The first thing Brienne did was scream. Scream because… because being eaten alive by wights was something horrible. Then she realized that, before arriving to that bed, she had indeed been in… other place. What place? She wasn´t entirely sure, only that… she was in company of someone so beautiful that she couldn´t help but think that in front of her, even women like Margaery Tyrell or Daenerys Targaryen would feel inferior. The female knight remembered that the gentle maiden offered her a beautiful smile and told her that she was going to travel… towards her one love. Also bid her not to commit the same mistakes as before… but what mistakes did she commit? All she did, she did following her own conscience and notion of honor. There was nothing wrong with what she did… or was there? Perhaps it was because they lost the Long Night, she thought. Yes, it had to be that.

"Brienne!" Lord Selwyn Tarth opened the door of his daughter´s room. Brienne looked at him… it had been too long since they had last saw each other. Practically since much before his death. She didn´t want to, but… and… "Has something happened? Are you alright?"

Having her father worry so much about her made guilt bloom in her chest once more. Lord Selwyn had been a good father and supported her in everything, even… well… the fact was that she owed her father a lot even before renouncing her claim to join the Kingsguard or losing the Long Night. And how did she pay him back? Not even attending to his funeral. Just that made her feel so guilty that she couldn´t help but embrace her father.

"I´m alright, father, it was only a nightmare" she answered, hugging him tightly. Maybe this was one of the mistakes the Maiden, because she was sure the strange visitor was the Maiden herself, mentioned she committed. She needed to fix everything with Selwyn. "Father?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Thank you"

"What?"

"Thank you, father, for everything" she started. "For always supporting me, for standing this disappointment of a daughter that can´t even get a husband, for allowing me to pursue martial pursuits and…"

"Brienne, Brienne, stop" her father smiled at her. "You don´t need to thank me for that, your smile was all the thanks I needed. So don´t think more about that or the nightmare you supposedly had and get back to sleep."

"Right" the female knight answered and rearranged her covers so she could get back to sleep, then remembered something. "I… was thinking about going to King´s Landing one of these days. To visit Lord Renly."

"Our gallant Lord Renly really gave you an impression, no?" a member of the Kingsguard was more her type now than her first love, but there was no way she was telling Selwyn that. "I guess you can go a few days, I need to contact the King about some pirates that crossed our waters lately, so I can send my heir… but you can´t stay there with Lord Renly! You have to return sooner than later!"

"Of course, father"

"Good, then you depart in a few days" Selwyn walked to the door. "Goodnight, Brienne."

"Good night, father."

As she laid back on the bed, she couldn´t help but dream about the Dragon Fury and the second Long Night. Frankly, she had believed that the world would end in a blazing hot, burnt to ashes by the Children of Daenerys. Then she realized that the world, even the dragons, would end in the Ice of the Night King. She wasn´t sure which was worse. And the Dragons left them alone to fend the wights and White Walkers by themselves… he hoped they found a death as horrible as them Westerosi. And now that she thought about death, there was one regret that she had, one regret that she would do everything to undo… Brienne took off with guards the next week towards King´s Landing. She was wearing her armor, the same she had used in the tourney where Renly admitted her into his Rainbow Guard. She smiled a bit when she remembered it… something that wasn´t going to happen this time around. Over the time, she had understood that Renly´s defeat was inevitable. He was… beautiful and shinny like copper, and like copper he wasn´t worth much. His charisma was great, but he didn´t understand what it truly meant to rule. He would make a mess, one even worse than his brother Robert. Even so…

"Lady Tarth! I wasn´t informed that you were going to come!" Renly saluted her with a smile. Behind him, Loras Tyrell was watching her with a smile that clearly said what he thought about her. It was thanks to idiots like him that she got the moniker "the Beauty".

"I was sent by my father to talk to King Robert and Lord Stannis about a recent pirate problem near Tarth" she answered, a smile gracing her face. "I was hoping to get an audience quickly?"

"Of course, but my brother is very busy lately, so perhaps they would make you wait. You don´t have a problem with that, no?"

"Not at all" she answered, even if she had to time her departure. She turned around and then she stopped herself. Jaime Lannister was there, following a young girl that could only be his bastard daughter Myrcella.

Jaime stopped in his tracks too, his eyes widening as they made contact with hers. She didn´t need any more explanation, he remembered her. He remembered her and… it was then that he appeared. And watching her in that way. The former Lord Hand of Brandon the Broken, Lord Tyrion Lannister of Casterly Rock. He was watching her in that way, as if he was evaluating her and trying to uncover her secrets to manipulate her… Jaime also noticed and made a gesture as he pushed his daughter to walk faster. She understood immediately, they would talk later. Where Tyrion couldn´t hear them. It was a pleasure to know that she wasn´t the only one that understood just how dangerous the Imp could be.

