Part Three
Three years passed and Arya couldn't believe her and Gendry had operated in Westeros that long. They traveled all over and tried to help as many people as they could regardless of how close it took them to the Lannisters. As far as the Lannisters were concerned they were two dead children and no longer threats though Gendry continued to remain in the dark about why they wanted him in the first place. Arya listens for rumors. She hears about Sansa's wedding to the Lannister imp, she hears about King Joffrey dying and how she wished she could have seen that, and she hears about Sansa vanishing after that. Her sister was more than likely dead and now she was truly alone.
The Wolf and the Bull were becoming more and more well known throughout Westeros. The smallfolk were beginning to recognize them on sight and it made Arya feel good whenever someone came over and thanked them. She enjoyed what she and Gendry were trying to accomplish. He continued to learn and perfect his skills as a smith and also trained with the massive warhammer that he had reforged several times in the last three years. They ran into Polliver about a year after fleeing from the Brotherhood and Arya took Needle back. She kept Gendry's sword and named it Thread.
Arya was desperate for anyone who could teach her more swordsmanship. As soon as they met anyone with any training she asked to work with them. Arya learned from soldiers from the Reach to Dorne to Essos. Gendry said that she was developing her own style of swordsmanship but she considered it water dancing.
They were back in the Riverlands after several months of working in the Stormlands. The people there kept giving the two of them funny looks which Arya didn't know what to do with. It happened more and more when they went to the Stormlands and it made her uneasy. The night wasn't exactly cold but it wasn't warm either. She was quite comfortable lying next to Gendry and feeling the heat coming from his body. They were looking up at the stars through the trees.
"Where to next? You think you're ready to see the North again?" he asked. While Arya missed the north like a limb she hadn't found the confidence to actually travel there. She was worried she would be recognized and she didn't know how loyal the north was to the Starks now that they were all presumed dead. She wanted to see Jon but seeing Jon meant leaving him behind again because she couldn't join the Night's Watch and he couldn't leave.
"Maybe," Arya replied.
"You go and I'll follow," Gendry said like that wasn't a big deal. Arya turned and looked at his profile. He looked more or less the same though his blue eyes were a little harder and his hair was a little shorter. He had somehow grown a little more which annoyed her and that he loved to poke fun about. The fighting and the smithing meant that he was strong, very strong, and he was just as bullheaded as ever. He was hers though in a way no one had been in a long time.
'Has it really been six years that I've known him?' Arya thought. She was a woman grown now and one and eight and she couldn't deny that her feelings for him have changed over the years. Arya looked forward to the cold nights when he would wrap his arms around her and hold her close. Gendry must have felt her watching him because he turned his head so he was looking at her. They were nearly nose to nose but the distance between them felt as big as the sea. If she closed this distance it would mean their relationship would change forever and Arya wasn't sure if she could risk that.
"Arya-" Gendry whispered but a sound from the woods jerked them back to reality. Arya was on her feet in seconds, sword in hand, as two men appeared from the trees.
"Well look what we have here," one of them said. One of them already had a crossbow pointed at them while the other carried two small blades. "These two look like the outlaws that have been running around these last couple of years. The crown is willing to pay a nice reward to bring you two in."
"We're just two travelers passing through," Gendry said but Arya could tell that these two men didn't believe a word he was saying.
"Good thing the reward is for dead or alive," the man with the crossbow said and he fired. Arya didn't have time to worry about whether or not it hit him but the grunt of pain said that it must have hit Gendry. The man in front of her fought like Syrio and she realized he must have been from Braavos. She thought about the coin that she still carried around that Jaquen gave her all of those years ago.
Arya risked a glance at Gendry as she fought just in time to see his warhammer knocked to the ground, a crossbow bolt in his shoulder, and the attacker slice down his chest with a sword. The wound was deep and blood was already staining Gendry's clothes. "No," she whispered as he stumbled to the ground and it was enough for the Braavos fighter to knock Needle away.
The first stab to her lower abdomen burned like nothing she had ever felt before and the next several made Arya's entire body feel like it was on fire. She stumbled to the ground and realized that she wasn't far from Gendry. He was already pale and Arya realized that she was going to have to watch him bleed out. The feeling of regret hit her and she couldn't believe she hesitated. She couldn't believe she never kissed him or told him how much he meant to her.
Arya could hear the two men going through their things as they both died on the forest floor. Gendry's eyes closed and they didn't open again. Arya thought she was used to losing people but it was like losing her father, her mother, her brothers all over again. The world around her started to go dark and the last thing she remembered was the sound of two men screaming and what sounded like a growl.
Arya didn't remember much from that. She thought she heard the growl and the next awareness she had pain in her stomach. The world was black but she was lying somewhere comfortable. She couldn't remember what was going on and someone was giving her water. Arya could hear people talking about infection and needing rest. The world went dark again and Arya lost more time.
The world was blurry when she opened up her eyes and she didn't know where she was. Someone was talking to her but the words weren't making any sense. Arya looked at the person looking down at her and didn't recognize her face.
"What happened?" she managed to ask though the words hurt.
"You were attacked," the woman said, "You were gravely hurt and we have been trying to save you ever since." Arya vaguely remembered that happening and didn't know what to do about that. The last thing she remembered was bleeding out in the middle of the forest.
"How did you find us?" Arya managed to ask.
