Tywin joined them in the great hall for dinner that same evening. He sat across from Arya and set a small package on the table between them. She gazed at it questioningly.
"A gift," Tywin said. "To welcome you to the family."
Arya reached over and took the package, opening it there as he probably expected of her. It was a small wooden box wrapped in brown paper. She removed the paper and opened the box. Inside were several pieces of jewelry that she recognized. Necklaces, pendants, hairpins, and even a bracelet, all of them direwolves and fish.
"These belonged to my mother." Arya said with disbelief.
"Yes. I had Roose Bolton send them to me. It seemed like they belonged in your hands, not his." Tywin said.
To her great shame, Ayra's eyes filled with tears. She quickly took a deep breath and forbid herself from truly crying. "I'm not sure what to make of this gift, my lord." She said, much more steadily than she felt.
"How do you mean?" Tywin gazed at her as if to dare her to protest.
"If you meant to taunt me, surely it would have been simpler to just walk in here and say, 'don't forget who gave the order to kill your mother and brother' there was no need to return the jewels that you stole out of my home." She said with anger.
Jaime expected an angry outburst from his father at those words. He reached over and put his hand on Arya's in an attempt to calm her. She accepted it there.
"The taking of Winterfell and the death of your mother and brother was part of a war strategy that needed to happen in order to bring peace to the seven kingdoms." Tywin said firmly but far more calmly than Jaime had expected. "It was not done with the intention of hurting you. Perhaps had I known that my cupbearer was Arya Stark I might have considered a different strategy. As it stands, the gift is simply that, a gift. Accept it or don't. I'm perfectly willing to send it back to Roose Bolton if you prefer."
Arya swallowed, unsure what to say. "Then I accept the gift my lord." She didn't want Roose Bolton to have her mother's jewels.
Arya changed out of her dress after dinner and met Jaime in his solar as planned.
"Can I kill him?" She asked, as soon as she was through the door. She wasn't joking about the question in any way.
"You mean my father? No." Jaime said. "Though I can understand why you would want to."
She sighed. "Where are we going?"
"We have to leave the castle. It's not far but we'll need horses."
Arya followed him to the stables. "I think one horse will do. I wouldn't want to have to abandon the other one after I kill you." This time she was grinning and he knew she was teasing him.
"Fine. One horse it is." Jaime quipped.
She soon realized her mistake when they were both mounted on the horse and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist to help hold her in place. She thought of protesting, of telling him she could stay mounted just fine on her own. Some part of her didn't want him him to stop touching her so she stayed as she was. The ride was just under an hour. By the time they reached where they were going Arya's face was flush and her mind was so distracted by the closeness that she doubted she would win any matches that night.
Arya dismounted the horse after Jaime did and took a look around at where he had brought them. They were on a beach, a very secluded one at that. The moonlight reflecting off the sea provided nearly enough light for them to see though it would be a little more difficult than by day.
"That was too easy." Jaime said after beating her rather quickly in the first round.
"It's too dark." Arya made as an excuse.
"It's not that dark. Something has you distracted. If it's my father, he'll be gone in a few days and you'll rarely ever need to see him again."
"It's not. Let's go another round." She didn't want to talk with him about Tywin or about her feelings.
It took a little longer but Jaime beat her again on their second round. "I doubt I've suddenly improved this much." Jaime said. "Something's wrong."
Arya didn't answer him. She picked up her sword from the ground. "Again!"
They went a third round. Arya was determined not to be distracted this time. She had sand in her shoes and in her eyes. It was hard to get sure footing in all the sand though it seemed to bother Jaime less than it bothered her. Maybe that was because he grew up near the sea. He beat her a third time, knocking her flat on her back in the sand and making her drop her sword. He stood above her grinning, waiting for her to get up and challenge him again. Suddenly she was angry at him beyond measure. She could never seem to keep her wits about her when it came to fighting him. Every smile, every kind word, every touch from him had awakened a desire in her that she hadn't known she was capable of. She had never wanted to be one those silly maidens swooning over a man and yet she couldn't even manage to hold on to her sword tonight because she was still thinking about what it felt like to have his arm around her while they rode that damned horse. And the worst part was, she was still afraid of letting him bed her. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to be near him, but she was filled with terror at what would come after that. Though she knew that if someone had to bed her, she'd rather it was him than any other man. Most of all, she'd rather not let any man distract her like this.
Furious with herself and with him, Arya picked herself up off the ground knowing she wasn't ready to try again but prepared to do it anyway.
"Again?" Jaime asked her.
She shook her head no, dropping her sword to the ground. "Put down your sword."
"Why?" He asked her.
"Just do it." She said firmly.
He dropped his sword almost silently in the sand nearby. Then Arya charged at him, knocking him to the ground. She was on top of him and felt the wind knocked out of him. She gave him but a moment to catch his breath before she kissed him. Her kisses were angry and wanton all at once. As soon as he realized what she was doing, Jaime's arms came round her and he was kissing her in return. He seemed to realize that she only wanted kissing because he never tried to take it any further than that. After a while he rolled them onto their sides and deepened the kiss.
Neither of them were aware of how long it lasted. They were covered in mud and sand when Jaime finally pulled away, his arms still around her. "What caused all that?" He asked with grin.
"You did. I can't beat you because you're distracting me… so I thought…"
He chuckled at that. "It's getting late. We should go back. My father is likely having a conniption trying to find us."
As they rode back to the castle, Arya leaned into him in the saddle and he leaned into her just as much.