Folded into the arms of Ned Stark, Jon became a boy all over again. No longer was he a man who'd seen battle after battle, a man who had been Lord Commander at the Wall. No, he was a boy again and he might as well have scraped his knee in the yard at Winterfell and sought out comfort from his lord father.

"Father, I missed you so much. I never thought," he murmured, the words sticking in his throat. "I never thought I'd see you again."