"A large wolf came into the village and practically dragged us out to you. The two attackers were already dead," the woman said. "As soon as we got to you the wolf ran into the woods.
'A large wolf?' Arya thought. There was really only one thing explanation for that and that was Nymeria. 'Maybe she'll be waiting for us when we leave.' That was the moment that Arya realized that she was asking questions about her and Gendry but this woman hadn't mentioned whether or not he had survived. The idea that Gendry might be dead while she was alive made Arya panic almost instantly and the woman could see it. She put a cold cloth on Arya's forehead and told her to calm down.
"My friend, the man I was with, where is he? Is he alive? I need to know if he's alive," Arya stammered. Her voice was shaking and it sounded like she was moments away from bursting into tears.
"M'lady look to your left," the woman said gently. Arya looked and there was another bed mere feet away. Gendry was lying in the bed and as far as Arya could tell he was breathing. He was pale and in some ways he looked like he was dead but he was breathing, she could see it, but it didn't alleviate any of her fears. She needed to feel his heartbeat beneath her palm or she would never calm down. Arya wouldn't rest until she knew. "He lost a lot of blood, he hasn't woken up yet, and we are doing our best to keep his wound from getting infected."
"Please, I need to be in the same bed as him," Arya said. "I need to be near him when he wakes up, he's my-" She cut herself off and didn't know what to call Gendry. Calling him her friend wasn't enough. "He's my husband." She lied effortlessly. "Please, he's my entire world." The woman looked pretty apprehensive but she must have seen something in her eyes that made her pay attention.
"Very well." The woman called another woman into the room and the two of them walked into the room. It was painful and she nearly blacked out as they moved her but they were able to move her into the bed. Arya put her hand over the massive bandage and could feel his heartbeat beneath her palm. She felt a little better and was able to rest.
Arya later found out that had slept for three straight days. The two women that were taking care of them were sisters named Mina and Prycella. Mina, the older of the two by a year, told Arya that they both lost their husbands and sons in Robert's Rebellion and instead of remarrying they decided to train to become healers. If they weren't trained healers there was a chance that she and Gendry wouldn't have survived their very serious wounds.
Gendry, the stubborn bull, slept for another three days and Arya worried the entire time. He lost a lot of blood and there was a chance he might never wake up again. They were both still healing and could get sick of infections. There were so many things that could go wrong but right now all Arya wanted was to see the blue of his eyes. Mina surprised her by calling Arya "Wolf" and told her that the entire village knew who they were almost immediately. It still surprised her when people knew who they were but didn't know their names.
It was the afternoon of the sixth day and Arya was debating about ignoring the advice of Mina and getting out of bed to see if she could walk. Then she felt Gendry shift against her and she watched him carefully. Gendry winced and then opened his eyes slowly.
"I'm right here," Arya whispered and Gendry turned his head so they were nearly nose to nose again. It was like the night they were lying in the forest when she thought about kissing him, and the night they almost lost each other.
"Arya," he whispered. It took more energy than Arya was comfortable with to take the cup of water from the table and help Gendry take a few sips. "What happened?"
"A wolf came into our camp, killed those two bandits, and then managed to alert a nearby village that we needed help," she explained. "We've been in the care of two sisters who are healers and you've been asleep for six days."
"A wolf?" he asked and Arya shrugged because she didn't know much more than he did. "Okay, then why are we in the same bed?"
"I panicked when I first woke up," Arya explained quietly and she couldn't look him in the eye when she talked about this. "I could see you but I couldn't feel your heartbeat. I thought I was going to have to watch you bleed out and I needed to know you were okay so I lied. I told them we were married."
"Congratulations to us then," he said rather breathlessly and Arya turned so she could look him in the eye again. He was smiling a little, he was still far too pale, but his eyes were bright and he didn't look bothered by the idea of pretending to be married to her. They had to sometimes when they shared rooms in villages but this was different. "I wanted to kiss you that night," he confessed because while Gendry might be stubborn as a bull he was much better at talking about his feelings than she was. "But I felt like I didn't have the right. I know you always say you're the daughter of a dead house so it doesn't matter but it always feels like it will. So I didn't and then we almost died."
"I wanted to kiss you that night too," Arya whispered. "And while I've been lying here waiting for you to wake up all I kept thinking about was how I wasted all of this time. I always knew we could die any moment but seeing you lying in a bed looking like a corpse terrified me." Gendry tried to move his arms but he winced in pain. Instead, he sought out her hand under the covers and entwined their fingers together.
"You're everything to me," Gendry said and those were the same words she said to Mina when she was begging to share his bed. "I'm yours."
"And you're mine." Arya finally closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. When Arya let her mind think about what kissing Gendry would be like she pictured it as an explosion of passion with teeth and tongues and lips. They were both recovering though and this kiss was so much better. It was gentle, loving, and it made her feel something that she hadn't felt since she lost her family. It made her feel loved and Arya realized it was a feeling she'd been chasing since Ice took her father's head.
There was time for more kisses when they both weren't half dead and she broke the kiss but pressed her forehead to his. They stayed like that until Mina and Prycella walked into the room and immediately began to scold Arya for not yelling for them the moment Gendry woke up. He looked a little surprised by the two sisters, who were assertive and a little loud despite being old enough to be their grandparents, but his bewildered expression just made Arya smile. Mina began to check Gendry's bandages but they kept holding hands underneath the blankets.