Gendry

He slept well that night. For years she's been hunting his dreams. In some he saw her die; an axe to her head, an arrow in her eye, a blade through her heart… in others she just screamed or pleaded for help. She was always young, so small and skinny, her hair barely covering her ears, her stormy eyes pleading at him to save her, but he never could. Some dreams were not so awful, in those dreams she was wearing that silly acorn dress and they were lying in some meadow counting stars, but always when he tried to reach out and touch her, she was gone.

Not tonight though. Tonight she filled his dreams in a different form, a woman grown. Dressed like a warrior, all in brown leather, riding her dire wolf into battle. Her long brown hair braided and whipping her back. She saw him then, standing next to an apple tree and rode towards him. She climbed off her wolf and ran to his arms, she wrapped her hands around his neck and looked deep into his eyes. She smelled like grass after the rain, her lips were full and inviting. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer; he could feel her apple sized breasts against his chest. Her eyes were fierce and demanding and she moved her right hand to play with his hair. He bent down to kiss her neck and she groaned softly whispering his name. Gendry.

A touch of light on his eyes woke him from his sweet dream. Dawn has come and it was time for his lessons. Yet another day of learning how to be a lord. He grunted and turned in his bed. He was a terrible student. He managed to deal with numbers and accounts, but all those histories and languages and manners were just intolerable!

He sat up slowly, wishing he could go back to sleep, just for an hour. He hasn't slept that well for years, and that dream… he sighed as he dressed up. He probably wouldn't even see Arya today, let alone talk to her. He went outside and headed for Halden's tent. They always shared their breakfast. Halden ate his fill while trying to get Gendry to recite some stupid words of some stupid house. It was even worse when prince Aegon used to join the, bringing with him that sour faced Jon Cunnington, they both sat there witnessing his stupidity, he could never get it right. Arya never joined them,the prince always had tasks for her. He was sure that they were trying to separate them, Aegon wanted her for himself. Now those two are finally out of the way and he's stuck here with Halden learning how to properly use a fork. Soon they'll make him the lord of Storms End and he'll never see Arya again. He entered the Half-maester's tent when an awful smell hit his nose. Halden lay on his bed panting and sweating while another man, Darwin, tried to feed him some foul smelling brew.

"Halden, you told me I should make it for you, now be a man and drink it already", the half master turned his head and sneezed loudly, spraying his surroundings with spittle. "What's going on?" Gendry asked the frustrated Darwin, twisting his nose in disgust, "Old Halden here has a fever, and the stubborn fool won't drink his own medicine" He turned back to Halden "Come on already, just swallow this thing and be done with it!" Darwin shoved a spoon full of brew to the older man's mouth, Halden spat the liquid in the man's face "it's not supposed to taste so bad" he coughed "I rather drink piss! Put more honey in it, and mint!" Darwin wiped the smelly brew off of his face and turned to Gendry "well he ain't gonna get any better if he continues acting like a baby. Take the day off lad, unless you want to stay and give me a…" Gendry was out of the tent before he could finish his sentence.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He knew where to find her; he doubted that she ever left that clearing in the woods.

She was lying on the forest floor, her hair loose around her head, Nymeria sat by her side. A few rays of light that came through the forest canopy caressed her features gently, her eyes were closed. She looked like a goddess. He tried not to breath, not wanting to ruin this perfect vision.

"You make so much noise, you make Cunnington's snores sound like a butterfly flapping it's wings", her eyes were still closed.

"Well good morning to you too, M'lady" He came to sit next to her, and started playing with her hair, plucking out leaves that were tangled in it. "Nymeria seems to like you" She said, eyes still closed, a small smile on her face, the sunlight dancing on her eyelashes. As if to prove Arya right, the direwolf placed her huge head on his leg. It was soft and warm and he felt safer than ever. "She's pretty" he said, moving his hand from Arya's hair to the direwolf's head.

Arya smiled, "Pretty is an understatement".

The sun made some freckles appear on Arya's nose, and with that little smile and calm expression she seemed her own age again. She was always so serious nowadays; it made her look so much older. She should be about seven and ten now, a woman grown indeed. A mesmerizing young woman. He stroked her head as he said "Yes, it is. She is beautiful, just like her Lady".Arya opened her eyes, sat up abruptly and frowned deeply at him "Why would you say such a thing? She's perfect!" she turned to Nymeria and petted her head "don't listen to him, he's just a stupid bastard boy" she frowned again, found a little rock nearby and threw it at him "stupid!" it hit him on his jaw. "Ouch! That really hurt! What kind of a lady throws rocks at people?" he rubbed his jaw and smiled. Yup, his Arya is back. "This kind!" she said and threw a larger stone at him, hitting him on the shoulder, he should have seen it coming. "Ow! Will you stop it? Now I will never be able to hunt, and I didn't even have breakfast" he used his most dramatic voice and put up a hand dramatically to his forehead.

She stood up and it seemed like she was going to punch him, or kick him in the head, so he held up his arms to protect his face from the coming blow, but she just grabbed his hand and pulled him up "now I understand, hunger has driven you mad. Let's find you something to eat".

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

They sat on the river bank eating blackberries and hazel nuts. Her bare legs were in the icy water and he laid there, his head on her lap and his hand playing with the river's water. Sometimes fish nibbled his fingers, he didn't even notice it. All he could concentrate on was the feeling of Arya against his head; she filled all of his senses. She was feeding him blackberries with one hand, and used the other for playing with his hair. Her hair was set in its usual long braid against her right shoulder. His eyes were closed and he bathed in sunlight. A bird was singing at the top of the tree and the only other sound was the slow flowing of the river. A big foolish smile spread on his face. So this is what bliss felt like.

Arya let out a long sigh. He opened his eyes to see her stare gloomily into the water. "What's wrong?" he asked her, taking her braid in his hand and wiggling it playfully.

"Nothing I just…" she sighed again, lowering her eyes, "I just wish that he would sentence them all to death, he promised me he would do justice for me and the north, but…" she took a nut and threw it angrily at the water, "He can't, he's too kingly. They should've let me do it. Stop that." She took her braid away from his hand and shook her legs so he had to get up from her lap and sit beside her. How could she think of that right now, when everything is so perfect. They finally get to be together and all she can think about is Aegon, and killing people. He offered her the last blackberry, and she refused it. "You know," he said, licking clean the blackberry juice from his fingers, "the brotherhood used to hunt Freys down and kill them, they had forests full of hanged Lannisters and Freys". That only seemed to make her angrier. She washed her hands and face in the river water and stood up. "We should head back". He got up, disappointed that the day was about to be over and followed her back to camp.

They walked silently and he watched her steady stride, her straight back. She was moving so differently from how he remembered her. She was still his little Arya in so many ways, but yet she was very different. "Arya?" he dared to ask, "Where have you been all this time?" Halden told him that they found her in Bravos, and that she had been in the free cities all those years. He waited for her to tell him something about her time away, but she never did. She didn't even look back to him and he thought she wasn't going to answer him. After a minute or two he heard her say quietly "I was in hell, training for my revenge".