They found Beric and Thoros camping with Jon's men. Jon himself hadn't stayed in the council chambers after the dismissal, but she still didn't feel quite up to another run in with family and so make a wide arch around his own tent in her journey. The Hound was with them when they arrived, if seated back further from the flame than the other two, but them as a trio had become a familiar sight in the past days and she felt comfortable in approaching them.

"Evening." Beric greeted them as they sat across from the duo. They both nodded silently in return, words seeming unnecessary just then, although Jaime did accept and pass an offered skin when one was handed across to him. Thoros had remained silent himself, but was watching them closely, a wicked gleam growing in his eye at whatever it was he saw. Jaime sent him a challenging look back, knowing better than to act otherwise defensively, but the attempt did naught but gain him a drunken wink in return.

The skin made another pass but the group remained rather listless despite their newest additions. The Hound barely cared enough to spare them a glace, lost as he apparently was in his own thoughts that night, tucked away as he was in the shadows. "So, will you teach me?" Arya spoke up after only a few moments, looking across at the only one who had spoken aloud since their arrival.

Beric laughed, glancing at her from his one good eye. "Still not one for patience or quiet contemplation I see."

"Never much saw the point in wasting time."

"I'll drink to that." Sandor grunted, finally speaking from his own seat a bit further away.

"Aye, you would." Beric agreed with a quirked grin. "Alright girl, come stand clear." He ordered, gesturing her to join him a few feet away. She did so without protest, watching him closely. "I told you when you asked that this isn't a sly ruse I can teach you. It's not a slight of hand or a trick of alchemy, nor anything I myself am doing. You say you follow the God of Many Faces?" He asked and waited for her acknowledgement. "How much do you know of R'hllor, specifically?"

"I know enough." Arya told him confidently, holding back a smile as she thought of the hours she'd spent reading of or listening to stories of the Red Temple of Volantes and of the Red Priests and their dedications. He shot her a look and she let it curl one side of her mouth. "Everything fundamentally important."

He didn't look as if he believed that claim but he didn't argue. "Than you of the common practices? That the Red God prefers a blood sacrifice?"

Her own expression shifted minutely as she replied. "I know that men worship as they will."

He tilted his head at her in acknowledgement. He drew his sword and brought it up to cup the blade with his other. He pulled the blade smoothly across his flesh, undoubtedly splitting skin and staining the edge of his blade with his own blood. "Âeksiō ōños [Lords light]" he murmured clear enough for her to understand and flame immediately danced across the steel with the same sweeping path his blood had stained it.

Arya stepped closer, examining the blade and then to his hand which somehow seemed to have healed over enough to stop bleeding in those moments. She supposed it wasn't so far fetched a thing to consider when one to into account that the God had sent Beric back from His realm many times before. Why shouldn't he also be able to heal on a lesser level when his name was invoked? The man in question submerged the tip of the blade into the snow bank nearby to extinguish the holy flame and then gestured her to try it herself.

She drew her much smaller blade from its sheath hidden beneath her cloak and she'd watched him hold his own less than a minute before. Whereas he didn't take any time before performing the familiar action, she paused first for a long moment, closing her eyes and take a deep frigid breath of air as she calmed her mind and body fully.

She thought back to her days in Braavos, to the years she'd spent serving in the House of Black and White. She thought back to the earliest beginnings, when she still dressed as herself and proudly declared her name with asked. She thought of the countless hours in the dark temple, spent sweeping those expansive stone floors day in and day out. She thought of being asked to give up her identity- to throw everything that remained of Arya away so that she may dedicate herself fully to her God. She thought of the people she had comforted before she fed them the poisoned water to in order to grant them the mercy the were so desperately seeking. She thought of cleansing the corpses as a rite of passage to the realm of the dead. She thought of the rows and rows of faces preserved hidden within the halls, she thought of the men she herself had sent to greet her God outside of her service a Acolyte, but in a way that had become all-encompassing of who she was over the years…

And she drew Needle across the tender flesh of her hand as she repeated the words in High Valyrian exactly as he had, down to the pitch and intonation. A wave of heat passed beneath her hand just before a flame appeared suddenly from nothing but a trickle of her lifeblood. She pulled her right hand away quickly and glanced down at the shock of burning that seemed to sear across her flesh, leaving behind nothing but a thin scar laid over her palm.

Her eyes moved up to her blade, studying the flame closely enough to feel the heat of them on her face, watching as the colors twisted and danced together across the gleaming steel beneath. Satisfied and secretly a little thrilled, she mimicked him in dousing the fire in the snowbank beside her. When she glanced up again she found them all watching her with varying expressions. She suspected none thought it would work, but she herself hadn't doubted, not really. Duty to her family may have driven her home, but it didn't change the beliefs or faith that had been shaping her, or perhaps had been being shaped by her, since she was a little girl.

