Comment fic meme #2

[gotexchange_mod]

After the first round of got_exchange we had a surprisingly successful comment fic meme going for a while (here's a list of all the fics that were written last time), so I thought it might be fun to do this again. (Like last time, it's posted on the mod account journal because I don't want to enable anonymous comments on the exchange community.)

I changed the

Comments

FILL: Ned/Catelyn, goodbyes, 'songs written with swords' (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

She had shivered when he had showed her Robert’s letter and seal, one hand to the curve of her stomach, and he had wanted so much in that moment to tell her that all would be well, that he would not leave, that their family would stay together, that she should not worry and that he would never give her cause to worry (he does not say it, and she does not ask him, he would not be Eddard Stark if he did and she would not be his formidable lady, and all he can offer is I am sorry, Cat.)

Her fingers brush his wrist, tracing an old scar there, and he glances at her, her eyes are hooded and thick with sleep but she is awake, and she looks back at him, the dim throw of the candlelight making her eyes seem almost black and bottomless.

“I am sorry,” he says (he echoes, the words feel empty now, somehow). “I didn’t mean to wake you.” He keeps his arm around her, her body fitting comfortably and familiarly to his (he wonders if Robert, king and the desire of every maid in Westeros, has ever known this, the simple contentment of holding someone you know, someone who fits, someone whose lines and curves your own body has memorized).

“I know,” she answers quietly and she frowns at the scars on his wrist, on his arm; she turns in his grip, studying him, a healed wound on his chest, one against his shoulder, and he sees the worry in her eyes (there will be more, they both know, before the battle is done, more scars and more worry, more of everything except peace).

“Come home safe, Ned,” she says, “to all of us.” There is a desperation in her voice that had not been there six years ago, when he had left her in a summer castle, his stranger bride; come home safe, my lord, she had said, and she had meant the words, he knows, but there is a catch there now, an undercurrent, come home, I need you, I need you to come home.

He kisses her suddenly, fiercely, the fingers on the hand not resting on the swell of their newest child catching in her bright hair (he had thought, even then, even when he did not know her, that her hair was beautiful, that she was beautiful) before tracing along the curve of her cheek.

“I will,” he says, and he thinks of promises kept and broken, and that last time he promised her nothing at all, and he presses his lips to the inside of her wrist now, her long fingers brushing against a rough bearded cheek. “I promise.”

Robert lives for the glory of the battle, writing the hymns the singers will play with his sword and hammer in the air, they will write ballads of him, but Ned thinks of promises and has no desire to ever become a song.

Re: FILL: Ned/Catelyn, goodbyes, 'songs written with swords' (pt 2/2)

[fauxkaren]

Gaaah. This was lovely! Thank you for filling the prompt! It was wonderfully bittersweet.

Re: FILL: Ned/Catelyn, goodbyes, 'songs written with swords' (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Wheeee, thank you! My apologies again that I seem to only be able to write People Being Sad. XD At least we know this time (THIS TIME SOB) he does come home (and without any extra kids), and everything is fine with Arya.

Re: FILL: Ned/Catelyn, goodbyes, 'songs written with swords' (pt 2/2)

[fields195]

I love this! Ned's thoughts seemed so authentic and in character. The contrast between saying farewell before the first war and doing so this time was very poignant. It would be so much more difficult now that he's come to love his wife and growing family. That bit about wondering if Sansa would even remember him was so touching and makes me think of Rickon's future, likely not remembering either of his parents very well. I also liked the contrast between Robert and Ned, how a man can be remembered for war feats and enjoy numerous conquests but that is hollow comfort compared to Ned's more fulfilling if less glorified life.

The interaction between Ned and Cat was also great. It's so true to their characters that he would not refuse his duty, and she would not ask him to, even if that is what they would prefer. The references to his battle scars and her beautiful hair were perfect. I love the theme that they fit each other because that's part of what makes them such a good couple. Your writing style is delightful to read, and I think your final line was fantastic with Ned wishing never to become a song.

Re: FILL: Ned/Catelyn, goodbyes, 'songs written with swords' (pt 2/2)

[juno_chan]

Wheeee, thank you! I'm glad you thought Ned was in character, I haven't done much with him before and I am much more comfortable writing in a female voice, so that made me happy! I do think this departure would be much more difficult. And ugh, I can't even with Rickon not remembering his family! :( I prompted something earlier about a post-series fic where Sansa is filling in the blanks about their family because yeah, he probably won't remember much about them which makes me super sad. (Somewhere someone did a meme with Rickon and Bran with a quote from Peter Pan, "I think I had a mother once." "What was she like?" "I forget." I CAN'T HANDLE MY SADS ALL MY CREYS.)

I love comparing and contrasting Robert and Ned - they grew up together but are SO different, and led such different lives in the end. And I now feel like I have to bring Catelyn's hair into everything and anything I write about these two because I think that line in ASOS made me more sad than anything else in the series.

Thank you again for the wonderful comment! :D