Sansa woke to a sensation that she had never been able to experience before.

His arms were around her.

She did not want to open her eyes to the world that was before her. But for once, it was because of a different reason. Some days, Sansa had been tired. Her soul had felt worn as she laid and thought of the stretch of time that was in front of her. But on this day, the thought of breaking this warmth, and waking up to reality... For once, Sansa wanted to keep her eyes closed- not because of the horrors she may face on the outside- but because of the eventual peace that was sure to break.

She felt him move, his arms that were linked and pressing to the small of her back pulling her in tighter. Sansa pressed her face to his chest, her hands idly going to feeling the skin.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes.

She looked at the color that haunted her dreams. She traced the markings once more, feeling the thin outlines and how it contrasted with his skin. She loved his skin. She loved how the color reminded her of warmth and the forest they had met in for all those years. She always was captivated by him and the scent he carried. Never would she encounter a scent such as this. Everything about him was unique and surreal.

He was a creature of the moon, and though it was the painful reality that made the moment bittersweet in her mind, Sansa couldn't help but think how fitting those words were to describe him.

She looked up. He was looking at her, but not directly. His eyes were to her hair as his nose pressed to it, then roaming to her own features as he took them in. Finally, almost lazily, his gaze drifted to where she looked. He smiled, and she smiled back.

"Did you sleep?"

"I don't. It's not needed."

Sansa frowned, "we wasted time then."

He shook his head, "I've never seen you sleep before. It's an experience I'll remember."

He leaned forward and kissed the fresh mark that was upon her shoulder. Sansa started at the realization of its existence. She looked at him and saw the same.

She traced its outline with her finger.

"It's an addition...to your collection," she motioned to the other markings that had been painted onto him. A fierceness overcame his gaze as silver reflected in the morning light.

Sansa closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. They laid there together in the silence that evoked them.

"The time is coming," he whispered.

Sansa could not help the tears that came to her eyes.

She felt his hand lift her face, forcing her to meet him, "get dressed my sol." He kissed her, a quick meeting of the lips that made Sansa reel at the coming moment.

Wordlessly they stood, but halfway, before she could even pull her shirt over her head, he grabbed her. He pulled her back to the bed, taking the breath away from her in such a quick motion.

She was laying down, his body over hers as his lips crashed onto her skin. On her claim mark, her neck, going up to her jaw before finally kissing her deeply.

"No," the sound was ripped out of him like a wounded animal.

Sansa sobbed at the single word as he shook his head and held her face between his hands.

"No," he growled the word out, an agonizing groan leaving him.

She pressed him closer to her. She did not protest. She did not argue against it because she was screaming the word also in her head.

He cried. Sansa felt her tears come from the sight of his own. Vulnerable sobs left him as he sat up and looked to the ceiling, his hands covering his face in an effort to hide from her view.

"We have time," Sansa whispered. The lie was held between them as he lifted his hands and met her gaze. Silver in a pool of tears, the color floating on sorrow. Sansa watched the trail of his pain run down his face as he unflinchingly let her witness him breaking.

With her words still connecting them, they took comfort in the lie. He moved to her, his eyes ablaze with a sudden desire at the image she presented laying down below him. Sansa saw the flash of canines, the image of the creature that he was, surfacing.

He took her shoulder in his mouth, the mark still fresh and bruised but that did not stop the reclaiming. She gasped, her head going back involuntarily. His hands held her waist, as he sat her up, letting her legs wrap around him so that skin could fully be connected.

She wanted to be fully tied to him. Together in this moment.

He released her and Sansa felt no hesitation in reflecting his actions.

She loved the sound he made when she claimed him as her own.

She loved the way his body moved, the ripple of muscle over dark skin, as his hands gently took her hips to position her over him. She loved how his eyes became hooded and that color of silver seemed to grow brighter when he took her. When they were fully connected. When he was claiming her and she was a part of him.

Sansa looked down at him, never breaking eye contact as he let her rise, before bringing her back down.

