he 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.

Her hand was already hovering near her new dagger and so it was easy for her to draw as she peered deeper into the shadow, trying to make out who it might be. "A girl is worried." A familiar, accented, voice came from the darkness.

She stopped in shock, unsure what she should say in response. She had wondered if they would truly allow her to leave unchecked, but she'd hoped they would wait to find her until after the battle had happened. She wondered why he was there specifically- Did he come to bring her back into the fold? Did he come to punish her for running from her duty? Did he come to give her the gift so that she may not ever share the Order's secrets with outsiders?

He stepped forward and she could finally make out his face. He looked as blank and serene as he ever did and it gave nothing away for her to know his thoughts. She pulled on every skill she had in her considerable arsenal to blank her own face in turn, knowing she was likely giving far too much away already. "Jaqen." She greeted simply.

He tilted his head in acknowledgement but did not speak immediately. His ever watchful eyes scanned for closely and he considered her for several long seconds. A bit of Arya wanted to speak, if only to break the tense silence, but she held her words stubbornly back. She'd long since learned better to speak when he looked at her in such a penetrating way. "Where you expecting me?" He finally murmured, accented voice bringing an unexpected flair of nostalgia.

"I was expecting something."

"Are you surprised?" He sounded curious. Perhaps he wondered if she kept her tightly honed observation skills in use after her departure, for it almost seemed as though he was testing her responses.

"No." She told him honestly. "I wondered if someone might come, and you were one of several names I considered.

"And how do you feel now at knowing it's me?"

"I'm not sure, yet. I suppose that will depend on why you're here."

He paused to her thoughtfully once again, seemingly able to read every nuance of her expression as he'd always been able to do, no matter how blank she thought her face to be. "A name has been given." He told her after a silence.

"My name?"

"No." He told her with a head tilt. "But one once oft upon your lips."

Her expression edged towards curiosity despite herself and she stopped herself from stepping closer. "Which name?" She prompted when he didn't continue on his own.

He hummed. "I'm not yet sure if it's your concern. It's not every day a man's apprentice flees her assignment and disappears without a word. A girl has toed a very fine line in what is allowable. She is lucky she did not stumble any further than she did."

Arya bowed her head in acknowledgement, knowing she had nothing to argue against and knowing she deserved whatever was to come of his presence and line of questioning. She held hope her life wouldn't be given that night, but if it was, she at least knew she'd had an effect on the war effort, if she wasn't able to offer her own blade as well. She spent some time visiting men and women from all parts of the world and would often manage to lead them into conversation in which she could try and soften them towards whichever of their allies they were the least fond of for some reason or other.

It often seemed tedious and pointless, standing for an hour or more in conversation when she'd rather be anywhere else, but when she'd seen Smalljon having a pleasant conversation with one of the Lannister men- a feat that had seen impossible from the Smalljon's less than quiet grumbles on the subject- she'd know the words she spent hours carefully combing over and crafting had paid off.

She knew the greatest threat to their army was unrest between the previously waring factions, and sometimes she felt as though she was the only one who understand just how doomed they would be if the fell to fighting amongst themselves if the wrong words were uttered around the wrong ears. She had done what she could to sew seeds of comradery, however much it had pained her, and she was willing to accept whatever fate might now await.

She was curious enough on one point to finally break the lingering silence. "If I might ask- The Lady Crane?" She questioned, tone carefully light.

"Taken care of."

Her head bowed slightly further before rising in a nod. "I am sorry for abandoning my duties." She told him remorsefully. "I wish it hadn't come to that."

"Why did it? What could cause a girl to give up so suddenly on something she worked so hard for, for so long?"

Her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip before she could quell the nervous tick. "Have you heard the stories of what is happening here in the North?" She asked him first, knowing he must have but needing him to acknowledge it. The stories were quite odd, after all. He tilted his head again, this time in acknowledgement. "It's all true. An army of dead men march on the wall, the North, the South, and Dorne have all come to together in an alliance that hasn't occurred for more than three hundred years. This- what's happening here- it's bigger than me, bigger than what I want. I have to be here, no matter how much I may wish it otherwise. My family needs me." She told him, despite knowing she was supposed to have shed her identity, despite knowing she was admitting to her own failures.

