I wanna clear something up bc I realize this was my fault lmao: do not be mad at laenor for leaving her. It will come back up later in the fanfic that Laenor didn't want to leave but something happened.

"My father once taught me how to fish," Visenya laughed as Grey Ghost skimmed his maw along the water and caught the fish off the surface.

They had been flying for hours and surely by now someone had noticed GreyGhost being so active and her absence. Not likely but she hoped. Not that it mattered, she felt different now. As if no one else mattered, no opinions matter, and all that mattered was Grey Ghost. They didn't like her but he loved her. They didn't understand her but he did. So many missing pieces in her life were just there now and she just had to put them together.

Grey Ghost eventually landed back on the shore and a singular person was waiting for her. No army of guards, no concerned mother, just Daemon.

She took a deep breath and climbed down, wincing at the new chafing on her thighs. It was definitely time for riding leathers.

"Daemon," she said with a nod.

"You can call me Father here if you wish."

"No, thank you though. My father died a while ago." She walked forward and mumbled.

"Visenya, I'm not going to play this game with you. You know how he died. Being angry at me won't change it."

Visenya stopped walking and looked at him. "You knew. Since the day I was born, you knew. Not one letter, not one visit, and you never even wrote to my mother. You impregnate her then abandon her."

"The situation was precarious at best. I couldn't be your father, your mother married another and was beginning to be harassed by Alicent. But I had to worry about my wife and daughters. Why are you so upset if Laenor was such an amazing father?" He asked.

"Maybe it would have felt nice to feel wanted." She huffed.

"If you go through your whole life wishing to be desired, all you will face is disappointment. Do you expect that boy to desire you once you're married, to view you as anything more than a bedmate?"

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and walked inside. Rhaenya was pacing the halls and let out a sigh. "Seven hells, what did I tell you about dragons, Visenya? I thought he killed you."

"Hm, so someone actually noticed the lack of my presence? My guard should have noticed I left. Sorry, didn't mean to alarm you." Visenya said.

Rhaenyra eyed her before giving the smallest smile. "I am proud of you," She whispered. "How did it feel?" She asked, placing her hands on her shoulders.

Visenya melted in her mother's embrace for the first time and smiled. "Like I was meant to be on his back. He chose me, Mother. He approached me. And even though I didn't have a saddle, everything just felt right."

Rhaenyra looked down at her daughter's legs. "How did your thighs fare the ride?"

"I'm sure they are bleeding but I don't care. It just felt so freeing. He wasn't restrained by a saddle and nor was I restrained by duty."

Rhaenyra tilted her head. "I recognize that spirit and this was what I was afraid of. You still have duties, Visenya. You can't spend all your days in the sky. You are twelve now, your first bleed could come any day and you have to be prepared. Alicent has already extended an invitation for you to stay there to court until you bleed."

Visenya scrunched her nose in disgust. "She hates me. I have a permanent split in my eyebrow from the scar his lapdog left on her orders."

"But if you stay there, she may be able to impress upon you her views and turn you against me," Her mother responded.

"Wouldn't take much," She mumbled.

But Rhaenyra heard her and looked stung by her words. "Do you ... blame me?"

Visenya scoffed. "I was the only one there with Grandsire and Grandmother mourning when they found him. The boys were so busy mourning Ser Harwin they didn't notice and conveniently you married Daemon a week later. Something doesn't add up to me but I don't care, nothing you say can sway me, Mother."

"So you claim a dragon and now you believe you are a woman grown? Watch how you speak to me Visenya. Aren't you happy I married your real father?" She asked.

"No, Daemon is not my real father. Laenor was."

-

When the sun had set, Visenya snuck out of her room and ran to her secret beach. Grey Ghost looked up as she ran down with a smile.

"Sorry, it took me so long, buddy. Mother can be so draining. And it's just all so hypocritical. When she was my age she was always on Syrax and getting into trouble. I don't know if it's true that she just wants a better life for me but it is exhausting. I miss my real father. To me, Laenor is my real father because he was the one that actually acted like my father. Daemon is just my mother's uncle. He is nothing to me. My own brothers barely mourned Laenor but I suppose they were mourning their actual father. I never really thought about that for them. You are great at this," She smiled and sat next to his belly, leaning back into his scales.

"I wish I could fly you over King's Landing just to see their faces when they see me on a dragon. Don't worry, I won't let them lock you in the Dragon Pit. Even Vhagar is too large to fit. I bet she sleeps on one of the hills or down by the rocky shore of the Blackwater. Since I will be in an awful marriage, I promise I will come to see you every day."

She spent hours talking to Grey Ghost like he was an old friend and in a sense he was. She fell asleep against his scales and did not wake until the sun rose. Grey Ghost was getting restless, waiting to catch his breakfast while the fish were most active.

Naturally, she joined him.

And naturally, Mother was not happy with her when she returned.

