A/N: Standard disclaimer here. I don't own ASOIAF and only write for fun.

Eddard Stark

"Varys," Eddard Stark nodded smiled at the eunuch, his eyes struggling to stay open as the hours passed. His direwolf sat dutifully next to him, her large head nestled deeply into his lap as he stroked the top of her head between her eyes. It was her favorite spot.

The first part of their plan was easy. They had taken the Red Keep via the secret tunnels deep underneath and had easily captured anyone important. News quickly reached the defenders on the wall and they moved to try and quickly retake the castle but that mistake gave them the opening needed to sneak men past them and open the gates, allowing the army to quickly take the city.

The men from the Vale realized they had lost quickly and threw down their swords and surrendered, while it took a couple of heads being removed to quell the Lannister men.

"Found this one in the tunnels, my lord," Jory spoke. "Looks like he was trying to escape."

Ned nodded. "And the city? Is there anything new to report?"

"The city is calm, my lord," Jory responded. "I suspect some will raise from their slumbers and won't have a clue of what has happened. They will see the banners of the dragon and wolf and rose and be grateful that this wasn't a repeat of the last time an army took this city."

:" Aye," Ned Responded.

"Is there any other service I might perform, my lord?" Jory asked.

"Petyr Baelish?" he asked his loyal guard.

"Locked in the black cells. The former royal family is all on house arrest guarded by the most loyal of our men besides the former king. He attempted to attack a guard so he also finds himself locked in the black cells."

"Good, I suppose Jon will want to deal with them once we have all had a good rest. For now, get some sleep your self Jory. I owe you a chest full of gold coins for the service you have provided me."

"It is not necessary my lord," Jory responded. "It is my duty to serve house Stark."

"Even duty deserves to be awarded from time to time," Ned responded easily. "Go, I will see you in the morning."

"Loyal man," Varys finally spoke once Jory had left them alone.

"And I didn't even have to cut off his tongue," Ned sighed.

"You wound me, Lord Stark."

"Not yet," Ned smirked at him. He unsheathed the Valyrian dagger and twirled it in his hands. Watching carefully for the eunuch's reaction. To the man's credit, he didn't flinch. He sat stoically, kept eye contact, and his face gave away nothing. He sighed again. This would be much more work than he wanted to do.

"Can we be honest with each other?" Ned finally asked. "I vow to tell you the truth, and you vow to do the same."

"I suppose," Varys responded. "I hope you don't mind me starting. Will I leave this room alive?"

Ned shook his head. "Probably not. Which is why you tried to escape right? You didn't like your chances with this regime. With Aerys you could feed him tales of a son who was trying to usurp him to feed his paranoia and with Robert... well he was drunk all the time so you didn't have to do much. You didn't like your chances with Jon?"

"Was I wrong?" he responded.

Ned shrugged. "I expected you to try. An ambitious man like yourself… I expected that once you learned we entered the castle via the tunnels, you would at least attempt to use that tongue of yours to attach yourself to another regime. Your spy network is vast right? You have your little birds everywhere but the North right?"

"I always wondered how you managed to keep the children out," Varys responded.

"When I traveled back to Winterfell after the rebellion, we took a ship from King's Landing to White Harbor. Before me and my great friend Howland Reed split, I told him to be wary of children without tounges. I sent a letter to every keep of in the North and told them that unless they took them, children without tongues were spies to our enemies and that they should be exiled as soon as possible. Some of them thought I was mad for sure but I was the Stark of Winterfell and I just led them to victory in a war. It was the first time I truly realized the power I held due to my last name. I thank you for that."

"You are most welcome, my lord," Varys responded simply. "How did you know?"

Ned laughed. "In the North, we believe in things that other men would believe impossible. The North remembers after all. We believe in the breeding of horses with unicorns to create a new animal. We believe in the trees and the forest. We believe in dreams and miracles."

"I thought you asked me to speak plainly, my lord," Varys responded, his voice tense. Ned smiled. He was starting to get to him.

"Aye I did," Ned sighed. "To be plain, Varys, I have lived this life before. I felt a sword take my head clean from my shoulders and then was forced to watch as the lives of my wife and children went to hell. Then I woke up. I was fighting Ser Arthur again. Ser Oswell and Ser Gerald had already fallen, and so had my friends and I realized I had been given a second chance."

