The Children of Spring

Galladon IV - Our Story

Before the current situation, Galladon and Jenny had talked, they had been nervous, not for everything they would discover, for they really doubted that there was anything left to be found out, but for what they had to tell them. They were the eldest, they were supposed to have taken care of the young and they felt like they hadn't done that.
"It'll be fine." Galladon had said, trying to keep optimistic for him and for Jenny's sake as well.
"I hope so." Jenny had said sighing, he had taken her hand and had looked at her and had said,
"It's going to be alright, I promise."
"I just don't know how I'm going to tell them." Jenny had said with a small smile.
"Which part?" Galladon had asked.
"More than half of it. You know, sometimes I wish I had never gotten the idea of entering the house alone. If I hadn't-" Jenny had been saying, when Galladon had said,
"I would have entered instead of you. And... Gods know what would have happened. You did that to protect us all, Jen.-"
"Look where it got us. I entered, lost my memory and you died, thinking that you had lost me and that you'd loose your family." Jenny had said, looking down in the end.
"Thomas told you." Galladon had concluded and she had nodded.
"I told him to. I feel that the only thing I did was screwing things up. I know that you're going to say that it wasn't my fault and you're probably right, but I can't help it. You know, after I could make sense of things in my mind, when I got my memories back, and realized we're going home, the first thing I thought was how was I going to get home and explain that you had died to your parents, how was I going to tell Jo that her brother was dead, how was I going to tell Ger that his best friend was dead... I couldn't deal with that, nor could I deal with the fact that I had forgoten the people I loved more than anything in this world so easily, I forgot you, I forgot my brothers and my sister, I forgot my parents... I'll never be alright with that. I didn't know how was I going to tell them all of that. You can ask Thomas, he's my brother, he's seen me in my best and he's seen me in my worst and I assure you that he had never seen me like that. When you came back and the battle was over, after, well, after what happened... I just thought that maybe I wouldn't have to talk about it for a while at least. Now, I'm going to have to tell everything, because it's the right thing to do, and it scares the hell out of me." Jenny had explained, looking down.
"I should never have let you entered that house alone. James said that I could have stopped you and he was right, I could, but I wasn't able to do that, I should have gone after you. Then you came out of the house and you were passed out and I just... thought that if something had happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. I took a long time to go talk to you when you didn't have your memories, because I didn't want to hear you saying that it was over. Then I snapped, when I heard it, and I'll never be alright with that. I also thought how was I going to get home and tell your parents what had happened or tell Mary what had happened. If it wasn't for Cat, I would never have been able to keep it together and you were there for her when everything around you was crumbling down too. So, I know you'll be able to do this. You're the strongest person I know." Galladon had said looking at her with a small smile and she had smiled a bit too.
"I'm not, but you are, you were there for them, when I couldn't. You'll do this far better than me. I'll probably start to cry and... let's hope I can keep it together." Jenny had said with a chuckle.
"It'll be alright. We just have to be brave for a little while longer." Galladon had said and Jenny had nodded. Then they had looked at each other for a while until, finally they had felt really ready and, after sometime, he had nodded, she had nodded too and they had left to the meeting place. Let's do this, Galladon had thought.
As of then, Galladon was getting ready to hear the last part of the whole story, that was the Last War. After everything he had heard, he just did not think that something could catch him off guard anymore, eventhough the Last War was the one they knew less about. Galladon was glad that right then they had the whole context of the events, because that was what gave the events meaning and in some of them the meaning was everything. Still, Galladon was grateful that he had discovered somethings before that, for it made the shock smaller by then. Even with everything he was hearing, he always tried to separate what they were saying from who they were at that day, for there was no way that they were the same persons. He understood why none of them talked about it, by then. It was not what everyone was expecting, but them, having imagined the worse case scenario if not something much worse than what they could actually imagine, they were happy to finally know the truth and for it to be what it had been, because, after all, despite everything, they had been the good ones and the heroes in the story, like they were definetively their heroes... Our family is as messed up as it can be, but it's our family and we wouldn't want it any other way. After all, family is always and forever, Galladon thought as the story continued.
"During those two days, everything seemed wonderful, we felt that we had actually something to cling on to at the end. Someone who was there for us, we weren't alone anymore and our families, old or new, were together, eventhough we had lost a lot. We had made something impossible happened. However, there was still a war left to be fought." Daenerys explained, looking down.
"Most of us were going to war and we wanted something to hold on to and after all those years we knew what we wanted, so... all the obstacules we had before, after that war, just vanished. And we ended up or agreeing to marry or to get together, when the war was over." Gendry added.
"There were some deep conversations in those two days and then we had to go to war. I guess that some of us were lucky, one only had to fight and the fight was the easy part." Jon said, at the end, looking at Joanna, Jaime and Tyrion.
