#thuesday pomp

[crazysleepydreams]

REUNION

Ok I'm late for the party but I want to party too so I shall post the promps for the next week let's thank @albinokittens300 for the fantastic idea!

REUNION: part 1, The Lannisters.

When Tyrion Lannister the third was born his mother felt despair for him: what broke Joanna’s heart wasn’t her son's achondroplasia, it was his soulmark. Normally any mother would be happy to have birthed a child with a soulmark: they were destined for greatness by the seven, they were wise as this hadn’t been their first life and there was someone out there that would die for them. But not for her baby boy it was too small for her to make sense of, if he grew they might learn who he might have been once or who his soulmate was, but its smokey color told her all she had to know… It was unrequited love: his soulmate had rejected him in their last life. How could anyone grow up happy knowing that the one the gods had chosen for them had foregone them?

Tywin wasn’t sure how he felt about his youngest: his soulmark told him and the world that the babe was destined for greatness, but also that his life shall be marked by tragedy. He had never been an overtly religious man, but after the birth of Tyrion he cursed the gods both the seven, the old, the drowned one and R'hollor: if they wanted to punish him they could, but they should leave his sons out of it. After brooding for a while the Lord Paramount of the West returned to his wife's bedside and found her crying in despair.

“Please Joanna, don’t cry.” He begged his beloved. 

“Why Tywin? Why? Who could be so cruel as to disavow their other half?” The man knew that there was no answer to what she asked him so he pulled her close carefully as he looked at their son in the crib.

“Don’t despair my love: he shall be loved. He is ours, he is a Lannister and we will teach him that the mark on his skin doesn’t decide everything in his life. Yes he is destined to be great, yes by being marked he shall be the next Lord Lannister, yes there is someone that the gods believed to be his that wasn’t, but we weren’t marked by them do you think I love you any less because of it?” He asked his wife who shook her head.

“Of course not! I love you as you love me: I don’t need any mark to tell me it!” Joanna said passionately, causing her usual stoic husband to smile at her.

“Let us show him that a mark isn’t final.” Tywin whispered to his wife who nodded and he held her until she fell asleep.

He stood up and gently lifted his son from the crib where he laid asleep and took him into his arms. “You are my son: you shall be great, you are a lion, a Lannister: a mark won’t have the final say in your life. You will have it: let the world hear you roar.” He whispered to the baby as he caressed his sandy blond locks with some gold, silver and even black peppered through the tuft of hair, and then Tyrion yawned in his fathers arms before accommodating himself and signing contently. “We shall work on your roar little one.”

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Jamie at 11 knew that his baby brother would be special from the moment his parents told him he would be a big brother. He was surprised when his parents took him aside to give him the news, but he was happy he would protect the baby from anyone who would try to harm him! Just like the knights of old! He would even work extra hard with his teacher so that he could read the baby bedtime stories and when the baby was older Jamie would show them the best games and the best places to hide: they would be best friends!

He was very excited to share the news with his cousins and aunts and uncles! His parents allowed him to tell the rest of the family: while his parents congratulated his parents he went to his cousins to talk to them and tell them how happy he was. His cousins congratulated him well; those his age, Gerion, Tyrek, Cinthia and Tyrish didn’t really understand what was happening, only that there would be a new baby. He was happily speaking with Lancel, Tion and Martyn about becoming a big brother when Cersei, his favorite cousin, interrupted them.

“You can’t be seriously happy can you Jamie?” She asked him with a sneer.

“Why not? I’ll be the best big brother there is in all of Westeros! We’ll be the happiest family ever!” Exclaimed Jamie, confused at his favorite cousin's anger.

“You are really naive if you believe that for even one second Jamie, that or you are still a baby yourself!” Screamed the blonde.

“What? Why?” Asked the boy with tears in his green eyes.

“Because it’s obvious that the baby is an accident! I haven't heard the adults talk about Uncle Tywin and Aunt Joanna wanting another baby!”

“Cersei!” Exclaimed Kevan, embarrassed by the scene his daughter was causing. He saw his brother clenching his fists and jaw in anger, but he relaxed under Joanna’s touch.

“Kevan, Tygett, Genna I believe it’s best if you leave for now. I can see that some of the children are getting cranky due to lack of sleep. And Cersei: just because we never spoke about our desire for another child doesn’t mean we didn’t desire one. It’s very arrogant to assume you know what me and your aunt want and it's bad manners to listen to the conversations between your elders.” Declared Tywin with a voice colder than any winter in the true north. “Jamie, come with us son, you may choose our deserts.” he added in a gentle manner. Jamie just nodded while he cleaned any tears with his shirt before running towards his mothers arms.

After that dinner Cersei apologized, but Jamie felt it to be false and he never forgot what she said even if he forgave. Half a year after telling the family about the baby Jamie was 12 and he was staying with his aunt Genna because his parents were at the hospital waiting for his siblings birth. He was anxious, his parents had told him that they would stay at the hospital a few days with the baby after it was born and that he had to be good to his aunt Genna wile he stayed over and help her with Tion and Cinthia, his father would call him once the baby was born and the next day his father would come to take him to meet the baby. Jamie jumped up from where he was playing mario kart with Tion when his phone rang and the ID called said dad.

“Dad!” Exclaimed the boy happily.

“Hello son, how are you?” Asked his father, he sounded tired.

