Arya spent the rest of the day staring at the horizon line and just waiting for land to appear. The gull was proof that there was land out there, they had almost found land, and she just prayed to Old Gods, the Seven, Drowned God, to all of them that Asha was right and the world is round. She prayed that they weren't really discovering new land at all but just the eastside of Essos because while new land would be amazing, Arya really just wanted to see Gendry again. It had been so long since she had seen him, it was coming up on a year, and she didn't know what to do with herself. She wondered if they were going to be different people or if they were even going to like each other still. She wondered about what he went through and if he was different. She was petrified that they would find the Baratheon's and Gendry would have someone new in his life. He was dead to the world; he could start over, which made her a little sick to think about something like that.
The first time the horizon changed and land appeared, everyone on the ship cheered. They were hungry, thirsty, and wanted to be on dry land for some amount of time. Arya thought about kissing the beach when they finally landed. She knew they would have to sail back someday but right now, she was glad to see solid land again. As they got closer, Arya could see what looked like a small fishing village. They didn't know if there were any major port towns, but a port town isn't where Gendry would hide. He would pick somewhere small, like a village like that, to hide in. Arya raced up to Asha and pointed to the small village on the horizon line.
"We need to go there," she said. "I know Gendry, and he wouldn't hide in a big port town. Port towns tend to have people loyal to rulers while tiny villages like that one look after their town. The Baratheon's are wanted, and they would need to go somewhere where the people that were around them wouldn't want to turn them in."
"Are you sure?" Asha asked, and Arya nodded. " All right, let's go ashore," Asha called out to her men, and they dropped the anchor some distance from the shoreline. A few of the older sailors who didn't care about seeing dry land stayed behind with the ships, but most of them got into the small rowboats to go onto land. They weren't sure if this was Essos yet, and Asha flew up a white flag for peace just in case. No one tried to put arrows through their eyes, and a small group of people gathered at the beach to see them. Arya jumped off of the boat and nearly cried at the feeling of the land beneath her feet. Asha held up hands in surrender and didn't go for her weapons.
"My name is Lady Asha Greyjoy of the Iron Isles, and we have traveled west from Westeros," she said. "Please, tell us where we are."
"You on the far side of Essos," one of the men replied after the people murmured to themselves. There was a beat of silence, and Asha burst into tears. Arya couldn't believe it; the world was round, and they just proved it. The people looked surprised by the sudden tears, and Arya decided it was time to try and get this under control. Most of the men were staying in the boats so they wouldn't look threatening to the locals.
"It's been a very long journey, and we aren't here to pillage or do anything else. We're looking for some people, and I was hoping you could tell me if you've seen them," Arya explained. "They are four siblings, all with black hair and blue eyes, two boys and two girls. The boys are the younger siblings. One of the men is a blacksmith by trade and might have used those skills to try and earn a place here."
"We know the people you're speaking of," an older man said. "The Second Sons were here looking for them a moon or so ago. We haven't seen them." Arya didn't know if this man was lying or not; he could think that Arya and Asha meant to do them harm, and could be protecting them.
"The older brother, he's my husband, the love of my life, and I haven't seen him in a very long time," Arya said. "I assure you, the last thing we mean them is harm. I want to bring them home." The people of the village all exchanged looks, and the old man looked back at Arya.
"I'm sorry, but we haven't seen them," he said, and he sounded definitive about it. Asha seemed to have gotten herself under control now and was asking to talk to the village elder, but Arya wasn't really listening. They found Essos, and they even found a place where Gendry and his siblings could be hiding, but they weren't here. Whatever else was being said mattered little to her at that moment, and this time it was Arya's turn to breakdown and cry. She couldn't think of what else to do.
Several hours later, Asha had traded with the village and managed to secure them a place to stay for a sennight while everyone recovered and got some food in their bellies. Arya felt better than she had in weeks physically, but she couldn't get rid of the pit in her stomach. She went out to the beach to be alone, because she hadn't really been alone in a place that wasn't her cabin in months, and she was enjoying that time alone when Asha joined her.
"I spoke to the village elders, and they told me there are a good amount of villages along the coastline where Gendry and the others could be hiding. Just because we didn't get this one right doesn't mean they aren't here," Asha said. Arya didn't say anything because she didn't know what else she was supposed to say. When Asha put an arm around her shoulders into an awkward hug, Arya leaned into the warmth and tried to settle her mind and calm her nerves. They checked one village, and she would check them all if she had to.
Gendry didn't get a good look at his own face until a good moon after the attack that nearly took their lives. He paused when he saw his reflection because he didn't quite know what to do with it. The scar was large and healing about as well as possible and went across his entire face. All of the muscles worked still, and he could still smile and talk properly, but he looked so different. It was like looking into the face of a stranger, and then Gendry had a moment when he realized that this was a stranger to the man he used to know. He was trying not to get overwhelmed by the mere idea that he didn't know himself anymore, but he also knew exactly who he needed to go talk to to get all of this sorted.
