ARYA

To Arya, the holidays were an emotional rollercoaster altogether.

First, Bran eloped with his girlfriend, Meera. And before he did that, he left everything, everything in her name. His position in the Northern Alliance Builders or the NAB, his car, even his shares and assets, and he even had paperwork to prove it.

Her family didn't take it well. Jon even left Winterfell earlier than he intended. Arya herself was mostly outraged because they could've prevented it from happening. If they were more accepting of Meera and given her a chance, Bran wouldn't have done it. Well, not Arya, to her, Meera was like an older sister she never had.

And things got worse when another bomb was dropped on her right in the middle of serving food to orphans with Gendry.

Speaking of Gendry, he's a big portion of her emotional rollercoaster. Ever since they'd spent time in that seminar in Harrenhal, Gendry has been her shoulder to cry on. They'd talk about their problems and give each other advice on the phone on most nights or whenever they were free.

And the Mormont girls teasing her about it all the time was not helping.

"We are not dating!" Arya would always insist.

"Oh, really?" Jorelle wondered. "Don't you talk about your day to him? Like with details?"

Arya shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

"You tell each other your problems and give each other advice?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Ooh," Lyanna raised her hand. "What about texting each other good morning and good night, with emojis?"

"Yeah, I guess," Arya said. "But not those cringey heart emojis. Ugh! Just smiley faces."

"And for the million-gold dragon question," Jorelle said. "Have you two ever kissed?"

Arya made a face.

"Ha!" Lyra spoke up. "You're hesitating!"

"No, we haven't," She admitted. "Well, he did kiss me on the cheek once and I punched him."

All three Mormonts squealed.

"Well, Arya," Lyra said. "I'm no expert. And you may not be in the dating phase yet, but it's definitely getting there."

Lyanna frowned at her sister. "How would you know? You're single."

"Baby sis," Lyra only smirked. "I don't need to be in a relationship to notice the obvious."

Nevertheless, Arya would only roll her eyes at them. But when Gendry arrived at Winterfell two days before Christmas, she did have coffee with him, and then they went out for some ramen.

She also found it weird that he traveled alone, which was highly unlikely, because his assistant, Hot Pie was usually around. Be it business meetings, seminars, or mountain climbing with friends.

"Where's Hot Pie?" Arya asked. "Why isn't he with you? He's always with you."

"He's on sabbatical," Gendry explained. "And besides, it's the holidays."

Gendry discussed that he traveled North because his Uncle Renly told him to find a possible lot for them to build their Northern branch of Stormbreaker Tech. And so far, the lot his Uncle liked was right across Stark Industries.

Arya nearly choked on her ramen. "No way," She said. "We'd be neighbors."

"Your Dad saw me in the Capitol, by the way," He recalled. "He insisted that I drink hot chocolate with him in his office. And I did."

"He didn't bore you with his politics talk, did he?"

"Oh, no," He assured. "Mostly, he asked me about how my family's doing."

The following day, the day before Christmas, they both visited an orphanage that's sponsored and funded by the Winter Rose Foundation, as they were handling a sort of Christmas party for the kids.

The Winter Rose Foundation is a charity organization founded by Lyanna Stark, Jon's Mom. They sponsor and fund orphanages, and homes for the elderly and people with disabilities. They also fund medical missions, medical assistance to those that cannot afford expensive treatments, house-building projects, and emergency humanitarian assistance. They also host and fund soup kitchens all around the North.

The people in the Lyarra Stark Orphanage are used to Arya, as she often visits there whenever she can. But of course, they were dumbfounded to see Gendry there. Especially since he didn't even look all dressed up like how people see him when he's on TV, but just his regular self—a laid-back guy in a simple white t-shirt and trousers.

"This is exciting," Gendry said as he sat on the shotgun seat of her car. And he was like a kid whose parent was out to take him for ice cream. "I've never been to an orphanage before. How are things looking there?"

"It's kinda fun," Arya admitted. "You get to see the happy smiles on the children's faces. That alone is very rewarding. It's something no amount of money can buy."

"That's nice," He pointed out. "Maybe I should volunteer for our charity in Storm's End. And I think Shireen could really use some help too."

Arya nearly stepped on the brakes. "Shireen?" She repeated as she could feel a wave of jealousy that she couldn't explain where it came from. "Who's she?"

"She's my cousin," He explained. "Her Dad and my Dad are brothers."

"Oh," Arya sighed in relief. And the wave of jealousy disappeared.

"She works at Baratheon Corp.," He continued. "But Uncle Renly allows her to supervise the Stags and Does Foundation—that's the name of the charity under Baratheon Corp."

"That'd be great," She agreed. "And if you need pointers, I'd be happy to help."

Gendry nodded. "Okay, so what should I expect going to this orphanage?" He asked.

"Well, first things first, you're the president's son," Arya blurted out. "So, the people there would obviously be very surprised to see you. They're probably gonna see you as some celebrity or something."

"Oh, I got that covered," He assured. "It always seems to happen everywhere I go."

"Good, also there's gonna be a lot of hugs," She enumerated. "Because you know, kids. They'll also call you names. Some of the kids call me Strawberry Shortcake because of the pink highlights in my hair. And some of the staff call me Lya because they say I look like my Aunt Lyanna—you know, Jon's Mom—she used to run the Winter Rose Foundation."

"Some people call you Lya?" He frowned. "I thought you hated being compared to your Aunt Lyanna."

Arya shrugged. "Well, my middle name is Lyanna, so technically, they aren't comparing me to her. I'd like to think that they're only calling me by my middle name. And no, you cannot call me that. Unless, you know, Secret Pact Number 3."

Gendry raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, message received."

"Also, in your case, there will be a lot of questions."

Arya parked the car. They walked towards the building and just as they entered, kids bombarded her with hugs.

"Ms. Arya!" The kids squealed as they pushed through each other, trying to get to her.

"Strawberry Shortcake!" One kid called.

"Aww, they sure love you." Gendry pointed out.

The kids turned to him like they haven't noticed him until he said a word.

"Is he your boyfriend?" A kid asked.

"No!" Arya countered. "He's just a friend. His name is Gendry and he's the president's son."

The kids went ooh! Then the questions came. Do you live in the Red Keep? What's it like living in a castle? Why aren't those men in white following you around?

Gendry gently and politely answered every question thrown at him by the kids.

Maliya Mazin came to meet them. She was a tall, blond woman in her mid-thirties. She's also the activities director and sometimes an event organizer of the Winter Rose Foundation, and she takes over when Arya's not around.

"Ms. Arya," Maliya greeted. "The food is being prepped in the multi-purpose hall. And our hired Santa Claus is on his way here. We're good to go."

"Excellent work, Mal," Arya said. "And I—" She was interrupted by Maliya's surprised facial expression at someone behind her. "What?"

Arya turned and saw Gendry heading in their direction and apparently has three kids clinging to him.

"Oh, my gods," Maliya exclaimed. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Mm-hmm," Arya nodded. "About that, he came here with me. You know, to volunteer."

Gendry got the kids off him before approaching them. "Hi," He said holding out his hand for Maliya to shake. "I'm Gendry Baratheon."

Maliya took about two seconds before she shook his hand. "Maliya Mazin, Activities Director." She introduced herself. "I must say, Mr. Baratheon, I did not expect to see you here."

"Please, call me Gendry," He insisted. "Mr. Baratheon seems too formal."

"Alright, Mr. Gendry," Maliya nodded.

"Uh, let's drop the prefix as well," Gendry suggested.

Maliya made a small squeal like she disagreed with his statement before leaving.

"Is she okay?" Gendry asked.

"Oh, it's fine," Arya assured. "I've been telling her to drop the prefix for years now. But, you know, wherever she's comfortable with, I can live with that."

Gendry turned to the kids playing in the indoor playground, which was separated by glass partitions.

"So, honestly, there were more kids than I expected," He admitted. "It's just so sad."

"I know," Arya agreed. "Most of these kids were abandoned, you know, left at the gate. Some were rescued from living in the slums because no one could support them, and others are victims of psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse, rescued from their so-called family and are being monitored to be in foster care."

"Oh, gods," He muttered.

"That girl with the pigtails," Arya pointed out. "She's seven and she was molested by her own father. That boy in the wheelchair in a grey coat, he's only nine. He was in the car with his parents and two sisters when a drunk driver ran a red light and smashed into their car. He was the only survivor and he was paralyzed from the waist down. And those three girls in the playhouse, they're sisters, ages eight, six, and five. They were found in the streets of downtown Winterfell, asking for money in the freezing cold. Their parents are dead, so they were left to fend for themselves. They didn't even have coats on and the six-year-old girl is partially blind."

Gendry didn't say a word, but Arya could tell that her narrating some of the kids' experiences upset him.

"It's sad, I know," Arya said. "At first, charity work was just a bargaining chip for me to climb a mountain. But as I've learned their stories, it made me eager to really help these kids. There may be nothing we can do about their pasts, but we can do something to help them in their future. You know, survive from day to day, help overcome their traumatic pasts, be prepared for whatever's coming, and also find them a new home where they will be loved and accepted. And I think that's what pushed Aunt Lyanna to do charity work."

"Wow," He said in awe.

Arya turned to him, only to find him already staring at her with a weird smile on his face.

"What?" She demanded.

Gendry looked away. "Nothing," He said. "I…that was just so deep."

"Well, I mean it," She insisted. "I need to help these kids in any way I can."

While workers and volunteers were carrying in the food, Arya approached the three girls by the playhouse while Gendry assisted several kids on the slide.

The eldest, eight-year-old Serena was pretending to make tea with the teapot playset. The six-year-old, partially blind Sannah was gently brushing the yellow stringed hair of the princess rag doll she was holding, while the youngest, five-year-old Sarisa, was guiding her sister on which way to brush.

"Ms. Arya!" All three girls squealed, then hugged her when she sat beside them.

"I'm making tea!" Serena beamed.

Sannah tugged her shirt. "Ms. Arya, can you braid my hair for the tea party?" She asked.

"Of course, sweetie," Arya agreed.

And as Arya braided Sannah's hair, the girl sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Gendry noticed and approached them. She then introduced Gendry to the girls.

"You have a very nice voice, Sannah," Gendry said. "How old are you?' He asked.

"I'm six, turning seven," Sannah replied.

Gendry grabbed a mini acoustic guitar from the mixed pile of toys and musical instruments. And nope, it wasn't a ukulele, it was an actual guitar, but just smaller. Ukuleles only have four strings while guitars have six.

"You know, when I was your age," He said. "I used to sing for my little brother and sister. Their favorite song was Somewhere Over the Rainbow. If it's okay, we can sing it again, but this time—" He strummed the mini guitar—"with music."

"Yay!" Sannah clapped her hands in excitement.

Six-year-old Sannah sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow while Gendry strummed the chords on the mini guitar. As they did, other kids started to gather around them.

"If you know the song, you can sing it with us too," Gendry suggested.

In an instant, they have a choir of children simultaneously singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Arya found herself staring at him in awe. She had never seen this side of Gendry before. And she didn't even know this side of him existed. Volunteering for charity, being comfortable around kids. Sure, he was nice, kind, and kinda annoying, but his Somewhere Over the Rainbow scheme had definitely struck a chord in her.

