In the end, Gendry knew that they couldn't hide beyond the Wall forever, but it was a nice thing to think about. They were let through the gates without any issues and made their way south to Winterfell. Nymeria caught up with them halfway through the trip, and she put herself at his back as they slept like she used to when they first got to the North. He guessed that he would always be a pup to her that needed to be protected. The trip back home was nice and casual, and they didn't have any issues at all. There was a bit of a knot in his stomach when Winterfell came into view, but Gendry forced himself to breathe through it. He and Arya made promises to each other, and he was planning on keeping them.
The entire family was waiting for them to arrive since, apparently, the men at the Wall sent word as soon as they started south. Everyone looked a little tense at first, but what they had talked about and figured out beyond the Wall must have been apparent to everyone. They all relaxed, and Elemy ran forward, and Gendry scooped her up in his arms. She reached forward and gently touched the scar on his face. In their first days back, Elemy and her honesty when it came to his face was a balm to a burn that he didn't even know existed. He had a hard time talking to people but didn't have a hard time talking to her. She touched the scar and framed her face with her hands.
"You look better, Uncle Gendry," she said, and Gendry nodded.
"Yeah, little one, I feel better," he replied softly. He was about to put her down when he looked down and saw Jojana tugging on his pants, and apparently, he was the one who was going to carry the children back into the castle. He raised an eyebrow at Meera, Bran, Sansa, and Theon, but they all looked innocent. He still wasn't as strong as he used to be, but he could easily carry a five-year and a toddler in each arm. Gendry watched as Arya held onto her family tightly and Val whispered a few words to her. He really needed to thank Val for dragging them beyond the Wall like she did. She might have saved them.
The days weren't always easy. Gendry still had times when it felt like he was missing a piece of himself because he couldn't see Mya, Edric, and Bella, but they sent ravens to each other constantly. Davos also wrote regularly and told Gendry the things that his siblings wouldn't say, like when they had nightmares and if anyone got punched for insulting the way they looked. The answer to both of those questions turned out to be "yes" most of the time. It made him smile to think of Bella, the pretty one that everyone thought was a proper lady, pulling out a dagger that was hidden in her dress and threatening to gut a handsy lord. 'Ours is the Fury; indeed,' Gendry would write back when he would read those things.
The people around Winterfell didn't talk as much, and according to the other people who worked at the castle that they saw how miserable Arya was when he was gone, and they decided that he made her happy. They wanted their princes to be happy after everything House Stark went through. It wasn't everyone, but they were less likely to say anything to his face, which was about the best that he could hope for.
Arya had her bad days too. There were times she would be the one waking him up from the nightmares, and she needed to dig her nails into his skin to convince herself that he wasn't dead. She would be distant sometimes, and she struggled with adapting to fighting with her right hand. Brienne was a fabulous teacher, but there were talks that she might be heading home to Tarth soon. Her father missed her, and she missed him, and Gendry knew she would love to serve under his siblings. Brienne would spend time watching Sansa or Arya with a sad smile, and Gendry knew that she finally felt like the promise she made to Catelyn Stark was complete. Her daughters were home and safe, and maybe it was time for her to go home too.
Gendry was surprised, and a little touched that Corbin and Arya still worked on trying to get Rhaegal to fly again after everything that happened. Corbin had kept his distance when Gendry first returned, and Gendry got to meet Edd, the young man that Arya brought on to finish what Gendry had started.
"She wanted it to be your legacy," Corbin said one night as the three of them were drinking some ale and going over the designs again. Edd was a good man, and Gendry really didn't mind having another set of hands that knew his designs so well. Gendry frowned as he looked at Corbin. "We thought you were dead, lad, and she wanted you to be remembered for something else in this world." Edd hummed in agreement like that wasn't a big deal or anything, but Gendry felt a little thrown by the idea of someone doing anything in his name. He wasn't going to let it get to him, though and the three of them continued to work on the materials that they needed.
The next day Gendry took a horse and went to go see Rhaegal by himself for the first time since they went south for Daenerys' wedding. He didn't tell anyone that was where he was going because Gendry wasn't entirely sure if Rhaegal was going to remember him or how he would react to seeing him for the first time in a long time. If he was going to finish this, he needed to see Rhaegal, and Gendry planned to do that. The massive green dragon came out of the cave as Gendry approached, but he wasn't immediately burned to a crisp, so he took that as a good thing. He climbed off of his horse and dropped his hammer and sword into the dirt. He held up both of his hands into the air and slowly approached.