“I’m good! You? How are mom and my sibling? Do I have a baby brother or a baby sister?” Asked the 12 year old boy.

“Hold your horses son. I’m good, thank you. Your mother and Tyrion are healthy, you have a brother as you must know due to his name.” He heard his father’s answer before he started celebrating jumping up and down while his aunt looked amused at the scene and Tion jumped up and down with his older cousin.

“Jamie! Jamie! Jamie!” Came from the phone.

“Sorry dad…” Apologized Jamie feeling embarrassed.

“Don’t worry son, can you pass me your aunt? I need to talk about some things with her.”

“Sure! Bye dad, love you and mom and Tyrion.” Said Jamie before giving his mobile phone to his aunt who gave him a smile and a kiss on his forehead accepting the phone.

The next day Jamie saw his father, he looked tired but that didn’t bother the boy much his aunt had explained that babies were loud and needed much attention and Tion had complained about how Cinthia would keep him awake when she was little, he didn’t realize how the serious conversation his father and aunt where having stopped abruptly. Once Jamie was in the car with his father, his father started explaining him about Tyrion: how he would never be as tall as other children or adults, how he was born special he had a soulmark and all that came with it Tywin also explained how this meant that the next Lord Lannister would be his baby brother (which was fine by him he didn’t want the castle nor the responsibilities that came with being lord it was bad enough that dad wanted him to be the next head of LannisCorps) he was told the his brothers other half had rejected him in their last life and how it would probably happen again in this so he made Jamie promise to help his mother and him and show Tyrion that the mark didn’t show if he was worthy of love or not.

When Joanna showed little Tyrion to Jamie the older brother couldn’t understand how anyone could decide that he wasn’t worthy to be loved and he vowed by the seven that he would be Tyrion's best friend and protector and he’ll show him how worthy of love he was!

Jamie celebrated every single milestone of his brother even more so than his parents! He was Tyrion's first word: well the word had been Jay, but it's still counted. The rest of the family was very happy with his baby brother, except Cersei who told him that Tyrion was a monster and how couldn’t he see it? The baby had already usurped his place as lord of the rock: what did it matter to her that Jamie never wanted to be lord of the rock nor that Tyrion was the rightful heir by the laws of the seven… Trouble with Cersei aside, Jamie was proud of his baby brother: Tyrion was smart and clever and it seemed as if being smaller than normal didn’t bother him. Until his fifth birthday Tyrion was a happy boy ,even if when he was smaller he claimed to have dragon dreams, extremely smart for his age, but after his fifth birthday Tyrion changed not much, but Jamie noticed and their parents too. Jamie suspected what might be happening: Tyrion was dreaming of his last life and shortly his suspicions turned true… one sunday morning Tyrion came into the living room crying and asked him and their parents why they loved a monster like him. Once Tyrion was calmed by their mother he told them what was wrong, in his dreams his father and siblings hated him because he had killed his mother when he was born: their parents explained to him that his last (?) family were wrong, sometimes a mother dies giving birth and that it wasn’t the fault of the baby and whoever believed so was stupid.

As the years went by Jamie noticed slight changes in his brother: he slept only the necessary, he was smarter by the day, he knew things he shouldn’t at his age  and his manners were impeccable, but even if Tyrion would always smile and joke and be his happy self it looked as if something weighed him down. Their parents told him that it was normal: Tyrion could remember another life and from the things they had been told his last life had been long ago, before the north became part of the seven again!, and in those times children were not children for long, not even nobles.

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Tyrion had known his whole life he was different: he was cursed by a mark that showed the world, if he ever decided to leave his wristband off that is, that he wasn’t worthy of love or at least not true romantical love. His family, this one, had shown him nothing but love and they praised his work and efforts, even his father. 

But he knew better due to his dreams he knew what he was capable of and that scared him. The soulmark alone he could live with even if it taunted him, not even the one the seven had chosen for him was able to love him, but the dreams they haunted him. He knew that he wasn’t the same Tyrion as the one from his dreams yet he was ...and much of with they had done was due to external pressure and the social norms of that time: his parents made sure to sit him down and explain nature vs nurture to him in detail once they realized how much he struggled with his dreams.

When he was twelve name days no years old he decided that he would take the reins of his destiny: he would use what he learned from his dreams and use it in his favor. None told him what to do, except his parents and maybe Jaime. But even after he took that decision and swore that he would never look for his soulmate his mark wouldn’t stop burning: most of the time pleasantly and others it hurt… Even if he wanted to deny it he wouldn’t go looking for his soulmate because she would reject him or she had done so already in their last life, but because he loved her he could never make out what she looked like, but she was beautiful ethereal and deserved much more than a dwarf.

Next part are the Starks! This was supposed to be a one shot, but I got carried away and it shall become a triology, lol. No Beta.

[crazysleepydreams]

REUNION

Ok I'm late for the party but I want to party too so I shall post the promps for the next week let's thank @albinokittens300 for the fantastic idea!

Reunion part2 : The Starks

When Catelyn Stark gave birth to the twins: Sansa and Bran, she and her husband were enchanted. How not to be when they had two new family members? Two beautiful babies? One all Tully and one all Stark, well mostly Stark. Soon they were surprised as they noticed that Sansa the oldest had a soulmark, it was small and they couldn’t make it out, but by its beautiful lively colors they knew that their baby girl shall be loved by her soulmate above anyone or anything else.