. . .

In the multi-purpose hall, the food was served in buffet catering style, with volunteer servers handing out portions. Arya and Gendry were on the front lines, handing out bowls of mushroom soup and pieces of fried chicken respectively. Those aren't the only food served, by the way, there's a lot more and all of them are vegetarian friendly. Well, except for the fried chicken.

In the middle of serving mushroom soup, Arya had gotten the news about Jon. And it was Robb who dropped the bomb.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and had to remove a plastic glove to check on who was calling. Big Brother, it said.

Oh, boy, Arya thought. It's obviously an emergency because Robb never calls unless it's really, really important.

Arya turned to Maliya Mazin, who was overseeing the food being carried out for refills. "Mal, can you take over for me?" She asked. "I just need to take this."

"Of course, Ms. Arya," Maliya said, then immediately put on plastic gloves and took over with no problem.

"Hey," Gendry called. "Where are you going?"

Arya pointed at her phone. "Urgent call."

She answered the phone and Robb didn't even let her speak.

"Hey, baby sis," Robb greeted. "Where are you right now?"

Arya sighed. "Hello to you too, big bro," She responded as she got out of the room and into the quieter hallway. "Listen, I'm at the orphanage and I'm really busy right now. So I'll just go straight to the point. What do you want from me?" She asked.

"Okay, um," Robb slowly said. "Arya, baby sis, maybe you should sit down first before I tell you."

"Why would it matter if I'm standing or sitting down?"

"Just—"

"Robb, I'm busy!" Arya insisted. "Get to it!"

She could hear Robb taking a deep breath from the other line. "Look, there's no other way of saying this, but Jon—"

Instantly, the mention of Jon's name got Arya's attention. "What about Jon?"

Robb was silent like he was hesitating.

"Robb, what about Jon?" She asked again. "Is he okay?"

"That's the thing, we don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" She insisted. "Dude, stop scaring me like this!"

"Okay, you said you're at the orphanage, right?" Robb said. "Find a TV and go to the midday news on channel five."

"Okay," She said, running towards the lobby, where there was a TV by the receptionist's desk. "Okay, I'm gonna do that."

The TV in the lobby was on and it showed some trivia game show. Thankfully, the receptionist, Eyva wasn't there—she was probably on a lunch break—so Arya had to manually change the channel by pressing the buttons behind it.

Arya changed the channel to the midday news on channel five. And she nearly dropped her phone after a few seconds of seeing the news.

Military and Police Ambushed by the Free Folk, the headline said. A guy was being interviewed, PMaj. Mallador Locke was the name written on the screen. By the looks of him, the guy still looked pretty shaken up, traumatized, even. Like he saw something he wasn't supposed to see but had to compose himself because he's going to be on TV.

"—about five hundred meters to Crasters when we saw the remains of those of the second platoon." Mallador Locke said. "We were supposed to join Captain Stark and the first platoon of twenty people in Crasters when we got ambushed and had to retreat. That's when I lost contact with them."

A female news reporter then asked a question. "Major Locke, you said you're supposed to join Captain Stark in Crasters. What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"All three platoons took different routes to Crasters," Major Locke explained. "The first platoon, led by Captain Stark, was the only platoon that actually reached Crasters. The second platoon…weren't so lucky."

"So what are the current updates on the first platoon?" Another interviewer asked.

Major Locke paused for an uncomfortable few seconds. "Wedon't know." He admitted. "We lost contact with them." He paused again, then looked like he was about to cry. "I'm sorry, I need to go." Then he walked out in the middle of the interview with news reporters asking a dozen questions at once.

Arya turned the TV off.

"Arya?" Robb called out. "Arya, are you still there?"

She hadn't realized she was still holding her phone by her ear. "Oh, my gods," She shrieked, then her eyes watered.

"Arya, listen to me," Robb said. "We don't know anything yet, so let's not think of the worst-case scenario here."

"He went on a mission beyond the Wall," She muttered. "On Christmas."

"Look, I came to Stark Industries for some last-minute Christmas bonus check signing," Robb explained. "I'll head to Castle Black, to Uncle Benjen to see if they have news on Jon. Do you want—"

"I wanna go with you!" Arya said louder than she intended.

"Alright, I'm walking to my car right now. I'll swing by there and pick you up."

"Okay," She said haft-heartedly before hanging up the phone.

Arya couldn't even move and stood by the reception counter. She couldn't believe what she just saw on the news. Apparently, Jon went on a mission, on Christmas, without telling her—she was mad about that part. But the fact that he went and…

No! She mentally screamed at herself. Jon is not dead! Stop thinking like that! Don't you ever think that!

She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Gendry calling out her name and a hand gently patted her shoulder from behind.

"Arya, there you are," Gendry said as he faced her, then his expression changed to concern when he saw that she'd been crying. "Oh, my gods, are you okay?"

"No," She admitted and could hear her own voice trembling.

Gendry then wrapped her in a hug. "It's gonna be okay." He assured. "What's wrong?"

Arya gladly returned the same hug. "Jon went on a mission beyond the Wall," She blurted out. "And now, he's missing."

Then she sobbed uncontrollably, in the lobby, which thankfully had no people lingering.

Gendry had her seated on one of the couches in the lobby. Then went back to the multi-purpose hall where the Christmas party was held and came back with a bottle of water in his hands.

"Here," He handed her the bottled water. "Drink up. All that crying is gonna make you dehydrated."

Arya was gonna make some stupid remark about it, but simply rolled her eyes at him, then drank the water.

"So, you mind telling me what happened?" He asked.

She recalled Robb's phone call and the news on TV. It was hard to retell it and not cry again so Gendry placed an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder to calm her down.

"Are you sure that's Jon?" He asked. "Because we shouldn't jump to any conclusions—"

"There are only two Starks in the Military," She interrupted. "The guy in the interview mentioned a Captain Stark and Jon's rank is Captain."

"Well, of course, he'd survived that," He reassured. "Anyone in the Military is tough as nails, especially Jon."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"You know Jon better than most people," He pointed out. "What do you think he'll do if you're trapped and had nowhere else to go?"

"Hide," Arya replied. "Study your surroundings, take inventory, and formulate a plan to get out of danger." She shrugged. "Not necessarily in that order, but that's basically survival tips."

"There you go," Gendry smiled. "Maybe that's what Jon is doing right now."

"I hope so," She said absent-mindedly.

"Arya!" Someone called.

They both turned and saw Robb in the lobby frowning at them.

"Robb," Arya said.

Gendry quickly removed his hand around Arya's shoulder as they both stood.

Robb had tuffs of snow on his auburn hair. He was in a black business suit and wore a trench coat over it with a scarf wrapped around his neck. And he had a suspicious glare on his face.

Arya frowned at her brother. "What in seven hells are you wearing?" She gestured to Robb's entire outfit.

Robb sighed. "I told you on the phone, I went to work today." He explained, then nodded at Gendry. "Gendry. I didn't know you were in Winterfell."

Gendry smiled. "Business meeting." He said. "Well, sort of."

"Really?" Robb raised an eyebrow at him. "All the way up North, on Christmas?"

"It's the only free time I got," Gendry said.

Robb shrugged. "Understandable." He said, then turned to Arya. "Come on, baby sis, we need to go. There's a blizzard coming."

"Right, I'll get my coat," Arya turned to leave and walked to her office.

"I'll be waiting in my car," Robb said, then nodded in Gendry's direction. "Nice seeing you, Gendry."

Arya quickly grabbed her coat and gave instructions to Maliya before heading back to the lobby.

"Wait," Arya stopped in her tracks and turned to Gendry. "What about you?"

"I'll stay for a while," Gendry insisted. "The kids would be disappointed if I miss the hired Santa Claus giving out presents."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Aren't you flying back to Storm's End today?"

"Well, I still got—" Gendry checked his wristwatch. "—four hours 'til boarding and I've already packed, so it'll be fine."

Arya smiled at him. "Thanks for everything," She gave him a quick hug, then a peck on his cheek. "And Merry Christmas."

Gendry smirked and then winked at her before she walked out of the building.

Robb and Arya had agreed to use his car to go to Castle Black and that he'd have to drive back there to get her car later.

Her brother was waiting.

"Hey," Arya greeted as she sat on the shotgun seat.

"Here," Robb handed her a plastic cup with some sort of hot beverage inside.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It's hot chocolate," He said. "I ordered us from the Starkgrand Drive-Thru." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, what is Gendry really doing North?"

"He already told you," She insisted. "He's here on business. Then afterwards, he came with me to the orphanage."

"Really?" His tone still seemed like he didn't believe her.

"Why in seven hells did he go to the Capitol then, huh?" She pointed out. "He even had hot chocolate with Dad."

Then he dropped a question that surprised her. "Huh, so are you guys dating?" He asked.

"What? No!" She shrieked. "Why does everybody think that? Oh, my gods, you're as bad as the Mormonts."

"You sound so defensive right now, baby sis."

"Because we aren't," She insisted. "There's literally nothing going on between me and Gendry." She took a deep breath before changing the topic. "So anyways, how did Mom and Dad react about Jon?"

"I don't know," He admitted. "But it's only a matter of time before—"

They were interrupted by a call on Robb's phone, which he had placed on the phone holder on his dashboard.

Little Sister, it displayed, which meant Sansa was calling him.

"There's a good chance Sansa is with Mom and Dad right now," Robb guessed, then answered the phone before placing the call on speaker. "Hey, lil' sis."

"Robb, have you heard about what happened to Jon?" Sansa asked from the other line.

"On the news, yeah," He admitted.

"Where are you?" She asked. "Dad's been trying to call Uncle Benjen but couldn't reach him."

"Oh, there it is!" Arya spoke up.

"Arya?" Sansa said in surprise. "What's she doing there?"

"Sansa, we're on our way to Castle Black," Robb explained. "I don't know if he's avoiding calls, but just to be sure, we wanna hear the news directly from him."

"How's Dad holding up?" Arya asked.

"Not good," Sansa's voice turned to whisper. "He's on the verge of losing it. Just like he did when Bran eloped with his girlfriend."

"Just tell him we're halfway to Castle Black," She suggested. "That should calm him down. At least, for now."

Once the phone call ended, Arya faced her brother. "Uncle Benjen's been avoiding calls?" She repeated.

Robb kept his eyes on the road. "We don't know for sure," He said. "But before driving to the Winter Rose, I tried calling him and it just takes me directly to voice mail."

"Son of a bitch," She cussed. "He definitely knows something. Pick up the pace, big bro."

"I'm trying," Robb complained. "This blizzard is making it harder to see."

. . .

To get to Castle Black Military Base, you'd have to pass two guarded gates. The first one is at the Gift. It's what they call the location of the military housing with several establishments enough for it to be recognized as a town but isn't referred to as one. Sure, it's a gated community, but it's not as strict as the gates to Castle Black.

If you enter the actual gates of Castle Black Military Base, they ask for identification before you're allowed to pass.

Several cars were parked outside the main building. And despite the blizzard, there were several people in the courtyards of Castle Black.

Normally, civilians aren't allowed in the Base unless they are family members or dependent on a service member who's working at the Base. Castle Black does have a visitor center that requires some sort of pass and it's usually for those people with scheduled appointments with service members like lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc.

