Hope was terrified. Their last night hadn't brought her any sleep. She hoped Leo would feel the same about a sleepless night, but the minute he was tucked into bed, the little boy was sound asleep with his mouth opened wide for flies.

Hope tried to distract herself from what was about to happen, but then her brother sat up straight in his bed causing Winter to run around. He looked to the window and ran towards it, looking outside. She wondered if he was finally coming for them.

Leo looked back at her and said, "He's not far from us. It looks like mother and father are preparing for battle."

Hope quickly dressed herself and her brother as she knew they would come for them first. She thought of all those men and women that would be in front of them. Leo took out his slingshot as they left their chambers with Winter beside them and started to gather rocks of all sizes, putting them in pouches on his belt.

She kissed the top of his head and held him tightly, grateful that she found him before they would die. She wished she had the words to tell him how much she loved him.

Hope's arms tightened around him and he grunted out, "Stop it. We aren't going to die. I found the sword."

Hope shook her head and started to walk away from him. Leo struggled to keep up with her as he explained, "I may have asked Uncle Bran where it was in my dreams. He visits me. He told me where it was, Hope. I have to keep it safe and when the moment is right I will know who they are."

Hope rolled her eyes at his foolishness at believing some fairytale that may or may not have happened thousands of years ago. They were Lannisters and they didn't believe in tall tales.

Leo yelled suddenly and started to shoot his rocks at a tall figure draped in shadows.

Hope and Robin who came running when he heard the yelling, held back Leo from shooting anymore rocks at the person.

"What are you doin', you idiot?" Tormund growled at him. "Throwing rocks at men on your side."

"You have blue eyes!" Leo shouted at him as he struggled to shoot his rocks at him. "You're a white walker! I'll kill you and protect my home."

"I've always had blue eyes-why is everyone forgettin' that?!" Tormund snarled. "I admire your quick hands, ferret, but their eyes glow...mine dont."

"Ferret?! I'm a lion or a wolf or a dragon-it depends on who you ask, but I am not a ferret!"

Their mother and father stood behind Tormund along with their uncles and Aunt Sansa. After Leo saw their mother, he straightened himself up and hid his slingshot, afraid that she might take it from him.

"Leonardo, what are you up to?" She asked calmly. "You are planning to be in the crypts when the fight begins, yes?"

Leo looked away from his mother as she held out her hand for the slingshot. He pouted and handed it over to her as she kissed his head.

"How are we supposed to defeat the dead when the living won't let us fight? This is our battle too. I wanna fight for my future as well as my sister's," Leo retorted.

"You're still a child," Jon reminded him. "You will get hurt. What will you do when you've run out of rocks? The dead don't care that you're a child. I saw wights who were once children that were decaying right in front of me as they held their swords to my neck and back. I have no desire to see my nephew and my niece or any other child become like them."

"I can help, Uncle Jon."

"Not today," Arya told him, her eyes frightened Hope. They reminded her of a wolf, a deadly wolf. Hope avoided her eyes when they turned to her for a moment.

"Not today," he repeated to himself.

Robin held her hand then she smiled at him. She suddenly wanted to speak for him. She wanted to tell him about everything she felt for him. She wanted to confess it all, but the words were somehow caught deep in her throat and she could only smile at him and hug him.

Instead, she just held his hand tightly into her own. He gave to her what he probably thought was a dashing smile. She kept smiling at him and returned to her little brother who flared at their older family members. He looked as if they killed someone he loved.

Winter nudged her nose into his back and Leo barely glanced back at her before striding his short legs back towards their chambers. Maya looked at him in sadness and then to Hope who shrugged her shoulders.

"Keep an eye on your brother," Her father told her. "And your mother too as a matter of fact."

Her mother's glare towards her father was something Hope would never forget as it was a glare she never wanted to be in front of. Ever.

Hope shook her head as Robin followed her back to their chambers where Leo was packing his things.

"And where do you think you're running off to?" Robin asked him.

Leo huffed angrily. "I have a plan."

"And what is this plan might I know?" Robin inquired as he started to put Leo's things back into the chests. "We are children. What can we possibly do? I have an army, but that is not much against an army of the dead."

"I have a plan," he repeated. "It's a good plan. You just need to trust me."

"Leo," Robin started. "You are just a child. A greenboy! How can we trust you over people who actually fought and been in wars?!"

"Age doesn't define a person's mind. Remember that saying?" Leo told him. "Children can see more than a grown up can because they aren't blind. Wiseful words out of the mouths of babes."