She nonchalantly retook her seat beside Jaime, not giving them the satisfaction of reacting to any of their looks. Thoros held out his skin of rum across the flame with an entirely new expression on his face as he studied her, and she accepted it with a nod of thanks.

"Just what I need- another burning fucking blade swinging by me in battle." Came the gruff complaint suddenly from the hush. It broke the lingering tension and a couple of quiet gruffs were heard. Conversation inevitably sparked and resumed, and it continued for some time.

It continued, in fact, until she heard a startled "Arya?" From the walking path nearby their campfire.

She glanced up to see her two elder brothers walking past, both looking at her and her company in surprise. "Brothers." She greeted them without standing.

They stepped closer, both with matching expressions of displeasure that they half-heartedly tried to hide for the sake of unstable politics. "We looked for you earlier. We could not find you." Jon told her.

"Because I did not want to be found." She told him in turn, not offering an explanation nor justification beyond that simple statement.

"Can we.., would you join us? We've something we want to talk to you about."

Her first reaction was to simply turn them away, not sure she was up to any more familial upheaval that night, but she held it back by the skin of her teeth... or perhaps her training. "Oh? What about?" She asked instead, still not rising.

"It's not something we want to discuss amongst company.. It's something of a family matter." Robb spoke up for the first time, glancing pointedly at what must have seemed an unusual blending of companions to him. She supposed it was easier for Jon to overlook her being comfortable in their company- he'd been at the Wall and largely removed from the fighting, but he'd taken these men all on as his own- men no other Northern commander trusted or wanted at their backs. Robb, on the other hand, had been killing Southerns and Lannister soldiers for years- it had to be odd to see his baby sister sitting amongst them.

Arya finally rose to her feet with a neutral expression, her surge of reluctance buried and well hidden. Perhaps this conversation would go better than the last had? One could only hope. She followed the two of them across the grounds and to Jon's tent that she had done so well avoiding on the way in. It was empty save for Bran when they arrived. Robb and Jon initially looked surprised to see him sitting there, but it didn't last and they all soon took a seat around the small table set up inside after greeting him. "So, what did you wish to speak to me about?" She asked, not wanting to linger in silence.

They didn't answer immediately and from the look they exchanged she wondered if they were having seconds thoughts about telling her whatever it was they brought her there for. She continued to watch them expectantly but did not try and pressure them into talking. If they didn't feel as if they could trust her with this 'family matter,' well, that was their decision to make- though if that were the case they really shouldn't have insisted on her company. She saw Jon glance at Bran, but the younger simply replied "It is your decision."

Jon turned back to her and leaned closer, resting his wrists on the table between them as he did so. Still he did not speak, nor did either of the other two men. "What is it, brother?" She finally asked, growing concern audible on her voice.

The man flinched as though she struck him, turning his eyes away. "That's really the thing of it…" He murmured before continuing, stronger, "Arya, what I'm going to tell isn't known by any outside of our family and Sam- it can't be known, yet.. if.. well, if ever."

Arya nodded her head but didn't speak up, knowing she would likely get information more quickly that way than if she interrupted his train of thought.

"Eddard Stark wasn't.. Arya, he wasn't my father. He was my uncle. My mother was his sister, Lyanna.. My father was Rhaegar Targaryen.. I'm not your brother."

Arya continued to watch him silently as she processed what he had told her. The childish part of her wanted to refute what he claimed, but she didn't have a logical argument to throw back at him. It made since, really, the more she thought about it. Of course her father wouldn't have begotten a bastard- he was the most honorable man she'd ever known. Knowing what she did of Robert, she knew he would have ordered Jon's execution, as he ordered the execution of the other Targaryen children.

Her father had loved his sister- he would have done anything she asked of him, even taken her child as his own to protect him from his best friend's bloodthirst, whether it was begotten of kidnapping and rape or not. Nodding slightly as she accepted the notion, she met the eyes that had always been a mirror of her own and said "You may not be my brother, but you're still my blood; you're still a Stark." She told him simply but firmly.

He smiled over at her and reached out to ruffle her hair as he'd done when they were children. She felt a surge of annoyance at the gesture, but it was a fond echo from years long passed and so she didn't argue or pull away.

"Arya." Bran spoke, pulling her attention to himself. "There's something I want you to have." He continued, reaching into his cloak to draw a sheathed dagger with an intricately carved handle. She accepted it, looking at him curiously.