So if Arya had to guess, these people are families of service members who went on the mission beyond the Wall with Jon. There were also press people with news reporters and cameramen.

"Oh, what in seven hells is this?" Robb frowned when he saw the crowd. "How the fuck are we gonna get through that?"

Arya made a face at her brother. "Don't worry, big bro. With you in that suit, they'd part ways like the Children of the Forest attempted to split Westeros into two."

"Ha-ha, very funny." Robb rolled his eyes at her. "Let's just go."

Just as she expected, a few people made way for them into the building, which made Robb slightly confused and Arya trying hard not to laugh.

"I told you so," She snickered as they entered the lobby of the main building.

"Oh, shut up," Robb muttered, then frowned at something behind Arya. "Huh, that's an odd mix of people."

Arya turned and saw the Mormont sisters, well, at least the three youngest ones, with Beren Tallhart. They were sitting on several ottomans in the lobby.

"The Mormonts," She noticed, then started walking towards them.

"And Beren Tallhart, apparently." Robb said as he followed her.

Lyanna, the youngest Mormont, saw them first. "Starks, hey!"

Lyra, the third oldest Mormont, raised her hand. "Wait, I know why you're here," She said. "You're hoping for some good news too, right?"

Arya nodded. "Yep," She said. "Uncle Benjen isn't answering phone calls and Dad's about to explode, so we're here."

Lyra glanced at Robb. "Ooh!" She clapped her hands. "And the best-dressed award goes to…" She gestured to Robb.

Jorelle, the fourth eldest Mormont, chucked. "You attended a party this early, Robb?" She asked.

Robb faked a laugh. "Ha-ha. Believe me, it's not the first time I heard today." He motioned his head towards Arya. "This one's been mocking me the whole way here."

Arya cleared her throat. "Anyways, I know why you're all here," She turned to Beren Tallhart. "Except you, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Same as you, Stark, A," Beren replied. "Hoping for some good news." He sighed. "My brother, Brandon's part of Jon's platoon."

"Yeah," Lyanna spoke up. "And so is Dacey."

"What?" Arya and Robb both exclaimed in unison. "Oh, my gods!"

"So what sort of news have you gotten by now?" Arya asked.

"Nothing," Lyanna said. "Our Mom and Aly went to Uncle Jeor's office and they haven't returned yet, so…fingers-crossed."

"Office," Robb repeated. "Yes! Arya, besides Jon, you're the one who's frequently visited here, right? So you know where Uncle Benjen's office is."

"Of course," Arya said. "It's just—"

"Aly!" Jorelle screamed. "Oh, my gods! Oh, my gods! What did Uncle Jeor say?"

Alysane, the second eldest Mormont, shrugged. "He's not in his office," She said. "His secretary just let us in and had us seated. Mom's still waiting for him, but I got bored."

"Where is Uncle Jeor?" Lyra asked.

"The secretary said he's on an emergency conference meeting with the other generals and high-ranking officials," Alysane explained. "They're doing some damage control or something, I don't know." She cleared her throat and her tone changed into a whisper. "The only info I got from eavesdropping around is that there were three platoons deployed."

"Hold on," Jorelle raised her hand. "How many people are there in a platoon?"

"That depends," Beren answered.

"Twenty," Arya blurted out.

All six of them stared at her.

"How in seven hells do you know that?" Robb asked.

"I mean, sure, Beren is right," Arya explained. "It depends. But that Police Major literally said in that news interview that the first platoon had twenty people. Well, twenty-one if you include the platoon leader."

Jorelle's mouth dropped in surprised. "Again, how do you know that?"

"Well, I might've sub-consciously absorbed that info," Arya recalled. "Jon spouted Military facts all the time. And he's the same with me when it comes to architecture or specific shades of acrylic paints."

"Um, we're getting sidetracked," Robb pointed out, then went back to Alysane. "Aly, you were saying?"

"Right," Aly said. "Three platoons were deployed. One platoon was able to retreat and that Police Major was their leader. One platoon was massacred to the last man, and one is missing in Crasters. And the missing platoon is Jon's platoon."

"Hey," Lyanna spoke up. "There's Lynesse." She said, pointing at a bespectacled young woman with blond hair entering the lobby. "Maybe she knows more information."

Robb frowned. "Lynesse?" He whispered to Arya. "Who's she?" He asked.

"Dr. Lynesse Hightower," Arya blurted out. "Jorah Mormont's wife."

"Jorah is married?" Robb gasped. "I didn't know that."

"Most people don't know," Jorelle explained. "It was a civil ceremony only attended by immediate family members."

Lynesse Hightower had her light blond hair in a ponytail and she wore eyeglasses. She was also the same age as Dacey Mormont and Robb's own wife, Talisa and they're in their late twenties, whereas Jorah Mormont was about the same age as their Uncle Benjen, who's in his early forties.

The Mormonts introduced Robb, Arya, and Beren to Lynesse Hightower before sitting down with them.

"I heard the news," Lynesse said. "I'm so sorry. But we mustn't rush to conclusions, okay?" She assured. "We don't know for sure. Don't worry, I'll try to get some information from Jorah."

Suddenly, the other people in the lobby started standing up and pressing forward toward several people in black military service uniforms. Sure enough, it was the high officials coming out from their emergency conference meeting. Most of them looked grim like the world had dropped onto their shoulders.

Other people, also in military service uniforms, which Arya assumed are enlisted soldiers, were holding people back.

"General Mormont," A news reporter asked. "What can you say about another failed attempt to—?"

Jorah Mormont stepped forward and addressed the crowd. "The Westeros Armed Forces will not entertain interviews until further notice. Thank you for understanding."

Jeor Mormont had his head down, from either sadness or guilt or both, considering his own niece was one of the missing people. He froze when he saw his other nieces, then gestured for all of them to follow him into his office down the hall.

Arya managed to grab Jorelle's hand. "Jory, give me a call if there's anything new your uncle and cousin will tell you."

Jorelle nodded. "Agreed, you do the same with your uncle."

As the Mormonts and Beren Tallhart follow Jeor and Jorah, and the enlisted pushed the crowd back, both Arya and Robb noticed their Uncle Benjen walking out the conference room with Ygritte's dad, Tormund, who usually had a wicked grin on his face, but now Arya couldn't read his expression.

"Uncle Benjen!" Arya called out, loud enough that their uncle immediately zeroed in on them.

Benjen Stark had an obvious expression of guilt and shame on his face. He never said a word to them and simply nodded for them to follow him.

Their uncle led them through a hallway, then approached a door with a silver nameplate that said, Lieutenant General Benjen Stark.

Uncle Benjen gestured for them to sit down on his leather couch. "Have a seat, please." He then went directly to his small pantry and pulled out three mugs. "Do you want hot chocolate? Coffee? I also have some bread pudding."

"We ate and drank on the way here, Uncle." Arya said.

"Alright," Benjen shrugged. "Just for me then." He poured himself a mug of hot chocolate before facing them.

Robb cleared his throat. "Uncle, Jon would tell you when he goes on assignments, right?"

"Usually, yes," Benjen replied as he sat down across from them on the ottoman. "But this time, he didn't. I only found out because General Mormont informed me."

Arya raised an eyebrow at her Uncle. "Were you aware how dangerous this assignment would be?" She asked.

"Of course, I'm aware," Benjen replied.

"Then why didn't you stop him from going?"

"I've tried several times," He pointed out. "You have no idea. And this wasn't the first time they sent people beyond the Wall for this particular mission. Jon and the others who went were the second company dispatched to finish the first attempt that failed."

"What?" Arya's tone was angry now. "There was a first attempt and it failed? How in seven hells are you sending more people to meet the same doom?"

"Hold on," Robb raised his hand. "What happened to the first company?" He asked.

"We assumed they were ambushed and massacred," Benjen informed. "Because if they were alive, they would've returned, but it's been a month now and no one returned. It's either they were killed, died off in the cold wilderness or they're taken as hostages. We'll never know. The second company was composed entirely of volunteers."

Robb frowned. "What do you mean?"

"In most cases," Benjen started to explain. "People get assigned to be on missions. But in this case, it was voluntary."

"You're saying Jon volunteered?" Robb assumed. "Why would he volunteer? And why didn't you stop him?" He demanded.

"Oh, that," Benjen emptied his mug. "Jon gave me a very simple answer, with lots of depths in it."

They waited.

"He volunteered because he didn't wanna spend Christmas in Winterfell," Benjen revealed. "But obviously, he's mad at me and your Dad."

"Is this because of what Howland Reed told him?" Robb asked.

Benjen shook his head. "I think it's because the answers he was looking for could've come from me or your Dad, but instead, he had to hear them from another person."

"It could've come from you, Uncle," Arya pointed out. "You just chose to not interfere."

"It's not that easy, Arya."

"You're afraid Dad's gonna shun you, isn't it?" She guessed. "The same way Dad's shunned Howland Reed and Rhaegar Targaryen." She sighed. "Uncle, he's not gonna do that to you. You're his brother, and besides us, you're his only family left."

"He nearly disowned Lyanna when he found out she was pregnant with Rhaegar's child," Benjen recalled. "Good thing your Mom was there. I swear to the gods, Cat is a great addition to the family. She's exactly the type of wife Ned needed—someone who can calm him down and make him listen."

"Look, we're getting sidetracked again," Robb said. "You were saying about the second company?"

"Right," Benjen replied. "The second company was composed of three platoons. Each platoon had twenty-one people, including the platoon leader." He explained. "They went on separate routes to Crasters, the town which they would regroup and plan their next move."

"What does that have to do with Jon?" Robb asked.

"Jon is a platoon leader," Benjen continued. "Of one of the three platoons deployed. And his platoon was the only one that reached Crasters, the other two didn't. One was massacred to the last man, while the other almost suffered the same fate but luckily, they were able to retreat."

"So Jon's still in Crasters? Couldn't you send more troops to get them out of there?"

Benjen sighed. "After what happened, I don't think they'd be sending more people out there."

"That's bullshit!" Arya cussed. "What in seven hells was that emergency conference meeting for?"

"It's for damage control," Their Uncle explained. "That was a black operation and it's never supposed to be on the news." He sighed again. "Look, as far as we know, Jon's last known location is in Crasters. Right now, the entire platoon's current status is missing in action. There's really nothing else we can do but wait."

Arya leaned back on the backrest. "Oh, my gods!" She said. "How in seven hells are we gonna tell Dad about this?"

"By the way, Arya," Benjen placed down his mug on his desk and grabbed a white envelope from one of the drawers. "Here."

Arya took the envelope from her Uncle. "What is this?" She asked.

"Jon said I should give it to you if anything happens to him."

Arya opened the envelope and it contained a handwritten letter from Jon. She proceeded to read its contents.

It said:

Arya,

If you're reading this, you're probably mad at everyone in a black uniform right now, even Uncle Benjen. I specifically addressed this to you because you have a way of calming people down. And by "people", I mean our entire family, especially your Dad. And I know he's probably pissed right now.

Look, no one is to blame for what happened. I SOLELY VOLUNTEERED to join this assignment. No one forced me to do it, no one pressured me to do it, IT WAS MY DECISION.

