, though Jon kept needing to drag Ygritte away from every differing part of the castle. Once they were inside Robb spoke softly to a guard before shutting the door and going to sit in their Father's seat. "While I'm happy to see you back… you're dressed in Stark armour, not in Black."

"He's no deserter." Ygritte started defensively. "I know what you Southerners do to deserters, don't you dare…"

"Relax." Robb held his hands up. "Jon is my brother, I wouldn't execute him. He's also the most honourable fool I know, so I trust there's an explanation."

Jon nodded. "It's… best if I show you." He said, turning to Ygritte and silently asking for her help. She obliged, and together they managed to take off the leather gambeson and the under tunic. With his bare back to Robb, Jon took a deep breath before turning around, closing his eyes so he didn't see his brothers reaction.

"Seven Hells…" Robb gasped. "How… what?"

"Our decision to man the Wall with Wildlings proved unpopular when I went to implement it." Jon said. "Some took it upon themselves to stop it."

"Jon… how did you survive?" Robb whispered.

Ygritte, as ever, was blunt. "He didn't."

Robb rolled his eyes. "He's standing there."

"I died, Robb." Jon stated. "Stannis' Red Priestess… she's been hiding in the North for years for this purpose, apparently. She brought me back."

Robb rose to his feet slowly. "This is… it's impossible." He moved around the table to stand closer to Jon. "Can I?" He asked, nodding to Jon's chest. Jon simply nodded.

"Careful." Ygritte warned. "He's still sore."

Robb's hands were warm as they ran over Jon's torso, gingerly running over one of the wounds. Jon winced at the contact. "Gods be good, Jon."

"So I didn't desert, my watch is over." Jon answered the earlier question. "But I couldn't stay there, Robb. My own sworn brothers murdered me."

Robb's blue eyes were raging now. "I'll march up there myself. They won't get away with this, not when it was my plan too!"

"They're dead, all of them." Jon stated calmly. "Jaime Lannister is Acting Commander now."

"The fucking Kingslayer?" Robb exclaimed.

Jon nodded. "He's the best man for the job. He protected my body, Robb. He risked his own life to stop Thorne burning me. Oddly enough, he's a friend."

That seemed to be the final thing to surprise Robb as he sat down heavily on the desk. "I need a drink." Robb shook his head. "So what, now you're free?"

"Aye." Jon nodded. "Well, I see it as that. I wanted to come home, Robb. To see you, to be at Winterfell. To be with…" He trailed off, but his eyes wandered to Ygritte at his side.

Robb grinned at that. "I understand, you didn't stop talking about her when I saw you at the Wall." He turned to her then. "You are more than welcome at Winterfell, Ygritte. Any woman who can thaw out this frosty bugger has my eternal gratitude."

"Aye, it took some time." Ygritte smirked. "But he stole me good and proper with that thing he did with his tongue…"

Robb laughed loudly as Jon groaned. "I knew that would come in handy for you." Robb exclaimed, before settling down. "This is your home, Jon. You will always be welcome here. Your room is still yours and always will be while I am Lord of Winterfell."

Jon was grateful for that. "Your mother…"

Robb's grin disappeared. "She will have to deal with it herself. We are men now, Jon, not the boys that she once thought she could mould. You are here at my invitation, the both of you."

The brothers hugged again, and only broke apart at the sound of a knock at the door. "The Lady Roslin, My Lord."

"Send her in." Robb said with a smile, and the door opened to the sight of a heavily pregnant woman carrying a tray. "Seven Hells Roslin you shouldn't be carrying that." Robb stated, rushing to her side to grab the tray.

"I know I should be abed, but I heard the news." Lady Roslin Stark smiled brightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jon. I've heard so much about you from Robb."

"All good things I hope." Jon smiled.

Roslin shared a knowing grin with her husband, a sight which warmed Jon's heart to see. "Some good things…" She chuckled.

"Come, eat." Robb gestured, putting the tray down before moving to grab some chairs and an extra cushion for his wife, helping her into the seat carefully. "I want to hear everything…"

Jon slept exceptionally well that night with Ygritte at his side on his old bed, and by the time he woke up he felt more refreshed than he had in years. They took breakfast in his room too, before dressing in regular clothes for the first time in years. Robb had even leant Jon one of his wolfskin cloaks to wrap around him.

