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As the battel of Winterfell had raged on, the living who still fought had pinned all of their hopes on two people, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. He had fought the army of the dead many times before, she was the last Targaryen and they were both riding dragons. Surely one of them would kill the Night King and end the long night once and for all but neither of them did.
Soon after the fall of the dead, the news had spread that Arya Stark, Jon’s wild and wilful younger sister had in fact been the one to strike the fatal blow and save them all. If she had struck down any other King this would have made her a Kingslyer as it had Jamie Lannister but as it was the Night King, she had killed people had taken to calling her Arya Stark bringer of light.
While every living soul was grateful to the young woman who had saved them, some found the story hard to believe particularly those who had heard the Azor Ahai prophecy that Melisandre and the other red priests and priestesses had been preaching.
Daenerys herself found it a somewhat bitter pill to swallow, she had believed that the Night King would fall to her or Jon as much as anyone else had, especially given the revelation Jon had dropped on her just before the battel. She was not the last Targaryen; he had the blood of the dragon too.
Some small, petulant and very un-queenlike part of her hated that Arya, a northern had achieved what two Targaryen’s could not. Arya met few, if any of the criteria for being Azor Ahai reborn but she had ended the long night while she and Jon, who both fit the prophecy well had failed, how could that be?
This was the question she put to both Samwell Tarly and Bran Stark in a council despite Jon’s protests. What did it matter how Arya had done it? The Night King was dead and they were alive, that was all that mattered to Jon but Daenerys had to know.
“You might not like the answers we give you” Bran warned, while his tone was the same emotionless one, he used so often the fact that he was warning her at all was a rare show of compassion on his part. Still Daenerys insisted she needed to know.
“well, I did do some research” Sam admitted “the library was a complete mess but mostly undamaged and I did find some record of the prophecy. Not much though, I don’t think the north believed in it much” he gave a slightly nervous laugh and Daenerys knew he was putting off telling her what he had found for as long as possible.
“Go on” she urged him coolly, Daenerys could feel the sympathy for him that was seeping out of every other person in the room, she could almost smell it in the air. She could also see that the firm grip of Lady Sansa of Winterfell was the only thing keeping both Jon and Arya from intervening as she questioned Samwell. She had her each of her hands clutched around one of their wrists, she was gripping them so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.
Daenerys’s actions in the battel of Winterfell had earned her a lot of respect from the remaining northern Lords. While she knew they would still side with the Starks over her she also knew the Starks had to tread more carefully with her now than they ever did before. It seemed that Sansa was the only one of them politically minded enough to know that, so she had the job of keeping the others in line, Daenerys almost pitied her that.
“Well, from what I have read and this is only my interpretation, mind you” Sam blathered, he was still stalling but a cold hard look from Daenerys soon put a stop to that.
“Lady Arya is not Azor Ahai” he sighed out “she is so much more than that”.
“What?” Daenerys cried aghast, she had expected a confirmation or denial, she hadn’t believed that Arya Stark could be elevated any higher in her peoples esteem but it seemed that was what Samwell Tarly was setting out to do.
“My sister is both Nisa Nisa and Light bringer” Bran chipped in; his usually stoic tone was tempered by what almost sounded like pride.
“How can that be?” asked Tyrion sounding genuinely curios “How can she be both?”
“Well” Sam began sounding much more confident now “when the first Azor Ahai stabbed Nisa Nisa, the woman he loved most in the world, her essence mixed with the magic of the sword to create Light bringer” he said recounting the story they had all heard many times by this point. “So, one way to look at it is he killed the woman he loved to create the sword but another way to see things is he didn’t actually kill Nisa Nisa he simply transformed her, changed her into the weapon he would use to end the long night”.
A strange hush fell over the council as they all took in what Sam was saying. Anyone who knew Arya Stark and had seen her fight knew that to call her a weapon was a pretty accurate description. She had even referred to herself as a sword on numerous occasions.
“If Lady Arya is in fact Light bringer then who is Azor Ahai?” Daenerys asked.
“The person who put her on the path to who and what she would one day become” Tyrion cut in shrewdly before Sam could answer.
“That’s right” Sam confirmed dropping back into his nerves.
Daenerys allowed a calm smile to settle onto her features. She had heard the tales of Arya’s past; she knew Ned Stark had favoured his youngest daughter above all of his other children and she knew he had arranged for her to be trained as a water dancer in Kings Landing.
So, to her it was clear that Ned Stark had been the fabled Azor Ahai come again but Ned Stark was dead, she didn’t like competing with the dead but if this war had proven anything it was that Daenerys Targaryen could triumph over the dead.
