Well, here is another chapter! There isn't a lot of action in this one, but I promise that lots of stuff are going to happen in the nexchomping chapters, starting in the next update, so I hope you like it!

Sansa entered her sister's chambers and entered when she saw Arya sitting on the bed, with her back facing the door and her long brunette curls cascading down her shoulders. Sansa approached her silently and sat by her side.

Arya was looking down at Needle, the blade resting in her hands. She seemed completelly lost in her own thoughts, but Sansa was able to detect a deep sadness in the younger Stark's grey eyes. She sighed and took a strand of hair away from Arya's face.

"What's wrong, Arya?" she asked softly. She really wanted her sister to open up to her and trust her. She wanted to help her, just like Arya had helped her in the past.

Arya wasn't sure if she was in the mood to be talked to. However, she couldn't tell Sansa to leave. Right now Sansa was the only person that Arya wanted to be there with her.

"I hate him" Arya muttered. Her voice was soft, but full of anger. She was almost holding up a sob. "I trusted him, but he keeps betraying me."

"Gendry?"

Arya nodded.

"How has he betrayed you before?"

"When we were travelling together, and Beric Dondarrion found us... He was going to take me back to Mother and Robb, but Gendry decided to stay with them. He said that he wanted a family, and apparently, I couldn't be his family" Arya's anger kept increasing in her voice, and Sansa was glad that there wasn't anyone else in the room with them, or she feared that Arya might stab them with Needle. "I'm so happy that they betrayed and sold him instead! He deserved it!"

"Arya..."

"That bastard!"

Of course, Arya wasn't referring to Gendry's birth, but insulting him. Sansa couldn't help herself and she slightly smiled when she saw her sister like that. Arya saw her and stared at her with a hurt expression.

"Do you think that this is funny?!"

"No! No, of course I don't, but... Arya, Gendry was so worried about you. I promise, he couldn't hold still while we all awaited your return..."

"That does not fix it!" Arya exploded. "If he was so worried, why didn't he come with me?!"

"Some men are like that..."

"He doesn't care about me!"

"I'm sure he does..."

"He left me!"

"Sandor left me once too" Sansa said then. "The night of the Battle of the Blackwater. He left the city and I stayed behind."

"Because you wanted to! And he came back for you ten minutes later!" arya protested. Her sister could not compare their stories, she could not! Sandor had never given up on Sansa, whereas Gendry... Gendry took every opportunity that he had to screw everything up!

That stupid bull!

Why was she even so mad? That's what made her more angry of all things, the fact that she felt so incredibly furious, and the fact that she could not stop her chest from hurting. Why? Why, why, why?! It was all so frustrating!

"Every person is different" Sansa reminded her sister, not really knowing how to calm her down. Sometimes Arya was like a furious volcano about to explode. "Some people are better at some things, and some are very bad. Gendry, for example, is very bad at making choices. But he is very good at the time of choosing people that he cares about."

"What?" Arya was confused. "What in seven hells are you talking about?"

"Gendry cares about you."

"He does not. He's just an idiot."

Sansa sighed. She knew her younger sister and she knew that she was stubborn, so the older Stark didn't try to convince Arya of the contrary. But she could not shut down her curiosity.

"Do you care about him?"

"I don't" Arya replied way too quickly, she only realized it after the words had already escaped her mouth. She felt her face turn poker red and hot. She looked away from her sister, but it was too late now.

"You do."

"I don't!"

"Admit it. Not even just a little bit?"

Arya sighed, giving up. Sansa always told her all her secrets anyways.

"Okay, a little, maybe" she had to admit. Her face was still red and hot because of the embarrasment. "But he doesn't deserve that I care about him even a little, so don't try to change my mind. I won't forgive him."

"I'm not telling you to do that" Sansa said, shaking her head. She reached her hand out and took Arya's hand. "But being resentful is not going to do any good to you."

"That's funny, coming from you. You are resentful towards the Lannisters."

