A/N: Well, I'm less late than I was last week, so...small victories? Anyway, this chapter is also a little longer than I've been turning in, so hopefully you guys can enjoy that! Without further ado: the chapter!

Chapter 41: An Unlikely Gathering

"That day in the graveyard..." Arya murmured. "When we...actually spoke for the first time. I had found a coin there. A Braavosi coin. It seemed too strange to be a coincidence and I was sure my father was murdered because...because I needed someone to blame."

"It does make the grieving easier," Tywin said. She heard his voice but did not look at his expression. To tell her story felt like pressing on an open wound with a rusty nail. She hadn't told anyone what had happened to her. She kept it all locked inside of her and thought she would forever. Tywin was not supposed to handle this betrayal gently. He was supposed to kill her without hesitation, and he hadn't.

Perhaps if she had been calmer. Cooler headed. If she was truly no one, she wouldn't have been afraid to die. But the time for that had passed.

"I bought a ticket on a ship across the narrow sea to Braavos," she continued on. "I left mother a note and I told her I would be back soon. Which was a lie, but I didn't mean it like that at the time. I thought I would be back. The plan was to pay the faceless men to tell me who ordered them to kill my father. I was stupid to think it would be so easy."

Stupid girl, the waif had called her so many times, and she was right. She was a stupid girl. But if Tywin agreed, he did not voice his opinion. He stayed silent, waiting for to finish her story.

"So I found the faceless men. Or...they found me, I suppose. They told me that they hadn't killed my father but that somebody had. And if I wanted to know who, I would have to train with them and become no one. They said that my family was still in danger from the killer, but that they would make sure nothing happened to them...so long as I stayed. It seems they kept that bargain at least." She picked at a hangnail. "I was worried what would happen if I left. I was terrified that someone else from my family would die. And...and I was also afraid they might kill me if I tried to leave. They said they wouldn't but...I didn't believe them. So I stayed." The hangnail started to bleed. She let it. "There was a reason that you couldn't find any trace of me that first year before I was confirmed dead. I never left the House of Black and White. They kept me in there, training."

"What kind of training?" he asked.

"Endurance training," she said. "I practiced going without food or water. Pain resistance too. And there was a time they put me on a drug. 'The Long Night'. You've probably heard of it. It has terrible withdrawal symptoms. You go blind temporarily. They used that as training too. Being able to get around without one of your senses. That can be important." She shifted in her seat. "It wasn't all painful things though. I learned my way around quite a few languages and accents. I learned how to disguise myself and change my posture. I learned how to lie. I was never very good at that though. I always lost the lying game. And sometimes the training was just...boring. Routine. I swept a lot of floors, polished a lot of tables. Learned to watch and listen to the others.

"Then one day they told me that Arya Stark was dead. Her body had been found in Westeros and the search was over. I was allowed outside again for the first time and I learned other skills. How to blend in. How to go unnoticed. How to take in my surroundings, even the finest detail. I used to come back from a day out and list every single thing I noticed. From a fight in the square to the color of a man's buttons. Sometimes I would talk for over an hour about what I saw, and they would still tell me it wasn't enough. So I got better at that too. Got better at the fighting. The training. It all stopped being so difficult after a while.

"But I never got better at forgetting Arya Stark. I tried. I tried to push all my memories down into some dark place. I tried to forget the names and faces of my family. I couldn't. They kept coming back to me. I decided it must be because I didn't have my vengeance yet. Once that was settled and the culprit was dead...then I could let Arya go." She swallowed hard. "But the culprit is dead and Arya is still here. I'm useless to them as no one...I'm useless to them as Arya Stark. Unless of course I'm dead." She forced herself to look up at Tywin then. He had been watching her with a steady gaze the entire time, practically unblinking. "That's why...you were meant to kill me."

"I'm sorry to disappoint them," Tywin said. "But I'm not going to kill you."

"Why?" she asked. "I was lying to you the whole time. Infiltrating your family knowing that I would probably be asked to hurt one of them one day. And I'm a Stark. Why should you care? It would be easier if you just—"

He held up a hand and she quieted. "You're trying to bait me again. It won't work."

She tucked one knee up to her chest. "I still want an answer."

He exhaled. "Because. I made a mistake on that day three years ago. Letting you go when I could see you were about to run. I didn't care at the time because you weren't my business. But it seems letting you go was the first domino in a long series that spiraled into this mess of a situation we have today. It was playing into the hands of whoever orchestrated all of this. And I'm not going to play that game a second time. I'm starting my own. And they can come and meet me on my board."

She swallowed hard. "And what if you still lose?"

"Then I do it on my own terms," Tywin said. "Besides...six decades in this world and I haven't lost yet. Could be an interesting change of pace."