A weight lifted. Ned laughed and when Varys looked at him like he had lost his head, Ned shrugged. "It felt so good saying that aloud."

Varys looked at him for a long time, his face growing red and he seethed.

"Yes, Varys," Ned responded, saying what the man was thinking. "You're a genius. You've been meticulously plotting and planning for years and it all went to shit, not because of a fault of your own, but because I know everything. We promised to be honest right? Yet you still lie. I asked you why you tried to escape, and you tell me that it was because you were afraid that you were out of a job. Tell the truth!" He slammed his hand on the table. Yer Varys did not speak.

"Illyrio Mopatis has a manse in the city of Pentos. In the garden, there is a statue of a naked boy in a fountain of water, poised to duel with a bravo's blade in hand. The statue is lithe and handsome, no older than a boy of maybe six and ten, with straight blond hair that brushes his shoulders. It looks so real that anyone who sees it must look twice before they realize that it is a statue. Tell me, Varys, who inspires the statue?"

Ned smiled again as the man's eyes widened the slightest bit before his face returned to normal. Ned nodded.

"One day at Myr, a man visited your folly. After the performance, he made an offer for you that your master found too tempting to refuse. Possible for the first and last time in your life you were scared. You thought he would use you, you were afraid that he was one of those horrid men who bought little boys to use them as they pleased, yet he only wanted your manhood. He gave you a potion that made you powerless to move or speak, yet you could feel everything. With a long hooked blade, he cut you root and stem, chanting some spell. Am I wrong?"

Varys shook his head.

"See that part confused me at first. I thought to myself, why would he want you? I found the answer recently when Jon hatched his dragon. Mages and warlocks, one of the reasons why they are so taboo in Westeros are because King's blood is supposed to be magic. The blood and sacrifice of Stannis Baratheon helped Jon hatch his egg, just as the blood and sacrifice of Khal Drago helped Daenerys hatch her own. Throw in a couple of witches and some more royal blood from two Targaryen's and you got dragons returning to the world. I'm sure that Jon's Stark blood also helped."

"That makes sense," Varys responded, his voice deepened as he appeared to drop all pretenses.

"Blackfyre through your mother I assume? Although you didn't also know if I had to guess. I believe you learned that later in life though it doesn't matter. Your friend Illyrio is the husband of another Blackfyre, and you two planned for years to attempt to put the boy on the throne. You would pass him for Aegon, because after all, who could challenge whether or not it was true? As long as you could convince Dorne, it wouldn't matter."

Ned paused to stroke his beard before he spoke again. "Although that wasn't always the plan right? First, you fed Aerys half-truths and lies to make him paranoid to try to destabilize the realm. The problem was that you didn't have a Blackfyre heir to make a king. You knew that Rhaeger would be a good king, so you did everything possible to keep Aerys on the throne. Lucky for you, Rhaegar had fallen in love with my sister and it all went to shit. Robert whored and ate his way through the royal coffers so you were fine with him, and when Illayrio finally had a son two years later, you had your plan. Am I wrong?"

His jaw clenched. "You have lived twice."

"I've only lied to the realm once and that's when I told the world Jon was my bastard. I realize how lucky I have been, do you? Everything you wanted probably would have worked. You have a boy who looks like a Targaryen that you will gift Blackfyre and have raised to take back his family's throne because red or black a dragon is a dragon. You knew that Viserys temper would get him killed by the Khal. You believed that Daenerys would just fade away once the Khal was killed. You didn't know about Jon. You allowed Littlefinger to begin this war because you knew that as long as the wolves and lions were fighting, the dragon could rise. Tell me I am wrong."

"You are not," Varys responded.

Ned nodded. "For what it is worth, your boy failed anyway. I once told my children to trust their wolves with their lives. Daenerys trust her dragons the same way. In the previous time, her dragons were fooled at first, but eventually the difference between red and black was important, and her largest dragon set the boy on fire. I assume you can guess what she said?"

"A dragon does not burn," Varys muttered.

"Aye, but we both know that is also false. They do burn and I would guess that the magic of the moments kept Jon and Daenerys alive."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" Varys asked. "Why keep me alive to have this conversation if you already knew the truth."

