A Talk Between Reunited Twins

~~~(POV: Daenerys Targaryen)~~~

~~~(Current Age: 13 Years)~~~

~~~(Location: The Velvet Hills, Flatlands of Pentos, Essos)~~~

~~~(Date: 297 AC)~~~

There hasn't been a day when I was happier. Raenon lets me go from the hug, and it's hard for me to let go. He's the first person that I've met that doesn't want to use me for some benefit to himself. He saved me from being married and raped by Khal Drogo.

"I don't know where to really start, Daenerys..."

I know exactly where to start.

"Dany."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Call me Dany..."

His smile appears, and I see how it's perfect like mine. We share some features, like eyebrows and cheekbones. But his jaw is a bit more defined, and he's taller than I am. I'm 5'2, and he's 5'8. But he's not done growing. He's only 13, but I know I'm done growing.

"I don't have a shorter version of my name. I guess Rae would be the short version. It's ironic. Your name sounds male when shortened, and mine sounds female."

When I look at Raenon, I can tell he's been through a lot. And I'm nervous to ask him outright, but I want to know where my twin has been all this time.

"Where have you been all these years?"

He slowly looks to the firepit with a solemn smile and lets out a long sigh. After throwing some more wood on the fire, he looks at Rhaenys. I look, and I'm still amazed by the dragon. Based on the name, the dragon is a girl.

But I remember reading somewhere that dragons can switch genders. I don't know how it's done, but it happens. They do it at will. Magical creatures...

I don't know if he'll answer my question or not. But it's really the only thing on my mind right now. He leans back on his hands and looks at the passing clouds.

"The first 12 years of my life, I lived in The Shadow Lands Beyond Asshai... Ever since I could remember, I was on my own..."

He lifts both his hands and Red Fire envelopes them... Even from here, I can feel the heat...

"My ability to create and control fire is what saved me... Every day I would be attacked by monsters and beasts that'd give anyone nightmares... I'd eat what I killed, and that was how I lived... I didn't even know there were other humans in the world..."

Wow... No one would believe him, but I do. The reason is because I had dreams of him fighting those monsters and beasts... I had dreams of his life...

"Then, one day, I found a Black Egg and Fate Breaker."

As he says the name of what I assume is his sword, he holds out his right hand, and the sword he used to cut Viserys's arm off appears. It's a beautiful Black and Red Sword.

"A Whispering Voice told me to follow The Ash River to The City of Night, and what I found were ruins. But that's when I realized there might actually be other humans. So I kept following The Ash River, and I found Asshai. I met a Shadowbinder named Mazzi Mero."

The story is one like that I've only read in some books, and even then, with some of the things he's gone through, other men and warriors would never survive.

"She took me in and taught me about Shadow Magic. That's how I reached you so fast when Viserys was holding you back. Mazzi also taught me how to take care of Rhaenys properly. She gave me a home. Once Rhaenys was big enough, we left Asshai."

Shadow Magic, huh... I wasn't paying attention to how he got to me. I was too focused on trying to escape from Viserys.

He lifts the goat meat I dropped from the ground and burns the dirt off. And he takes a bite himself before giving it back to me.

"I spent some time traveling. I eventually landed in Volantis and learned a little bit about my family. I didn't even know the Targaryens were royal blood in Westeros. Then I learned about you, and all the dreams about the girl made sense. They were you, Dany."

We share similar dreams. Always with one another in them. Either about the other person, or something to do with us together.

"What about you? What has your life been like the last 13 years?"

The answer to that is apparent from what happened today, but I can see that he wants me to tell him. Raenon wants to hear my story too.

"When we were first separated, Viserys and I were sent to Braavos. At the same time, you were sent West without anyone except for an unnamed guard."

I could never find out who went with Raenon... It's something I always found strange...

"The first couple of years were pretty good. But we were forced to leave, and it was just Viserys and me at that point. He was a good brother, at first..."

I feel him wrap his arm around my shoulders and give me a one-arm sideways hug. I should've shown him some support like this when he was telling me his story. I know there is more to his, but I will not force it.

"But as time went on and we moved from city to city, he became distant. And when he started looking for help to push his claim for The Iron Throne, he went into a downward spiral. He gained a nickname... Beggar King... After that was when he started to hit me."

I'm too afraid to look at Raenon to see his reaction. There is always some taboo that follows people who've suffered physical abuse. I'm glad I never suffered sexual abuse, and I owe that to Viserys. The one good thing that was left of him in the end.

But Raenon gently places his hand on the side of my head and turns me, so we're looking at each other.

"You can tell me, Dany. You're safe here."

He's right. In my rebellion against Viserys, I was scared he'd hit me. And then he would. I grew to take it and do it with an attitude. But now that I'm free from that, I'm scared he'll find me and start hitting me again.

"He'd take his anger out on me whenever someone would insult him, and he'd make sure not to hit me hard enough to leave bruises. He'd turn into a different person. Always called himself The Dragon or The Last Dragon. He wasn't the same brother I grew up with..."

There are a lot of reactions that Raenon could've had from me telling him this...

There is always the promise to kill Viserys or to tell me that he'll never let anything like that happen to me again. Those are good responses, but what Raenon does isn't what I thought would happen.

"That's not your fault. All that shit. It's not your fault, Dany. None of it is."

When I hear those words... I lose control.

My body starts shaking, and I cry as I've never cried in my entire life. I never knew I needed to hear that before... Or maybe I was so desperate to hear it that I never believed it would happen. Once again, I find my arms wrapped around my twin and him gently rocking me side to side.

The sobs are choking as they come out, and I whimper and groan in both pain and relief. Pain that it's taken this long for someone to tell me what I needed to hear. And relief now that I've heard it. The makeup for my wedding is smeared and has been for a while now.

As I calm down and let it out, Raenon waits to let go until I do. And when I do, he stands up and grabs one of the 3 eggs that I took from the wedding celebration out of the leather bag.

"Maybe this will cheer you up. What you have here are 3 very alive dragon eggs. All they need is a little help hatching, and you're going to be the one to do it."

That does cheer me up, and I look at the egg in his hand, and it's the darker black one. And he hands it to me.

"You can feel it inside the egg. I had the same feeling when I first picked up Rhaenys egg. A connection."

He's right about that. I found it strange when I first held one of the eggs. But I have someone here with actual experience hatching dragon eggs. He knows what he's talking about. But he takes the egg from my hand and places it back in the bag.

"We can't hatch the eggs here. We need to go somewhere safe. A place they can grow without any issues. Asshai isn't an option, and I don't know how you feel about going to Dragonstone to do it. Rhaenys won't be flying us until she's rested up either."

Meaning we're going to be staying right here in The Velvet Hills. It's a good thing it's warm during the night.

He takes a breath and releases it as he sits down on the ground. Leaning against the log. This time further apart from me. Giving me some space. It makes me wonder why. But instead of asking, I move to the ground and slide next to him.

I lean my head on him, and he adjusts so I can rest comfortably. His arm comes around and over my shoulders. He leans back a little more so I can use him as a pillow.

I don't mean to fall asleep so fast, but it only takes a minute before I'm out.