"Lady Tarth…"

"I follow you, Lord Renly"

Brienne followed the Master of Laws. She was offered a refreshment, but she decided to go without it. By tea time, she decided to have her meal in the small garden near to where Princess Myrcella was allowed to have her own private ones. It was bland, unlike the other ones, but it brought her calm. Besides, it was hidden from the eyes of the Keep.

"I thought I would find you here" Jaime said, still in his armor of the Kingsguard, sitting down in front of her. "Would you mind…"

"Help yourself" she answered, a bit cold. "Are you and your sister…"

"I haven´t even stepped a foot inside my sister´s chambers since I came back. I mean…" he looked guiltily at her. "Leaving you to come back to her was a mistake. Even loving her was a mistake in the first place. And Tyrion… they are the same, ambitious and cunning and I was only their puppet until…"

"I know Tyrion, what he is capable of too" she sighed. "On one of our few conversations, Jocelyn told me that he was going to be the ruin of the Seven Kingdoms" she shook her head. "I should have heard her, that girl was wiser beyond her years, you would be proud of her."

"Proud of… her?" Jamie asked as he swallowed a bit of cake. "Why?"

"You… truly don´t know?" he shook his head. "Tyrion didn´t tell you?" the look the Lannister put when his lover mentioned his younger brother told her everything. "That worm… I guess it made sense that he didn´t tell you about her, after all, it was him that he opposed to her being legitimized as a Lannister and given Casterly Rock… even if I was glad she became Lady of Tarth…"

"You lost me"

"I… guess there is no other way to tell you than the direct one: we had a daughter, her name was Jocelyn" Brienne confessed. "I… didn´t really have much to do with her raising because of my duties as Commander of the Kinsguard, something that I truly regret. My father raised her for me… we weren´t close at that point and I guess Jocelyn took after him… the distance between me and her grew as she became Lady of Tarth after my father passed…"

"How… how was she?" Jamie tried to picture that daughter of his. He got to know all his children by Cersei, this child by Brienne… he should have stayed with her. "I… was she happy?"

"I… guess she was" the female knight looked down at her tea. "She didn´t write to me personally… but she seemed to be. She got your precious face and beautiful golden locks, so she had more luck than me to get a husband. A Penrose second or third son… and she didn´t invite me to her wedding. Neither told me when she made me a grandmother" she shook her head. "Tyrion didn´t like her at all."

"I don´t like him much right now either, less with what you have told me" Jamie took a sip from his own tea. "But I feel compelled to ask why."

"He once said to me that my daughter was Tywin Lannister reborn"

"So she was like Cersei…"

"No, Jocelyn was many things, but not like your fool of a sister. She was… smart. Cunning when she had to be. No wonders Tyrion felt threatened by her" a tear felt down her face. "It took the Long Night to take her down."

"I´m sorry" he joined his hand with her. "We can do better now, better with this second chance. I will remain alive to see her be born and grow up… I will make sure Tyrion doesn´t get in her way either, that we are both alive to raise her…"

"If the Night King crosses the Wall again…"

"That isn´t going to happen" Jaime promised. "We are going to make sure that fucker is defeated. And not only that, but that he isn´t capable of coming back."

"Don´t promise things you can keep"

"I can do anything for you and my children." Even working with his menace of a brother to secure the peace. "Jocelyn is one of them now."

"And Joffrey?"

"The exception to the rule" the Kingsguard got up. "I have to go now, but I will send you a message soon. We need to be careful though, I´m sure Cersei is searching for the reason I´m refusing her now. And Tyrion… I don´t trust him either."

"Me neither" Brienne got up. "Is he planning something?"

"I think he is making plans for many things already, some of them that we aren´t going to like at all" he looked around. "I will try to stay by his side and learn as much as I can from those plans before they actually affect us. Or they cause a worse war."

"He won´t risk it, not with the Battle for the Dawn so close. He is not that stupid" the heiress of Tarth crossed her arms. "We should focus on stopping the war of the Five Kings. In that, your brother will be our ally."

"He already is" Jaime finished another cake. "He is making plans as we talk for Arryn´s murder to fall on Baelish or Pycelle´s heads. So, if you heard that either the Grand maester or the master of Coin has been executed for treason, you already know whose fault it is."

"It won´t be that bad" she looked around carefully. "We have spent enough time together. A little bit more and your sister will begin to think I am the reason you are refusing her."