Bran showed a fierce temper even as a newborn both Eddard and her were happy to blame it on his wolfsblood while Sansa was a very easy baby. While the newborns slept and they waited until Lyanna came with Robb  and Aegon so they could meet their sister and brother and cousins respectively they spend much time trying to decipher the colors of Sansa’s mark: a velvet red ( for power ned insisted, even if it could also mean passion and activity), Orange ( they agreed on creativity and happiness), a golden Yellow ( Harmony Catelyn insisted), Emerald Green (Hope, nature and money where all good options), Sky blue ( for stability) and  Royal purple ( ambition, mystery and dignity) where the colors they could find. 

They knew that raising a marked child was a huge responsibility, more so than normal, Sansa was destined for greatness and they had to guide her; she was blessed, but one they had to protect in order for her not to become a curse. They couldn’t be happier to know that there was someone out there that would die for their little girl: that the gods had smiled upon her and created someone who was perfect for her and from how complex the mark looked it was probable that they had already met and loved each other in another live: which indicated just how special their little girl was. It looked like Brandon might have a mark too, but it looked more like a normal birthmark than anything so they decided to worry about raising two marked ones if it ever looked like Bran’s mark were to become something more than a birthmark.

“Thank you dearest.” Whispered Ned to his wife looking at the twins that shared a crip and smiling and how it seemed that Bran reached for his sister.

“There is nothing to thank me for. My dearest husband.” Answered Catelyn looking at her twins. “They are beautiful aren’t they?” She asked.

“Aye that they are.” Agreed the Lord of Winterfell with a far away look in his eyes before signing.

“What is it Ned?”

“It is highly probable that Sansa’s soulmate shall be born as some Lord, but..”

“But if he isn’t she shall become the next Warden of the North, the Lady of Winterfell and you don’t know what to tell Robb.” Finished Catelyn for him. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Robb is as much a Tully as he is a Stark.”

“Family, Duty, Honor.” They both said smiling knowing that everything would be well.

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Aegon being 7 years old didn’t really understand why his cousin Robb was making such a problem at the fact that maybe just maybe Sansa would inherit the Lordship of Winterfell instead of him. It wasn’t as if the sweet babe had asked to be born with a soulmark and the Lordship was just a big headache or that is what his mother always said. Aegon liked his baby cousins a lot!

Sansa was sweet and didn’t make any fuss even when he sat with her in his arms for a really long time! She didn’t even pull his hair! Robb was just beeing stupid. Aegon also liked Bran who was much more lively than Sansa and pulled his hair, but that didn’t matter until Robb decided to act as he should. Aegon would be their big brother and protector! His mother always said that ones pack or family wasn’t just decided by blood but also by bonds so if he wanted to claim Sansa and Bran as his siblings he could and he did.

The twins were very fast in learning new things with Sansa being a little faster. Robb said that she cheated and did favor Bran, but how could a baby cheat? Anyway both his siblings were healthy and happy babies, even if for some reason Sansa called him Jon ( maybe his name sounded like that to a baby?) and Bran soon followed her in calling him that so he somehow became Jon to his family, and that is all he cared about.

______________________________________________________________

Robb at 6 was angry when his father told him that Sansa might inherit instead of him: she was already special! She had a soulmate out there: the gods had made a person specially for her, why would she need his lordship too?

When he was younger he felt jealous of his baby sister and would often give more attention to Bran who was a normal person like him. As he grew older he felt ashamed at having treated her like that realizing that having a soulmate didn’t mean life would be great: his father had sat him down and explained to him how Sansa would one day remember another life with another family and how those things might confuse and even hurt her and he felt bad for her… he had thought that those with a soulmark had an unfair advantage, but whatever positive they got from those stupid memories wouldn’t be worth the hearthbreak and confusion that remembering loved ones and not having them would bring her.

After that conversation with his father he went looking for Jon… who was actually called Aegon by his Aunt Lyanna and his parents, but preferred the name the twins gave him, and told him about his change of mind which made his cousin happy. It was strange, but even after starting to dream about her last life Sansa remained mostly the same: even if she started to behave more ladylike at times. She still loved songs and fairy tales, she also shared all she could remember about her soulmate with whoever would be willing to listen to her, something which seemed to bother their cousin Arya when she visited them with their Uncle Benjen from the other side of the wall.

But Robb and Jon, and probably their parents too, listened with rapt attention to the little girl. Her soulmate was: gentle, funny, he could always make her smile even when she didn’t feel like it, he was always busy with work, he had the most beautiful eyes one as green as the forest and another as dark as the night (heterochromatic), he was slightly tanned ( not a Northerner then), he had golden wavy curls he tried to control (westerner maybe?), he was very clever, he was a great story teller, he loved his family except for his older sister maybe, he also knew everything about dragons (someone with Targaryen heritage?), he had a scar across his face (war or a battle?) and there were moments where he wasn’t there even if they had been married (war). 

The boys couldn’t pin much information down as it was because Sansa couldn’t always remember everything from her dreams, but they had a theory her soulmate had been: a western lord from a good house, maybe a second or third son, he might also have some Targaryen blood if all the mentions of him and dragons were any indication, he had heterochromia and had seen war… the only problem with the theory was that the Targaryens had never married into the westerlands: so either he had been a bastard or he wasn’t western.