"Hey, Rhaegal," Gendry said carefully. "I know it's been a long since we've seen each other, and I probably looked a little different, but I still want to help you fly. I can't do that if I can't get near you, though, so this is our test to see if you still know who I am and if I can still touch you." Rhaegal huffed a breath that somehow sounded like the dragon was deeply unimpressed with him, which was amusing. Gendry reached out as he got closer and held out his hand.
Rhaegal huffed again but eventually approached and pressed his nose to Gendry's open hand. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked into one of the dragon's eyes. "Nice to see you again too. We have three of us working on this thing now, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't scare the shit out of Corbin and Edd. They want to help you the same way I do." Rhaegal sorted but let Gendry pet him for a long time. The sun was high in the sky by the time he turned around to leave. There was something about being around a dragon that made his blood sing, and he felt more determined than ever to get Rhaegal back into the sky.
It only took a full moon turn to get everything set up and ready between the three of them. Arya would wander in at times and would work with Edd on the easier pieces of the massive contraption. It made Gendry smile to see Arya working on the forge even if she was just passing Edd the things he needed or watching all of the work very carefully.
"I like watching you work, but I know I distract you," Arya said one night they were in bed together. Both of them were breathing hard from their lovemaking, and now they were trying to slow their heartbeats enough to sleep.
"You're just as distracting working with Edd, too, but you're providing a valuable service to him too. He's going to have to take on an apprentice someday, and him learning how to explain things to you will someday help him explain things to his apprentice as well," Gendry explained. "We appreciate the help." He kissed her forehead, and they both managed to sleep through the night without any nightmares.
On the day they were ready to attach the final version of the instrument that would help Rhaegal fly, everyone wanted to be there, but Gendry didn't want to risk spooking the dragon. He told everyone that they should keep an eye on the sky if they wanted to see if it worked and took only Edd and Corbin with him. The two of them were more used to Rhaegal, but they still let Gendry approach before anyone else. Gendry didn't even approach Rhaegal with any hesitation now; he just walked up to the dragon, confident that he wouldn't get hurt.
It took most of the morning to attach the contraption to the wing and stretch the leather over the rip. They had tried a few different versions of this, but this was the one that Gendry thought was going to work. It covered the hole but also shifted enough that it didn't get in the way of Rhaegal folding his wings in. Gendry also made sure to attach a small pouch explaining how to remove it just in case Rhaegal took the skies and went straight for Daenerys. Everything was ready, and Corbin and Edd took large steps back as Gendry placed a hand on Rhaegal's nose.
"This is going to help you fly," Gendry said, unsure if the dragon could understand. He had tested the other versions, but Gendry wanted to know that this is the one that was going to hold. He was sure that this was the one that was going to hold. "This is going to help you get back to Drogon and Dany. They're waiting for you, and they didn't think they'd see you again." He placed a hand on Rhaegal's nose and smiled. "Let's get you home."
Gendry walked away from Rhaegal, and the three of them waited. It took a moment for Rhaegal to understand that this was something that was going to help him fly again. He flapped his wings and kicked up dirt and dust. Edd and Corbin took more steps back, shielding their eyes, but Gendry refused to look away. In Essos, he got very used to dust in his eyes, and this was no different. He watched as Rhaegal flapped his wings harder and took off into a run. The very ground seemed to shake, but Gendry held his breath as he watched Rhaegal take to the skies.
This wasn't the first time they managed to get Rhaegal to fly, but every time the contraptions broke. This time, nothing happened. They watched Rhaegal circle the area, swoop down from the sky toward the ground, and back up again, and he flew for hours, and nothing happened. Gendry could vaguely hear Corbin and Edd cheering behind him, but Gendry couldn't take his eyes off of the dragon in the sky. He did that; they did that; they made a dragon fly again. Rhaegal swooped down and handed near them again. They approached and looked everything over; there wasn't any indication that there would be any problems. Gendry pressed his forehead to Rhaegal's neck and breathed in deep.
"All right, time to go home," he whispered. "I'll send more detailed instructions via raven, or I can come down and fix things if you need it, but it's time to go." Gendry didn't think he would miss Rhaegal but knowing the dragon was leaving; it felt like something important was going. He took a step back and waited for Rhaegal to take to the skies. Only Rhaegal didn't fly away. Gendry glanced at Edd and Corbin, who both looked confused. They waited for Rhaegal to leave, but the dragon looked at them like they were idiots, turned around, and walked back into the cave.
