#post-series.

there was hope that jon would come back and join them.  edd sincerely hoped so; he didn’t want his last memory of jon snow to be while he’d been lying in bed incapacitated.  jon had looked at him with such pity, and edd hated him for it.  no, that tearful goodbye could not have been it.  edd wouldn’t allow it. 

“tormund -- ”  edd shouts when he receives the raven, eyes wide.  “tormund!”  he’s tripping in the snow, hurrying over to his friend.  according to the note, jon had KILLED the queen . . . and had been sentenced to spending the rest of his life in the night’s watch.

jon is coming home. . . but neither of them imagined it to be like this.  edd stands at the north gate as it opens, as jon is revealed to him behind it. . . and GODS, he looks awful.  the last weeks have not been kind to him.  what happened to you?  echoes in his head, but he doesn’t make a comment about that.  instead, instead, edd tries to be playful.  “don’t think you’re getting the bloody cloak back now.”  he warns, offering a weak smile. 

then, edd’s walking toward him, arms outstretched.

he pulls his friend tightly into his arms, cradling jon’s head to him.