AN: Just to be clear, I used the show's age so, the Stark's children are:-
Robb - 18 years old
Jon - 17 years old
Sansa - 14 years old
Arya - 12 years old
Bran - 10 years old
Rickon - 6 years old
*
*
*
In which our little wolf gets the chance to be herself again.
*Year 298 After Conquest (AC) - Old Past*
Even though Arya Stark is a child from the North, she never admits it to anyone that she actually hated the cold. Her home is always warm enough because of the underground hot springs. But, outside of Winterfell is a different story.
As of right now, the cold is practically crawling their way into her every bone. She can feel her body trembling because of the lack of warmth. The only part she felt of warmth was on her face. Which was odd. She decides to flutter her eyes open to find the cause of it.
She is lying on her bed again, but her room is dark, except for the small candles situated across the room, lighting a very dim light all around.
"Oh, thank the Gods." a voice so familiar echoed in her room. She turns her head to find an older woman who awfully resembled Catelyn Stark was at her bedside. A slight wrinkle on the edge of her eyes appears when she smiles, but she was still beautiful as Arya can remember.
"Mother," Arya whispered. All the memories from before she passed out coming back to light. Why is she still in this dream? And if she's dead, why does she feel weak? It doesn't make any sense at all.
Catelyn presses a damp cloth on her child's forehead and Arya knew now where the warmth was coming from.
"You have a fever. Sleep and rest, my sweetling." Catelyn spoke softly.
"Mother." Arya trailed, liking the word that she had long stopped using before. "It's cold."
Catelyn moves closer and tucks in the fur around her body tighter. But, the cold is still creeping in. "It's still cold, Mother" she voiced out, almost whining.
The older woman bends down and places her hand on her child's cheek. It was awfully hot even though Arya claimed it to be the other. She removes the furs and climbs up the bed instead, before putting the furs back in place above them. She slides her arms through, engulfing the smaller frame beside her into a tight hug. "Better?" she asked.
Arya hummed in approval before nodding against her mother's chest.
"Is your head hurting?" Catelyn asked again, caressing the young girl's head gently. "You took quite a fall when you passed out this morning." She felt another movement as the girl shakes her head.
Arya nuzzled closer to her mother, wrapping her arms around her. She can't help as her lips formed a wide smile. All she feels right now are warmth and comfort and she decides she can live like this forever.
"Sleep now," Catelyn whispered. But, Arya doesn't want to. Afraid that whatever this may be, will disappear and she will wake up to nothing but the cold again.
She was asleep long before that thought affected her as she drifts off with her mother's beating heart.
*
The second time Arya opens her eyes, she feels all better. Warm and cosy without her mother's presence beside her. Her room is filled with the sunlight coming from the opened window and she concludes that it was probably morning again.
She climbs down her bed and strides towards the window where the sun's warmth bathes her further and the sound of birds chirping can be heard at a distance. She is indeed home and she's not dreaming. Of that she was certain. But, nonetheless, she still cannot grasp what truly is going on.
Was all that she had experienced those years in the run and watching her family's unjustly deaths, a dream? A long and horrible dream?
She looks down at herself then. She notices now that her hands are smaller. Her height is shrinking too. All of the scars she earned are lost. Her skin is as flawless as it can be, and her body is of a small child again. Not the woman that she had once become.
With a frown, she moves towards the chest that stored all her clothes. She settles for a light blue dress when she cannot find anything more comfortable. The material will keep her warm enough and that will do.
She moves to the mirror next to do her hair, but the sight of her face startles her. It is as if she is looking at another Arya Stark. Her face is smaller and it screams youth all over. Her grey eyes are the only thing that she recognized. Somehow, they are older and are the only thing that truly represents her.
A creaking sound of the door being opened brings her out of her trance and she turns around to find Jon is entering her room. A tray of food on his hands.
"Oh, you're awake," Jon said with a slight smile. "I brought you breakfast… I thought you were still down with the fever." he continued while placing the tray on the side table.
Arya didn't even realize her feet had brought her closer to her half-brother. She had to tilt her head up to see his face and she studied him as if her life depends on it.
Jon looks down at her with a raised brow. "Arya? Something-" he was unable to finish his sentence when Arya threw her arms wide as she jumps to lock him with a tight hug, burying her face at the crook of his neck, content. Her arms secured him tighter without meaning to.
If Jon was puzzled at her little sister behaviour, he didn't show it. Instead, he returned her hug and they stay around each other's arms for what felt like an eternity.
"It's getting harder to breathe, little sister." Jon whispered, "You're not actually trying to strangle me to death are you?" he finished with a playful tone. Arya can feel his smile against her shoulder.