Arya wanted to believe that he could go toe to toe with the Faceless men. But then, she had never seen them lose either and she did not want to lose her family in the collateral. It was easier, wasn't it? If she was the sacrificial lamb?

"You must see that you've been on someone else's board as well," Tywin said. "You think that you went to Braavos of your own volition, but someone placed that coin hoping that someone would find it. It happened to be you. But if you had set that coin down and went home, I'm sure a faceless man would have found you later on and told you the tale of your father's death. They would have gotten you one way or another."

"You're probably right," Arya murmured. "They...like to make it seem like you have choices at first. Like it's your decision. Like you can pick anything you want. But it's some impossible choice or it's not a choice at all. And I've just been a pawn all this time, thinking that I had any sort of control."

"So make a choice they didn't give you," Tywin said.

"What if they expected that too?" Arya asked quietly. "What if...what if that's also part of their plan."

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough." Tywin picked up one of the guns, Arya's gun, from the desk and refilled the chamber with bullets. She watched curiously as he stood from his desk and circled around to her. "I'm going to give this back to you. I'm not going to make you promise me anything. I'll remind you, of course, that your mother is on the way here right now and so is the rest of your family." He held out the gun. "But at the end of the day...it's your choice."

Arya looked up at him, not sure at all what to say. She has been given many choices in these past three years. Terrible choices with only one clear answer. This was different. There was an option...a possibility...that might help them avoid a war between their families. Or it could crash and burn, and she could lose absolutely everything.

The risk was terrifying to her. It seemed easier for her to die. But Arya Stark had never been one for the easy path.

So she took the gun and stood, returning it to the holster at her belt. "All right. A new game then."

And maybe it was a trick of the light, but she was sure she saw him almost smile.

Calls from Tywin Lannister were never without purpose, but never had a call set Catelyn's heart racing quite like this one. And his words kept playing over and over again in her head.

"Get in touch with your children. Come within an hour. I'll explain when you arrive."

He said her family was in danger. But from who? Did he find out the true culprit behind all of this? Or did he simply overhear something. Either way, he would not ask her to bring her entire family unless it was truly serious.

My whole family has never been to the Lannister manor, she thought weakly. Will that many Starks and Lannister survive being in one place together?

She didn't have time to worry about that. She had a lot of calls to make. She got in touch with Robb who was still at the office. With Jon who would be off his shift soon. With Sansa who was out with friends. She told them all to meet Robb at the office and go with him. She didn't want any of them alone right now.

Bran and Rickon were home thank the gods. And Arya was already at the Lannister manor, so she was safe. Tywin told her to act natural but to take a different car than usual. But she needed one accessible to Bran's wheelchair, so maybe she should role the dice. It wouldn't be natural to be seen hauling her son into a car he couldn't easily use.

She was just about to go upstairs to find them when a knock came at the door. Her body seized up and she stared straight ahead, not sure what to do. Pretend she wasn't home? No. If this person was a threat, they wouldn't care about that. But she did grab a letter opener from the desk as she made her way toward the door and peered through the peep hole.

She exhaled when she saw who it was. Peytr. She didn't exactly want to deal with him right now, but at least he wasn't here to kill her. Carefully, she set down the letter opener on the table, put on a smile and opened the door.

"Peytr. Did you need something?"

"Do I only come here when I need something?" Peytr raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry if I've been that poor a friend lately. I guess I have been busy with my new business."

"No. It's not that. Sorry, it's been a busy day." Catelyn ran a hand through her hair. "How has the business been going?"
"Well. But I didn't come to discuss that," Peytr said. "I came to check in on you. I was in the neighborhood, you know? After all the excitement at the wedding and everything afterward…well, I know that must have been a lot."

"Oh," Catelyn nodded. "Right. You…you were there, weren't you? I saw you before the wedding."

"I was there," Peytr said. "But I didn't stay for the whole reception. I was called away for something with work. Figured no one would care too much." He sighed. "And then I apparently missed the main event."

"It was shocking," Catelyn said. "I was never close with Stannis. He did not take me as seriously as my husband. But still, he was a good man."

"Yes," Peytr agreed. "I'd worked some with him before when Robert was still the CEO. Not a fun man, but very shrewd at business. Trusted no one. You couldn't get anything past him. And he was probably the most suited to run the company even when Robert was in charge. Now that he's gone…well, we'll see how Renly handles it."

"We will see," Catelyn said. She was only half paying attention to him. Her mind was still on Tywin Lannister's call. On her children. She heard her phone buzzing in the parlor, and she wondered if it was one of them. If there had been an accident.

"I hope it won't effect your business," Petyr said. "Stannis worked with the Starks but now that Renly is in league with the Tyrells…he might cause you problems."