"Confirmation," Ned responded. "You know it is odd. I have lived this life already, know so much that has happened or will happen and yet the confirmation of it all makes it feel… real… worth it. It gives me a goal, something to challenge myself. The mystery of you and the boy was something that I just fully cracked and although I know I am right, if you never gave me confirmation then it probably would eat at me for the rest of my days."

Varys nodded. Eddard muttered a prayer. The Valyrian dagger cut through the skin of his neck and blood slid easily down his chest.

The godswood of the Red Keep was an acre of elm, alder, and black cottonwood trees that overlooked the Blackwater Rush. The heart tree was a great oak with limbs that were overgrown with smokeberry vines. At the base of the tree, his niece Marna knelt as she prayed. He waited for a while, not wanting to disrupt her prayer before he finally spoke.

"I knew I would find you here," he spoke softly.

"Uncle," Marna spoke calmly. "Join me?"

Ned knelt next to her, but he felt uneasy. Lyarra lay in front of them, closing her eyes as soon as her head touched the grass. She also had a long night. "I intend to send you north with your father. There is a ship that will leave the port for White Harbor in three days. From there you will ride to Winterfell with his body. I have a spot for him in Winterfell, just as I had a spot for Brandon and Lyanna."

"No need," she sighed. "My father, when he was rebuilding the Moat, he wanted to make it as much like Winterfell as possible so he had a crypt built where the Starks of the Moat would be buried. He gave specific instruction that instead of just the Lords, the entire family of Starks that manned the Moat would rest there. He was to be the first. I will respect his wishes."

"Aye," Ned responded with a smile. "I also hoped that you could get started on quelling the giants. I know that they will be upset when they find out what happened here. I know that they respected you because they respected your father. I was hoping that you could speak with them and keep them calm in my absence."

"I'm not leaving," she responded sudden and defiant. "You have to let me kill Baelish. I need to be the one who removes his head. I need to look him in his eyes as his life leaves them. Only then can I sleep peacefully. Joffrey too. I planned to ask Jon for the honors later, and if they wished trial by combat, I would gladly volunteer my sword."

"Marna…" Ned started but she interrupted him.

"You don't understand!" she shouted. "I was there! I watched as Baelish fed him bread and salt as a peace offering only to slaughter his men and take him as captive! I watched that evil bastard order his head to be taken like he was some worthless piece of trash. How am I to write home and tell mother that her husband has died? What am I to tell William? That I failed to protect him? What of my little brother or sister? Mom is pregnant you know! I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl or even know its name. They will never have a chance to laugh with him, to cry, to listen to the stories of Winterfell, to learn how to hold a sword, or to ride." She was rambling and tears were falling down her face. "What do I tell them, Uncle?"

He could feel his own eyes start to water.

"When I left Winterfell to join the rebellion I too promised Benjen that I would do everything possible to bring Lyanna home. I too know the pain of loss more than anybody else you probably know."

"Then what do I do?"

"You live," Ned responded. "You become the woman that he would want you to be. You help your mother raise your siblings and teach them everything that your father has taught you. You never let his memory die because he lives through you."

"I still can't leave, Uncle," she responded. "I need to see them die."

Ned sighed. "When I was a boy and first learning how to pray, your grandfather told me that it was impossible to lie in front of a heart tree. That if I even attempted to, my tongue would become tied and the words would never leave my mouth. That's something I have lived by my entire life, and I feel as if I must tell you the truth, although I fear that you will hate me."

"Why would I hate you Uncle?" Marna responded, her eyes widening with surprise.

"I'm sure your father told you, but I have green dreams. Sometimes visions of the future come to me as I rest. It's how I've managed to be successful in life. How I managed to raise the North to prosperity and it has never failed me until recently. You see, I knew Petyr Baelish was a bad man. I knew that if given the chance, he would betray us. Yet I didn't tell your father, I didn't think I had to and since your father didn't know to not trust him, he treated with him and other men of the Vale thinking that he had a chance to bring the Vale into the War on our side. I should have said something."

A long pause passed between them. The more she didn't respond, the more he grew worried.

"Why didn't you tell him?" she asked evenly.

