Arya got back to Winterfell with Gendry and felt better than she had in months. The bandits were gone, House Dustin could be dealt with now that Jon and Val were married, and there was going to be a babe in the house again. There hadn't been a child in Winterfell since Rickon and Bran had to flee, and now they were bringing the next generation into the world. Arya tried not to think about the fact that her mother and father and so many of her siblings weren't there to see this. It should have been Robb bringing the next generation into Winterfell with her mother and father staying close and teaching him how to raise the child. Her parents should be here to hold Meera's hand and teach her what she needed to do. As it was, none of them had much experience with children aside from Val and how she helped with various children in her clan. The night they got back, they found Meera in the godswood sobbing.

"They aren't here," Meera said as Arya ran over and sat next to her. Bran was nowhere in sight, but she could only assume he was somewhere close, trying to get out to Meera. They were rarely out of each other's sight. "My mom and dad aren't here, Jojen isn't here, no one is here. Bran's parents, your parents, aren't here. It isn't fair; it isn't fair; they should be here." Arya pulled Meera into her arms and looked up at Gendry. She mouthed for him to find Bran, and he took off. Nymeria was whining nearby and trying to cuddle closer to Meera.

"I was thinking the same thing," Arya whispered as she rocked Meera back and forth. She was so tired and miserable, and being pregnant just seemed like it was a lot to deal with. Meera was young, which was probably the only reason things got hard for her in the last few weeks or so. "But we're in the godswood right now, underneath the Heart Tree, and you know what that means for all of us. They're here, looking out for you, right now. They are sad they aren't here for us right now, but they know we can do this. They know you and Bran can do this, and whatever you can't do, the rest of us will be here to help you."

"You all have enough to do without me becoming a burden," Meera said, but Arya shook her head. She looked up and watched as Gendry raced into the godswood with Bran in his arms.

"You aren't a burden to me or anyone else," Arya said, and she tilted Meera's chin up so she could see Bran in Gendry's arms. A few more silent tears fell from her eyes as Gendry set Bran down, and the two of them pulled each other into their arms.

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out," Bran said. "You were the one that brought me back from the Three-Eyed Raven; you did that Meera, so you can do anything. I promise I won't let you do any of this alone, I promise I won't leave you again."

"You tried to make me leave once," Meera said quietly, and Bran pulled away from their hug so he could frame her face with his hands.

"And you rightfully slapped me for it," he said, which was information that Arya didn't know, but it sounded like something that Meera would do. "You told me you were staying, and that was that so you stayed. You stayed, and you defended me during the Long Night, and you held my hand when the poison raced through my system. You can put a spear through a man's eye from halfway across the courtyard without even trying. You are Lady Meera Reed, and if you can do all of that, you can do this too." Meera nodded, and the two of them pressed their foreheads together. Arya let them have their moment until Meera shivered, and it was time to get her inside. Arya helped her to her feet while Gendry carried Bran back to his chair. They helped put the two of them into their room for bed and walked up to their own room.

"I didn't know Meera slapped my brother," Arya said as she closed the door behind them. Their packs were abandoned on the floor, and Jon and Val were due to return in the early morning. Sansa and Theon were already in their room for the night, but Sansa saw them just as they got in.

"I did," Gendry said softly, and there was something in his voice that made Arya look up at him. He pressed his lips together and released his breath slowly. "When you tried to leave me, Meera told me that story to try and show that sometimes you have to out stubborn you Stark's." Arya felt her stomach drop; she tried not to think that time in their lives very often. She was afraid back then, so afraid that loving Gendry made her weak, and she was going to lose everything for it. She thought that sending him away was the only way to keep that fear and perceived weakness from consuming her. She pushed him away, and that was how Melisandre was able to get her hands on him. She nearly bled Gendry dry, and it would have been all Arya's fault. She almost lost him, and the thought of that happening now frightened her.

"Gendry-"

"I really don't want to talk about it," Gendry said. The two of them climbed into bed, and he turned to sleep with his back to her, which was not something he normally did. Arya cuddled close to his warmth and kissed the back of his neck. Melisandre told her that Gendry's good heart was going to be the thing that killed him and that it was going to haunt him for the rest of his life whether or not he could have saved people if he let Melisandre or even Daenerys burn him alive. Arya closed her eyes and tried not to think about it.

