Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones.
"He'll listen to you." Sansa said as they made their way to the council room.
"I doubt it. I'm still ten years old in his eyes." Arya grumbled.
"He still doesn't know about the blacksmith?" Sansa asked, unbelieving.
"Like you said all he sees now are dragons with silver hair and tits."
The two of them walked into the council room in sync. The stood together at the end opposite the Dragon Queen.
It was as they had expected. Daenerys wanted to launch an attack on King's Landing immediately. Everything Sansa said was taken as an insult, even if it was the truth. Arya stayed silent, observing the way the Targaryen reacted and how her brother watched her. The meeting was over when the so-called Queen stomped away followed by her advisors. Jon was about to follow as well before Arya hurriedly stepped in his path.
"We need to talk."
Jon looked at her stern expression. "Aye, we do."
The four of them, the last of the Stark family, made their way to the Godwood.
"It was Arya who killed the Night King." Sansa argued.
"We could not have won without her." Arya admitted. "Her forces held them off long enough for me to get to Bran."
Jon gave her a nod of thanks.
"But that doesn't mean she should be our Queen. She knows nothing of the North. She doesn't care for the people of Westeros. She is prepared to burn thousands of innocents just so she can sit on some chair."
"You don't know her." Jon argued.
"We know enough," Sansa spat. "She is just like every other person who felt they had a right to rule. She will stop at nothing. Nothing is beneath her."
"Jon we are your family." Arya reasoned. "We are not trying to undermine you, but you are blinded by your admiration. Please listen to us. Think of father. Would he agree with what she's planning?"
Jon and Bran looked at each other.
"It's your choice." Bran said. Jon shuffled around for a bit.
"Before I say anything. You have to swear you will not repeat this to another living soul."
"I swear it." Arya affirmed immediately.
Sansa hesitated. "I swear."
Arya stormed into her chambers, slamming the door behind her. Gendry jerked up right in bed. She had left him to sleep when she left for some meeting with her family this morning. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Are you alright, love?"
"I'm fine." Arya snapped only to feel guilty when she took in the concern in his eyes. He was so sweet and gentle towards her. He was irresistible last night when he proposed. Arya's first instinct was to turn him down. It was no use trying to love and tame a wild thing. But then she thought it over. Gendry would not try to tame her. He liked her wild, which was proven by the moans he let out as she bit and scratched at him during their private celebration in bed. But more than that she loved him. She didn't realize it until she heard his words and looked into the clear blue eyes that held so much hope and love for her. She could see a life with him. What scared her more was that she wanted a life with him and he was willing to give up everything for her. She still had her fears and misgivings and her list, but she would deal with that as it came. For now she would spend as much time with the man who loved her and who made her feel whole. The man who would be her family, especially now that her blood family was falling apart once again.
"I take it the meeting didn't go well."
Arya sighed as she removed her cloak and boots to get in bed beside him. She laid her head on his bare chest as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
"I feel like a glass window is shattering. Everything I thought I knew was wrong."
"That bad?" Gendry asked, playing with a strand of her hair. She nodded against his chest.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I was sworn to secrecy." she grumbled. "Though I don't see how it could stay a secret for long."
"And it's about your family."
"My father and Jon." The two most important men of Arya's childhood. Her father and her brother. Brother.
"Whatever it is, you all can work through it. I've never seen a group of people more loyal to each other than your family. It's one of the reasons why I love you." Gendry said raising her hand to kiss her fingertips.
Arya raised her head to look at him. It amazed her how he was able to declare his love so easily. She was able to admit to herself that she loved him, but to say it aloud. Luckily, Gendry hadn't pressured her, which only made her feel worse about not being able to say it back. But she was a person of action, always had been. She figured with the amount of times she made love to him last night, it would make up for the lack of words.
"It just makes me wonder what would have happened if my father had lived. What would he think? What would he say?"
"He probably would have told me to fuck off from his daughter a long time ago."
Arya cracked a smile. "No, he would have liked you. Probably taken you under his wing. He made it a habit to take in children who were not his and raise them with his family."
Gendry laced his fingers with hers and watched their hands intertwine.
"When I first came back to Westeros, I was headed for King's Landing. The only reason I came to Winterfell was because Jon was King in the North." Arya said, remembering the hope she felt at Jon in Winterfell. "I came back because I wanted to help restore the North. I wanted to help Jon and I have. The White Walkers are gone and Sansa is restoring Winterfell. She doesn't need my help despite what she says. And Jon is no longer King. There's nothing keeping me here."
She sat up and leaned against the headboard.
"What do you want to do then?" Gendry asked.
Arya closed her eyes and rolled her neck. "I think I have to die in King's Landing."
Gendry's eyes went dark. He sat up quickly and turned to her.
"Why did you say that?"
"You know Lord Beric. He was brought back six times from death, because he had a purpose. His purpose was to save me so that I could kill the Night King." Arya opened her eyes, voice wavering.
"That's how it works. We serve a purpose then we die. My purpose has been to avenge my family, my list. Once I finish my list, I have served my purpose. My purpose is to kill and then I will die."
Gendry shook his head. "You don't know that." He took her face in his hands. "You were meant for more. That is not how this story ends. If, if all you were supposed to do was kill and then die then what was the point. What was the point of our love?"
" I don't want to die. I want a life with you. You are the greatest love of my life. But you need to be prepared. If I am to have any kind of peace, I need to do this."
Gendry sighed mournfully. "I won't stand in your way. But Arya don't give up on us." Arya leaned in to meet his lips. Gendry pulled her down so that he would hover over her. When they made love, it was not like the previous night, when it was playful and thrilling. It wasn't like the first time that had been new and exciting. This was sweet yet desperate, but no less passionate. Arya made sure to memorize every line, every mark on his body. She would remember how his eyes would get darker the closer he got to his release. She would remember how his rough hands felt on her body. She remember all of it when she killed the Mountain and Cersei, so that she remembered what she was fighting for.
"I have to go." She said finally.
"Now?" Arya nodded. They rose from bed and dressed. Gendry helped Arya pack for the road and then they went down to the stables.
"Are you sure I can't come with you?" He asked as he helped saddle her horse. Arya just shook her head and kissed him. They led the horse out of the stables into the courtyard where she mounted it.
"Do you remember where we first met?" Arya asked, fiddling with the reigns.
"The entrance of King's Landing." Gendry smiled fondly.
"Meet me there when it's all over."
Gendry nodded. Arya leaned down to kiss him once more. She could feel his eyes on her as she left. It took all her will to not look back at Winterfell, at Gendry. She knew the chances of her seeing either again were slim and it would hurt worse if she looked back.
She saw a form ahead of her. The Hound. Arya chuckled to herself. It seems she was not the only one with a purpose.