"We knew that we couldn't let our sister do any more damage than what she had already done, we knew that she would never come out of that alive, but... it was the right thing to do." Tyrion started.
"I didn't go with the two of them. I didn't want anything to do with that war anymore, I just wanted to live my life the right way for once and to put it all behind me, eventhough I knew that I'd never do that because, despite everything, Cersei was still my sister, but just that by then. I knew Joanna and Tyrion would take care of it, so I stayed in Winterfell. Then... something happened." Jaime continued.
"On our way to Dragonstone, our fleet was attacked by that maniac of Euron Greyjoy," Joanna was saying, Yep, everyone hated that guy. Now we know why, Joan and Eddard thought. "The fleet was almost destroyed, still everyone managed to get to shore. I was swimming to the shore, when I saw that the Iron Born were taking Missandei. I went to help her and I managed to get her to escape. When I finished fighting the Iron Born, I was surrounded. I probably could have escaped, but I didn't... Because there's something we haven't told you yet." Joanna finished and there was something in the way she had said 'but I didn't' that told them that there was more to it. Podrick took his wife's hand, for he knew that that time had been a difficult one and even after all those years it was something that was not easy to talk about. That was the last delusion, that's why she was in a dungeon, Rickon thought and then looked at Jenny. Jenny noticed that and found it weird, she nodded slightly to her cousin asking if everything was alright and he nodded that it was. Galladon found Rickon's reaction weird too, but then something came to his mind, No... It can't have been like this. Right then, he remembered hearing a conversation before leaving camp. He had heard his father saying,
"KingsLanding was worst, it wasn't just them in trouble, if Jo made it through that and Pod managed to stay at Winterfell, then they'll be fine, I hope. At least, now it's just the two of them. You know we all were capable of anything for those kids. When it's just our lives, it's different."
"It always is... For a long time ago." He had heard his mother saying after that. Galladon was snapped out of his thought, when he heard,
"The oath..." Gerion Lannister said, looking at his nephews and niece.
"Yes... The oath." Joanna said sighing, with a small half bitter chuckle, if there was anything she regreted doing back then, it was having that idea in the first place. It was redundanct thinking about it by then, for Jenny was alive and grown up, so were Marianne, Thomas and James, but if anything had gone wrong then... What is she trying to hide?, Marianne thought, she knew that tone, she had used it, normally if she was trying to hide her emotions.
"I'll start before you tell the rest." Tyrion said looking at his sister and she nodded, it was for the best, for she really doubted that she could tell it all straight, What the Hells is going on?, Jenny and Marianne thought. Rickon had told James and Thomas by then, it had came up in one of the talkings, therefore they suspected it, still they pretended not to, they would wait 'till the end, "When we were younger, six years after our sister married, we realized that we only had each other. Our father was never home, we had uncle Gery and aunt Genna, uncle Tyg had died four years before, but most of the time it was just us. So me, Joanna, Jaime and Cersei made an oath, we joined the swords and everything, it was the only time I remembered Cersei ever helding a sword, even if not by choice. We said we'd always be there for each other and protect each other, no matter what. Always and forever, we said." Tyrion finished. So that's where that came from, everyone thought.
"It's funny how after all that happened, after everything we had done to each other and being away from each other for years, there was still the oath in our minds. That was the only objection I had when I decided to stay at Winterfell. But I knew that Joanna and Tyrion would do anything they could to keep it." Jaime explained.
"If I could change what I did next, I would. I just didn't get the all situation at the time. Anyway, I thought that somehow I could talk to my sister and make her snap out of her madness and get my sister back, even if for one last time, so... I layed down my weapons and let myself get captured." Joanna explained, looking down.
"What?! Why?!" Marianne asked shocked, that was incredibly dangerous and even with the oath, there had to be other way, that did not include getting captured by a maniac! Marianne always thought that her mother would fight until the end and never ever let herself get captured, it just didn't make sense in her mind.
"To stop the war, without more lives lost... right?" Jenny asked, looking at her mother, because, after all, that had been the same she had done when she had entered the House of the Undying. Only, she thought that, that time, it hadn't backfired. She was pretty sure it hadn't. That was why you entered the house, Galladon thought, looking at her.
Joanna looked at her daughters and nodded, saying,
"I hoped that while I was inside the city and the castle, then they wouldn't destroy the city and I would make sure Cersei wouldn't either. If it went wrong and I died, but everyone else was saved, it wouldn't be a bad outcome... All the times I got into trouble, I always did it because it was our best choice. And I only did it, when it was only me in trouble. Of course, I wanted to make it back. I mean, I had just married your father and I had just found a family again and I wanted to have a home and children of my own, I wanted to finally start to live my life the right away, we all wanted that... But it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"When I realized what she had done, I pannicked, because she and Cersei were alone and they had never been at odds so badly as then." Tyrion added.
"When the news arrived at Winterfell and Brienne and Sansa told me and asked me to do something my first thought was: I have to go to KingsLanding." Jaime said, remembering.