She brought it closer and drew the blade free, drawing a quick inhale when she realized what she was looking at. "This is Valyrian steel." She spoke reverently as she ran her finger over the curve of the blade just shy of cutting herself.

"It is. And it's yours." He told her in the monotone she was becoming familiar with.

"What?" She stated, tearing her eyes from the red ripples to questioned him in disbelief. "Why?"

"It will be of more use to you than to me." He replied.

"It could be of some use to you. You should always carry a knife, anyway."

"A knife is useless to a cripple." He told her simply, as though it hadn't once been his greatest dream to be a Knight. He continued. "This is the knife that was meant to end my life. Now I want you to have it."

She frowned at him as she asked, "How did you come by this blade?"

"Petyr Baelish gave it to me."

"Baelish? What's he got to do with anything?"

"He's married to Aunt Lisa now. He's Lord of the Vale."

"What?!"

"It matters not. Keep the blade close, I bid of you."

"Alight." Arya finally agreed, re-sheathing it and hooking it to her own belt hidden under her cloak. "Thank you." She felt a wave of tiredness come over her and her arms were heavy from a long days work. "I think I shall retire for the night. If you'll pardon me, I wish you all pleasant dreams." She excused herself, standing.

Robb stood at her words. "I'll accompany you back to the keep."

"No, that's all right." She denied, stepping back, suddenly feeling even more disconnected from her family than she had been, despite her words. Jon was the one she still felt the closest to, even if she hadn't seen him much since arriving back home. That he wasn't even her brother.. it felt a hollow ache in her chest, even knowing he was still her cousin. "I'd actually like a few minutes to clear my head, if you don't mind. I will see you in the morn."

"Alright.." He agreed reluctantly, settling back across from his brothers. "Pleasant dreams, then." He bid, echoed similarly by the other two. She took her leave, grateful for the fold breeze hitting her as she exited the stuffy tent.

She truly did retire back to her room. She tried to go to sleep, but even in the more agreeable nest she'd made for herself beside the fire, she found she couldn't quite drift off. She felt as if something was going to happen and it left her feeling twitchy and on edge. Some time mid-night she gave up in her attempts and rose. She had her boots on her feet and her cloak around her shoulders in an instant and was out the door without a whisper of sound.

There were far too many well-trained guards in the family halls now a days for her to be truly comfortable anyway, but it was worse that night. She wasn't sure if it had been that way for years,, or if the numbers had increased with the influx of outsiders gracing their halls, but it was a change from her youth undoubtedly. As such, she made her way to the main area and then out into the courtyard as quickly as she could without appearing to rush.

Once outside, she found herself at something of a loss. She allowed her feet to wander forward without any real direction and she soon found herself passing through the gates and into view of the fields and fields of soldiers. Faced with the decision of left or right, the right was far easier. She continued on until the red banners were overhead and the familiar layout sprawled before her.

She didn't see Jaime, Bronn or Tywin, but she did spot Samurel further down the chain of lowly burning fires, playing dice with his brother and some of the Lannister soldiers. She made her way closer until they noticed her approach and greeted her cheerfully. They offered her to join them and she did so with a small smile, seeing no reason not to. She still had a few coins tucked into a hidden pocket sewn into the inside of her boot but it was too little to really spend on anything meaningful- a meal or two, perhaps, at an inn, but she could replenish it easily enough if need be.

The game they played was one she had dabbled with before, and involved cards and a bit of strategy as well as dice. They continued their conversations as they had been-the words and stories typical to most soldiers- and thought they weren't things typically spoken of in front of a High-Born Lady, she was familiar enough and fit well enough that they no longer censored their behavior nor their language around her. She observed them while they finished their current round and then joined them at the start of the next, feeling slightly better for the distraction, though still on edge.

She'd been with them less than an hour- and had more than tripled her money- when she heard footsteps approaching from behind herself. She glanced over her shoulder to find a familiar face frowning at her lightly as he came closer. He stopped several steps away and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword in a resting pose she'd seen him take many times before. She turned away and refocused her attention on the game, playing through until the end of the match.

Collecting her winnings, she bid them good night and rose to join the blond man she knew still stood behind her, even if she hadn't looked back at him again. She met his eyes as she approached him and cocked a brow in question. He tilted his head back towards the head of the army and then began walking.

She fell into step with him, though he kept his silence until they were a bit beyond the farthest tent and likely out of hearing range of anyone, if not yet out of sight. "What's wrong?" She asked, frowning up at him.

He shook his head slightly. "Why are you here this late? You should be resting within the keep."

