AN: You guys are awesome and your reviews give me LIFE! It's kind of you to encourage my writing AND my teaching. Thanks! I stayed up late to make sure you get at least a short chapter. Enjoy.

Sansa was taking well to dueling. She had picked up techniques quickly. Sansa was graceful and had a cunning mind, sometimes using strategy in her movements to manipulate Arya in directions she didn't expect. Arya was pushing herself to use the techniques Jon had taught her instead of water dancing. As such, the duel was more evenly matched than any they'd had before. The sisters parried and thrust, ranging this way and that.

Leanna's voice rang out across the courtyard: "So the rumors are true!" She reined in her horse. One of her advisors rushed to dismount and help her down, but she was off her horse before his foot was on the ground. She handed him the reins of her horse.

"Lady Mormont!" Sansa exclaimed, flustered. She was wearing a dress, but Arya had showed her how to belt it, blousing some of the fabric above the belt to keep the hems above her feet. Arya took advantage of the distraction to whack her sister on the bum with the broad side of practice sword. Sansa yelped in surprise and turned to Arya with barely contained fury. "ARYA!"

"Lady Mormont, I'm honored to meet you. I've heard so much about you!" Arya exclaimed and curtsied. The curtsy was so incongruent with Arya's appearance. She was wearing boots, trousers and a tunic. It was a compromise she'd made with Sansa: She would wear what she liked for training and a proper dress the rest of the day (at least until Sansa could come up with "lady-like" trousers that would be appropriate outside of sparring.) Her hair was a mess, falling out of its braid and sticking out wildly. Arya had a streak of dirt on her face.

Leanna approached. She looked taller than she was, and quite grand in her fur-collared cloak. She raised an eyebrow. "What have you heard?"

"That you're a fierce enemy and a valuable friend," Arya replied.

The tiniest smile appeared on Leanna's face for the briefest moment, then she turned to Sansa. "Are you sure this is her? I heard she was in Bravos, but my advisors tell me in Bravos there're some who can change their faces."

Arya's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sure," Sansa assured Leanna with a laugh. "She's my sister to the core. I'll prove it. Arya, what were you afraid of as a little girl?"

"Nothing!" She sighed, then admitted, "Thunderstorms."

Jon and Gendry arrived in the courtyard, trailed by the men of the house. They'd been training with the men of Winter Town but dropped the training to welcome the representatives of Bear Island.

"And in thunderstorms, what would you do?"

Arya glowered at her sister. "I'd go to Jon and ask to stay with him. He'd remind me that my mother wouldn't like it and bring me back to my room, but he'd sit by my side until I fell asleep."

"Aw!" a chorus of women proclaimed and the King in the North blushed to the roots of his hair. Then Lady Mormont did something shocking: she giggled.

"Lady Mormont, welcome," Jon said, bowing over her hand. "May I introduce my brother-in-law, Gendry Baratheon? Gendry, this is Lady Leanna Mormont, head of Bear Island."

"It's an honor, milady."

She raised an eyebrow at his lowborn accent. "I thought there were no more Baratheons."

"So did Queen Cersei," Gendry replied. "Lady Mormont, I have a gift for you. Please excuse me while I get it."

Leanna looked skeptical, fearing that it would be something embarrassing and useless, like a doll. He returned with a large man in a leather apron, carrying a scabbard. When they reached Leanna, he drew the sword from the scabbard. It was a sword, just like those the men of her island carried, but the perfect size for her. The hilt was a bear's head. Again, she graced the group with a rare, brief flash of a smile.

"Lady Leanna, I would love to teach you to use it," Arya said.

Leanna frowned. "What makes you think I don't know how? I'm a Bear Islander! Of course I know how to fight. My men said I was too small for a proper sword, but this?" She reached out to take it and feel the balance. She tested it in a few passes and gave a tiny smirk of satisfaction. "It is a fine sword," she told Mikken. Gendry smiled, relieved that the fierce young woman had appreciated his offering. Leanna fixed her steely gaze on him. "Are you going to do away with the usurper who took your father's throne?"

Gendry's jaw dropped momentarily, then stammered, "I…I handn't planned on it."

"Too bad," Leanna said. "I was starting to like you."

Arya burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Lady Mormont, do you care to spar?

AN: I love Leanna Mormont SO MUCH! Remember, reviews=fuel!