So as a recent comment pointed out, it's been nearly two years, which is such a scary thought. I can only apologise, and don't really have an excuse because I've been updating my other works. In true ASOIAF fashion, I pretty much wrote myself into a corner with this one (GRRM I can relate!) and it's the worst writer's block I've ever experienced. Since last updating The Long Winter, my writing style has changed so much (for the better, I hope), and having reread some of the earlier chapters there would have to be a whole story edit (which I highly doubt I have time for but who knows maybe in the distant future) for me to actually finish. If it helps, there were only 4 chapters left. Below I have summarised my notes on what I wanted to happen in this story and how all the characters ended up, to give some deserved closure to everyone who enjoyed reading and left such kind comments. And at the end there is a little snippet of Ross and Jaime because I do love writing those two. I hope you enjoy and thanks so much to all my readers.

*

Chapter 49: Ren POV

Ross reacts to Jon's Targaryen parentage badly due to her past trauma; this is something she is aware she has to fight to get over for Jon's sake but causes some tension. 

In the previous chapter, Bran revealed that Ross died; Ren picks up on this and asks her about it.

Ren gets closer to Daenerys; he quite likes her as a person, but doesn't care for her in the same way she fancies him, and leads her along for political gain (they eventually sleep together). Jaime and Loreon are amused by this. Ross is decidedly not. Ren practices warging Drogon but still can't do it.

Jon is stuck. He needs the dragons to kill the Others, but the dragons can't cross the Wall. Then if the Others are defeated, he needs to kill the dragons to reinstate the balance between fire and ice, without starting a war with Daenerys. He discusses this dilemma with Ross, Loreon and Ren.

Throughout this chapter, Euron is acting suspicious. A tense conversation between him and Ross occurs where she realises he is not entirely on their side. She grudgingly goes to Daenerys and the girl shares her concerns, still despising Euron for stealing one of her dragons with the horn. They become reluctant allies in this.

Tommen and Tywin arrive at the Wall on a ship. Interactions between Ren and Tywin.

*

Chapter 50: Gianna POV

Shireen and Tyrion hold King's Landing in the absence of Tywin and Tommen. fAegon, left on Dragonstone to hold it in Dany's name, goes rogue and tries to attack the capital without dragons. He fails. Tyrion's defence ideas were clever and effective but the battle is won by a ruthless idea from Shireen that has everyone taken aback but respecting her a lot more. fAegon is killed in the battle along with most of his men. Jon Connington is captured and furious about everything - he dies a traitor after being put on trial.

*

Chapter 51: Ross POV

The Wall receives the news of fAegon's attack and death. Dany is not as bothered as she should be.

Euron is secretly on the side of the Others and solves their dragon dilemma for them by blowing the horn to bring down the Wall, reversing all its protective enchantments. He gets on Viserion (who is turned into an ice dragon by the Others' spell, to Dany's horror) and rides with the Others as the Night's Watch hastily tries to pull together a defence. Night's Queen is the first to step over the Wall, and then chaos begins. Melisandre delays them slightly with a huge wall of fire. The Others have new weapons they can use against the dragons. Euron and Viserion fight Drogon and Dany. The Others' Mage and Melisandre face off; Melisandre is defeated but she buys them time.

During the messy retreat, Jon is trapped and Rhaegal comes down to save him. He mounts the dragon and escapes. People start wondering at his parentage but he brushes it off 'it's not only Targaryens who can ride dragons'. Never mind that he knows he is one. Dany has Euron and Viserion at her mercy but doesn't have it in her to kill her child, so Jon and Rhaegal swoop in just in time do the job for her. 

Night's Queen locks eyes with Bran, realising what he is; the spells of concealment the Children put on him are broken and all the Others can sense the life through him. He becomes a huge target. 

*

Chapter 52: Loreon POV

Everyone arrives back at Winterfell to regroup after the retreat. The battle wasn't really a victory for either side. The Others have pushed them back, but not defeated them, and have also lost their dragon. The Living have suffered heavy losses and lost the Wall but have Winterfell and two dragons.

Because of Bran, who scares them (the Three-Eyed-Crow represents all that is alive and interconnected), the Others go for a concentrated approach rather than a spread out one, to get to him fast. They want to get this over with quickly, to not waste any time like they did before, 8000 years ago. They cut straight to Winterfell where the Living make their stand.

The Living hide behind the castle walls and the Others siege it, sending wights to attack every night, hoping to wear and starve them out. The dragons are very effective. The crypts are sealed shut and guarded (why the fuck was this not done in the show??). They have a massive pyre burning constantly to cremate the dead.

Bran can see where the Others hide during the battle though and the dragons fly out to find it. Three of the Others' council are killed; in her dying fury, the Mage attempts to turn Rhaegal into a creature of ice but only gets halfway there - he's now of ice and fire, just like Jon.