"What the fuck is going on?" Corbin asked, and Gendry didn't have an answer.
Gendry wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He always thought that he'd be chasing Rhaegal down to get him not to fly south immediately when all Gendry wanted to do was double-check the rigging. Instead, it was a full week later, and Rhaegal seemed content to circle the skies around Winterfell and occasionally landing nearby and then taking off again. Gendry and Jon had both tried to get the dragon to go back to Daenerys, but he wasn't moving.
"Maybe he wants to stay and look after us," Arya said one night after dinner. Gendry was trying to get the last of the soot from his face and neck, but there always seemed to be another spot of black that turned up. He was pretty sure he was going to have soot on him for the rest of his life even if he never entered a forge again.
"Maybe," Gendry replied, but he wasn't sure. Something was nagging him, and he didn't know what to do about it. He sighed and tossed the rag aside as he collapsed onto their bed. Arya began to run her hands through his hair, and Gendry closed his eyes as he slowly began to relax. He sighed heavily and opened his eyes to look up at her.
"Should we send a raven to Daenerys? So she can come, I don't know, pick him up?" Gendry asked, and Arya hummed.
"All the stories I read about dragons is that they are fiercely intelligent creatures, much more so than any of us could understand. Sometimes, I look at Nymeria, and it's like I'm looking into the eyes of a person. Do you feel the same way when you look at Rhaegal?" she asked.
"When we stepped back, and I told him to go home, I could have sworn he was looking at me like I was an idiot," Gendry said, and Arya laughed at him. "I'm serious; I don't have any other way to put it. It isn't the first time he's looked at me, and I thought I could tell what he was thinking, though, so maybe there is something to that idea."
"You said he looked at you like you were an idiot?" Arya asked, and Gendry nodded. "And he looked at you like this when you told him he could go home to Daenerys?" Gendry nodded again, but he could see where she was going with this. "So, apparently, you were an idiot for telling him to go home. We just need to figure out why."
"He's a dragon. I'm not sure he's going to be telling me anything anytime soon," he said, but Arya smiled.
"We can't talk to him, but we know someone who says they have before," Arya replied.
Gendry helped Bran push his chair out into the Winterfell courtyard. Jojana was in his lap, and he was insisting that she stay with him despite the fact that they were about to go see a dragon. Rhaegal hadn't been aggressive to any of them yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to happen. Gendry was fairly sure that Meera would skin him alive and maybe feed him to one of those lizard lions in the Neck if one hair was out of place on Bran or Jojana's heads. Rhaegal was circling the castle, but Gendry wasn't surprised when he landed not far away from the entrance. Arya was with him, and she squeezed Gendry's shoulder.
"So, you think Rhaegal looked at you like you were an idiot when you told him to go home, and now you want me to find out why he thinks you're an idiot," Bran said like he didn't know what was going on. Jojana giggled in his lap, and Bran looked at his daughter fondly.
"Yes, that's pretty much it," Gendry replied even though Bran was smirking, and he did understand all of this. Bran looked at Rhaegal and tilted his head to the side like he could hear something that they couldn't. His eyes didn't turn white, but they did get that far away look that Gendry didn't quite know what to do with. It seemed like the world was holding its breath until Rhaegal huffed and took to the skies again. Bran blinked and looked at Gendry.
"Take me to the godswood, please," Bran said, and Gendry walked with Arya out into the godswood. Bran put Jojana on the ground, and she hobbled over to Arya, and the two of them began to twirl and laugh near the massive tree. Gendry smiled softly as he watched Arya play with their niece; it made him smile, and it made his heart hurt a little to see her with a small child. They both knew that it wasn't going to happen with them, but that didn't mean it didn't sometimes hurt them. Gendry looked back at Bran, who had a hand on the tree and had that far away look in his eyes. He didn't move for almost half an hour, and Jojana had fallen asleep in Arya's arms. Meera came out to join them, and she frowned a little when she saw Bran.
"How long has he been like that?" she asked.
"About thirty minutes," Arya replied as she handed Jojana off to Meera. Meera walked over and sat down on a root near Bran and rocked Jojana quietly. Gendry could see that Meera moved, so Bran's arm was pressed against Bran's head, and he could only assume that this was supposed to help ground him. It took another ten minutes for Bran to blink, and he immediately smiled down at Meera and Jojana. He turned to Gendry and smiled again.
