In the days after their first kiss Arya divided her time fairly evenly between Daenerys and the rest of the army. While the Queen was handling matters of state or attending meetings, Arya worked with Grey Worm, Kovarro and the others. When Daenerys was free and interested, Arya went to work teaching her to wield a sword.
"Turn your body!" Arya commanded as she watched Daenerys move. When the Queen's natural instincts steered her wrong Arya would jump down from atop the crate where she was sitting and approach Daenerys with purpose. Strong hands grabbed her body and moved her as she intended, often lingering for longer than necessary, with hungry stares passed back and forth.
After three days of teaching Daenerys to hold the sword, swing the sword and angle her body Arya felt she was ready for a target. Using wood intended for fires she made a dummy and set it up for Daenerys to strike.
"Is this how they taught you at the House of Black and White?" she wondered as she extended her arm, and flicked her wrist, bringing the razor-sharp edge down on the heart of the dummy.
Arya was next to the Khaleesi in an instant. "Be grateful my methods aren't quite the same, your Grace," she said kindly, adjusting Daenerys's posture.
"And why's that?"
She leaned over and kissed Daenerys's sweat-covered cheek, the first time she initiated a kiss outside of Daenerys's chambers. "Because," she whispered as she stepped back, "you have really beautiful eyes and it'd be a shame for something to happen to them."
After another quick adjustment Daenerys went back to work on the dummy, quizzing the Northern girl as she practiced. "They blinded you?"
She chuckled. "Yeah, for a little while they did."
"Did it help?"
"A bit," she answered, silently afraid Daenerys would want to be blinded for her next lesson.
She heard steel being tucked into a scabbard and she felt a sweaty hand covering each of her eyes. "If you don't need your eyes," she urged, "prove it!"
Unable to turn down a challenge Arya closed her eyes, while she growled playfully at the Queen. With her eyes closed she listened to her surroundings. She heard a lot, surely enough to impress Daenerys, but she got another more devious idea. Shifting her focus off the sounds, she found a bird flying nearby and bonded with it. In seconds the bird was flying over the ship and Arya was taking note of everything she could see from his eyes.
"Missandei and Grey Worm are whispering in the doorway to your meeting room," the blinded girl informed her ruler. "Tyrion is on his third glass of wine and his second book of the afternoon. Kovarro is standing between Jorah and a blonde serving girl."
"How did you do that?" Daenerys demanded to know, pulling her hands away and looking at the killer with awe.
Arya winked. "Magic, your Grace."
R-C
When the time finally came for Daenerys to fight another living opponent, Arya spent hours considering every person on the ship, in an attempt to find her the perfect partner. In the end she chose Kovarro, because she and Daenerys both trusted him and because he'd lay down his life for the Khaleesi without delay.
While Kovarro spoke with another Blood Rider and prepared for the practice, Daenerys bounced with excitement, practicing the moves and tactics Arya had taught, as if she were fighting a ghost.
Before the match began Arya walked the length of the ship and found Missandei preparing the Queen's bath for after the training was complete. Pulling her away from her task Arya steered the translator to the section of the ship reserved for training and whispered with her briefly.
Daenerys's lessons were a popular event and all of the soldiers came to see their Queen fight her first practice-round. The night before Daenerys had been concerned she'd embarrass herself, but Arya insisted she was ready. In the end Daenerys was persuaded.
Pushing past the crowd, Arya left Missandei with a smile on her face and marched straight for Kovarro. In full view of everyone, and loud enough for all to hear the Westerosi girl spoke in halted, but accurate Dothraki, repeating the words Missandei had helped her to learn. "Harm her," she said to her friend, "and you'll wish I let you die."
Kovarro nodded in understanding and bowed formally in a gesture of respect to the assassin who saved his life. Satisfied she moved away from the Dothraki and walked to where Daenerys was waiting with a smirk. "That was unnecessary," she said.
Arya shrugged and kissed her lips lightly, earning a cheer from the Dothraki in the crowd. "Unnecessary or not, it doesn't make it any less true."