"That's not how the quote goes," Robin told him, making Hope smile at him. "It doesn't matter anyways because I am not letting you go."

Leo threw his clothes onto the bed and turned to them with a frown set on his young face. Hope had never seen her brother look so determined to prove himself and she wondered why. She thought that maybe their Uncle Bran had said something to them or he overheard a conversation he wasn't supposed to.

"It's not a choice," Leo said. "I have to do this or I lose all of you. I don't want to kill any of you, but that doesn't mean that I won't."

"Where is the sword?"

"Somewhere safe. Only I know it's location."

Robin walked out of their chambers in frustration as Leo rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you're marrying an idiot."

Hope gave Leo an angry look then lightly pinched him. Leo smiled at her and said, "I need to confess something to you, Hope...he never wanted me."

Before he could continue, Hope and Leo heard the screech of a dragon as Winter stood up. Soldiers came into their chamber and said, "You must go to the crypts. Your lady mother is waiting for you there. The sun is setting."

Hope's heart pounded through her chest as she held her brother's hand, noting how someone so small could be so brave. He was braver than her. Must be the wolf within him.

As they travelled to the crypts, people filled the grounds of Winterfell. They ran back and forth, calling to one another. Building traps and weapons of dragon glass. Hope pretended to fall against one of the workshop tables and snuck a knife made of dragon glass underneath her cloak as people helped her up.

Hope quietly nudged it to her brother's small hand, he glanced up at her in confusion. He gave a short nod and took it, hiding it in his cloak.

Now they were ready to face the Night King and she knew that he would send for them. They would be there waiting to kill him.

As people filled the crypts, Hope stood at the statue of her grandfather, Eddard Stark. From what she read in the books she found in the library, he was a good man. An honorable one. Her family were all good people, tricked by evil. She knew that her father's family caused the war in a way and that he was not a good man then.

But then she was told that Littlefinger caused it too. She was very confused as she heard terrible things about all the highborns and their houses. No side was innocent. Would she have been different if she grew up with them? She wondered if she would be brave like her brother, strong like parents, kind like her grandfather and grandmother, and smart like her other grandfather, Tywin. Her uncles and aunts were like their parents so why wasn't she like them? Why was she different?

These thoughts plagued her mind until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at her mother who ran her hand through her hair, putting her curl gently behind her ear. She loved her mother.

"What is wrong? You look like your father when something is wrong," she told her. "Brows furrowed, jaw set hard enough to crack steel."

Hope looked at the statue again then to her. She didn't know how to explain it to her without talking and hurting her mother's feelings. She didn't like it when her mother was sad because of the reminder that their time was taken from them and it was her fault. She knew her mother blamed herself for her daughter's abuse and abduction.

Hope never blamed her parents.

"You know you remind me a lot of my father. Quiet and noble," she told her. "They called him 'the quiet wolf' when he was younger. He was cautious just like you. Some thought him to be cold because of it, but only his enemies thought that. He was honorable. I was wild and my father never tamed me. He thought it was awful to want that. My mother wished for it though. She never liked that I held a sword. I wish you could have met them. You would've bonded more with Ned Stark. He would teach you the ways of the Old Gods."

Hope hugged her mother tightly, nodding as she too wished she would have known him. She knew now that she was like him. Her brother was like her lady mother and lord father, but she was like her grandfather. The thought made Hope smile against her lady mother's hair.

"Hey, what about me?" Leo whined. "Don't I remind you of grandfather?"

Maya laughed, turning to her son. "No. I'm afraid you're more like your Uncle Tyrion."

"You make it seem like it's a bad thing," Tyrion mused as he stood beside Leo. "I find that he reminds me of all of us actually. He is of his own making though. I don't think he's like any of us altogether really. He is the first."

Leo smiled proudly. "You hear that, big sister? I'm the first."

Hope scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her brother loved when people swooned over him. He loved praise.

"Someone is bitter," Leo muttered and sat down on their Uncle Robb's statue. Winter sat below the statue of Grey Wind and watched all of them as they waited.

Everyone jumped when they started to hear loud noises coming from above. Her mother leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I have to go. Please take care of your brother. Remember the knife I gave you."

Hope nodded and took a deep breath which made her mother smile. "That's my girl. If any of them die, kill them immediately. You hear the door pound, take your brother and hide. Don't separate, you are one from now on no matter what. Do you understand me?"

Hope nodded and kissed her mother's cheek, nodding again. Her fingers tightened around the knife a little, prepared for anything.

She watched as her mother hugged her brother and kissed his head. Maya gave her children one last look before going quietly down further into the crypts and turning away from their sight.

