Game of Thrones Imagines

Beautiful Memories - Young/Old Robert x Reader

Robert sat nursing yet another goblet of wine. He couldn't remember how many he had already had, he could never remember how many he had had; but at this precise moment in time, he was having an amazing moment of clarity as his mind rushed back to a time when he had truly been happy, a time when there was (Y/n).

It was true that Cersei was beautiful, but deep down Robert had to admit that he had never loved her, their marriage only ever being a political one to cement an alliance with the House Lannister after his rebellion.

As he took another gulp of the golden liquid in his glass, he knew that the only woman he had ever truly loved was (Y/n) Stark, the younger sister of his old friend Ned.

(Y/n) was a true lady of the north, and every inch a wolf; she was breathtaking beyond words, as beautiful as the sunrise and as endless as the night sky, kind and loyal to her family and all those she loved, but if she was crossed, she was sure to bare her teeth and claws.

Robert had loved her when they were young, when he was ruggedly handsome and statuesquely built, when he had been a fearsome military commander and formidable warrior, not a bloated soak of a man that had grown fat from the excesses of the crown.

He brushed away a tear from his eye as he remembered how they had loved one another, how, unbeknownst to her family, the two had been lovers meeting wherever and whenever they could, making love in hay barns and under the canopy of the cool forests, doing anything to be together. (Y/n) loved him for who he was, for all his faults and his mistakes, and he had loved her from the first moment he had set eyes on her.

He couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if he had married (Y/n) instead of Cersei; he was sure that he would be happy, he was sure that she would have cared for him, and would have gently talked him out of all his excesses, and he knew that if she had been his wife, he would have had no need for the legion of whores that he now had at his beck and call.

Robert poured himself another goblet of Arbor gold, the liquid spilling over the lip of the glass as he drifted off once again into his beautiful memories.

As he downed the contents of the goblet in one large gulp, Robert could vividly remember the look on (Y/n)'s face as he had told her about his marriage to Cersei, how he had seen the bright light in her eyes, the light that he loved, disappear completely as she had been informed of the partnership. Robert had always told (Y/n) that one day they would tell everyone about their relationship, about their love, and that he would marry her; but as his grasp on the Iron Throne was tentative, an alliance with House Lannister had seemed like the only way to secure his position as King, so he had made the decision to take Cersei as his wife, a decision that he had always regretted.

He had tried to persuade (Y/n) to stay in Kings Landing, he had told her that they could still be together; but (Y/n) had had too much pride, refusing to be the whore of any man, even if that man was him. Robert could recall the dark day that (Y/n) had rode out of the Red Keep to return home to the north, he could remember how she had never once looked back, and how his heart had broken as the woman he loved disappeared, never to be seen by him again.

Robert had cried when he had found out about her death, locking himself in his rooms for days as he lamented what he had done, what he had lost. He had been informed that she had died of a broken heart having returned to Winterfell a shell of the woman she had been, barely leaving her rooms as she slowly withered and died, Robert knowing that he was the one to blame.

Once he had dragged his dishevelled body from his chambers, he had taken to the drink, drowning his grief in an endless supply of wine and women, neither of which ever took away the pain, not as though he wanted it to, the pain was his punishment from the gods, punishment for destroying a good and kind heart, for killing the one woman that had loved him.

Unsteadily he got up from his seat, ignoring the jug of wine he had just knocked onto the floor, the liquid spreading over the stones and around his feet as he clumsily pulled his shirt over his head and stared at his half naked form in the mirror, chuckling to himself as he poked at his belly, knowing that despite his girth (Y/n) would have still loved him.

Shakily he made his way to bed, dropping unceremoniously onto the covers as he buried his head into the pillows; he had to do something to get (Y/n) out of his mind, to try and get a moments peace from the emotive memories, and all he could think about was going on a hunt.

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Robert slowly opened his eyes, the room around him was not one he had seen before, it was too perfect to be real as a warm breeze came through an open window, the glint of sunlight heating his skin; he had no idea where he was, but strangely it felt like home and he never wanted to leave.

The last thing he could remember was being wounded as he had tried to kill the boar, and his conversation as with Ned as he lay in his bed, so how he had come to be in this room he wasn't sure, but he didn't care.

As he reached to examine his wound, he found that it was not there, and that instead of a wine filled belly there was a young muscular physique, a physique that had been his so many years before.

"Good morning my love, its nice to see that you are finally awake." A beautiful melodious voice said from behind him in the bed, a voice that he knew so well, but had not heard for a lifetime.

Slowly he turned over, his eyes growing wide as he came face to face with (Y/n), her smile instantly making him feel safe and loved.

"I've been waiting a very long time for you to join me Robert." (Y/n) said, as her fingers brushed over his neatly cropped beard.

"Am....... am I dead, (Y/n)?" Robert asked hesitantly, smiling softly as he touched (Y/n)'s cheek.

"I'm afraid so my love." (Y/n) told him, smiling back at his beaming face.

"Does that mean that I can be with you forever?" Robert asked, as he pulled (Y/n) closer to him, feeling her warm naked form against his body.

"Only if you want to be. Together we can be forever young, forever as we once were, forever together as we always should have been." (Y/n) said, as Robert kissed her head, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight.

"I can think of nothing else I would rather have, my love." Robert hummed gently as the two lovers lay in the bed, rekindling the love they had once had for one another.

As Robert leaned down and kissed (Y/n), he knew that he had lost the Iron Throne, lost his life, but in return he had got back (Y/n) and she was no longer just his beautiful memory, but his beautiful eternity.