Arya stared at the work before her, her frown deepening. She reread the words again and groaned in frustration before grabbing Needle and standing up. She turned her music on and began a pop song.
It wasn't her cup of tea but it was more intense than what her classical pieces offered. And Syrio had suggested music made by DJs.
She began to dance and swing Needle around in fluid, sharp movements. Chandelier rang in her ears as she settled into a ballet sort of movement, standing on her tiptoes as she lifted a leg and began to pirouette.
Needle was now flat against her chest as she spun effortlessly. The coldness of the handle becoming warmer and warmer as the world turned and turned, the feeling of dizziness almost affecting her.
But she kept going. Kept her breathing at normal.
She realised that she was dancing with Needle as if it were her partner as opposed to practice hitting an opponent.
Needle made her calm. Needle made her absolute. Needle was everything.
Intense knocking on her door suddenly started.
She jumped, sent tumbling into her wardrobe before falling back on the soft carpet and moaning in pain.
"Arya!"
She opened her eyes and lashed out, hitting Jon square in the chest.
"What the hell, Jon!" She cried out, accepting his hand to pull her up. "I was dancing!" She yelled, checking Needle over for any damage.
Jon chuckled. "I can see. I was calling you and you never answered so I guessed my next resort was to knock."
"Shouting 'fire' would have got me listening!" Arya muttered. "What do you want?"
She was presented with two thousand five-hundred pounds in a white envelope.
"An early birthday gift from Sansa."
Arya gasped, "You went to see her?" She inspected the money. "When? Are you guys talking again?"
Jon nodded. "Yeah, we're surprising you for your birthday. She won't come home yet since we'll be moving to another place."
Arya shut off her music, placing the money on her desk as she sat down on it, slipping Needle back into its case. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... You're going to see a lot more of the woods with Ghost, now."
Arya frowned even more as Ghost wrapped himself around her swinging legs, whining slightly.
"Sorry?"
"You wanted us to go back to a time when we were happy. When we were home at Winterfell Manor. Well, over the next couple of weeks, that will be our reality again."
Tears sprung to Arya's eyes but she refused to let them fall as she bent down and gently stroked Ghost's white fur.
"Are you serious?"
Jon smiled softly. "Yeah... You, Sansa, Bran and I are going home, Arry."
She jumped off her desk, making Ghost dash away, and hugged Jon tightly as Ghost found another reason to curl up around their legs.
"We're going home?"
Jon stroked her hair out of her face. "Yeah, we're going home. Better yet, your eighteenth will be celebrated at the manor where we'll throw you the most extravagant birthday party-"
"I don't want a party. Plus, Sansa and I have plans."
Jon raised his eyebrows. "I heard. Renly Baratheon's stag night, Sansa invited me too."
Arya frowned. "Then who will be home with Bran? Maybe we shouldn't go-"
"No, you're legally an adult. You're allowed to want to go out and drink."
"How about Saturday? You guys can throw me a surprise birthday and I'll pretend that I am surprised."
Jon chuckled, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Okay. Start packing. I'll help with Sansa's things later on."
Arya grinned and nodded before pushing him out of her room and returning to her homework. She had another reason to feel inspired now.
After being technically kicked out of her room, Jon headed to Bran who was busy studying.
Bran was becoming stronger each day although his legs weren't quite working, they weren't losing hope. The treatment in America will help, they were sure of it.
"Hey, Bran. You do realise that you will be homeschooled, you don't need to catch up with anything."
Bran looked up, slipping his glasses down the bridge of his nose to glare at his brother.
"My brain needs..." He paused. What was the word? "...Stimulation." He finally said with a smile. "More work, less to do."
His sentences were becoming more fluent by the day and his brain was choosing words quicker than before but he still got distressed whenever that one word didn't pop up in his mind the moment he needed it.
"Fair enough," chuckled Jon. "How do you feel about going home? Back to Winterfell Manor?"
Bran faltered. The last time he'd been home was when his parents were alive. He had refused to go home, fearful of all the bad memories of that fateful day coming back to him. So, Jon had allowed him to stay with him in his tiny little three-bedroom flat with bedrooms the size of a small storage container.
Sansa and Arya had stayed at the manor until it was taken away from them since they couldn't keep up with the payments their parents usually kept. Their uncles had been notified and called but there had been no answer. Since then, the few staff who worked there bustled about, preparing the home for nobody to come home to. The Reeds still looked over it though.
"No, thank you."
Jon's gaze softened. "Hey, it's still home. Even without your mum and our dad, it is still your home. And Arya's and Sansa's too."
"Without Rickon."
Tears sprung to Jon's eyes as he gave his little brother a watery smile and reached out to nudge his shoulder gently.
"How about we plant a tree as soon as we get there? For Rickon. And we can also plant trees for Catelyn and Dad and also Robb and Talisa."
"And their baby?"
Jon's tears fell. "And their baby." Oh God, why am I such a soft-hearted person? I never used to cry like this. But his heart was breaking whenever his siblings' hearts broke.
Bran slowly smiled. "Six trees."
"Yeah."
He finally nodded slowly. "Yes. Let's go... home."
...
Dany smiled as she stepped through the door, shutting behind her.
"How did it go? You're grinning like mad!"
"Really well!" Sansa squealed. "We're going back home to the manor. Jon's taking our name to become the new Lord Stark."
Dany's heart dropped. She knew what that meant. The possibility of never seeing him again and the prospect of him marrying someone of their status. A lovely Lady to marry the handsome Lord.