*

Chapter 53: Ross POV

The next night, the Others come out in force. They target the dragons; Drogon takes a lot of them down but he ends up with a scorpion bolt through the wing and can't fly.

Jon kills Night's Queen; she is tied to all the Others who came after those initially created by the Children, as she was the first female Other. The rest of them shatter, and the wights collapse, truly dead.

Jon then turns on Dany as he planned in secret, signalling for Drogon to be put out of his misery with a hidden scorpion aimed by Loreon - Ren finally wargs into the dragon for a crucial half second so he doesn't lash out. Dany is unimaginably furious despite his explanation and orders her troops to attack, but they suffered heavy losses and are defeated by the majority. Dany is killed by Ren after she tries to kill Jon in one last desperate stand.

They then are faced with Bran and Benjen being held hostage in the Godswood by Children of the forest. Bran's gifts and their help came with a price, and that is a favour. The favour was removing unnatural magic from the world and it is partially paid. Benjen is returned.

Jon then turns to Rhaegal, knowing he has to kill him too but despises the idea of it. The dragon flies away north before he does it, and he is angry with himself for failing, but Bran explains that as both ice and fire, the dragon will no longer be an imbalance and is allowed to exist. Much like himself and Ross (resurrected by fire but with ice in their blood). They get Bran and Benjen back and the Children of the Forest melt back into the shadows.

The greatly damaged Golden Company are sent back to Essos along with the Dothraki and any of her army that wish to go.

*

Epilogue

From now on, the seasons are restored to normal, summer and winter both happening within a year as fire and ice magic largely leaves the world, only the earth magic remaining. The red priests still exist, but so do the Starks and their descendants, balancing it out. What remaining traces of unnatural magic that are left fade over time. The Wall is gone but the castles remain. The Night's Watch is disbanded, but Jon is tasked with building a new wall, obviously not as high, to mark the border of the North. Lots of wildlings settle in the Gift/New Gift, whilst many return to the far north. More and more people throughout the kingdoms start to turn to the Old Gods as the truth about how the Others were defeated spreads. More weirwoods are planted and the south starts to convert.

Starks. 

Catelyn stays at Winterfell and improves more as time goes on, becoming more of sound mind despite the heavy sadness that forever weighs upon her. 

Robb lives on in Grey Wind, but Bran helps him develop a connection through subtly warging with the minds of the family so he can communicate non-verbally. 

Jon gets the Gift and New Gift for himself, founding his own lordly house (House Weirstark. Seat; Wilderen's Edge. Sigil; white howling wolf's head with red eyes, halved green and black background. Words; Our Watch Will Never End). He marries Alys Karstark. Different wildling leaders are given castles on the Wall and become a mountain-clans-esque type of leadership under Jon, guarding the borders from those Wildlings who wish to raid the north. There are uncomfirmed rumours of the last dragon flying over his lands.

Sansa marries Daryn Hornwood when she is 18; he has little interest in ruling so she manages the Hornwood lands well and is happy. When she comes of age (16), she joined Ross in being regent of the North for Rickon, a joint-rule. Arya and Jon help where necessary. They oversee the restoration of Moat Cailin, just in case. When Rickon comes of age, he rules in his own right. 

Arya marries a rather unimportant second son of a mountain clansman; she falls for him aged 25, having resisted marriage until then, and it's a love match. He shares her adventurous spirit. Based at Winterfell, they travel far and wide and do not have children. 

Bran insists on regularly travelling beyond the wall, more and more as he gets older until one day he never comes back. He never contests his brother's claim to Winterfell, and all those that meet him are unnerved and agree that Rickon is better suited to lord's work. He is perpetually strange with an eerie wildness about him that doesn't belong in a castle. 

Rickon is Lord of Winterfell, and aged 16 marries Mara Manderly, the younger daughter of Ser Wylis. He isn't the best lord with his distaste for paperwork and anything dull, but is charismatic, fierce and brave (and his wife makes up for his failings).

Ross' children.

Ren is Master of Laws, though helps his mother oversee the restoration of his new seat, Moat Cailin. He marries Freya Fenn when he's 23, and forms House Fenstark; sigil is a black lion's head merged with a wolf, crossed with two swords on a green background; words 'a sword to guard'. His wife prefers women and he prefers Lizzie so they are more friends than anything, and she very rarely comes south. They have a son, Owen, and daughter Morah. He and Lizzie have a daughter, Aida Snow. He later becomes Hand of the King (when Tywin dies).

