They left for Storm's End the next day. Daenerys asked them if they wanted to stay longer, but when Gendry explained that they wanted to be home in time for Val to give birth and he wanted some time to see his siblings, she let them go without another word. Arya appreciated that Daenerys seemed to understand that Gendry wanted to see his siblings above all else, which was true. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that he wanted to see them more than he wanted to see her. They exchanged tight hugs with the promise to promise to write as often as they could, and they were off to Storm's End.
Much in the same way that they were barely off of the boat before Daenerys was hugging them, Edric, Mya, and Bella were there almost right away as well. Arya once again made sure to take a step back so the Baratheon's could get the chance to see each other properly. The four of them were hugging each other so tightly that no one seemed capable of standing, and they sort of collapsed to the ground in a pile as they held onto each other. Arya immediately noticed how much better all three of the Baratheon's looked from the last time she saw them.
Edric was walking easier, and his arm wasn't in a sling anymore. It looked like he was still having a hard time moving it, but he was able to hug Gendry, which was a step in the right direction. Mya looked a lot less stressed than the last time she saw her. Mya was the one who carried the most responsibility from their capture, and she was also the one who took their separations the hardest. She was practically clinging to Gendry and was holding onto him the tightest. Bella was smiling again, and this time, she made no attempt to hide her missing ear like she had before. Her black curls were artfully pinned up, and she was smiling more. She wasn't looking over her shoulder as much, and Arya could tell that she was armed; she didn't look like she would stab anyone who looked at her funny.
A man that Arya didn't recognize also came rushing down to the port, and she watched as Brienne hugged him tightly. Arya could only assume that this must be Brienne's father, and it must have been years since they last saw each other. He looked so proud and, for a moment, Arya's heart ached with the fact that she didn't have her father anymore. She looked back over to the Baratheon's who were making their way to their feet and smiling at each other.
"Arya, what are you doing standing over there alone?" Edric snapped, but he was smiling. They all turned to look at her, and she had four rather identical blue eyes staring at her. "You're one of us too, now get over here." Arya grinned and found herself being pulled into the hug pile. It felt safe and warm to be in the arms of family again, and she loved that they were all healing so well. They spent probably too long hugging and holding each other out in public. They must have taken long enough that Marya and Davos were worrying because they came down and looked rather exasperated by their antics. The group of them made their way up to Storm's End, and Arya wasn't let more than a couple of feet away from a Baratheon sibling at any given time. Gendry reached forward, took her hand, and intertwined their fingers as they made their way up to the castle.
That first night was a lot of everyone catching up and finding a way to assure each other that everyone was fine. Brienne and her father had a private dinner so they could spend some time together, and Davos and Marya insisted on letting the five of them sit together for the first night. There was good food and wine, and everyone was smiling and looked rather happy as they spent some time together. Arya was happy to hear that everyone was sleeping in their own rooms again, but Mya admitted that she still had nightmares. It wasn't uncommon for her to go to sleep in one room and then make her way to another over the course of the night. Bella and Edric shrugged like neither of them minded.
"Would you like to share a bed tonight?" Arya asked because she knew that none of them would be willing to ask the others if it was all right.
"You wouldn't mind?" Bella asked, and she sounded a little unsure about the whole thing. "It was one thing when we had to do it, and none of us had a choice, but you could have your own room now, and it wouldn't be a big deal. We sleep alone, mostly; we don't want to put that on you."
"I never minded," Arya replied with a shrug. "I know what it feels like to want to have family as close as possible. It was never an inconvenience to me. Those giant beds were always extremely comfortable." Gendry reached over and took her hand into his again.
"Thank you," he whispered and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Arya felt her heart swell as Mya walked over to one of the maids and to make up one of the beds in one of the rooms with the massive beds. After dinner, the five of them climbed into one of the massive beds in Storm's End for the night. Arya was pleased that Gendry didn't appear to have a single nightmare all night and even more surprised that she didn't either.
