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"Tell me they're fakes," Arya said. Jon was silent on the phone. "Tell me the photos are fakes, Jon," she demanded. He wished he could, for all that was good in the world he wished Arya had not found out this way.
"It's my fault," was all he could mutter.
"Seems like you were both there. Seems like it's both your faults," Arya said.
"No...I should've...Sansa with everything she's been through. She's not thinking,"
"Please Jon least you can do is not belittle her," Arya said her words cutting through him like a knife. The other end of the phone went silent. Jon had no words for his little sister.
"That's it...that's all you have to say," Arya said.
"Arya there's more...I don't want to say over the phone," Jon said to her rubbing the back of his neck glancing over at his friend and advisor Samwell Tarly who had just arrived at the Wolf's Den with documents faxed from the Citadel. He wished Arya was there with them.
"Well, I guess I'll just wait for the next news report to find out then," she said bitter and cold. Jon cringed the press conference was two hours from now. She would find out then.
"You know anyone could be listening," he told her. The pictures proved someone was watching them. That same person could be listening to his phone conversation.
"Huh, now you worry about someone spying on you? Bye, Jon," Arya finished and hung up.
Jon wished Arya didn't have to be like this. Sam watched him with the nervous look he always had when things were going wrong. Jon thought, he would be the same as Arya if he had found out something like this. He didn't even like the idea of her dating Ned Dayne.
For the first time in his life, Jon thanked the gods that his brother Robb had not lived to see this day. Robb would have had him strung and quartered. 'Not for loving Sansa' Jon thought. Robb always knew I loved Sansa. 'No' he would've have killed me for exposing her in this way.'
Sitting down across from Sam, he tried to take in the notes his friend was writing for him. They worked feverishly until Jon had a short speech and answers to as many possible questions as could be asked. Sam had even dug up a copy of Rhaegar and Lyanna's marriage license along with a birth certificate for a child named Aegon born to Lyanna. Jon resisted the urge to cry again when he learned his name had never been Jon. When they finished Sansa looked over everything adding her own notes.
After reading the speeches and notes, Sansa held the documents Sam brought in her hands, whispering the name Aegon in disbelief. She seemed most annoyed that Rhaegar had apparently taken two wives at the same time. 'That'll be a problem' she claimed. 'Your detractors will say that Rhaegar was still married to Elia Martell, that the marriage to Lyanna doesn't count, and that you're still a bastard."
"Targaryens often took two wives. Sometimes sister-wives," Sam reminded her with an awkward smile. "Its perfectly normal for them." Jon hung his head in shame at his friend's comment. Sansa glared at Sam then at Jon before walking out of the room saying she had to get dressed for the press conference.
They entered the Great Hall at New Castle together through a side entrance and sat at a head table with microphones. Jon looked at her before he started speaking. She had chosen their clothes well, a dark grey suit for him and a greyish purple woolen wrap dress for her with black leather trim. Her hair braided, hanging over one shoulder.
Jon announced to the realm that he was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. That he hoped to always keep this information private but the circumstances of Cersei's death, as well as those of his personal life, necessitated the revelation.
Reporters began yelling, begging to be picked to ask a question. Jon spotted a friendly reporter from White Harbor and gave her the first question.
"Are you in a relationship with the Lady of Winterfell?" she asked.
Turning to Sansa, he inhaled and said, "Yes."
Pointing to the next reporter, "Do you plan to make a claim for the throne of Westeros?"
Jon inhaled again, "Yes."
