Chapter 22

Summary:

Revised Chapter 22, sorry for it's disappearance!

Notes:

Hi All... So when I decided to post what I had, I didn't re-read it first like I normally do... Well I re-read it this morning and I apologize to those of you who read that garbage chapter before I deleted it. It was clunky, events repeated themselves, there were tons of typos- so bad I didn't want to leave it up while I took the time to edit it. Anyways, here is a revised (and much smoother) version of chapter 22. Thank you.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Arya and Jaime entered the dining hall together a few minutes later, the damp and mussed state of them drawing several lingering gazes as they passed through the cavernous room to their designated seats at the head table. She noticed Bran watching them with an unfocused gaze and wondered what he was thinking, wondered just what he'd been alluding to back in the Godswood, wondered just how much longer she would have to wonder before she was able to gain some answers.

"Brother." She greeted, taking her seat between him and Sansa, Jaime moving to his own seat across from her, though one to the right.

Bran's gaze turned to her fully and he offered her the ghost of a smile. "Good eve, Sister?" He asked, tone knowing.

"A very good eve." She told him evenly, unashamed. "And yours?"

"Rather average." He replied blandly.

Despite his sounding rather uncaring, Arya frowned at his words. She knew it was hard for him to move freely when he was so dependent on others for help. The Bran she remembered from her youth had always been on the run, had been such a daring boy, always climbing and jumping and running to and fro. He may be older now, grown and aged far beyond his years, but he was still Bran at the heart of himself, and she would bet he missed being able to move freely.

"I've heard tell you've a saddle that allows you to ride your horse?" Arya aske after filling her plate.

"Yes, though it has been some time since I've had a chance to use it."

Arya hummed quietly. "I've thought about riding out to the steaming lake a few leagues from here, showing Jaime our lands beyond the walls, now that the danger's passed. I'd be good to get some fresh air.. Would you care to join us?" She asked, taking care to sound casual as she tilted her head to include Jaime, though they hadn't spoken of any such thing before then.

Bran's head tilted towards her as he gave her his full attention. "That sounds rather nice, actually." He mussed aloud. "It would be good to get outside of the walls again."

"Can I come too?" Rickon asked from his other side, his wilding caretaker rounding off their side of the table.

"Of course, if Mother allows." Arya told him easily enough, though she wasn't quite sure what the woman's answer would be.

Catelyn thought for a moment before she responded. "I suppose I don't see why not." She finally said slowly, looking between them with lightly furrowed brows.

"We could all go." Robb stated with a large smile. "It's been some time- years- since I've been myself, and Talisa's never been." Catelyn looked more reassured at that, a small smile coming to her face.

'The steaming lake' was a rather large pond nearly an hour ride Southwest of Winterfell. It was fed by one of the many hot springs in the area but was one of the largest single bodies of water hot enough to melt the snow and yet cool enough not to sear flesh. Bran and Rickon were had been rather young to remember it well the last time their parents had taken them there for a family outing- a swim and a picknick- but Robb, Jon, Sansa, and Arya had spent many long summer days lakeside- for Winterfell rarely lacked a chill completely, and so swimming in a normal pond was rather crazy an idea, even in the height of Summer.

The lake was located within a small wood and so surrounded by green foliage in the summer. A small amount of it remained always thanks to the warmth from the pool leaching into the surrounding ground preventing it from freezing and killing the plants rooted within. The heat obviously also kept the water itself from freezing when the temperature dropped, and so drew an abundance of animals to its edges when liquid water was harder to come by. That abundance made it a fruitful hunting ground.

More than once, Ned would take them along with him and a few of his men on a hunting trip only to drop them off and allow them to swim in the crystal clear waters while the men hunted nearby. They would collect them at the end of the day, when they were ready to head back to the keep.

Some of the best memories she had left of her childhood had taken place at that lake. "Sure." Arya agreed with Robb's suggestion in slight surprise, bringing herself back to the present. "If you can find the time, your Majesty." She emphasized, just to be a brat and distract herself from her reminiscences.

"I can find the time." He drawled in turn, unimpressed. "What do you think?" He asked then, turning to his lady wife and reaching out to brush against her stomach out of sight of the rest of the room, helpfully hidden by the large table. "Can you handle being on horseback for an hour at a time? I'm afraid the trails too rough for a cart to pass." He told her apologetically.

"I can handle an hour on horseback just fine. You worry too much, husband." She rebuked gently.

Robb seemed to want to reply himself but no words passed his lips as he seemed to hold his tongue. "Great." He said instead. "Mother, Sansa? Would either of you like to join us?"

"Oh goodness no, not me." Catelyn said immediately. "I'm getting rather old to travel in the snow if I can help it. I'll stay here, but you children should have fun."

Sansa looked torn, but after her gaze passed over each of her siblings- including her good-sister- she couldn't help but accept, which she did with a shallow bow of her head. "I only hope we remember the way." She said aloud, the words playful but with a rather serious edge hidden within.