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When Brandon and Sansa became 4 years old. Sansa’s beautifully colored mark showed a crowned lion above a wolf as if protecting it. Sansa always said that her lion protected her, but Ned and Catelyn saw something that made their blood turn into ice: the outer parts didn’t fade into her skin as they believed, but instead the colors and the outer lines turned smokey and ash colored. They both knew what this meant more so due the fact that their daughter's mark was a colored one: she had rejected her soulmate. 

The only thing they didn’t know was why?  From what Sansa had told them she had been married to the man and at the very least she had been fond of him even if it might have been a purely political allegiance: what had made her disavow her kind, smart and brave soulmate? And worse, how should they explain it to her? How to explain to their fibrant beautiful baby girl that the soulmate that was waiting out there wasn’t looking forward to meeting her? That he had felt bad whenever he saw his soulmark just like she had felt happiness. They didn’t know how and talking to the family didn’t bring any light on how they should handle the situation.

Shortly before their eight birthday something frightening and amazing had happened: one night, in the middle of it, the twin had turned up in their room both crying and near hysteria trying to talk above the other. It took them almost an hour to calm the children down who wouldn’t stop blaming themselves and in case of Brandon asking for Sansa’s forgiveness.

Once they had calmed down they had decided that Sansa would be the first to speak as she was the calmest between the two.

“Ok tell me what is wrong dear?” Asked a tired Eddard.

“He won’t love me papa!” Exclaimed Sansa as tears started forming in her eyes.

“Who won’t love you?” Asked Catelyn who was rubbing Brans back.

“My lion! I hurt him mama! His father made us marry and I hated him! Well I didn’t hate him I hated his family and that he was a small man instead of a knight or a prince! I wasn’t fair! I was mean to him! And then I ran away and got hurt and when I saw him again I wanted to tell him I was sorry I didn’t, we weren’t married anymore and it was my fault I allowed him to be blamed for something he didn’t do! And he was still kind to me even if I was mean he asked me to marry him and I said no! Then when I wanted to marry him I never asked him because he was different, but he was only hurting and then we became friends again and I decided that I would ask him, but he died and I never told him I loved him nor did I ask him to marry me!..... He won’t ever love me!” Shouted the girl crying and dissolving in tears. Ned looked lost as he hugged her close, promising that they would help her.

“What about you Bran?” Asked the mother asked, perplexed.

“It isn’t Sansa’s fault and he does love her! It’s my fault that my good brother died and Sansa never forgave me… Please Sansa I said I’m sorry we’ll find him and I will explain everything and he will forgive you and you will both be happy.” Said Brandon. “Come on Sansa Ty loved you more than life and you know how much he loved life, he paid Bronn double whatever they offered for him for his life!” Continued the boy, shocking his parents.

“No he won’t I was a stupid little girl and he deserved better!” Exclaimed his twin.

“Maybe you were dear, but now you shall be better ok?” Asked her father and Sansa nodded her head before leaning against him sleepily. “Brandon, do you remember who you were?” Asked Eddard, feeling dread, his son's words were too specific. It was strange to be able to tell names even for marked ones: when had Brans’ birthmark bloomed into a full soulmark?

“I do. I was Bran the Broken.” Said the boy with a small voice looking at the floor.

Catelyn took in a sharp breath as everything fell in place and looked at her husband with pain in her eyes as they both realized whom their children had been: if Bran had been Bran the broken and Sansa was his sister, then Sansa’s lion husband had been Lord Tyrion Lannister the first…. and the story of their marriage wasn’t a pretty one or their story was pretty, but they married during the war of the five kings, a war mostly between the Starks and Lannister that the other big houses joined for their own profit started by the then Lady Stark kidnapping Lord Tyrion for a crime he didn’t commit and trying to have him executed: how he avoided that history wasn’t clear on it just that he did.

“Dearest, why don’t you put Sansa to bed while I speak with Bran?” Offers Ned looking at his troubled wife who nodded as they exchanged the twins leaving him with Bran with him alone in their bedchambers. “ May I see your soulmark Bran?” He asked gently and his son showed him his left wrist.

The soulmark was on his son's non dominant hand which was an indication that it was a platonic mark: the soulmark was the same as Sansa’s except for the colors where hers was a rainbow Bran’s mark was: green and orange with golden hues. It was also pretty faint as if it was the ghost of what it could be: maybe due the guilt his son felt?

“Why do you believe it is your fault that he died Bran? Or why is anything between Sansa and him your fault?”

“It’s my fault because the war started because of me! It’s my fault because I didn’t send him North to Sansa as soon as my reign was stable! It's my fault because I knew how they felt and when I received a raven about his return I didn’t insist that he should take some time off of his duty as my hand and stay North so Sansa could tell him how she felt!” Exclaimed the boy brawling and it was then that Eddard realized that no matter that Bran said he had been Bran the broken one of the wisest kings of Westeros this was also his son, his boy not even 8 and already feeling guilty of a death that couldn’t possibly be his fault.

“Ok let’s say that you could have done that back then and that Sansa and Lord Tyrion would have been happily married. Why didn’t you?” Asked the man softly.