****
Sansa
The door creaked open but Sansa didn't turn from the blaring TV. She was sitting on the bed in white sweatpants and a grey tank top engrossed in the news. Every channel was reporting on the press conference. She took the cup of tea Brienne handed her. Reporters were frantically searching for copies of the birth records, Targaryen family trees, and waiting for a comment from Daenerys. Jon was again with Sam in the other room, Lord Davos had arrived from Winterfell. Calls were coming from the Vale and Iron Islands and even Riverrun pledging their support. Her Lord Uncle Edmure Tully would now fully support them free from the threat of Cersei Lannister's wrath. Telling Jon she wanted to rest after the conference, Sansa was avoiding the work that needed to be done. Just a few minutes to think was all she wanted. Ghost had followed her into the bedroom. The direwolf had arrived around the same time as Samwell Tarly. Jon had him driven from Barrowton to White Harbor. At first, he wanted to send him back to Winterfell but Sansa objected. She felt calm in the beast's quiet presence. At the beach, she had taken to brushing his white coat. Now, he laid on the floor next to the bed. Brienne stepped around him as she walked across the room. "The conference went well," Brienne said tentatively sitting on the light grey loveseat in the corner."Yes..it did," she said. "You've not talked to your sister, yet?" she asked. Sansa shook her head. Jon had said that Arya was angry. She didn't him to tell her that. Arya had stopped texting her. Instead, harassing Jon after she learned the truth the same way all of Westeros did. "I talked to Bran," she said. Brienne's eye's widened. "And Bran is...well how he is about everything..." "He was...well he was..." she tried to find a way to describe Bran's non-reaction. Jon had told Sansa she had the easier sibling to deal with in all this. She wasn't so sure."Distant?" Brienne finished. Sansa nodded taking a sip of her tea. "I've heard from Ser Jaime," she said. "He asked after you."Sansa smiled, happy that her friend was talking to the man she loved, "And you told him I was well...""Of course, my lady. He's very sorry for what Cersei did to you. He tried to stop it..." Brienne said. Sansa stared down at the cup of tea in her hands, "No one could stop Cersei...until..they could.""Investigators interviewed him in Cersei's death and Lord Tyrion...as well," Brienne added. "Jaime said it was so odd. He had just been with Tyrion at Casterly Rock...and then the next thing he knew Cersei was dead."The news report flashed the photos from Barrowton again. Brienne told Sansa she didn't have to keep watching that. Sansa said she did. She studied them, searching for some clue, some piece of evidence. "Even if Lady Dustin had them taken. She's one of your supporters. Its one scandal you'll survive," Brienne said. "It's not right what she did," Sansa replied. She held the remote flicking to another news station. They were showing old clips from the funeral, an image of Tyrion standing near Cersei's casket in the New Sept. She turned to Brienne, "Wait...Lord Tyrion was at Casterly Rock...?""Yes, Cersei had given him permission to visit. Their Lady Aunt Genna was..is... unwell," Brienne reported. Sansa turned back to the TV, the screen had changed to another group of experts debating who would best rule Westeros. "Brienne, I need your help," Sansa finally said. "Jon said he wants me to go back to Winterfell. He says its to help maintain the North's support but really..he worries...he thinks I'm not better...thinks this is all too stressful.""My lady, rest isn't a bad thing," Brienne said. "With what is coming, the Great Council and all that.""No...there is too much to do," she said. "We need to go to Moat Cailin.""We?""Yes, us," said Sansa. "Arya..we need her help. She'll have to stop being angry." Sansa searched for her phone to message her sister."Why Moat Cailin, my lady?" Brienne asked. "Its where the largest servers in the North are," Sansa said while she typed on her phone. They watched the TV a while longer. Brienne convinced Sansa to put on one of those castle reno shows she used to love. This one was of a minor Lord and Lady of the Stormlands with four adorable children who renovated holdfasts, castles and even an inn in Cape Wrath. Sansa joked that if Jon wasn't chosen as Westeros King at the Great Council, they could start their own reno show. Brienne told her, she'd have to have four cute kids first. Sansa blushed and thought four little babies with Jon would be very nice. It was late and Brienne had gone to her own rooms by the time Jon knocked on her door. There was a small plate of food in his hands. Sansa had forgotten to eat. The condo was empty besides Jon and Sansa. He motioned for her to come and join him in the kitchen. She ate a delicious pasta he had made at the large island in the middle of the room. 