Mya was always the rock of their family, and she had remained the rock throughout their journey across Essos. She didn't give up and kept pushing them all to keep walking when all they wanted to do was lie down and die. When Edric lost his foot, she was the one who told him that he could rule without a foot; he was the same person that a limb didn't matter. She held his hand through the pain of a limb that didn't exist anymore. When Bella finally broke down and told them about Daario putting his hands all over her and how she had to pretend that kissing him didn't make her sick, Mya was the one who listened and held her. She was the one who convinced Weneya to let them keep their cottage. So if there was anyone Gendry needed to go to, it was Mya.
She tended to wear a cloth over the spot where her eye used to be, and Bella spent some time doing embroidery and dyeing the cloths to make them look prettier. Mya didn't seem to think that was necessary, but Bella insisted. Mya was nearby, they were all never far apart from one another, and she must have seen something in Gendry's face the moment she saw him.
"Edric, Bella, we're going to step right over there for a moment," Mya said, and she guided him just far enough away that Bella and Edric couldn't hear but close enough that they could all see each other. "What's wrong, little brother? You look like you're about to be sick."
"I saw my face," Gendry said as they sat down. "I hadn't seen it since the attack."
"It's pretty bad right now, but it's healing the same way my eye won't always look as bad as it does right now. The same way Bella's ear won't look as bad or that Edric will gain more feeling in his arm as it heals," Mya explained. "But I understand, I think, what you mean."
"I didn't recognize myself," Gendry whispered.
"I didn't either, and I don't think any of us do anymore," Mya replied, and she sounded very sad. Gendry suddenly wished he wasn't here because he was causing his sister pain with his own problems, and that was the last thing he wanted. "When you and Arya came to collect me, I thought things couldn't get any stranger, and then more and more things kept happening. You got Dany to legitimize us, and suddenly I was helping my sister and brother run an entire castle. I was settling into that life; I felt like I could be Lady Mya Baratheon and have that mean something. Then all of this happened."
"I feel the same way," Gendry replied as he picked at a loose thread on his pants. "I was just feeling like I had a place in Winterfell even if half of the North hated me. I felt like Arya, and I were going to have our chance to really settle down and just be together in the way I always wanted us to be. Yet here I am, half a world away, and I feel guilty when I'm not thinking about her. Ser Gendry Stark would have spent every waking hour thinking of his wife, Princess Arya Stark, but it hurts too much to think about her and everything I left behind. I would rather think about anything else, and I'm worried I'm going to forget her."
"Someday," Mya said as she reached forward and took Gendry's hand into her own, "we're going to be able to look back at those memories and think of them fondly. Right now, we can't, and protecting ourselves from that pain doesn't make us bad people, Gendry. You aren't a bad person for not wanting to think about something that hurts you even if that something is the woman you love." Gendry squeezed her hand, and they sat together, looking out at the ocean and the rest of the village for a long time. Their wounds were healing, but there was something else weighing on Gendry's mind.
"The Second Sons might send more soldiers to look for us. We killed their leader, and they want blood for that. They want to see Bella hanged, and they want to see the rest of us in chains. The longer we stay, the more likely it is that they'll come back and we might not get as lucky next time," he said. "We got lucky this time. That was a small group that was tired and probably hungry, and that's why we were able to escape with our lives. This is how we all ended up after a fight with just four of them, and maybe we'll be stronger and better when they get here; we were weak and still healing the last time, but might not be fast enough." Mya was silent for a long time as they both looked out at the ocean.
"Do you think we should leave?" she asked, and Gendry just shrugged because he really didn't know the answer to that question. The truth was neither of them had any idea what they were doing right now. They were lucky that the village and Weneya had taken them in so kindly. They were lucky how patient everyone here was while they were healing and useless. Gendry didn't think they would get this lucky again, which was all the more reason he wanted to run as far away as possible. Them being here was dangerous, and the idea of getting innocent people killed just for taking them made him sick.
"I don't know where we'd go," he said. "The ocean is that way, and I don't think we can go into that in the small ships they have here. We don't know where we would even go if we went out there. We could go north or south to another village, but who knows if they would take us in."
"We could try to go west again, but if the Second Sons find us," Mya said and sighed heavily. They didn't have any options besides hoping that the Second Sons wouldn't come looking for them for a long time. Maybe by then, he could be strong again, and Mya and Bella could be better fighters. Right now, they just worked on instinct, and it had saved their lives, but they were Baratheon's; they could fight if they learned, and that was the only thing he could consider. Maybe by then, they could be the ones defending this little village. Gendry didn't know when he started thinking of this place in the long term, but it was all they had.
They sat together for a long time until Edric and Bella made their way over. Edric swore loudly as he managed to sit down next to Mya and fell directly on his ass because he still wasn't used to walking around without a foot. Bella hugged Gendry around the shoulders and put her chin on the top of his head in a way that she knew was going to hurt. He managed to get her to move away, and they all sat together until Weneya came and found them.
