Burdens

Dany was laughing as she trailed behind Sansa, who was awning at the large castles covered in snow. Their hands were linked together as they trudged across the snowy sidewalk taking in all the sights.

They were currently in Quebec, Canada. Why? Because Sansa had wanted to go. She'd told Dany stories of growing up in Alaska, where it was always cold, and said she'd missed the snow, so Dany had suggested a trip up north.

And here they were.

"Oh my god Dany look at that one!" Sansa said excitedly, pointing at a particularly large hotel that looked like a castle from a disney movie. "It's so pretty!"

"Yes, you've said that about every one" Dany grinned.

"But they are!"

"I can see. I may be dead, but I have eyes."

"Yes, yes, I know, but there's nothing like this in California!"

"Yes, I know, I live in California with you," Dany snorted. "It's almost six o'clock, Sansa. You need to eat."

"I want to see more first."

"How about later? I'm hungry."

"You can't be hungry, Dany. Nice try."

"Damn. But you do need to eat."

Sansa sighed. "Fine, you stubborn ghost. I'll eat." Dany smirked and Sansa glared at her. "Only because you're being really annoying."

"Yeah, sure, go with that."

Sansa smacked her arm. "Oh, shut up, you asshole!" Dany just laughed and began to drag Sansa toward the direction of the nearest diner.

A couple more hours of sightseeing later, both girls were lounging on balcony chairs back at the hotel. Sansa had a bottle of coke and Dany had grabbed one too just for effect, though it was funny to see Dany pretending to drink it only for it to fall through her and land on the ground.

"You should've brought Margaery and Jeyne along," Dany said. "You've barely seen them since they met me."

"I know I should be spending more time with them, and I'll try to get together with them more when we get home, but I wanted this to be for us. You've never gone anywhere outside of California. Marg and Jeyne and I went to northern Washington last year."

Dany hummed in response, curling her legs up into the chair. Truthfully, she thought it was sad that she was taking up so much of Sansa's life. Sansa didn't realize it yet, but when her closest friend was dead it woul dbe hard later in life. She needed friends to support her, friends that she could talk to without it looking like she was crazy. Dany wasn't that. She would only make Sansa's life harder in the future.

Could she try to reason with Sansa? Could they find a solution to this?

Dany bit her lip. "Sansa?"

Sansa rolled her head to the side. "Yes, Dany?"

She took a deep breath as she rearranged her mind. "You know you can't spend all your time with me?"

"Why not?" Sansa shrugged. "There's nowhere your needed and nowhere you can't go. I don't see why I can't."

"Because you need real friends," Dany said. "It will be hard in life when your closest friend and confident is a ghost. People will think you're insane."

Sansa snorted. "I don't need to tell anyone about you. They can't judge if they don't know."

"Sansa, you can't keep a secret your entire life."

"I can and I will."

Dany sighed. It seemed there would be no convincing her.

She'd have to take matters into her own hands.

Confessions

Dany waited until they were back at home to tell Sansa. "You need me gone."

Sansa froze in the doorway to her room. "What?"

Dany gave her a sad smile. "Come in. I'll explain."

Sansa closed the door behind her and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Dany. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't be in your life." Dany leaned her head on Sansa's shoulder, her eyes focused on the floor. "With me you can never live a real life."

"I never will, no matter if you're here or not," Sansa said. "I see ghosts, Dany! I'll never be normal!"
"Perhaps not, but seeing ghosts is one thing. Loving one… that's another matter entirely." Dany turned her gaze back to Sansa's face. "I love you, Sansa, so much, but I- I just can't stay. You need to live a real life. As normal a life as you can get. I'm preventing that."

"Dany, no," Sansa breathed. "You don't need to go. We can- you could stay here and wait for me to come back from school every day instead of coming with me."

Dany shook her head. "It's not just that. The Quebec trip, it could've been a wonderful trip with friends that you could share together. Me, no one else can see. I can never tell my friends about this trip. You can never tell your classmates about how much fun you had with your girlfriend." She took Sansa's face in her hands. "I can't stay, Sansa. I can't."

"No, you can!" Sansa had tears dripping from her eyes by now. "I can spend more time with my friends! You don't need to leave to free up my time!"