Edrick does not want to be Lord of the Dreadfort or a Bolton (quite traumatised from Ramsey and his father), and the lords all want the Bolton name to die with him. His marriage to Arya is annulled and he marries Jessamyn, the 17 year old bastard daughter of the deceased Lord Willam Dustin's brother (who died before Willam did). His wife is the Lady of Barrowtown and he becomes its Lord.

Aileen becomes Lady of the Dreadfort with a new house name (House Blackmore, a white shadowcat and a red one entwined on a black background, words Ice And Fire) and marries Beron Umber.

Morganna becomes one of Queen Shireen's ladies, and eventually Mistress of Whispers in King's Landing. She takes a personal sigil of a bloody black and red dagger held in a white hand on a gold background. She never marries, but has two illegitimate daughters, Helia and Sara Snow.

Lannisters and bastard Lannisters

Giana returns to the Banefort with her husband and younger children and lives a long, happy and simple life.

Tyrion serves on the small council. He then inherits Casterly Rock after Jaime gives up his claim to him, and has Myrcella as his heir due to being unable to have children.

Loreon is regent until Shireen is sixteen, then returns to be Lord Baratheon and have a family with Margaery. When Ren becomes Hand he returns to the Small Council as Master of Laws, though spends his time between King's Landing and Storm's End.

Myrcella stays with Tyrion, learning from him, and later becomes Mistress of Coin. Tywin suggests once that she and Ren marry, still refusing to believe that Cersei and Jaime had an affair. Needless to say, that idea is hastily shut down. She is in line to inherit Casterly Rock after Tyrion.

Shireen and Tommen rule in King's Landing; though she is the queen (nicknamed the Iron Queen after ruthlessly putting down the last Ironborn rebellion, crippling the islands so much most survivors have to move inland) he has a lot of input in her decisions and is the friendly, charismatic and likeable face of their rule. Their eldest son marries Margaery and Loreon's daughter. The Tyrell ambition is fulfilled, and the blood of Robert Baratheon does still end up on the throne, in the most convoluted way possible.

Together, Ren, Loreon, Tommen and Shireen come up with a better way of government, to prevent a nightmare like Joffrey or Aerys happening again. Each kingdom must send three representatives to serve on a greater council and advise the king, as well as the small council. The small council now includes Master of the Guilds (the heads of each individual guild answer to him), Master of Laws, Master of Whispers, Master of Ships, Master of Coin, Master of Trade (all merchants answer to him), Grand Maester, Second Maester, High Septon and Lord Commander. This is the start of a rudimentary parliament. The economy greatly improves, along with general societal progress, given they are not stunted by a winter that last years.

A big change is that Kingsguard don't have to serve for life. They serve 7 years then are given the option to serve another 7. Though they can't start serving if they are married or have trueborn children. If an heir is serving and his father dies, a castellan must step in to rule their lands while they finish their term, so most eldest sons do not serve.

*

As for Ross and Jaime...

After those first few years as sole regent, when Sansa comes of age and she can leave the North with her for a while, Ross pays many visits to King's Landing to see the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Due to Shireen and Loreon's new Kingsguard laws, Jaime is discharged from the Kingsguard when they come into action in 302AC. 

...

"For months, my father has been pestering me with prospective matches. He clearly means for me to marry the second I leave the Kingsguard,"

"You say that like it's a surprise," Ross didn't look at him, just lay in his arms, head on his chest. He poked her side and she smiled grudgingly. "So, what eligible maiden has he lined up for you?" There was no keeping the bitterness in her tone. Jaime might be a man of six-and-thirty, but there was no denying Tywin Lannister something he had longed for for decades, and now finally had within his grasping reach.

"Who do you see me marrying?" He asked her, oddly amused.

"That's just cruel," She rolled her eyes. "Everything I'm not. Your father would want someone young, but old enough to bear sons immediately. Sixteen, seventeen, no older than eighteen. A beautiful girl, that's a given - can't have any ugly Lannister heirs. And a daughter of one of your father's bannermen, there's no other maidens from any other great houses. Unless he intends to marry you to Arya. That would be ironic. In a horribly twisted way. Marrying my niece - "

"Ross," He interrupted her, wearing the look of a smug cat. "I made a request,"

A beat of silence. She stilled in his arms. "You didn't?" She turned to look at him, rolling over to rest on her elbows. "Jaime?"

"I asked for a woman my own age," He said, ignoring her. "Not a naive little girl who makes me feel like an old lecher. A woman of high birth, from a great house - to cement allegiances, of course. A woman who is capable, doesn't bow and scrape to anyone, who knows me better than I know myself, who marches with an army, won back her castle, and killed her vile husband. A woman who even managed to come back from the dead,"

All she could do was stare at him, right into his eyes, searching for any hint of deception or trickery. But Ross saw nothing but earnest amusement as he looked at her, and felt a lump rise to her throat.