'Had to cook for myself back when I was part of the Night's Watch,' he told her before. It was what he always said when he made her something to eat. "They taught you well," she smiled twirling the pasta on to her fork. Jon laughed, "The food was shit there. But all these videos on the internets help." Sansa smiled again to herself and popped the pasta into her mouth. She remembered catching Jon watching cooking videos before she had been taken by Cersei's people. Before he had always tried to hide it from her. He's stopped hiding things. Time would forever be separated into before the center and after. "Sans, Tyrion Lannister reached out to Lord Davos," he told her. Sansa knew this would happen as soon as the press conference was over."And..." she said. "He suggested I meet with him and Daenerys in Dragonstone. To see if something could be worked out..." Jon began. "You remember what happened last time?" she said. When Jon had tried to forge an alliance with the dragon queen before the war with the undead, he had gone to Dragonstone. She had partically held him prisoner there saying the North was in rebellion. "If there's any chance I can convince her to stay in Essos. I have to try," he said. Sansa had little faith that anyone could convince Daenerys Targaryen not to try again for the Iron Throne. Sansa said little. She could tell Jon had made his decision and there would be little she could do to change it. No matter the risk. It was all too public this time. She won't be able to hold him prisoner. At least Sansa hoped she wouldn't. He added that Sansa should go to back to Winterfell like they had discussed that afternoon. Sansa pushed the remaining food around on her plate. "What you said at the conference? Is it true?" she asked. The light in the kitchen was dim and Jon sat across from her sipping a beer while she ate. He was so handsome, dark and muscled. And safe, I'm always safe with him. Her stomach turned thinking that she would be away from him."What part?" he said."The part about us?"He nodded, "If you want it to be."Gods she wanted it. She had wanted it for longer than she had realized. Allowing herself a small smile she nodded her head. "It won't be easy will it?""Nothing that's worth it ever is." he told her. Putting down her fork, she grabbed his beer and took a sip. Almost choking, she just managed to swallow the ale. Jon laughed saying it was some new beer Lord Manderly had sent over from a White Harbor brewery. They both agreed it was awful and that Lord Manderly clearly had it in for them. Sansa didn't listen to Jon's protests and she cleaned up the dishes saying it was only fair since he cooked. Jon went around the condo making sure all the curtains and blinds were closed. Before coming into the bedroom that Sansa used when she stayed at the Wolf's Den. Jon pulled her into his arms and Sansa turned to find his lips. Their clothes fell to the ground leaving them in their underwear. When they fell to the bed with a thud laughing, Ghost's head popped up. They had forgotten he was in the room sleeping away. Jon pushed the wolf out of the room, who almost refused to go. On either side of the bed, there were nightstands with matching lamps. Sansa turned off one leaving just enough light for her to see Jon's bare chest. "Stubborn beast," Jon said when he closed the door behind the white wolf with knowing red eyes. "Ohhh..Jon don't be mean to him," she said. "He doesn't want to be alone, that's all.""Aye would ya rather sleep with him or me..." Jon challenged. "You're making me choose?" she asked feigning shock. "Yes, I'm making you choose!" Jon said pretending to be annoyed while falling back on the bed next to her. His hand found her breasts. "Unless you don't like this?" he asked as he leaned in to kiss her again. Gods she liked this. She like him touching her. She liked they it didn't matter anymore. If she ever forgave Lady Dustin, she might just have to send the black widow flowers for leaking the photos. She pushed him on to his back saying she liked it very much. Straddling him, she returned his kisses. Kneeling over him, she undid the clasp of her bra letting her breast free. Jon's hands reached up to squeeze them. She leaned forward to nibble at his neck. Sansa loved running her hands over his bare muscled chest. The scars were deep, his hands traced them while her mouth found his nipples. His cock was hard underneath her. Using one hand, she started rubbing it over his clothes. Her mouth moved to his waist. Following the dark path of hair that led to his cock, she pulled down his boxers. "Sansa you don't have to..." Jon said."I know...I'd very much like too..." she responded. Jon groaned when the tip her tongue touched him. She felt his hand running through her hair. Kissing all around his thighs, his balls, and the shaft of his cock before she put the whole thing in her mouth. He moaned when she did that. Sansa liked the salty taste of him. She moved her head back and forth every so often sucking extra hard, making a pop sound when she pulled away. Holding his cock, she moved her tongue around the tip. Jon's breathing had grown heavy. Finally, he begged her to stop. Leaning on one elbow, she asked if it was too much. "I want to fuck you so badly right now," he growled. Pulling her up in flipped her onto her back kissing her. His tongue finding hers. She pushed her panties down. Jon discarded his boxers. His hand rubbed her cunt while he kissed her. "You're so wet," he said. "mmm that's because I want you," she told him spreading her legs further apart. He moaned."Shouldn't we use...something..." he asked referring to a condom. Sansa mumbled that they hadn't used one the night before. "Please don't make me wait," she added. With that Jon guided his cock into her. Sansa felt the fullness of him in her. He thrust slowly at first pulling her legs