The Warmth of Her
Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it? Yes? Really? Fine, I'm not George R.R. Martin or HBO
Day 5:
Warmth: a comfortable heat or affection or kindness
'We enjoy warmth because we have been cold'
Gendry had known many types of warmth throughout his life.
In the beginning of his life he knew the hot sun in Flea Bottom, bursting at the seams with orphans and poor families. He knew the warmth of the furnace fires and the sweltering heat in Master Mott's forge. He knew the hot days in King's Landing during the long summer, in which you could barely walk down the street without breaking into a sweat.
As he grew older, he began to know the warmth associated friendship with other recruits on their way to the Night's Watch and then later again, the Brotherhood Without Banners. He found out about the warmth of wine and ale. Once or twice, he even found out about the warmth of a woman.
But his favourite warmth for a long time, was the warmth of his mother. If he concentrated hard enough and clung to the memory hidden away in the deep corners of his mind, he could feel the warmth of her holding him, tight to her chest, her breath on the top of his head whist she sung lullabies to him. He didn't know if the memory was real, or if it was a dream he had conjured up, but he still kept hold of it for as long as he could.
It wasn't until he was older, did he find a warmth even better than this.
-A&G-
In the same way, Gendry knew different types of cold.
He knew the cold of sleeping on the hard floor of the "orphanage" in Flea Bottom- whether the word orphanage was appropriate or not was arguable, there was no organization to it, it was not a home, just somewhere where they could throw orphans without having to truly care for them. No blankets were handed out, nor were there any pillows. Gendry had to lie freezing on the floor.
He later had to lie on the cold floor of the woods in the Riverlands, with the Night's Watch's recruits and then with Brotherhood. This time he did have a blanket, an extremely thin one, but still, he had one. But it was not only the cold outside that harmed him. It was the cold of the others treatment, the dark looming threat that they could turn him in to the Goldcloaks. He knew what cold threats felt like.
With Melisandre and Stannis Baratheon at Dragonstone, he knew fear.
Ice cold fear.
But above all them, he knows the bitter frosty feeling of regret. Of hurting someone that means so much to you. The wintry glare of hers, so filled with loathing and disgust, but most of all hurt and betrayal. He knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of this glare and how he is frozen in his place.
He knows the cold of leaving behind Arya Stark.
And this cold is the most freezing of all, that Gendry thinks not even a life beyond the wall in the middle of winter could be colder then this.
-A&G-
But in the end, if Gendry Waters had to live through all those different type of colds all over again, so he could end up here with this warmth he would take them all, all at once. Because this warmth is so much better than anything else.
People say that the reason warmth is so good and so warming and comfortable, is because we know how harsh and frosty the cold can be.
So, yes, he would take the cold if it meant he could have this warmth afterwards.
The warmth of knowing Arya was safe, alive, right in front of him. The warmth of her being home in Winterfell and back with her family. The warmth of her smile and the fact that it was directed at him.
The warmth of her body against his in an embrace so welcoming that it could unthaw the cold from his past.
Gendry Waters would take it all if it meant that he would return to her arms and her bed at the end of the day.
Because there was no warmth that could compare to the warmth of her love.
