ARYA

"She is going to rest some more," Arya told the three men waiting for her as she stalked out of Sansa's room angrily. The woman in that room had not been Sansa at all. Sansa was stronger than that, her difficult life after their father's death shaping her will into a steel that wouldn't break. But that display in the room, that fear and uncertainty, they were more reminiscent of the naive girl of the old Winterfell and Arya hated seeing her sister like that, especially when she knew she was the one responsible for that.

"Arya!" Jon reached out to take her arm before she could leave them. "What happened?" he asked gently and Arya relented.

"She was asking about the kids and Clegane. I actually told her he wasn't that bad but she still looked scared and then she said she wanted to rest," Arya scuffed her boot against the floor. "It's not Sansa. Sansa would be out here, dealing with it all!"

"She has been thrust into a completely new world," Bran reasoned. "It is only natural that the changes she observes scare her. No matter how much stronger she has grown in the past years, in her mind she is only eleven. She must be given time to get used to it."

Arya crossed her arms.

"I know," she muttered. She still wanted to lash out at something, to transfer her anger onto something else. "I'll be in the training yard," she informed her family and saw Jon nod in understanding.

"Don't be late for dinner," he told her and she took off. There had been a time when the rebuilt training yard of Winterfell was the place she had spent the majority of her time in, trying to find herself again. Too bad Sansa had never been inclined to physical fighting. Nothing cleared the mind better, at least in Arya's opinion. It was actually one of the things she had in common with Clegane. Being in a fight, even a mock one, made one discard all the extraneous thoughts and focus only on the sword in one's hand and the opponent in the front.

The arena was empty, though it was clear it had been used earlier, the ground scuffed and even upturned in places. Clegane must have put the guards through the wringer again. For all that his leg sometimes bothered him, he was still one of the most dangerous and skilled warriors in the land. Arya entered the armoury and found him sitting inside, sharpening his sword. He looked just as ugly as ever and only the gods knew what Sansa had ever seen in him, especially now that she herself had forgotten.

"What do you want?" he asked without raising his head, seemingly focused on the oil cloth he was running over the blade. Arya frowned. No insult, no glare. She might as well not be present for all the attention he gave her. He should hate her, rage at her for being the cause of Sansa's state. He had certainly never held his tongue when he had something nasty to say to her and she had gladly returned the favour. She might have hated him but Sansa had chosen him and Arya had respected that. Only now he looked pitiful and just as lost as Sansa had and Arya hated that fact more than anything.

"Catch!" she grabbed a blunted long sword from the rack and tossed it at him. He cursed as he fumbled to catch it and Arya smirked. "Let's go one round, Clegane. Just you and me."

He looked up at her, a sneer forming at his face.

"Are you crazy or just stupid? I've just spent half of the day beating men twice your size into the ground."

Arya took a blunted sword for herself and gave it an experimental swing. She was far more comfortable with Braavosi-style blades but she could hold her own with a Westerosi one as well, mostly due to her speed.

"Twice my size and half my speed. I'm fast, Clegane and you are tired. I might give you a challenge, after all."

He snorted but stood up, his face losing a bit of that despair.

"Getting confident, wolf bitch?"

Arya grinned. Good, that was more familiar. She might not be of any help to Sansa in her current state but she could help Sansa's husband keep his spirit up.

"Against you? Any time of the day."

The clash of his sword against hers as he drove her out of the armoury was a music to her ears.