"Let me deal with Cersei, I want to hear more about Jocelyn."

"Jaime… you know we can´t" she got up. "If Cersei or Tyrion ever learn of this, it can bring us a lot of troubles. Better for them to think that… we don´t know each other." She walked away. "Now, I have a last place I need to be in before talking to Robert and leave King´s Landing."

"Where?"

Brienne didn´t answer, she simply left. Jaime will have to find out on his own. As for her, she went to the Street of Steel. To the best smithy there was. She told the owner that she wanted a new set of armor, also that she heard that he had a pretty talented apprentice, one that has made a helmet with the shape of a bull. She was taken to Gendry Waters immediately to discuss her armor… or should she said Gendry Baratheon? The former Lord of Storm´s End threw her a look of warning and took her to the back of the smithy, where he was sure no one would hear them.

"How did you know?"

"I thought that the only one the Smith could choose would be the best craftsman of our time and that is undoubtedly you, my lord. No one else has managed to produce Valyrian steel…" Gendry shuddered by that. "In the conversation, I mentioned the armor you made for Boros Baratheon. The only one that had that name in the recent times is…"

"My firstborn, I know" the smith turned his face. "Guess my reaction to his name gave me up" it would give up anyone, Brienne wanted to add, Boros Baratheon had a particularly gruesome death. "What do you want?"

"Ask you for Valyrian Steel"

"You can forget about it" Gendry said with a tense face. "I don´t have the materials needed to produce that kind of steel just now. And, even if I had, I would be reluctant to offer it to you."

"But if you got the materials…"

"I won´t do it anyway"

"Gendry…"

"I´m too worried about staying alive right now. If you haven´t noticed, Cersei Lannister is going to kill Robert Baratheon´s bastards as soon as her wretch of a son is on the throne and I need to be away from here before that. Even with a job as a smith apprentice, you don´t get the amount of money to start over overnight being a bastard or a peasant."

"Why haven´t you gone to the North if that worries you? The Starks would have received you"

"Brienne, the Starks are the reason things became as bad as they ended up before. And, even if I still had a certain amount of trust in them, I can´t risk going to Winterfell right now, not with Jon Snow there" he shook his head. "If he is like us and sees me, he will definitely kill me. That is something I won´t risk."

"Then… why don´t you come to Tarth with me? Our smith is turning old and has no apprentice. A new one would be very welcomed."

"And what? Fight for my uncle Renly?" Gendry asked, carefully watching the Lady. He had heard about Renly from his goodfamily, the Estermonts. They painted him as charismatic, but utterly unworthy of being King, a summer knight that won´t survive one second in a true battle. Not like Robert… or Gendry. "No, thank you"

"We are working on stopping the War of the Five Kings. And, even if we don´t manage, Tarth is going to remain neutral… for everyone´s sake."

"I trust you to be sincere and honorable, Ser" he answered after a few moments to evaluate her offer. "Alright, I will accompany you. But don´t expect me to offer you any Valyrian Steel, now or ever."

Brienne nodded and walked away after shaking hands with him. She smiled, her next suit of armor is going to be a work of art. And she might change Gendry´s mind with time. They needed the Valyrian Steel after all. She walked towards the castle and wondered how Jaime was going to react when she told him that she was going to house the Smith´s chosen, the forger of Valyrian Steel, was going to be in Tarth. He was going to be so…

"Welcome back, Lady Tarth" a voice got her out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw the dwarf looking up at her. "Or should I say Lord Commander?"

"It´s a pleasure to see you again, Lord Tyrion"

-In another place-

The complete white had enveloped him, he couldn´t see anything but it. Not after the White Walkers overran the Wall and killed him and his men in the process. Yes, he had gone to the Wall. Why? He hadn´t committed any crime, there was no need… but there was. There was. And they were awfully unprepared when they realized that their watch was not over. He did everything he could, wondering more than once why he was shielding the World of the Living when he had nothing left? And when his reasons to fight, the family he left behind to pursue whatever honor he was pursuing (a notion they would never understand), came to his mind, he could only feel repulsed. They were all like his brother… or worse. What they had become, honorless tyrants and idiots that didn´t care about anyone but themselves… it made him want to hurl. But also… gave him a reason. So he died with that reason in his mouth. Axel Tully, Trystane Tully, Lysa Arryn… those names repeated. They were all he had left.