Please don't be mad at Uncle Benjen. You have no idea how many lectures he's given me and how many times he kept convincing me to not go, but I still refused and went. So, yeah, safe to say stubbornness is in our blood, don't you think?

If Uncle Ned threatens to sue officials, please stop him. I don't want things to worsen the way his friendship with Howland Reed soured after my Mom died, and with Bran running away with his daughter. Trust me, I wanted to fix that. And with my Mom gone, I believed I'm supposedly their last hope in fixing their torn friendship. I was going to fix it when I get back, but well, if you're reading this letter now it means something happened to me.

I'm not saying that I'm passing that responsibility to you now. I just want you to let them know to give others a second chance and that they should at least do it in memory of me and my Mom.

Last thing, before I got deployed I bought a Christmas gift for little Bran, my godson. It's on my desk, in my room in the Gift. You'll see it immediately, trust me. And also, please do not take Ghost away. Just leave him with Uncle Benjen to keep him company.

Take care always. I love you all!

Jon/Aegon

PS. If none of them believe you, let them read this letter then shove it to their faces to know that it's really hand-written and I actually put an effort into writing this.

P.P.S. If they still don't believe you, have the 2nd paragraph of this letter be engraved on a metal plate and attach it to my bedroom door at Stark Manor as a reminder. Either that or something else that's petty. Your choice.

Arya simply gave a soft chuckle after reading it. "Classic Jon."

Robb took the letter from her. "What does it say?" He then started reading its contents.

Arya took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I blamed you, Uncle Benjen," She apologized. "Clearly, Jon didn't even want us to know he was going off somewhere. He didn't even tell you."

Robb finished the letter and he looked worried. "Oh, Dad should be able to read this." He said. "Because I don't think he'd listen to anything Uncle Benjen will say right now. And Jon might be right, Dad's probably gonna sue several people for this."

Arya turned to their Uncle. "Uncle, maybe you can help explain to Dad—"

"No," Benjen shook his head. "I'm not going to Winterfell this Christmas."

"Is it because you can't bear to face Dad right now or…?" Robb started to say.

"Partly, yes," Benjen admitted. "But also, if there's going to be any news about Jon, I want to be the first to know."

"You're spending Christmas alone?" Arya made a face at him. "That's kinda sad."

"Oh, I won't be alone," Benjen insisted. "I have Ghost, and Tormund invited me to his place for dinner. That way, both of us won't be alone on Christmas."

"Tormund?" She repeated. "Where's Ygritte?"

"Ygritte volunteered with Jon," Benjen revealed. "So, technically, she's also M.I.A."

Arya buried her face in her hands. "Oh, my gods."

Out of all of Jon's girlfriends, Ygritte was the one Arya had gotten along with the most. Probably because they had a lot of similarities, like preferring spicy food over sweet (mostly because Northerners aren't accustomed to spicy food), taking up a sport mostly dominated by guys (Ygritte's a black-belter in taekwondo, and Arya herself is a fencer), or simply being a big daddy's girl (being able to convince their dads by negotiating or doing the puppy-dog-eyes at them).

"Don't worry," Their Uncle assured. "Someone will be dismissed from military service because of this, I can assure you."

. . .

Both Robb and Arya had to stop by their Uncle Benjen's house to pick up little Bran's present that Jon had left before driving back to Winterfell. Jon's gift to their nephew happened to be a caramel-colored furred teddy bear with a plaid necktie on its neck. It was kinda weird seeing Robb, who's in a business suit, carrying it around—he looked like a teddy bear salesman.

It was only four in the afternoon, but it was already getting dark. Robb had to turn his car's headlights to see better. They were discussing how to tell their Dad about Jon's status when Arya's phone rang.

Arya picked up the phone from her pocket and it showed who was calling: Gendry.

"Hey, Baratheon," She greeted.

"Hey, is there any good news?" Gendry asked.

"No," She admitted. "Jon's M.I.A. Uncle Benjen's not coming to Winterfell and probably the only thing that would keep my Dad from suing military officers is a single piece of paper."

"That sucks, I'm so sorry."

"I know," Arya said. "But hey, we'll have to make do with whatever we have." She sighed. "Anyway, are you at the airport already?"

"Uh, no, I'm back at my hotel." He said. "My flight's been canceled."

"What?"

"I know," He said. "It sucks, huh? I tried booking another flight from White Harbor but the airline said every flight from the North's been canceled for the next two days because of the blizzards. I'd probably travel to the Riverlands, at least, by train and then book a flight to Storm's End, but it'll take around four to six hours to reach Riverrun. And honestly, I don't wanna spend Christmas Eve on the train. It'll be easier to just stay put."

Arya took about two seconds before speaking again. "Okay, how about this, you can stay with us in Stark Manor until you can book a trip back to Storm's End."

"Whoa," Robb reacted from the wheel, still keeping his eyes on the road. "What are you doing?"

She got her phone away from her ear and covered the phone's microphone before turning to her brother. "Come on, it's the least we can do." She insisted. "He helped me track Bran and Meera's phones."

"I'm all for helping a friend, sure," Robb agreed. "But what about Dad? We haven't even told him about Jon yet."

Arya raised one hand at her brother, then went back to her phone.

"—not sure about that," Gendry said in the other line. "I wouldn't want to interfere with—"

"Hey, you won't be interfering," She assured. "I invited you, so…big difference. And besides, I think it's kinda sad if you're spending Christmas alone in a hotel room." She made a tsk sound. "Just saying."

She could hear Gendry taking a deep breath. "Alright, I guess," He finally said. "But is it okay with your parents because—?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Arya reassured. "So anyways, maybe I can pick you up at six in the evening? Is that okay?"

"Sure," He agreed. "I just have to call my Uncle Renly and then run to the nearest mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping."

"What?" She asked like she'd misheard him.

"Oh, come on," He said. "It's only four, so I have like, two hours, plus, it'd be weird if I didn't bring anything for my hosts."

"Dude, you'll be fine, okay?" She insisted. "I'll see you later." She said before hanging up.

"So, what did he say?" Robb asked. "Is he in?"

"Yeah, but he's obliged to bring something for the hosts."

Robb raised an eyebrow. "Huh, that's nice." He admitted. "Don't worry, baby sis, I'll have a guest room ready for him when we get home."

Arya narrowed her eyes at Robb. "Alright, what are you up to now?" She demanded. "If you do something to him, I swear to the gods—!"

"Hey!" Robb interjected. "Try to relax, baby sis. I'm not gonna do anything. It's just some people take advantage of other people's kindness, but I don't think Gendry's one of those people. I can sense that he's a good guy."

"What are you, a psychic now?"

Robb sighed. "No, it's just…you can tell, right? Call it what you will, intuition, a hunch, whatever. I picked up that he's a good guy. He volunteered to go to an orphanage," He continued. "He comforted you when you found out about Jon, and he's checking up on you after we went to Castle Black."

"And your point is?"

"I'm just saying that he might be a potential boyfriend."

"Oh, my gods!" She exclaimed. "Let's not go there. I've heard enough about this from the Mormonts and Jon, I don't need it from you too."

Robb raised one hand from the steering wheel. "Alright, jeez." He said. "But still, I think he likes you and you like him back. You're just too proud to admit it."

Arya glared at her brother.

Robb kept his eyes on the road. "Wow, I can feel your deathly glare at me right now, so I'm just gonna shut up."

Once they arrived and entered Stark Manor, their butler, Vayon Poole immediately told them that their Dad was waiting for them in the family room.

Robb took a deep breath. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Really?" Arya clapped. "A quote from Star Wars? You're starting to sound like Jon."

"I'll have Hullen park the SUV out front so he can drive you to the orphanage to get your car later," He said.

"Oh, you can do that later," Arya grabbed her brother's arm. "Right now, we gotta face Dad."

Everyone was indeed in the family room. Well, almost everyone. Their Dad Ned was standing by the fireplace and he was holding his phone by his ear. Sansa was sitting on the divan couch by the large window, holding a mug of hot chocolate with her dog Lady curled up by her lap. Rickon was sitting on the carpeted floor with his eyes fixed on his laptop on the coffee table, and his dog, Shaggy was resting his head on Rickon's knee. Their Mom was probably helping Talisa with the baby somewhere in the house.

Grey Wind and Nymeria ran to them when they entered the room.

"Hey!" Sansa got up and ran to them. "Did you talk to Uncle Benjen?" She asked.

Rickon turned to them. "Is Jon gonna be okay?" Then he noticed Robb's outfit and frowned. "Why are you in a suit?" Then he saw the teddy bear in his hands. "And what's with the teddy bear?"

"Of course, we talked to Uncle Benjen," Robb answered. "And for the record, the teddy bear's for my son. It's a gift from his godfather."

Arya took a deep breath. "Just don't get your hopes up, because we don't exactly have good news."

Their Dad put his phone back into his pocket and approached them. "What did your Uncle Benjen say?" He asked.

Both Robb and Arya had to explain about companies and platoons, the routes they took beyond the Wall heading to the town of Crasters, and the current statuses of the platoons deployed. They also had to explain that Jon's team was in the second company sent to finish the first failed attempt.

"The platoon that Jon led went missing in Crasters," Arya concluded. "Or at least, that's where they lost contact with them. As of now, their current status is missing in action."

"Hold on," Ned raised his hand. "They knew that it failed the first time, and they sent more people?" He huffed. "This is a lawsuit."

"No, no, no!" Robb interjected. "Dad, we are not suing anyone."

Ned shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe Jeor Mormont allowed this to happen." He stated.

"He didn't," Arya explained. "No, Uncle Benjen said it's someone named Thorne. I think he's a Colonel or something. He says General Mormont never wanted to approve it because no one returned from the first ones sent and well…his niece, Dacey is one of the volunteers."

Sansa crossed her arms. "Did Uncle Benjen really mention Dacey Mormont?"

Arya turned to her sister. "Well, unlike you, I'm actually friends with the Mormonts. So of course, they told me about Dacey and Brandon Tallhart being part of Jon's platoon, who are also all missing in action."

They were all stunned to hear the bad news, of course.

But Sansa ruined their moment. "Brandon Tallhart?" She repeated.

"Dacey's boyfriend," Arya pointed out. "Beren's brother? How do you not know those people?"

"I know them," Sansa insisted. "But what does that have to do with—?"

"Girls!" Ned snapped. "Not now! We've had enough problems without both of you bickering and adding to it!" He placed his phone back near his ear and then put it away. "Oh, who am I kidding? Benjen's not gonna answer the phone. I'll just talk to him when he gets here."

Robb and Arya exchanged looks.

"Uh, daddy," Arya spoke up. "Uncle Benjen's not coming here."

"It's Christmas," Ned reminded them. "Why isn't he coming?" He sighed. "He's afraid to face me, is that it?"

Arya shrugged. "Yeah, well, that and he said that if there's any news about Jon, he wanted to be the first to know."

Ned huffed. "Oh, for the gods' sake!" He called out to the hallway. "Vayon, please tell Hullen to get the SUV ready, we're driving to Castle Black."

"No!" Robb and Arya screamed at the same time.

"If you both know something we don't," Ned said. "You need to spit it out now." He insisted.

Robb nudged Arya. "Show him the letter."

"What letter?" Ned asked.