They couldn't stay for a long time, but when Arya explained why no one was too bad about it. Whenever she tried to give Gendry some time with his siblings, the four of them would drag her along on whatever they were doing at the time. She got to watch Edric, Mya, and Bella deal with things from the smallfolk, and Arya smiled as she watched how much respect they were given. The people of the Stormlands had nothing but love for their lord and ladies, and they were incredibly talented at putting the priority on the smallfolk but keeping their Lesser Houses happy. It was a delicate balance, and Arya was impressed at just how good they were at it. None of them shied away from their scars or injuries, and none of the smallfolk lingered on the missing limbs or wounds.
The few Lesser Houses that Arya saw over the next couple of days had the look of people that learned the hard way not to make any comments. She asked Davos just how many people Edric had punched for making comments about how they looked, and he refused to give her a number, which wasn't that surprising.
Edric was not courting anyone yet, but there was a knight that looked at Bella like she hung the moon, and Arya saw the two of them talking softly plenty of times. Bella kept a decent amount of distance between the two of them, and the knight never tried to go beyond what she was comfortable with when it came to touch. He asked for something as simple as kissing her hand, which Arya was glad to see. Mya was also not courting anyone, but she had bonded quite closely with a tutor that Mya hired to help teach the children of the servants in the castle their letters and numbers. Gendry didn't look that surprised by that development, and Edric didn't seem to care either. When he was asked about marrying for alliances, Edric shrugged and said that they had enough alliances through family already and didn't need to focus on it as far as he was concerned. He was young still, and Arya knew that it was only a matter of time before daughters from the Lesser Houses started throwing themselves at him. Edric seemed to know that was coming too and didn't seem bothered by it. None of them were in a rush to get married, which was good to see. They deserved time to make their own choices.
Brienne and her father left for Tarth on the second day, and Arya hugged Brienne for a long time.
"You saved my sister's life, and I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for that," Arya whispered.
"It was my honor to serve your house," Brienne replied as they held each other. "If you ever need me for anything, please do not hesitate to send a raven." They pulled away from each other, and Gendry briefly hugged her.
"Keep an eye on my brother and sister's for me?" he asked.
"I would be honored to serve House Baratheon again," Brienne replied.
The night before they were all scheduled to leave for the North again, Gendry pulled out the broach that he made for them and pushed it toward Edric. Edric looked a little stunned as he reached forward with his good arm and touched the broach with the tip of his fingers.
"I don't know what to say," Edric whispered.
"Just promise you'll pass it along to your children when you decide to have some," Gendry replied. "The three of you have already brought honor back to the Baratheon name; now it's my turn to give you something to pass along to the next generation that isn't tainted by the actions of our father or our uncles. Something just for us." One moment the four siblings were staring at each other, and the next, they were all hugging each other tightly. Arya didn't partake in this hug, but when she glanced at Marya and Davos, who had happily joined them for dinner that night, they were holding hands and looking like proud parents. Arya smiled as she watched Gendry go over all of the details of the broach with his siblings as they passed it around and looked at it. He glanced up at her and smiled. It made Arya's breath catch and her heart skip a beat; Gendry at peace was so stunningly beautiful that she didn't know what to do with herself.
The five of them shared a bed again, and they were all up most of the night just talking. It reminded her of the times when she and Sansa were younger and got along. Arya slipped off to sleep to the sound of the Baratheon's talking about nothing in particular. She was grateful that the four of them were so at peace that they could just talk about nothing while smiling and laughing together.
Arya would like to stay longer in Storm's End, but they needed to get back to Winterfell before Val had the baby. So they were all saying goodbye far too soon with promises to visit as soon as it was possible. Arya was fine with that because now she felt like she could go south without the world feeling like it was caving in. She could go to Storm's End and not feel like she wanted to leave right away. It was all good, and it made her happy to see Gendry and everyone else healing. They didn't look as haunted as they did after being away for so long. Arya knew that Essos was going to follow them for the rest of their lives, but it was good to see the people she fell in love with at Winterfell what felt like a lifetime ago.