She slapped the younger woman lightly on the arm. "Be nice," she ordered.
With one final stern look for Kovarro, Arya stepped away from the Queen moving to a spot where she could watch the match undisturbed. Just before she was out of reach she grabbed Daenerys's wrist and pulled her close. "Kovarro's favoring his right knee today," she whispered, "make him run and wait for your opening."
Once she was standing off to the side the battle began. Kovarro and Daenerys were both using simple short swords. As they circled one another for the first time Arya couldn't look away.
"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Jorah asked her.
"She's a Targaryen," she reminded him coldly, wincing as Kovarro landed a kick to Daenerys's knee. "She should have been holding a sword since before she could stand."
"The Khaleesi has an army."
"Yes, she does, but that won't do her any good if they sneak into her castle at night to kill her."
"You can't truly…"
Jorah's point was never made because Daenerys took a wild swing with her sword and missed Kovarro's head by an inch. In that moment everything but the battle melted away and nothing existed for Arya except Daenerys. As she struggled to recover control of the blade, Kovarro took a swing at her chest. She dodged it just as Arya had taught her to, and the Queen's move earned a roar of appreciation from the onlookers.
With another swing Arya was forced to hold her breath and trust the training. The blade got dangerously close to Daenerys's neck, causing Jorah to move toward the match, only to be stopped by Arya's firm grip. The two concerned witnesses watched as just before the blade reached her Daenerys managed to get her sword up in a blocking position. Kovarro and Daenerys both struggled, pushing back and forth for control. From the side Arya silently urged her Queen to make the next move.
While Kovarro slowly inched his sword closer and closer to the Khaleesi, his attention was diverted and that was exactly what she needed. A small hand reached down into her boot, reaching for the dagger hidden there.
With Kovarro's sword hovering above her throat, with only her thin blade keeping them apart, she lifted her left hand, bringing the dagger up and pressing it lightly into Kovarro's neck.
Upon feeling the blade, Kovarro dropped his sword and stepped back with his head down. The crowd screamed for their Queen as Arya brushed past everyone, Jorah included to greet the victor. They met there in the center of the circle for a hug. Arya spun the tiny Dragon around and listened to her happy laugh in reply. "Did you see that? I did exactly what you said, I waited until he got close, kept him distracted and strike."
Arya kissed her Queen passionately, forgetting briefly about the crowd until the whistles and cat calls echoed all around her. "You did great," she confessed, setting Daenerys down on her own feet again. "It was perfect."
With the glow of success radiating off her she spoke to Kovarro briefly before the two hugged and went their separate ways. "I had a good teacher." The two women laughed together and briefly forgot about their troubled pasts or the uncertain future.
R-C
Once while she was in Volantis Arya saw one of Daenerys's dragons flying overhead. It was just once, for the quickest of moments but she saw it all the same. She thought she'd be prepared for when Daenerys's children came calling but she was not. Just days from landing in Westeros one of the beasts returned, followed by the two others.
Sitting on the side of the boat one afternoon watching the dragon swoop down to catch dinner and then using fire breathed from its nose to cook the meal, was impressive.
Even more impressive was standing by and seeing as one by one the three beasts landed on the bow of the ship to greet their mother. Daenerys's confident stride as she walked up to the biggest of the three was awe inspiring. She truly was fearless. For a second Arya was concerned as the dragon turned his massive head and locked eyes with Daenerys, but before her hand could reach for the sword she wore the animal yielded. Before long he was flat on the deck, low enough that the tiny human could trace the scales down his back.
Tyrion appeared next to her with wine and two glasses. "Its quite something isn't it?" he comments, gesturing to the odd family reunion. "I remember the first time I saw them with my own eyes."
"Its unbelievable!"
It was quiet for a long time and one dragon flew away before the next took his place. "Are you having any doubts?"
"Doubts?"
"About returning home," he elaborated. "Winterfell, your family, all of it. Are you having any regrets?"
"That's a question you should ask yourself dwarf," she told him plainly, although her words didn't have any of their usual bite and Tyrion noticed. "My family is all gone, but yours still lives. Are you going to have regrets when its Cersei and Jamie on the other side of the Queen's army?"
