The spring of her eighteenth year was both beautiful and terror dripping agony. Her nights were either spent in bliss or biting back the anger that tainted her soul, nearly consuming all of her presence. Beheadings, first love, rape, underground wars, justice, etc. And it all began when her brother Robb returned home.
The wind whooshed through her hair, drawing it back and letting it fly about behind her. It was a blistering inside the house, so the windows had been left open to circulate a glorious breeze throughout the home. Arya slapped her feet along the tile floor, laughing and smile as she ran and left the expansive halls just as quickly as she came, nothing but echoes left to fill the silence. She cried out in delight as she looked out a window and saw that the fountain had been turned on outside of her home.
It wouldn't be the first time she bathed in the water, but her mother always was displeased with her afterward. Still, it was a warm spring day and her dress was leaving her dreadfully uncomfortable.
Arya grasped the glass handles on the door, slamming it open and taking in a fresh breath of air as she propelled herself forward, down hill. Her eyes closed and she lifted her arms, giggling as she imagined herself flying in the air. It was preposterous, but no one ever accused her of being practical.
She stopped just before she could hit the edge of the fountain, and quickly tore her clothes from her body. First, her over dress. It took her a good three minutes to get the damn thing undone, and another to just get it off.
Then the corset, which clenched her body into the most horrid shape. After that was lying on the ground, she was in nothing but her underclothes. A short white dress which came to mid-thigh that she had specifically chosen for today, so that she may swim with ease.
The girl jumped onto the edge of the fountain and looked into the nine feet deep water before her. It was a large fountain, thirty something in diameter with random concrete fish looking as if they were jumping out. The statue above it was one of a wolf in mid launch, which had always intrigued her. The wolf had something familiar about it's face, something that, to Arya's surprise, only brought her comfort. But anytime she asked about it, the answer was a short one, always some form of "It's the Stark house emblem." Something told Arya that there was more to the story.
Her toe touched the crisp water, and she moaned in shear happiness. Her skin was crawling for her to jump in, and so, with one look backward that she didn't give much thought to, even though she was almost certain she saw someone, she jumped in.
The cool liquid completely enveloped her, sucking her in and saturating her in every nook and cranny. Arya held her breath as her feet hit the bottom, brushing across some old coins that people thought to throw in.
She stayed down as long as she could, but soon her ears were aching from the pressure, feeling as if they might pop, and her lungs were screaming for oxygen. She kicked off the bottom, and she shot into the air a little as she surfaced. Greedily sucking in, she wiped at her eyes.
"I thought it might be you."
Arya choked on the air she was breathing, spinning around to see a man standing on the outside of the fountain with shovel in one hand. Not a man, but Gendry. Gendry Waters.
The boy who had been taken into their family to work off his mother's debt to Arya's father, and in return, Arya's father had offered to pay his way to university. Their whole family had been surprised, but not Arya. She knew how her father had liked the boy, and was even less surprised whenever the boy denied his offer multiple times, only to finally accept around the time Arya had finished her lessons. She herself wanted to attend university, but she was sure it was simple coincidence.
Gendry wasn't a boy. He was twenty-three, and had the body to prove it. With straight short black hair and hauntingly wonderful cheek bones, Arya knew that her sister Sansa and her friends feigned over him often, but never too loud. For it was quite dangerous to lust after a commoner.
"You should be thinking nothing of me." Arya retorted, quickly diving back under to brush her hair back. She drug her fingers through the thick brown knots that she obtained, looking up to see that Gendry was still standing there, watching her. "Don't you have anything better to do than stare, boy?"
He chuckled at her abruptness, switching the shovel to his left hand as he bit his lips and shook his head. "No, milady. Though I must aware you of the compromising position you are putting yourself in." He said, motioning to her with his hand.
Arya was confused at first, but then she had a mind to look down and see what exactly he was speaking of. Her breasts were evident through the soaked fabric, and quickly she covered herself. "That's none of your business. And don't call me that." She spat back.
"I thought it best to let you know. You're too innocent to know what happens to white cloth when put in water." He replied, now leaning on the shovel as he watched her fume in the fountain.