"That's rather specific," Her voice was somewhat hoarse.

"It is, isn't it?"

"There's no chance that your father agreed - "

"He did,"

An absurd noise, half-laugh, half-sob, bubbled from Ross' lips. Disbelieving, incredulous, yet with a warm feeling growing inside her. There was part of her that couldn't let go of the thought that even if Jaime was genuine, something this mad could never actually happen, not even in her most childish hopes and dreams, which she tried to block out as best she could.

His eyebrows raised, grin not fading. "Did I say something funny?" His hand reached out to brush away one of the tears rolling embarrassingly down her cheeks.

She shook her head, wiping her own face, smiling wider than she had smiled in years. "You're mad. Completely mad, for having the gall to go to your father and ask him that you intend for the new Lady Lannister to be the thirty-five-year-old mother of two bastards, who at one point would have seen nearly every other member of your family dead. For gods' sake, I murdered my last husband, and that wasn't even the first attempt," She laughed again.

"I think for once my father didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth," Jaime looked very pleased with himself. "He's finally gotten me to agree to leave the Kingsguard and wed - anything to stop me backing out,"

"He truly is that desperate," Ross said. "To turn aside all those eligible young maidens and let you have me instead," She shook her head, still in utter disbelief. 

"Come on then, on your feet," Jaime was up in an instant, dragging her to her feet by her wrist. He held both her hands in his with his usual swagger, but as he met her eyes she saw he was completely serious. "Marry me, Lady Stark,"

She wasn't laughing now, just smiling, enough to clap a hand to her mouth to ignore the absurd tears still rolling down her cheeks. "As if you had to ask," She pulled the back of his head down to meet her lips in a fierce kiss. He smiled against her lips wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her around so she was lifted off the floor. She yelped in surprise and he took the opportunity to stick his tongue in her mouth. She slapped him on the shoulder and after a few seconds he put her down, grinning. "Yes," She concluded, making him laugh. He kissed her again, much like before, only this time they were interrupted.

"Seven hells," They sprung apart as Morganna stood in the doorway, eyebrows almost raised to her hairline. Ross was too happy to feel ashamed, and didn't move Jaime's hand when it settled on her waist. "Half the kingdoms might know about this affair of yours, Mother, but that doesn't mean I want to see it,"

"Then learn to knock," Jaime said, without sympathy.

"How do you expect - " Her daughter broke off, glancing at the canvas wall and shaking her head. "Do I even want to know why the two of you are in such a good mood? Mother, I haven't seen you smile this much since you killed your husband," She hadn't spoken the name Bolton in a long time.

"Then it's a good thing I'm getting a new one," Ross said without thinking, seeing her daughter's eyes widen.

"Really?" Morganna's disbelief faded into a wicked grin as she looked between the two of them. "I thought you were supposed to wait until after the wedding to have two children?"

*

For some reason, Ross had not been expecting her husband to ask her to dance at their wedding feast. She rarely danced, unless one of her brothers asked her at a feast, or perhaps Robert Baratheon who didn't seem to hear the word no when in his cups. She had never danced with Jaime, not in front of other people, and never seriously.

When he took her hand and led her to the middle of the floor where many others were already dancing together, she found herself absurdly thinking that it would make things too obvious. People would see, they would talk, especially since she never normally danced with anyone. Then she realised she was being ridiculous, that they were married, and everyone would know they were doing much more than dancing within a few hours.

"This is surreal," Ross said as he placed one hand on her waist, the other on her shoulder, and they began to dance. "Being with you and not fearing for my life," It had been even stranger in the sept, where he'd kissed her thoroughly in front of everyone. She kept waiting for the cries of outrage, the onslaught of insults, her former husband's pale stare that promised death for her and her children. But there was only some petty whispers and gossip, which had always been there anyway.

To that, he just laughed. "Which just shows how ridiculous it all is. Nothing changed, really. We're still the same people, but because our union is annointed by a septon, this is acceptable where years ago it would have been life-ruining,"

"In all fairness, you had sworn vows of celibacy and I had sworn vows of marriage to another," Ross said, and he snorted, amused. "Jaime, what do we do now?" She was still Lady Regent of the North, but only until Rickon came of age, and Sansa, Jon and Arya - even Bran - were capable of keeping him in line without her. Tywin Lannister was still Lord of Casterly Rock, and even when he died, she doubted Jaime would take the title.

He grinned. "Whatever the hells we want,"

The idea of that, as it sunk in, was alarmingly freeing. Ross had never, not once, been able to do whatever she wanted. Her father, her husband, her family, her vengeance and duty, had all demanded something of her in different ways. Now, newly married at five-and-thirty, she was the most free she had ever been.

Her lips turned upwards in a faint smile. "I like the sound of that,"