The village all ate together every night, and this night was a good one. The fishing season was going well, so they were going to have enough food for winter. The supplies they needed they were getting from other villages. The clothing that Bella made and mended for everyone was holding sturdy. Mya helped Weneya keep track of the supplies. Gendry did as much manual labor as possible and even a little woodcarving. Edric was teaching the men how to fight even though his arm was still in a sling. Gendry found himself smiling and laughing for the first time in a long time. He thought that maybe the world didn't seem as bleak. Perhaps they had a chance to be happy here if the world would give them half a chance.
Gendry thought they deserved that chance.
A sennight later, Gendry was still half-asleep in bed with Mya and Edric up and around while Bella was groaning about the sun coming in when there was a commotion outside. Gendry was immediately alert and did some math in his head. It could be the Second Sons again, there could have been more of them close by, and this time they weren't asking anyone if they were here. They could be killing people. All four of them sprang into action. Edric and Gendry pulled on their soft pants and large tunics while Bella and Mya pulled on the wide, dark free-flowing skirts they wore. They tied the weapons around their waists and ran outside. Gendry didn't see anyone tearing through the village and raising hell.
"Oh gods," Mya whispered, and Gendry followed her line of sight out to the ocean where two large ships were approaching. They were still too far away to see what colors they were flying, but Gendry didn't want to know. Someone had sold them into slavery, and they didn't know who had helped with a plot like that. They could be ships coming from Meereen, and this was how they were going to search from now on.
"Here's what we're going to do," Edric said in a low voice. "Mya, Bella, go to Weneya and make sure everyone in the village is away from the beach. We don't want the villagers anywhere near this place." His sisters nodded and took off. "Gendry, stay with me for now, but we're not running away from all of this. They don't get through to hurt the village while we're still alive."
"Not one of them gets through," Gendry agreed, and he suddenly remembered the last time he stood against an impossible foe and declared that not one of them would get through. The ships were getting closer, so there was no doubt that they were coming to the village. Gendry and Edric made their way down to the beach and waited as Bella and Mya joined them.
"Weneya called us idiots but said that they would stay back until we were dead on the sand," Mya said.
"She really emphasized the idiots part," Bella said. The four of them stood in a line and watched as the ships got closer. The sigil on the sails once would have inspired relief in him, but now it didn't.
"House Greyjoy," Gendry said.
"We don't know who was involved in the plot to kill us. Getting across the Narrow Sea requires someone who knows the sea. They could be involved," Edric said.
"They also could be just here to reeve the entire village," Mya said. "They are a long ways from home, which means they might not be loyal to Yara and her decree not to reeve and rape anymore. They could easily be here to do that."
"Over our dead bodies," Edric snapped. The ships eventually stopped in the bay, and Gendry watched as a small boat from one of the ships was lowered into the water and began to make its way toward the shore. Gendry raised his sword and watched his siblings do the same. He didn't particularly want to die on a beach like this, but he would die on his feet if he had to. This was the only thing that mattered. The boat pulled up to the shore, and a familiar face climbed out. Gendry narrowed his eyes as Asha Greyjoy began to approach them with a look of wonder on her face.
"Stay back!" Edric warned, and Asha froze as she slowly put her hands up in surrender. "These people have nothing and have done nothing wrong. You will not harm them in the name of harming us, and you will not reeve this place for personal gain. We will die before we let any of you through, and it would be wise not to test our patience." Gendry didn't know what she was going to say next, what they were going to do next when someone moved from behind Asha, and it felt like someone took his warhammer to his chest.
"Arya?" Gendry whispered.
It took a moment for Arya to recognize them when they pulled onto the shore. They had seen the four people standing on the beach with weapons in their hands, which wasn't the welcome they received from anyone else. Arya was the last one off of the boat and behind all of the men, by Asha's decree to keep her from getting killed, when a familiar voice called out for them to stop. Arya felt her blood run cold because she knew that voice; it was a little rougher than usual, but it was still his. Arya pushed her way toward the front of the crowd to see the four people she never thought she would see again.
They looked like they had been through hell. Edric was missing a foot, and his arm was in a sling, but he still held that sword like he intended to cut all of them in half. Bella's hair blew in the sea breeze, and Arya could see that she was missing an ear. Mya had a colorful piece of cloth tied over one of her eyes, and both women were holding daggers like they intended to use them. Arya's eyes found Gendry, and she gasped; there was a terrible scar running the length of his entire face that looked like it was still healing. All four of them were much thinner, like they hadn't eaten well in a long time and baring their teeth. They looked almost feral. When Gendry's eyes fell on her, he suddenly looked like someone just hit him.
"Arya?" he whispered.
"Gendry," Arya managed to say before she was running. Gendry dropped the sword he was holding, and they met in the middle. The hug was almost brutal and painful with how tightly they were holding onto each other, but Arya couldn't think of any way she could let him go. They both collapsed to their knees as if they were being held up by string that was suddenly cut. He was alive, he was really alive, and he was in her arms again. Arya pulled back far enough to look into his beautiful blue eyes and pressed their foreheads together. They were kneeling in the sand, holding each other, and Arya could feel the tears pouring from her eyes, and Gendry, her beautiful and brave husband who rarely let anyone see him cry, was sobbing right there with her as they stared at each other.
He was alive, he was here, and he was finally in her arms again.