"And what will a girl do once the war is done?" He continued relentlessly, though his tone never shifted from it's normal accented drawl. "Does she plan to return to the House of Black and White and her swear herself to our God, or does she plan to remain here and forever be known as Arya?'"

She blinked, but answered without allowing herself to hesitate. "A girl doesn't know yet." She further admitted. "I haven't thought of what comes next, my focus has been on helping the world survive the coming night. Jaqen, if we can't stop them and their army continues to grow, they'll overtake all of Westeros eventually. I can't predict what is going to happen or spare time to consider the possibilities. All's I can do is now is focus on the present and what we can do to increase our chances of surviving this. There's so many questions, there's so much I still don't know right now."

"Indecision is more of a death sentence than a bad decision. Still, a girl is right in one thing- An army of dead men seems something that needs dealt with, if the stories are indeed spoken true."

"I'm glad we agree on that point at least." She paused, before continuing in a tone that most people wouldn't notice had changed just slightly- quieted, in a way. "What would happen if I didn't return to the House?" She queried, doing her damnedest not to show how on edge asking that question left her, but always preferring to know than to not.

He shrugged lightly, not giving any of his own thought's away just yet. She thought he might have appeared disappointed for the slightest of moments, but it disappeared before she could be sure. "That will depend on a girl, on a man.. on many things." He told her. "On occasion, there are Faceless men who live outside of the House of Black and White for some reason or another. Most of us live outside for years at a time whilst on assignment, but there are some who live outside from the completion of their training until Death take them. Valar Dohaeris, but the ways in which men may serve are many."

"What does that mean for me?" She asked, forcing her body to remain still.

"It may mean nothing or it may mean everything. A man is not yet certain."

He didn't outright ask if that was still sure in her devotion, but his open suggestion clearly showcased his desire for a more firm stance than she'd given thus far. It was his right, she supposed, he'd done so much for her. If anyone deserved her honesty, it was him. She finally stepped closer, moving past him and showing her back without worry while she shed her cloak and sword in the warm room.

Jaqen continued to observe her as she turned back to him and moved to the small table situated in the room, gesturing him in an offer to join her. He did so silently, stormy eyes flashing with his curiosity as he waited serenely for her to speak. "My faith has not wavered," She told him after gathering her thoughts and deciding what she wanted to say, what she had once most wished he could have heard. "and my life still belongs to He of Many Faces, though I owe it to you. You have my loyalty, and my gratitude, and you will continue to hold it for the remainder of my life, however quickly and it whichever manner it may come to an end.. But.. This is my family, these are my people and our lands.. I'm a Stark of Winterfell, I owe myself to them as well, however much I may resist the idea. Now that I've returned for a time, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the country again as I did before, even if we manage to survive this. I don't.. You shouldn't expect me to return, and you deserve to know that, whatever may come of it."

"I had suspected as much." He replied, seeing that she was done. "Do you still desire association with our Order, or do you wish to live out your life in anonymity?"

"I owe everything I am to the Order, to you." She told him honestly. "I would hold onto any piece of it that I'm able. As it stands, I'm feeling something of a sense of loss at the thought of returning so completely to the isolated life I led before. What would it be like to be one who is allowed to live outside the House?"

He shrugged lightly, almost careless. "That can vary by the day. Usually, if a name is given near an Outlier, the assignment is given to them by raven and they carry out the deed without anyone needing be sent. Occasionally other tasks are given. It's not typically a common occurrence."

"That sound's.. reasonable." She commented thoughtfully, considering it.

"Entirely." He drawled.

She studied him, wondering at his motivation. She'd expected a much harsher reception from him, and she wasn't usually so far off in her expectations. "Have you been in Winterfell very long?" She questioned. With how slowly the army had traveled, it would have been well within the realm of possibility for the Faceless to beat her to her destination.

"A man has and he has not."

"Where have you been when you have not?"

His lips curled and he seemed pleased with her observations. "Only where it was necessary to go." He told her cryptically.