For a long time, he didn't answer. When he did he shocked Arya with the fierceness behind his words. "My family is as dead as yours, they just don't know it yet."
Looking out over the water in the general direction of Winterfell, Arya closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to the Many Faced God. After years of waiting the time for vengeance had finally arrived.
R-C
She'd fallen asleep on the deck of the boat, watching the horizon for the first sight of Westeros. She'd drifted to sleep and had been enjoying a very pleasant dream involving a Queen and an assassin before the perfection was shattered by the ringing of a bell.
Jerking awake Arya jumped to her feet and was met on the port side by Grey Worm and Jorah. "One of the Unsullied was watching from the crow's nest and saw an approaching ship with Lannister flags."
Tyrion understood what was happening before the rest. "My sister sends emissaries," he told them.
By the time the boats were within range every soldier on the first five of Daenerys's ships was armed and ready. Daenerys herself was dressed as a Dothraki warrior rather than a Westerosi queen. Her sword, which she'd spent weeks practicing with, hung ready at her side and the dagger Arya gave her was sharp and waiting in her boot.
As the plank came over to connect the ships Arya moved closer to Daenerys. "Are you ready?" she asked.
Daenerys took her hand and locked their fingers together. "We've waited a long time for this," she said simply. It didn't escape Arya's notice that she said the word 'we'.
The two shared a brief kiss before Arya made use of the High Valyrian she had been struggling to learn. "Stay close."
Turning to her right she saw Kovarro there, looking eager for a fight. Just as she'd addressed Daenerys in her language, Arya used Dothraki for her sparring partner. "If they touch her," she said, pointing the tip of her sword at Daenerys, "kill them all."
The air was thick with tension as a team of three, two men and one woman walked along the plank, from their ship to Daenerys's.
Daenerys whispered to Tyrion as the three worked their way closer, but Arya wasn't listening, her focus was on the potential danger. Something didn't feel right. Cersei Lannister wasn't the type to send emissaries and talk of peace. She was the type to smile to your face while she turned the knife in your back. As such Arya expected an ambush.
The three Lannister representatives introduced themselves. Marco was a member of the Queen's Guard, a tall man with greying hair who Arya was stunned to recognize when he removed his helmet. With clarity she remembered how Trant and a group of his men attacked Syrio when all he had was a wooden sword to defend himself with. She recalled this Marco as one of the men who attacked him before she fled.
Next to Marco was a woman named Wendy who was obviously a Lannister, given her coloring and features. She looked terrified and uneasy, her eyes moving from face to face until she landed on the menacing Dothraki and suddenly became very interested in the water in the distance.
The last of the group was carrying a chest and like Marco was dressed in the uniform of a Queen's Guard. If he said his name Arya didn't hear it, but his name wasn't the least bit important to her. He was younger than Marco and bigger. Arya prepared herself, if there was a fight, he'd need to die first.
Afraid Marco might recognize her, despite the years that had past Arya turned away from the crowd and applied direct pressure to the scar, making use of the two faces she was given. With another woman's features replacing her own she walked back to Daenerys and noticed the look of shock in her eyes before she hid her feelings.
Eyes watched the three guests from all the nearby ships and archers lined the decks of the closest, ready to attack if the Queen was put in danger. Arya's hand hovered near her weapon as Marco presented Daenerys with a chest of gold and jewels to honor her success across the sea.
With a smug smile Daenerys instructed for one of her troops to take the chest away. As one Unsullied disappeared with the gold she provided a smile. "Thank you," she said falsely. "Was that the only reason for your visit?"
Marco scoffed at her in response and Wendy took a step back as Arya moved forward, growling defiantly like the Wolf she was.
"Problem bitch?" he hissed before he turned his focus back to the Khaleesi. "Daenerys Targaryen, Queen Cersei wishes peace. She proposes an alliance and friendship. Bring your ships into the port and she will meet you for negotiations."