"I'm not resentful towards the Lannisters" Sansa said. Her voice was soft, but it sent chills down Arya's spine. "I hate the Lannisters. They killed my family."

Sansa was right. Arya shouldn't have acussed her before. She hated the Lannisters as well, she hated them more than anything.

"I'm not going to forgive Gendry" she whispered then, looking down to the floor. "He hurt me. Not physically, but he might as well have done it."

"I understand" her sister said. She really did uderstand. Then the corners of her mouth curled up in a soft smile. "Who is that man? The one that you came with..."

"Jaqen?" Arya almost laughed. "He's a friend. The one that I told you about, he helped us escape from Harrenhal..."

Sansa's blue eyes widened.

"That's him? That's the Faceless Man?!"

"Yes, why?"

"He's handsome!"

Arya did laugh this time. "You think so?"

"Yes!"

"He's old."

Sansa frowned. "He's not! He appears to be of Sandor's age."

"Yeah, that's what I mean. He's old."

Sansa hit her sister in the leg, pretending to be offended, but then she laughed and Arya laughed too, forgetting all about her sadness for a moment.

"Don't ever tell Sandor that you think he's old."

"But he is!"

"He is not!" Sansa insisted. "He's thirty and two! That's not old at all!"

Arya rolled her eyes, choosing not to argue against her sister about that. After all, Sandor was Sansa's husband and also he had helped and protected Arya many times, he was her friend, it wouldn't be very nice to be calling him old behind his back.

"How come did Jaqen know that you were going to the Twins?" Sansa asked then, confused.

Arya shrugged. "He says he's been watching over me since I got back to Braavos, making sure I was alright... I have no clue why he would bother with that in the first place, but..."

"He fancies you" Sansa said, grinning mischievously. Arya sighed and rolled her eyes again. Of course, Sansa always thought that everybody fancied everybody! She had grown up a lot and she had matured a she had become the strongest woman that Arya had ever known, but she still loved all stories of romance, and proposed a new romance whenever she had the chance to. She always said that love was the cure to all evil.

"He does not..."

"He does. The way he was looking at you..."

"We are friends" Arya protested. "And he can't fancy me, I'm only ten and four!"

"Arya, have you taken a look at yourself? You are a woman now, and men notice it. Believe me, I should know! At your age, I already had a son!" Sansa exclaimed.

"Yes, but because Sandor is a sick old dog!" Arya replied, obviously joking. Sansa's jaw dropped, and she picked up a pillow from the bed, hitting Arya in the face with it. Arya just stood there stunned, and then both Stark girls burst into laughing.

Arya felt stupid and like most girls, feeling wounded because of the betrayal of a boy, and talking about men with her sister and laughing. Arya never did that, Arya wasn't like most girls. But she guessed that she couldn't be all that tough at all times. She was hurt and she needed some relief from that unexplainable pain that she was feeling in her chest, and Sansa was helping her get it. So she didn't stop laughing. She laughed until her lungs and ribs and belly hurt from laughing so much, and tears came to her eyes.

Sansa was te first one to stop laughing, though she was still smiling at her younger sister.

"Come, you need to take a bath and change clothes. We are gonna have a feast in honor of your victory at the Twins" she said taking her sister's hand in hers and making her stand up from the bed. Arya didn't protest at any moment.

Some hours later, Arya was bathed (which felt so good after so many days!) and she had allowed her sister to put her into a beautiful blue silk dress with silver embroidery, and her hair was loose over her shoulders and covering her back in a cascade of long curls. Arya had never thought of herself as beautiful, until now. No one could deny it anymore.

She followed Sansa (who was dressed in a beautiful green dress) into the great hall, were the food was already served, the music was loud, and the people were feasting. Arya watched her sister go towards her husband and plant a kiss on his lips, and she turned her head around to watch everyone else. Jon was with Ygritte, as always, and Bran and Rickon were talking. She started walking to meet them at the table, as she had nothing else to do, but someone stepped in her way. She stopped and looked up at the person in front of her, and her gaze met familiar blue eyes. She frowned immediatly, anger filling her up.