A little before dawn, she heard people moving around and could hear Jon and Val making their way up to their room. Arya settled back down in bed and hoped that Gendry would get some sleep today. He was usually up at dawn, and she very much wanted him to get some rest after their little trip to take care of the bandits. She was nearly asleep when suddenly, a wolf howled long and loud. Arya felt every hair on her body stand on end, and she was awake. That was Nymberia, she was sure of it, and Nymeria stayed close to Meera these days. Gendry was awake too. The two of them glanced at each other and quickly threw on clothes that they could wear in public and didn't even bother to lace up their boots as they ran to Meera's room.

Maester Wolken was already there, and thankfully he didn't seem too worried about the massive direwolf that was staring at Meera with huge yellow eyes. Meera, who was clutching her stomach and wincing painfully. Bran was in bed next to her, and he was letting her crush one of his hands as he spoke to her gently.

"The babe is coming," Wolken said, and Arya felt her heart stutter. Jon, Val, Sansa, and Theon all pilled into the room, and Arya could see Brienne in the hallway. "My Lady, we need to get you prepared. We should get the men out of the room."

"No," Meera gasped, and she held onto Bran even tighter. "Please, don't make him leave."

"I'm not leaving her," Bran said as he refused to take his eyes off of Meera.

"My Lord, we-"

"I said I'm not leaving," Bran snapped, and Nymeria growled. Meera cried out in pain, and Arya raced to her other side to try and help her the best she could, but she didn't know what she was doing. Val, on the other hand, apparently did.

"All right, if Bran wants to stay, then he can stay. Gendry, Jon, Theon, you all need to leave the room immediately," Val said. Jon looked like he wanted to argue, but Val's expression didn't leave any room for that. The men all left the room, and Val turned to Sansa. "Have the maids bring up some warm water and clean rags immediately." Sansa nodded and stuck her head out to call for one of the chambermaids who were lurking near the door in case they were needed.

"My Queen, you seem to know a lot about bringing babes into the world," Wolken said.

"I'm a woman, so I've seen many women bring babes into the world, and I've seen many die while doing so. I will not lose my good sister today, Maester," Val said, and Wolken blinked once and nodded. Sansa helped the maids carry the buckets into the room as they had Meera lay back.

"Where do you want, Bran?" Arya asked.

"Can I have my head in his lap?" Meera asked, and Val nodded as she pushed a sweaty curl out of Meera's eyes.

"My dear, you are bringing a babe into the world. As far as I'm concerned, you can have whatever you want," Val said. It took some work from Arya and Sansa, but they eventually got Meera lying down with her head in Bran's lap. He began to run his fingers through her hair and pressed a cool cloth to her forehead. He was whispering softly that he loved her, that she could do this, that he believed in her, and it made Arya want to cry. It was so lovely to see her kind and amazing little brother looking at his wife like that.

Wolken told them that they likely didn't have long and that a first babe would either come very quickly or very slowly and when he looked at her, he said he thought it was going to be quick. Val looked as well, and she agreed. Arya and Sansa listened to what Val and Wolken told them to do while Nymeria climbed onto the bed and settled her massive head on Meera's stomach gently as they all waited. Occasionally Meera would cry out in pain, and those cries got closer and closer. Val and Wolken glanced at each other, and they both nodded.

"Meera, it's time for you to push. It's going to hurt, it's going to hurt worse than anything, but you need to keep pushing," Val said. Meera nodded, and she began to scream. Arya was on her other side, and she let Meera crush her non-dominant hand as she screamed in pain. Bran was trying to comfort her, but she was beyond reason right now, and none of them seemed to be getting through. Val and Wolken kept telling her to keep going as Sansa moved around the room and gave the two of them whatever they needed.

"One more big push and your babe will be here, My Lady," Wolken said. Meera nodded and looked up at Bran. He smiled and kissed, even though they weren't facing the same direction. Meera bit down on her bottom lip hard enough to bleed and began to scream again. Suddenly, there was another scream as the sound of a baby cried out. They all stared as Wolken cut the cord and wrapped the babe in cloth. Val whispers for Meera to push the last of the afterbirth, but Meera only seemed to half-listen. Wolken walked back with a smile on his face. "My Prince, we have a new little princess with us. It's a girl."

"A girl," Meera whispered as they helped her sit up, so she was sitting next to Bran. They handed her the tiny little thing, and Arya didn't know how she was supposed to react to this; it was a girl. They had a little girl.

"The future Queen in the North," Val said as Meera and Bran looked at her. "She is our heir, and my children with Jon will be her Queensguard."

"What's her name?" Sansa asked as they looked at her. She had tiny tufts of dark hair, and she looked so fragile that Arya didn't know how they were supposed to keep her safe.

