Arya found herself under the weirwood tree in the godswood. She wasn't staring at anything in particular. She was just staring. Her mind was far away. She heard something behind her. Only one person could have followed her there.
"What are you doing here" he said. "Alone in the woods?" "Just thinking" she said, still not looking at him. "I am not afraid of being alone in the woods" she added. "No " he smiled. "You never were." He sat next to her. "So what are you doing here? Taking a break from all the terrifying things that are about to come?" she asked. "In fact I was looking for you. We haven't really been able to spend time together since you came back." "Yeah." she said and looked down.
"So many things have changed but this place is still the same, and it maybe it will always be the same, even a hundred years after we are all wiped out. " She paused. "I miss mother and father. I thought the pain would go away when all the people on my list were dead, but it didn't stop. It still hurts." Her eyes filled with tears. Jon caressed her hair gently. When they were younger he used to mess up her hair, but since she was back, he was different, much softer. "I miss father too. Even though the term father is not technically correct anymore. You are right, a lot of things changed."
"Sansa was so happy to see me, she almost broke my ribs. " She laughed. " Who would have thought that one day Sansa Stark would be so happy to see me." Jon slowly pulled her closer. "No one could have been as happy as I am right now." He touched her face and wiped away the tears. Then he stroked her her cheek with his thumb. " Do you have any idea how much I missed you and how many times I wished you were close to me, to calm me down?" She laid her head on his lap. "I'm here now. I'm not leaving." Things changed, but her love for Jon would never change. She felt safe now. She hadn't felt that safe and comfortable for years. She lay there for a while and fell asleep as Jon stroked her back.
On that night Arya , Jon and Sansa decided to give a feast. Sansa had embraced Arya so hard, that she could still feel the pressure on her ribcage. There was not much meat on her anyway. So Sansa of course suggested that she should dress up to present herself in front of all these new people. But this time, she did not force her. She just suggested it and waited for her response. Arya had the feeling that it could make her sister happy to see her in one of her dresses so she agreed. Sansa braided her hair. It was not as long as Sansas, but it had definitely grown a lot since she left Braavos. She left her room and told her she would wait for her at the table.
Now that she was alone, she looked in the mirror. Sansa had given her an emerald green dress with the Stark sigil embroidered on its shoulder. Arya liked it, even though she felt uncomfortable wearing such a long dress. She did not remember when she looked at herself the last time. Her appearance didn't really matter to her, as she could change her face anyway. But she looked proud and strong. Not like Sansa, not like a lady. But she was more mature now and that was visible.
Arya did not like to be in the center of attention but she knew that everybody would be excited to hear her story so she decided to tell her story in the shortest way possible, which would still be long. She sat at the table next to Jon, who was in the Middle of Sansa and her. "What a lucky man I am today, two beautiful women next to me." He smirked. "Your friends seem really funny" she said, looking at Tormund who was trying to hold a conversation with Brienne of Tarth. "I am glad that they support you" She said and smiled. When the dish was served Arya had already started to tell her story, not everyone was listening, but Sansa and Jon wanted to know every detail. Samwell seemed to be pretty interested in the Faceless Men and asked her if they ever talked about the White Walkers. He could not hide his disappointment when she negated.
After dinner she went out and stood on the balcony for a while. "Aren't you cold?" asked Jon and joined her. "A bit" she admitted. He put his coat on her shoulders. This evening he was constantly looking at her in a different way. Arya did not understand but she thought that maybe he could still not believe she came back home. "I still can't believe you came back" he said. "You look beautiful" he said. "No I don't" she answered. "To me you were always beautiful, but tonight I can see you grew up" She blushed. He stood very close behind her and had a strange feeling that worried him a little. She turned around and gave him a hug. As he pulled her closer, he could also feel that she had grown up. "Thank you" she whispered. "I thought I would never see you again, and here you are, a beautiful grown up woman." Suddenly she looked up to him. "Jon?" "Yes?" "How do you feel now that you know that father was not your real father? Did it... change anything for you?" He looked away and smiled then. "You ask interesting questions my lady." "Don't call me what I am not !" He giggled. "To answer your question, well, it did not change how I feel about this family. Lyanna died before I could meet her, and your father never made a difference between me and his real children. He taught me what was important. For him, I wanted to be a real man. I wanted to make him proud. And if I make a decision, I still ask myself what he would do." Arya smiled. Then she became quiet and let go of him. "I heard the Targaryen girl asked you to marry her and become king." When Sansa had told her about this, Arya had felt a stitch in her heart. I made no sense, Jon could marry whomever he wanted. "I don't think she is right for you" Jon smiled. "Hear ye, hear ye. You don't think she is right for me ? Then tell me, who would be right for me? " Arya looked down. "Don't know. But this woman seems to be obsessed with power. I fear queens who are only craving for power. She might kill you one day when she's had enough, just like Cersei killed Robert." She looked very serious. Jon smiled and stroked her hair. "Don't worry. I declined her offer. I said I would support her even if we were not married. But you are right, we have to be careful with her. Madness lies within her family, or I should say, our family. I can't get used to it somehow." "You deserve someone who likes you for your personality, your intelligence and your gentle heart " she said confidently. "Not someone who is after powerful alliances. " Someone just like you, Jon thought, and felt immediately ashamed of his own thoughts. "You seem to be relieved now." he said to her. "Of course I am ! I was so worried that you could leave us and go to King's Landing, father did that and we all know what happened. " He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. "We can only trust each other" he said.