It was well past sundown when Jaime finally found Arya. She was standing in a shallow stream, her was dagger tied to a stick to make a spear. Her boots and stockings lay on the bank along with one dead fish.
"Why do you need two fish?" He asked.
She hadn't heard his approach but her startled flinch was barely perceptible. She stabbed into the water and procured a second fish. She turned and made her way out of the water. "Someone has to make sure you don't starve, Lannister."
He breathed a sigh of relief. She was still angry with him, but she had expected him to follow her. "I could have helped with the fishing if you'd slowed down a little."
She shrugged, kneeling down to begin to take apart her spear and clean the fish. "I wanted to be alone."
"It seemed more like you wanted to be rid of me for good... if that's what you want, just say so. I'll not chase you after you if you run off again."
She glanced up at him, worry in her eyes. "I won't run off again. Don't go."
He nodded and set to work making a fire. Neither of them wanted to eat raw fish. They sat by the fire and ate in near silence that night. After she finished eating Arya stared at the fire for a while that night, seemingly lost in thought. Jaime was tired and lay down to sleep with one of the blankets as cover.
"Arya?"
She turned her head his way.
"You need to sleep."
She took her blanket and tossed it over him, then joined him underneath both covers. "It's warmer this way." She said.
Jaime knew by the way she hugged him that it wasn't about warmth at all. It was about comfort. She was hurting and didn't want to admit she needed comfort, especially not from him. He pulled her closer into a real embrace and felt her silent tears fall on his chest. Eventually she stilled and he thought she might have fallen asleep.
"Jaime?"
"What?"
"Goodnight."
"Good night Arya."
They awoke the next morning a little awkwardly. Arya was sleeping half on top of him, an arm and a leg were draped over his body and his hardness was pressed against her hip. Jaime woke and was about to push Arya gently off of him but she opened her eyes before he could do it. He expected she would either panic or just get up and pretend it hadn't happened. She did neither. Instead she stayed where she was and looked up at him with an expression he couldn't interpret. Maybe it was longing, or confusion, or guilt, or lust. Maybe it was all of those things. She held his gaze for a moment before speaking.
"I've been awake for a little while. I keep thinking about Sansa… she always loved the songs...always wanted a knight to rescue her and carry her away...I never wanted that. I never believed I would need rescuing or that I would even care for anyone like that…why did it have to be you?"
Jaime didn't know what to say to that so he did the only thing that made sense to him. He kissed her.