The voyage back to Winterfell was nice and exactly what Arya needed. Their weather was good, and she spent most of her days on the deck of the ship just looking out into the ocean. She knew that Meereen was nearby and that Daenerys was going to have to deal with Essos eventually, but that wasn't something that they needed to be a part of. Arya was glad because just bringing up Essos made Gendry get distant, but she did feel bad that Edric, Mya, and Bella were going to have to deal with that fallout. It was selfish that she wanted to run and hide in the North, but Arya also felt like they had earned the rest.
Their cabin had a small but comfortable bed, and they were lying together one night after eating dinner. Gendry had already fallen asleep, but Arya was awake for hours thinking about her life. She flexed her left hand and looked at the stumps where her fingers were missing. She thought about the training that Brienne and Theon had given her and that she could learn how to fight again with practice. She thought about the way Gendry slept through the night without nightmares now more than he woke up nearly screaming.
She thought about how well Sansa and Theon had taken to being parents to Elemy. She thought about how much Jojana reminded her of Rickon when he was a baby and how that ache made her miss her family so much that it hurt. She thought about the lies her parents told them and each other over the years. She thought about how her father was a man who made many mistakes, and for many years, she turned him into a person that he wasn't. She thought about the resentment she had for her mother for so many years but now saw a woman that was just trying to do her best and raise her children in a way that would keep them safe. Arya knew now that her mother wasn't trying to turn her into a lady for no reason but for her own protection; being a lady was learning how to move through a world that didn't care about whether or not she lived through birthing a child if that child was a son. Those things were training, weapons, and armor of a different kind that Arya was only just beginning to understand.
Arya closed her eyes and thought about the list she used to say to help her sleep at night. Arya used to define her entire life by revenge and vengeance, and there was a part of her that wasn't ever going to be able to let it all go. She was always going to hate the Lesser Houses that almost took Gendry and his siblings away. She was always going to hate Cersei and Joffrey for taking her family away from her. She was always going to hate the Bolton's for trying to break Sansa and Theon and for killing Rickon. That need for revenge was something that wasn't ever going to go away, but Arya thought that maybe the need would go away. Maybe, someday, she could look back at the people she had loved and lost, and she wouldn't have the idea of vengeance tainting their memory. Her loved one's deserved better than that.
They were halfway to Winterfell when Nymeria joined them, and Arya laughed as her wolf nearly tackled her to the ground as they wrestled. Gendry laughed, and his smile was brighter than the sun. She didn't know if she could love him more than she did at that moment. They arrived back in Winterfell with Sansa rushing out and telling them that they were late and Val had been in labor for almost a day. Jon was a wreck and looked like he was about to pass out, but Bran held his hand, and Elemy and Jojana were shamelessly used to keep him from freaking out too much. Val's screams made Arya wince, and she didn't think she would ever get used to this. After another couple of hours, Jon pushed his way into the birthing room and insisted that he needed to be there for his wife. The screams weren't as loud after that, and then a different scream echoed through the castle—the scream of a new Stark joining the world.
Arya squeezed Gendry's hand as they waited. The baby was crying, and Meera told them that the crying was a good thing. It meant that the baby was okay and their lungs were doing well. Jon eventually opened the door, and there were tears in his eyes as he held a tiny human being in his arms.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ygritte Stark," he whispered. Everyone gathered around the tiny baby who had a head covered in bright blonde hair, just like Val. She wasn't going to look like anyone else with the Stark name, and Arya thought that was a good thing. It meant that her family was expanding, and she loved that. Jon walked back into the room and handed baby Ygritte back to Val, who was smiling down at her daughter. Val looked up at Jon, and he smiled down at her. Arya knew that look, and while it had taken some time, she knew that Val and Jon were on their way to loving each other. The fact that Val was willing to name her daughter after the woman that Jon had lost said a lot about the type of people that they were.
Jojana and Elemy both thought Ygritte was a fascinating thing, and they kept wandering over to Val so they could see the baby. Maester Wolken said that she was a strong child, and he didn't see any reason for them to worry about her living through her first year. Val got softer when she became a mother, but she still made a few grown men shrink when they made some sort of comment about how she wasn't a warrior anymore because she had a baby. Arya liked having a new baby around, and she enjoyed helping Val with Ygritte whenever she could. It made the first three months go by extremely quickly, and Arya was rocking Ygritte with Sansa and Meera when a guard knocked on the door.