"Get out of my way" she hissed.

"Arya, you need to listen to me..."

"No, I don't. I don't need to listen to you, I don't have to listen at you, and most importantly, I don't want to listen to you. I can't even stand looking at you right now" she spat.

She had never seen anyone's face look so shocked or sad. Incredibly sad, not just a little bit sad. Gendry couldn't have appeared to be more wounded even if he had been stabbed with a sword through the heart. But still, he did not move away.

"Arya... Please..." he was begging now.

Arya slowly shook her head from side to side. "No, Gendry. Admit it. You have lost me."

She felt a hand on her shoulder then, and she saw Gendry tense. She turned her head around enough to see that the hand belonged to Jaqen, now changed into more gallant red clothes that made him look like the perfect noblemen that girls all around the world would whisper for. He was giving Gendry a sharp look.

"Is everything alright here?" he asked with his ever-calm and heavy accented voice. Gendry clenched his jaw.

"It is none of your business..."

"Didn't a man make himself clear earlier?" Jaqen suddenly hissed, taking a menacing step past Arya and towards Gendry while glarig at him. Arya had no idea what Jaqen and Gendry had talked about earlier, but suddenly Gendry's face was all red. Wether from shame of fury, she did not know.

Apparently pleased by Gendry's reaction, Jaqen stepped back and away from them, but he didn't go far away. Arya stared at Gendry: she could see the swollen veins in his neck because of how furious he was.

"What did he do to you?" he asked then, in such a low voice that Arya did not hear what he said. She did hear, however, the anger and poison in his words. "What happened while you were away with him?"

"What?"

"Did he become your lover while you were on and about killing Freys in the Riverlands?"

Arya's eyes became as wide ad plates, and her jaw dropped. She could not believe what she was hearing. How did he dare to...?! She blushed so badly that she feared her face was not distinguishable from a tomato.

"NO!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice that didn't seem her own. Gendry looked like he didn't believe it.

"No? You didn't do anything with him?"

Her words stuck in her throat. She really couldn't believe what she was hearing. With what right did Gendry come to her with such questions?!

Her hands turned to fists at her sides. She wanted so badly to punch Gendry's face for a second time that day...

"Why would I do anything with him? I thought it was you!"

Her words inflicted him more pain than any punch could ever have. Just looking at his pale face and incredibly wide eyes right then, Arya felt inmensibly proud of herself.

Then she sighed, tired of that situation. She wanted to have a peaceful night, and she did not want to see Gendry anymore. She turned around and walked away. Gendry didn't follow her, too stunned to even move, while Jaqen joined her again. Arya could feel the weight of Gendry's stare on their backs.

"I do not need you to come to my rescue" she hissed to Jaqen, who was very close to her. The man only smiled, apparently amused.

"A man knows. A girl does not need saving, never. But that boy seems to need to be reminded that he has no rights over a girl anymore."

"No one has any right over me, never" Arya said, glarig at Jaqen. "I'm the only one who has any right over myself."

Jaqen raised an eyebrow, impresed.

"A girl has a sharp tongue and a strong will, unlike most of the ladies here at Westeros..." he commented, and they kept walking in silence. Arya was walking towards the main table again, while Jaqen simply seemed to be following her. Well, it was normal, since he was new at that place and he was there because of her, thus making him her guest. Jaqen decided to break the silence (though it wasn't a great silence, with the music and laugher all around them). "Tell me, lovely girl. Are you planning in ever forgiving that young fool?"

"No" she said without even giving it a second thought.

"Was his wrongdoing such a big offense to the lovely girl?"

"He betrayed a friend. Is there a greater offense?"

"Well... maybe the foolish boy had reasons?"

Arya shit him a suspicious look. "Are you trying to get me to forgive him or something?"