"Hope, he was never after me." Leo told her. "He thought that I was you. Uncle Bran said that's why he touched me, he knew that I wasn't you and what my purpose was. He needs the firstborn which is you. I'm here to protect you which is why he wants me...why he wants me dead. I have to protect you. You are Hope."

Hope held onto her brother's hand as their Aunt Sansa and Uncle Tyrion huddled together. She heard someone scream when the tombs started to break and the bones of Stark men started to crawl out of them. Hope's eyes widened in fear as the stone tombs started to burst with the hands of dead men. They were fiercely strong as they kicked down the doors and stones.

"Come on," her brother yelled as he pulled them away from the screams of their people. She saw her aunt and uncle run with others, hiding away. She couldn't leave them.

Hope brought her dragonglass into the back of one of the wights crawling towards a mother and her daughter. It screeched and immediately fell down. She saw another one coming for her, but Leo ran and stabbed the wight in the ribs. It screeched and fell to the ground.

Hope shared a look with her brother before they turned away and started to stab any wight they could get their hands on.

"Over there," her brother yelled to the people still down in the crypts. "Follow the bald man!"

They did as they were told as Tyrion came out and started to fight with them as best as he could. "Go! Go now!"

Leo and Hope dragged one another towards the way their mother left them. She wondered if their parents were alright. She hoped they were. Leo almost tripped on his cloak as they flew up the stairs.

He screamed as a wight came at them, knocking her brother to the ground. Without another thought, she stabbed the wight in the head. Her brother frowned as black liquid poured from its head and onto his face.

Hope put a finger to her lips as she gave a nod to the lingering wights just above them in the hallway. She pulled her brother out from under the wight and they unhooked their cloaks, not wanting another repeat of what had happened.

Hope and Leo had their backs against the stones of Winterfell. Leo stopped suddenly as they faced a window. Hope's hand went over her mouth as she saw the ruins of her home. There were so many of the dead. Each living person was somehow fighting off a horde of wights. She saw the blue fire lift into the sky and Leo whispered, "It's Viserion."

In one quick moment, Hope pulled her brother away and they jumped to the other side as blue fire came pouring into the hallway. Hope pulled her brother up as he stepped on something that cracked. He looked down at the slingshot with tears in his eyes.

Hope shook her head as Leo picked it up. "Mother had it."

They held each other's hand as the orange sky filled the hallway. They heard the sound of steel, and screams. She told herself to not look when she heard them. They had to keep moving. Leo turned his head just as a wight appeared before them. It's blue eyes burned into her skin. The wight had very little skin, just old brown bones held together by ripped clothes. She saw he looked like a wilding, but now he wasn't. He belonged to the Night King now. She could smell the burnt skin on it. It's teeth snapped at them, tilting its head to the side. The thing had no nose, just bone.

"Get away," Leo bravely said.

The wight's head cracked as it turned to Leo. Suddenly it screeched as they covered their ears. Hope quickly plunged her dragonglass knife into it's chest. Leo slowly turned towards the opening in the wall engulfed in flames. Leo grabbed her wrist and said, "Those things are coming. Look!"

Hope watched as hundreds of wights crawled over each other over the gates just to get to her. She watched as her brother tried to get somewhere over the flames.

"MOTHER!" He screamed, Hope saw her mother fighting off every wight that came towards them. She was bleeding on one side of her face. Sweat and dirt were all over her face. There were claw marks on her arm and she saw her father fend off some of the wights as they cornered him and Brienne.

Maya fell to the ground as fire roared at most of the wights coming towards her. She slowly got back on her feet, still fighting. She wouldn't give up.

They watched as their mother killed the last wight before she glanced up at them. Leo and Hope ran down the stairs on the side and towards her. Maya was relieved at seeing her children. Hope glanced around as Leo tearfully said, "We can't win."

Maya hugged him tightly, Hope frowned as she tried to see beyond the walls. Maya opened her mouth to reply just as a wight stabbed her through the shoulder. She heard her father yell, but then it was all silent.

Hope pulled Leo back from her as their mother fell to the ground, blood pouring out of her body. Hope ducked as the wight swung his sword at them, she twirled around him just like Arya had taught her. Leo then stabbed him in the stomach as he fell to his knees. Hope kneeled down next to her mother, she ripped some of her cloak apart, stuffing it hard into the open wound. Her mother's bloody hand came up to her face as she wiped away her tears.

"Take care of your brother," she whispered. "Promise me, Hope."

"I...promise," Hope told her with a strong and firm voice, making Maya smile before she closed her eyes.