"Princess Arya, there is someone at the door asking for Ser Gendry and you," the guard said.
"Were you expecting anyone?" Sansa asked, and Arya shook her head. She handed Ygritte off to the wet nurse and made her way outside. Gendry was waiting for her, and he didn't seem to have any idea what was going on either. They walked over to the gate and saw an older woman with something on her back. There was a small merchant cart that Arya recognized from the Riverlands that sometimes came through, which meant this woman came from the Riverlands.
"Ser Gendry, Princess Arya, please, I beg an audience with you," the woman said. She sounded tired, and if nothing else, she probably needed a hot meal.
"Of course, please, follow me," Arya said as she guided the woman, with several guards following them, to the Great Hall. Jon and Bran were both there as well, and they frowned when Arya guided the woman in. She walked into the middle of the Great Hall and all but collapsed onto the ground.
"My name is Carynne, and I come to you from the Riverlands," Carynne explained. "I come because I was asked to."
"Asked by who exactly?" Gendry asked. Carynne moved the bundle on her back to reveal a small baby, perhaps only a few weeks old. They had black hair that Arya thought was all too familiar, and when the baby opened their eyes, the blue was undeniable.
"Her name was Shennen," Carynne explained. "And we lived next door to each other in the Riverlands. Her mother was a maid of an inn that King Robert passed through during the war, and then Shennen was born. Her mother made sure to keep her well hidden in the Riverlands, and no one knew she existed. She married a good man when she heard about the two of you."
"She could have come here," Gendry whispered. "We would have protected her and given her a good place to stay, but we didn't know she was alive."
"She didn't want the attention. She was happy in her home with her husband until he got sick and died not long after she found out she was with child," Carynne explained. "The birth was difficult, and Shennen knew that she wasn't going to live. She begged me to make sure that her son had somewhere to go, and she thought about the two of you. She heard about how the Princess couldn't have children from rumors the merchants told, and she knew how kind both of you were.
"Shennen made me promise that I would bring him to you so he would have somewhere to go," Carynne continued. "I stayed with her until she brought her son into the world, but she didn't even get the chance to hold him before she was lost. I took him into my arms, and I have been trying to come to Winterfell ever since." Arya didn't know what they were supposed to say to this, but there was denying that the baby boy looked exactly like Gendry and Edric. He was a Baratheon born child, and if Carynne was telling the truth, then he had nowhere else to go.
"Where is my sister now?" Gendry whispered.
"Buried with her husband on their land," Carynne replied. "I have a letter that explains everything." She pulled out a small strip of parchment and passed it to Gendry. Arya looked over his shoulder and read the letter, and it was the exact same thing that Carynne had said. It explained that Shennen was happy with her life with her husband and didn't want the burden of her father's name, but now that she was dying, her son needed somewhere to go, and she knew that Arya and Gendry would raise him right.
"Does he have a name?" Arya whispered as she looked down at the small boy in Carynne's arms.
"No, m'lady, Shennen didn't get the chance to name him before she passed, and she told me no name that I could tell you," Carynne whispered as she looked down at the bundle in her arms. "I loved that girl like she was one of my own, and I looked after her after mother passed. I'm old though, m'lady, and I am in no condition to raise a little boy, and my Shennen wanted you two to have him. Please, will you take him? Will you give him the family he deserves?" Arya glanced at Gendry who was staring at the tiny little boy with wide eyes. He looked back at her, and they had a silent conversation. They always said that they wanted to help a child that needed a home someday and now here was destiny presenting one to them. Gendry knelt down in front of Carynne and smiled softly at her.
"My Lady, you have done us such a great service. I would be honored to give this little boy a home, and I would be even more honored if you would like to stay," Gendry said softly.