"We couldn't do anything, eventhough we wanted to. We'd never get there on time." Brienne said.
"If I went alone, I knew I could get there and they were my sisters I had to do something..." Jaime said.
"When she went to war in the first place, I wanted to go with her, to be there for her, but she asked me to promise that I would stay in Winterfell, no matter what." Pod said.
"He was the most important person in my life and if something happened to him because of me, I would never forgive myself." Joanna explained.
"I promised her that I would try to stay in Winterfell, but I'd never thought she would get caught." Pod added. Jaime looked at him and said,
"I had to convince you not to go, though. I didn't know if you were going to listen to me or not, but I hoped you were, because it wasn't fair if something went wrong and I saw the way that Joanna and you acted around each other and I'd never seen her so happy and so sure of anything else before and when I found you in the Godswood that day and you were ready to get on a horse and go to KingsLanding in a heartbeat, I knew that you two loved each other more than anything else." Then he continued the story, "So, we made a deal, I'd go to KingsLanding and tried to solve things and if I couldn't then he'd go."
"It was really hard to stay in Winterfell, but I had to try to keep the promise at least." Pod explained.
"Meanwhile, Tyrion told me what had happened and then I told Jon as well. We had to held a meeting with Cersei, trying to get some truce." Daenerys continued.
"In that meeting, I tried to convince Cersei to surrender (we thought she was pregnant and the love for her children, at that point, was her only reedeeming quality) and to set Joanna free, but she didn't do that, she just used irony and she throw Sharp Claw at my feet so, right then, I knew there was going to be a battle." Tyrion explained.
"I was in a cell, I had been blindfolded the whole way there, I didn't know what for, for I had grown up in that city, I knew every passage, but... Anyway, it was night probably, when my sister came to see me the first time. She started to play her game as soon as she entered and I started to play too. We talked for some time and I was just provoking her. She was trying to make me feel sad and that I was out of options. She told me that she was going to win the war no matter what and that, when she did, I would have to do as she said and I'd have to marry and to be a lady, she told me she knew I couldn't endure marriage. The thing was she was expecting me to be the girl that had left KingsLanding several years ago, but I wasn't that girl anymore, I had grown up. So I told her that if she won, which was impossible, and somehow she could make me do anything, her best chance was to kill me there and then, no one ever had to know, because I would never marry, because I already had. I must have told her to kill me at least five times, but I knew she couldn't. Then she left. I knew I had touched a nerve for she slapped me, I let her do that anyway, the first time at least." Joanna explained.
"I was just supposed to go to KingsLanding the day after I got the news, but that night I had an awful nightmare, I thought they would kill each other and I knew that none of them could live with that. Brienne told me that if I was that worried, then I should go earlier and that's what I did. I left to KingsLanding that night." Jaime said. Of course, you did, Galladon thought, it was what made sense.
"We were getting ready to war, when he showed up. He asked us to let him and Tyrion solve it and we let them do that, she was their sister, after all." Jon added.
"Me and Jaime got a plan to get Joanna out and to... make things easier for Cersei and to somehow fullfil our oath." Tyrion said.
"Meanwhile, I was just waiting for them, I couldn't escape without increasing the risk of open war. The only people that came in were the guards that came to bring food. I felt that I had to keep my strenght, I didn't know why, but I just felt that I had to. Some days later, Cersei came to the cell again. The game went on. At one point, I asked her if she was really pregnant because it didn't look like it. She was lying, I knew she was, but she told me that she was pregnant and I asked her how could she know, to see if she fessed it up and she said that she didn't bleed in four months. The next thing I knew was the door shutting. Because..." It backfired too, Jenny thought, she really hoped it was not what she was thinking it was, "When she said that, I realized something... I realized that-" Joanna was saying, when Jenny said, looking at her mother,
"You were pregnant of me." It made sense, she knew that her mother had found out she was pregnant of her in the middle of the war and the war was ending... She didn't expect it to be like that, but, deep down, she knew that it had to be in difficult moment.
"Yes, I was. And I was so happy to know that, until I realized that I was locked up in a cell alone without knowing anything about the outside world and the only person that could open the door was a person that was mad and that person was my sister. The only thing I knew was that I had to get out of there. I had to. But I couldn't, there was no way out. If I fought, I could get seriously hurt and that couldn't happen. I was... desperated. For once, it wasn't just me in trouble, I had someone whose life depended on mine and that terrified me. If I could go back and not having that idea, I would have. But, it was done. So, I had to figure out a way of getting out of there. I had no idea how, until my sister wanted to use me as a 'human shield', she thought that if they saw me, then they wouldn't sack the city. I couldn't let that happen, so I fought the guards and ran, that's when I met Jaime." Joanna explained, looking down.