"That is a very…" Daenerys's words were drowned out and although Arya could see her lips moving, the only sound she heard was the howling of a wolf.
Both sides tensed at the unexpected call. Arya slipped away from the group and looked for a wolf along the shore. What she found surprised her far more than she thought possible. It wasn't one direwolf but five, and the one in front looked incredibly familiar. "Nym?" she whispered as she closed her eyes and tried to focus.
The voices of the meeting on the ship's deck got further away as she slipped into Nymeria. After more than a year apart, it still felt natural and easy to bond with the wolf. Using her keen sense of smell, she immediately noticed the scent of men, lots of them, along the shoreline. Crouching down in Nym's skin she peeked through the grass until she saw the archers lying in wait. She also recognized a barrel of Wildfire just waiting to be pushed out to sea.
As soon as she settled back into her own body she was drawing her blade and issuing orders. She commanded the ship to retreat as quickly as possible, and for Grey Worm to sink the Lannister vessel, all while she hurried toward Daenerys.
It was chaos but in the moment Arya felt certain. She knew what to do. Arrows flew in every direction as she kept low and sprinted for Daenerys at top speed.
When she got back to the meeting, Tyrion was being held against his will by Marco, steel to his throat, while Wendy cowered in fear and the second guard held his sword up in warning, attempting to hold back Kovarro and Ser Jorah.
"You don't give orders!" the knight shouted as she reached him.
She ignored his tone and put herself between Daenerys and the danger. Looking at Marco she smirked. "Hey you, think you can beat a little girl?" she said in her most pitiful voice. "Put the Imp down."
Marco spit on the deck at her feet. "I don't take orders from a horse-lord whore or her slaves. The Queen wants her brother returned alive so that's what's going to happen."
"Really?" she asked with menace in her tone.
"Really," he promised. "See, the moment you step toward me, Thom there is going to slit your pretty whore's throat." He kept a tight grip on Tyrion as he smirked at Arya. "Now the Queen would like a proper meeting and she is waiting for us."
Arya growled as if the lie offended her. "The only thing waiting for us on the shore is a hundred of your finest archers," she said calmly, speaking more to Daenerys and the others than the Lannister puppets.
Marco was surprised by her knowledge but he covered it quickly. "Let's not do anything we might regret," he said seriously, sensing the shift in the mood. "You still can't take both of us," he warned when he thought Arya might attack.
Arya grinned at the challenge. From up her sleeve she drew a small folding knife. In the blink of an eye the blade was out, readied and thrown. It sliced through the air, passing in front of the Queen, Kovarro, Jorah and Missandei before landing in the throat of the Queen's Guard Thom, in the small window between the bottom of his helmet and the top of his armor. In response to her movements Marco yelled and took half a step forward before Jorah's advance pushed him back. The body fell to the deck beside the translator and Arya smirked at the man from her past. "There, now it's just you and me. Let the dwarf go, you and I have unfinished business."
Taking a fighter's stance, she stepped away, eager to bloody her steel. Furious about his friend's death Marco pushed Tyrion in Wendy's general direction and took his first swing at Arya. She stayed still until the last possible moment before she stepped aside.
Arya's rage fed her as she danced away from every strike, toying and taunting with the Queen's Guard and making him look foolish in the process. After rolling under a particularly harsh swing, she sliced the back of his knee, crippling him.
A sharp kick in the center of his back sent him falling forward with his sword sliding across the wet deck. He crawled toward his weapon until Arya's boot pinned him flat. Holding him there she snapped her fingers and demanded Wendy reveal herself from her hiding spot.
Daenerys stood next to her, looking every bit the Queen she was. "What are you doing Arya?" she whispered, her lips barely moving.
"He killed my friend," she said without emotion.
Daenerys looked at the beaten man, who was looking up at them as best he could, given his position. Daenerys gave him a serious glare and then turned to the Northern girl. "He's yours then, do as you wish."
Marco, realizing what was about to happen yelled for help until he was silenced by Kovarro's boot. "What of her?" Tyrion asked of the girl.