"I misinterpreted my dreams. My dreams are a sequence of events. One thing happens and it leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another. In my great wisdom, I didn't realize that me changing one event could lead to another event changing. In my dream, he came to Bitterbridge to me and betrayed me by trying to keep the Tyrells to flip on me and side with Joffrey once Renly died. I thought he would come to me, but things changed and I assume that the word got out about Jon and Margaery's betrothal so he thought it would be a waste of time. He went to the Vale instead and because of his deep hatred of the Stark family due to your Uncle Brandon, decided to side with the Lannisters instead."

"You should have told him," she said after digesting his words carefully but she was not angry or upset, "But I do not blame you for what Baelish did. After all of these years of your dreams coming true, you had no way to know that they would change then. Maybe it was just fate, either way, I would not blame you. I would blame the man who took him and the boy who ordered his death."

"While your maturity is refreshing, I still must send you away. Your words here haven't matched your actions at the keep. Robb told me you slit some poor girl's throat last night. Jory reported that you tried to sneak into the black cells once you found out Illyn Payne was there. If you are going to stay here until after the trials, you cannot continue to behave like this, and you will not be killing any other people."

"Understood," she sighed.

"I'm serious Marna," Ned responded. "The first sign of trouble and your getting on the next ship to White Harbor. The King agrees."

Marna snorted. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just so odd hearing him called that."

"Imagine how he feels," Ned laughed. He stuck out his hand. "Do we have an agreement?"

She took it and shook it. "Aye."

"Then I will leave you to pray. I assume you will join us for our midday meal?" he asked as he rose from the grass and his direwolf reluctantly followed.

"I will," she responded and he began to walk away.

"Uncle," she called out to him.

"Yes, my little wolf?" he responded, using the childhood name that he would call her.

"I don't know what happened to Robb in the West. I don't know if he fell in love with that girl and is just heartbroken. I don't know if somehow Tywin Lannister got to him and it messed with his head but something is wrong. He isn't himself anymore. He drinks too much ale and is starting to treat the women around him like they are all common whores."

Ned was shocked. He hadn't realized it had gotten that bad. "You led the battle of Deep Den right?"

"Aye," she said. "He still had an injured shoulder and we decided that it was best to sit the battle out for his safety. Only when I returned to the castle to tell him we won, he had consumed almost a half barrel of ale, and some serving girl was… well she was servicing him. I worry about him. Whatever happened, it seems like he has decided to drown himself in women and ale, and that can't be good for him or the North as he is the heir."

"I will speak with him," Ned responded solemnly.

AN: So my writing process sucks and I have to get better at it lol. I end up writing so much for this story that doesn't get posted, and it I posted everything I wrote this story would probably be twice as long but with so much more filler. I even consider this filler and almost didn't post it but realized that the stuff about Faegon was important and had to let you, the reader, know that it was going to play a part in this story at some time. Like I got so many Winterfell chapters with Sansa and Arya, and Bran and Rickon that just haven't been posted because it feels like filler when I read them back. They just up there chilling living their best lives. The greyjoys? Smashed. The girls safe? Bran? Well sometimes we don't need hints for grand plans and things of that nature (in my Duke Dennis voice LOL).

I believe that Faegon is the correct theory and that we will learn that the boy is not really Aegon in cannon, although George has really written himself into a hole because like how does he prove he isn't real? If Dorne believes it, does it matter? Here I wrote that the Dragons burned him since the dragons were gone by the time the Blackfyres were a thing. Do I think that the Blackfyres could have ridden dragons? Yes. Do I think the Targs would have let them? No. I do believe they would have attempted to stop them from doing so. My reasoning for him being burned alive in Ned's past life isn't because of blood, but because the dragons were loyal to Dany and could sense that she was being lied too about who the boy really was. Afterall, I'm one of those who believe that Grey Wind was trying to tell Robb about the Freys but he wasn't tryna hear all that lol.

So next I am torn. I want to get a really emotional sappy Robb chapter in where he explains his heartbreak and his outlook on life and how and why that has changed... but then again I want to wait. I want to get a Theon chapter in, after all he is waiting patiently for his Uncle right? Margaey might be a thing here soon. We got trials, Martels, and things of that nature coming real soon. So yeah man. Hopefully I can post faster for you guys!

As always,

Thanks for the support. Thanks for the reviews, follows, favorites, recs, etc. Like I never imagine this story being this popular. I tell my wife all the time that I am famous on the internet lmao.

Until next time!

Young!