"I burned the Golden Company, along with Euron Greyjoy, with Drogon and that's why there's a new dern. Apparently, the Golden Company didn't go down." Daenerys added.
"Me and Clegane killed Qyburn and the Mountain." Arya said.
"I finally got my revenge." Clegane added.
"The Lannister army had surrendered, so we could get control over the city without any more fights." Jon said.
"Meanwhile, me and Joanna went to find our sister, she had finally snapped out of her madness, but her fate was already set. We met Tyrion in the Dragon Skull room, no one knew about this." Jaime explained.
"Despite all of my instints telling me to run, I had to go with him, she was my sister, I had made an oath. I didn't want to see her die Gods know how. But you already know the rest of the story." Joanna said, looking down.
"We do?" James asked a bit confused.
"Remember that bedtime story, we always told you?" Tyrion asked.
"The one with the lions and the lionesses... It isn't just a bedtime story, it's your story. You had to convince your sister to take the painless way to die..." Jeyne concluded.
"Poison, painless poison. At least, she was herself again and was reunited with her children. You were very brave to do that." Gerion Lannister said, looking at his nephews and niece. And they nodded. I wasn't waiting for that one, Galladon thought, that was something that he never thought he'd be able to do, but he never thought he'd do half of what he did during those months. Somehow, that made him realize that some of the things they had done during those months, the risks they had taken, the things that they looked back by then and didn't know how they could find the courage to do, after all had an explanation, it was in their blood...
"From then on, it's what you know as well as everybody else does, me and Jon took the Throne of the Six Kingdoms and Sansa became Queen in the North." Daenerys explained.
"After that war, we tried to adjust to reality, the first months were amazing, we were finally living our lives happily after a very long time, but then we started to have time to think about all of what had happened back then, things that we didn't have time to think about, because when everything around you seems to be imploding at any moment, you don't really have the time to think about what happened before, then, when you do, the nightmares start. That's why we still have nightmares..." Joanna explained. Right... Makes sense, Rickon thought.
"Guess, that's the end." Gendry said and everyone nodded. Galladon and Jenny looked at each other, it was their time. When Galladon was about to start talking, Marianne asked,
"Was it worthy?"
"Yes. Of course, it was." The adults all said right away.
"Even with the nightmares?" Lyanna asked seriously.
"You know, everyday we wake up and see you and it reminds us that we made it through and we managed to create a future where none of you knowing what we had gone through and that was one of the worst things of this war, what the warlock said about we'd be like the ones before us, it's true, we were afraid of that, that's other reason for the nightmares, but even with that, when we see you growing up every single day, all of that vanish. Because, you showed us that there's more to life than just war and you showed us that, despite everything, we could still make something good. We could do right by you, even when no one did that for us." Jon explained and they all smiled a bit. By then, after finally knowing the whole story, they were not as shocked as they thought they would be, for after finding out all that they had, they had not known what to think, by then all of those things had context and they knew why and how it had happened and it all weirdly made sense and it all was fine, they were just happy to know it and to know that, after all, their parents were the good guys and the heroes of the story, even if sometimes it didn't seem like it.
"We know that this is a lot to take in and we know that we should have told you before, it's just that-" Sansa was saying when Rickon said,
"It's alright. We understand, you don't have to explain. Now, we know that it can't be easy to tell all of this and that there's probably somethings that you rather not talk about. If we knew, we'd probably not be asking about it all the time. We're glad you trusted us with this." That's what everyone is thinking, Galladon thought.
"Guess, this is not exactly what you were expecting..." Jaime said.
"Well, to be fair, at this point, we knew most of it. Besides, that doesn't change who you are today." Catelyn said and everyone nodded.
"Now... It's our time." Galladon said, at length, and Jenny looked at him, It's now. Come on..., Jenny thought and then they started to tell the whole story from the Rebellion, to Pyke, to Casterly Rock, to the journey. They felt that they owed their parents that, for they had told them to stay in KingsLanding and they hadn't listened. Maybe it was for the best or maybe not, but it was done and by then the story needed to be told and that's what they did. It was a lie, if they said that they were not nervous, they were, but as they started to speak the nerves eased a bit. There were hard parts and easy parts. Their parents weren't waiting for somethings, even knowing that Galladon had died it was still an uneasy moment when he told that part; knowing that Jenny had lost her memory was also a shock; knowing that the rest of the people that were in the journey had gone through that and had managed to hold it all together; knowing how Rhaella had escaped the warlocks' games was, at the very least, impressive; the whole rebellion and how Lyanna had managed to keep the Kingdoms together and to stop a rebellion against the Throne, leading an army to battle, or how Jeyne had helped her and had managed to learn how to fight in a such short period of time, was not what they were expecting; what Marianne had faced at the Rock and what Joan and Eddard had faced in Pyke was also a surprised. It was like their kids had to face all of the people they had to face before and that was... just not fair. But they had made it through, just like they had, and they could not be more proud of them.