Brynden… a voice called in the middle of the whiteness. Brynden Tully…

He looked around in alarm, wondering who was talking. There was no one there… was there? He then noticed two figures that were walking towards him. The knight searched for his sword with his hand, but found nothing. As the figures continued to approach, he noticed that he knew one of them. It had silver hair and those dark purple eyes that haunted him until his last moment, even if in his dreams belonged to another man. The man his family had hurt the most. The man who accompanied him was… like those one of those images in the Sept of Riverrun. Specifically, the Father.

Brynden Tully… the god, because that was the only thing he could be, called him.

"Are you here to punish me, my lord?" the Blackfish asked, looking warily at them. "Is Daeron here for me to see one last time before I´m thrown into the Seven Hells for my failures?"

Good heavens, child, no… the Father quickly dismissed his insecurities… we are here to offer you something.

"How? How could you offer me something when everything I have done in my life is fail? I couldn´t keep Cat and Robb alive, nor Lysa… and the others… I couldn´t keep them on the right path… couldn´t make them do the honorable thing… and in the end… in the end… even when I was trying to do the right thing… their greed was the end of everything."

They were not the only ones…

"No, but they contributed a lot. And their greed and hunger for power made us an enemy of the dragons, so they would no longer help us. Without them…"

Oh, Brynden, it wasn´t your fault, it was never your fault… the Father approached, putting a hand on his shoulder… My poor boy, you have always tried to be a father to your brother´s children, to put them on the right path as you knew their father won´t.

"My brother didn´t know anything about honor"

And that´s the reason you tried to teach it to those girls and boy about honor. So they could learn it and teach it to their children and they became people of good… the god continued… but they didn´t. War transformed them, split the children of your beloved nieces and nephew from you and turned them into self-centered creatures that only cared for their personal power. In the end, you reached the breaking point… even your nephew, who you practically raised, was like that… another greedy Hoster…

"They were willing to usurp kin, to usurp…" he looked desperately at the man that accompanied the Father there. "Daeron, I´m so sorry. After so many years, I´m still undeserving of the love and trust you put in me."

"You were never undeserving, Brynden" the long dead Targaryen prince approached his lover, a smile on his face. "You did everything you could."

"I allowed them to usurp your blood, not once or twice, but many times over… they were so… for the Seven, they were willing to murder kin! Murder kin for power! Little children! I… I couldn´t take it anymore. I couldn´t…" the Blackfish kneeled in front of the other man. "I´m sorry, Daeron, I´m so sorry. Jeremy would have been so much better for you, he… he died by your side… the only thing I ever did was falling you. I couldn´t… couldn´t even save you…"

"My Brynden, dead arrives for everybody. It´s a pity that I had to depart so early, with Jeremy by my side and leave you behind" Daeron approached him, putting his arms around him like did when they had a moment of privacy and he wanted to show him his love. "It was never your fault. And it was never mine" he placed a hand on his chest. "Here is where I will be forever, my spirit will never leave you… my love, my Blackfish."

"Daeron…" he felt at peace now, again in Daeron´s arms, and he didn´t want to leave again.

"You and I couldn´t have our own children, never. Even if I had lived enough and spent my life by your side… but you found children to love as your own. Now, you could perhaps save them… and also the children of my own blood, who had lost themselves to ire and coldness. Perhaps you could save more than their honor…"

"What?! But…"

"I know, my love, I know" he looked back, at the god that was watching them with a sad smile on his face. "I know it hurts to part so soon after we reunited… but the Father has chosen you for an important mission. You who tried to be a father to so many without having children of your own body, who tried to stir them in the path of goodness… try again."

"Daeron…"

"And remember that I will always be with you, no matter what, my spirit is always with you. So don´t have hurry to die"

"Daeron, I…" Brynden stopped himself. His family… that last generation might be rotten, but there were still innocents that deserved to be saved. That deserved a life. "I understand" he turned to the Father and kneeled. "I will serve you, Father, as an anointed knight must."

Good… the god smiled at him again… you are about to begin a great trip again. As I turn back the sands of time, you will reach the beginning of the history that leads to the end. Another chance will be granted to you to right the wrongs… so don´t fail.

"It will be done as you say" he turned to see his love one last time. "Daeron…"

"I´m always with you" their lips touched one last time. "Always"

Brynden woke up in that moment, but he wasn´t in his room at Castle Black anymore. No, he was in the Vale again. His room when he was Knight of the Bloody Gate, barely illuminated as every morning before that catastrophe that was the War of the Five Kings… but it was not. He could still taste Daeron on his lips and remember everything that took them there. He grabbed the Blackfish pin he always carried with him (a dragonglass piece from Dragonstone, gift of Daeron himself) and kissed it.

"I won´t fail again" he said as he grabbed quill and parchment. He had to warn Cat immediately.