"Nothing we can't handle," Catelyn said.

"I'm sure. But if he does try to take advantage, I have some insider information about the company that I'd be willing to trade." He grinned. "For a drink of course."

Petyr's advance would usually irritate Catelyn if she did not have one million other things to think about. She just nodded once, smiling. Maybe it would get him out the door. "I'll think about it. But for now I have a lot to do today. I don't mean to be rude, but…"

"No, of course. I dropped by unannounced," Petyr gave her a little nod, stepping back toward the door. "Tell the kids I said hello of course. And call me if you need anything. Anything at all."

"I will." She smiled thinly, grasping the door as he moved away. She tried very hard not to slam it shut, but she was trembling when it finally closed.

By all accounts she did need help. She was juggling so many things right now. The business, the shock from the wedding, her children, the mystery of her husband's death and whatever was going on with the Lannisters. But Petyr was not the one to help her.

He may be a friend, but he was ambitious and did everything for himself at the end of the day. That's why she didn't trust him with her grief when she lost Ned. Because he saw it as an opportunity to win her again. And she wouldn't trust him with the business because he'd see that as a way to further his own interests. And she couldn't trust him with the current mess because far too many people knew already, and he might let something slip if he thought it could benefit him.

Funny then, that you trust Tywin Lannister, she thought. A man who would also do everything for his own personal gain. But she hadn't chosen to trust him. She had no choice. The situation with Arya had tied their families together and there was no getting out of that.

She let out a breath and headed for the stairs. She had delayed long enough. It was time to figure out what the hell was going on.

Arya had never seen a stranger gathering of people in her life. She had interacted with everyone in this room at one point or another. But never at the same time.

There were eleven in all gathered in the living area just off the parlor room. Five Lannisters and six starks. Cersei was already at the manor of course, along with Myrcella and Tommen. Jaime had arrived shortly after. Then came her mother with her two youngest brothers. Then Robb, Jon and Sansa, all together and unhurt. The last to arrive was Tyrion Lannister. It surprised her that Tywin included him in his calls, considering he never seemed to care much about his youngest son. But after what happened to Joffrey, perhaps he was just being cautious.

Arya watched them all through the crack in the parlor, too afraid to venture in. At first, they kept silent and separate, sizing each other up. But then a few of them started to cross the threshold. Tommen struck up a conversation with Rickon about school. Myrcella sat beside Sansa and complimented her dress. Jaime wandered next to Jon, and Arya thought she heard him asking something about the investigation into Joffrey's death. How strange it was to see her worlds colliding. Beth and Arya's worlds.

And her third life… the life of no one…threatened to swallow them both up.

That's why she lingered outside of the door, too afraid to go inside. If she entered that room, her family would want explanation. The Lannisters too. And she would have to give it. Telling her story to Tywin had been like scratching open a poorly healed wound. She couldn't imagine recounting the same story to her mother and siblings.

"They're waiting for you, you know."

Tywin's voice behind her made her jump. Right. She wondered when he would arrive. She turned her eyes to her feet.

"I know. They're waiting for an explanation of all this," Arya said. "Can't you give it to them?"

"It's not my story to tell," Tywin said. "And I doubt you want me to tell the full story."

Arya swallowed hard. No. She did not want Tywin to tell her family of her attempted suicide at his hand. She couldn't imagine looking her mother or any of them in the eye after that.

"You don't have to tell them everything," Tywin said. "Just enough to make them understand. The rest is yours to give to who you want."

She nodded once, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. "It's…a strange gathering of people in there." She looked up at him. "Ever think you'd see that?"

"No. Not even in my wildest dreams," Tywin said.

"You don't strike me as someone who has wild dreams, Mr. Lannister," Arya said. "You barely strike me as someone who sleeps."

"I do sleep," Tywin said. "And because I sleep, I'm sharp enough to know when you're avoiding the inevitable."

Arya huffed. "Right. I'm going."

She took a deep breath. Then entered the room.

All eyes turned to her as she stepped through the door. Or maybe they were turning to Tywin. Either way, she was the one who had to give the explanation. Her mother rose at once, moving over to her and resting a hand on her arm.

"Good, you're here. I was worried."

Arya nodded once. "Yes, I've been here. Sorry I worried you."

It was an apology that simply did not cover all the pain she had put her mother and her family through. No words could make up for that. But at least she could offer an explanation.

"Do you want to tell us why you've gathered this strange assembly, father?" Cersei asked flatly. She had a glass of wine in her hand, and she looked exhausted. Arya doubted she had slept since the death of her son. "Since Starks and Lannisters don't usually do family chats, and my patience at the moment is extremely thin."

"All of our patience is thin," Tywin said. "And thinner by the day. But we do have some answers that we didn't have before."