By the end, Jenny and Galladon looked at each other and thought the same thing, We did it. It's over.
"Guess, this is the end of it." James said. The story was told, the good and the bad parts. And, definetively, it were just Galladon and Jenny that were still nervous. They knew they shouldn't, they just couldn't help it.
"We are very proud of you. You made it through all of that and you saved us. Together, like a family. You showed the enemies that when we all stand together, we can never loose. We-... don't know what to say honestly, we're really proud of you." Jon said smiling and they all smiled. This is what family is. Being there for each other and help each other and we'll always do that, Galladon thought and then he couldn't help but thinking, Eventhough, it doesn't work sometimes. He knew Jenny was thinking the same, no one got that, no one got that that feeling of guilt would never go away, for much that they tried, for much that everyone said it wasn't their fault, for much that they told themselves that it wasn't their fault, how could they make it go away? It was too much, for if they had done how they were told and had stayed in KingsLanding, none of that would have happened. None of the others would be in danger. When the journey started and while they were in it and in the battle, it was bad, right then... it was worst. It was like the more they talked about it, more the feeling grew.
They were snapped out of their thoughts, when Catelyn took her brother's hand and Thomas took his sister's. The two of them and James were the ones who knew better what they were going through, but James was a bit further from them and Thomas and Catelyn were next to them. Jorah and Mia knew something was happening, still they had not seen the breakdowns and did not know them like their siblings did.
Right then, Jaime, Brienne, Joanna and Podrick noticed that there was something wrong and that there was something they were not telling them. If the situation was other and if it was not the case of them being in a long journey for a long time and the both of them had gone through a lot, they would wait until they felt ready to tell them, but, after everything, they had to ask, they were too worried not to.
"Is everything alright?" Jaime asked, looking at his son and his niece. Galladon and Jenny knew the question was for them, as did everyone else.
"Yeah. It's nothing." Galladon answered and Jenny nodded. Still, they both knew they were terrible liars and were already expecting that their parents wouldn't buy that. What they were not expecting was for Thomas, Catelyn and James having a plan of their own and that that plan was the last thing they wanted, eventhough they knew it was their best option.
"Just tell them." Catelyn said, looking at them, and Galladon looked at his sister surprised.
"What?" Galladon said.
"Let it out. It'll help." James said, looking at them too.
"Tell us what?" Joanna asked.
"If you don't, we will. You can't keep going on like this and no matter how much we tell you to stop blaming yourselves, you won't do it. So, just let it all out, whatever you think you need to say. If you think you did screw up, which you didn't, don't you think you owe them that at least?" Thomas said, Jenny looked at her brother and then at Galladon. Their little siblings were right, they had to get it out.
Tyrion looked at Joanna and she looked at him, they had seen that all before.
"Fine... We're sorry. We should have listened to you and had stayed in KingsLanding." Galladon said.
"We're sorry this all happened, I should never have entered that house alone... We didn't mean for any of you to be in danger." Jenny said, looking at her siblings and her cousins, "We just..."
"We just wanted to fight and to protected our family... We were supposed to be the responsible ones and instead we screw it all up, so..." Galladon said.
"And, right now, the only we can say is that we're sorry..." Jenny said, looking down.
"It's not your fault." Brienne said, looking at them.
"You did what you thought was right and..." Pod said.
"We screwed it all up..." Jenny rebutted. They won't listen to us. We have to find other way to make them understand that this isn't their fault, Jaime thought and everyone else knew it as well. That was when, Daenerys said,
"You didn't screw it all up. Sometimes, things don't work out the way we want them to. When we make a choice, even if for the rightest reason, we can never know the consequences of it. We can't control it. What matters is how we deal with the consequences and what we do to make sure that we chose the right path. And, Jen and Gal, you certainly did that. So, when everyone says that this is not your fault, it's because it's not." They looked at their aunt and they nodded. They knew that she was right. Still, there was something else missing.
"I'm not sure you'll listen to me when I say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway, because you need to hear it. It's easier to prentend that all the bad things that happened to the people you love are your fault, because it's much harder to accept that you couldn't do more. But the truth is that no matter how much you tried all the bad things would stay the same. So, no matter what happens or how much that your minds tell you that there was some other way, just try to rememeber this. Once you accept that and what your aunt Dany told you, everything will be fine." Joanna said and they nodded again and for the first time they finally thought, Maybe it's not our fault... It could be seen in their faces that they were more calm and that they were finally accepting that it had not been their fault.
"Thank you." Galladon and Jenny said with a smile and everyone nodded smiling too.
The story was told, but Jorah still needed to say something, therefore he stood up and went to where Galladon and Jenny were and said,
"You two saved my sister and you paid the price, it wasn't supposed to be you, but it was, because you always protect us. I've been thinking of a way to say this to you since we left Qarth, because that was what I thought, but the only thing I knew was that I had to get you and everyone else home, you thaught me that and you helped me keep faith, that was the least I could do. I don't think there's any other way to say it. The only thing I can say now is thank you."