Arya glanced across at Jaime as Robb spoke up in reassurance, to see how he was taking the progression of the conversation and the news that she'd volunteered him to spend several hours alone with her siblings. He seemed to sense her gaze, for his head turned towards her to peer into her eyes, his own blank and hard to read. Still, he raised his glass in what was probably a mocking toast, so he couldn't be too upset with her.

Dinner was finished rather quickly and they all went their separate ways for bed before too much longer had passed. Arya retreated to her own room alone, dismissing her waiting hand-maiden before she could even speak to offer her services, though she still continued to try morning and night- or at least, when Arya was still in her room late enough in the morn for her to be present when the young woman came knocking.

A bath stood waiting for her, as had become the norm. She eyed it with a light frown as she moved around her childhood bedroom to put away a few things and tidy a few others. She didn't have much that she cared about anymore, granted, but she found herself much more bothered by mess and clutter than she'd been in her youth after spending so long with only the barest necessities and oftentimes even lacking those. She might have lingered in the great hall, or have joined someone else in taking company for a time before bed, but there was so much scrutiny, even still, that she wanted nothing more than to retreat for the night by the time the meal was eaten and it was considered "polite" to take leave.

She eventually stripped bare and climbed into the still hot tub for a lack of anything else to do, hoping the warmth and fragrant oils wafting from the water would relax her muscles and smooth her journey to sleep if nothing else.

They gathered and set off mid-way between breakfast and lunch the next day, a mule trailing behind them carrying provisions. The journey there passed by easily enough, bouts of conversation rising and fading as the hour passed by, excitement growing as it was announced they were close.

The path was familiar despite the years that had passed, and so they soon arrived at their destination without nary a hiccup. The pond was also as she remembered it, more or less. It looked slightly smaller, and the furthest banks were covered in snow rather than foliage, but the water was just as clear- sparkling blue and steaming with warmth- as she remembered it being.

The pit cleared at the edge for a fire was familiar too, once they dismounted and cleared it of snow. They'd had the forethought to bring seasoned and dry wood with them and soon had a merry fire going beside the pond for when they were ready to eat the lunch they'd also brought. The horses were anchored to a log that had been modified for just that purpose years and years before. It was close enough to the bank that there was a scarce bit of grass for them to nibble on, which was more than they'd had since the deep snows had set in.

Necessary tasks done, the older Starks quickly stripped down to the modest clothes they wore under their outdoor ware and entered the water. Rickon followed without reserve, but Bran held up a hand to prevent Hodor from assisting him into the water, while Jaime, Talisa and her two children stood beside the horses watching them as if they were all senseless.

When she'd first entered the water, Arya had a sharp moment of longing for the warm Eastern air and sparkling seas that were deep enough to truly swim in and yet could be moody enough to challenge anyone fit enough and daring enough to face them at their worst. Granted, steamy hot spring was nice in many of its own ways, it just wasn't the same and didn't bring the same thrill as it had when she'd been a young child.

She'd attempted to hid the emotion, but she had a suspicion Jaime saw past her blank face by the look in his own eye when she glanced up at him- a mixture of understanding, longing of his own, and the baseline disgust she knew he bore for her homeland- a feeling of which she was finding it more and more difficult to rebuke, even in her own heart, the longer she was home.

She was distracted from her thoughts as her eldest brother spoke loudly up. "Come, don't you wish to join us?" He called playfully, splashing towards his wife and children.

"Can we, mummy?" Aenela asked, peering up at her mother. "Please?"

Talisa looked from her daughter to her son, who looked just as eager to join his father as his sister did. "Oh, very well. I suppose you are both half-Northern, so I should have expected this sort of thing to happen eventually." She sighed, though her lips tugged into a smile as she gave in and knelt down to help remove their outer layers and shoes.

Jon, Sansa, and Rickon had moved deeper into the pond. Deeper, in this case, meant further away, not actually in depth- for even in the deepest point of the water, their feet could touch the ground. Bran had moved further along the bank, so he was settled across from where they'd congregated. Robb was distracted by his wife and children, and so Arya 'swam' to the edge a bit further away from her brother and closer to where Jaime stood, several feet away. "Not coming in?" She asked coyly.

"I don't think so." He replied easily with a doubtful brow cocked down at her.

"Why not?" She pressed.

He let out a light laugh before he answered, despite the light frown being laughed at earned him. "The water may be warm, but everywhere else's still fucking cold. You're going to have to get out eventually, and... then what? You freeze the whole ride back?"

"Of course not." Arya rebuked. "That's what the fire's for. Our swim clothes will be perfectly dry before we dress in our outer ware and make the journey back home. We're not stupid." She was aware of Talisa and the children entering the water, Robb reaching out for his son to help float while Talisa kept a firm hold on their daughter. They too moved further towards the middle where the rest of their siblings had ended up.

"Of course not." Jaime repeated, only a bit mocking. "You're only bathing outdoors in the dead of winter, surrounded by snow and ice, more than an hour from the keep."