"Does one of those answers involve what happened to my son?" Cersei asked.

"Yes," Arya said without thinking. "Yes. It does. I know who killed him."

Cersei looked at her, blank faced with shock. And Arya's words sent a stir throughout the room. Myrcella and Tommen gripped each other's hands and Jaime shifted over to Cersei's side. Her mother looked from Tywin back to Arya.

"What do you mean?"

"I know who killed him," Arya said. "But not who ordered it. The people behind his death, behind Stannis' death…they never act alone. They never act unless they are paid."

"Someone put out a hit then?" Jon asked, taking a step forward.

"Yes, in a sense," Arya said. "Someone paid the Faceless men for death. And they gave it to them."

"The Faceless men," Jaime repeated. "They're a Braavosi group, aren't they? They don't involve themselves in Westeros politics."

"And if I'm not mistaken, most people consider them more of a conspiracy theory than a true organization," Tyrion said.

"No," Arya said. "In Braavos, they have a great deal of influence. Everyone knows their name. Their sayings. And they do involve themselves in Westeros, but they don't leave traces behind. Nothing that can be connected to them. The people who work for them are 'no one' anyway. They can't be found. Can't be blamed. They're all living ghosts and they know how to kill without being found."

"Then how do you know they are connected to this?" her mother murmured.

Arya couldn't bring herself to look at her. She stared straight ahead, fixating at a point on the wall. "Because that's where I was for three years. I was with them."

If the statement about Joffrey's death sent a wave of confusion throughout the room, this statement created a…stillness. Everyone seemed to freeze. To quiet. To focus on her, waiting for more.

Arya glanced at Tywin instinctively, perhaps with the vain hope he might bail her out. He merely inclined his head.

So she began to explain.

She did not give them everything. She didn't want everyone in this room to know everything. More detail could be given to her loved ones later. Piece by piece. Bit by bit. But she told them the barest details about why she crossed the narrow sea. What the Faceless men had promised her. What they taught her to do and why they sent her back.

She told them about her meeting with the Waif. That the girl had made her fear for her family but also for the lives of the Lannisters. That the Waif didn't want the Starks and Lannisters aligned anymore because it must make things difficult for her employer. She told them that she didn't know if the rest of the Faceless men shared this view, but that she assumed so. She hadn't heard back from Jaqen yet.

They listened mostly without interruption. Just the occasional question asked in a soft, disbelieving voice. She knew her family had many, many more questions. Particularly her mother. But they had the grace to put them aside for now.

When Arya at last fell silent, Tywin spoke up again. "It is possible the Stark family would be in danger tonight. I've sent a few people to watch the house to see if anyone moves on it. But we could be in danger here as well. That's why we're all here. To see what our enemies do next."

"I don't suppose that they'll simply set fire to the building while we are in it," Tyrion said. "Kill all of us in one go."

"No," Arya said. "Each and every death is paid for with the Faceless men. No one could afford this many deaths. And a fire of that scale would suggest a culprit. They don't have anyone easy to blame like they had with Stannis and Joffrey."

"So if they only want one death," Jaime said. "Whose death would they want?"

Arya did not respond. She knew the answer but did not want to give it. She did not want to recount what had happened a few hours ago.

"It's more that they wanted a wrench driven back between our families," Tywin said. "There are many deaths that could achieve that, especially if no one knew the entire story."

Arya let out a breath, letting her face go neutral again. "Exactly."

There was a long silence. Then her mother nodded. "Fine. Then we wait here. And we see if anyone makes a wrong move. We'll figure out what to do from there."

"Reasonable enough," Jaime said. "I suppose we can survive in each other's presence for a night at least."

"Don't jinx it, brother," Tyrion said. "Happy to be included in the party though."

Arya looked to Cersei. The person she worried most about. Her expression was still blank. "You say that this Waif killed Joffrey."

"Someone else wanted the death. But yes," Arya said.

"Then I hope she comes," Cersei said. "So I can strangle her myself."

Arya chose not to tell Cersei that the Waif could kill most anyone in this room without blinking. Even Arya herself. As long as Cersei agreed to stay, that was all that mattered.

And with no other objections raised, it seemed they had a plan. Most importantly—all the Starks and the Lannisters were now on the same page. They couldn't be set against each other or confused by various threads of information. And if one of them died, the others could not be easily blamed.

The Waif and the one controlling her…they wanted the Lannisters and Starks to stop working together. Arya would give her the exact opposite.

And if she had a problem…well she could come and get her.

A/N: Expect fun Stark-Lannister interactions next week. And perhaps a visit from the lovely Waif ;) Thanks for everyone's constant support and patience. Review, subscribe and I'll see you next time!