Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.

"Is this enough?" Gillian handed the food Elena and him had gathered to the owner of Wickendale.

"More than enough, thank you my lord." The old lady smiled widely, looking at all the bags full of food the two had collected. The funds from Winterfell were getting smaller each year so she could use a little help. She had over 50 orphans to take care of. Now that winter was coming she depended on the help of others, much to her dismay.

"It's no problem at all." Gillian chuckled and patted the little boy that was clutching onto his leg on the head.

"Can we play knight again?" The little boy's eyes lit up at the thought while pulling and pushing on Gillian's leg.

"Lead the way." He chuckled and walked to the play room with Elena behind him. It was the last time she would come here. She was going to leave in a fortnight with Robb and Eddard for the king's fortieth nameday. 

"Lena?" A little girl called Adelaine walked up to Elena with a doll clutched in her hands.

"Yes, Adelaine?" Elena smiled and crouched down. Adelaine could never fully remember her name, Elena had given up on trying to teach her. She liked the way Adelaine said "Lena".

"Look." Adelaine showed the new clothes she had made for her doll.

"They're beautiful, have you made it yourself?" Adelaine nodded and smiled."You've got talent, dear one. Maybe someday you will make dresses for the queen." Elena chuckled and stroked the little girl's hair.

"Now go back to your friends, I'm sure they will need your help with making their dresses." Adelaine nodded and smiled again, hugging Elena. She then walked away towards her friends, still with the doll held tightly in her hands.

"Sometimes I wonder why she always keeps that doll with her." Elena looked at the little girl as she walked away. Elena turned towards Gillian who was standing next to her. "Ever since you gave it to her she has never let it out of her sight."

"I told her to take good care of it." Gillian smirked while looking at Adelaine. She had short black hair and green eyes that were quite similar to Elena's.

"Why?" Elena looked at her friend. He had cut his hair, it looked quite good on him. It was short but not too much, his dark brown eyes more evident than ever. His dark brown eyes turned at Elena, his tone serious and his eyes looking deep into hers, making sure she'd remember what he was going to say.

"'That doll holds one of the deepest secrets about a lost girl, you just have to break it when you're ready to reveal the secret' he said." Elena told Jon while holding the doll she had retrieved from the abandoned orphan house. The two were sitting on the top off the Wall. Jon had watch duty but Elena wouldn't let him go alone. They had much to talk about after all these years after all.

"He was a good friend." Jon watched the mountains on the other side of the wall, thinking about his lost friend.

"He was." Elena sighed and looked at the horizon. She put the doll back in her pocket together with the letter from Gillian. "Apparently all the good men die in the worst ways."

"You saved Robb." Jon looked gratefully at Elena, a smile on his face. At first he didn't believe what Elena told him. He didn't even believe she was really there, breathing and well... living. It was a welcome surprise nonetheless. 

"And now he is god knows where, planning a war." Elena threw a chunk of ice off the wall and watched it fall while deep in thought.

"I wish I could help him, but I have to stay here." Jon said. Elena looked at him, she'd thought that at the moment Jon knew that Robb was planning a war, he would leave immediately to help his brother. "I tried to leave once but Sam and Pip stopped me, if it weren't for them I'd be dead now." Jon explained.

"I guess I was wrong about the men of the Night's Watch, maybe they are to be trusted." Elena smiled, mentally thanking Pip and Sam for saving Jon.

"Some of them are, some of them aren't. Just like every group of people around the world." Jon said, thinking about the wildlings. He'd just come back from them. Everyone used to tell him how violent and stupid all the wildlings were. When Jon was with them though, he learned that they weren't very different from us. The only difference was that they had to fight to survive, to reach the other side of the Wall where the White Walkers couldn't get to them.

"Is it true, about what they say? Did you fall in love with a wildling girl?" Elena asked and looked at Jon. His black curls were blowing in the wind, a frown on his face when she mentioned Ygritte.

"I did." Jon sighed. He could still feel the scars where the arrows Ygritte had shot at him. He knew he had it coming. 

"What was she like?" Elena asked.

"She was fierce, funny, loyal to her own. At first we hated each other but in some way we came to love one another. It's weird saying that first I tried to kill her." Jon chuckled. Then he realized that the story wasn't quite unfamiliar. "It's kind off the same as you and Robb."

"People fall in love in mysterious ways." Elena chuckled and lightly shoved Jon.

"How's Robb? Is he doing well?" Jon asked after a while, worry evident on his features. He warmed his hands above the fire. The cold blowing air had made his hair rise on his arms, even though they were covered with layers of clothing. 

"He's still grieving over his lost wife and child. He also misses his mother and father. Brann, Rickonn." Elena sighed and also turned her body towards the fire. She wasn't cold though, cold never bothered her.

"Brann isn't dead, Sam saw him heading north of the wall." Jon smiled, happy his little brother was still alive.

"He's alive?! What about Rickon?" Elena's eyes widened.

"Also alive, Brann told Sam he was headed towards Mole's Town."

"I need to get to Brann, he's not safe North of the wall." Elena quickly decided and unwrapped her wings, ready to fly off without a second thought.

"Elena, wait." Jon grasped Elena's arm before she could fly away. "If you search for him the White Walkers will find him earlier. Besides, you're needed here more than there. He has Hodor with him."

"I can't let him go north of the Wall without me." Elena whined and tried to get out of Jon's grasp.

