Notes: So... This took a while...

As previously said, I'm on a tour to update all my unfinished works and i've finally got here. As promised nothing has been abandoned, and I'll try to make updates like this more regular.

Sorry for all the delay, and I truly appreciate all the support you've been sending even with this long hiatus.
I hope you like it.

Chapter 13

"Peter."

"Lady Sansa." He nodded at her. "Have you seen my sister?"

"As a matter of fact, I've just seen her." She informed him. "She was feeling indisposed, so I asked for some tea for her and now she's resting."

"Thank you, my lady." He nodded once again. "I'm going to talk to her."

Sansa stepped into his way. "What part of 'she's resting' you didn't understand?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

Peter cleared his throat. "I understand, my lady. But I really want to talk to her."

"Because my cousin kissed her?" She pressed.

Peter pressed his lips together, and took a deep breath. "Yes." He practically growled out.

Sansa had to fight off a smirk. "Susan needs a minute. And I…" She pressed when he opened his mouth. "…need company."

That made him pause. "Company?"

"Yes." She confirmed. "I need to do some things around the keep and I haven't found Brienne."

"I know what you are doing." Peter informed her, though he looked a bit amused.

Sansa gave him her most polite smile, the one she saved for lords that were particularly annoying. She knew he could see through that smile and that he loved it. "So I should look for Brienne?"

Peter grinned. "Not at all, my Lady." He made a gesture for her to go ahead.

"Your arm." She asked.

Peter was surprised by the request but was quick to comply. "My Lady."

Sansa took his arm gently. Now it was up to Susan to talk some sense into Jon, before he brooded himself to death over a kiss.

Jon sighed once he heard the knocking on the door. "Can you, please, tell them to go? If it is Peter tell him I left Winterfell."

Davos snorted, but went to dismiss whoever was at the door. He was slightly taken aback when he found out it was Susan who was there. "Lady Pevensie."

Davos heard something falling to the floor, but he chose not to look and see what it was. "The King is…"

"He's seeing me right now, Davos." She told him, her eyes firm on his. "If you would be so kind and leave us alone, I would appreciate it."

"Davos!" Jon called from inside.

"My Lady." Davos nodded at Susan, let her get inside and left, closing the door behind himself. Let the kids solve this themselves.

Davos was extremely lucky that Jon saw the man almost as a father, otherwise, he'd be in a lot of trouble right now.

Susan just stood there, looking at him, as if she wanted him to be the first one to say something. When it became obvious this wasn't about to happen, she sighed. "Did you plan on hiding here and brood until Winter ended?"

Jon cleared his throat. "I might've left earlier, because we have to face the White Walkers." He grumbled.

Susan snorted. "I thought as much. It is good to know you still have your priorities straight." She then gave him a look. "Now that I've come and invaded your space, are we going to discuss what happened?"

Jon took a fortifying breath and turned fully to face her. He was not a boy to run from things like that, he was a man and should act like one. He'd kissed her in a completely unappropriated way; there was no excuse he could give to that, however, he could make things right.

"Aye. I would like to apologize, Lady Susan." Jon told her seriously.

As soon as she arched that eyebrow, Jon knew he'd messed up somehow. He just didn't know how.

"So you believe you've done something wrong and you regret it." It wasn't a question -Jon knew that much -but it was pretty much a trap, just waiting for him to fall right in.

"I…" Jon cleared his throat, then sighed. "Lady Susan, you know I'm bad with words, and you make me nervous." He confessed. "I'm not sure if I'm saying the right thing here."

Susan huffed a breath. "I don't want you saying what you think I want to hear." She indicated. "That's never what I've wanted. The only thing I want to hear right now is the truth, what you really think and feel. Nothing else will do."

"I don't have a lot of experience with… Ladies." He cleared his throat again. "I went to the Wall and became a member of the Night Watch fully aware that I would never marry. The first woman I loved was a wildling and she was the one who approached me." He admitted. "I never planned on meeting Ygritte, but things happened, and despite the pain… I don't regret them. I know people say I've had something with Val, but it's not true."

He finally looked at Susan. "I am not the diplomat of this family, this is why having Sansa by my side is essential. I am terrible at talking about some things, and this is one of them: talking about how I feel is difficult. For a long time, nobody cared or asked. I've learned to keep it all inside."

He ran his hand through his curls. "I know you deserve some explanation from me, and I plan on giving you one, because I didn't act honorably today. However, I need you to understand that I'm not trying to escape it; I just don't know how to say what I feel."

