She spies Gendry fixing Lord Beric's breast plate and it fills her with rage. What does the stupid bull think he is doing? Why is he bothering to do any favours for the idiots who kidnapped them? For the idiots that are ransoming her?
"What are you doing?" she demands, irritated that he's stupid enough to aid the Brotherhood.
"Just mending Lord Beric's armour" he responds.
She suppresses both the urge to hit him in the head and roll her eyes at him. Yes you idiot, I can perfectly see you are mending his armour she wants to say, instead she opts for a simple "why?" As in why in seven hells are you bothering to help them? These people may treat her and Gendry well enough but, they are not their friends nor their allies. They are just outlaws.
Gendry takes a deep breath and puts his hammer down. Slowly he turns towards her and she can see sadness in his eyes. "I'm going to stay on and smith for the Brotherhood" he supplies.
She must have heard him wrong. Did he just say that he was going to stay with the Brotherhood? She bites on her lip to stop it from quivering and she suppresses the urge to cry. He means to leave me too. "Have you lost your mind?" She yells at him. "When the Lannisters find this place do you think they'll spare these men?" He can't leave her too. Hot Pie leaving was one thing, but not Gendry. Gendry can't leave. She comes up with every possible excuse to why he shouldn't join the Brotherhood. "They'll cave your head in with your own hammer!" She exclaims.
"The Lannisters wanted to kill me long before I joined the Brotherhood." He answers.
"You don't have to do this" she begs. Robb will protect him, I will protect him she thinks.
"I want to" he answers.
Arya can't hold in the tears anymore. She can feel them falling down her cheeks and it no longer matters to her that she is crying in front of Gendry. She'll cry all she wants as long as that means he doesn't leave.
"They need good men" he tries to rationalize.
"Robb needs good men too!" She interrupts, "We're leaving tomorrow and then you could-"
"What?" he interrupts, "serve him?" he utters the words with such disdain. It breaks her heart to see him talk this way about the North, about Robb, about her family. "I've served men my entire life" he continues, "I served master Mott at King's Landing and he sold me to the Watch. I served Tywin Lannister at Harrenhal wondering everyday if I'd get tortured or killed. I'm done serving" he finishes with a shake of his head.
"You just said you were serving Lord Beric" she clarifies. What makes him any different than serving Robb, apart from the fact that he would be in her. He does want to be with her... right?
Gendry takes another deep breath, "He may be their leader but, they chose him. These men are brothers. They're a family."
Arya turns and walks away. They're a family? A fucking family? They're nothing more than a bunch of thieving outlaws. The North is a family. They chose her brother to be king. Her father had always treated his men like part of the family. Master Luwin, Ser Rodrick, Jory... they were all her family.
"I've never had a family" he calls out and she stops dead in her tracks.
Suddenly Arya turns around and strides up to him. He looks up at her and before he can say anything she bends down and presses her lips against his. Gendry freezes for a moment but then he cradles her face with one hand, and places the other gently on her hip. They're lips move in tandem. It's a chaste kiss; just light feather touches of her lips against his. This is her cry for help to him. To show him that he isn't just another Hot Pie or Lommy to her. He isn't just her friend. He is so much more. He can't leave her too, he can't. If he wanted a family she'd give him one. She'd never wanted to get married nor sire any children. All Arya had wanted to do was become a knight. A warrior. But if this is what he wanted... if he wanted a family, she'd give him one. She'd do anything for him.
Gendry pulls away first and he gently places his forehead against hers. His eyes are closed and she can see that he his letting out tears of his own. "I can be your family" she supplies, as if the kiss wasn't enough to tell him that.
His eyes open then, and his dark blue eyes look into her own. There's so much hurt in them, so much devastation. A sob catches in her throat, and her chest tightens. She cannot breathe anymore, all she can do is hold onto Gendry's gaze.
"You wouldn't be my family" Gendry says to her sadly. His hand is still cradling her face he is still holding her to him. "You'd be milady" he answers. As if the answer makes any sense at all.
She wouldn't be his lady. She wouldn't. How many times has she told him that she is not a lady and she'd never be one. She thinks of what her father had told her, what seemed like an eternity ago, you will marry a Lord and rule his castle . But Gendry is no Lord, just a bastard blacksmith. It would be the perfect song wouldn't it? About the bastard and the lady? But it doesn't matter because, Gendry has already made his decision and she slowly tears herself away from him.
She turns around and does not look back. She chokes back her tears because, she won't let herself shed anymore tears for him. She is alone again. Just her and no one else. The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Maybe her father had it wrong all those years ago, because her pack is broken and she will carry on forever, as a lone wolf.