"Jojana," Bran said as he looked down at the little girl on his wife's chest. "Her name is Jojana Stark after her uncle Jojen Reed." Meera hiccuped a sob as she looked down as the tiny baby in her arms, and Arya decided it was time to give them a moment alone. They all gathered the soiled clothes and everything else, and the bed was ruined, but Arya knew they could have a minute together. The three of them deserved a minute together. Val opened the door to the anxious faces of Gendry, Jon, Theon, Brienne, and what looked like half of Winterfell were all waiting.

"Send out the word to our allies; Princess Jojana Stark has come into the world," Val said, and everyone cheered.

Corwin arrived two weeks after Jojana was born, and Gendry was getting antsy. He had plenty of ideas but no idea how to implement them. He didn't mind Rhaegal, but he was also one of the few people that Rhaegal tolerated. Gendry didn't mind having the dragon hanging around, but he also understood why the idea of something so large that only a select few people could control would make the North nervous. The direwolves were already too much for some people; they were only the size of horses. Gendry also just cared about Daenerys as a person and couldn't imagine what it was like to have something that you thought of like a child so far away. She knew Rhaegal was safe, but that wasn't the same thing as him being there for her.

Corwin was an older man with dark skin from many, many years in the sun and dark eyes. He looked Gendry up and down like he was trying to decide whether or not to break him over his knee until Val appeared.

"Corwin, it's lovely to see you thank you for coming," she said.

"Yes, well, you're a Queen, so I can't exactly say no," Corwin said, but he was smiling.

"This is Ser Gendry Stark, and he wants to see if you can help him with something," Val said.

"If you don't want to be here at any given time, you can leave," Gendry said. "I don't want your help because someone ordered you to do it. I want your help because you want to help and maybe want a challenge."

"A challenge?" Corwin said, and he raised an eyebrow. Val patted Gendry's shoulder and left the two of them alone. "What kind of challenge are we talking about here?"

"Do you have a horse?" Gendry asked, and Corwin nodded. "It's probably better if I show you." Gendry got on his own horse and took Corwin to the cave where Rhaegal was. When the dragon walked out to greet them, Corwin turned white as snow and then a little green. Gendry jumped off of his horse and began to walk toward the dragon.

"Son, what the fuck are you doing?" Corwin asked.

"He won't hurt me," Gendry said, and when he got close enough, he placed a hand on Rhaegal's warm nose. He huffed a breath that made Gendry smile, and he could see the ruined wing from here. "I won't let him hurt you, will you let him come close? I want to help you, but I need his help to do that," Gendry said softly so only Rhaegal could hear. He knew that Bran could talk to the dragons better than he could, but Rhaegal was looking at him with intelligent eyes. The massive green dragon huffed another breath and settled down on the ground. That was about as close to affirmation as Gendry was going to get. He walked back to Corwin, who still looked like he was about to pass out.

"That is a dragon," Corwin said.

"That it is," Gendry said, and he offered a hand. Corwin looked at him like he was mad, but Gendry didn't look away. "If he kills you, he'll kill me too, and he won't do that; he knows how much it would piss off his mother because she's quite fond of me. So stay close, and we'll be fine." Corwin hesitated but eventually took Gendry's hand, and the two of them slowly approached Rhaegal. The dragon eyed Corwin, but he stayed on the ground without trying to attack either of them. "Reach your hand out very slowly and touch his nose," Gendry said. Corwin was visibly sweating but did as Gendry sat while staying practically plastered to his side. Rhaegal huffed a breath that made Corwin jump but didn't attack. The dragon seemed to relax more and spread out his massive wings on the ground, which was precisely what they needed. Gendry smiled at Rhaegal and gently led Corwin over to his wing.

"It's injured," Corwin said.

"He and yes he is," Gendry replied. "His name is Rhaegal, and he got that wound fighting for the living here in the North. There is another Queen in the south, and she's called the Mother of Dragons. She considers the dragons her children, and Rhaegal has been trapped up here in the North ever since the battle for the dead. Queen Daenerys wants her son back, and the North doesn't trust a dragon not to suddenly turn on them."

"And getting him south would be a problem," Corwin said. "He can't fly on that wing, no cart in the world would be big enough to drag him south, and even if we got a boat big enough if it sneezes fire, the whole thing goes up, and the thing dies." Gendry nodded glad that Corwin could see the same problems that he did. "You want to fix his wing?"