around his waist. She gripped his shoulders. Their lips still finding each other. His hand moved between then searching for her clit. When it found it she found herself moaning. "Oh Jon," she whispered into his neck. Sitting up more so he could work her clit while he thrust into her, Jon's eyes were dark. Sansa wanted to reach her hand up to him and pull him towards her. At that moment, she felt the fire start in the pit of her belly. She could do nothing but lean her head back. Calling to the old gods, she felt the sensation radiate up and down her body. Jon rubbed her clit hard while still managing to keep his cock inside her. Sansa moaned and shook. He moved his hand telling her he was going to come. He thrust harder, she reached for him to pull him close to her. With a final thrust, he came inside of her and his body stilled. Sansa laid back on the pillows with Jon's head resting on her chest. Their breath returning to normal. "You think they would've have accepted us...even if..." Sansa couldn't finish the question. One finger traced his back, following the lines of his muscles."Even if..." Jon asked. "You know," she said "Even if we were still half-brother and sister," he finished for her. "I don't know...maybe...maybe not.""These things are becoming more acceptable as long as you don't have kids or are tested for..you know...abnormalities first..." she thought out loud. "Good thing we're really cousins, then," he mumbled. "You want babies?" she asked surprised. "A whole mess of red-haired babies..." he said rolling off her and onto a pillow. Sansa couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She turned onto her side so he could put his arms around her."Perhaps just a few..." she trailed off. Falling asleep wondering if it was too soon to talk of babies with a man she had known her whole life no matter how much she wanted those babes. They stayed in White Harbor for three more days while preparations were made for Jon to go to Dragonstone. This was not a public trip. Daenerys could not come North not even Gulltown was open to hosting her lest it suggests support. There was nothing else to do but for Jon to go. Sansa would return to Winterfell with a detour to Moat Cailin. A detour she did not mention to Jon. The morning of Jon's departure Sansa drove with him to White Harbor's airstrip. She wanted to beg him not to go, not to do this. But they had already had those conversations. When she watched him go up the stairway to board the plane he turned back and saw her staring. It was a moment before he raised his hand to wave at her. Her lips smiled and she waved back. She stood next to the SUV until the plane was high in the sky and Brienne urged her back into the vehicle. They drove straight for Moat Cailin. Ghost was in the back of the SUV and Sansa whispered to him. "Please don't tell Jon." She asked Brienne to turn on the radio. One of the White Harbor stations was playing stuff from the Freefolk. Wylla Manderly, Lord Manderly's green-haired granddaughter, had introduced the station to her. She was working with Freefolk youth at an arts center she helped start. This station played lots of their music. Sansa closed her eyes and let her mind drift for the rest of the drive. Moat Cailin loomed on the horizon, it had been one of the first places they rebuilt after the dead were defeated. They had made it one of the strongest fortresses in the North. Some claimed it was too far from Winterfell to be the headquarters for their defense. Neither Sansa nor Jon listened. Moat Cailin was the gateway to the North by land. And with the Riverlands finally joining the Northern fold it was an even more strategetic location. It also was the location for biggest servers in the North. It was the servers Sansa cared about. The three towers of the castle stood tall after centuries of being ruins. A small town was starting to sprout up around Moat Cailin. Sansa envisions one day it would be as big as Wintertown or Barrowton maybe even bigger. Perhaps, this was the rebuilding job, she was most proud of. No, I'll be most proud when Winterfell is finished, she thought. For the first time since leaving the rehab center, she yearned for home. Sansa was shown to rooms at the top of the tall slender Children's Tower, lore claimed it was built in ancient times by the Children of the Forest. And it was from there that the Children had called down the great hammer to try and break Westeros in two to keep the Andal invaders out of the North. She liked that story, perhaps it was true. Perhaps it was fitting that it would be here that she and Arya would try to put Westeros back together again. Arya was waiting for her in the anteroom of the suite they had been given. In black leather pants and leather jacket with a fur collar with black and white sneakers, she sat in a chair with a sucker in her mouth. Her dark grey eyes narrowed at her sister. Popping the sucker out of her mouth, "I almost didn't come," she told Sansa."Hello to you," Sansa said ignoring Arya's attitude. "The drive was good?" Sansa thought Arya had grown taller still shorter than her but taller none the less. Arya shook her head and they embraced. "I'm still angry at you. And think you and Jon are gross," she muttered. Sansa hugged her tighter. She hadn't really seen her sister in months. They had spoken on the phone and sent messages. There were hazy