Arya pulled out Jon's letter from her parka jacket and handed it to her Dad.

Their Dad took the letter. "What's this?"

"Jon told Uncle Benjen to give that to me," Arya explained. "You know, in case something happens to him."

Ned frowned at her. "Why to you?"

Robb made a face. "It's explained in the letter, Dad."

Ned sat on one of the couches and thoroughly read Jon's hand-written letter. As he did, Theon walked in holding a tray of mugs of hot chocolate.

"More hot chocolate!" Theon announced, then he saw Robb and Arya and his eyes widened. "Oh, hey! I heard the news about Jon. Is he okay?" He asked as he placed the tray on the coffee table.

Theon Greyjoy was their foster brother. Their parents took him in when he was ten from the Iron Islands. Ever since he graduated college and got a job at Stark Industries, he had moved out and got his own place. But his room was kept as is because their parents insist that he stay with them on holidays and/or on occasion. Theon was very close to Robb and Jon growing up. And the three of them together are basically chaos. Like Robb comes up with the ridiculous and stupid plans, Theon's the guy who blindly follows and goes through with it, and Jon's usually the normal one, who tries and fails to stop them. So yeah, it made sense that Theon was upset about the news too.

Rickon snorted as he took a mug of hot chocolate from the tray. "Well, they haven't really answered that question."

"Baby bro," Arya crossed her arms. "We literally said Jon and his whole platoon are missing in action. How did you not get that?"

Theon also grabbed a mug from the tray and sat on the couch beside their Dad, looking worried. "I can't believe Jon went without telling us."

"He's missing, not dead, Theon." Sansa reminded him as she sat across the adjacent couch. "Let's not jump to conclusions here."

Ned folded the letter after reading it and covered his mouth with his hand. Arya couldn't read the expression on his face. And she's only seen that expression once: when they found out Bran eloped with his girlfriend days ago.

Arya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Daddy?"

"It's fine," Ned said, then simply handed her back the letter and sighed. "Just…get ready for Christmas Eve dinner."

Just then, their chauffeur, Hullen came into the family room. "Mr. Ned, I'm here," He said. "The SUV's already parked out front."

"You can park the SUV back at the garage, Hullen," Ned replied as he stood. "We're not going to Castle Black."

Robb cleared his throat. "Baby sis, that's your cue."

"Oh, uh," Arya spoke up. "Actually, Daddy, I left my car at the orphanage because Robb picked me up. So, I'm gonna need Hullen to drive me there."

Ned shrugged. "Alright."

"Also, I sort of, invited Gendry over."

"What?" Ned asked like he misheard.

Sansa frowned. "Gendry?"

"Baratheon," Robb finished.

"Ooh, another president's son," Theon smirked. "You Stark girls have a type, I see."

"Theon, shut up!" Arya snapped at him, then turned back to their Dad. "His flight back to Storm's End's been canceled because of the blizzards and I felt bad for him not having to spend Christmas with his family."

Ned nodded. "Hmm, okay, that's probably my fault," He said. "I signed a declaration for all flights to and from the North to be canceled because of the blizzards." He straightened. "Don't worry, we'll have a guest room ready for him."

Arya smiled. "Thanks, Daddy."

Ned knitted his eyebrows suspiciously. "You're not dating him, are you?"

"Oh, gods no!" She said. "We're just very good friends. Why does everyone assume we're dating?"

Ned raised his hands in surrender. "Just get ready for dinner." He then left the room with Hullen.

Robb placed a hand on Arya's shoulder. "Baby sis, you need to calm down." He suggested. "Why don't you just sit down and have hot chocolate...again."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Fine," She said as she grabbed a mug from the tray and sat on the couch where she could see Rickon's laptop screen, which he was playing Call of Duty. "What the fuck? I thought you were doing schoolwork."

"It's the holidays," Rickon shrugged. "Why would I be doing schoolwork? Besides, I still have plenty of time."

"Hmm, good point," She said. "I procrastinated a lot when I was a student too."

"Okay," Robb grabbed a mug from the tray. "I'm gonna give this to my son," He waved the teddy bear he was holding. "And ooh, baby sis, could you maybe grab a gift for Gendry? It's such on short notice that we don't have time to buy him a Christmas present." He then took his wallet from his pocket and took out a credit card. "Here, use this to pay and have it address that it's from all of us, you know, the Stark family."

Arya took Robb's credit card from him. "Ohh—kay, but what should I get him?" She asked.

"You know him better than we do," Robb pointed out. "So that'll be up to you." He waved at them goodbye. "See you at dinner, siblings!" He then scratched Grey Wind's neck and gestured for his dog to follow him. "Come on, buddy."

Just as soon as Robb left, Rickon paused his game and turned to Arya. "So Gendry isn't your boyfriend?"

Arya shook her head. "No," She said. "Again, why does everybody think that?"

Rickon shrugged. "I don't know, Sansa used to deny that she was dating Joffrey back then. And Mom had to pull that information out of her."

"What?" Sansa exclaimed from the couch across from them. "No, I didn't."

"Denying again," Rickon pointed out. "Do you see it now?"

Arya smirked. "I'm not Sansa, baby brother."

As Arya emptied her mug of hot chocolate, she saw something weird. Theon and Sansa were looking at each other in an unusual way. And even if they sat on couches placed on different sides of the room, they were sending flirty glances at each other. That made her curious, but then again, they have other problems currently at hand. So she would have to figure that out some other time.

Afterwards, Arya went to her bedroom to freshen up. She took a quick hot shower. But then when she was about to dry her hair, her hair dryer's fan stopped working.

There were two ways she could handle this: let it dry by itself or ask to borrow Sansa's hair dryer. She would've let her hair dry by itself, sure. But since it's winter, it'll only turn her hair into a hairsicle. So, she's only left with the second option.

Her sister Sansa was, well, another part of her emotional rollercoaster. It's kind of ironic that another bomb was dropped only because Arya's hair dryer stopped working.

Arya got dressed before knocking at her sister's bedroom door.

"Sansa!" She said, pounding on the door. "Sansa, I need to borrow your hair dryer. Open up!"

There was no answer. She pretty much assumed her sister was still in the family room drinking hot chocolate or something so she decided to invite herself in. But since Sansa's door is locked, all Arya did was head to her art studio, grabbed some of her parents' expired credit cards that she used for painting, and slid it by her sister's bedroom doorknob.

She's seen the trick being used in movies when people sneak in but she thought it was ridiculous and that it didn't work, but she was wrong. She's used it a few times around their house, mostly in the kitchen pantry, but now, she's using it on her sister's bedroom door.

Her plan was simple. Break in, grab Sansa's hair dryer, use it to dry her own hair, and leave without anyone knowing about it. But she did not anticipate what happened next though.

At first, Arya heard giggling, which meant her sister was inside. Then she heard the sound of the bathroom door being shut.

"Sansa?" Arya called out.

She found her sister standing near her bathroom door, quickly letting go of the knob like she was keeping something from coming out of it.

Sansa had this momentary look of surprise when she saw Arya, then her expression changed to annoyance. "Arya, how the fuck did you get into my room?"

Arya shrugged. "I'm not telling you that," She said. "I might have to do it again."

"Oh, my gods, this is such a violation of privacy!" Sansa huffed. "Let's just get this over with. What do you want?"

"I need your hair dryer." Arya blurted. "I could borrow Mom's, but I don't want a lecture."

"Why?"

"To melt the snowcaps off the Kings of Winter," She said sarcastically. "Duh! I'll use it for my hair, of course. What else?"

Sansa rolled her eyes at her sister. "What happened to your hair dryer?" She asked.

"It's broken," Arya said. "And I need to borrow yours, now."

"Why don't you just buy a new one?"

"I'm going to the mall after," Arya pointed out. "So that's on top of my list after buying Gendry a present."

Sansa scoffed. "Fine."

"Oh, thank the gods," Arya then proceeded to walk to her sister's bathroom, but Sansa stood in her way.

"Wait," Sansa raised both her hands in a stop-right-there gesture. "I'll get it for you." She then went to her dresser and took a hair dryer from one of the drawers before handing it to Arya. "Here you go. I swear if you don't return it—"

"Please, the reason why I buy my own stuff is so that I don't need to borrow," Arya smirked. "No offense."

Suddenly, they heard a clatter from inside the bathroom.

"Is someone in there?" Arya asked.

"Oh, that's just Lady," Sansa assured. "My liquid hand soap bottle is her worst enemy."

Arya glanced at Sansa's well-made, sheet-pressed bed. Sansa's dog, Lady was on the bed, sitting quietly and behaving…well, like a lady.

Arya pointed at the bed. "She's right there."

"Oh, uh, I'm reorganizing," Sansa explained. "The top shelf of my skincare products rack is filled with empty bottles that I didn't throw away yet. That's probably what fell."

"Oh-kay," Arya made a face as she turned to leave. "And I'm the weird one."

She was sure something or someone was in Sansa's bathroom. So, Arya forged a plan just as she was out of sight—out of sight because their bedrooms are large enough that their beds are hidden from the actual bedroom door.

Arya simply opened the door and slammed it close, to make her sister believe she left her bedroom. But really, she then hid between Sansa's console table and the coat rack which thanks to some indoor plant, she technically won't be seen at first glance.

She could hear the bathroom door open.

"She's gone," Sansa said. "You can come out now, babe."

Arya's mouth hung open. Babe? So her sister had a guy sneak in, which was so unlike her. Because even between her and Sansa, their brothers had placed bets that it was Arya herself who would sneak a guy in rather than Sansa. But they were so wrong.

"Oh, thank the gods," A male voice spoke up.

Her jaw dropped lower when she recognized whose voice it was: Theon Greyjoy. And Sansa even called him babe.

Arya didn't know if she was going to be outraged or grossed out. So she decided to get out of her hiding place and catch them red-handed.

It was bad timing on her part. Theon and Sansa were on the bed, making out.

Seeing them made Arya drop the hair dryer she was holding. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" She screamed.

When they saw her, Sansa pushed Theon away and turned to her.

"Arya," Sansa said, turning red. "What—I thought you left!"

Theon stood, raising his hands in surrender. "Arya, we can explain."

"Oh, gods," Arya picked up the hair dryer by her feet. "How long has this been going on?" She demanded, not meeting their eyes.

"Well, for a while now," Sansa admitted.

"Two years." Theon blurted out.

Sansa punched Theon on his arm. "Not helping."

"What the fuck?!" Arya exclaimed. "It's basically incest."

"It's not incest," Sansa insisted. "We're not related."

"He grew up with us." Arya reminded her. "It's weird. He's technically our brother."

"Foster brother," Sansa corrected. "If Mom and Dad had adopted him, then that would be kinda weird."

"It's already weird now." Arya pointed out, then huffed. "So, let me get this straight, you've been dating for two years now? What did Robb and Jon have to say about this? Or Mom and Dad?"

"Nothing," Sansa revealed. "They don't know. No one knows about us."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

It took about a minute before Sansa answered. "Well, you know our parents, especially Dad. With what happened between me and Joffrey and what almost happened to me with Ramsay years back, he's very overprotective." She said. "And then there's how he handled Bran's relationship with Meera. I mean, the water is still hot, you know. We just wanna let it cool down."