Jaqen snorted after hearing that, and actually laughed with cold amusement. "Gods forbid it, no, a man is certainly not trying to do anything like that... A man is just curious about what triggered this situation."

"Well, he had no reasons to betray me" Aya sneered, narrowing her grey eyes. "Only cowardice. And dishonor."

"A girl talks about dishonor? But there is not a bit of honor in a girl. If a man remembers correctly, a girl used her friend in the most despicable way to get what she wanted" after saying that, he grabbed Arya's arm without harming her and he pulled her towards him, making her turn around and narrow the distance between them. Arya almost tripped, but she kept her balance by pressing her hands against Jaqen's chest, and her eyes were locked on his. Those piercing bluish grey eyes seemed to be digging into her very soul. "Doesn't a girl remember? A man does."

Arya studied his expression while the images of that day rushed into her mind. She remembered, she remembered it very well... She had used Jaqen's promise of taking three lives against him, giving him his own name in order to get him to open her path to freedom. Truth be told, she had never felt guilty about giving Jaqen his own name, and she never would feel bad about it. She did what needed to be done to get her and her... friends... to safety.

"A girl remembers" she nodded. She smiled a small smile, almost sinister, and she toyed with the fingers that were pressed against his chest. "But you are mistaken. A girl was honorable... After all, I unnamed you, didn't I?"

He didn't reply to her words, and she pushed him away with a soft but fast movement of her hands, and she turned away still grinning ad feeling something funny within her tummy. She finally reached the table in which her family was sitting, and she sat down in the spot reserved for her, at Bran's right. She was occupying the place of honor that night, because it was her night. She had earned it.

"To Arya Stark!" everyone roared with their cups high in the air. "The avenger of the North!"

The avenger of the North... That's how everyone was calling her because she had killed Lord Walder Frey, the man that betrayed the King in the North, Robb Stark. But she didn't feel like an avenger. She had killed only one man, and the wound that his betrayal had caused was not yet healed. It would always and forever leave a huge scar in everyone's hearts and in the history of the North.

However, she smilled and accepted to be called like that.

Let them have an illusion, if I can give it to them she thought while drinking from her cup.

Her eyes searched the place, and they met Jaqen's once again. He also had a cup in his hand, and he raised it to her before bringing it to his lips and drinking the wine from it. His eyes never left Arya, and she felt again an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of her stomach. Almost unconsciously, Sansa's words came back to her mind.

"He's handsome."

Arya couldn't deny it, he was. He was tall, well built, and the features of his face were both soft and piercing. His mouth almost constantly twisted in a mockery smile was attractive, and his grey eyes were cold and... dangerous. Powerful.

It's not even his real face, Arya she reminded herself then, and she felt dissapointed. She set her cup down on the table and broke off eye contact with the man. But doing that, her eyes met Gendry's.

Again, that feeling of rage took over her, but she didn't look away. Gendry had retreated into the back of the room, where is was dark and more quiet, and he was obverving her with his back against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed... defiant. Defiant and ashamed all at once. And angry. Definitely angry.

Arya felt so frustrated. Why couldn't she ever tell what was going through his mind?! She couldn't understand him. Why was he angry at her for the treatment that she was giving him?! Didn't he realize that she was acting like this because of him, that it wa all his fault? No, apparently he couldn't see that, he was too stupid. He was the one that had acted wrongly...

She had to admit she was sad. She missed those days in the past months in which she had been incredibly happy, spending almost everyday with Gendry and daring anyone to say that the friendship of a lady with a bastard smith was not proper. She would have kicked anyone who dared to say that. She would have done anything for Gendry back then... Because that's what friends were supposed to do, right?

She remembered how happy she had been the day that he discovered that he was alive, the night of her sister's wedding. She had beloved him dead since the moment that the Red Woman took him away, and she had mourned him. She had been completelly willing to forget that he had not wanted to be with her before they took him away, because the joy of having him next to her again was greater than anything else. The lone memory of the night that she spent with him jn his bed the night that he appeared in Winterfell made her feel pain.