"Rhaegal is trying to give you a gift," Bran said, and Gendry stood there for a moment as he waited for Bran to go on, but he didn't say anything. Arya raised an eyebrow and gestured for her brother to continue. "You have three ingots of Valkyrian Steel that you don't know how to forge, and Rhaegal wants to help give you the means to help forge it."
"Rhaegal knows how to forge Valyrian Steel?" Gendry asked dubiously.
"No, I know how, but Rhaegal needs to help," Bran replied.
"Dragonfire?" Arya asked.
"No," Bran said. "That would require burning down a lot of people and possibly forges. Not dragonfire but dragon blood. The ingots need to be soaked in dragon blood for seven days, and then you'll be able to forge them. Rhaegal is waiting for you to take his blood, and then he'll fly south to Daenerys."
"You want me to make a dragon bleed on purpose," Gendry said, and he did not make it a question. Bran just nodded like that wasn't a big deal and like he wasn't going to be the one digging a knife into a beast that could kill him in seconds. "And you think Rhaegal is waiting for me to take the blood, and he'll give it to me willfully because I helped him fly again?"
"That was the implication," Bran said.
"What do you mean 'implication?'" Meera asked as she eyed him carefully.
"Well, I can't actually talk to a dragon, but I get impressions from him, and that was the impression I got," Bran replied. Meera looked at the sky like it could answer all of her questions. She stood up and gently placed Jojana in Bran's lap.
"You need to be more specific. You said that Rhaegal told you that he wouldn't hurt anyone in the North, and now you're telling me that you didn't actually know that?" Meera asked, and Bran seemed to realize just what had happened. He opened his mouth to speak, but she raised a hand to silence him and turned to Gendry and Arya. "Please be careful should you decide to take his advice. I really don't want to have to explain to Jon why his favorite sister and brother are both turned to ash." Arya looked like she was trying to hold back laughter but didn't say anything, but now Bran looked deeply offended.
"How can Gendry be the favorite brother?" Bran asked.
"You'll be lucky if you'll even be anyone's favorite brother once they found out you didn't actually talk to Rhaegal," Meera said as she began to push them out of the godswood. Gendry could hear them arguing, and sometimes he wondered how things got so strange. He looked at Arya, and she shrugged as well.
"He's not leaving, so he's waiting for something," Arya said as she reached forward and took his hand into hers. "We'll go together, and while Bran is vague and annoying, he's also usually right. I think Rhaegal wants you to have this gift because you can be trusted with it."
"I don't understand," Gendry replied. They sat down underneath the godswood, and he could hear Rhaegal circling the castle yet again.
"You would keep the knowledge to yourself because if everyone knew that they needed dragon blood to forge Valyrian Steel, Drogon and Rhaegal would become targets for someone looking to hurt them," Arya explained. Gendry tensed up a little at the thought of someone trying to hurt the dragons. "See, just the mere idea bothered you, so you can be trusted with this information. That's why he wants to give it to you." Arya paused for a moment. "Or that's the general impression I'm getting anyway." Gendry had to laugh, and they wrapped their arms around each other as they walked out of the godswood.
There was no point in waiting for someone else to come along; Gendry took his strongest dagger and bucket out of the forge, and he walked with Arya at least a mile away from Winterfell. He didn't think the fire could reach the castle from here, but he wanted to be sure. It had rained the night before, so the ground and trees were wet, which meant it would be harder for them to catch fire if the worst happened. He didn't want to accidentally burn down half of the North while he was trying to do this insane plan. Rhaegal circled a few more times and eventually landed not far away from where he and Arya were waiting. Rhaegal landed further away from Winterfell, which seemed deliberate at this point. The two of them approached, but Rhaegal tensed and growled when Arya got close. She froze and put her hands in the air in surrender.
"I think you're supposed to do this on your own," she said, "but I'll be here through it all no matter what happens."
"This plan is insane; you know that, right?" Gendry said.
"My brother, who is actually my cousin, killed a creature that could raise the dead with a sword that you and him made stronger with your king's blood, and it actually caught on fire at one point," Arya said. "This is just as insane as the fact that an actual dragon is sitting over there as it is." Gendry leaned forward and kissed her gently.