"I couldn't sleep." She told him, feeling a surge of defensiveness try to tighten her shoulders. She forced it away through sheer habit and then asked, "Is there a problem with me being here? I thought myself welcome."

"Of course you're welcome." He said, backtracking slightly, tone lighter. "But the sun is closer to rising than setting. I'm not sure your family would be happy to know you were gambling unaccompanied with Lannister men so late in the night."

"My family's opinions don't hold much sway with me at this point in time. I was not aware it did with you either."

"I only worry for how it will affect you."

"That's kind, but unnecessary. I will handle my family in my own way, you need waste not time in worrying about their opinions."

"And what of the opinions of my father? Should we disregard those as well?" He asked, tone dripping with acerbity.

"I do not claim know the opinions of your father." She rebutted.

"His opinion on the matter is that your reputation remained untarnished amongst us. He's not told me more, but I'm sure he is scheming about something or other. He always is. Still, he made me agree not to do anything that would bring your honor into question."

"Is that what he told you the morn after we fell asleep together?" She asked shrewdly. He looked almost embarrassed as he nodded and she wondered what else might have been said that he obviously wasn't going to share. "If Tywin has some plan that that requires me to fall into line, he should discuss it with me directly. I'm not fond of hidden mutterings nor these types of games."

"Nor I, but you should know by now that it's simply how my father's mind works."

"All the same, there is nothing shameful in my being in the presence of men to do something as mundane as playing dice."

"That's not the opinion shared by all and you know it." He reminded her pointedly.

She knew he was right but she wasn't likely to admit it. Instead she responded "None of that changes the fact that I can't sleep and I refuse to be driven out of my mind in my room simply because some may consider it the proper thing for me to do."

"Gods your quarrelsome tonight." He spoke, tone edging towards frustration.

She almost crossed her arms but she refused to give in to the expressive gesture. "Spar with me then." She challenged.

"Isn't that what we're already doing?" He remarked wryly.

"Har har. Seriously though, spar with me. We could both use the outlet." Her tone was slightly more appealing as she finished, peering up at him earnestly. Perhaps she would burn enough energy to be able to rest afterwards.

"What, here?" He questioned, looking around a bit incredulously.

"Well, no, not right here. We can go into the courtyard. The walls and snow will muffle the sound, but there'll be a guard or two posted in sight that can verify our lack of indecency, since you're so concerned for the opinions of others on the matter."

He sighed and rolled his eyes at her ending jab before giving in and turning towards the entrance to the courtyard. The moon was shrinking, but was still large enough to illuminate the ground by reflecting off the abundant cover of snow. She didn't waste any time once they were in place, drawing her blade and going on the offensive immediately- before he'd even had the chance to wrap his fingers around his own weapon. He still managed to draw and parry her- he wasn't considered one of the best knights in the realm for naught, after all- and then return her strike with one of his own.

They traded blows and danced around each other in circles and spins for what felt like an hour. They both eventually began to grow tired and sweat beaded their flesh despite the freezing chill and occasional flurry of snowfall. Arya was pressing him back and he'd come to the edge of the courtyard, under the wooden deck frame that held the walk above. It left them essentially hidden from sight of the guards they had indeed spotted upon their arrival.

Their blades were still crossed, each of them panting thick clouds of white breath into the air between them. Their hearts were pounding equally hard from the prolonged exertion and their adrenaline was flowing from the close calls with live blades. They both tentatively lightened the force behind their holds until they felt that the other wouldn't inadvertently overpower their withdrawal and cause an accidental injury.

Arya didn't move back, even as she lowered her blade to hang loose at her side. She found herself remembering the kisses they'd shared before and her eyes found his lip covered in a layer of scruff from nearly a full day and night's growth. He seemed to sense the turn in her thoughts for he shook his head at her with a brow raised almost warningly.

His free hand came up to rest against her shoulder, intending to push her a step away from where she was almost pressed against his front. She ignored the weak attempt to resist and stood on the tips of her toes for a couple of inches of added height to press her lips against his for only the second time. His eyes clenched in what could have been resignation before his left hand came up to cup the back of her head, his own sword arm also held akimbo so that he blade remained pointed away from them as he gave in and returned her embrace.

It only last a handful of heartbeats before he stopped himself and pulled back forcefully. "No." He denied weakly despite how firmly he'd leaned back. "We can't do this, especially not here." He continued in a harsh whisper.

"Especially not here?" She repeated back at him coyly. "Somewhere else then? Where shall we go then?"

"We're not going anywhere else." He denied, looking down at her sternly. "Arya, we just talked about this."

