Game of Thrones: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter 5 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Reviews

Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you like him. Well, she did feel bad for thinking it remember, she's jealous and not thinking clearly, so she didn't mean it.
wazzup11: Well; he has people to help him, including one he can relate to now and yeah, she is, oh dear.
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)
CadeTheSlowpoke1: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; glad you liked them :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 5

Catelyn Stark sat worriedly in the living room of her family's house. She was worrying about her children; two of them specifically. She bit her lip; knowing she had to talk about her worries soon; before she lost her mind. She looked up at her husband, Eddard Stark, as he entered the room. They had been married twenty-one years; they knew each other so well. As a result; Eddard could instantly see his wife was troubled.

"Cat, what's wrong?"

She sighed and made up her mind. "Ned, I'm worried, about Bran and Arya."

Ned sat down; pondering as he too had noticed something seemed off about those two.

Cat continued. "They're so quiet lately, they don't seem themselves. Even Arya, she's usually quiet, but never this quiet and…I don't think she's sleeping well."

"I've noticed it too; Cat." He told her. "I just; wasn't sure how to approach them."

"Arya, what if she's having trouble, with her boyfriend?" Catelyn wondered aloud.

Eddard shook his head however. "I doubt it Cat; if Gendry tried to give Arya trouble; it'd be him I'd be more worried about."

Catelyn sighed. "That's true; she'd not stand for it; it must something else. Bran on the other hand; he's at that age."
Ned sighed; Cat was right, Bran was certainly old enough that'd he would start noticing girls; maybe that was what was troubling him.

"We should talk to them, try to help." He said at last. "I'll talk to Arya; you can see if you can convince Bran to tell you what's going on."

Catelyn smiled and nodded and they headed upstairs.

Catelyn knocked on the door and entered Bran's room. Her son was in the middle of a video game; sitting on the edge of his bed. His wheelchair was situated next to the bed; seeing it reminded Cat of that sad time when the family had been told of Bran's accident; how he'd never walk again. It had taken a long time for them to come to terms with it; Bran especially.

'He seems fine with it now; but underneath, there's something, something he holds back.' She thought sadly.

Bran looked up as she entered and smiled. "Hi mum."

She managed a small smile. "Hello Bran; can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." He replied; pausing his game.

She thought for a moment, trying to think how to word what she wanted to say.

Finally she spoke. "So um, your father and I were talking and, we're worried, you've been acting strange lately."

"Strange?"

She nodded. "You seem rather, withdrawn, quiet."

Bran bit his lip; his face suddenly going red. "I…it's nothing mum, I'm fine."

Catelyn shook her head and Bran sighed; realizing she wasn't fooled.

"Bran, what is going on?" She asked carefully.

Bran shook his head. "Mum, I said everything's…"

"Bran." She said softly. "I'm your mother; I'm always ready to listen to any problems you may have."

Bran sighed again and slowly shook his head. Finally he seemed to give in.

Shaking his head he cleared his throat before announcing.

"Well, mum, truth is, there's…there's a girl. But I…I just…" He stammered.

Catelyn bit her lip as she realized she was right; Bran's issues were being caused by a girl. But it was clear there was more than that troubling him.

"Yes?" She encouraged him gently; needing to hear more.

Bran bowed his head sadly. "I don't know if she'd…like me…I mean, surely she'd prefer someone; whole."

Catelyn was even more confused by this. "I'm sorry?"

"Why would any girl be interested in me…a cripple?" Bran replied at last; gesturing to his wheelchair.

Catelyn shook her head; she should have guessed it would be this. While mostly having come to terms with it, Bran still struggled in certain ways with being in a wheelchair, the thought of romance clearly being one of them.

"Why should it matter that you're paralyzed Bran?" She asked gently; deciding to try and help him see; to encourage him. "You don't fall in love with a body Bran, you may find it attractive, but it's a person's soul you fall in love with. If the girl can't love you for being you, is she truly worthy."

Bran reacted immediately. "Meera would never be that shallow."

"Meera, Meera Reed?" Catelyn gasped in surprise.