Galladon and Jenny stood up and she put a hand on his shoulder and said,
"You don't have to thank us. We're family. When I entered that house, I entered knowing that if something happened to me, that you, Mia, Cat and Gal would take care of my brothers until we got home. Thank you for being the eldest when we couldn't." Jorah smiled at his cousin and then hugged her, she hugged him back. After the hug, Jorah looked at Galladon and he smiled and then said,
"You know, when you and Thomas found me that day, I was ready to give up, I was ready to leave it all behind, because I had lost faith in myself. But you, Thomas and James believed in me and were there for me and that was what made me think that it wasn't the end. You and Mia got us home, so thank you." Jorah smiled and said,
"Well, I had to repay the favor." His cousin nodded and they hugged.
"The truth is that we could never have made it without each other. That was what we learned in this journey." Mia said and everyone nodded. Everyone was happy and any doubts or fears they had while telling the stories went away, everyone knew the questions would go on, from both sides, but it didn't matter, it was all over and they had survived. For some that probably meant the end of a lifetime full of adventures, for others the story was not over yet, it was just beginning. Only time would tell, for then they had to focus on the good moments. And they had a feast to go to.
"Now what?" Lyanna asked everyone.
"Now... we have a feast to go to. There's no better way to celebrate." Tyrion answered smiling and everyone smiled as well.
"What are we celebrating?" Jeyne asked.
"Just survival and family." Sansa answered, everyone agreed to that and started to go to prepare for the feast. That was when Galladon thought, Now's the perfect time to tell them about the engagement. Therefore, he went to talk to Jenny.
"Hey, that went pretty well." Galladon said when he got to her.
"Hey. Guess it did." Jenny agreed.
"So, let's tell them about it." Galladon suggested. Jenny was surprised, if it came down to both of them, Galladon was the one who would be more nervous, she never thought that he would say that first.
"Now?" Jenny asked surprised.
"It's the best time. Everything is said." Galladon explained smiling and she smiled too in agreement.
"Alright, let's do this." There was nothing they wanted to do more than tell their parents about the wedding, deep down, they knew their parents would agree to it. They just did not know if they were ready for the eventual teasing... if there was anything they had learned when they got caught, was that there would always be teasing.
They went to call their parents and, fortunately, they managed to catch them before they left the hall.
After a while, they were only the six of them in the room. Jenny spoke first, that time she was the one who was less nervous,
"We wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" Joanna asked. They had an idea of what it was about, still given that it were Galladon and Jenny, they couldn't be sure when it might come to that.
"Well, when you caught us back at KingsLanding, you said that we'd talk when we were all together again." Galladon said, looking at his father and his uncle.
"We did say that we'd talk, but we told you before the war that everything was alright." Jaime said.
"Looking back, it makes sense, actually." Pod said and everyone agreed. You knew it or suspected at least, Jenny thought a little surprised. So far, so good, Galladon thought happily.
"We did not do a good job hiding it, we know." Jenny said.
"We're terrible liars, always were." Galladon said.
"That's true, undoubtebly. The only question is how did it happen?" Brienne asked. They were curious about it, because in what concerned seeing what was right in front of them, Galladon, Jenny, Catelyn and James were very similar.
"I think that it just did. To be honest, we don't know when it started. We only know it has been 4 years since we've realized it." Jenny said, looking at Galladon.
"Exactly, it was like one day we woke up and realized it. But it did and now we can't imagine it any other way. That's what we wanted to talk to you about." Galladon said.
"Alright..." Their parents said, they knew where the conversation was going, but they wanted to hear it from them, for safety.
"Well, you heard the story back then and I'm sure you realized how hard it was for us." Jenny started and then Galladon continued,
"We both felt what was like to loose the person we love and with that we realized something..." And then, they both said at the same time,
"We never thought we'd be saying this, but... We... want to get married."
At that, their parents realized that they were right after all, that was what the conversation was really about, they did not have any doubts that Galladon and Jenny were sure about what they were saying and that they loved each other more than anyone else, still it was a bit surprising to hear them saying that, because until 4 years ago all they had heard them saying about the word 'marriage' always came with the word 'never' before it.
"That's... great! We're very happy for you!" Their parents said and Galladon and Jenny smiled to hear them saying that.
"Thank you." They said smiling. They knew it was a surprise, still they were glad that it was not a shocking one.
"So, when will the event happen?" Joanna asked. Jenny and Galladon looked at each other, a bit surprised, they hadn't talk much about dates, they were waiting for their permission first and the right time to ask help preparing the wedding, therefore Jenny said simply,
"As soon as possible." Then Joanna looked at her daughter, with a knowing look, and then asked,
"Is there something else we should know?" I can't believe I fell for that one!, Jenny thought, it was teasing and she knew it. What is that about?, Galladon thought, if there was anything that he had to get better at was reading between the lines, because unlike the teasing, that was something, despite lying, that he had never been very good at.
