Solace {A Game of Thrones Fanfiction}

Chapter 30

The Iron Islands disappeared right back into the fog.

Theon was definitely distraught. He had only been able to be home for a few days and already they had to leave. His father had died by his own uncle. Now they were fugitives from their own people. Yara and Theon had taken all the good ships and set sail.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked him. It surprised him and he snapped out of his thoughts. If she had been standing there for a while he did not notice her.

When he didn't respond, Tara took his hands in hers, "Talk to me." She tried again.

"I only got to be home for days." Theon admitted.

Tara rubbed her thumb on his hand to try to soothe him. "After all these years, I finally get home and I have to leave before I even get to stay there." He said as he looked down at his hand intertwined in Tara's.

"Maybe Pyke was never actually your home then." Tara said.

He would have never really thought about it like that. He stared out into the fog. Tara could tell that he was just thinking.

"I never got to say, but I'm sorry about your father. What happened to him was awful." Tara said.

"My father kept me in the hands of Ramsay knowingly. I don't feel sorry about that. He was never any sort of father to me." Theon said. Tara could hear the anger in his voice.

"My real father died in King's Landing a long time ago." Theon said sadly.

Tara knew he meant Ned Stark. She wrapped her arms around him. She didn't like to see him angry or sad. It worked because her embrace made him feel better. Tara always seemed to be able to calm him.

This time they had decent sleeping arrangements. They had their own quarters. Of course it wasn't as nice as the room back in Pyke but it was a great room for a ship. It was a small room with a decent sized bed. It had pillows and blankets. There was a wardrobe in there for the both of them, but it was mostly empty. Neither of them owned anything to put in it.

Tara was on the bed sitting when Theon ran into the room. She smiled when she saw him. He went up and sat on the bed next to her. He had a smile on his face too.

"What are you so excited about?" Tara asked, laughing. Theon pulled out books from behind his back. Tara looked surprised.

"You didn't think I forgot, did you?" Theon said. Then they both opened the books.

That's what they did to occupy their time. It was going to be a long journey to Daenerys Targaryen. Every day, they spent time on the deck. Theon would ask her how to spell random words that he thought of, and Tara every day was getting better at figuring it out. Theon couldn't believe how smart she was because it didn't take long for her to get better.

At night, Tara would read the books Theon found out loud to him. She was slow and it was hard to follow the book but Theon didn't care. He loved the way she looked when she was deep in thought. Her brow pushed down and biting her lip when she got stuck. It would always be late at night and the wind would be howling outside. Candlelight barely illuminated the room enough for Tara to read. While she read, Theon loved to study her face. The light was so soft and it always managed to make her look more beautiful than usual.

One night, they were doing exactly that. Theon studied her as she tried to read the book. All of sudden, Theon had an overwhelming feeling.

"I love you." Theon said.

Tara stopped reading and looked up at Theon. She let out a smile, "I love you too."

Theon scooped her up suddenly. She started to giggle his name as he picked her up and put her on his lap. He held her there and just smiled at her for a moment. She wrapped her arms around him too.

"Theon." She giggled. She was surprised how confident he had become in a short second. He never did anything like this.

Theon pecked the top of her shoulder. Then her neck. Tara found herself wrapping her legs around him too. He pecked her jawline and then backed away from her. He wanted to make sure she was okay before he continued. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Theon was going to kiss her, but she put her head sheepishly into his chest.

"I'm nervous." She admitted. He wrapped around her more.

"It's okay." Theon said as he wrapped his hands around her shoulders, "I'm nervous too."

"I've never kissed anyone because I wanted to." She said. Her voice was slightly muffled into his chest. That sentence broke his heart. He always seemed to forget her sad past.

"Have you?" She asked. This time she looked up at him with her cheek still pressed against him.

"Yes," Theon admitted, "But never because I loved them."

This response made Tara's heart fill and at the same time Theon saw her cheeks flush red. He lifted her chin towards him gently. Then, he kissed her.

~

A/N

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had a little bit of writers block because this story is going to catch up with the end of season 6 real soon. :) Thanks for reading and voting as always.