But, she cannot smile at that. The thought of his death breaks her linked arms like a spell. Her memory brought her back when she visits Jon's grave, outside Castle Black. There was only a mound of dirt on the ground with his name carved on a wooden marker. He was buried six feet under all alone in that cold and dark ground.
"Little sister?" Jon's voice brought her back. His eyes bore into hers with a frown now. "Something wrong?" He asked, his hands grasping her shoulder.
Arya wills herself to cast away the horrible memory out of her thoughts. After all, Jon is here and he's not dead. "Of course not… I'm just starving is all," she said, forcing a smile. Jon stares at her for a while, studying her.
"Is that kidney pie, I see?" She asked shifting her gaze at the tray of food that had been long forgotten. Her smiles now turn into a genuine one as her stomach rumbles softly.
Jon chuckles, finally releasing his hold. "Aye, the one and only."
*
Roaming the castle has never been this fun and nerve-wracking. Arya had tried to find any flaw to the situation she was at, but to no avail. Winterfell is perfect as she last remembered it. She recognized every face in it and they her.
As she steps outside the courtyard where everyone is already tending to their respective works, two men caught her attention and she wastes no time walking towards them, her robes billowing behind her.
Her father and her brother, Robb are talking to Ser Rodrik about something of importance. She notices how grim her father looked. But then realized that's how he always looked like with everyone else. Robb, on the other hand, is intently listening to whatever the older men were exchanging, studying them.
She stops not far from them, appreciating their presence from a distance. When they finally finished and Ser Rodrik walks away, her father realized he had been watched. His brows raised as he walks to her. Robb following close from behind.
"Arya, what are you doing up and about?" Ned asked, bending down to place his hand on her forehead. Arya only grins back.
"I feel fine now, Father… never been better." She replied and not long after, throws herself into her Father's arms. Savouring his smell and warmth. When she's content, she lets go and throws herself onto her brother, next. Treating him the same way.
The two men exchanged a look at each other, feeling lost by the sudden treatment. "Well, it's good to have you back," Robb speaks up, breaking the long silence as Arya stares at them both with a smile still plastered on her face. It was becoming rather disturbing with every minute passed for the two men.
"Ned, I cannot find-" a voice interrupted them then and Catelyn stops short by the small group before fixing her gaze at the person she was looking for. "Arya" she finished with a sigh.
The young girl looks at her mother with the same smile. By the way it's going, it looks like her face will be hurting by the end of the day, though she wouldn't mind that at all.
"I guess you're feeling all better now?" Catelyn asked. Arya nods.
"Her fever seems to have subsided," Ned said, giving his thought too. Catelyn let out a satisfied sigh.
"Well then, perhaps you ought for an embroidery lesson? Your sister's already on her way." the older woman suggested.
Arya instantly lights up at the mention of her older sister. She closes into her mother and hugs her tightly. "That seems like a wonderful plan, Mother. I will be on my way now." She finished and lets go of her but not before glancing at the three of them for one last time and running away. The thoughts of seeing Sansa filling her mind.
The three people were dumbstruck as they watched the little girl's retreating form. "Arya's excited for an embroidery lesson? I think something's wrong with her head. Should we call Maester Luwin?" Robb asked to no one in particular.
Catelyn gives her son a disapproving look. "Perhaps she finally accepts the way of a lady." She continued, though not sounded that convincing herself.
Ned lightly chuckles." Gods be good when that time finally comes."
*
Arya made her way to the supposed room where they always had their embroidery lesson with Septa Mordane. She knocks on the door and walks in. Her sister is already sitting on a chair with two other girls. She remembered them as Jeyne and Cissy.
Sansa stops as she turns around to find her younger sister looking at her, grinning from ear to ear. "Arya, if you decided to come at all, you should at least be on time," she commented before working back on her stitches.
Arya strides closer and takes a chair next to her sister before sitting down. All this while her eyes not leaving Sansa. She can't help but feel in awe of her sister's beauty. Truth be told, Arya had always noticed - although begrudgingly - that Sansa has the beauty of a Tully just like her Mother. But, she never appreciates it. Not until now.
"What? Something on my face?" Sansa asked, annoyed when being openly stared at.
Arya shakes her head. "No. There's nothing on your face... I just realized how beautiful you are."
Sansa's mouth opened and closed a few times. Confused by her little sister's sudden remark. She tried to find any proof that the girl was actually joking but found none. Instead, Arya looks at her with such honesty and longing. She didn't understand one bit of that. "Um... Well, thank you." She said hesitantly.