Strange. Sansa thought it marvelous and strange how he seemed to know just what to do with her body. When she was just reaching the edge, he knew what it was that would send her over. When her head tilted back, her strength overcome by the overwhelming sensation of it all- how he would press for more as his lips searched the exposed skin she had presented and suck from her jaw down to her mark.

Always the mark.

He let her know over and over as he claimed her again and again, letting her feel the crushing ecstasy of the single fact that would tie them together no matter the distance.

This is my mate. This is my soul. Here is the proof that I know this to be true.

*   *   *

They stood a distance away from the cabin.

Sansa felt a familiar sensation run through her, and the feeling brought a sense of peace to her as she took in the forest that surrounded them.

It was a different forest. Different woods that encompassed and hid them away.

But they were still lost in this world together, unseen from any.

They stood side by side, staring out into what laid before them.

Sansa extended her hand, looking up at him expectantly.

He smiled down at her and took it.

They waited.

"Do you know...I would watch you...in the clinics..."

Sansa looked up at him in confusion as he continued, his eyes still looking ahead, still faraway in a distant memory, "I would make sure that if a soul was leaving and you were near, that I would be the one to gather it. I would brush by you. Let my fingers graze your cheek," he turned and did just that. She closed her eyes from the touch, realizing she had known this sensation for a while. "I would whisper 'I love you' in your ears, even if you couldn't hear me."

Sansa opened her eyes. He shook his head at her and she was startled to find panic in his gaze, "you said I'm not a monster...but one day...when I met you in our spot...you told me they had put you on a medicine. That they thought you were sick. So I...I took the soul of that doctor. He was unwilling and I should not have done it. I was wrong, but I'm a..." his eyes looked down, avoiding her gaze.

Her mind filtered through her memories, realization coming over her that what he said was true. Doctor Tallum. He had diagnosed her with schizophrenia. And then one day, he had unexpectedly passed away to the shock of all. But Doctor Nox had quickly replaced him.

"You were protecting me."

"I was angry," he said, "It was the only thing I could think of doing to protect you. You were not sick."

"Even if you were angry...you were still protecting me."

She squeezed his hand, causing his eyes to flicker to her in hesitant appraisal. 

"Do you see now why I'm undeserving of you?" his words were barely choked out. His voice broke at the end, causing Sansa's heart to shatter.

She moved to stand in front of him, reaching up to touch his face.

"Night."

Her single word forced him to look down at her.

She smiled, a sad smile as she realized just how broken the man before her was. She had no time to put him back together. No time for them to heal the other.

"You can choose to be a monster or not. But when I see you, you don't become that. You are my comfort. You know...You worry about not being there for me but I do the same for you. Who will be there for you? Who will love you and tell you that you are beautiful when you need it?"

Sansa took a deep breath. She had been crying so much. She felt so drained after all this time, but looking at him now, she knew there were words that needed to be said.

"You deserve to be told these things over and over. I'll say them. Everyday- every time I think of you. And if you are there listening then I hope you believe in me. But I'll still think it. And I'll still say it. That you are beautiful and good. You can think yourself to be a monster but that's not what I see. You may hate how our fates collide and separate but I am grateful for the time we have- for any amount that is given."

He took her hands, pressing them to his chest as he pulled her close and kissed her.

"You became so wise," he laughed, "I don't know what to do when you act like this. I'm still remembering that crying girl in the woods. Or the one who was angry at me. The one who would go into the lake and torment me. Or who tried to trick me into saying anything about myself."

He tilted his head and smiled, "you grew up, Sansa. You grew up before I even realized it. You'll be okay...You can survive...can't you?"

Sansa laughed, "I've been enduring away from you for a long time now, Night. I think you taught me something...you made me build a world without you, that I could survive in. I'm grateful for that- for that strength I had to build because of it."

"I wish I could be in your world."

She only looked at him, knowing there would be no happy answer to his statement. He gave her a grim smile, his thoughts aligning with her.