Daenerys waved the girl over and she was brought by two Unsullied. "What was the plan?"
"T… the Queen wanted her brother returned, she sent us with the ransom. We were to pay it and …" her shaking words stopped all together.
"Ransom?"
While the others didn't understand Arya did, it sounded exactly like something Cersei would devise. "Let me guess," Arya said, speaking for her female captive. "You were told Tyrion had been kidnapped and that you were paying his ransom." Wendy nodded and Arya kept going. "You were to lure the true Queen into the harbor for a supposed meeting where your archers would surely kill us all. Does that sound about right?" The only response was a weak nod and a pair of averting eyes.
Daenerys confirmed she was furious. She reached for and grabbed Wendy by the front of her colorful dress. "You pass a message along to the so-called Queen, you tell her that her brother is free to leave any time he wants, just as anyone in my service. You tell her that I will keep the chest as payment for her error in judgement. I will not be ignored and I will not be purchased like some common whore. She has one hour to clear the harbor of troops, or I'll have my dragons do it for her." Daenerys grinned at the woman's terrified expression and capitalized on it. "Inform Lady Lannister that her assassins are dead." Both Wendy and Daenerys looked toward Marco and he squirmed, still very much alive. Daenerys chuckled wickedly. "Well, will be dead soon enough," she amended.
"Y…yes," Wendy agreed, shaking in fear before the Mother of Dragons.
"Tell your Queen that she has forty-eight hours to leave King's Landing forever, or it will be her final resting place."
Wendy nodded, and waited for what was next, but Daenerys was done and she had no more use for the terrified woman. "Go!" Daenerys commanded, dismissing the girl with a wave.
She scurried as far away from the Queen and her many swords as she could get, but with the Lannister ship sunk she had no where to go. "H…how, y… your Grace."
Arya shrugged. "I hope you can swim," she said grabbing the woman by the arm and throwing her carelessly over the side and into the cold water. As she hit with a splash cheers erupted from the Khalasar, not only from the flagship but from all of them. They stood close and watched the scared blonde swim as though her life depended on it.
Tyrion climbed on top of a crate and called out to his relative. "Lovely to see you again Wendy. Please say hello to the family for me and let my loving sister know I'll see her soon."
R-C
"How did you know?" Daenerys asked her savior.
"The howl," she said as Grey Worm picked up Marco and had him bound and disarmed. "That was Nymeria and her friends, warning us of the danger."
Daenerys's eyes shined with wonder. "That was for us?"
"See," she joked, "you've already got supporters in the Seven Kingdoms."
She took Arya's hand. "Wolves are pretty useful."
With a smile, the kind she reserved just for Daenerys she looked toward the spot where Grey Worm had bound Marco. "What of him?" she asked, as Tyrion arrived beside them.
"It is as I said," the Queen decreed. "He killed your friend, he is yours to do with as you please."
Tyrion looked at the captive. "I remember him. One of Meryn Trant's lapdogs." As soon as the words left his mouth he understood, looking to Arya for confirmation, which she provided in a hard look.
Tyrion threw his hands up into the air. "Well I certainly wouldn't want to be him then," he commented. "And killer," he said before he walked away, "thank you for saving me. Now where did we put that wine? I'm suddenly rather thirsty."
Daenerys and Arya both laughed as they watched the small man go. "Enjoy your drink dwarf," she called out after him.
"I always do!" he yelled back.
R-C
Returning to her own face Arya took her prisoner down into the bowels of the ship, where they would not be disturbed. The whole walk he tried to persuade her to aid him, not realizing she was the same woman he fought.
Once they were alone in the depths of the ship she took a wooden, training sword and threw it to the floor between them. "That's all you gave Syrio, so that's all you'll get." Cutting him loose she stepped back and kicked the toy weapon in his direction. She didn't move again until he had picked it up.
"What is wrong with you!?" he shouted. "You and that stupid whore are crazy. I don't know you, or her or her stupid fucking friend but I didn't kill anybody."
She smiled and nodded as if she understood and then she stepped forward. "Get past me and maybe you'll live long enough to get into the water. There is only one of me, so you have better odds than Syrio did."