The younger girl smiles before getting up and wrapping her arms around her sister. Sansa blinks as she slowly returned the hug, though further confused. Septa Mordane comes in at the right moment, breaking the trance of both sisters. As Arya turns around and finds the older woman, she can't help but to groan, finally realizing where she is and what she had really walked into.
*
Sneaking out of the embroidery lesson was easy when no one pays her any attention. Though she realized that Sansa was aware of her plans of escaping, the older girl didn't stop her. In fact, Sansa almost looks like she was helping her, talking to Septa Mordane all the time, asking for the woman's guidance when clearly she doesn't need one.
Arya lets out a breath she doesn't realizes she's holding as soon as she is far from the damned room. As she walks along the hallway and towards the ground, a sound she recognizes enter her ears. The swish sound of an arrow before it hit a mark is all too familiar to her.
Sure enough, she sees the source soon after. Robb, Jon, and Rickon are there, watching Bran's practising and he is failing rather tremendously as his arrows hit everywhere else other than the mark.
The brows on her forehead crease as the familiar situation unravel in front of her. She had been in this same situation six years ago, hadn't she? She remembered mocking Bran at that time, by showing him how to hit the mark properly and he had chased her after, annoyed with her action.
Finding no immediate answer, she shrugs it off. Perhaps it was just a coincidence and she was just dreaming of that time. A grin automatically adorns her face as she comes across an estranged bow and an arrow near them. Maybe she really ought to teach Bran a lesson. She picks them up and moves to find the perfect spot from Bran and the mark he was practising with.
Finally had the target locked on her sight, she lets go of the arrow and it swiftly lands on the centre of the mark with a definite thud. Everyone turns around at the source it was coming from and her smirk grew bigger as she decides to curtsy - with bigger action than necessary - before them.
Bran's face is soaring red and he tosses the bow aside before sprinting towards her. Just as expected, Arya knew he was going to do that, so she was already sprinting in the opposite direction when he makes his move. She can't help the giggle coming out from her with Jon's and Robb's laughter filling her ears as she runs.
She manages to glance over her shoulder and finds that Bran is still hot on her heels. She runs further until she comes across a tree and starts climbing. Not long after, another presence is at her side as he climbs past her.
"Are you coming?" Bran asked, from the top of the tree now, smirking. Arya rolls her eyes.
"Shut up." She huffs while trying to get a good footing on the branches at the same time.
Bran was always a better climber than her and her current attire only makes it worse. After seems like forever, Arya finally arrived beside her brother. The tree's branch is big and strong enough for both of them to sit on.
"There you are…did you meet a friend on your way up? I was becoming sleepy, waiting." He joked, with a ghost of a smile on his face.
She punches his arm lightly. "Oh, shut it. If it weren't for my dress, I would already beat you, no doubt."
Bran chuckles softly before staring straight into the horizon. The wind blows on their faces as Arya studies her brother silently.
"You know…" Bran trails, staring back at his sister. "You gave quite a fright to Father and Mother yesterday."
The young girl looks away, suddenly feeling anxious. "It was only a fever. I'm all better now." She said, trying to convince him and herself.
"Do you remember what you said before you passed out?" he asked again, not really waiting for an answer as he continues. "You asked; were you dead. Why would you have asked that?"
She stares back at him, feeling lost in her thoughts. "Well, it was nothing." she settled, don't know how to breach the subject when she is not sure herself. But, Bran is still staring at her, urging her to continue. "I had a dream…a horrible one." She tried then. "Mother and Father were murdered... Everyone died in some horrifying way. Robb, Sansa and Rickon... Jon, and even you. I was left all alone and it was terrifying." she finished in a whisper, in fear that it might come true again.
Silence envelops them and for a moment, something she can't quite comprehend passes as Bran studies her silently. But, then his face is clear and he nudges her slightly at the side. "Don't worry, Arya... It was only a dream," he said with a smile so contagious that she had to smile back.
Their conversation stops short when Ser Rodrik calls for Bran to come down. He is going to witness an execution of a deserter from the Night's Watch whom Father will give the sentence to. The look on Bran's face is turning grim by the seconds. As he finally walks away with Ser Rodrik, leaving her alone, Arya can't help the dread rising from her stomach. She remembers all of these too well.
Clearly, a second time is not a coincidence. What if this wasn't, in fact, a dream as Bran said?Though she has a difficult time imagining whatever this is could be.
When Bran comes home later that evening, running with a direwolf pup around his arms, Arya can never admit that she had known all along. Even when Jon gives her, her own little pup, Nymeria, she doesn't want to admit to anything. Not only during dinner, when her Father announced the King is coming to Winterfell that she finally realized that the Gods had actually granted her wish to save her family.