The Rest of the Pack Reunites

Sansa Stark was wondering what was going on. She had been busy sewing and giving the finishing touches to the dress she intended to wear for the arrival of the King and Queen when, suddenly, she heard cheers and loud shouts far away into the courtyard. Before she could decide whether or not to go check it out, however, Rodrik Cassel send a servant to look for her and told her to wait until he arrived with Bran and Rickon. And no matter how much she asked, the servant shook his head, insisting that her father wanted to keep it as a surprise.

Before she could grow too impatient, her youngest brothers arrived and they looked as confused as she did.

"What's going on?" Rickon asked for what seemed like the 10th time.

"You will find out when you enter the Great Hall," The master-at-arms responded with a shrug.

The highborn redhead turned to glance at Bran but he just shook his head. Sansa pursed her lips. What could it be?

Before long, they reached the door and Cassel pushed them open; after which she started blinking rapidly. At first, she wondered if the King had arrived early but that wouldn't explain the secrecy. But there were certainly quite a few strangers she had never seen before gathering around the Great Hall of Winterfell and she raised an eyebrow when she noticed that there was a large number of chests of varying sizes lying around.

Then she turned her head to the side and gasped.

"Jon?!" Sansa asked, stunned. "Is that really you?"

He turned to look at her, his gaze intense as he returned her stare and she couldn't help but notice how handsome he had gotten in the last few years. Before long, she found herself smiling, despite everything

He grinned back at her, his expression a fond one.

"Hello, Sansa," Her brother said. "It's has been so long..."

He cut off, clearly not wanting to say the thing that was on his mind but she caught on anyway: it has been so long since her recklessness had gotten her brother banished in all but name. She felt an all too familiar pang of guilt hit her chest, stronger than usual.

Before she could start apologizing her heart out, as she had wanted to do for years, her smaller siblings rushed their way towards their older brother and gave him a hug worthy of House Mormont and their bears.

"Jon! You are here!" Rickon shouted.

"We have missed you," Bran said as he chuckled.

Jon smiled warmly as he patted their backs. "I missed you both too. And look at how big you have both gotten! Keep it up and you will be able to wrestle with Giants one day."

They laughed merrily as Sansa got closer, her eyes turning to her father, who seemed beyond pleased with the reunions. That was reassuring but then she turned her eyes all around the hall and noticed that her mother was nowhere to be found. Then she remember she had gone to Wintertown a short time ago for important purchases.

She sighed in relief. She had no idea how long Jon would stay but she needed to find a quiet moment so that she could ask for his forgiveness and it would be FAR easier to get some time alone with him without her mother around.

Once they broke away, Jon looked around at his gathered family members. "Well, now that we are all here, I have plenty of gifts for all of you that I brought from my travels across Essos, the Summer Islands, and beyond," He said with a proud smirk on his face. "After all, I may have come for Arya's eighteen nameday but I ended up missing quite a few and for all of you so, let's make up for lost time, shall we?"

Sansa smiled widely at that as Jon turned to grab a small chest to open it. And inside, she could clearly notice that the now unlocked box belonged to her brother in every sense of the word, since it had his name quite visible in the inner section.

Still, it may have been her imagination but she could have sworn Jon's expression got full of mirth for a brief moment as if he was aware of the meaning of an amusing joke that the rest of them weren't.

She shook the thought out of her head and wondered what gift her brother would get out first.

A/N: Things are starting to pick up in regards to the written ownership powers! And the setup for Phase One of Jon's immediate plans is almost done. Hope you enjoy the developments that are soon to come. Until then, please review and if you have theories about the hints I have provided so far, I am all ears :D