"No we didn't," She argued, voice lowering close to a whisper. "We talked about my dicing with Lannister Soldiers. We didn't talk about my.. interactions, with you."

"I am a Lannister Soldier, least you forget."

"You're a Lannister Son, that's not the same thing."

"Still so contrary?"

"So shut me up." She dared him.

He sighed through his nose in helplessly desirous despair as she continued to tempt him before he mentally saying to hell with it and spinning them around so that she was the one pressed back against the wall and pinned where he wanted her.

He took less than a second during the motion to sheath his sword, watching as she did the same. He used one arm to wrap around her waist and the other to bury in the back of her hair as he kissed her for all he was worth right there in the shadows of the night and their position.

He pulled back slightly so that he was able to talk in short bursts between the presses of their lips. "We've.. been.. out've.. sight.. too long.." He managed. "Someone's.. bound to get.. suspicious."

"I don't care." She replied, her own arms having wrapped around his neck at some point, holding them closer together despite their differences in height. Their lips met again and again, the space between them shrinking to impossibly less. He grew tired of bowing over and so lifted her quite sudden from her feet to press back harder against the wall.

She let out a gasp at the motion and the new angle in which his body molded against her own, bringing her legs up to wrap around his waist for better stability and leverage. Finally at equal height, the exchange grew even more heated.

Footsteps on the wood above became audible from the direction of one of the guards stations and the both pulled back at the same time, glancing up to ensure they were still out of sight. Jaime set her back to her feet silently and they quickly separated, their inappropriateness of their location once again becoming apparent.

They took half a moment to righten their mussed clothes and then stepped casually back out into the open with a shared glance of agreement. Arya accompanied him across the yard and to the gates so they'd be completely out of hearing range and then they both paused.

Arya glanced up at him, disappointed that they'd had to part so quickly after the fighting ended. Her blood was still up and she wouldn't have minded continuing on in the least, but his own expression clearly showcased that he wouldn't be distracted again just then. "Thank you for the spar." She told him instead, meaning it.

"Anytime." He replied. "There're few who can keep up with me nearly so well or for so long." He continued honestly.

Her lips curled in pleasure and she nodded slightly just once. "Good morrow, Jaime." She said softly.

"Good morrow, Arya." He replied just as quietly, glancing down at her swollen and reddened lips, and wishing they weren't in such clear sight. He turned and walked away instead of giving once more into temptation and instead refused to look back as she left her, until he was once more enclosed in the relative privacy of his tent, alone as was typical for him.

Arya watched him until he disappeared into the distance, lips tingling and a heat between her legs and that growing more and more familiar to her. She wondered what might have happened if the guard hadn't come to investigate what had happened to them. She wondered what might have happened if Jaime hadn't pulled away from her at the hot spring..

She'd never been overly interested in men or sex before- she'd of course had a clinical interest when she'd spent time in flea bottom and later when she'd been assigned to a Braavosi brothel for several weeks to observe the courtesans and clients alike. Still, she knew there was nothing to be done for it in under such watchful eyes- eyes who would undoubtedly report their findings back to her family, she knew as she turned around and saw one of Robbs men watching her from his position above where they had hidden. He was clearly the source of the footsteps that had split them, but she refused to pay him any further mind as she dropped her eyes and made her way back indoors.

As she stepped back into the warmer air of the keep, the hair on the back of her neck prickled and the calm she had managed to obtain began to drain away like sand in an hourglass. Her brows furrowed as she glanced around in suspicion- she'd long ago learned that it was better to be overly cautious than underly.

Not seeing anything, she silently began to make her way back through the halls until she reached the family wing. She should have felt better once she arrived to see the same guard standing at attention in even intervals at each door lining the hall. She didn't.

Her sense of trepidation grew as she approached her door, until she almost wanted to turn around and return to the ease of being outside and away from (most) people. She refused to give into such childish notions or fears however, and so pressed forward regardless.

She opened her own door just slightly slower than average, so as to give her a bit of extra time to search for and assess potential threats. She didn't see anything at first and so she entered more fully, grateful that her someone had tended to her fire and kept it burning despite her absence in her room.

She didn't notice him at first- didn't notice anyone or anything out of the unusual aside from how on edge she felt. It wasn't until she closed the door behind herself that she saw the shadow move.

To be continued

Notes:

Wow! So much interest in this story! Thank you all so much for reading, and especially to those who have commented/reviewed or left kudos/favorites! I've pretty well settled on three possible ways this might end, and it depends on how they close out the last couple of episode. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you thought!

PS. Happy (early) Mothers day to all of you mama's out there! :)