Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones.
The sun wanted to rise but the clouds shrouded it from view.
It was such a strange feeling. There was nothing to be done today. It was a day of the week where the builders working to repair Winterfell were given rest, so the usual sounds of hammering and orders being given were absent. There was only silence with the occasional neigh of a horse or a baby's cry breaking it. Gendry would usually feel restless on such days, but after everything he could appreciate the freedom. There were no war councils. Jon was King in the North once more, his half Targaryen brother Aegon had appeared seemingly out of nowhere to claim the Iron Throne when Daenerys exiled herself. Arya had laughed hard at Bran when they realized he had gotten Jon's true name, Aemon, wrong. Sansa was recognized as Queen, unofficially. She ruled beside Jon and it was clear that any children she had would be heirs, as Jon had expressed a desire to never marry. Though the North and Westeros would be allies they were two separate kingdoms, two independent countries.
Bran usually stayed in the Godswood or the library, though he would be leaving soon to work as Master of Whispers for Aegon.
They had met the new king briefly when he had come North for a few days to meet Jon before heading down to King's Landing.
Gendry had grown so jealous at the attention Arya had received from the Targaryen that week. He would watch her train and follow her in the Great Hall. Arya usually ignored his gaze and gave one word replies to his flirtatious questions. Gendry heard the worried whispers. It was a curse between Baratheons, Targaryens, and Starks. Arya quickly made it clear that history would not repeat itself. Gendry would be lying if he said he hadn't been worried. The new king looked like the type they sang of in songs and with the way he flirted it was clear he knew how to charm women. Luckily, Arya was not most women.
Gendry was still acknowledged as a Baratheon and the Lord of Storm's End. Ser Davos had gone to the Stormlands to act as steward until he and Arya decided what they wanted to do.
All of the excitement in the North had died down. It was now about rebuilding and living. He knew Arya was glad she was able to see it. The beginning of a new era in the North.
It would be a calm day of rest.
Arya, however, was pacing back in forth in front of the window like an anxious wolf.
"Wife," He groaned. "Come back to bed."
Arya turned to look back at him.
"I'm not your wife, yet."
He had his arms covering his eyes to shield them from the morning light Arya was attempting to let into the room. He could almost hear her roll her eyes.
"Which annoys my love more? My lady or wife."
"It all annoys me." She replied.
"Good, it's very arousing when you're annoyed."
"Can you not think with your cock for a while?"
"Who was it that attacked me last night?"Gendry lifted his arm away from his eyes. He raised his eyebrow at her. "Come to think of it, you're usually the one seducing me."
She gave him a sly smile as she approached the bed, almost like she was approaching her prey. "Only the willing can be seduced."
"True." Gendry raised on his knees to meet her half way.
"And I can assure you, my love." He said, reaching for her. "I am very willing."
Their lips almost met when there was a frantic knock on the door.
"Arya, you have to come down." Sansa called out.
"What is it?" Arya turned her attention towards the door.
"I think it's Nymeria."
Arya's eyes widened. She moved quicker than Gendry could see. She was already donning her cloak before Gendry could react.
Without a word she ran out of the room and Gendry could just make out a flash of red hair before the door swung shut.
Utterly confused, Gendry quickly dressed and went in the direction the two Ice Sisters, as they were sometimes affectionately called.
He ran into a one of the smiths he worked with on his way down.
"What's going on?"
"There was a parade of wolves running through the town. They made their way to the castle. One of them is enormous, even bigger than King Jon's direwolf."
Gendry thanked the man and made his way to the gate. The day was still early so many were still in their beds. The few who were out either looked on in awe or cowered in fear.
Gendry almost laughed at the sight he met.
There kneeled stood the woman he was to marry, slightly bent, cuddling the biggest wolf he had ever seen. The pair was surrounded by at least a dozen other wolves.
Never had the term She-wolf suited Arya more than when she embraced the wolf she thought she had lost long ago.
Gendry's heart beat faster when Arya's head turned slightly as she nuzzled her face in the wolf's fur. There was a smile on her face that Gendry had only seen once or twice before. It was the smile Gendry believed she wore when she felt like she gained a piece of herself back, when she felt whole. With that gentle smile and her closed eyes, she looked at peace, genuinely happy.
It brought tears to his eyes. Gendry remembered Arya telling him about her wolf that she lost, Nymeria. That wolf was the very first part of her family that she lost. Before she lost her parents, her brother, her friends, her identity, she had lost Nymeria.
He smiles as Arya opens her eyes and her gaze falls on him. The other wolves that had gathered seemed to slowly disperse, but Nymeria stayed by Arya.
A bark echoed from behind him. Gendry tore his eyes from the woman he loved, to see Ghost running towards the pair. The two wolves met each other halfway, wrestling each other to the ground.
He could see out the corner of his eye, Jon go to stand next to Sansa, both wore nostalgic expressions as they watched the wolves play.
Gendry recalled that at one time there would have been six wolves roaming the grounds of Winterfell. He turned his attention back to Arya who was making her way over to him.
"Are you happy?" He asks. It is obvious but he wants to hear her say it.
She puts her hands on his chest when she is close enough. Her hands grip his tunic, pulling him down to kiss her.
"The most happy." She answers when their lips part.
He holds her in his arms as she lays her head on his chest and turns to look back at the wolves.
"It feels like a dream." She says. "That we're all together. It's such a good dream."
Gendry kisses her hair and continues to hold her there in the middle of the courtyard.
"You'll have to get to know her once they're done." Arya says nodding over to the wolves who were circling each other with wagging tails.
Gendry felt nervous at her words. "Do you think she'll like me?" He asks.
Arya grinned up at him. "Well, you got me to like you. Either way you'll have to make it work. If I have to choose between the two of you to sleep in the bed with me, i'll pick her."
Gendry laughed. He had no doubt she would choose the wolf over him. Luckily, she never had to choose.
Later in the morning, the wolf went to see him outside the forge. He had felt a flash of fear, before reminding himself how important this was to Arya. He held out his hand waiting for the almost horse size wolf to approach him.
She had looked into his eyes as if to stare into his soul. Gendry could not help but think of how similar Nymeria's searching gaze was to Arya's.
The wolf sniffed and nuzzled into his hand, allowing him to pat her on the head. She had stepped away, stared at him for a second more before turning away.
"I think she likes me." He had said to Arya in their chambers after lunch.
Arya ran her fingers through Nymeria's fur. "She knows what you mean to me. That you're part of this family."
Gendry's chest swelled at that. Jon, though initially troubled with the idea of his baby sister involved with any man, had become his closest friend. Bran would comfort him when he felt confused or lost, the strange but kind boy would offer explanations. Sansa encouraged him to feel confident in his place at Winterfell, whatever it was, and in his relationship with her sister. Arya was his greatest love. She gave him strength and loved him so fiercely, though he would never understand why. She had come into his life and introduced him to a whole new world it seemed. If he had never met her, he would've died or probably just lived some mundane existence in some little village being none the wiser. Before all of that Ned Stark had walked into his master's shop and offered to take him under his wing. The Starks had embraced him in every way possible.
Yes, he thought. I am a part of this family.