Game of Thrones: Passions and Hopes
Chapter 10 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Game o Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 10
There was a lengthy, uncomfortable silence in the Stark house, Ned and Cat share an uneasy look. Following their argument with Bran and Arya, with Arya storming out and heading for her boyfriend's house, unlikely to return, Bran had headed upstairs, now barricading himself in his room. Robb, Sansa and Rickon had actually overheard everything and had now joined them. Turning to their father, the children seemed hesitant.
Finally Robb spoke. "Dad, we, this..."
He tried but couldn't get the words out. Ned sighed and shook his head, while Cat stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the night in dismay.
"Gods..." She whispered. "For it to come to this."
There was no escaping now, the revelations that had been made. They had been so blinded by their own concerns they neglected to actually think things through. No matter what they thought themselves, they should have realized Bran and Arya were smart enough to know what they were doing.
'We should have listened to them, they were happy with Gendry and Meera. We never even gave them a chance.' Ned reflected sadly. 'But, what can we do now…?'
His biggest fear was that they were too late; that they had completely ruined any chance of fixing things with Bran, that they had chased Arya away for good.
It was Sansa who finally managed to speak her mind.
"We're responsible for this, all of us." She said. "Why; why didn't we...listen to them, try to see their side?"
None of them could answer honestly.
Rickon then replied. "Bran was right though...He's his own person, so is Arya...so am I, all of us. We can't keep living by how the media and society views us, it'll only stifle us, ruin our lives."
Ned and Cat shared a guilty look at that, Robb shifted uncomfortably and Sansa sighed.
"He's right, look at what nearly happened to me...with Joffrey." She revealed.
That brought more discomfort to the room, and more guilt for Ned and Cat. Joffrey was the eldest son of Robert Baratheon, President of Westeros and Ned's oldest friend. Both families had tried to set the two up and it seemed to work well at first. Until Joffrey's true colours showed and the relationship turned abusive, it was only two years ago Sansa had been able to free herself and start dating Podrick Payne instead.
"I...I'm afraid there's not much else we can do tonight." Ned said at last. "We need to; tomorrow we'll figure this all out."
They all agreed, but it was clear that all of them were still in shock and feeling guilty over everything that happened. They also needed to think, to figure out how to approach things, especially with their uncertainty regarding Arya. If she was coming home or not.
The following day, the family found themselves, still trying to work things out as they witnessed Bran and Meera together. They were seated on a bench in a nearby park, both were holding each other as they sat together, Bran had a hand on Meera's swollen stomach, they looked so happy.
"What are we...going to do?" Sansa asked at last.
Cat sighed. "We need to talk to Bran, to at least, begin to make amends. As for Arya..."
She bit her lip, ashamed but still she asked.
"Did she say anything or did anyone hear anything about her next game?"
It was Rickon who answered. "It's today, at…in the evening, about, seven. Also, let me talk to Bran."
They all remained quiet but nodded in agreement, out of all of them, Rickon was the one Bran had the least reason to avoid. So they watched as Rickon approached the couple seated together. Doing his best to remain calm and to concentrate Rickon stepped up to Bran and stopped before him.
"Hey, Bran...Meera." He said.
They both looked up, surprised to see him. "Rickon, what are you…?"
"Look, hear me out, please. The rest of the family is here too." He explained. "We...we talked last night, all of us. After that, scene with you and Arya."
Bran tensed. "Oh, and what, they sent you to try and..."
Rickon shook his head. "No, Bran...I said hear me out. We're all, we're all sorry. They finally understand and, while they know it's not gonna be enough, they wanna try and make things up to you, to Arya."
"That's gonna take more than wishes and a sudden change of heart." Bran commented.
But it was Meera who spoke next. "Bran, you're right, but, we should at least listen to them. Just, give them a chance."
Bran sighed but then nodded and helped Meera up as they both followed Rickon to where the rest of the Starks waited.
Cat struggle with her emotions as Rickon led Bran and Meera to them. She wanted so much to embrace him, but knew he wouldn't welcome that kind of contact.
"Bran..." Ned began.
Bran sighed. "I only came because Rickon convinced me. So...you all..."
They nodded and Cat spoke. "We are sorry, truly...Words don't mean much, but I swear, I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you, to help you. You too Meera, we've wrong you and that's just..."
Meera smiled softly. "I, I do understand Mrs. Stark, what matters is you're willing to make the effort."
They all nodded and Bran allowed himself to relax slightly.
"Alright then...But, what about Arya?" He asked.
There was a moment, before finally Cat smiled.
"We have time, but we'll need to make sure we're ready." She explained. "We have to be ready before seven this evening."
Bran and Meera shared a look. "By seven?"
They all smiled and Cat explained.
"We're going to watch Arya play in her latest game."
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.