Innocent? Gendry thought her to be innocent?
He began to step back as he saw her hand slam down on the edge, pulling herself up. Arya slowly lifted her body up to sit on the concrete before standing up entirely, holding her head high. She took in the man's reaction as the water fell down her body, and her clothes clung translucently to every inch. It left little to the imagination, and as much as Arya was frightened of what might come after, she had no intention of looking afraid. Or looking innocent.
"I'm no more innocent than you are intelligent." She said, holding back the grin that she so desperately wanted to unleash. This was quite possibly the most inappropriate thing she had ever done, showing a man her bare body, but Arya was not about modesty. To her, a body was just a body. No reason to get into a fuss over it.
Gendry stared at her as his fist clenched. "Ah..." he began, but the words must have slipped from his mind. This made Arya's smile unrestrained, and so she took a step back and let herself fall into the water.
"I must insist you find a dictionary, boy. It appears as if your words have left you." She taunted before diving back under into the cool hiding place where she could flaunt her grin. Her smile was still plastered upon her face when she came back up, and to her surprise, Gendry was gone.
She laughed before continuing her swim around the make-shift pool. After another hour, she felt her fingers begin to prune and thought it best to remove herself, and so, she got out and grabbed up her clothes.
The wind blew mercilessly, and Arya found herself deliberately dodging all of the shaded areas. Her dress was starting to become soaked when she heard the piercing loud screech that came from her sisters mouth.
"That wet hair better not be from the fountain!" Sansa yelled, flipping her own perfect ginger hair over her shoulder and walking to her sister.
"I'm afraid so." Arya said without much care.
Sansa glared at her little sister, stopping and placing her hands over her chest. "Well, go and dry it off. Hurry."
Arya scoffed, lifting her hands to ring out a bit of the water. "Who died and made you queen? I shall dry it naturally, as I always do."
In the distance, they both heard a door slamming, and someone laughing and calling out. "Is anyone home?"
Arya tilted her head to the side for a second, wondering who it was, but before she could ask, Sansa was walking away and yelling the answer back at her. "You idiot! You knew Jon and Robb were coming home today!"
She took only a second to get her thoughts together before once more falling into a run, pushing herself passed her sister on her legs, beckoning them to carry her faster.
She slid through the house on cold wet feet, and came to the threshold that lead to the greeting room. There, she could see Robb taking off his coat and handing it over to a waiting servant, but her eyes did not stray long, for they fell on a curly mess of black hair.
Without warning, Arya threw herself into the man before her, wrapping her arms around his muscular body and squeezing for dear life. "You're back!" She cried out.
Jon wrapped his arms around her, laughing into her hair as he held her to him. "Yes, dear sister, I am home."
Arya leaned back ever so slightly. "What did you bring me?"
Both Robb and Jon laughed now as Arya climbed off of Jon and hugged Robb with equal affection. "You haven't changed, baby sister." Robb chided, but then held her back to admire her. "I take it back!You have changed quite a bit actually. It seems as if our sister could actually get away with buying alcohol now, Jon Snow!"
Arya slapped her brothers shoulder, rolling her eyes as she saw her mother burst into the room. "Robb!" She cried, and everyone was painfully aware of Jon being left out of her welcome home tantrum. So, Arya walked back up to him and unleashed yet another hug.
Sansa came in at the same time as their father, who grasped both boys hands before throwing the formalities out the window and yanking each son in for a grand hug. "We shall throw a feast tonight! Invite your friends, invite the town whores, invite the drunks! No one shall be left out of the extravagant meal that we will present." Eddard, or as many called him, Ned, turned to a servant. "Anne, tell the cooks to prepare their finest bore and cow, and any assortment of fruit and vegetable we have."
Anne nodded, turning to leave. Arya watched her, but diverted her eyes when she saw Gendry walk passed the leaving servant to enter the room. Jon looked away from his family, seeing his best mate. "Waters!" Jon laughed, quickly hugging the other man.
"Snow, good to see you didn't get eaten alive by the women out there." Gendry said, patting Arya's brother on the back like they had never parted.