Sansa frowned. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing. I'm glad for you guys. Really glad!" Her smiled returned and she headed towards the fridge where she retrieved the carton of milk. "Tea?"
Sansa nodded. "I'll put water in the kettle."
They both worked quietly, Dany taking the time to get the tea bags and sugar from the cupboard and placing them on the counter.
"You know I'm grateful for all you've done for me. Letting me stay and all?" Sansa asked her.
"Yeah. I always knew you were going home but it was nice for the company which was not someone I was sleeping with." Dany lightly joked.
Sansa responded with a smile. "Also, Jon being a lord doesn't mean that he has to marry depending on class. The laws have changed since God knows how long ago. I mean, my mother came from Riverrun, a small Irish village by the coast. She had no status, she was just a hard-working farm girl who lived by her means with her three big brothers, younger sister and younger brother. My grandparents really had their hands full with six children but being the eldest daughter, my mother took everything in her stride and worked accordingly with her mother."
"How did they meet?" Dany asked. "Your parents, I mean. Your dad was well known, his family are well known. You guys are like celebrities, obviously big city folk."
Sansa laughed. "We're not celebrities."
"Are you sure? Your family has done well for the country for centuries, thousands of years! I'm sure there's a statue of your great-great-grandfather in Winterfell, which was established by your family four hundred years ago. Your great-great-grandfather stopped Winterfell from being conquered."
Sansa blushed. "Okay. Yeah, we're famous but look at us now."
"You're going back to the high life. Anyway, how did city boy meet small town girl?"
"To be honest, my father and his siblings were overindulged at children. Spoilt rotten. You could tell by how they dressed and what they ate. They cared for the fastest cars and three storey homes. So, one day, my Grandpa Rickard bundled my two uncles, my dad and my aunt into the car with the clothes on their backs and drove them nearly ten hours to Ireland, Riverrun to be specific. Riverrun was where his best friends from school, Hoster and Brynden lived. They were brothers and eventually, Hoster became my grandfather. He was stricter than Rickard. Rickard was the laid back one, Hoster wanted us, children, to be seen not heard.
Shameful of his indulgence of his children, he sent my father and his siblings to help Hoster at the Tully family's farm. They spent three weeks of their summer holidays there, tending to the animals in dirty wellies and dungarees. What Rickard and Hoster didn't count on was my mother and my father sneaking off to kiss by the old lighthouse every other night whilst everyone was asleep. To be honest, my dad was a looker and he was the most rebellious and charmer of all his siblings. Click his fingers, a girl would fall for him. My strict-upbrought mother fell for the rich rule-breaker. She got sick of being the good girl, to the point that she fell pregnant."
Dany gasped. "You'd never imagine! Your mother was so pure, well-put and almost scary. I'd met her once. She came to the hospital to look for her client."
Sansa smiled softly. "I know right? Anyway, she had a miscarriage and her parents found out that she'd been seeing my father. Hoster banished my dad from his farm but after much convincing from Rickard - he was a smooth talker - he allowed my dad to return on the basis he slept in the barn with the horses. When it was finally time to leave, my mother revealed she wanted to study Law. Her family were ecstatic because she'd been dragging her heels on what she wanted to do with her life. Also, she was the first one to go to university in her family although one of her older brothers joined part-time. In all honesty, she wanted to go to Winterfell where the best Law school she could get in was."
"Because of your dad?"
"Because of my dad," Sansa confirmed. "They had Robb early, then me and so on. They were in a very happy marriage. She turned my dad into a better person. He was much less indulged although, he did like the occasional extra sausage or Guinness."
Dany laughed. "So, a small-town girl became a Lady?"
"She did. And she was happy. She didn't care for the title or the land or the wonderful history her new married name came with. She cared for the man behind all the glitz and the glamour. Although she didn't mind the occasional deluxe chocolates that Dad sent to her work for her to enjoy every Friday."
"So sweet. Maybe, you're right. I shouldn't worry."
Sansa nodded. "You shouldn't. Jon's always had a soft spot for anybody who is not famous or a somebody. Ygritte's made a name for herself though."
"Do you think Jon had a part in that? Knowing the right people and all..." Dany asked.
"Hmm, no. She's always been in that scene, Jon said. Even at uni. She dropped out of Medicine to go into Modelling."
"I-I think I remember Jon saying that."
Sansa hummed. "Yeah. The Ó Brádaighs have actually been a well-established family. But I do believe that Ygritte's been disowned after deciding not to follow in her family's footsteps. They're all into Medicine, including her brothers. She's quite rebellious."
Dany smiled softly, preparing her tea as Sansa prepared hers. "I can tell. With those red lips and hair, she's a firecracker."
"I'm starting to think even more than me..." Sansa trailed off, blowing on top of her hot mug.
"Nah, you're still a firework." Dany grinned.
"Hmm, thanks! You're the best."
They were disturbed by Sansa's ringtone going off.
She grabbed her phone and answered it without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Sansa! It's Uncle Edmure. I have some news for you and it requires you coming down to Riverrun as soon as possible. Can you make it dear? It is quite a pressing matter."
"Uncle Edmure, I don't know. I've not been..." She paused. She couldn't tell him about the car accident and the fact that she was on pain relief and a ten-hour drive wouldn't do her any good. "Well. And we're planning Arya's birthday and all-"
He sighed. "Well, you see. Your Aunt Lysa has accepted a marriage proposal-"
"That's wonderful for her! Wait, don't I already know this? To that Petyr guy, right?"
Another sigh. "Dear, it's not her marriage proposal. It's yours."
And her phone dropped.