It was the night of the Honoring and after he had shipped his troops back to Kings Landing when Jon realized what he was going to do, what he had to do.
He wore hints of Targaryen red, a nice amount of Vela dark blue, and mostly Stark gray as he made his way with Andromeda to the sand, where she would cast the last of her family into the stars, where her brothers could forever be with the rest of them. She already had watery eyes as she walked to the place where she stood every year, this time without a regular partner and with a new one, a man this time. She herself was wearing a Vela's blue, and she was wearing just that.
She looked to her right, even extended her hand that way, and she she felt no slender fingers, her arm dropped. She was looking for support from a woman who would never be able to do so again, not physically. That made her even worse off that night.
Jon was to her left and a little behind her and walking with Odda, trailing and keeping a respectful distance. He was aware that his place was purely for her comfort, and that he was no King that night. That night, he was her love and her support system, nothing more and nothing less. The whole of the kingdom was there again, this time much less people. The sight of half of the men, women, and children gone made everything worse. She hadn't been the only one to lose her family, it had been everyone. She couldn't even look at them and their teary faces, some crying both for her and themselves. She turned to the sky, tears flowing freely.
Jon could hardly watch as the light of the stars illuminated her hands, his eyes squinting as they burned bright. He saw her arms fly up in a fit of passion after a long speech that he wasn't mentally present for, and her watched her fingers wiggle in a way that would have been cute under any other circumstance. Next to the flower that she had done for Elara, she placed a lion and an owl, two animals that truly symbolized the twins of House Vela.
He found himself feeling the same way he did two years ago on the same night, breathless, and feeling the strangest need to stay with her. Only, the need wasn't too strange now. Now, he craved to be near her, and it was all too familiar.
§
Jon was walking back to the chambers he shared with Andromeda when he heard a familiar voice, two familiar voices, speaking in hushed tones that almost did nothing due to the stone castle walls. He quieted his steps as he came closer to the bend, where the two would be standing.
"I trust her. I do, I really do." Sansa whispered, and Jon could see her body language mentally. He could imagine her swinging her hands about and her brows creasing to form one arch, her eyes worried about something, anything. "But if she fights for the North and I can't, will they see her as more of a fit leader?"
"Sansa," Arya said, shaking her head. "You need to stop doubting yourself. Everyone has allies, and this one happens to be the best ally we could ever have. And you've never fought before, why does it peak your interest now?"
"Because." Sansa said softly, because of insecurity rather than privacy. "I have sat out from too many battles, to many wars. I sat inside for the Battle of the Bastards, I stayed holed inside the crypt for the Long Night. Even at Kings Landing, I stayed inside with every other lady of the court."
"The Kings Landing battle was not yours to fight." Arya spoke truthfully. "At the Battle of the Bastards, you did more than you could've ever done on the field. The Knights of the Vale came because of you, and you saved them all. Way more lives were saved than if you were swinging a sword. And during the Long Night, let's face it. You would have died."
"I know."
"That's why we put you down there. You are much more use alive than dead."
"But I want to fight for my people." Jon took his cue to come around the corner, watching Arya immediately come onto the defensive side when she saw a body come around the corner. She loosened up upon seeing it was just their brother.
"You don't get it, do you?" He asked the red headed women, who crossed her arms playfully.
"How long have you been eavesdropping?"
"Not long." He answered. "You're a much more valuable player with a pen, Sansa. If we were to put a sword in your hand, you would be dead within seconds. But do you see how long you have lasted in the game of thrones with a pen? You've outsmarted grown men, manipulated queens and princes and kings. You don't need to fight for your people with a sword, because you fight with your mind. If that's the service you give for your kingdom, we can all be grateful for it."
Sansa barely smiled. "But if there is another Queen fighting for me, what does that say for me?"
"That you are smart enough to get strong allies." He answered simply. "And that the North is yours again."
"Always a Stark's." Arya said to herself, and the two repeated it. "Just as you'd never see me trying to fight my battles with a pen and paper, you should never fight yours with a sword. My service to the North is with a sword. I am a warrior."
"But she is both." Sansa said softly, looking away instantly after she said it. Surely she noticed how jealous and insecure she sounded, and the other two did as well. Arya sighed to herself before putting a hand over her eyes and shaking her head, and Jon simply stepped closer to Sansa.
"She is pushed to be both." Jon said, looking Sansa in her blue eyes. "If a leader has a power like that and sits on the sidelines, she is killing her own men."
"But she will help in the North?"
"She will help in the North." Jon assured his oldest sister, nodding stiffly. "We are all family now. All four of us now must look after each other."
"I wish you had told us before you married her." Sansa muttered. "I like her, I really do, but I still wish you had told us before. You would've married a girl who was distantly related to a Lannister and from Casterly Rock, or a girl from the Riverlands. More alliances."
"But I love her," Jon said lamely. "And if it's alliances you are after, this one is the strongest one we could ever ask for. I wouldn't care if she was a stable boy's ass wiper, I would've still married her. She is the light of my life, the one who made me truly happy aga-"
"Cut the sap, Jon!" Arya shouted playfully and pretended to vomit. "Tell her that, not us."
Jon laughed. "Oh, shut up, Arya. Go see Gendry or something." All of a sudden, Arya stiffened up and pulled her lips together so tight that she looked mentally unstable. Her playfulness was gone as she turned around with posture he had never seen from her before and walked away.
"Jon," Sansa said, shaking her head and sighing at his still amused expression. "God." She walked after Arya, who was nearly fuming down the hall.
"Something I said?"
§
It was days after until Arya forgave him. In all honesty, he suspected shorter from a girl like Arya. She knew that there were more important things to life than being mad about something that came from someone's mouth, especially something that wasn't harmful. The comment about Gendry wasn't meant to be harmful at all.
He was zoned out as his love spoke about battle plans to him and everyone else, but mostly to him and Sansa. He was looking at a cave in the wall where some stone had come out, maybe been carved out. There was a hole big enough for a finger there, but small enough to not be seen at first glance. He felt a nudge on his shoulder, knowing it was Andromeda but he couldn't take his eyes off of it.
"What are you looking at?" She finally asked, an exasperated smile on her face. She stood from her seat and approached the place in the wall he was standing at, interrupting her own talk of siege. She eyed the hole. "Curious little thing," she said, having never seen the hole before. She knew everything about the castle, and a hole this size would have been known to her if it was previously there. She sighed, sticking her finger in the hole and feeling something, something like paper. She switched fingers and moved something out with her smallest finger, and indeed, it was rolled paper. But the weirdest part was that the paper had a large 'P' at the top of it, in the writing of a woman she knew all to well. "Odda," she murmured, and the woman came to her side instantly.
"What is wrong, Your Grace?"
"Look at this." She showed her the letter before opening it, sharing a look with her advisor before slowly tearing it open. "No, stay there, love." She said softly upon seeing Jon begin to approach her. He narrowed his eyes but didn't sit. Andromeda opened the letter all the way, the anticipation being thick enough to cut it with a knife. Odda read over her shoulder.
Dear Andromeda, my descendant.
The Second Sister wanted me to warn you this; if there isn't a babe within two years, she will send her wrath upon Ilta. Idalia feels cheated. Have relations soon, or she will be done with you both.
Odda gasped, and Andromeda stood still in her place. "What?" Jon took long strides over there, pulling Andromeda to him once he got there. He read the note, and by the time he was done, she fainted in his arms.