Ygritte had been given clothes too, and the sight of her holding a dress up with a quizzical look on her face was priceless to Jon. "Is this what your Ladies truly wear?" She asked, bemused.

"Aye." Jon nodded. "It's considered improper for them to not wear dresses."

Ygritte snorted, throwing it to one side and grabbing her usual furs. "They can try and force me into one of those if they like, but I'll gut the first two that try at least."

Shaking his head at the thought of the stares if she were to walk about in stitched together rabbit fur, Jon went to his drawers and began to rummage around. "Here, these might fit you." He pulled out some clothes from when he was fourteen, a pair of riding trousers and a brown top. Ygritte shrugged and put them on, before Jon handed her a smaller cloak to wrap around her shoulders. "Come, I want to show you the castle."

And he did just that, telling stories of his youth at each spot. He showed her the Broken Tower and the First Keep, the Glass Gardens and the Maester's Turret, before dragging her to the courtyard to show her the archery range.

"This is how you learnt to wield a bow?" Ygritte smirked. "We learnt by hunting, not by shooting straw."

Jon shrugged. "We got used to the actions before aiming at living things." He explained.

Shaking her head, Ygritte took a bow and a training arrow. "These aren't even sharp." She scoffed, before nocking and firing it dead centre.

"They're for children." Jon explained, taking the bow from her and repeating the shot, firing it beside her own.

"JON!" A woman's voice sounded, and Jon turned around to see a blur of red hair collide into him. "Robb said you were back!"

Realising that it was Sansa, Jon fought through the pain at the contact and hugged his sister back, ignoring the stare coming from Ygritte beside him. When they pulled apart Jon kept a hold of Sansa's hands, desperately clinging to them. "Sansa…" He whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

Sansa shook her head. "It's over, I've been home for a long time now, it's almost like a distant memory." She said, knowing what he was about to say. She turned to Ygritte. "You're as beautiful as Roslin said. Welcome to Winterfell." And Sansa moved to hug a bewildered Ygritte, who only didn't reach for her knife at Jon's warning look. Sansa turned back to Jon, smiling wildly. "Are you staying?"

"Aye." Jon nodded.

Sansa grinned. "Good. We need to stick together, us Starks. Arya's on Bear Island though. Oh she'd love knowing you're back!"

"I'll write to her when I've settled in." Jon insisted.

"Good, or she'll probably skin you." Sansa chuckled. "Will you be at supper? Robb thought you would be sleeping in this morning."

Jon nodded. "I should be…" He trailed off however at the thought of who else would be there.

Sansa caught on, and her grin dropped. "She's surprised, but Robb made it clear that you are here at his invitation and Mother can't do anything about it." She said quietly. "Roslin was swooning over you both too, and she loves Roslin." Jon once again was grateful for the new Lady Stark, though a meeting with the old one was something he was desperate to put off for as long as possible. Sansa could see his discomfort and hugged him again. "Anyway, I best be off. Maester Corwin is showing me the stores today so we know what we need to bring in from the last harvest."

And as quickly as Sansa had arrived, she was gone again, leaving a bewildered Jon stood with the bow still in his hands. He turned to Ygritte who was equally as bewildered, before holding his hand out for her to take. "Come on, there's one last place I want to take you that I know you'll love." He told her, before he took her down the path to the one place he knew Catelyn Stark hated, the Godswood.

It was just how Jon remembered it thankfully, the enormous Weirwood showing the melancholic face that Jon had prayed at so often. Ygritte once again was in awe at the size of the place. "You have a forest… inside a castle." She whispered, before looking over at the pond. "Is it cold?"

Jon shook his head. "Winterfell is built on hot springs, we often swam in that pond as children, it was always warm."

Ygritte grinned, as she led Jon by the hand over towards it. She stopped as they reached the tree however. "The way you look when your Father's wife is mentioned… you look like she's a Thenn."

Jon couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. "She's no Thenn, but Lady Stark…" He wondered how to explain it to her. "She was never overtly cruel… at least not often. But she always made me feel small, feel like I didn't belong. When all I needed was a mother she shunned me and made her children know I was different since they could understand anything." He looked up at the Weirwood tree as the memories of hiding in the Godswood returned. "I used to come here to escape the glares."