-In another place-

Loneliness was nearly suffocating… but he had chosen this loneliness. He could very well be with Ash and the others, enjoying the family he had there or the brothers he still had to meet… but he had chosen loneliness. Why? Because it reminded him of his failure. And everything that failure had caused. How could he face his best friend knowing how it all ended? How could he hug his family when he knew what his failure had brought? And Stark… damn the day he married that Tully bitch and spawned those abominable brats!

Rhaegar had suffered a lot with what had happened. All the planning, all the studying, everything he did to prevent the end… and it was for nothing. But that was not what hurt the most. What hurt the most was seeing what they did to his son. His once innocent and caring son, the one that loved them the most… they had ripped that heart out, chew it and spat it´s remains on the snow. He wanted to kill Stark again on the moment he realized what his children had done… but the gods kept him away. They had important things in reserve for Stark.

Arthur Dayne… Sword of the Morning…

The White Cloak turned around to see who was breaking his solitude and found a dark cloaked being coming his way. It was no human soul.

"The Stranger, I suppose" he said, crossing his arms. "It is a surprise that you have come to me, I thought you only came to people when it is their moment to die" the knight held his gaze. "We haven´t seen each other since the Tower of Joy."

Arthur Dayne… dead before the time of need… dead before his time… wouldn´t you want to fix things?

"How could things be fixed? They have long since passed. The White Walkers govern now and the only thing in their frozen world apart from them is their undead thralls."

The Last Hero set their King ablaze, so they have also lost… but there is nothing left either, live or dead, so the gods are no longer needed and in time will also disappear to give way to a new world… unless we fix things

"Fix things?"

My brothers and sisters are choosing champions in this moment and so I am. I want you to be my chosen one. Would you accept?

"What would it mean to accept?"

It means that you are going to be sent back to the beginning. Not as a ghost or a specter, but as a full human again. Just like in the moment you died, death will turn back in time… but a few years in the future, when the War of the Five King was about to explode.

"But… but how is that going to…"

He will have a loyal sword by his side, someone that is willing to remind him that there are some people who will always be by his side. Are you willing to accept, Arthur Dayne?

Arthur thought about the petition for more than a moment. If he were to accept, he could protect his King like he should have done since he was born. He could keep his promise to Rhaegar and even protect the Queen. Seven Hells, he could even have his revenge against Stark and Jaime Lannister… but, at the same time… NO

"Alright, I accept" he answered. "Send me back to the beginning, I will be your champion and make everything in my power so humanity survives. Everything for the King."

The Stranger only nodded before the scenery disappeared from Arthur´s view to be replaced by a storm of sand and a sensation he could never describe. Piece by piece, in the middle of the sands of his homeland, Arthur´s body was reconstructed until he looked the same as he did the day Howland Reed and Eddard Stark killed him, except for his Kingsguard armor. He was instead wearing a dark combination of breeches and tunic with a black hood. And attire worthy of the champion of Death.

"Alright, time to start" he pushed his hood over his hair and started walking. There was a long way to Starfall, after all, and he was long due a visit to his family.

-In Winterfell-

Eddard Stark had waited for long, wanting to give the children space and for them to come to him for advice about their problems. Unfortunately, most of them seemed to only trust themselves. He had made progress with Robb and Rickon, but the others seemed… almost like strangers. The Lord of Winterfell was puzzled, he couldn´t even say he knew his own children anymore. Cat was helping, but… there was one child that his wife would never look after.

"Jon, wait" he stopped his son in the middle of the corridor. The boy turned around, his curtain of hair falling around his shoulders. The transformation in Jon had been incredible. And not only in his attitude, in his appearance too. His usual northern appearance has changed for one more… Valyrian. He had let his hair grow and held it half back. His dark eyes glinted purple with how the light hit them.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Son, you… you can call me father when we aren´t…"

"I prefer not to say any lies, my lord. At least not between ourselves" he looked at Lord Stark with something akin to disdain. Or was it disappointment? "If you excused me, I have things to do in Wintertown. There are a few idiots there waiting for me to relieve them of their money in the gambling table."

"Gam… Jon, you gamble?! Since when?! Why?!"

But his son didn´t answer, he simply went away. Eddard watched him without understanding. Where had he gone wrong? He had raised his children to be good people and now Sansa was a liar, Arya confessed she was a murderer, Bran didn´t care about anything and Jon gambled. He… he didn´t know what to do anymore.

"Be a pack, be a family" he reminded himself and moved forward. It was time to do some talking.

Hello! Now you have the next chapter of this history. Are you liking it yet? Review!