memories of the night at the rehab center. Sansa decided not to think about that. Arya pulled away to grab Sansa's bag and start rummaging through it. "What are you doing?" Sansa asked shocked. "Making sure there aren't any listening devices attached," she said. "You and Jon have been dumb.""Why, thank you," Sansa said crossing her arms."Just sayin," Arya said pulling out Sansa's notebook, wallet, phone, and a small pouch of makeup before starting to unzip Sansa's suitcase. She had an urge to stop her but in the end, let Arya go. "Have you told Bran we're here?" Arya asked holding up some lacy panties that had tags on them. "You had time to go shopping in White Harbor?" Again Sansa ignored her. "Not yet...no sense in telling Bran until we need his help," Sansa said. Arya nodded. They spent the rest of the day strategizing before eating dinner. Arya insisted on taking naps saying that Sansa looked tired from the drive. Sansa didn't feel tired but could use the quiet time. Tomorrow would be a long day. Her sister insisted on getting up early the next morning. They needed to get to the servers before the staff came into work. Sansa missed waking up next to Jon. Staring at her phone that morning, she resisted messaging or calling him. They had agreed it best not to communicate while he was on Dragonstone. You never knew who was listening. Making their way to the Drunkard Tower where the servers were kept with Brienne along for protection. Sansa admired the building. They kept it leaning like a drunk while making it structurally sound. Inside they quickly found the servers. Being the Lady of Winterfell, she was given access to almost anything she wanted. Arya hooked up her laptop to the one she thought would give them the information they were looking for. It took several tries but finally they seemed to find something promising. They had been there an hour when Arya said, "I'm going to be ill," running out of the server room. Sansa followed her just in time to see her sister plunge her head into the first trashcan she had come too. She wiped her mouth and walked back toward Sansa. "I'm fine...just something I ate." Arya walked back to the server room. Sansa and Brienne looked at each other. Sansa watched her sister kneel back down next to the small laptop plugged into one of the servers. She said nothing. Arya finished downloading the files they hoped held the answers...to...to something. They went back to the Children's Tower. Brienne brought them lunch from a dinner nearby. It wasn't as good as the food in White Harbor or even Barrowton but it would have to do. Arya stared at her laptop while she ate searching through files. Sansa watched her sister closely. Her hair was pulled on top of her head. Her skin was glowing and makeup free. "You're pregnant aren't you?" Sansa stated. Arya slowly raised her grey eyes to meet Sansa's blue ones. So much like Jon's. She made a laughing sound. "It's not your business," Arya said returning to eating the sandwich in front of her. "I'm your sister!" Sansa responded. "I think it is my business.""You didn't tell me that Jon was our cousin? Or that you were fucking him," Arya accused her. Putting down her sandwich she stared at Sansa. "There wasn't time for that," Sansa said wringing her hands. "Oh so you found out and decided to jump right on top of him," she asked her voice rising. "It wasn't like that," she said. Yes, it was, it was exactly like that. "We're not talking about me.""What do you want me to say? Yes, I got knocked when I don't even know?""You haven't taken a test yet? When was your last period?" Sansa questioned. "I don't remember...with everything...trying to get you back...I lost track," she said. Sansa got up to find Brienne. She sent her friend back out to buy a pregnancy test at the local drugstore. Arya tried to refuse to take it. Eventually, she relented claiming she was taking it to prove Sansa wrong. They watched the result window of the pink stick of the test turn to positive. Sansa put her arms around her sister. Arya had just turned 18. She was supposed to study more, she had so much to do. "You don't have to have it," Sansa told her sister. "What if I want too..." Arya pushed Sansa away. She went to sit of a couch in the anteroom. "Arya...you're still a child.." she said. "Pretty sure I'm 18, Sans," she said opening her laptop. Sansa sat at the table trying to think of what else to say. "You have to tell Ned. It is Ned Dayne, isn't? He's hardly older than you," she asked wringing her hands. Arya turned away biting her lip. They were silent a long time. Sansa drinking a tea and scribbling one of her notebooks. Arya searching through the files they had taken that morning on her laptop"Sansa please don't tell Jon," she finally said. "I won't...yet," she said pausing. "You have to tell me something." Sansa closed her eyes. I shouldn't do this. But its the only way. Arya glared at her. Forgive me Arya. "What happened the night you and Jon broke me out of the rehab center?" Sansa demanded. Arya started to shake her head, "I promised Jon..." Sansa started to reach for her phone. Arya didn't need to know it was an empty threat. Didn't need to know that Jon had turned off his phone on Dragonstone. A message could be waiting for him once he returned. "You wouldn't..." Arya said. Sansa assured her sister she would. "I think we should take a walk," Arya said.