“Because I was selfish. Because I wanted my good brother to stay by my side for as long as I could keep him there, because even if he gave me the moniker of the broken he never saw me as a cripple or as king I was Bran to him: the same Bran he had designed a saddle for so that he could ride again before everything went wrong… Bran the broken was 9 when he became a cripple, he was also nine when he met the Lannister Imp who was proud to be the imp and didn’t let it affect him much, he was 10 when his father was executed, he was also 10 when his older brother and mother were murdered in coldblood and he lost Winterfell and he was 10 when said imp became is good brother and even if years passed between when he last saw the imp and his coronation he never forgot that it was the imp who gave him hope and made him smile for the first time after losing his legs…” Mumbled Bran before he started to cry mourning the life he once had and maybe the man that the could once claim as his brother and it broke Neds heart that his son just like his daughter had lived a whole life they could remember mostly at night and that molded them and even might haunt them in the day light.

“It’s alright Bran, it will be alright. We shall find him and we’ll explain everything to him and if he is even half as kind as Sansa has always said and now you say: he will understand and love the both of you the same he did back then. Ned promised his youngest son and himself that he would do everything in his power to make everything alright.

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Sansa was very small when she realized she was special: she had a twin and she had a soulmark! not many had one of those and she had both. People often told her about how beautiful she was, how clever, how ladylike, but no one believed her to be very smart or intelligent, but she remembered her soulmate telling her that she was: somewhere in another life and how people underestimating one usually worked in one's favor.

She loved dreaming of her soulmate: he was handsome and funny and gentle and brave! He was smaller than most men or every man, but the idea of that didn’t bother her: the seven had made them for each other and she loved him! And from what she could remember him doing he loved her too, he also loved dragons and books and holding her hand and kissing it, but the last two she never told anyone. Sansa had many friends in school and she was proud to show them her beautiful soulmark of a crowned lion and a wolf colored with all the colors of the rainbow. Her family would always listen when she wanted to share something new she could remember from her dreams, except for cousin Arya, but she only liked fighting.

Young Sansa’s life was better than any fairy tale until one night her dreams took another turn. She remembered all the mean things she had said to her soulmate and all the times he had looked at her with hurt in his beautiful eyes and she had refused to apologize! She even saw herself running away from him when he didn’t do anything wrong only to miss him terribly and marry a bad man and then when they met again and he asked her to marry him she said no, but he forgave her and they stayed friends  and when she realized she wanted to ask him to marry her he had died… Sansa had cried a lot that night and Bran did too. Bran had been her Bran last time too and he felt guilty about things and wanted to help her and her soulmate: he was the best brother ever. After that night they both wore wrist bands over their soulmarks: Bran also had a soulmark for her soulmate, but his was that of family love her father explained to her when she got jealous. 

After that day Sansa didn’t believe that life was a song anymore, but she would do better than she had done the last time and she would be kind to everyone. She often thought about her soulmate and how sorry she was and how she loved him after reading about the fact that some soulmates could communicate feeling due their bonds, but she never felt anything from her soulmark except its usual weight telling her it was there so maybe her soulmate and her didn’t share that connection?

Another part done now tommorow the last.. or not depends it might become a 4 parts story! lol

[crazysleepydreams]

REUNION

Hey Ppl! I know that this chapter took some time, but I was done with a lot of love and many talks insued with my beta about it so I'll give you guys a info dump about this chapter. Thanking both @albinokittens300 and elliecat78 my Beta.

AGES:

Arya, Bran and Sansa - 13 y.o. Tyrion - almost 18 Jamie - 29 almost 30 Cercei - 28 Tommen - 4 Myrcella - 3 Robb - 19 (so, Robb is about one year older than Tyrion) Jon - 20

SOULMARKS:

If the soulmark is on the dominant hand its a romantic mark. If the soulmark is on the non-dominant hand its a platonic mark. And the marks present, as in that's def a soulmark, are always romantic.

As for the shapes and colors:  in my mind, soulmarks are connected to each other. So colors representing what the soulmates felt for each other, the colors on your skin represent your soulmates feelings for you or even their qualities.  The form of the mark represents: qualities of the mates and even identifications that either they ID with or the other Ids them with. But the soulmarks also reflect what the other half felt: So there comes the play of ash colored mark, if you were the rejected one our soul got to bear that scar and even if it can show the mark you will never see the colors of what your soulmate felt for you, a defence mechanism maybe? And so if you where the one rejecting your other half the outer part of the mark and colors won't fade into ur skin, but it would become smokey and ash colored: representing the severed bond.

REUNION PT3: GROWING UP STARKS.

Catelyn and Ned looked at their growing twins in silence while the worry ate them alive. The twins had grown closer after that dreadful night five years ago: they had grown closer due to their shared guilt and soulmate. They both wore wristbands, the world thought that Sansa wore one because she had realized how intimate her mark truly was and how dangerous it could be if nefarious people knew what her mark was and that Bran simply had one to commiserate, but while it was somehow truthful it was also wrong. Sansa was ashamed of the actions of her past self and couldn’t look at her mark without feeling bad and Brandon was very protective and to some point possessive of their soulmate.

All in all they were growing up well, healthy and happy. Their parents could only be proud of their children - since the incident they had grown closer and could often be found talking to each other about things none, but they understood and about their soulmate: their crowned lion they called him. Sansa was more considerate of others and their differences while Bran had calmed a lot and had grown wiser than his years, both were sure they would find their lion and fix the mess their past selves made… But as parents Ned and Catelyn couldn’t help but fear what the two would do if their lion wasn’t as forgiving as they remembered: it was after all another lifetime and in this one his mark must have told him daily that he wasn’t worthy. How could they help their children with something like that? And could they really hate or blame their soulmate if he rejected them this time? What would they all do if he only forgave one of them? 