"You taught me something also," he whispered, "...before I met you...I had forgotten what happiness felt like. I had forgotten how to breathe...what even was a breath? What was life? I forgot that souls are so...so important...but you made sure that I would never forget."

At the fading of his words they heard it. The sound of creatures coming.

Sansa took a step to be closer to him.

He took her face within his hands, a desperate look overcoming him as the howling of the hounds suddenly could be heard.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Sansa gasped the word without even having to think, her breath quickening with the rising tempo of paws colliding against the forest floor.

He stared into her eyes, as Sansa's hands wrapped around his wrists. They were shaking. Both of them were shaking at the reality that was coming. That this was it. That he was leaving.

"Night." He stilled at his name, his features stiffening at the rising sound of panic that could be heard in her voice.

Slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, he leaned down, and kissed her.

In that kiss, there were flashes of memories. A lake that was before them. Rain coming down. The crashing of lips. The feel of the tree against skin. The texture of the forest floor. The setting of the sun. And the coming of the stars and moon.

The tears they had cried had been enough. It was enough that there was no need for them here and now.

"I love you." His word brought peace to her soul. She did not dare close her eyes. Did not dare blink as she stared intensely into the silver.

"I love you too."

Without warning she was pulled into his arms. She heard the crash all around her. Heard the heavy breathing of the animals that surrounded them. The growls of creatures, the scrapping of claws and snarls of beasts.

He was shaking. A frenzied motion that caused Sansa to look up in time to see a flash of red rimming around the silver.

"Don't be scared," he whispered.

Sansa shook her head. She wasn't.

"I trust you."

The creature's growls became louder, but Night did not even spare a glance at them. He kissed her. He sighed into her, breathing life into her body as she felt a renewal of her soul take place and the weight settle in.

He pulled back. His eyes were wide. As if he was trying to imprint her to memory.

To her shock, he smiled, "ah...my sansa...I go to the Moon now...but..." he glanced around him, his grin only widening, "I will always belong only to you."

A feral look was coming onto his features. Sansa could not help but shiver at the sight. He was a gentle creature when he had her wrapped in his arms, but somehow, the image he had been pressing her to see of him had not fully been realized until this moment. He was a monster, he had claimed. In her mind, monster had been such a horrible word. Such a negative thing. But he had wanted her to see the truth. She watched the silver she loved slowly turn red. The image of the wolf taking over his face. A man becoming something dark. A creature of death.

He was a monster, she thought, but that did not make him evil. That did not make him cruel. When had it become that that word had been so horrible in her mind?

Slowly, his arms loosened its hold. Slowly he took a step back. Sansa was able to see the creatures that surrounded them. Large wolves of varying sizes. Their images swirled, their fur coming up in curling smoke, drifting into the wind. They did not belong here. They were not a part of this world.

They looked at her, some bowing their heads and Sansa wondered if they had been in that room with her. If they had been males who had been chained to the wall and she had healed them. She looked back to Night, knowing that this was where they parted.

They didn't need words. Not really. Not after becoming experts in the art of saying goodbye.

He only smiled at her, his face becoming one she recognized as he gazed at her.

She smiled back at him, unable to stop her hand from clenching over her heart.

And she didn't blink. She didn't move. She only continued to take in the image of Night showing her what he truly was. Becoming one with the monsters that surrounded them.

She saw the power of the wolf in the transformation of the man. The silver turn red. The darkness of fur come out. She watched as the wolf before her bowed its head, lowering its front paws so that it was kneeling in front of her.

He rose and in the single blink. In that single moment. She should have been used to it now. How many times had he left her in such a way during their moments in the woods?

In that single second- he was gone. 

I'M CRYING. THIS IS NOT AN ALARM I AM FULL OUT SOBBING. 

OMG. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT BECAUSE IT WRECKED ME. 

(don't you dare complain about not reading about the first time they marked each other. THAT IS A PRIVATE MOMENT SO BACK OFF- I legit am not in the mood, my chest huuurrrttsss). 

Hang in there with me, there is still a lot more to the story!