Growing frustrated by the cryptic talk Marco snapped. "Who the fuck is Syrio? I have no clue what you're going on about!" As he shouted, he limped and bled in the general direction of the staircase.
"Syrio was the name of the dancing instructor who got in the way when you and Meryn Trant were sent to abduct Arya Stark."
Marco's dark eyes widened. "Arya Stark, that was a long time ago. That stupid girl…"
"Grew up!" Arya's hand lashed out, taking the sword with it. She brought her blade down on Marco's wrist, removing the hand completely and sending it, and the wooden weapon clattering to the floor. He screamed in agony and she kicked him back to the floor.
Clutching his newest injury, he looked up at Arya in honest fear. "You're… "
"My father's daughter," she told him as she swung the sword again. This time cleaving off a forearm. His screams grew louder as she worked.
A short time later, when Marco was missing not only both hands, but both feet and large portion of one arm Arya stepped aside and looked out the window. She left her body and rejoined her direwolf on the shoreline. Not only did she see the retreat of the forces that were set to ambush Daenerys, but she also saw the castle guard riding around, preparing for an invasion.
Back in her own body she was surprised to find she was no longer alone with Marco. Now Daenerys stood next to her, holding her hand and looking at the carnage the Stark had done. "Is everything okay?" she asked, looking at the girl's bloody hands.
"Fine, my Queen. Marco and I are almost finished."
"He's not dead?" she asked abruptly. "He hasn't screamed for a while."
"A mercy from the Gods he doesn't deserve."
A startled gasp and a loud thud echoed above them as Arya looked away from her prey. Voices called for them in three languages but Arya shouted back that all was fine. Moments later Nymeria, wet from her swim came down the stairs to greet her Stark.
Although she knew about the wolf, Daenerys was not prepared for the sheer size of the animal. On all four legs the beast was nearly as tall as her. Her muzzle was open, with saliva dripping from the bottom row of her teeth.
The creature immediately softened when she saw Arya, closing her mouth, wagging her tail and lowering herself, to a less threatening size.
"Your Grace," she said, pushing her fingers through the soft coat. "This is Nymeria, my direwolf and my best friend."
Tentatively but unafraid Daenerys held out hand and allowed Nym to smell it. Arya kept her hand moving through the fur, rubbing the spots she knew the beast liked. "Hello Nymeria, I'm Daenerys." She petted the newest addition to her army and spoke in a gentle voice. "Thank you helping us," she said honestly, scratching behind her ear.
With an appreciative bark Nymeria licked the Queen's hand and inched closer, allowing herself to be spoiled. A groan from the floor drew all their attention and the wolf hardened, growling and baring her teeth, moving to stand between the humans and the threat.
"Is she here for…" her words trailed off.
One word was all that needed to be said, but she resisted. In fact, she'd already done enough. While Marco was alive, he wouldn't be for long. He was quickly bleeding to death and had only minutes left to live. Killing him when he was unconscious, unable to feel fear was meaningless. She solved this by splashing cold water onto the dying man's face. When he came to he was staring into the eyes of a feral looking direwolf.
When Marco recoiled in fear Arya was there to torment him further. "You do know that all of us Stark's have direwolves right? This one here is mine."
Desperate to save his life, Marco took one last shot, talking in a quiet rush of frenzied words. "I didn't kill your friend, but I remember him. Meryn Trant did that, not me."
Arya smiled. "I know and don't worry Trant will be waiting for you in Hell because I killed him too."
With that she snapped her fingers and sent Nymeria to work. The hungry wolf went straight for his throat and ended his suffering far faster than he deserved.
When it was over Arya bent down and wiped the blood from her friend's muzzle. "Hey girl, thanks for the help. I've really missed you."
With an excited yelp reminiscent of a massive puppy she rolled onto her back and offered her stomach.
The two old friends wrestled around in the bottom of the ship, next to a dead body, under the watchful eye of the Dragon Queen, who took in everything with a secret smile. Content for the time being to be exactly where she was.