The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

"How did it happen?" Gillian asked. He couldn't even properly say the words, he was trying to hold back his tears and his anger.

He came to stand beside Robb, looking at Elena's lifeless body that was laying there. She just looked so peaceful, it only made the lump in Gillian's throat grow more.

"She saved Brann." Robb swallowed, also trying not to cry. "She paid with her life."

"Goddammit." Gillian cursed while a few tears ran down his cheek. The ache in his chest only grew when he saw her body, lying there on the cold stone. Her skin was paler than ever, the blush on her cheeks gone.

"We could've known. We could've stopped her." Gillian took in a deep breath, the tears now running down his cheeks uncontrollably. He touched Elena's hand, trying to feel if there was any warmth left in them.

"She would've done it either way." Robb said. He felt like he couldn't cry anymore, it felt like he had used all of his tears. He softly stroked her hair behind her ear and looked at her closed eyes, desperately wanting to see the green of them again.

"She loved you, you know." Gillian bit on his cheek, he could already taste the copper of his blood.

"How do you know?"

"Because she couldn't stop telling me how much she hated you." Gillian diverted his eyes away from Elena's body.

"Now what?" Gillian said with anger laced in his voice. He blamed Robb for Elena's death, he was the one who saw her last. He was the one who could've stopped her if he had only noticed how she was acting differently.

"We fight." Robb answered curtly.

"What?!" Gillian shouted, the anger rising inside off him. "Elena just fucking died and all you think off is starting a war?!"

"I've already called my bannermen." Robb continued, ignoring Gillian's comment. Gillian took in a deep breath and started pacing. If Elena hadn't been lying there in the same room he would've probably attacked Robb.

"And I want you to be in my counsel." Robb continued with an emotionless voice. He was still staring at Elena's body.

"Give me one goddamn reason why I would ever advise you." Gillian growled and furiously pointed at Robb, his arms shaking in anger.

"Because she trusted you." Robb sighed and looked up at Gillian. "I know things have never been well between us, I know that we've always hated each other. But this is war we're talking about. War against the people who've tried to kill Brann that caused Elena to do this."

"Don't you dare bring Elena into this, she only wanted to prevent war from breaking out." Gillian growled furiously.

"Sometimes we don't have a choice." Robb sighed and looked back at Elena's lifeless body. "I will only ask one thing of you, Gillian. Fight with me, not for me. Fight for Elena."

"How can I fight for her if she's already dead?!" Gillian yelled suddenly.

"I know you loved her, Gillian." Robb looked up at him.

"Then you know why I always hated you." Gillian looked up at him too while clenching his jaw. Robb nodded and looked down again. "So how can you ever expect me to fight for you?!"

"She deserved much better than you." Gillian said after a few moments and glared at Robb. He only sighed and nodded, knowing it wouldn't help if he went against Gillian.

"Even after all the things you have done to her, she still saw the good in you."

Gillian continued. "She always came to me whenever something happened between you two. She would cry on my shoulders for hours straight yet she never left you."

"Do you know why I never told her that I loved her?" Gillian asked Robb, the anger still audible in his voice.

"No." Robb murmured softly.

"Because I knew she would never choose me over you." Gillian said while a single tear ran down his cheek. "Even after all those heartbreaks you had delivered her she still loved you so goddamn much."

"But she never noticed how much I loved her." Gillian said and looked down, his voice breaking. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Gillian nodded, his anger slowly going away when he looked at Elena. "I will fight with you. Not for you or for honour or any of these things. The only reason why is because Elena would've wanted you to be safe."

"And we both know you can't protect yourself." Gillian said while looking at Robb. He then turned around and walked for the door, he couldn't bear to see Elena's body for another second.

"Gillian." Robb called and turned around to face him.

"Thank you."

Gillian nodded and then left, shutting the door behind him.

~

"So what do you think, who is going to be the new lord commander of the Night's Watch?" Louis asked while smiling when he, Steve and Elena were walking towards the main hall.

"We don't have much choice, do we? Ser Alliser Thorne or ser Denys Mallister." Steve sighed.

"I'd rather have no commander. They both are horrible choices." Elena frowned and kicked at the snow beneath her feet. Louis laughed at that, something he did quite often actually.

"I won't argue with that." Steve smiled. They entered the great hall, most of the men were already seated at their tables with drinks in their hands. Stannis and Melissandre stood in the far corner in the back of the hall, silently looking at everyone.

"Where's Damon?" Elena asked while searching for Robb.

"Don't even bother asking that. Nobody knows what he does or what he is planning to do. That man is a complete mystery to everyone, believe me." Louis said and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms before his chest.

"It doesn't mean we have to stop trying to get to know him." Elena said and looked at Louis. She knew Louis already knew Damon for more than five years. She wasn't someone to give up trying though.

"Excuse me." Elena said when she spotted Robb sitting in the back of the hall. She immediately went to him.

"Your grace." She smiled at him and sat down beside him.

"My lady." Robb forced a smile, he was exhausted. He hadn't gotten any proper sleep since that night that Mance was burned. He softly pressed a kiss on Elena's forehead, his hand then went around her waist and held her.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked while looking at him, her hand placed on his thigh.

"I will tell you later." Robb nodded at measter Aemon who stood up, causing everyone to remain silent.