"Here," her brother said, he held out a sword.

The sword was like nothing she had ever seen before. The handle looked like a dragon's head on the top with its sharp wings on the bottom, spreading wide. The sword was magnificent and Hope had no right to be holding it.

"Take it," he ordered with his small voice. "Use it. Kill him. He's in the Godswood."

"What are you?" Hope asked. "A fortnight ago you could barely speak a sentence and now you can speak quite well!"

"So can you," he quipped. "I am something more. Go."

Hope felt her brother push her away from them and he kneeled down next to their mother. Hope's hand tightened around the handle of the sword, finding strength to hold it up.

She ran as fast as she could, her breath echoing in her ears as she jumped over bodies. She avoided being burned alive by blue fire as Viserion crashed into the gates of Winterfell. She ran past the practice yard she used to spar with her Aunt Arya. She ran past the ledge their mother looked down at them from. She ran past the torn banner of House Stark. Hope wouldn't give up. She had to run faster like a lion hunting their prey, fly across Winterfell like a dragon over the Valeriya.

Hope saw her Uncle Jon hiding from Viserion who then guarded the path towards Godswood. Their eyes touched each other as she ran past him. He gave her a nod as she kept on running and jumping over dead corpses, her white curls blowing behind her. She decided to go there from behind.

Hope saw the wights surround her Uncle Bran. She bit her tongue as she watched the Night King kill Theon. This was her only chance. The wights screeched suddenly as they noticed her.

Hope ran towards Bran, stabbing wights who got in her way. She slid underneath their legs as she made it to him. The Night King stared impassively at Bran and then at her.

"I didn't think you would make it," Bran told her.

"My brother did," she said.

Hope's eyes had never seen the Night King. He looked like death and yet like ice. He is not how she imagined him. She thought how icy he looked. Icicles coming from his head like spikes on the gates of King's Landing. His skin looked like melting ice, slippery. High cheekbones and a strong jaw. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Eyes that glowed brightly against the snow and darkness that surrounded the Godswood.

"Was he handsome...before…" she trailed off, not knowing why.

"I suppose so," Bran responded as Bran touched her hand.

She flinched as she saw The Night King when he was mortal kissing a woman made of ice in her mind. Then she saw the brothers of the Night's Watch kill her, devastation on his face.

"All this for love," she whispered. "How chaotic."

The Night King walked closer to them, slowly. Bran looked away from him and to Hope. She heard someone speak to her in the wind. It chilled her to the very core. She couldn't understand them.

"You hear them," Bran noted, his jaw hardening.

As The Night King came to them, he reached out and touched her white moon-like hair. She pulled away quickly and brought her sword up against his when he went to slice Bran in half.

You're too slow and predictable, she heard her Arya's voice say to her.

Hope moved him backwards a little as she locked eyes with him. She groaned as he tried to push her backwards. She heard a crack and felt her wrist flare up in pain as she whimpered in pain.

"I can't," she whispered, tears filling her eyes, hearing someone yell. "I won't."

The Night King sharply turned around and held Arya by the throat in one hand and her wrist in the other. Hope fell to the ground, gripping her sword in her left hand, she plunged her sword in him from behind as Arya dropped to the ground.

The Night King shattered into ice in front of them. His men died as they too shattered all around them. The wights fell as Hope heard the bones fall to the snowy ground. Everything became silent as they breathed heavily.

"You weren't slow ," Arya said.

Hope laughed softly. "I learned from my mistakes."

Arya's eyes widened a little, but then her features slid back into blankness. "Let's hope you remember for the future."

Hope winced as she delicately held her broken wrist in her left hand. Hope stood up and held onto the sword. She glanced around before seeing what she looked for. She bent down and took off the belt, tying it around her hips. Hope sheathed her sword in her belt, smiling a little.

"We won," she muttered.

Hope then started to run as the sun started to rise. She ran again over bodies and tripped over a corpse.

She groaned a little as a couple of people turned her over. She saw the red bearded wilding was above her.

"How in the fuck are you still alive?" He murmured. "You're just like your mother."

"She's...alive?"

Tormund's brows knitted together as he looked at her. Hope pushed herself away from him as she walked away and searched for her family. There were so many corpses that she thought that they could be under any of them. Hope gave out a sign of relief as she saw them.

"Hope!" Leo screamed happily.

She ran towards her brother and hugged them tightly. "You're alive!"

Jaime held himself together as he hugged his son and daughter, kissing their heads. She felt his chest rumble as he started to cry.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "We're okay."

TBC…