"Ser, m'lord, I'm not-"
"You protected and loved my sister, and you brought my nephew here," Gendry interrupted. "You said you considered Shennen to be family, so that makes us family as well." Arya knelt down in front of Carynne, who was openly weeping now, and the baby was starting to get fussy in her arms.
"We'd be honored," Arya said as she glanced over her shoulder at Jon. He was smiling softly and nodded. Carynne looked at the little boy in her arms and then gently handed him over to Gendry, who was basically sitting on the floor now. The baby immediately calmed down as he looked up at Gendry with those big, familiar blue eyes. Arya leaned over as they looked at him, and he smiled up at both of them, and Arya felt her heart skip a beat.
"That is the first time he has smiled," Carynne whispered. "I'd be honored to stay and help you look after him. Shennen was the only thing I had left in the Riverlands; my own husband and children did not make it through the war." Jon came over and helped Carynne stand and said something about getting her something to eat and a place to sleep, but Arya couldn't take her eyes away from the baby in Gendry's arms. She was shaking a little when Gendry passed him off to her, and it was so different from the first time she held Jojana or Ygritte. This felt different as this little boy looked up at her.
"He needs a name," Gendry whispered as Arya rocked him in her arms. They were both sitting on the floor of the Great Hall, and Arya wasn't going to move anytime soon.
"Ned," Arya said softly. "I'd like to call him Ned. I want that name to be associated with life and not death. I want to hear that name and not have it hurt anymore." She looked up at Gendry and he pressed his forehead to hers. The three of them just breathed together for what felt like a very long time.
"Ned is a fine name," Gendry replied. If the two of them spent the next hour on the floor rocking little Ned in their arms and silently crying, then no one said a word about it. Arya couldn't look away from the life in her arms, and she always knew that she wanted to be a mother someday but seeing the little boy that she was going to call her son was overwhelming in a way she couldn't put into words. She leaned into Gendry's presence, and they held up each other, just as it should be.
It took a month for Arya to freak out and say that she wasn't cut out to be a mother, but Sansa, Meera, Val, and everyone else shut that down real quick. Ned was a good baby, very quiet, and he hardly ever cried. He would just watch everyone with those big blue eyes like he knew something that the rest of them didn't. Arya lost many hours watching him back, and sometimes she felt her heart seize in her chest. She was a mother, Gendry was a father, they were raising a child together in Winterfell with her family surrounding her.
Arya thought back to those first days in the Riverlands when they were acting as Wolf and Bull. She thought about what it felt like when Mina and Prycella told her that she wouldn't be able to have children. At the time, Arya didn't think much of it because she didn't know if she was going to live another day, let alone worry about settling down for a future. Back then, she was the daughter of a dead house, and now she was a princess of the North surrounded by her family and so much happiness that Arya thought there wasn't any possible way it could be sustainable. There had to be something terrible waiting right around the corner to disrupt everything that they had fought for, yet nothing came.
Over the course of those six months, everyone came to visit. Edric, Mya, and Bella all came the moment they heard the news, and Arya loved watching the Baratheon's gather around Ned and just stare at him with a little smile. They mourned the sister that they never knew and learned so much about her from Carynne. No one in the castle was better at watching the children when everyone else was busy, and Carynne loved it. It was only a few hours a day, and she said that she had the energy to do that right now. When everyone was older, that was a different discussion.
Yara came to visit as well, and she doted on both Ned and Ygritte that was just adorable to watch. Elemy was asking if they could visit the Iron Isles someday, and Yara said it would be fine and that no one would ever insult them again. Theon and Sansa weren't sold on the idea yet, but Arya knew that Elemy just had to ask enough times, and they would give her whatever she wanted.
Meera and Bran took Jojana on her first trip away from the castle and went down to the Neck to meet the rest of the Reed family. They promised to travel down more often now that Jojana was old enough, and the Reed family was incredibly thrilled with their little princess. Jojana came out with a spear that she was too small to throw now, but Arya knew that she would be deadly someday if her mother had anything to say about it.