Bran's eyes widened and he blushed furiously. He had just admitted his crush in front of his mother. Catelyn knew Meera; she was the twenty year old daughter and eldest child of Ned's good friend, Howland Reed and Howland's wife Jyana. Bran was good friends with her and her brother Jojen, now it seemed Bran felt something more than friendship for Meera.

Bran nodded. "Yeah; it's Meera."

Catelyn smiled gently. "I see, well Bran, Meera's a great girl, we both know her very well. She wouldn't judge you for being in a wheelchair. If she cared about you, you could be stuck in a bed and she'd still stick by you. Just, be honest, ask her...At worst, you risk her wanting to be just friends, wouldn't you rather have that, than close yourself off like this and maybe find yourself avoiding her, trying not to see her again."

"I…you're right mum." Bran remarked; smiling. "Thank you."

Catelyn nodded and hugged her son; relieved that she was able to hopefully help and encourage Bran and resolve these issues. Bran certainly felt better about the whole thing now and decided, following school tomorrow; he'd go around to the Reeds and talk to Meera and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, Ned knocked on Arya's door.

"Arya; it's me." He announced.

There was a brief silence before Arya relied. "Come in dad."

Ned entered the room and was instantly worried; the curtains were still drawn, Arya was lying on her bed; just staring at the ceiling. Her expression was downcast and she was clearly upset about something.

"Your mother and I are worried Arya; you've been very quiet lately." He explained.

"Oh…It; it's nothing dad." She replied at once.

Ned at once was assailed with a sense of deja-vu; this was exactly how his sister Lyanna had acted; during the time she had begun having secret feelings for Rhaegar Targaryen. This had led to a massive mess, family arguments and worse; eventually it culminated in the very messy birth of Jon Snow, Lyanna and Rhaegar's son; and sadly, Lyanna's death.

"You're lying." He said gently; afraid of his daughter going the same way as her aunt.

"Dad I..."

Ned shook his head. "Please Arya, you're being secretive and that scares me, it reminds me of my sister, I would rather you talk to me, than be like her. I don't want to lose you the same way."

Arya shook her head; laughing mirthlessly. "Don't worry dad, you won't lose me that way, there's no way two men would fight over me. Lyanna was beautiful, I'm not."

It wasn't the words; it was the matter of fact way she said it that was like a dagger to Ned's heart.

He shook his head; shocked and horrified at what he had just heard.

"Arya, why would you…?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just leave it dad, it's true anyway."

He narrowed his eyes. 'How dare they, how dare they speak of my daughter that way?!'

He needed to convince Arya however; he knew that wouldn't be easy. He realized how to do it; despite the pain it would cause him. He gently pulled out the picture he kept in his wallet, along with all the pictures of his family members.

"Arya…" He began.

She sat up, glaring. "It's true dad."

He shook his head. "No it's not; here, you need to see this."

He showed the picture to Arya; Arya looked at it; confused, then he explained.

"This was taken years ago; when Lyanna was sixteen."

'My age…' Arya noted; eyes widened as she realized. 'She is beautiful; but then, how…she…'

Finally her thoughts took form, as words. "Gods…she does look like me; or, I look like her."

Ned smiled and nodded; Arya was still stunned; but it slowly dawned on her. If that was the case, then all those comments; all those taunts about her being ugly. They couldn't be true; she still doubted she was beautiful; but she certainly wasn't ugly, of that she was certain.

She made up her mind and explained.

"Okay dad; truthfully; I've…I've been, being bullied, people have been, calling me names." She admitted. "They've been calling me, Horseface, Ugly, Underfoot…so many…"

Ned tensed, glaring; Arya continued. "It happened so often, I guess I...started to believe it and felt like, like Gendry could do better, that I wasn't worthy of anyone."

"Who said this to you?" He asked darkly.

Arya shook her head. "I…You won't believe me."

"Arya please." He pleaded. "Why would you think that?"

"You never do, at least, not when it comes to…Sansa's one of them dad, I thought you'd just side with her, as usual." She said at last. "Sansa, Jeyne Poole; Beth Cassel; Joffrey…"

Ned was shocked and horrified by this; especially the news about Sansa. Not to mention Arya's feeling that they wouldn't believe her; he was certainly angrier than ever now, especially at his eldest daughter.

