Game of Thrones: Crossroads

Chapter 12 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

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Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Veridissima: Yup, they are, glad you liked it, yeah, it was tricky, anyway, glad you enjoyed the chapter :)
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Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah it is, too bad it backfires, I guess you're right.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 12

Arya sighed as she looked out of her window at the Godswood; her life had become a complete mess. Today was supposed to be a happy day; yet everything that had been happening so far had led to her feeling down. Jon and Robb were due to come home today, but despite the jubilant mood in the house, she still felt depressed. It all had to do with her lack of success in her attempts to help Sansa; all due to Sansa's wilful blindness to her friends' antics and her desire to keep a close sisterly relationship with Arya, which she felt was only possible with Arya being part of her group.

'I'm so sick of all this, I've lost Gendry and Shireen…I-I miss them.' She thought sadly; fighting back tears. 'Gods I even miss all the others, their joking inappropriate comments, Hot Pie's pies. But I'm stuck with these assholes, they're all so…Ugh, Sansa deserves so much better. Aegon isn't too bad though.'

She bit her lip at that; Aegon Targaryen was the son of Daenerys' older brother Rhaegar; he had recently joined the group and quickly Arya befriended him. He was still part of the group without any doubt, but he wasn't over the top like the rest and Arya found that with him, she would at least have someone to talk to in the group. She had to endure however; she would do whatever it took to help Sansa.

Sansa stood worriedly outside the door to her sister's room. Arya had been acting so strangely in the past couple of weeks. She had become rather moody and remained silent most of the time while she was with the group. It was surprising initially but she was happy now that Arya had decided to finally join her. Now she could have her sister with her and her friends.

'We finally get to have a proper sisterly relationship and have fun together. We get to spend time together and Arya's finally achieving her full potential.' Sansa thought happily; before concern struck again. 'So why is she so down, has something happened?'

Finally, preparing herself she knocked on the door to her sister's room. She could hear movement and then the door opened. Arya noticed it was Sansa and managed a tight smile.

"Hey Sansa." She greeted her sister, remarkably calm. "What's up?"

Sansa noticed all of her sister's actions and focused on her wish to cheer her up. "Nothing much, just wondering if you wanted to go out and do something before Jon and Robb get home."

Arya shook her head. "Sorry Sansa, I'm too tired to go out."

"Maybe watch a movie then?" Sansa suggested.

Arya shook her head again.

"No, it's fine Sansa; I'm busy, I'll see you guys when Jon and Robb get here."

With that Arya returned to her room, closing the door. Sansa sighed and headed downstairs.

Arya threw herself onto her bed and sighed. She needed time to calm down and focus before joining her family. So she picked up the book Shireen had given her, way back before all this had happened and decided to read it. As she read it she found herself getting lost in the book and finally, she felt she understood why Shireen liked reading so much. It was so easy to lose yourself in a good book and, by extension, immerse yourself in the book's world and see the things that happened in it in your mind's eye. She was later caught off guard when she heard the door opening and realized how much time had passed. 'Wow, Shireen is right, you can lose yourself in a book.'

She put the book away and quickly got dressed in a pair of black leggings a pair of blue denim shorts and a black tank-top. Simple yet nice she felt worked best. She then hurried downstairs and entered the living room. Her parents were standing greeting Robb and Jon as Sansa and Rickon sat on the couch, Bran in his wheelchair, smiling as they watched, waiting to greet them themselves. Arya joined them quickly and soon greeted her older brother and cousin.

"It's great to see you guys again." She remarked happily.

They both laughed and Robb hugged her while Jon ruffled her hair, the way he always did.

Jon was the one to reply first. "Same here Arry, it's great to see you all."

Robb nodded in agreement.

"Yeah; we missed you guys."

Soon the greetings were over and the little welcoming party for Robb and Jon began.

Arya smiled, feeling better than she had before. The incidents and issues were still much on her mind but she refused to let them depress her right now.

'It's good to have Jon and Robb back home for a while…I just wish things were better, that I didn't have all this to deal with. Rickon's still not talking to me.' She reflected before wondering. 'Could I…no, it would be good to have help but, I can't. I can't betray Sansa's trust like that; she doesn't know that I know the truth about what happened to her with Joffrey but, it would still be a betrayal of her trust if I told anyone.'

She shook her head; if she could just find some means to show Sansa that she didn't have to take any of the nonsense from those asshole; that she could stand up for herself and that she didn't need them, that she would still have friends and her family. The problem was trying to find some means to convince Sansa of those facts and help her find that confidence. Arya leaned back on the swing seat in the back garden; lost in thought, wondering about how she could go about her attempts to save Sansa.

She heard the back door open and she straightened up. She turned and smiled when she saw Jon approaching; however she then noticed he looked serious.

"Jon, is something wrong?" She asked, concerned.

Jon was quiet for a moment, then finally, he sat down heavily next to her. "I guess you could say that."

He turned and looked at her strangely, she quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, what is it?"

Jon sighed and then explained. "Rickon's been telling me that you've abandoned your friends and started hanging out with Margaery Tyrell, Joffrey and all their…friends."

Arya bit her lip, she had been afraid of this.

"I…I have but, I have my reasons doing so Jon." She explained quickly.

Jon however glared. "Oh really, they better be damn good ones for you to hurt your friends."

Arya groaned and shook her head. "I know this is going to sound lame, but it's true…I can't tell you; it's a deep personal reason; I can't share it."

Jon stood up, still glaring.

"I don't understand you sometimes Arya; look at you, what you're becoming, this isn't you. Try and fix this now, before it's too late."

With that he turned back and walked into the house. Arya bowed her head; she wished it was that simple, but truly, it all depended on Sansa. Despite her hopes, she had an unpleasant feeling that things wouldn't be sorted for a long time yet.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.