Some days they just wished that their children had never been born with a soulmark and others they prayed to the gods that may listen for them to never find their soulmate. They knew that their wishes were unkind, both for the twins and their as yet unknown soulmate.

Most of the time it was easy to forget that they even had a mark and they liked to pretend that the twins were simply like all other people, but it wasn’t always the case.

It was a nice Spring evening when Lord Robert Baratheon, Neds best friend from middle school all the way up to college, was visiting Winterfell with his young wife Lady Cersei Baratheon nee Lannister, age twenty-eight, their children Tommen and Myrcella, four and three respectively, who were born only ten months apart so in the North they would have been known as Skaggosi twins. All the Starks were there to welcome Roberth, even Lyanna (who had a history with the flirty man) with Aegon and Benjen with his wife Asha and Arya were there for a visit during the long vacation before another school year started. 

This year Robb, by then nineteen years old, would start his first year at Kings Landings University making his parents proud. He would be Aegon’s flatmate. Aegon, at twenty, who also attended KLU, was in his second year of his Sociology mayor and getting started in his Arts minor, lived in a flat in one of the better places of the city and as his last flatmate had graduated, had been about to hunt for a new flatmate when Robb texted him all about how he got accepted into KLU for his Bachelor degree in engineering. So the time they would spend together at Winterfell they would put to good use to see exactly how compatible they were in living together. Sansa, Bran and Arya, all at age of thirteen, couldn’t wait for their last year in middle school to start and make that big jump toward high school.

The evening was progressing rather well: the families started to get to know each other and shared a nice ambience until just after dinner when Cersei noticed the wristbands on the twins.

“Is it me or do the two of you have soulmarks?” asked Cersei in a bitter tone, raising an eyebrow, causing the twins to lose confidence in themselves and making them lower their marked arms. “You know, I have a younger cousin that has one: I hate him. So full of himself, he believes himself to be so very clever and all my family just adores him. I believe he is just a freak of nature… he is so abnormal! My aunt and uncle are probably the only ones in this world who have seen his mark; they covered it immediately! And the way his eyes gleam… he isn’t natural, but the two of you seem pretty normal to me.”

“Cersei, dear, you know better than most that it is bad manners to inquire about soulmarks so openly. And I really don’t know what you have against the kid, Rider has never acted the way you describe him to and even our kids adore him!” scolded Robert, feeling embarrassed by her. He felt thankful when Robb went out of his way to save him even if he knew that the young man only did so for his siblings. 

“While you are right, Uncle Robert, we are all family here,” at this Robb took a moment to smile benevolently at Cersei. “Aunt Cersei, as one your cousins has a mark, you must be aware just how special the soulmarks are to those who have one, so when Sansa decided that she wanted to cover hers, Bran, being a good twin brother, decided that he would use a wristband himself as a show of support and all of us have worn one at one time or another,” Said Robb, looking at the blond with cold eyes before he returned to normal. 

“Do they have their marks on different sides then?” Asked Cersei and no one really wanted to go into details on that. The family had decided that they would keep the special circumstances of the twins to themselves: a shared soulmate was almost unheard of, even if Bran’s mark indicated a platonic connection. Marks for the same soulmate happened, but they were much more rare than even the platonic soulmarks and the twins didn’t need the world looking into their lives. 

“My sister has a romantic soulmate, while I have a platonic one, if you must know,” Answered Bran with some hostility. He didn’t know why, but he was starting to feel hatred towards the woman and his instincts basically screamed at him to hide, to get away. And he knew from the look in her eyes that Sansa felt the same, his mark burned up for a moment not painfully or anything it just made him feel warm and safe before it returned to its normal state: it was simply there a weight that grounded him.

“Hey, buddy, do you want us to find some things for you to play with?” Asked Aegon, who was sitting next to Tommen. He wanted to diminish this potential disaster and was happy when the young boy nodded happily. “Bran, Sansa, do you think you two can help me look for something he can play with: like those oversized baby-proof Legos?” He asked the twins as he stood up, giving them an excuse to leave the room.

“You mean Duplo, Jon?” Teased Bran as he and Sansa stood up.

“I remember where we put them in the attic, but I’ll need you guys to do some lifting.” Said Sansa with a smile to the boys, happy to be able to leave the room under a reasonable pretense. The way that woman Cersei talked about her, going by uncle Robert's use of the word kid, younger cousin left her uncomfortable… It seemed like she was a hateful and jealous woman.

Later that night Aegon and Robb had excused themselves from the company to play video games and Arya had happily followed her older cousins. Tommen had been put to bed hours ago after he had played some with the duplo Aegon brought back with him, Myrcella had been put to bed before dinner and the twins had disappeared after going to the attic. Lyanna, Asha and Catelyn were doing their best to include Cersei in their conversation, leaving Benjen, Ned and Robert in Ned's study to have some drinks.

“I’m really sorry for that, Ned, I had no idea Cersei would react that way! Hell, I thought that she would know the right etiquette around marked people or at the very least know which things not to ask!” Exclaimed Robert agitated.

“I’m not blaming you. Rest assured, Robert, many people who should know better always ask questions or make comments. That is nothing new, what is new is that a person who admits to having such a close relation to a marked person to say something like that.” replied Ned looking at his drink. He wanted his friend's visit to be over. He started to dislike Robert’s new wife - when he met her at the wedding she didn’t seem so petty.

