Winterfell

As soon as Jon's advance was spotted, the remaining Stark children, Sam, and Ghost gathered in the Winterfell courtyard to welcome him home.

Arya was bouncing on her toes with the excitement of seeing her favorite brother again. The last time she had caught sight of him, Jon was just a Brother of the Night's Watch. Now he was King in the North!

Sansa was curious to see this Dragon Queen Jon was bringing with him. Was she as beautiful as people reported, as even Petyr had said before Arya slit his throat? Did her beauty truly rival that of the stars in the night sky?

Bran sat quietly in his chair. He had rather big news for their brother—no, cousin—but he was the calmest of the three. His sight as the Three-Eyed Raven let him know that everything would come into the open all in due time.

Sam was just excited to see his best friend again. Whereas Bran was quiet with the secret the two of them shared, Sam was practically bursting from it. Jon, his Jon, wasn't just King in the North—he was the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms.

Ghost sat obediently next to Arya, but as Jon drew nearer and his scent carried on the wind, the direwolf raised his nose and began to sniff. His tail began to wag back and forth, kicking up the snow on the ground.

"The King in the North!" One of the guards bellowed as the gates opened.

"The King in the North!" Everyone in Winterfell echoed back, but none quite so heartily as Arya and Sam.

And there was Jon, in his heavy Northern robes, sitting so stoically on his horse, looking every bit the King they had just called him. Riding at his side was Daenerys Targaryen, swathed in furs and looking wide-eyed around the Starks' home.

Arya barely waited for Jon to dismount and help Daenerys Targaryen from her horse before she was running full speed to her brother. Ghost followed suit, running circles around Jon and Arya. You see, she had thrown herself into Jon's arms, and he had caught her about her waist and crushed her to him.

"I never thought I would see you again, Arya. I hear you've had some adventures." His words were muffled against her shoulder, but Arya could hear the smile in his voice. Oh, Jon rarely smiled, but Arya loved it when he did.

"Not as grand as becoming King in the North!" When Jon finally set her down on her own two feet, Arya found the Targaryen girl smiling at her. Despite being high-born herself, Arya never quite knew how to behave around other high-born. Did she call the Targaryen 'Your Grace'? Would that be undermining to Jon?

"Arya, this is Queen Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen. She is our strongest ally, along with the Wildlings, in this war."

Though she was not wearing a dress, Arya dipped into an approximation of a curtsy for the Dragon Queen. She figured that's what Sansa would do. Or maybe not. But Jon had called the Targaryen girl Queen, so Arya would, too. "Your Grace. Welcome to Winterfell."

"Your brother talks often of you," Daenerys said with a kind smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Did you bring your dragons?" Arya couldn't help asking. By this time, Sansa had wheeled Bran to the reunion site and Sam had followed close behind. Sansa fixed Daenerys with one of her icy looks, as cold and solid as the Northern ground.

Before Daenerys could answer, there was a great whooshing sound overhead. Arya looked up to see two huge dragons circling the sky. Didn't the stories say Daenerys had three dragons, though?

"I couldn't very well leave them in King's Landing," Daenerys confessed. "And we didn't make a stop at Dragonstone on our way to Winterfell."

"I heard my brother and my sister address you as a queen," Sansa said, getting that haughty look on her face where she jutted her chin out. "But we Northerners only recognize one true King."

"Sansa," Jon said pointedly. "Do not tell me you didn't still refer to the Lannisters as royalty while our brother Robb was King in the North. As Lady of Winterfell, you will do the same and set a precedent for how Queen Daenerys will be treated while she is our guest."

When Sansa did not reply, Jon's brow furrowed. "That is not a request as your brother. It is a command as your King."

This made Sansa lower her eyes while Arya and Bran smirked. "Yes, of course. I apologize, your Grace."

Arya almost snickered at Sansa, but she was soon distracted. Jon was leading Daenerys to the council room, surely to talk about strategies and alliances. Sansa, Bran, Sam, and Ghost followed, but Arya was preoccupied looking at all the people who had come with her brother and the Dragon Queen.

Unsullied soldiers, silent and each alike the other in their armor. The dragons, still circling overhead. The Dothraki, wearing little more than animal scraps even in the bitter cold of the North. In the mess of it all, Arya somehow neglected to see a rather familiar face.

"Hello again, little Arry." The voice made the hair on the back of Arya's neck stand up. No one had called her that since her days of masquerading as a boy. As she turned she saw Gendry, her Gendry, standing with a smirk on his face and his hands behind his back.

"Gendry!" Arya yelled, much louder than she meant to. So loudly that all of her siblings turned in time to see her swooped up into Gendry's arms and spun around as the pair laughed happily.

"Arya knows that man?" Sansa asked, feeling a pang of jealousy deep in her belly. No one had ever been so excited to see her as this 'Gendry' was to see her little sister.

"It seems," Jon said. "I only met him a few days ago."

When Gendry set Arya down in front of him, she kept a hold of his arms. Both started talking at the same time, their words running over each other.

"Where did you go?" Arya asked just when Gendry had said, "I never thought I would see you again."

"I went back to Flea Bottom."

"I've seen Hot Pie, he's still alive, too."

"Where have you been? Where was Hot Pie?"

"Why are you with Jon? I've been everywhere. Hot Pie was working in a tavern, he gave me food."

"Of course Hot Pie is. Ser Davos brought me to Jon. We went beyond the Wall."

"Beyond the Wall? Even I haven't been there!"

While Jon and Sansa watched the scene in confusion, Bran smiled softly. He titled his head back to address his siblings. "Arya and Gendry are old friends."

"How would you know that?" Jon asked his little brother.

"He's the Three Eyed Raven now," Sam said excitedly, speaking for the first time since Jon had arrived. "He has visions."

Jon's face crumpled into further confusion, his eyes swinging from where Gendry stood so close to Arya with his head bent over her small frame while they talked to Bran's dark and knowing eyes.

"I guess I've missed a lot," Jon said, shaking his head and continuing into his childhood home with Daenerys in tow.