"Shall I kill her?" Ygritte said nonchalantly.

Looking at her in horror, Jon shook his head. "Gods, no. She's my siblings' mother. I learnt to deal with her distain years back, Ygritte." He moved closer to her. "I'm here, with you. That's what matters."

He leant in and captured her lips once more with a kiss, one she reciprocated happily until she pulled away, her hands toying at the hem of her shirt. "Come and join me in the pool, Jon Snow. The water will help with your wounds."

Jon wanted nothing more, but he looked back at the Weirwood. "I'll join you in a moment, I just want to pray."

Ygritte understood, and she began to undress herself as Jon slowly walked up to the tree. He heard a splash as he dropped down to his knees, closing his eyes before the carved face. He moved his hand out so that he could touch the Weirwood's roots, and as his hand connected with the tree, his eyes flashed white.

To make more of an effect Luke was intentionally ten minutes later than planned for his first Small Council meeting back. As he walked with Ser Barristan into the chamber behind the Throne Room he was pleased to see everybody rise to their feet quickly. Making his way to his own seat without a word, Luke sat down and watched as the rest of the Council did the same in response.

"I know I have missed a few of these meetings, and I trust that the Kingdom hasn't suffered in my absence." Luke began. "But I have returned now, and from now on our overall focus will be on the North and the White Walkers. I want us to be as prepared for the summons from the Wall as we possibly could be."

"Ravens have been sent to each Lord Paramount's castle in the last few hours requesting that they start preparing their vassals." The Grand Maester stated. "We should start receiving responses in the next few days from the closest castles, though Winterfell and Pyke may be longer."

"House Mallister has reached an arrangement with House Ryswell over ferrying horses capable of winter travel to the rest of the Seven Kingdom's." Jon explained. "I also understand that Lord Ryswell has agreed a matrilineal marriage pact with Lord Bracken for one of his younger sons to wed the lady heir of Lord Bracken, with the children of the couple to further the Bracken line."

That pleased Luke, as the King sat up in anticipation. "The Ryswell's and the Bracken's are two of the biggest horse breeders in the realm, a union between them can only be good for breeding sturdy horses during Winter."

"They won't be fully grown in time, but even young horses are capable of pulling wagons in the most trying of circumstances." Oberyn said from his seat.

"There is more news from the Riverlands, Your Grace." Gormon Tyrell added. "Lord Tully has wed."

Luke's happiness at one less suitor for his sister was threatening to show itself, but the King kept his composure. "Who is the lucky Lady Tully?" He asked.

"Lady Lianne Vance, of Wayfarer's Rest. The sister of his childhood friend, Lord Karyl." The Grand Maester answered.

Luke raised his goblet. "May they be happy together and have many sons." He toasted. "When the Riverrun raven returns, we must send them our congratulations."

The Grand Maester bowed. "There is only one more raven that requires your attention, Your Grace. It hails from Casterly Rock."

Tyrion Lannister had been relatively quiet since Luke had left the Westerlands so the King's full attention was captured once again. "What does Lord Tyrion want?"

"He requests that his nephew be sent to Casterly Rock to squire. Tommen Lannister is his heir at this moment of time and Lord Tyrion states he wishes for the boy to be raised as the future Lord of Casterly Rock."

Luke's face was now a scowl. "I told him when we came to our agreement that the bastard would remain here indefinitely."

"Legitimised Lannister, Your Grace." Mace Tyrell corrected.

Luke took a deep breath to stop whatever tirade he could feel coming. "Whatever the case, my decision will stand. Tommen Lannister or Tommen Waters, some chancers may wrongfully still see the boy as Tommen Baratheon, and I will not give him up to Casterly Rock while he is still in his youth." He turned to the Grand Maester. "Send a response back to Lord Tyrion explaining that Tommen will remain in the Red Keep, though the boy may squire for either his sisters sworn protector Ser Arys Oakheart, or another knight may be sent to the Red Keep to take him on as a squire, and a place of honour shall be given to this knight within the Gold Cloaks."

"As you command, Your Grace." Gormon nodded.