“What did ya call the cousin, Rider? What kind of name is that? And is he really that strange? She made it out like he was some kind of twisted guy,” Said Benjen.

“Rider is the nickname I gave the kid: he seems happy with it,” Shrugged Robert before continuing. “And yeah I’ll admit that the kid is strange. He is absolutely obsessed with dragons and Old Valyria; hell, he can even read and speak High Valyrian. Not Braavosi or some similar language, but, honest to god, High Valyrian like those scholars that spend their lives dedicated to the study of the Empire. But I suppose that as a marked soul one might expect him to have his things, but Tion is a great kid: not sure what Cersei has against the boy.”

“So he is basically a normal kid with a soulmark that loves dragons and the history of Valyria a bit too much, is what you are saying?” Asked Ned. He was dying to ask his best friend for more information about the boy and his soulmark but would refrain from doing so.

“As normal as he’ll get I’d say.” Responded Robert before finishing his drink.

“What does his mark look like?” Asked Benjen, not having any reservations, even though this type of personal question was frowned upon. “And what is his take on having a soulmark?” This caused both Ned and Robert to almost choke on their drink.

“Benjen!” Roared Ned.

“I’ve no clue what his mark looks like. As much as the kid might like me, he wouldn’t share something so private with the husband of his cousin! He ain’t like those kids that publish their mark online in hopes to find their soulmate or something, he reminds me more of Aegon,  Lyanna’s kid, if you want a personality comparison. And as for his take on soulmarks, I’ve got no freaking clue: the kid has enough issues with his memories-dreams, I take, seeing as he goes to therapy for it.”

“Therapy? Ain’t that a bit extreme?” Asked Ned who knew that the soulmark dreams could be difficult, but he never expected anyone needing therapy for that. Why didn’t the boy speak with his parents about them?

“Normally I’d agree with you on it, Ned, but you haven’t met the kid... I dunno what he went through in his last life, but the gods can be cruel. The kid does suffer from PTSD, so I’d say the therapy has more to do with that than with the soulmark. When we stayed with them last month he had a full blown episode: it was heartbreaking, his mother was able to get him through it, but he didn’t know where he was after he woke from a nap…”

At this the tree men stayed in silence all contemplating different things. Robert was reliving how the gentle, happy smiling kid that took his kids as uncle, went to nap and a haggard soul woke up screaming something unintelligible. Eddard was thanking the gods that neither of his kids suffered from memories intense enough to put them in therapy and Benjen was wondering how a simple reunion could end on such a tone...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Brandon and Sansa were happy to leave the adults and stay in their shared living room talking together before they did some of the homework their teachers had given them for the break to distract themselves from the events that had transpired that evening. 

"So you wanna talk about it?" Asked Bran looking at his sister with concern.

"About Uncle Robert's wife bashing her cousin for no other reason than him having a soulmark and her being petty? No, I'd rather forget," was Sansa's dignified answer. Bran knew that something was troubling her, but decided to let it be as she would come to him when she felt like talking about it. 

While his sister started to get her table ready for the homework, he was more than happy to take his wristband off and trace his soulmark for a while. Bran loved the peace tracing it brought him: it was as if in those moments it was just him and the mark, in those moments he felt as if he were in the presence of Tyrion's shadow or one of his hugs and all the comfort that that brought him. He didn't know how much time had passed; as he was tracing the crown on the head of the lion - a mocking reminder to him that he and Sansa had only been crowned because of his abdication, somewhere far away in the Westerlands a dark strawberry blond haired young man in his late teens fell asleep while reading a book about philosophy on a couch as a feeling of peace fell over him: causing his mother to grab a blanket and put the book on a coffee table.

"Why do you always do that?" asked his sister, with curiosity coloring her voice.

"Do what?" Bran asked absentmindedly.

"Trace your soulmark? You do it when you are feeling edgy or frustrated or in any way overstimulated really, but you also do it just so, for no apparent reason," clarified Sansa. At this Bran tilted his head.

"I trace it because it brings me peace of mind, if I trace it long enough I can almost feel as if Tyrion stood right next to me," explained Bran, causing Sansa to frown. "Don't you ever trace it until you relax? Until it's just you and the soulmark?" Now it was Bran who became curious.

"Well, I do trace it from time to time, but mostly I do so when I feel guilty, and then it burns and for a moment I feel kind of like  back as I did when we were married, safe and protected as if no one could harm me… not even I and my worries just disappear, just without all the resentment. There are also days when it just burns suddenly and fills me with a crippling guilt, anxiety, resignation or simply makes me feel lost; but most of the time the mark simply is and feels like a weight reminding me that it's there: as if it doesn't expect anything." After she said this, Sansa's eyes opened wide. "OMG you're right! The mark is almost a shadow of Tyrion: always there without expecting anything, which is comforting and also disturbing."

After this, the silence returned to the room and Bran’s mind went into overdrive. He started looking at his homework, but in truth he was just staring at the pages frankly, not really seeing them. 

"Why do you think the mark just starts burning suddenly? Does yours do it too?" asked Sansa.

"Aye, some days it does… but most of the time it is to answer or to balance my own feelings." said Bran with a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe when we are distressed and our marks burn out of nowhere with peaceful feelings, it isn't really out of nowhere, maybe it's Tyrion who sends those feelings." Theorized Bran.