"Elena, please. Think. We need you here, within a few days the free folk will be attacking the wall. " Jon pleaded, his dark brown eyes boring into Elena's. She sighed and plumped down onto the ice.

"Why is this world so fucked up." Elena sighed with a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Why do only the good people die?"

"When you're collecting flowers, which one do you take?" Jon asked and crouched down in front of Elena.

"The most beautiful one." She answered.

"Exactly."

~

"Can I borrow her for a second?" The Dark One landed right next to Jon and Elena.

"What? Why?" Elena looked at him while getting up from the cold surface of the wall.

"I need to show you something." He said and then immediately flew away. Elena looked at Jon who shrugged. 

"I guess I will see you later then." She smiled at her friend before unwrapping her wings, flying from the wall and into the cold air. She followed the dark wings for a few hours, the sun was already going down by the time they arrived at an abandoned tower behind the wall.

"What is this?" Elena asked The Dark One when he stood still before a old wooden door with a strange looking hand on it. There was no doorknob, no way to open the old rusty door which was overgrown with dark roses.

"You will see. Just put your hand on the mark." The Dark One commanded.

"Is this some kind of trick?" Elena frowned.

"Well, yes." The Dark One chuckled, making no move to do it himself. Eventually Elena let out a deep sigh and placed her hand atop of the black one which was painted on the door. Suddenly light blue light began the come from under her hand, lighting up the door which soon turned bright blue instead of dark brown. The roses turned red instead of black while its leaves became more healthy. The door opened, revealing a chamber overgrown with flowers and all different kinds of ivy. There were five other people in it, two females and three males. Soon Elena felt all their eyes trained on her. 

"Damon!! I thought you'd never arrive." A brown haired middle aged man said gleefully while walking towards The Dark One. Elena let out a deep sigh of relief when the attention was diverted away from her, her eyes soon scanning the room.

"Aidan! Always nice to see you, old man." The Dark One, apparently Damon, chuckled while returning the hug. Elena still stood in the opening of the chamber, looking at Aidan and Damon, not knowing what to do. The two were laughing and teasing each other.

"Don't worry, they're always like that." A man from around twenty with blonde hair and deep blue eyes smiled while walking towards Elena. "I'm Steven."

"I... I'm Elena." She frowned while shaking Steven's hand. He had a strong grip, Elena hadn't expected something else. He was strongly built, his light blue eyes and blonde hair made him look kind though.

"You're new here." He smiled while taking her in.

"Obviously." Elena chuckled while looking at the others. "Who are all those people?"

"Well, that's Louis, he's from The Iron Islands." Steven pointed at a man around his twenties with brown hair and blue eyes. He looked like that kid that no matter what happens always smiles. "He's the funny one." Steven chuckled, confirming Elena's thoughts.

"That one is Aidan, he's sometimes the leader because he is the oldest and wisest. He's from The Vale." Steven said while pointing at the man who hugged The Dark One earlier.

"And our little girls over there are Ella and Santana. She's from Braavos and she's from Highgarden." Steven kindly smiled at Elena. Ella looked very young, she was maybe even younger than Arya.

"Where are you from actually?" Steven asked.

"I'm from the North... Or maybe not, it's complicated." Elena sighed when she remembered that she didn't know for certain if she was even born in the North.

"Great. So you can control ice, right?" Steven asked.

"Wait, what?"

"We're all guardians here, my lady." Steven chuckled at Elena, her face was quite funny when she was confused.

"For example; Santana can turn invisible, Ella is a great healer and can talk to animals, Louis can travel faster than light, Aidan can turn into air and control it, Damon can do all kinds of things, he has the most powers here for as far as we know." Steven frowned. Elena immediately knew that Steven and Damon weren't exactly friends by the way Steven looked when he talked about the Dark One.

"And you?" Elena asked. She was still confused over the fact that Damon and her weren't the last Guardians. Apparently she wasn't alone after all.

"I am strong, I can almost lift everything if I want, and I heal faster than any man alive." Steven sighed and looked at the ground. "And I can take other people's powers away from them."

"So what are we all doing here? Are we all the Guardians that are left?"

"No, there are a bunch of other Guardians. They just don't come here because they don't believe in teams or they're our enemy. Besides, most of them just want to protect their family and loved ones and forget that they have the duty to protect the world." Steven said and then continued.

"You have Ramsay Snow who just wants to torture us all, the Lannisters' lap dog who is apparently the strongest Guardian alive, he's too ignorant and self-obsessed to come here. Besides, he's at war with Damon over there." Steven said.

"He tried to kill me and Robb by controlling our minds. I had to leave Robb to protect him." Elena sighed.

"Are you talking about Robb Stark, the King in the North?" Steven asked.

"Yes." Elena answered simply while looking down at her hands, wondering if Robb was all right. You have to understand; it's hard for a Guardian to not be with their loved ones. 

"Don't you have someone you protect?" Elena asked Steven. The others were also talking with each other, Santana had joined the men but Ella was sitting alone in a corner, staring at a butterfly.

"I had." Steve answered sadly. Then he looked at the others, Damon and Louis were doing some kind of trick with fire and water. "Now we have each other, family who works together to protect the realm."

"Who's we?" Elena asked while looking up at Steve. He was a lot taller than her, almost more than 10 inches. Steven smiled and looked down at Elena.

"We, what now includes you also, are the last Guardians."