Taking another, more vigorous gulp of his wine, Luke turned around to the rest of the table. "Now, unless there is anything else I would like to fully understand the state of the realm's ability to march Northwards. Lord Velaryon, how is our navy?"

The Master of Ships began his explanations, and the newly reinvigorated King spent the majority of the day shut away with his Small Council, pouring over plan after plan with those that ran the Kingdom, and by the time of the end of the meeting Luke felt pleased with the progress that had been made. The Starks often said that Winter was Coming, and the King truly believed that by the time it did, the Seven Kingdom's would be ready.

The cave was dark and quiet, but Bran had far too much to think about. He had just seen the creation of the White Walkers and felt betrayed by the Children of the Forest who had been so kind to him since his arrival yet were the cause of all the horror that was to come. He looked up at the Three Eyed Raven, who was in a new vision that Bran hadn't been invited to. Scowling, Bran turned away, noticing Meera was sat at the edge of the cave.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

Meera looked over in surprise. "I thought you were asleep." She said quietly, before looking up at the Three Eyed Raven. "I don't trust him."

Bran honestly thought the same. "He's teaching me." He said.

"Teaching you what, how to look at visions?" Meera asked. "Has he explained your purpose? Jojen thought we would bring you here to learn why you are so important to fight the White Walkers, but all you've done here is go from vision to vision, and now he's keeping things from us."

Bran frowned. "He's showing me vital things to help me understand the White Walkers." He explained. "Their origin and how to stop them…" And Jon's true parentage, though he kept that to himself.

"Has he shown you the first Long Night? Whatever happened thousands of years ago to stop them the first time around?" Meera asked.

"No." The Three Eyed Raven stated, back in the present. "Because that will not work again. You must defeat the Night King for good, only then will the world be safe." He paused for a moment. "But you must leave now. He is coming."

"What?" Bran asked. "But… I'm not ready? I don't know everything."

"You will, Brandon Stark." The Three Eyed Raven stated. "The purpose of your journey here was to open your third eye, to accept the power of the Greenseer's and to learn how to control the visions. You are my successor, and on the moment of my death you shall become me, my very essence of being will flow into you. But if you remain here, you shall die with me. Go now, travel southwards and you shall meet an ally who shall aid you back to Castle Black."

Meera jumped to her feet. "So that's it? Jojen died for what?"

"For the world to be saved." The Three Eyed Raven stated bluntly. "The more time you argue, the less time you have to escape. Take the sword at my feet, Meera Reed. It must be given to the Prince."

"What Prince?" Meera asked, her voice was growing louder. "You tell us nothing but riddles! Speak plainly!"

But something in Bran was calm, his hands resting against the Weirwood roots showed him that danger was growing the longer they stayed. "Meera, do as he says." The Stark said calmly. Meera just huffed and angrily grabbed the cobweb covered sword before storming off to go and fetch Hodor. Bran turned to the Three Eyed Raven. "Will I know when…" He trailed off.

"You shall." The Three Eyed Raven stated. "The next time you touch a Weirwood, you shall become me. That which you are shall be merged into what has come before, and you shall take up the mantle of the Three Eyed Raven, you shall become the Last Greenseer, and the realms of men shall rest on your shoulders."

Bran gulped at the responsibility, but again he was relatively calm. Hodor arrived at that moment and picked Bran up. "Thank you, for teaching me to fly." He said finally.

The Three Eyed Raven simply nodded. "I shall mask your escape. The Night King shan't find you."

Bran was relieved at that. "Come on Hodor, we need to go." He said.

"Hodor." Said Hodor, carrying Bran away as they started the long journey back home.

"Jon! Jon! Wake up!" He heard. His surroundings came back to him then as the lone tower in the desert shifted back to the snowy Godswood of Winterfell. Ygritte had cradled him in her lap and she was only wearing a shift, her red hair wet and dripping.

"I'm ok." He whispered, the words almost getting stuck in his throat.

"You touched the tree and collapsed." Ygritte stated, concerned. "Your eyes went white, Like Orell's did when he…" She trailed off. "Are you a Warg?"

Jon thought of his wolf dreams, but shook his head. "No, I wasn't in an animal. I…" He didn't know how to explain it. "I was in the past."

Ygritte frowned. "You're no Greenseer, Jon Snow. You'd know if you were."