"And when my mark starts burning with those nasty feelings? Does yours ever do it, too?" asked Sansa, fearing her brother had come to the same conclusion as her.

"Aye, mine does so sometimes as well… It leaves me trying to find my footing again from all the intensity, even if it does happen seldom. The last time it happened was last month: I felt all those feelings you mentioned and then I felt the need to sleep a whole week. Maybe those are Tyrion's feelings?" asked Bran with a grimace. "Have you ever thought of sending positive feelings in those moments or thinking of good things?" asked Bran guiltily; Sansa just shook her head. "Me neither…."

"We aren't sure that Tyrion sends those peaceful feelings our way in a conscious way… so there is no way of knowing if what we do or don't in those moments does or doesn't affect him, but we can promise to do better next time." Said Sansa looking her twin in the eye who nodded with resolve in his eyes. "Let's do our homework…."

"Let's, but I gotta say that the mark burning before flooding us with foreigh feelings sucks as a warning system…" Concluded Bran.

About an hour after the conversation they were finishing their homework, filled with a burning desire to start their research anew and find Tyrion, when someone knocked on their door.

“Come in.” called Bran after getting a nod from Sansa, while he began to arrange his books and his sister started pulling up their corkboard along with their research.

“Hey, guys, may I come in for a few?” asked their cousin Arya. The twins looked confused, but nodded.

“Sure, come in and grab yourself a beanbag." said Sansa while Bran went to grab their beanbags.

Arya smiled at the twins gratefully before doing so and sitting down with them, Bran opened a mini fridge and offered both Sansa and Arya a soda, both accepted. They sat in silence for a while each doing their own thing until Arya broke it.

“Do you guys know what the fuck that was? I mean, I gotta admit that I disliked you, Sansa, when we were kids: you being the perfect picture of a lady and having a twin and a soulmark and bragging about it! It didn’t help that you never wanted to play the same games I wanted to play, but the bitching that woman did was on a whole new level! What could her cousin have done to make her so hateful towards him?” Exclaimed Arya out of the blue, not taking the silence any longer, causing Bran to drop the ball he had been playing with and making the twins look at her.

“I just want you to know: both of you, that I don’t think you guys are freaks of nature or abnormal or something like that… maybe you guys are a little strange, but who isn’t! Plus, what is normal when there are people walking around having soulmarks! People who can connect so deeply with an animal that they can possess it! When there are still reports of dragon sightings in Essos close to the Valyrian sea?” Bran and Sansa looked at each other and did that stupid twin thing they usually did before Bran spoke up.

“We never believed you thought we were freaks: well, bigger freaks than we are I mean." said Bran with a smile causing Arya to scowl at him and Sansa hit him on his shoulder before taking over the talking.

“Thank you, Arya, for your support, but what do you say: haters shall be haters? I think that applies well in this case. I don’t believe that her cousin did anything for her to really hate him, but it seems to me that Cersei is a shallow, jealous and petty woman who hasn’t outgrown her resentment for not having a soulmark while her cousin has one. We know you never thought us abnormal and I know that our enmity during our childhood is partly my fault. I was pretty full of myself wasn’t I?” Asked Sansa with a smile; Arya returned the smile and relaxed.

“So what are you, double trouble, up to? Have you guys already found any clues about your soulmate? And I promised myself I’d never ask, but how do you guys feel about that?” Asked Arya.

“We are making progress in our research, well, at least partially we have read all historical indications about all three of us, but we might need to open up another line of thinking as our research is hitting a wall at this moment,” answered Bran. “As for us having the same soulmate, I believe we might differ on our feelings, but seeing as our soul bonds are essentially different I have no problems with it: I love him and Sansa does love him too, we just love him differently: only one of us would snog him and that one isn’t me.” This caused Arya to laugh as Sansa turned redder than a tomato. “Not that I wouldn’t be happy to do almost anything else with him...”Finished explaining Bran in his almost detached way.

“I agree with Bran, even if I’d have used other words,” Said Sansa.

“So why are you getting nowhere with your research?” Asked Arya.

“We might need to broaden our search to some new things we hadn’t thought about yet: wanna help us?” Asked Bran.

“Sure. What do you guys need me to do?” Asked Arya, opening a laptop that belonged to one of the twins.

“Search for anyone named Tyrion and look for anything that might come close to scandal-worthy behavior,” Answered Sansa with an impish smile.

“For real?” Asked the shocked girl.

“Yes from what we remember, and we asuming that personality wise he hasn’t changed much, he used to get into some crazy stuff… boardline suicidal stuff.” Explained Sansa with a grimace.

“Please don’t ask, just do,” Saiid Bran, not really feeling like getting into a long winded explanation while he continued their previous line of search. The possibility of both him and Sansa staying Starks, keeping their first names and having the same father, in name and titles at least, while their soulmate wasn’t even a Lannister didn’t add up to him, the chances of that happening were close to none! So he wasn’t giving up yet.

“So, Sansa, have you given Ashton’s proposition a thought?” asked Bran while he was busy trying to distract the three of them.

“Bran, we are thirteen, I have a soulmate and if I ever date before finding him it won’t be with Ashton Stone, nor will it be at this age!” Exclaimed Sansa, throwing a ball at her brother who just gave a cheeky smile while their cousin laughed.

So I'm not sure how many chapters this story will get: I don't think it will get more than 10 tbh... I hope u enjoyed it!