"No. I mean, you and father married in the Godswood without telling anything to anyone, then when I tell you that I want to get married, that's the first thing that cames to your mind?" Jenny said with a half-anoyed, half-teasing tone of voice. It's teasing, Galladon realized with relief. Jenny might not play the game as many times as Marianne and the twins did, but he'd know that tone anywhere, anyday.
Joanna smiled, proud of her daughter.
"Good point." Pod said and Joanna nodded and Jenny smiled. Then Galladon looked at his parents, because he knew that he was next. Jaime looked at his son and then said,
"Well, it took you only 4 years to change your mind about marriage."
"Dying and coming back to life has it side effects." Galladon said with a smile.
"I'm sure it was that." Brienne said looking at her son and he chuckled a bit. They both knew that he had changed his mind 4 years ago. Then, a year later, he might have had a conversation with his mother asking advices about a girl he refused to name, he had had the same conversation with his father and grandfather. The only diference between the three was that, in the latter two, he had strongily afirmed that it was just curiosity, nothing more.
Then Galladon looked at his father and said,
"Besides, from what uncle Gery told us, you took much more time."
"24 years, more or less. I'm curious about what uncle Gery told you." Jaime said with a chuckle.
"He told us your whole childhood." Jenny said, smiling.
"Dear Gods..." Joanna said, looking at her brother.
"Aunt Genna had told us a third of it, already." Jenny said simply.
"Why am I not surprised?" Jaime said.
"Also, I'm pretty sure that grandfather told Jo your entire childhood, mother." Galladon said, looking at his mother.
"Of course, he did. Your grandfather has been waiting a long time for that." Brienne said with a chuckle. The conversation dispersed around that subject and Jenny went to her father and said softly,
"Me, Mary, Thomas and James would like to hear about your childhood too, one day, even if it's just a little bit."
"One day, soon. I promise." Pod said and she nodded.
"Before I get married?" Jenny asked in that tone that she knew she and Marianne had that their father couldn't say no to.
"Fine. Tell you what, after this conversation, you go call your sister and your brothers and I'll tell you, alright?" Her father said and Jenny got a bit surprised, she did want to hear it before getting married but she didn't mean to force it that much, so her father added, "It's time for you to know." Jenny nodded with a smile. The conversation was almost over, but before that Brienne asked Galladon and Jenny,
"Did you decide the place for the wedding already or anything like that?"
"We did, the place only." Galladon answered, it had been the only thing they had decided and after they had heard the whole story about the past, they were even more sure about that place.
"What place then?" Pod asked.
"KingsLanding." Jenny answered. They knew that their parents would be surprised, therefore Galladon started to explain,
"Before you say anything, let us explain. First, we knew that we'd never be able to choose between Tarth and the Rock, because they're our homes. Second, looking back, there's a great amount of people in our family that married in KingsLanding, even if there's no more Sept of Baelor."
"And third and last, after everything that happened in that city, I'm sure you all have as many good memories as bad ones in there, so we want you to have one more good memory to add to the good ones." Jenny finished. Their parents were without words, because they were right about KingsLanding and what they wanted to do and why they wanted to do it. It surprised them beyond words. Even after all those years, they were still getting used to, not only the idea of them growing up, but also the idea of not being only them looking out for themselves even if together. They would have to get used to it.
"That's... Thank you." Jaime said, everyone else agreed. Galladon and Jenny smiled. This went pretty well, Galladon thought happily.
The conversation was over and, while Jenny and Joanna went to try to find Marianne and the twins, Galladon went with his parents to find his sisters. It was time to have a family talk about all they had heard that day.
They found Joan and Catelyn in the garden.
When they saw them, Joan instantly asked,
"Did he tell you?"
"I did." Galladon answered.
"And?" Catelyn asked curiously.
"We agreed to it, of course." Brienne said.
"That's great!" Joan said and Catelyn smiled.
"It is." Galladon said with a smile.
"It was a surprise, wasn't it?" Catelyn asked with a chuckle.
"A little bit." Jaime said.
"I was waiting for more teasing, to be honest." Galladon said with a chuckle.
"We thought you had had enough the first time." Jaime said.
"I'd like to be there to see that." Joan said with a chuckle and Galladon sighed.
"How was the teasing before we were born?" Catelyn asked her parents curiously.
"Well, it started with your father, your uncle Tyrion and your aunt Joanna and then somehow they got us all to play." Brienne explained.
"And you all got pretty good, I wasn't expecting that." Jaime admited.
"You weren't expecting me to play, you mean." Brienne said, looking at her huband.