But she didn't care. It started to become routine to the point where she barely slept in her own bed and always entered the castle smelling like dragon and needing a bath drawn. She didn't like spending more than a few hours away from Grey Ghost and it was probably becoming unhealthy but it was the only way she didn't lose herself in her grief.

Her nightmares regarding Laenor started to get better and they became happy dreams of memories. So clearly Grey Ghost was doing something.

"Let's fly further," She said one afternoon, climbing up his back. He got up on his hind legs and took off into the sky. Thankfully, Rhaenyra stopped fighting her on the constant riding and had leathers made for her.

Grey Ghost kept flying and she grew nervous as she started to approach the coast of King's Landing. She didn't plan on stopping, she just wanted to make a statement. She was high enough that she could make out the majority of things but she couldn't specify each person. She did see Vhagar sleeping but paid her no mind. She no longer felt an attachment to the dragon and to be frank, that dragon reminded her of one of the worst nights of her life.

Grey Ghost skimmed over Blackwater Bay, catching some of the top swimming fish. She could hear commotion from the water and hoped the residents within the castle knew. Especially Aemond. She had her own dragon now, a dragon that had never been claimed before.

She eventually got tired of the stinking city and made her way back to the island.

That continued for months more. She couldn't get enough of Grey Ghost and she couldn't get enough of the feeling that came with being around him.

On her fourteenth nameday, she sat with him on the coast, staring at each and every star. "We could fly to Old Valyria, and find a way to live there."

"I sure hope you don't," Rhaenyra said behind her, holding the newborn Aegon.

Vis turned to look at her, Grey Ghost letting out a deep growl. "Shh," She whispered to him. "Mother."

"Visenya, happy nameday, my dear. I figured today of all days you might stick around a little longer. I must admit, I scarcely recognize you. You have grown these years and I haven't witnessed it. You look beautiful. I must admit, I am shocked you have not bled yet."

"I am thankful," She spoke, moving so that Rhaenyra could sit next to her. "I had to seek what I could not get within the walls of my home. Especially now with little Aegon. I had thought about asking Grandmother Rhaenys to spend some time with her on Driftmark but I would prefer not to see Baela."

"If anything, you should visit the Keep. It would be best for you to visit considering you will marry Aemond soon. It would make it easier to know one another instead of waiting for the week of your wedding. You were eleven when all that happened, you have both grown since then. You should think about it."

"I don't know," She mumbled. "I don't know what I want anymore. All I wanted for so long was to be good enough for you and now I don't care. Daemon wanted someone I can't be and he barely cares to see me unless I agree to train with a sword. Sword fighting is the last thing I want to learn. I prefer my books."

"I know. I never cared for the sword. I would have ridden into battle on dragonback had I been given the choice."

"So then why are you like this with me?" She groaned.

"Let me tell you a story, Visenya. When I was younger and my Uncle Daemon returned from the war at the Stepstones, he helped me escape the Keep and we spent the night parading the streets of Flea Bottom. I happened to catch a play that the common folk was putting on about me. I watched for close to half an hour as they mocked me. People whispered and laughed when they spoke of me being heir, they spoke of a stupid girl thinking she could spend her life on her dragon, and they spoke of a princess acting improperly. But when they spoke of Aegon, a boy of three, they praised everything he did. Because he was a prince."

Rhaenyra paused and looked up at the stars. "That same night, Daemon took me to a brothel because he wanted to prepare me for marriage but we got too intense. We caved into our desires for one another and you were conceived that night. When I discovered my pregnancy right after marrying Laenor, I thought by treating you the way I did that you wouldn't have to face what I did."

Visenya nodded and looked at her mother. "I can understand where you thought that but when you noticed how much you were hurting me, why didn't you just stop?"

"Because I remember being so mad at my mother when she complained about me stinking of dragon and that my battle was on the birthing bed. But then she was gone and I had no one else to nag at me. I thought by staying strong in my methods, it would just work."

Visenya scoffed and looked at her baby brother, her first brother to look like her. "May I hold him?"

"Of course," She said and handed her the infant.

Visenya looked down at her days-old brother. He wasn't quite as pale as she, but he didn't have the Strong olive complexion her other brothers did. His eyes were nice and purple, so big and full of wonder.

"Vis, I just need you to know I love you. You have been much alone these past years and I am sorry. I love you, my sweet girl. You are my firstborn and the daughter I so crave to protect. I have failed you and I am sorry."

The words hit her chest and straight at her tear ducts. She blinked away her tears and nodded. "Thank you, Mother."

"I am so sorry for making you feel alone and unloved. No one loves you more than I. My sweet girl," She pulled Visenya into her arms and allowed herself to cry into her mother. She was finally hearing what she always longed to hear.

An apology.

First: Yes there was skipping around here. I am trying to avoid what I did with Bloody Bravado i.e., dragging out a small amount of time over multiple chapters. We are avoiding 100 chapters here lmaoSecond: Ur guys comments are literally amazing. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the ghost readers, but nothing makes me happier than your comments. Love ya :)