Ygritte was the missing piece that brought Jon and Val together. When Arya saw them, she saw her mother and father. She saw a love that was built on respect and loyalty, and that was only going to go stronger as the years went on. Val brought the Free Folk to Winterfell to celebrate Ygritte's birth, and when Tormund held the tiny baby in his arms and learned her name, he openly wept. Jon and Val continued to establish themselves as rulers, and every month, the North felt more and more settled.
Daenerys and Quentyn also came to visit to meet the babies and see Winterfell. It was a good visit, and there was something about the way that Bran was watching them that seemed to indicate that he knew something. He didn't say anything, and when Arya pressed him about it, he said nothing. Arya watched the dragon fade from sight and wondered what her little brother had seen.
Ygritte and Ned were both old enough to develop little personalities, and Arya loved to watch it. She was looking forward to a day with her son when Nymeria suddenly howled. She looked outside and saw her wolf running in a circle and anxious in a way that she hadn't ever seen before. Arya passed a sleeping Ned to Carynne and raced downstairs. Gendry emerged from the forge, where he was in the middle of several commissions from various Lords around Westeros, and he frowned as well.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"I don't know," Arya replied. Nymeria ran for the gate and then turned around to run around them. "You want us to come with you?" Nymeria howled again, and this Ghost joined in as well. Arya and Gendry saddled two horses and assured her family that they would be back soon. As soon as they were through the gates of Winterfell, both Nymeria and Ghost took off running. Arya kicked her horse into a canter, and they began to follow. They weren't being led far away from Winterfell, but it was far enough away that Arya was glad she thought to grab Needle. Nymeria and Ghost were standing in a clearing about five miles from Winterfell, and they were circling something. Arya glanced at Gendry, and he climbed off of the horse as well.
They approached whatever the wolves were surrounding carefully. Arya didn't know what to expect, perhaps a body or someone that needed to be buried, and when it became clear what it was, her heart skipped a beat. Nymeria and Ghost were circling the body of another direwolf that was dead in what looked like a ray of sun. It was as if the forest itself parted when she died, and a group of small pups surrounded her. Arya didn't think she was going to be able to breathe because this is exactly the scene that her father found with Robb, Jon, and Theon all of those years ago.
Arya walked forward and looked at the small group of pups trying to wake their mother up. She counted six pups that were moving around. It was just like the last time, the same amount of pups, and Arya thought she was going to pass out.
"There's too many," Arya said softly as Gendry knelt down next to her. Nymeria and Ghost walked over, and the pups began to move away from their mother's corpse and over to Arya and Gendry and the other wolves. One of the pups climbed into her lap, and Arya thought she was going to cry. It transported her to a different time, a happier time, and it was overwhelming.
"Maybe not," Gendry said as he reached forward to pet one of the pups gently. "You told me the story of how your father found the pups for you and your siblings. There are six pups here and only four Stark children back at Winterfell, right? That's what you mean?" Arya nodded silently, and she was forever grateful that Gendry knew her so well that she didn't have to say much. "Well, Sansa and Bran could raise the extra two until more Stark's join us. They don't have their wolves anymore like you and Jon; maybe this is good for them. Maybe that's what they're meant to do."
"Like it was meant to be," Arya said as she looked at the piles of squirming fur. Her family was so connected to the direwolves, and now the wolves had come home to bless them again. Arya didn't know if she believed in the Old Gods anymore, sometimes she wasn't sure, but right now, there was no denying what this was; a blessing. "Let's take them home," Arya said. Ghost and Nymeria each took a pup in their mouths, and between herself and Gendry, they could carry the other four. It was too rough to ride, so they carefully walked back to Winterfell.
The castle peaked over the horizon, and the pups in her arms seemed to relax immediately as if they knew they were going somewhere safe. As if they knew they were home. Arya glanced at Gendry as he cooed at the wolf pup in his arms; she thought about little Ned and the rest of her family back at Winterfell safe and sound. The closer they got, the more it felt like a final weight was being lifted from her chest. A burden that she had carried since that day in King's Landing that changed her life. It was gone, it was finally, really gone, and when Arya Stark walked through the gates of Winterfell with six new direwolf pups in her arms, she finally felt at peace.