"I had my hopes, given that as far as when we met, you were one of the very few people that called me Kingslayer to my face. Besides, if there was anyone that could get you to play, it was Joanna." Jaime said, looking at her.
"True." Brienne agreed.
"So, father, uncle Gery and uncle Tyrion were right." Joan said with a smile.
"Unfortunately and anoyingly, yes, little star." Jaime comfirmed, looking at Joan. They all laughed a little bit. Gods, they had missed this, Galladon had missed this, he had missed his parents and Joan more than anything else. When he had come back to life and had realized that they would all be together again, he had been so relieved and so happy.
Then Catelyn realized something and decided to ask,
"Mother, why only aunt could get you to play the game?"
"When you spent almost two years traveling with the same persons, it starts to feel like family. And then you join traditions, shared stories and then you notice all these things are just natural and that was what happened with the teasing. Your aunt played and, with time, me and your uncle learned." Brienne explained.
"Did you three ever had a big fight while traveling?" Galladon asked curiously.
"The first stages were rough, at least." Jaime said with a chuckle.
"More or less, and you didn't help." Brienne said, to which Jaime nodded agreeing, "We were the same age, we were all used to kind of working alone and we all had a past that we didn't talk about. We didn't have a huge fight, but sometimes it was hard. Especially on the begining, because, despite we three having very different tempers, one thing we do have in common, when we're upset and someone tries right away to comfort us or anything like that, we snap. It took us a while to figure that out, so we had small fights. It varied between the three of us. It was nothing serious or else we'd never made it to the Wall."
Galladon, Catelyn and Joan were happy to hear that, however Joan wanted to start to get ready for the feast, they were getting out of time, according to her, therefore she and Catelyn and their mother went to take care of that.
After that, there were only Galladon and Jaime in the garden, they decided to take a walk, while talking. There was something that Galladon had to say to him, he had said it to his mother already before, but he knew that who really needed to hear it was his father,
"Father, I just want you to know something."
"What is it?" His father asked.
"I just want you to know that, no matter what happened in the past, I'm proud to be your son. That'll never change." Galladon said seriously. His father looked at him surprised, he wasn't expecting that, not after he and his sisters had heard everything they had told them.
"Really." Galladon said, answering the question that he knew his father was thinking.
"It's me who is proud of having you as my son. I'm really happy that you are alive, because I don't know what I'd do if I had lost you or your sisters. I'm sorry I wasn't there." Jaime said and Galladon hugged his father.
"I'm glad I'm back and it's over now, don't worry." Galladon said, after the hug. And they looked at each other and smiled.
"Well, little knight, seems you're going to marry soon." Jaime said with a chuckle.
"I'm 18, father, please, don't call me that... Only when no one's around. And, yes, it seems so." Galladon said with a chuckle.
"As you wish. You must be nervous, I know you." Jaime said.
"I'm a bit nervous. Were you nervous?" Galladon asked curiously.
"I was shitless scared, to be honest." Jaime answered with a chuckle.
"You're kidding." Galladon said surprised.
"I'm not and I'm pretty sure that if you ask your uncles and Sam, they'll tell you the same." Jaime answered.
"Now, you're just saying that to scare me, father." Galladon said with a chuckle and Jaime laughed.
"It's the truth and it'll pass when you enter the sept. But, before that, it's a bit hard." Jaime explained.
"How hard? Now that you told me, at least, tell me what it's like, so I can try to prepare for it." Galladon asked.
"Fair enough. You start to question everything you ever did until then, everything that has happened in your life, every decision, all of it. And you start to wonder if you're really good enough for her, because you really love her and you don't want to screw it up. So, everything comes back. Even, the most absurd things come to your mind. And your friends are trying to calm you down, but that doesn't work, especially if their names start with a J and a G, because you simply can't listen to them. We all been there and we all thought about different things, but we all were very nervous." Jaime explained, the best he could, without frightening his son much.
"Then how the hell did all of you got to the sept?" Galladon asked confused.
"Because, then, when you think that you can't calm down and have to accept that, someone comes into the room, sits you down and tells you 'stop it, 'cause she chose you, she loves you and you love her and that's what is important' and you know that person is right and just like that the nerves just go down to half of it and then you go to the sept. Well, it's either that or just think that if you don't show up, she'll kill you." Jaime explained smiling.
"Who came into the room in your wedding?" Galladon asked smiling.
"Your aunt Joanna." Jaime answered.
"Sounds right. And in uncles'?" Galladon asked curiously.
"In your uncle Tyrion's, well, your uncle's and aunt's first wedding wasn't very good, but in the second, it was also your aunt Joanna. In your uncle Pod's was your mother. In your uncle Gendry's was Davos and in your uncle Jon's was your aunts Arya and Sansa. And in Sam's was his father." Jaime answered.
"Again, sounds right. We'll see who'll be in mine." Galladon said.
"Indeed." His father agreed and then they too went to prepare for the feast.