"What will you do now?" She shifted her question, recognizing she wouldn't get any more information from him than what she had already on that topic.

"A man will be near for a time."

Bronn besieged him without notice the next morn were Jaime sat alone beside the frontmost fire. The blond glanced across at him in acknowledgement but didn't move to speak. The silence apparently wasn't meant to last, because Bronn spoke sooner and on a subject he didn't anticipate before he was prepared for it. "So where'd you two lovebirds sneak off to in the night?" He asked slyly.

Jaime glanced at him again, sharper than before. "What do you mean by that?" He questioned sternly.

"Saw you."

"You saw me what?" Jaime asked, growing exasperated at dealing with his grating personality so early in the morn.

"Leave came with the girl late last night- later than most decent folk are up and about. The one you wouldn't mind fuckin'."

Jaime shushed him harshly and glanced around to endure none were close enough to have heard him. "We just spared." He told him, glaring. "In full sight of the Northern guards, mind you- absolutely nothing to get worked up over."

"Humm." Bronn hummed doubtfully. "Don't see many men with the look you've got on this early in the morn after a night of simple sparing."

Jaime considered, just for a moment, confiding in the man who'd become something of a true friend to him. That one moment of indecision was apparently legible on his face, for Bronn's own expression grew shocked. "No! You didn't, truly?"

"No!" Jaime exclaimed, barely remembering to keep his voice muted. "I didn't."

"You did something." Bronn told him, tone certain and challenging.

"I-"

"Hah! You did! What did you do?"

"Would you keep you fucking voice down?" Jaime told him harshly. Bronn remained silent, lips puckered and brown pointedly raised as he waited for him to continue. "I didn't- we just, we truly did spar." He finished, weaker.

"And after your spar?" The brunette pressed astutely.

"And after… We may've.. had a bit of an exchange."

"An exchange. The fuck does that mean?"

"Why are you so damned curious anyway?"

"I live vicariously though you and your golden cock, as always."

Jaime scowled at him only to receive a narrowed eyed look in turn. "We.. might've kissed, a time or two." He admitted.

"'You kissed?'" He repeated, deadpanned. "That's it? You just kissed and then, what? Went about our business? What are you, a blushing boy of ten?"

"Har Har." He mocked the sellsword for the slight. "You're so funny I don't know how you even stand to live in your own head."

"I don't know how you live with yourself. You managed to get close enough to that dangerous little beast to kiss 'er and then you didn't even bother to do anything actually worthwhile? I have to admit, I'm honestly a bit disappointed in you."

"However will I survive, knowing I've caused you such disappointment?"

"I'm sure you'll manage somehow. How did this little exchange come about, anyway?" Bronn asked then, truly curious.

"That's none of your business. I've said all I'm willing to say on the matter."

"Really? You've hardly said anything at all!" The sellsword complained halfheartedly, but he already knew the blond was resolute from the stubborn expression that had overtaken his handsome features. "Oh fine," he sighed. "What say you we go find a drink to warm our bellies?"

"Aye, alright." Jaime agreed and rose to his feet. Nothing further was said on the matter that night, though there were still questions hovering heavily unasked in the air.

To be continued

Notes:

Sheepish hello? I'm sorry to have vanished for a month? I'm sorry for the disgustingly short chapter? To be honest, the last two episodes disgusted me enough to completely knock me out of my groove in writing this fic. I'm not sure why.. It'll actually play very well into one of the endings I was leaning towards for the War of Five Kings, though parts of it will be pretty different.

I normally wouldn't post this short of a chapter on this story, but I wanted to let you all know I'm trying to get back into it and to thank those of you who are hanging in there. I do have about.. seven or so… plot points I still plan to hit, so don't fear it'll suddenly end in a chapter or two. I had been thinking I was at about the half-way point and planned to break 100,000 words. With my lack of drive, I'm not sure I'll make it to that point, but I promise I'll finish the main storyline and the key side stories I have planned. I also can't promise quick updates at this point. I won't force myself to write when I'm not feeling it or it comes out clunky and terrible, so please be patient with me.

Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback I've received so far- you all are the reason I just keep swimming ;)