"Does anyone wish to speak for the candidates before we cast our tokens for the 998th lord commander of the Night's Watch?" Aemon asked, his voice trembling. He was getting old, he had to lean all his weight on his hands to make sure he didn't fall.

"Ser Alisser Thorne is not just a knight, he's a man of true nobility." Slynt immediately stood up, his voice booming through the Great hall. "He was acting commander when the Wall came under attack and let us to victory against the Wildlings. He has won more than a 100 battles and has been a defender of the Wall for almost his whole life."

"He's the only true choice." Slynt concluded after a moment in silence. The men started to cheer, some repeatedly slamming their mug on the wooden tables.

"Ser Denys Mallister was only a boy when he joined the Watch and served loyally longer than any ranger. Through 10 winters he served. As commander of the Shadow Tower he kept the wildlings away. We could do no better." Another man stood up, pointing at Mallister. He looked old and weary, not a kind of man you'd like to be your commander.

"Is this truly the only two choices they have?" Robb sighed and shook his head.

"If there is no one else we will begin the voting." Measter Aemon said.

"Measter Aemon!" Sam stood up suddenly, his chair almost falling behind him. Jon shook his head no, trying to stop Sam from what he was going to do.

"Samwell Tarly, go on." Aemon smiled, he had expected this to happen.

"Sam the slayer." Slynt laughed, a few of his brothers following. "Another wildling lover just like his friend Jon Snow. How's your lady love, slayer?"

Robb took in a deep breath, trying to contain his anger.

"Her name is Gilly, brother Slynt knows her quite well. They cowered together during the battle of the Wall."

Sam said, his voice trembling but somewhere it also sounded confident because he knew what he was going to say way true.

"Lies!" Slynt objected but nevertheless his face became red.

"A wildling girl, a baby and lord Janos. I found him there when the battle was over in a puddle of his own sweat." Sam said while all his brothers were listening. They all laughed, the noise filling the entire hall. Even Robb was smiling, only Stannis and Melissandre stood there with emotionless faces.

"Whilst lord Janos was hiding with the women and children, Jon Snow was leading. " Sam continued and all the brothers remained silent again.

"Ser Alliser fought bravely, it is true, but when he was wounded it was Jon who saved us. He took charge of the Wall's defence. He killed the leader of the Thenns. He went north to deal with Mance Rayder knowing most certain it would mean his own death." With each sentence Sam became more and more confident.

"Before that he led the mission to avenge commander Mormont. Mormont himself chose Jon to be his stewart. He saw something in Jon and now we've all seen it too." Sam continued while some of his brothers hummed in agreement.

"He may be young but he's the commander we turned to when the night was darkest." Sam concluded. All the men started to cheer, this time harder than ever before. The noise of the mugs slamming on the table was way too loud.

Elena turned to look at Robb, a smile played on his lips when he leaned back on the bench. Elena squeezed his hand softly while smiling too.

"I can't argue with that but who does Jon Snow want to command; the Night's Watch or the wildlings?" Ser Alliser Thorne objected when the noise had died. "Everyone knows he loved a wildling girl. He spoke with Mance Rayder many times. "

"What would've happened in that tent between these old friends if Stannis's army hadn't come along?" Ser Alliser paused and looked around at the faces of all his brothers. "We all saw him put the king-beyond-the-wall out of his misery. Do you want to choose a man who has fought the wildlings all his life or a man who makes love to them?"

Robb made an attempt to stand up, probably to hit Alliser for insulting his brother like that but he decided against it. Instead he balled his fists and clenched his jaw, his anger building up inside him.

"It is time." Aemon said, causing every brother to sand up and vote.

"Robb, just calm down." Elena whispered and took Robb's fist in her hand, softly running her finger across his palm to calm him down.

"He has hated Jon since he joined the Watch for no damn reason, Elena." Robb growled. Grey Wind heard the anger in his voice, his nose softly touching Robb's leg to calm him down.

Elena sighed but then waved her hand a bit, causing a layer of ice to form on the floor beneath Thorne's feet. Alliser soon slipped and fell down on his but for everyone to see.

"Fucking..." Alliser cursed while trying to get up but then fell again, this time face-first. Elena proudly leaned back on the bench. She could feel Robb's gaze on her and turned to look at him with a smirk on her face.

"Measter Aemon, there appears to be a tie." The man next to the measter said when every men of the Watch had voted.

The measter stood up, took a square token from the pile and voted for Jon. Immediately there was chaos in the hall, men cheered loudly and applauded for Jon while others were yelling in frustration or just sitting staring in front of them.

"Jon Snow!" They started to cheer again and again while Jon just sat there, a smile on his face.

"It appears your brother is the commander now." Elena chuckled and turned to Robb to see a proud smile on his face.

"So it does."

Author's note

Hellooo there my little guardians  :)

So jeeeeij, Jon's commander! For those who haven't noticed yet, this story now follows the storyline of season 5. So if you haven't seen that season yet I advise you to watch if before you continue to read this.

You can thank Ilseexx for that flashback right there... Sorry if I made you cry for our dear sweet Gillian :P Do you guys miss him?

So for this chapter the one who votes last will get a dedication next chapter (as usual.) Butttttt that doesn't mean you don't have to comment!! Please comment... I like to read them ^^

So that's it for this chapter, see you guys next one!!