[for Jon]

[onceaqueen]

It had been almost two weeks since Jon had returned from the Dawn Treader expedition to Susan's less-than-warm welcome, and things between them had not improved a great deal. It was making Susan heartsick, and she had long had enough of them being at odds with each other. She had never been one for confrontation or conflict--she was the gentle

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[handandahalf]

"Of course," said Jon immediately, audible relief in his voice. He'd been wondering if he ought to find a reason to fall asleep in the recliner, leave Susan to her rest in peace. It had been long enough by now that he knew nothing he could do would make her forgive him; she would have to come to it herself, and Jon was unspeakably grateful that she finally had. Living on such tense terms with his wife hurt, and had made him irritable with his friends and family, and unforgivingly annoyed at himself. He came into the bedroom and sat on the bed, looking openly up at Susan with a serious face, waiting to hear what she had to say.

[onceaqueen]

Susan sat down beside him, her hands folded in her lap. "I don't like this," she said softly. "I don't like us being cross with each other, and I don't like arguing with you." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "I don't think you understand why I didn't want you to go, and I want to make sure you do, so you know I'm not just being unreasonable or... something."

[handandahalf]

Jon had to smile a little at that. "I've known you for nearly three years, and could probably count the number of times you've been unreasonable on one hand." He thought he understood why she hadn't wanted him to go, but he wanted to let her have her say, to hear from her own mouth why she was upset with him. It was undoubtedly a good reason (or reasons); he supposed he just ought to be glad Ygritte hadn't come after him with something sharp to make him extra sorry. (At least, she hadn't yet.)

[onceaqueen]

Susan took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady; any time she'd tried to explain this before she only ended up frustrated and near tears. "I didn't want you to go because I didn't want to be here by myself," she said. "Rickon is still so little that he still wants to be held and fed all the time. He doesn't like to be put down, ever. He always wants to be held, and if someone's not holding him, he'll cry almost every time. I can do a lot of things around the house as long as someone is keeping him happy. But you, Lucy, and Edmund were all gone, so it was me, all the time, with Rickon