"It's more than just that!" Dany was crying with her now. "You'll have to tell people about me eventually. They'll begin to wonder why you don't have a lover, why you spend all your time alone. I can't have people thinking you're insane!"

Sansa opened her mouth to reply when Dany pressed a kiss to her lips. She leaned back, cupping Sansa's cheeks in her hands. "I mean it, Sansa. Try and live normally. Go to college. Get your dream job. Find someone you can love that can actually stay." She smiled sadly. "Move on. But don't forget me."

"Dany!" Sansa grabbed for her arm only for it to pass right through. Dany smiled through her tears. "No! You can't! We'll figure this out!"
"Goodbye, Sansa. Don't forget me." Her words faded off as she disappeared and Sansa sobbed. Big, heaving sobs that racked her entire body and left her collapsed on the bed. She felt the sheets growing wet beneath her but she didn't care, clutching the fabric in her fists as she curled into a ball. She cried and cried, cried until her tears ran out and she could only hiccup.

Dany would come back. She had to.

Remembrance

It had been two weeks. Nothing.

Sansa felt like dying. Maybe she could join her lover in the afterlife instead, live peacefully forever. But there was her family to think about, all her friends- what about them? No, she couldn't. She'd rather be depressed than abandon her family.

Her sorrow was very clear. Margaery and Jeyne noticed it immediately, but Sansa refused to tell them why. Her only confident was Robb, who still visited occasionally. He searched for her everywhere he could think of but she was gone. It was like she was never there.

Sansa was hit with the sudden realization that this was serious. It wasn't like last time, when they made up and all was well, no Dany was gone and she wasn't coming back. This was the final verdict; there were no second chances.

Sansa isolated herself in her room, her door locked shut. She barely ate and only talked when spoken to. The change was so drastic that people seemed to think she was sick. She wouldn't be surprised if they diagnosed her with depression after this. Dany was her life. She was her cheering squad. Her partner in crime. The person that pulled her up when she fell. Now there was no one to help her.

"Sansa, please, let me help." Robb was sitting on her bedside, rubbing her back. "You'll never get better if you keep at this."

"Maybe I don't want to get better," she snapped. "Maybe I'm fine how I am."

"Sansa, you can't do this." He squeezed her shoulder. "She left so you could live a normal life without her. Are you going to disrespect her wishes like this and sulk in your room?"

"No," Sansa muttered. "Just… give me time. I'll try my best."

He patted her back. "Alright. Take all the time you need. Just know that I'm here for you if you need it, and so is everyone else." He kissed the crown of her head before he faded off.

He was right. It did get better as time went on. She reimmersed herself with society, poured herself into her studies, and got into a prestigious college. She began dating a girl from one of her courses, a kind girl with dark hair and the sweetest personality. Such a drastic difference from Daenerys. But there wasn't a click there. Not like she had with Dany. Though they only spend a few months together, those were the best months of her life. She wouldn't trade them for anything.

Except, maybe, Dany herself.

Sansa moved on from her, but she didn't forget. She still remembered the exact date Dany was born and each time it came around she took a day off just to reminisce. Go through her memories. Wish her oldest lover a happy birthday. And maybe Dany didn't listen, maybe she was off somewhere on the opposite side of the world, but Sansa swore she still saw her. Lurking in the shadows, ghosting through the crowd, forever by her side.

And maybe, if the universe was kind, they would be together once more in death.

You know I love my tragedies ;)

But for those who dislike my tragedies, I have a reason for doing them.

As I'm sure we all learned in language classes, every story has a moral. A lesson to be learnt. Usually, you get stuff like 'be nice to others' or 'work hard and you'll be rewarded' or some other sappy shit. No, I don't do sappy shit. It's unrealistic. I'm a harsh person, and I will tell you the harsh truth.

People die who don't deserve to. People lose loved ones because the universe deemed it so. People are wrongly punished. People are wrongly proclaimed innocent. Life is hard and it doesn't care what you deserve, it takes what it takes and gives what it gives. You don't get a choice in the matter. All you can do is deal with the aftermath.

Life isn't fair.