He hugged Arya however; focusing on calming her first. "Oh Arya; I'm so sorry about this. I promise; we will sort this out. Oh and don't listen to them, they're wrong. You are beautiful; Gendry loves you and you both deserve each other."

Arya smiled and nodded; feeling a little better.

Back downstairs; Ned met up with Cat in the living room.

"Cat?"

She smiled gently. "Bran is fine; it turns out he…had a crush on Meera Reed; but was afraid she wouldn't like him, because he's in a wheelchair, but I've spoken to him and things seem okay now."

Ned nodded; relieved for his son; but then sighed. "I wish it was so simple, regarding Arya."

"What…What happened?" She asked worriedly."

So he explained to her, revealing what Arya had told him; by the end Catelyn was horrified; covering her mouth with her hand, gasping in shock.

"Gods, that's…how could Sansa even…?" She stammered.

Ned sighed. "We need to fix this; call Sansa down…I need to call Vayon and Rodrik. They need to have a talk with their daughters."

Catelyn nodded and did so while Ned picked up the phone. Sansa came downstairs when called, looking confused; her confusion only grew as she overheard her father talking first to Jeyne's father, then to Beth's. She sat down and waited; finally her parents turned to face her.

"We need to talk Sansa." Her mother said at once.

Sansa had a bad feeling about this; a feeling confirmed when her father spoke.

"It's about Arya…We've just heard that you and some friends have been…bullying her."

Sansa froze, terrified; as finally, after so long, she had been caught.

She shook her head; she had to stop this, before everything unravelled.

"I…That's not; she…"

Her father glared at her however, making her stop. "What's come over you?"

Her mother even added her own words. "Do you realize what you were doing; how your actions hurt her? How would you feel if someone said things like that to you?"

"I'd brush it off, because I know it isn't true. If Arya can't do that, then maybe she admits it to herself, she needs to change." Sansa replied indignantly.

Ned glared angrily however. "No Sansa, Arya doesn't need to change, because some people are acting foolish. She doesn't have to change who she is because you don't find it pleasing."

Sansa tried to protest; but her father cut across her.

"You'll apologize to her, and if someone is making you say these things about her, you'll stop hanging around them." He told her severely.

Her mother even agreed and scared her with her words. "Your father is right; this does not give you the right to be a bully."

She flinched at that. "It; it was just...harmless words."

"Not to her." Her father remarked angrily.

Her mother narrowed her eyes and added. "Also, I'm curious as to why this got worse, when you started dating Robert's boy."

Sansa stayed silent at that; her mother shook her head and then; to Sansa's shock; gave her a serious ultimatum.

"Well, enough, this stops now and you will apologize to your sister, properly."

Sansa nodded; suddenly feeling miserable.

Arya sat up; surprised when the door to her room opened. She tensed, biting her lip when she saw her mother approaching.

'Mum knows now, she doesn't believe me…Sansa convinced her somehow…' She thought.

But then her mother spoke; proving her wrong. "Your father told me what you said; I'm sorry Arya, I wish I'd spoken to you sooner, done something sooner."

To say Arya was shocked was an understatement; she thought her mother would take Sansa's side as usual.

Catelyn smiled gently and sat down on the edge of bed, next to Arya. "We've spoken to Sansa and made it clear; we won't stand for behaviour like that and she will apologize to you."

Somehow, Arya doubted that second part; but was relieved her parents believed her and were willing to do something about the bullying. Still smiling, Catelyn hugged Arya tightly, Arya still felt a little uncertain but returned the hug; awkwardly.

"Oh Arya, stop holding it back." Catelyn said sadly. "Yes, you're strong, but…but that doesn't mean you're invincible. I know those comments hurt you, just let it out, you'll feel better."

Arya finally gave in and tightened her hug, as the tears finally fell. Catelyn held her close and comforted her as finally Arya let out all the pain and sadness. Outside the room, through the gap in the doorframe, Sansa witnessed this and felt even worse.

'Gods, how could I have been so horrible…Arya; she could have…what have I done?' She thought to herself.

She turned away; guilt consuming her.

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