“So, Ned Stark was Azor Ahai reborn” she said voicing her thoughts “and while he may now be gone, he left us his most beloved child to lead us out of the darkness of the long night”. She smiled a genuine warm smile at Arya, she hadn’t spent much time with the girl but by all accounts, she was a female Jon, so Daenerys was sure the two of them could get along with each other given time.
“Your father would be truly proud of you Lady Arya” she told her brightly.
“Thank you, Your Grace” Arya replied respectfully, Daenerys didn’t miss how Sansa Stark discreetly kicked her sister to make her respond but she chose to ignore it believing the young woman would warm up to her eventually.
Daenerys was about to rise from her chair and end the council but one word from Bran put a stop to that.
“No” his voice rang out though the room smooth and cool as marble.
“No, what?” Tyrion cut in almost eagerly, his eyes were alight with curiosity once again, like a child who was enjoying a story too much to let it end.
“Lord Stark was doubtless a great man” Samwell dithered “but he was not Azor Ahai, he only allowed Lady Arya to train so that she could use the sword she had already been given” he explained using his own knowledge of the of Arya’s past.
Daenerys wanted to ask for clarification but Tyrion jumped in before she could voice any of her questions.
“So, Lord Stark helped Lady Arya on the road to who she would become but he didn’t start her along it, that much had already been done” he surmised.
“My sisters’ course was set the moment needle was placed in her hand” Bran stark told them all.
“By who” Daenerys questioned.
While most of the adventures and trauma’s Arya Stark had lived through had come to light over the last few weeks there still two tales that she refused to tell anyone outside of her closest confidants. What happened during her time in Bravos was one of them and the origin of her beloved needle was the other.
Daenerys had always assumed it had been a gift from her father to go along with her dancing lessons, it seemed she had assumed wrong.
“By the man who loves her more than anything else in this world” Bran said almost gently and suddenly Daenerys understood his earlier warning. One look at Jon told her everything she needed to know, she could see love and pride shining in his eyes whenever he looked upon his little sister. He was the one to gift her with her most prised possession and in doing so he had begun the process of turning her into this generation Light bringer.
A number of realisations hit the young queen all at once. Daenerys Targaryen was not Azor Ahai, Jon Snow was, Daenerys Targaryen was not the person Jon Snow loved the most Arya Stark was and it was their love be is sibling or otherwise that had truly saved Westeros.
Daenerys had known love in her life but never one as true and deep as Azor Ahai had shared with his Nisa Nisa, perhaps that was why in some secret corner of her heart she had hoped that she the Nisa Nisa to Jon’s Azor Ahai or vice versa.
To be the person that Jon loved most of all would have bought great joy to her but she wasn’t and she knew that now. She also knew that the true power of the north lay in the love and loyalty that its people held for each other. A love and loyalty that would only be extended to her if she could prove herself truly worthy.
In that moment as she looked out over her confused council, most of whom had eyes only for Arya as they silently demanded answers from her, Daenerys swore she would prove herself worthy.
Not so they would help her claim the Iron throne and not in hopes that it would encourage Jon to continue a romantic relationship with her (she feared learning he was her nephew had put and end to that) but because she truly wanted the seven kingdoms to be at peace and she believed the other six could learn a lot from the north and their ways.
“Lady Arya, please come forward” Daenerys called; the young woman was clearly reluctant to leave her seat but a slight push from her sister motivated her to move. Daenerys smiled her warm genuine smile once again as she eyed the defiant young woman before her.
“I will not ask you who gifted you with the sword you hold so dear” she told the girl surprising all those present “but I will ask you to thank them for us all as we thank you” the Queen explained gracefully. “Every soul in Westeros owes you their lives Lady Arya and while that is a debt we can never truly repay; I think allowing you to keep the secrets that you wish to is a good start”
Arya’s usually unreadable face seemed to glow with pride, happiness and just a touch of respect and Daenerys was struck by yet another realisation. Arya Stark was going to become very dear to her, she was going to carve out a place for herself in the Dragon Queen’s heart, she was going to nestle herself in among her dragon sons and the baby boy Daenerys had never got to meet and that was where she was going to stay.
There was nothing Daenerys could do to stop it even if she had wanted to. The Targaryen wondered if perhaps that power of Light Bringer was shining out of the girl and burning its way in to her heart or if perhaps it was just the unstoppable force that was Arya Stark she didn’t know.
What she did know was that no one had ever been more deserving of the title Bringer of light.