Arya shrugged. "Understandable," She said. "But you do know that the longer this gets, the heavier it is on your conscience and the harder it is to hide."

Theon sighed. "You have no idea." He admitted. "Uncle Ned and Aunt Cat welcomed me into their family and—"

"You're sleeping with their daughter behind their backs." Arya finished. "Nice debt of gratitude, Theon."

Sansa raised her hand. "Look, okay, I know it sounds bad, and kind of…scandalous, but—"

Arya snorted. "Kind of?" She repeated.

"Fine!" Sansa sighed. "Call it what you will. Just…don't tell anyone about us. Please."

Arya tilted her head. "Hmm, what's in it for me?"

Theon snorted. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." Arya snapped back. "You've been shagging my sister for two years. If she wasn't in the room, I would've kicked you in the balls by now."

Theon took a step back and hid behind Sansa's back. "I'm officially scared of your sister now." He whispered to Sansa, but still loud enough for Arya to hear. "Please don't leave me alone with her."

Arya huffed. "You know I can hear you, right?" She pointed out.

"I'll give you anything," Sansa promised. "Name your price. Just keep your mouth shut."

"What? Money?" Arya chuckled. "Please, I make more than you do. And that's excluding Bran's shares."

"Nope, not that kind, baby sis," Sansa said, matter of factly. "I'm thinking…boy advice."

Arya crossed her arms. "You know anyone can just google that, right?"

"Okay, sure," Sansa nodded. "But you can't google if Gendry likes you or not."

That caught Arya off guard that she almost dropped the hair dryer again. "What?" She said, confused. "What are you talking about? Gendry doesn't like me."

Now that Sansa had said that, every tease about Gendry from the Mormonts, Jon, Bran, and most recently, Robb, came back to her. The question bothered her and made her more curious than ever.

Arya was so deep in thought that Sansa had to snap her fingers to get her attention back.

"Arya!" Her sister called. "I also want our family to hear the truth from me or Theon, not from other people. So, what's it gonna be?"

Arya sighed. "I respect that," She said. "You have bought my silence, for now. But I will get back to you on the whole advice thingy."

"Noted." Sansa smiled smugly. "I'm glad we had this talk."

Arya nodded in agreement. "Good day to you." She said before making her way out of her sister's room.

Halfway out, Theon asked Sansa. "What language did you guys just speak?" He wondered.

Before Sansa could answer him, Arya went back to her way and gave Theon a sneer. "Hey, Theon," She called. "Just so you know, if you ever hurt my sister, I will break your arm permanently or cut your balls and glue it to your forehead." Then she smiled. "Have a nice day." She said before walking off and back to her bedroom.

While drying her hair, Arya's thoughts switched from Jon being missing to Sansa's secret relationship with their foster brother, Theon. Seriously, she considered her sister a smart and intelligent person, but somehow and most of the time, Sansa falls for idiots, self-entitled spoiled brats, social climbers who only see her as a trophy girlfriend, and/or psychopaths.

"What in seven hells is wrong with this family?" Arya asked herself.

The whole time Hullen had driven her to the Winter Rose to get her car, that's all she ever thought about. All their family problems just keep piling up one at a time, and there was nothing she could do to help.

Arya got into her car and headed to the mall. Despite the blizzards, the Brightroar Town Centre in Winterfell was bustling with people—who are probably doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. It even took her almost thirty minutes to find a parking spot.

At first, she didn't know what to get Gendry. But then she remembered that he sang to the orphans at Winter Rose with a mini-guitar and that's when it came to her. She went to a music shop and bought him an acoustic Fender guitar. She, of course, used Robb's credit card as per his instructions as it'll be counted as a gift from the entire Stark family.

The mall had a gift wrapping station which is usually expanded into five stations during the Christmas season for people who didn't have time or are too lazy to wrap presents. Each station had three people wrapping gifts. All you had to do is pick a wrapper then wait and watch until they finish.

Arya definitely had no time to wrap Gendry's present, so she considered lining up at the gift wrapping station.

But then she saw him.

Gendry was at the mall's gift-wrapping station, falling in line by the fifth counter. At first glance, she didn't recognize him right away since he was wearing a disguise. And it made sense, seeing that he's the president's son. People would definitely recognize him, but not in his current get-up.

He's dressed in normal winter clothes, a grey turtleneck sweater, a black trench coat, trousers, and winter boots. But he made an effort to cover his face though. He wore a bonnet on, eyeglasses with no grade (he's not near-sighted), and a face mask that covered his nose and mouth—which at this time of the year, is common for people who had winter colds.

Gendry was third in line at the counter and he was holding several paper bags and boxes that Arya assumed will be his gifts to them.

Arya decided to ditch the gift-wrapping station and headed to her car. She placed the guitar, which was already boxed and ready to be wrapped, in the car's trunk before heading back to the mall. She went into the department store where she grabbed about a dozen rolls of Christmas wrappers and went back to the gift wrapping station.

Gendry was already on the counter and he was waiting for the gifts to be wrapped. She found her opening, which he definitely didn't see coming. And since they were in the mall crowded with people, it was time for Secret Pact Number 3.

Secret Pact Number 3. If they see each other in public, they would call each other by their middle names. Given that they come from Westeros' most prominent families, it's to not make a scene or give a hint that they are children of politicians.

Arya walked up to him. "Steffon?" She called. "Oh, my gods! I didn't know you were here. It's great to see you."

Gendry's full name is Gendry Steffon Baratheon, and yes, his middle name came from his paternal grandfather. The same way Arya's middle name was from her Dad's sister, making her full name Arya Lyanna Stark.

Gendry's eyes widened, but he got what she meant almost immediately. "Uh…Lyanna," He replied. "Lovely to see you again. What brings you here?"

She rolled her eyes and stood next to him. "Well, I'm supposed to be the one asking that question, you know."

"What?" Gendry checked his wristwatch. "It's only fifteen past five. I still got time." He said. "And besides, you said you'll be picking me up at six."

"So you bought everyone presents?"

"And I won't have time to wrap them myself," Gendry finished. "So I went here."

"Alright," She said. "But you do need a ride back to your hotel, right? To get your things?"

Gendry shrugged. "Um, kinda?" He forced out a smile.

Arya sighed. "You're lucky I saw you here today." She frowned. "By the way, how were you gonna get back to the hotel if I wasn't here?"

"I took a cab to get here." He replied. "And I would've again, but you're here now. Also, thank you."

Afterwards, Arya insisted that Gendry placed his presents to them on the backseat of her car instead of the trunk before they both got into the car and drove to the Pinewoods, the hotel Gendry's staying at.

She waited in the lobby while Gendry went up to his hotel room to get his things. He came down to the reception with a trekking bag—the same one he used when they climbed Mt. Alarra.

"That's all you brought with you?" She asked.

"I was supposed to be here only for two days," He reminded her. "Now, I'm spending Christmas in the North. But don't worry, I bought a few clothes at the mall earlier." He tapped his trekking bag. "I don't exactly have some 'Christmas dinner' clothes packed in here."

"It's fine, I guess," She said as they got into the car. "But we don't dress fancy. Just semi-formal."

"Yeah, but all I brought were t-shirts," Gendry said as he closed the car's shotgun door. "Those aren't exactly semi-formal."

"Also, a little heads up," Arya pointed out. "Things are a little tense at home, so if anything weird happens, I apologize in advance."

Once, they reached Stark Manor, they were welcomed by the butler, Vayon Poole. He then offered to carry Gendry's trekking bag and the bags of gifts, but he declined.

"No, it's okay," Gendry assured. "I got it."

Robb then got down the grand staircase in a plush robe. "Hey," He greeted. "Gendry, welcome to Stark Manor."

"Wow," Arya said, trying hard not to laugh. "From a business suit to a plush robe? Way to downgrade it too much, Robb."

"Seriously?" Robb scoffed. "Why do you people care too much about what I wear?"

"You're the CEO of one of the biggest conglomerate companies in Westeros," Arya pointed out. "People look up to you."

"I'm at home," Robb said, clearly irritated. "I was just getting hot chocolate for my wife. Why in seven hells would I dress up just to go to the kitchen?" He cleared his throat, then turned to Gendry. "Anyways, Vayon will take you to your room. And dinner will be at seven."

"Um, okay," Gendry said, hesitantly. "Thanks again for letting me stay here. I'll see you guys later, then."

Vayon gestured for Gendry to follow him up the grand staircase, and he did. He gave Arya one last nervous smile before they disappeared in the hallways.

Once they did, Robb turned to her with his arms crossed. "So, what did you get him?" He asked.

Just then Hullen came into the foyer holding a long and big box. "Where do you want me to put this, Ms. Arya?" He asked.

"Oh, I'll take it from here, Hullen, thanks." Arya took the box from him, then turned to her brother. "It's a guitar."

"You got him a guitar?!" Robb exclaimed.

"You said, the gift was up to me," Arya reminded him. "Because I know him better than the rest of you. And believe it or not, he's actually pretty good. I've seen him play." She gripped the box and started heading up the grand staircase. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a present to wrap."

Once Arya reached her bedroom, she started working on wrapping Gendry's present. Now, she meant for the gift to be misleading to the point where no one could tell it was a guitar. That's why she bought a box, like the kind you'd put a wedding dress in, but with a more slender and longer shape. That way, it'll be easier to wrap. Afterwards, Arya had to place it under the Christmas tree in the family room, along with the other presents.

Arya had then gotten dressed for dinner. There was then a knock at her door, followed by a call from their butler Vayon saying that dinner was ready.

She didn't care to dress fancy at all, since she was only at home. She had put on a black sleeveless collared blouse tucked into a plaid red and black short tight skirt, dark brown knee-high socks, and black boots.

Arya went to find Gendry's room and knocked on his door. "Baratheon, it's me." She said.

"Just a second," Gendry muffled a reply before answering the door. He smiled when he saw her. "Hey, you look nice."

Gendry's outfit was simple. He wore a grey shirt, a black coat with sleeves folded to his elbows, black trousers, and shoes.

Arya rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up," She said. "You're not so bad yourself."

"I'm not underdressed, am I?" He asked.

"No, you're good," She said, pulling his arm. "Now, let's just go, please."

Arya led Gendry to the dining hall. It turned out that they were the first ones there and well, everything seemed to be in order. The fireplace was lit as their staff was finishing up setting the table, and the drapes by the large windows were held by tie-backs to the sides which showed part of the topiaries in the manor grounds covered in snow.

"Whoa, this is nice," Gendry said in awe.

Just then, her Dad, Ned walked in looking gloomy but then put on a smile when he saw their guest.

"Ah, Gendry," Ned said, then held out his hand for a shake.

Gendry politely shook her father's hand. "Hello again, Mr. Stark," He greeted. "I'm sorry for barging in like this. I-"

"Gendry," Ned interrupted. "You're our guest." He said. "And Arya's right. It won't be right staying in a hotel alone on Christmas."

"Thank you again, Mr. Stark." He said. "For letting me stay in your home."

Ned nodded. "Does Robert know you're here?"

"Actually, I only told Uncle Renly," Gendry said skeptically. "And I think he took everything from there. And so far, my Dad hasn't called me yet, so…" He shrugged.