How could she forgive him now, just because he said he was sorry? She couldn't trust him anymore!

Her eyes stung, and she was afraid that she would cry. She didn't want Gendry to see her cry, so she quit staring at him. She drained her cup of wine before letting it down in the table, and she stood up from the chair.

"I need some air" she excused herself before dissapearing away from the room walking through the back door. She walked and didn't look back until she could no longer hear the music, or the signif or the laugher or the ceaseless talking. Only when she was sumerged in complete silence in the middle of one of Winterfell's dark halls did she stop, and she let her emotions to be set free, and they did so in the form of a loud sob.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! she kept shoutig in her mind, though she didn't know who she was insultig anymore. Gendry, or herself? Who knew, maybe both.

I could kick him out she thought then. Bran wouldn't let him stay here for een one more minute if you wished him gone.

She shook her head. No, she would not kick Gendey out of Winterfell. Let him stay. Let him see me everyday and realize what a stupid boy he is. Let him see what he has lost.

Yes, that would do. She would torture him with her constant presence and indiference.

Managing to put a small back on her face, she took a deep breath and returned to the feast.

"Why would I do anything with him? I thought he was you?!"

The moment that Arya had said those words, he had wanted to die. Why? Because he felt like a complete worthless shit. Those words had been her ultimate statement that she had no desire for him, no feelings at all. And why would she?! It wa obvious, she was a Lady, a Princess in the North! But him? He was just some bastard born and raised in Flea Bottom...

Of course, he could be more if he wanted. If he revealed the truth. It happened to Arya's cousin, didn't it? He went from being a Snow to being a Targaryen! The same could happen to Gendry, he could get rid of his bastard surname Waters, maybe... But then he would have to tell all the truth. He would have to tell hiw he found out, and he wasn't a great liar. The truth of what happened in Dragonstone, and he had no desire for such thing. Every time he remembered that day, he felt sick to his stomach, he wanted to truth up. No, it was better to stay silent.

At that moment, he was burning up with rage. Arya's words had opened a whole inside his chest, and he could think of no way of healing it again. What was worse, he saw her walking away side by side with that arrogant foreigner man, Jaqen H'ghar... Few times had Gendry despised someone so much in his entire life. Watching the man talking with her girl that he loved while she turned her back in him was a worse torture that he could ever imagine.

Because he did love Arya. Seven bloody hells, Gendry loved her more than anything! He had only realized it way too late, and now he had messed everything up. He had to admit it, he was terrible at the time of dealing with stressful situations. He was weak, while Arya was string. Arya could face her fears, and Gendry hadn't been able to accompany her to the Twins in fear of facing his own fears... Damn it, he couldn't even tell the truth about why he hadn't wanted to go there in the first place!

He watched them with resentfulness the entire time. However, when Arya practically ran away from the place, he wanted to follow. Sansa Stark stopped him.

"You need to give her space" the girl told him. She wasn't mad at him or anything, her voice was very calm. She was just giving Gendry a piece of advice, she knew her sister well. "She needs time."

"She hates me, doesn't she?" he asked resigned. "She wants me to leave."

"No, but she is angry" Sansa said. "Just let her be mad for a few days, and then try to talk to her. Go step by step, don't get her even angrier. She's boiling with anger, and it will all just explode in your face if you try to push things. Let her be, for now."

"He won't be leaving her alone" Gendry hissed, pointing towards Jaqen with a movement of his head. Sansa sighed.

"Right now, he's her friend. You need to regain her trust. Stop worrying about that man and focus on being a person worthy of my sister."

Gendry clenched his jaw and thought about it. Yes, maybe Sansa was right. He needed to be a better person for Arya. A man worthy of her wouldn't have let her go in that journey alone.

That's when he saw Arya returning to the great hall and sitting back at the table. A big smile decorated her face, and her his eyes met hers, he just saw indifference there.

He sighed inwardly. He felt that there was a long way ahead of him before Arya even spoke another word to him.