"No, I'm no Greenseer." Jon agreed. "It's like… one pulled me into their vision." He looked up at the tree in fear. "But that's impossible…"

"You're a dead man living with your own eyes." Ygritte stated. "You don't know what impossible is."

Jon couldn't bring himself to laugh as his brain was still trying to make sense of everything. "I… I was in the desert, in Dorne. I saw my Father… he was young though." His eyes widened as things started to make sense. "I saw him kill Arthur Dayne and reach my Aunt Lyanna." Ygritte had heard the story before, and she kept silent as he continued the ramble. "She was dying… she'd just had a baby… she'd just had…" He pulled himself up as he moved over to the water's edge, his own reflection staring back up at him. He could see the resemblance a bit.

"You're worrying me now, Jon Snow." Ygritte said from behind him.

Jon turned to face her, the emotions he'd been mostly bottling since his revival all rushing to the surface. "I'm not Ned Stark's bastard, Ygritte. My entire life has been a lie…"

The red-head froze. "Who are you then?" She asked him the question he had been waiting for an answer all his life, only now he finally knew, and the truth was even worse than not knowing.

His face was frozen in a mix of confusion and pain as he explained. "She called me Aegon Targaryen… I'm the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen…"

Malck was an OC requested by one of my readers, Maksell.

I figured Robb would both be delighted to see Jon and worried he was going to need to make a terrible choice if he was a deserter, so tried to include that in their initial conversation. Ultimately though they are brothers no matter what, and Robb will always make Jon feel welcome.

As far as I'm aware it's only the Queen that can't take her Husband's name. Catelyn often gets called Catelyn Tully and Catelyn Stark intermittently, Lysa is known as Lysa Arryn for the most part etc so my feeling was that now Robb and Roslin seem to have formed a good bond she is known as Roslin Stark.

The scene in King's Landing was mainly admin, but some important information was included, namely Edmure Tully getting married and Tyrion's reaffirmation that Tommen will be his heir.

In this story, the sheer power of the Three Eyed Raven showing Jon the vision is what signalled the Night King to the cave, so while Bran doesn't have the mark, the Night King still basically is homing in on Winterfell so knows where to go after coming for the Three Eyed Raven.

And finally, Jon knows the truth! He's had more of a focus in the story because we all know the truth, but of course the character didn't. I'm really excited for the future of Jon's story here and the torment this will cause him.

Thank you all for reading and I'm sorry about the delay again.

Next Time: Jon confides in Robb, while Luke and Margaery have a long-awaited talk.

Reviews:

Darbiboi: This is a show fic, and while I do use some book things when necessary, the Iron Throne is as you see it on Game of Thrones.

Cleo9427: Of course she isn't wrong. Luke isn't perfect after all, but he's now just taking control of the narrative.

Hail King Cerion: Thank you! Ygritte living is something I like doing, despite the only time I've kept her alive I ended up killing her in the Long Night… I really liked the scene in Fire and Blood with Jaehaerys and Rogar, so getting to adapt it here was super fun.

C.E.W: I never thought Robb would actually care that Jon left other than out of a sense of duty, but Jon would never have not told his brother the truth in my opinion. I intentionally wanted Jon to be avoiding Cat, so they won't have a scene together straight away.

Grzana: I don't mind these questions! Personally I don't have an opinion either way on William because there are parts of the history that I like, and parts I despise. On the one hand he was a French invader and completely ripped apart the country's structure and was responsible for some heinous actions, namely the Harrying of the North, but some of the things he introduced really improved the country as well and allowed it to become a true force in Europe.

RHatch89: Oh I haven't forgotten! The shot of Viserys on the Throne with his sword left such an impact on me that I knew I needed to adapt it.

aegon Targaryen17: Ah, well he's going to be a big part of the story.

Cringelord: I cannot recommend reading those scenes enough, they're vital. Jon's parts especially now that he's away from the Wall because he's effectively one of the three main characters being an adult Targaryen.

Ghost: No.

King Loren: No.

El: Jaime is at his lowest point. His sister and father are dead and he's been shoved to one side to the Wall. If he was at his best mentality of course he would know he could lead, but at this point he's basically waiting to die. Becoming the Lord Commander however may change that as he has a purpose again.

Xman123: There are spies everywhere…