"It's alright," Ned assured. "I would gladly talk to Robert and your uncles and explain everything."

Her Mom and her youngest brother, Rickon followed, then Robb and his wife, Talisa, who was carrying little Bran before placing him in a bassinet that was purposely placed in the dining hall. Sansa and Theon came in last, obviously not entering together to avoid suspicion. They all greeted their guest as they then took their seats.

Ned Stark sat at the head of the table, as usual. On his right, sat their Mom, Catelyn, then her sister, Sansa. Next to her, were Rickon and Theon. Across from them and on their Dad's left was Robb, then his wife, Talisa, then Arya herself, and then Gendry. Gendry sat on Bran's seat, while Jon's seat remained empty.

Once they were all seated, the food was served. It was a three-course meal. For appetizers, they had Spinach puffs, cocktail meatballs, and pigs in a blanket (wrapped sausages); for the Main course, it was Christmas ham and roasted turkey; and for desserts, Christmas fudge, caramel pumpkin pie, and bread pudding. As for the drinks, they have eggnog and water to wash it all down.

If it wasn't for Gendry's presence, it would've been just a quiet dinner due to the unspoken tension of their family problems. The conversations were mostly light-hearted and business-related. It was mostly them talking to Gendry and ignoring the fact that they were missing two family members, Bran and Jon.

After dinner, they would usually stay in the family room, playing games until midnight in their pajamas. But this time, only Sansa, Theon, Rickon, Arya herself, and Gendry came to the family room, all dressed up in comfy long-sleeved pajamas. Their parents had opted to sleep early, and Robb and Talisa had to take care of their baby.

Sansa, Rickon, and Theon were already there. They have pushed aside the couches and the coffee table to make way for them to sit on the floor. And they were setting up a game of Dungeons and Dragons. They also had a pitcher of eggnog and plates of fudge and cookies for snacks.

Their dogs were also there, but they mostly stayed by their masters' feet, munching food they were occasionally given.

"Finally," Theon beamed. "Now that you're here, we can start the game."

Gendry sat by the fireplace. "My family never had after-dinner activities." He said. "My Dad would just be drinking with my uncles and us kids would just go to our rooms."

Arya sat next to him. "Well, normally, we'd all be here playing card and/or board games until midnight." She explained. "Monopoly, Dungeons and Dragons, Aegon the Conqueror, or even Three-Dimensional Chess and Jenga."

"Three-dimensional chess is a thing?" Gendry asked. "I thought it was just in Star Trek."

"Oh, it's a real thing," Rickon confirmed. "We have one. Actually, it's Bran's, but if you-"

"Oh, no, it's fine," Gendry declined. "Even if you do, I wouldn't know how to play."

Theon threw a throw pillow at Rickon. "Ricky," He called. "Focus, okay?" He turned to both Gendry and Arya and gave them statuettes, small booklets, and pencils. "Here are your characters and the information about them."

Theon, Robb, and Jon were always the best Dungeon Masters because they come up with the most ridiculous plots and twists in the game, but it was always fun and interesting.

"Gendry, have you played before?" Theon asked.

"Of course," Gendry shrugged. "But the last time I played was in college."

"It's okay, Gendry," Sansa assured. "Theon's a great dungeon master. He'll get you through it."

"Thank you, Sansa," Theon grinned. "That means a lot coming from you."

Sansa discreetly winked at Theon, but Arya saw that.

Oh, gods, Arya thought, then rolled her eyes. "Can we just start, please?"

Theon cleared his throat before speaking. "Alright, so this is Dungeons and Dragons: Christmas Edition." He announced. "Here's the premise: The quest starts in the secret northern village of elves who have all been massacred and your task is to rescue their leader from a dungeon of ogres. And the leader's name: Santa Claus."

It took them three hours to finish the game. It involved them having to solve ridiculous riddles, and puzzles even build and map out Santa's workshop out of lincoln logs.

After the game, Sansa decided to go to bed early, so she called for Lady to follow her. Not surprisingly, Theon stood up and followed.

Before they left, Arya managed to pull Theon aside. "Greyjoy, if I see you in my sister's room," She whispered. "I will smother you with a pillow in your sleep."

Theon's eyes widened and he turned pale. "After what you said to me earlier," He recalled. "You won't see a shadow of me there."

"Good," Arya said, then smiled. "Good night, Theon."

"Well," Rickon stood. "I better go too." He stretched. "Ooh, Gendry, Arya mentioned once that you play Call of Duty. How good are you?"

Gendry shrugged. "I'd like to think I'm okay, I guess?"

"You play multiplayer?" Her brother asked.

Gendry nodded. "Team Deathmatch, yeah."

Rickon gasped and smiled at Arya. "I like him." Then turned back to their guest. "Hey, maybe we can play tomorrow in the game room."

"Sure, I'd like that." Gendry agreed.

"Noice!" Rickon beamed. "Good night, you two." He said before disappearing with his dog, Shaggy in the hallway.

With Sansa, Theon, and Rickon heading to bed, it left Arya and Gendry alone in the family room.

Gendry turned to her in curiosity. "You guys have a game room?" He asked in disbelief.

Arya nodded. "The game room only exists because our parents refused to put a flatscreen and a videogame console here in the family room."

"Hmm, good point," Gendry agreed. "It won't be a family room with a flatscreen here. Everyone would just ignore each other and stare at some box in the wall rather than spend time together."

Arya poured herself the last remaining eggnog from the pitcher and drained her glass. "We're out of eggnog."

Gendry frowned. "Should we still be drinking eggnog?" He asked.

"You're right," Arya agreed. "I should grab a bottle of Arbor Gold from the wine cellar."

"What?" He exclaimed.

"Oh, come on," She said. "It's not that late, it's not even midnight yet."

"Yeah, but…" He faltered.

"But what?" Arya cleared her throat. "Alright, how about this? We'll just play a little drinking game: Never Have I Ever." She said. "I do have card games for drinking, but it's kinda weird to play that game with your siblings."

Gendry nodded. "Agreed," He said. "I do not want my siblings to know how many shots of tequila I can handle before passing out."

"Well, it's settled then." She declared. " I'll go to the wine cellar and grab some Arbor Gold."

"You guys still have a wine cellar?" Gendry asked.

"This is an old house," She reminded him. "And I had to remodel the wine cellar because it was so dated, dark and so musty." Then she frowned. "Wait, the Baratheon Mansion doesn't have one?"

"I wouldn't say it's a cellar, really," He said. "It's more of a wine house, except none of it's for sale. Just one separate building in the property that's fully stocked with wine."

"Damn, Baratheon," She snorted.

"My Dad had it built," He explained. "Safe to say, the men in my family are heavy drinkers. And that's excluding me, I only drink on occasion."

"Well, it's Christmas Eve," Arya pointed out, standing up. "This counts as an occasion. I'll be right back."

Nymeria also stood, but Arya raised her hand. "No, Nym," She said. "Stay with Gendry. I'll be right back." Her dog then gladly lie back down on the carpet.

Arya hurriedly walked back into the dining hall, where the door to Stark Manor's wine cellar is located.

The wine cellar was on the basement level, same as their garage. It had several rows of display cases with varieties of wine from all over the world. Arya had to remodel it, of course, because it was so dated and none of it was making sense. She had retained the cobblestone flooring and the brick walls but built new display cases, designed proper lighting, and added labels so no one will get lost trying to find the wine they want.

Arya easily found the display case labeled, Arbor Gold. She grabbed one bottle and two shot glasses before heading back to the family room.

Gendry was waiting for her, still seated on the floor with Nymeria sleeping nearby. His eyes widened when he saw the size of the bottle she was holding. "Whoa," He said. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"This is nothing," Arya said as she sat on the floor across from him. "You know it is. By the way, how high is your alcohol tolerance?"

Gendry shrugged. "From where I came from, I'd say pretty high."

Arya popped open the bottle and poured Arbor Gold into the shot glasses.

They started playing their drinking game, asking each other the most ridiculous questions they could think of.

"Never have I ever," Gendry said. "Pressed all the buttons in an elevator."

Arya took a shot. "I'm the rebel in the family, and I have done that several times." She admitted.

Gendry made a face at her. "Were there other people in it when you did?" He asked.

"Oh, no," She recalled. "It was just me and a few friends, Jory was one of them. There was a party being held in someone else's flat and as we got out at like, 1am to the lobby, I just pressed all the buttons. I think they think that building is haunted now."

"Oh, gods," Gendry chuckled.

"Alright, my turn. Never have I ever, gotten arrested."

Gendry pursued his lips and took a shot.

She gasped. "You got arrested?"

"It was junior year in college," Gendry explained. "DUI. I would've spent the night in jail if it wasn't for Uncle Renly."

"Surprised you didn't play the president's son card."

"It's not gonna change anything anyway," He pointed out. "And I would never play the president's son card. I'm not Joffrey."

"Good on you."

"My turn," Gendry poured more wine into his shot glass. "Never have I ever learned another language."

Arya drank from her glass.

"Ooh, which language did you learn?" He asked.

"I learned High Valyrian." Arya brought up. "I took a language elective while attending university."

"Let's hear some then."

"I'm a bit rusty so, don't judge me." Arya took a deep breath. "Brōzio ñuha iksis Āria Stārke, āzma se manaeragon isse Ropatasōnar."

"What does that mean?"

"I said, my name is Arya Stark, born and raised in Winterfell."

Gendry bit his lip after she spoke. "Damn, that sounded…kinda sensual?"

"All Valyrian languages do sound like it." She shrugged. "Alright-"

Arya was interrupted by a phone ringing on the coffee table. It was Gendry's phone. He picked it up and his eyes widened.

"Oh, shit!" Gendry cussed. "It's my dad."

"Well, answer it," She insisted.

Gendry reluctantly answered the video call. "Hi, Dad." He greeted.

"Gendry!" Robert Baratheon's booming voice can be heard on the other line. "Merry Christmas, son."

"Merry Christmas, Dad," Gendry said without enthusiasm.

"I was very surprised to not see you here," Robert said. "Your Uncle Renly told me you're in Stark Manor. Is that true?"

"I am, Dad," He confirmed. "The Starks are kind enough to let me stay in their home for the holidays. And I think it's only right that all flights were canceled. The blizzards here are so much worse than it is there."

"Hmm, I'll have to call Ned and thank him for you being there," Robert said. "What are you doing now? I noticed your face is slightly red. You drunk?"

"No, Dad," Gendry insisted. "Tipsy, maybe. I'm never drunk."

"Who are you with?"

They both exchanged looks. Arya's eyes widened as she understood what he was about to do. She shook her head and made hand gestures that said, tell him I'm not here! Before mouthing, NO!

Of course, Gendry turned his phone to face her direction. "Say hi, Dad."

Arya had no choice but to say hi to the president of the country. She forced out a smile and waved to Gendry's phone camera.

"Oh, hello, Arya!" Robert greeted, waving his hand, and he was also holding a bottle of beer. "Merry Christmas to you and your family!"

Robert Baratheon was in a red reindeer sweater. It was hard to imagine the president in normal clothes other than tailored suits. And judging by the beer in his hand, he also had been drinking.

"Hello, Mr. Baratheon," She said. "Merry Christmas to you as well, sir."