He finished his rant, and just waited for Susan's reaction. She'd been awfully quiet the whole time, and it was worrying him. He felt somewhat embarrassed of talking like this in front of her; Susan was the perfect lady and she was exceedingly good at talking to people and getting her point across.

Right now, he felt like a child trying to argue with a scholar: stupid and unprepared.

She took a step ahead. "I don't think I've ever heard you speaking that much before." She told him softly, before taking another step forward.

Jon felt his cheeks heating up, once again feeling like an idiot. "Well, I'm sorry…"

"No, stop." She told him gently, but firmly. "It was not a criticism. There are many things that we still don't understand about each other, and this is likely one of them. But I like the fact that you told me all of this; you don't have to be quiet and bottle your feelings inside. You have a family that loves you, and would happily hear you out. You know it's true."

Jon nodded, eyeing her warily as she came even closer.

"I didn't think you're hiding from me because you didn't want to face the consequences of what you did." She told him, once she was close enough. "I believe you were here exactly because of the opposite: you were preparing yourself to be attacked, likely slapped by me, punched by my brothers and accept it all. You feel you did something wrong." She indicated.

"I…" What could he say? She was right. "Aye."

Susan was analyzing him, carefully now. She took notice of everything: the slope of his shoulders, how he seemed to be fighting to keep his eyes locked on hers.

"But it's not because you kissed me." She guessed. "You don't think this is what you did wrong."

He was startled. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that." Jon spoke firmly.

"But that's not the problem." She insisted. "The kiss isn't the point. It is the fact that, for the first time in a good while, you did exactly what you wanted."

That gave Jon pause.

"You didn't do what was best for the North, or your people, or your family. You did exactly what you wanted for a second, and that makes you feel guilty." She was looking deep into his eyes now, and Jon couldn't turn away, even if he wanted. "You've spent so much time in your life doing things for the others, because it was the right thing to do, the honorable thing, that now you feel selfish for doing something for you."

Silence.

"Am I right?" Susan asked, once Jon just stared at her for a while.

"Aye." He eventually answered. "You are."

"You wanted to kiss me?" It was a question, but not exactly. Actually, Susan was ready to affirm it, just say he wanted to kiss her, but in the end, she'd felt doubtful about her own sentence.

"Aye." He said again. "But it doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have."

Susan frowned. "Why?"

"Because I would've liked to have done it differently." He confessed, looking at her lips for a second. "Not in the middle of an argument in a cold forest."

"Oh." She hadn't been expecting that. "And…" It was Susan's turn to pause and blush. It had been some time since she felt like this talking to a man. "How would you have prefered it?"

Jon took the next step, making his body almost flush against Susan's, but not quite. He cupped her face - glad that this time there weren't gloves in the way and he could feel how silky her skin truly was -and brought it closer to his. "Like this would've been better." His nose brushed hers. "Do you have any objections?"

Susan's eyes closed on their own. "No."

"Good." He murmured, then kissed her.

"Queen Lucy. Come in."

Lucy paused and hesitated, just outside Bran's chamber. She'd had very little contact with the younger Stark, but she had a feeling that most of them gave him a wide berth. Lucy had heard some peculiar tales about him.

According to Sansa, Bran had even 'predicted' their arrival in Winterfell, and he knew about Aslan and Narnia. However, how much he actually knew was debatable, because he only revealed as much as he wanted.

Lucy wasn't exactly scared of him… But she wasn't also fond of the idea of being alone with him.

But then again… She wasn't a coward.

She walked in and stopped by the door. "Have you called me, Lord Stark?" She asked cordially.

"We need to talk." He told her, his unseeing eyes focused somewhere on her vicinity, but not quite on her.

"What about?" She asked coming in, leaving the door ajar behind herself. She looked around, but Lady Meera was nowhere to be found. She wasn't sure she liked that.

"The battle that is coming." He was silent for a second, then his eyes became brown again. "And your part in it."

"Mine?" She asked carefully.

"Your and your siblings'." He nodded. "You are here for a reason, and you're essential to our victory."

"I see." She spoke slowly.

"I can't see what will happen; it's dangerous to try to guess the future." Bran continued. "But if you do not fight by our side we are doomed. Not just Winterfell, but everything in Westeros shall freeze in a winter crueler than anything you've ever seen."

"I've seen some harsh winters, Lord Stark." Lucy pointed out.

"Yes, and that is why you're here. You and your siblings are the bringers of Spring."

"We've already said that what happened in Narnia was due to a prophecy." Lucy indicated. "We don't claim to have magic powers."

"You have more power than you imagine." He broke his gaze from her, turning to look out the window. "In the end, it will come back to you, and the choices and sacrifices you are willing to make."

