A Holiday by Decree
"Sansa - Sansa Stark," Jon intoned again.
Sansa startled at the sound. Across the heavy wooden table in the Great Hall of Winterfell, a visiting Jon helped her review plans for more permanent repairs and improvements to the keep. He may have turned out not to be her brother, but being that they were among the last ones alive that could remember growing up in Winterfell under the last Stark reign, they grew closer now than ever before.
Unfortunately, despite the importance of their work, Sansa had spaced out during their work session.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Jon, but could you just repeat the last couple things you said? I find that usually helps me catch up a bit when this happens now and again," she explained, as if she had not zoned out and apologized to him just a few days before - as well as the time before that.
"Sansa, does this happen often?" Jon asked as gently as he knew how. His fears of upsetting her had finally been outweighed by his concerns.
She seemed to think for a moment. They had never really discussed feelings together before. Their father had been more of a thinking man than most, and Jon had learned a lot from him at a young age. However, they had all learned early that Ned Stark had been an anomaly not only among the harsh men of the North but men in general. Even so, Jon felt ill-equipped to help; still, knowing just a bit of what Sansa had been through, he thought from his own experience that burying her fears and weaknesses had let her survive. Hell, if her demons and darkest moments were even half what his were, only a journey to the very core of her being would likely ever expose a fraction of those emotional scars.
Perhaps if Sansa could finally rest, even for just a bit, she could find the will to start healing? Having told her as much, he waited as the younger woman looked at him with an expression so serious, she seemed to age before his eyes.
"How can I leave? Who will rule while I'm away?" she asked with uncertainty.
"Arya is here - while I think she's only too happy to let you normally be Queen, I bet she'd be willing to step in, if she realized how badly you need the rest," he answered.
A small smirk quirked Sansa's lips, slightly easing the icy distance that had overtaken her a moment before. "Arya's never been the most diplomatic among us - do you think she can hold court and keep from inciting a riot?"
"She might manage, but it won't hurt that Brienne's here. The King of Westeros may also remain in the region for a bit to make sure," he said with a wink, referring to himself. Then, he told her about a getaway spot in the South, one he and Daenerys happily learned they came to own through the Crown.
