A Holiday by Decree

~~ Day 2 ~~

"Tyrion, you know I've thought about it quite a bit in the last couple years, since I last saw you in Winterfell. You must think me awful: I realize I somehow never really apologized to you or thanked you properly," Sansa Stark confessed.

Tyrion blinked. A cold rush passed through his veins at her words.

And he had just gotten comfortable with the notion that their conversation was going to be all small talk!

He scrambled mentally to put together a sensible reply. "That's really not necessary," he tried until she looked ready to retort. He could not allow it though. "Sansa, your apology really was not needed - the things you've done, any way you've acted or ways that you've treated me were - well, they were all understandable. And as thank yous go - anything I can do to help you will likely still never cover fully the extensive damage my family did to yours-"

Sansa interrupted him though. "Be serious, Tyrion - like it could really be up to you to atone for all they did. Your family hurt you too, and besides - I should have contacted you again, but I didn't, and that was wrong," she confessed.

Tyrion looked at her more warmly than she could have guessed. He had wondered on occasion if he had ascribed to her a goodness that he had imagined over the years they had been apart. It was part of what he thought about in the times when he wondered what could have been. Her words seemed to prove he had been right about her goodness. "Though it didn't necessarily require it, I assure you it's forgiven," he said, managing to smile.

When Sansa smiled back, her sadness remained evident though. He could tell she was hurting and not just from things having to do with him.

It hurt Tyrion's heart, but was there anything he could really do?

Despite her apologetic confession earlier, Tyrion felt sure that Sansa's feelings about him, as the undesirable husband who had been thrust upon her as a girl, probably didn't run deep. To her, he was likely still just the "the Imp" - a nuisance to most, and while he fought tooth and nail for it, the source of his prowess was generally only interpreted as a factor of his backers.

Because of all this, he knew compliments from him weren't exactly coveted. However, life had taught him that he might never have another opportunity to express a fraction of his fondness for her - and if there was any chance it could lift her spirits and let her know someone cared (even if it was just Tyrion Lannister) - then, for her, he could confess: "That notwithstanding, I always hoped that I might see you again under some better circumstances, Sansa. So even though it's unexpected, seeing you now taking a rest in such a beautiful place, means a lot to me. I wish you only happiness."