"Me or my siblings?" Lucy demanded, but there was no answer. "Bran?"

His eyes were white again.

Susan had poems and sonnets dedicated to her beauty, men willing to fight duels for her hand. She had suitors that had offered enormous riches for a chance with the Queen; beautiful words sang to her, gallant gestures performed in her name…

And yet, none of it, felt like this.

She may have had men falling to her feet and professing to love her and wishing to marry her, but she'd never been kissed before. She'd never been held before, not the way Jon held her.

Deep inside her there was this voice, the reasonable one that made her the stick-in-the-mud of the family, telling her this was a bad idea. They were from different worlds, and here he was a King; there could be no promises between them. Kissing Jon was a stupid idea, one that her heart would pay for in the future.

However, Jon had been holding his feelings inside his chest since forever, and Susan had been the rational one her whole life. Maybe what they were doing wasn't the smartest choice at the moment, but they'd earned it.

She could barely name it. She'd been butting heads with him since the beginning, and many times she'd wanted to shake him for being so… Himself. Susan wasn't rash enough to claim she loved him. This wasn't love, not yet at any rate; however, it was so full with beautiful, glorious potential, that it felt wrong trying to ignore it.

There was something when she looked at him, something that begged Susan to jump in.

And that was what she was doing now.

The kiss on the forest had been angry and intense; not exactly bad, but Susan didn't think first kisses should be like this. First kisses should be like this one: all calm and exploration.

Jon kissed her softly not because he thought she was breakable, but because he was memorizing the curve of her lips. His hands cradled her face, then found her hair, and only later went to her waist. When he bit her lower lip, it was a sweeter kind of bite, not an angry one.

Susan had no idea how long they spent there, just tasting each other lips and holding onto each other; but once they broke apart, Susan wasn't sure she was even in Westeros anymore.

"Much better." Jon murmured against her lips.

Susan let out a surprised chuckle. "I have no complaints at this point, Your Grace." She teased.

"Is it like your songs told you it would be?" He pressed his forehead against hers.

"I do have one song in my head now…" She admitted.

Jon chuckled. "What would that be?"

She cradled his face with her hands. "Drink to me only with thine eyes…" She murmured, her eyes on his. "And I will pledge with mine." Her eyes dropped to his lips. "Or leave a kiss within the cup," Her lips brushed his with every word she said. "And I'll not ask for wine."

"I like this one." He kissed her again.

A knock on the door made the pull away to some respectable distance. "Come in." Jon called.

A maid entered, looked from one to the other, then cleared her throat. "Your Grace, Lady Lucy requests to talk to you and Lady Susan."

"Is something wrong?" Susan asked concerned.

"I don't know, my lady." The woman said. "But she seemed a bit agitated."

"Your Grace…" Susan turned to Jon, clear worry in her eyes.

"Go find your sister." Jon told her. "I'll wait for you two in my solar." He turned to the maid. "Has she asked anyone else to be present in this conversation?"

"She asked for her family and yours, Your Grace." The woman informed.

"Tell them all to come to my solar." He told the woman.

She curtsied and left.

"I need to find her." Susan decided.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Susan." Jon assured her. "But go. I'll see you in a while."

Susan hurried to the door, but then paused and grinned in his direction.

"What?" Jon asked confused.

"Can you imagine a better moment to have our families together in a closed room?"

Jon groaned.

"Sansa! Peter!"

They stopped as Lucy hurried in their direction. "Is something wrong?" Peter demanded.

"I need to talk to all of you." Lucy said as she reached them, she was breathing hard.

"What happened?" Sansa asked, now extremely concerned.

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, then saw that Sansa and Peter were arm in arm. She gave them a look. "Am I interrupting?"

Sansa cleared her throat and let go of Peter's arm. "No. Your brother was just keeping me company."

"I see…" Lucy drawled. "I talked to Bran."

"Bran?" Sansa seemed shocked by the information. "Voluntarily?"

"He asked to speak to me." Lucy clarified. "I want to get the others and discuss some things."

"Like what?" Peter asked.

"I think it's time we discuss Narnia." Lucy admitted.

Peter was caught by surprise. "Lucy…"

"It is time, Peter." She said, her decision unshaken. "Because things are about to go terribly wrong."

"My Lady!" Sam came around the corner, hurrying to Sansa. "A letter from Dragonstone." He declared, barely able to catch his breath.

Sansa traded looks with the others. "Is this…?"

"I think it is." Lucy spoke in a small voice.

The first signs of the storm ahead.

Notes: Jon and Susan got really cheesy there at the end, but I couldn't resist.

Sorry not sorry... lol

Let me know your feelings!