"Wouldn't be the first time you and I have bathed outdoors." She told him, voice lower, quietly enough that none of their companions could hear across the distance, obviously alluding to their time spent as her hidden, much smaller, spring outside the gates.

"First time it involved your family." He argued, just as quietly, stepping slightly closer.

"Do they scare you?" She drawled.

"Of course not." He scoffed lowly. "And don't think such an obvious manipulation is going to convince me to join you."

"Why not?" She asked, decidedly not pouting, though she was a tempted. "You did come all this way."

"Aye, I did, and it's been nice to get out for a couple of hours. Doesn't mean I'm daft enough to go swimming in the North when it's this fucking cold." He told her, unbending.

"Suit yourself." She told responded, seeming to give up for the moment. Instead, she reversed her direction in the water, using her feet to push herself backwards, her back arching to better cut though the water as she used a backstroke to pull her further away.

It left her wet modest underclothes clinging to her bust and trim waist, a fact of which she was well aware of if only from her own peripheral vision, and of which he couldn't help but play up slightly, wondering how he might respond, as she arched her back just the slightest bit more before ducking under the water completely.

When she appeared again, she wiped her eyes and glanced back over at the bank to find his eyes intently on her, hungry and focused. Having come up nearly to her siblings, she turned her back on him completely and ignored the presence she could feel standing at her back as she took a moment to observing her brothers and sisters.

Rickon had wandered a bit further away towards the far end of the pool and was peering intently down into the water- no fish could survive in these particular waters, so she hoped he wasn't searching for any, but he was clearly distracted all the same, whatever it was he was looking for. His Wildling guard hadn't gotten in the water either but rather had slunk around the pond and was watching her youngest brother from the closest point on the edge. Arya knew he was in good hands.

Robb and Jon were exchanging banter- a story from their childhood told from two different perspectives. Sansa chimed in every once in a while, while Talisa laughed brightly every so often and the children giggled in their wake- not necessarily understanding the story, but knowing their mother found mirth in it, which such knowledge being more than enough to set off their own childish giggles.

Everyone being quite thoroughly distracted, no one was left to pay attention to the two of them they'd left alone on the outskirts of the warm mineral rich waters. Satisfied, Arya pushed herself backwards, still facing her family but moving closer to Jaime as she moved blindly through the water. As she moved, the natural curves of the bank and the surrounding flora helped to give them a small semblance of privacy, though not much. She twisted around when she figured she was about halfway and once again focused her attention on the man still standing at the edge of the water.

The man in question edged just slightly closer to the water at her return. As he drew close enough to nearly dip the toe of his boot in the water, he crouched down and rested his elbows lazily across his knees. He watched as Arya came to a stop, though her arms continued to drag lazily back and forth through the water.

Her earlier, terrible, idea returned to mind, now much more feasible with his decreased distance and convenient stance. Granted, he was clearly well balanced given that he hadn't wavered in the least since settling, but surprise could do a lot to overtake a stronger foundation, she knew well. And ohh, but she wanted to see the look on his face.

She thought about giving him another chance to enter freely but didn't want to tip him off to her plans. She moved even closer, edging forward until her bare toes hit the beginning of the steep slope leading to the edge of the pool.

"Tired of the water already?" Jaime asked, voice lower as he continued to watch her slow approach, breaking the lingering silence that had set in.

"Not hardly." She told him easily.

"No? What are you doing then?" He teased, clearly taking her increasing closeness to mean something else entirely.

She didn't feel the slightest bit guilty to use that against him, allowing her lips to curl. "What am I doing?" She asked, coy. She allowed her knee to bend and rest along the rise of the slope, balancing over that forward leg so that he was within reach of her. She reached an arm out and it could have seemed like she wanted to caress his wrist and so he remained still and steady as he continued to watch her, allowing her free reign to do whatever she wanted. Instead of the sensual stroke he was clearly expecting, she wrapped her wet fingers firmly around his wrist and shifted her weight from resting on the slope to pushing firmly off of it with her foot.

The sudden force and confusion pulled him quiet easily off balance, especially considering how close to the water he rested. He let out a loud curse just before he reached the water with a massive splash, Arya only just managing to pull back far enough that he didn't land directly on her.

The voices a dozen feet away froze in surprise as Arya's bright burst of laughter broke through to almost cover Jaime's continued cursing as he pushed himself back to the surface and pushed his lengthening blond hair back from his eyes with a watery glare. The challenge in that gaze was clear.

He reached own to pull his blade free and push it back onto the grounds edge, shooting her another look for that slight. She wasn't worried about it, he took good enough care of his steel, if not his leather, that a quick drench wouldn't harm it's integrity, and that the leather would be fine if treated right… though she had the thought she might be the one helping it to recover. His dagger joined the sword and then his focus was completely on her.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this short and fluffy chapter. One more in Winterfell and things will start progressing pretty quickly. Thank you for reading!