Jon leaned over, whispering. "No, my good friend. For it was me who ate them." His words made Arya grimace, but both of them exerted large laughs. With that, Gendry slid his eyes over to Arya. She lowered her gaze ever so much, then licked her lip and moved on to another persons conversation. It was easy to feign disinterest, since she had done it so long, but still she couldn't help but feel something... Warm deep within her knowing that he was staring her down.
Sansa took the time to step forward and give both of her brother quick hugs. "How long will you be staying?"
Jon and Robb looked to one another, then back at the family. "Summer break is three months, so it'd be safe to assume three months." Robb said with a chuckle, and Arya smiled at the family around her. It never seemed to be whole whenever her older brothers were gone, and still lacked something now that Bran was gone to school abroad and Rickon was staying at their Grandparents for a few weeks. Yet, right here, she felt more alive than she had any time in the past year without them.
She noticed when Gendry's eyes once again fell on her, no doubt recalling what had happened only an hour prior to their current engagement.
"Arya has finally finished her lessons!" Her mother, Catelyn, began to say with that overbearing motherly voice. "Eighteen and nearly an accomplished lady."
Arya grimaced. "I do not wish to be a lady, mother. You know that." She said, making the men in the room smile at her. "And as you heard mother say, I am now eighteen. Therefor I shall require to stay for all of the party this time. No more shall I be sent inside to watch from the house as all of the fun takes place outside." She pointed at her two brothers, before letting the serious expression slide from her face and a smile take it's position.
"How grown you are, sister. I trust that Gendry here has kept the boys from trying to court you, yeah? I told him if one tried to come, that he had my up most permission to take a knife to his gullet!" Jon roared, slapping Gendry's shoulder just as Gendry had done to him.
Arya stared openly at Gendry now, not allowing any embarrassment to overtake her. "Is that why I have not been married off yet?" She joked.
"It's been tough, but I have successfully kept any men from catching sight of your sister." Gendry promised, but Arya knew it was a lie. He had caught sight of their sister. He had caught quite a long and inappropriate sight.
"I thought it was because Arya's dresses are always beaten and dirty." Sansa commented, and Arya glared at her, only stopping when her mother opened her mouth to agree.
"Yes, Arya. How are we to find someone to marry you off to when you can't be found wearing a decent dress? Even the one you are wearing now is soaked and dirty." Her mother threw her hands up in a dramatic gesture.
Robb spoke before she could, and Arya silently thanked him for it. "Let us not make this about Arya. We have a festival to throw! All of you go and get on your most comfortable clothing. After I'm well and drunk, I shall want to take every one of you to the dance floor." Robb stopped, then smiled. "Even you father."
Ned Stark laughed. "I wouldn't allow you to leave me out." He jested, then, slowly, the family began to drift out of the room, leaving a tempered Arya and a flustered Gendry.
"I apologize for earlier." Gendry spoke, and the mere sincerity of it annoyed Arya.
"Apologize for what? I am the one who got out of the water." She pointed out, then leaned in a little closer. "You were just the fool who tempted me."
Gendry smiled at that, reveling in the close proximity even if he couldn't admit to it. "Perhaps, but I had not been much of a gentleman when I did not look away." He reached forward, brushing a stray piece of hair from Arya's face. "I fear your modesty has been tainted."
Arya caught his hand quickly, holding it in place. "My modesty is just fine."
"Fair enough. But I do not wish to confuse you, I was simply looking out for you, as your brother asked. I won't dare look at you in that position again." This made Arya want to yell, yet she did not know why. "I shall forget everything I saw before."
Now, her temper got the best of her. Could he simply just forget? Why did she care? It was just a body. Surely Gendry had seen many before. Why was she upset about it? Perhaps it was because he was so flippant about it. As if it hadn't affected him anymore than seeing a naked baby. Perhaps it was because she was afraid people still saw her as a baby.
Arya threw his hand down, spinning around.
"Arya, what's wrong?" He called after her.
All she could do was slam the door, but not before managing a, "You're a ghastly idiot!"
I sincerely hope that was decent! Leave a review or message me on my tumblr, sacrificiallame (was once sleepingawaytheday)!