"I see a bottle on the table before you." Robert pointed out. "What are you two drinking?" He asked.

"It's Arbor Gold, Dad," Gendry answered. "She picked it."

"Ooh, classy," Robert complimented. "I like it. Excellent choice, my dear. Anyway, I shouldn't keep you from your drinking session. So, carry on, you two. And Arya, send my regards to your family."

"I will, sir." Arya smiled, then waved goodbye before Gendry turned back the phone to him,

"Gendry, son," Robert said. "I'll see you soon when you get home."

Gendry frowned. "You sure you'd still be in Storm's End by the time I get there?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Robert replied. "We're staying in Storm's End and won't be returning to the capital until after New Year's."

"Oh, that's great," Gendry shrugged. "I guess."

"Well, enjoy the Arbor Gold, you two." Robert chuckled. "I'd say, 'don't drink too much', but I'd be a hypocrite."

"Good night, Dad."

"Good night, son. Love you." Robert stated. "Oh, and use protection."

Gendry's eyes widened as the call went off. "What the f-Dad!" He exclaimed, then turned to Arya. "I'm sorry about that."

Arya waved him off. "Don't worry about it."

They continued with the drinking game until they actually emptied the bottle of Arbor Gold. Afterwards, they ended up sitting next to each other by the fireplace.

Arya held her temple. "I think I'm starting to feel the effects of the alcohol." She groaned. "Oh my gods, I don't need this right now. I have other problems to worry about other than some stupid hangover."

Gendry curiously frowned at her. "What other problems?"

"It's Christmas," Arya said. "It's supposed to be spent with family but Bran and Jon aren't here. One of them ran away and the other one's missing. How do you think that's supposed to make me feel?"

"Okay, it's just the booze talking."

"No, it's not the booze, Gendry," She insisted, then sighed. "I just feel like…my family's falling apart over some things that happened three decades ago. It's fucking ridiculous."

Arya unintentionally leaned on Gendry's shoulder, but about a second later she realized what she just did and slightly felt embarrassed. Surprisingly, Gendry never shook her off and instead, wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Gendry assured. "Think of it this way, no family is perfect. Everyone has their flaws and this is just another bump in the road." He faced her. "You'll eventually get past it."

Arya made a face at him. "Dude, you sound like a fortune cookie." She said. "But thank you. I needed to hear that."

"No, I should be the one thanking you." He countered. "You welcomed me into your home, at Christmas. I'd like to say the blizzards and the canceled flights brought some good in a way."

She sat up straight and smirked. "That we just emptied a bottle of Arbor Gold by the fireplace on Christmas Eve?"

Gendry shrugged. "…yeah."

They stared at each other before laughing their heads off. Then they once again looked into each other's eyes.

Before today in the orphanage, Arya had been surprised to see a whole different side of Gendry Baratheon. She would never admit it…yet, but she likes this side of him.

Suddenly, Gendry reached out his hand and gently caressed her cheek. Normally, when people do that, Arya would swat their hands away-that happened a lot when she was still in college. But she didn't feel the need to swat his hand away.

Arya wasn't thinking about it, but she surged forward and kissed him on the lips. She didn't care about anything at the moment, it just felt right to do so.

At first, Gendry was startled by her suddenly kissing him out of nowhere. But he eventually melted into her kiss and began kissing her back.

Was this her first kiss? Nope. Arya's first kiss was way back when she was only eleven. It was at a Junior Scouts National Jamboree, to a twelve-year-old Dornish kid named, Edric Dayne. If she remembered it right, Edric was only dared to kiss a girl among the nearby troops who could first catch a fish from the pond. And of course, Arya kneed him in his balls after he did.

There were also the few guys she had made out with when she was in college in White Harbor, but that was nothing serious.

None of those felt as good as kissing Gendry now. The feel of his lips against hers made her heart beat faster against her chest. Even with her eyes closed, Arya could feel his smile through the kiss as Gendry's hands cupped her neck with his thumbs on her cheeks.

Then his lips didn't feel gentle anymore, it was pressing hot on hers. Turned on, Arya parted her lips and tasted him with her tongue, to which Gendry flinched in surprise, but eventually did the same. Soon enough, they were exploring each others' tongues. And he tasted like the Arbor Gold they had just drunk.

Gendry seemed to be pulling her towards him. She seemed to get the idea and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. They continued kissing and exploring tongues as both Gendry's hands went down to her waists, to her hips, and then gripped her thighs, making her moan into the kiss.

Any of their staff or family could have easily walked in on them and witnessed them making out, but Arya didn't care.

Things started heating up until suddenly, the grandfather clocks started chiming, which meant it was midnight.

Now, there are three grandfather clocks in Stark Manor, one in the foyer, and one each at both east and west wings of the house. All three clocks chime in sync when all it's minute and hour hands points at 6 and 12. Basically at six in the morning and six in the evening, and at noon and midnight. Its chimes are loud and a little creepy—seriously, Arya's lived and grown up in Stark Manor all her life and it still scares the crap out of her.

The loud chimes made them break free from each other.

"What was that?" He asked.

"It's the clocks," She answered. "That means it's midnight."

"Oh, it's the twenty-fifth," He smiled. "Merry Christmas then."

Arya smirked. "Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Baratheon." She said. "Now, shut up and kiss me."

Gendry chuckled. "Gladly."

They resumed kissing and exploring each others' tongues until Nymeria stood up and barked into the archway like she was greeting someone. It made them break free from each other and Arya sat back beside Gendry.

Arya turned to Nymeria. "What is it, Nym?" She asked.

Sure enough, their butler, Vayon Poole walked into the family room and nearly jumped when he saw them. He probably noticed that the lights were still on so he went in to check.

"Oh, Ms. Arya," Vayon greeted. "Mr. Gendry, my apologies. I-I didn't know there are still people in here."

"Hello, Vayon," Arya forced out a smile. "And don't worry, we're actually just about to leave so…" She shrugged. "Oh, also, Merry Christmas." She then nudged Gendry who remained frozen beside her.

"Uh, right," Gendry spoke up. "Merry Christmas to you, Vayon." He said. "And yes, we were just leaving."

"Mm-hmm," Vayon's face was turning red. "Merry Christmas to you both as well." He said, then took the empty bottle of Arbor Gold from the coffee table. "I'll just be taking this then."

Arya stood and immediately her head spun. "Whoa." She held her temple.

Gendry grabbed her before she could fall back to the floor. "Easy there."

Vayon looked concerned. "You alright, Ms. Arya?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She insisted as she swatted Gendry away from her. "For the record, I'm not drunk. Tipsy, maybe, but not drunk." She took a deep breath. "Anyways, good night, Vayon. Wait, it's already morning. So, good morning, I guess? Whatever, I'm going to sleep now." She gestured for her dog to follow her. "Come on, Nymeria."

Nymeria had scampered after her then went ahead, presumably to the grand staircase.

Gendry turned to Vayon as they were walking out the family room. "I'm sorry about this, Vayon." He apologized. "Have a good night."

They both left a very confused Vayon Poole in the family room. Hopefully, he didn't see anything. Because if he did, it'll be central tittle-tattle among their staff for the next following days.

Gendry walked her to her room. "Good night, Ms. Stark." He said as they both stood outside her bedroom door.

Arya opened the door and Nymeria immediately entered. "It's morning, dummy!" She corrected.

"Alright," Gendry held his hands in surrender. "Good morning, then."

"Aww," Arya booped Gendry's nose. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Baratheon." She went to open her door wider when she remembered something. "Hold on, I forgot something."

Gendry frowned. "What?"

Arya grabbed his shirt, pulled him down, and kiss him.

They smiled at each other when they broke apart.

"See you later, Arya." He winked at her before walking back to the guest bedroom he was staying.

. . .

Arya lay on her bed with her head still in the clouds. She cannot believe what had just happened in the family room. All she did was act on the tension between her and Gendry. She kissed him, risking their friendship in the process, but to her surprise, he kissed her back. And it would've gone on, if Vayon hadn't walked in on them.

Words could never explain what she was feeling at the moment. Despite her being so tired from all the emotional rollercoasters she went through the day, she couldn't sleep. Plus, she could not get Gendry out of her mind.

Suddenly, Arya remembered the bargain Sansa had in exchange for her silence regarding her sister's hidden relationship with their foster brother, Theon.

Boy advice, Sansa had said.

Arya got up and headed to her sister's bedroom. Now, she didn't wanna knock at her sister's door because she was having some midlife love crisis. But she didn't know what else to do about it, and at the moment, Sansa was probably the only one with the wisdom. Arya, once again, used the old credit card she had used earlier to enter her sister's room again.

"Sansa?" Arya called as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

She had suspected that Theon would be in her sister's room, but thankfully, he wasn't. Arya's threats earlier must've really scared him. Good, she thought. That son of a bitch should be scared.

Sansa was sound asleep on her bed, with a sleeping mask covering her eyes. Her dog, Lady was on her cupcake-shaped dog bed—she became on high alert once Arya came into view, but placed her head back down when she recognized her.

"Sansa," Arya called again as she climbed onto the bed where her sister lay. She tried gently shaking her, but all Sansa did was groan.

Arya grabbed a pillow and hit her with it. "Sansa, wake up!"

Sansa pulled up her sleeping mask and screamed when she saw someone looming over her.

Arya had to cover her mouth to shush her screams. "Hey, it's me!"

Sansa stopped struggling once she realized it was her younger sister, then her expression turned to a mix of anger and annoyance.

"What the fuck, Arya?!" She cursed.

"Calm down," She said. "No need to be so dramatic about it."

"Dramatic?" Sansa repeated in exasperation. "I'm still seeing a therapist because of the crap Ramsay pulled years ago."

Arya felt horrible. "Sorry." She apologized.

Sansa's psychotic ex-boyfriend, Ramsay Bolton had managed to sneak into Stark Manor and into Sansa's room one night, drugged her, and attempted to rape her. Thankfully, he was apprehended before he could get any further with his twisted plan.

Sansa sat up and turned to her. "Look, there better be a good excuse on why you invited yourself into my room…again."

"Boy advice," Arya blurted out.

Sansa frowned in confusion. "What?"

"That was your offer in exchange for my silence." Arya reminded her. "And I'm here to collect it."

Her sister's jaw dropped. Clearly, Sansa didn't see it coming. "Okay, but can't this wait until the morning?" She asked. "Why now?"

Arya huffed. "Let's see. Bran ran away with his girlfriend and Jon is missing in action," She brought up. "Right now, you're the best I got."

"What about Robb and Rickon?"

"Robb shares a room with his wife," Arya pointed out. "And if I knock, I might wake up their baby. And what the fuck does Rickon know about…stuff?"

"Hmm, point taken," Sansa shrugged, then smirked. "So, judging from your expression right now, I'm guessing something happened between you and Gendry."

Arya froze and didn't know how to react when her sister guessed the truth.

Sansa squealed. "Oh my gods, I knew it!" She threw Arya a pillow and then went to her mini-fridge disguised as a nightstand. She picked up cans of iced coffee and handed one to her. "Get comfortable, baby sister," She said. "We have a lot to talk about."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I know this took a while and I'm sorry. Writer's block has been plaguing me lately. The next Chapter will be uploaded on Christmas. I promise.