"Thank you," he whispered, and she smiled because Arya seemed to know that he wasn't just thanking her for being here. She nodded, and Gendry gathered his things as he approached Rhaegal. He had brought all sorts of tools around the dragon many times, so it wasn't the dagger that Gendry was worried about. That was on his hip, and the bucket was in one of his hands. When he got close enough, Gendry put a hand on Rhaegal's nose and petted gently. "If this isn't what you want, I hope you'll give some indication and not just kill me," he said, and Rhaegal huffed in an exasperated way. Maybe everyone was right, and he was a lot smarter than they were giving him credit for.
Gendry pulled the dagger from the sheath and glanced over at Arya, who was standing nearby. She was a little pale, which betrayed that she wasn't as confident in all of this as she said she was, but that was to be expected. They had almost lost each other too many times, and if this was their time, then at least they would go together. He nodded to her, and Gendry patted a spot on Rhaegal's neck. The dragon huffed again and actually stomped one of his feet a little. Gendry took a deep breath, released it slowly, and pushed the dagger through the tough scale. Rhaegal made a pained noise, but Gendry used his other hand to pet him carefully.
"I know it hurts, and I'm sorry that it does," Gendry said. The wound was big enough that the blood was free-flowing, and Rhaegal hadn't attacked him or tried to burn him alive. Thankfully the three ingots were fairly small, and he didn't need too much blood. Eventually, Gendry took a cloth from his pocket and pressed it to the wound until it stopped bleeding. There was about three inches worth of blood sitting in the bottom of the bucket, and he stared at it like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rhaegal just stood there and let him take the blood. Gendry walked around so he could look the dragon in the eye. "Thank you for entrusting me with this gift," he said, and the dragon nudged him carefully with his nose. "And you're welcome for fixing your wing." Gendry walked back until he was standing with Arya again. "Time to go home," he said. Rhaegal flapped his wings and took to the sky. He immediately began to fly south, and the two of them watched him eventually fade from sight.
They walked back to Winterfell and sent Daenerys a raven telling her how to look for any weakness in the contraption on Rhaegal's wing.
Gendry let the ingots soak in his room so no one could see them and made sure they were locked in an empty trunk as well. He spent the seven days designing what he wanted to make for everyone and refused to let Arya see them when she asked. She threw her hands up in the air but allowed him to keep his secrets. He was glad because he wanted to present this to her himself. He wanted it to be a surprise. Seven days later, Gendry buried the blood in the dirt at the bottom of the heart tree. It seemed like the right place for it and took the ingots into the forge. They melted beautifully, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"This is for you, master," Gendry said softly, and he felt more honored than ever that Mott had left these to him. The six pieces took him nearly three months to make, but they were small and detailed enough that he didn't want to mess up. He couldn't risk the metal cooling too much before he finished, or he might not be able to melt it again, so he had to make everything in one sitting. That meant over the course of those three months, Gendry worked two days straight six times. Arya worried about him, but Gendry didn't have the answer as to reforging Valyrian Steel. Maybe he could ask Bran to look someday.
Gendry slept for almost an entire day after he finished the final piece, and when he woke up, Arya was quietly reading in their bed. He reached over and took her hand into his.
"I'm glad you're done," she said. "I don't like seeing you this exhausted."
"I know, but it's done," Gendry replied as he sat up. "Do you want to see?" Arya nodded, and he guided her over to the trunk that he had kept the blood in. He unlocked it and pulled out the six pieces wrapped in cloth, and put them on the table. Gendry unwrapped them, and Arya gasped. The three ingots were small, so his options were limited, so Gendry thought of things that could be passed down through generations. "They're broaches," he explained. "Each one carries the sigil of a House in our family. The dire wolf broaches are Bran and Jon, the stead is for Edric, the dragon is for Daenerys, and the Kraken is for Yara. For us, I made this one." While the other broaches just contained the sigils, the one he made for him and Arya was different.
"It's a wolf and a bull," Arya whispered as she traced her fingers along the design of the broach. They were all roughly the size of the pin that Sansa wore as Hand to the King, and they could be worn the same way. "Gendry, these are beautiful, and I know everyone will be honored to pass them through the generations." Arya looked up at him and reached forward to brush a tear that Gendry didn't even realize was falling. They wrapped their arms around each other and held on tight. It was like the final vice around his lungs had faded away because he hadn't made anything aside from basic weapons and Rhaegal's device since he got back. He was scarred, but he wasn't broken. He could still make pieces that people would wear with pride.
For the first time in a long time, Gendry looked into a mirror and finally recognized the person looking back.
