Jon Snow

The smell of blood hung heavily in the air, but it had not been the Night's Watch that had fallen, it had been the Free Folk, as Jon had known it would be. Ygritte had barely spoken all night as they began their retreat. They would travel back the way they had come, back across the wall, back to the North. It had not been the Night's Watch that had defeated them though, not in truth, it had been Stannis. He had shown up on a lovely bay courser, holding his banner high. He had dismantled the wildling army solely because he had attacked from the rear, surprised them on the battle feild.

It had been a crippling defeat for the wildlings, and especially for Ygritte. As they walked, she looked almost forlorn at the surrounding hillsides, the windmills and the houses. She had only just grown to like them and already they had fallen from her grasp. Despite himself Jon couldn't help but smile when she would pause and stare particularly long at a single house. It was nothing truly. The walls were made of brick but half of them were crumbling, the roof was of straw and caving in on one side. It was not suitable for living. Whether it had been or not before the wildlings had taken the north by storm he could not say but now it was not at all impressive, but she thought it was.

"Why'd they leave?" she had asked, sullenly, staring off at the crumbling house. Jon had shrugged slightly, moving in to take her side.

"I don't know, might be that the house began falling down upon their heads in the night. Might be your kind chased 'em of" he offered. She seem displeased at the latter of the two, crinkling her nose and narrowing her eyes but she didn't retort.

"I would've fought for it" she stated firmly, and Jon had no cause to argue. She would have, that he knew. She was as fierce a fighter as even the kingslayer was like to be, but he couldn't find the reasons in himself to fight for the crumbling thing. Nor a reason he wouldn't want to stay were he to be raided constantly. I forget just how wild she is, might be she will never be even a sliver of domestic… is that why I love her so much? He was certain it was. She was not a lady, no, but she was a fire that spread through his veins quicker than poison. She was his, and he was hers. She had told him that, he remembered, many a time. Every time he had heard it guilt had taken his body and mind, made him feel less than he was, he knew he would betray her and those words had made it all the harder to do, but now as he remembered the words in his heart, he couldn't feel that guilt.

"As I" he stated, though he was no longer thinking of the house in its failed state, no, he was thinking of her, of her heart and her love. Something he no longer deserved but still had, something she had offered to him so willingly. He would fight for it, until he could no longer breathe. He would fight until his blood stopped pumping through his body. He would fight for her because that is what my father would have done for Catelyn.

Ygritte seemed to sense that his words meant more, for she turned to him with a questioning gaze, one he was not at all prepared for. "Would ya' now?" she asked, with a small smile twisting the ends of her mouth. He rolled his eyes and shoved her forward before walking past her with a grin on his face.

"Come on now, before we get left behind" Ygritte bounced to his side like a puppy, but her eyes were everywhere again. The playfulness of the moment they had shared seemed to loosen her up a bit. She was no longer clinging to her bow as she had been, and her eyes had a slight glimmer but she still remained rather untalkative. They had passed two more villages before he heard her speak, and by then, night had fallen over all of Westeros and the North beyond the wall. They had made their tents and eaten supper with the rest of the group and still she had stayed quiet, but as they slid beneath their skins, she had moved in close, until her head rested on his chest.

"You'll stay with me in the North, won't you?" her voice was shy, or as shy as Ygritte ever got, but it held back a tone Jon couldn't quite place. Jon knew she was worried, with reason. He had left before but he had to carry out his last command… there was no choice then, but now… now he was a deserter, he would pay the iron price should he be found, in truth he had nowhere else to go… but in truth he had nowhere else he wanted to be.

"Yes. I'll stay with you" he whispered softly, leaning forward just enough to kiss the top of her forehead. She sighed, a small, soft sight, a noise he had so longed to hear all day. She didn't say anything, least not with words. She straddled him, her mouth finding his and he no longer cared about the world around him, about what had happened at Castle Black. He cared not of the failed battle, of his brothers, of being called a deserter. He cared only for her, the touch of her, the heat of her… all he wanted was her. It was a quick change, one he had no control over, his body reacted to hers as it had that first night and before long he found himself inside her as he had so many times before. The one thought that did flicker into his mind was the cave they had shared together. The first time he had truly seen Ygritte. She had stood before him, naked as her name day, and he had told her of all the things he loved about her. He had never truly said I love you, simply that he loved things about her. He had told her only after his betrayal… only after he had left her with tears in her eyes.

"Ygritte" he whispered softly as she slid to his side. Her body curled into his, her breasts pressed against his side. It was not often that she did not redress after, especially in the night when the cold was at its worst, so he reveled in the moment. Her blue eyes turned themselves up to him, waiting for him to speak "I love you" he offered, his voice slightly shaky. For a moment she said nothing and he feared she wouldn't, even a rejection was better than silence. Her eyes seemed to be contemplating something, an answer he hoped, a response.

"Aye, and I you" she remarked, running one hand down his chest. Her fingers danced across him gently, tracing the lines of his chest, his stomach and working their way back up to his mouth "very much, I do" she remarked, her voice low, so low he had to strain to hear her but he had. A smile worked its way across his lips as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"We could go back to that cave, you know" he remarked, a devilish grin on his face. Her own face lit up, red hair falling across it ever so slightly.

"Aye, and might be we stay there this time… would you like that, Jon Snow?" she asked, turning her head to him, but before he could answer she asked another question, one that took him by surprise "or would you like to live in one of them windmills we saw?" The words were a shock to him, for though she had asked once, he had never thought her serious, but he wasn't sure he could stay this side of the wall with her, and from the look in her eyes much as she liked the windmills and liked seeing him happy, she didn't much like the idea of being trapped behind four walls of man made rock. The cave was one thing, it was a part of the north, made by the north not by the men who claimed it. He breathed in deeply before letting a smile crawl across his lips.

"I'd rather the cave, if it's all the same to you" he whispered, kissing her lips gently. She smiled against them, a genuine smile, her eyes bright and excited as she crawled back atop him.

"Aye, and you could kiss me proper, the way the lords do down 'ere" she teased, her teeth nibbling gently at his ears. He groaned slightly and smiled wickedly at her.

"Or, I could just remind you how they kiss now"

Author's Note: Honestly, I think this is my favorite so far. I love the talk of the cave and such and I hope anyone reading this did too. Feel free to give me feedback and ideas, I'll have another chapter out in the next day or two!