"I do. The skin in the wings is about the same consistency as the thick leather that you are a master of making, according to Queen Val," Gendry explained. "I think between the two of us; we can figure out a way to fix that injury on his wing enough that he can fly again. If we do that, it'll look good for both of us." Corwin frowned and looked at Gendry. "The North hates me, they think I'm not worthy of their Princess, and they think I slept with another woman which I didn't. If I help the dragon that keeps them awake at night fly south, they might actually tolerate me. If you help me, it'll show the North and Queen Daenerys in the south that the Free Folk are willing to risk their lives to help the people of Westeros." Gendry paused as he looked at the injury and smirked. "Also, how many men do you think can say that they helped a dragon fly again? Between your leather making and my smithing, I think we can figure something out. Will you help me?"

"You are completely fucking mad, Gendry Stark," Corwin said, but he was grinning. "Then again, I've been told I'm fairly mad too. All right, let's get the pet dragon flying again."

They spent the rest of the day looking at the wing and trying to figure out how they were going to get this to work. Rhaegal tolerated them both and even let Corwin work without Gendry being nearby. It was like he could tell that they were trying to help him. The tear in his wing was near the bone, and the tear was as big as a horse. They would need more precise measurements, but, right now, the sun was going down, and Rhaegal appeared to be getting annoyed with them. Gendry rode back to Winterfell with Corwin, and they got to work.

The next month was strange. Jojana was apparently a good baby in that she slept a lot and didn't cry much, which made Meera and Bran both happy. Gendry didn't think he had ever seen Bran smile so much as he would hold his daughter in his arms. They made the formal announcement that Jojana was the heir, and the North took it very well. As Jon predicted, they wanted a King or Queen with Ned Stark's blood, and now they had one. Arya and Nymeria both didn't seem to know what to do with Jojana, and more than once, Gendry had to hide his laughter from Arya when she would stare at the baby like she didn't know how to keep it safe. He had to remind her that while Jojana was fragile, if a baby like him could survive Flea Bottom, then Jojana could survive Winterfell.

Corwin stayed at the castle, and Gendry couldn't remember the last time he made a friend like this. Corwin was mad, but once he was on board with the idea of getting Rhaegal to fly again, he dove right in. They spent the next month testing various instruments and leather, and Rhaegal tolerated them with far more grace than Gendry thought a dragon would ever muster. If they thought Rhaegal was getting antsy, they just brought Bran up, and he "spoke" to the dragon, and it calmed right down. Jon had no idea what to do with that either, but as with most weird things that Bran did, they all just kind of let it happen and hoped for the best.

After a month, they got Rhaegal to guide a little longer than usual, but it was still not staying in place the way they wanted it to. Corwin was asleep in the forge as Gendry sketched his designs to try and figure out the best possible way to keep the instrument that was essentially acting like a piece of Rhaegal's wing in place. Gendry finished sketching a design very early one morning when a new idea woke him up. Arya was used to things like this because Gendry often found himself inspired at weird times. It was the reason he finished the commissions for Ellaria in the middle of the night so they could be sent back to Dorne. He just got inspired at weird times. Gendry grinned as he looked over the designs and had a good feeling that this was it. This was the one that was going to work. Now he just needed to make it.

Gendry had every intention of telling Corwin after they broke their fast that he had finally figured out how they were going to get Rhaegal flying again when Jon and Val walked in with a scroll in hand. Sansa narrowed her eyes, and Gendry could see the Targaryen seal on the scroll.

"We have been invited to King's Landing," Jon said. "It appears that Queen Daenerys has secured a betrothal to Quentyn Martell, and we've been invited to the wedding." There was a pause as everyone took in this information. Gendry knew his history, anyone who lived in King's Landing knew the history of the Martell's and the Targaryen's and now history was repeating itself.

"Well, I suppose that's one way of keeping Dorne from rebelling," Theon said, and it broke the tension in the room.

"I suppose it will," Sansa said with a smile. "Well, a wedding like this means all of the guests they can possibly get. That means as many of us need to go as possible."

"I'd like to stay," Meera said as she rocked Jojana. "I don't think I'm ready to travel yet."

"I don't want to leave either," Bran said. "I think Daenerys would understand, though."

"She would," Jon said, and he looked at Sansa. "If Val and I go, I need my Hand to stay here and make sure things run well. Can you do that for me?"

"I have no desire to go to King's Landing and will gladly use this excuse not to return," Sansa deadpanned.

"You're going to make Gendry and I go, aren't you," Arya said, and Gendry closed his eyes. He knew it was true and that they had to go, but that didn't mean he wanted to. He still smiled and nodded when Jon confirmed that they would need to leave in a few days. Corwin wasn't going to be happy that they were going to have to put off finishing the designs to get Rhaegal flying again, but they would have to. There just wasn't enough time to finish it before they needed to leave.

Gendry sighed and vowed to finish when they got back from the wedding. Perhaps it could be a late present for the bride.