Hey guys! Today I'm feeling happy! It's my 18th birthday! So I'm updating today as a happy birthday gift from myself to myself and to all of you! Enjoy! :D
She had already talked to the captain of the ship. They were getting ready to leave in a few minutes, all the merchandise that was going to be taken to the Free Cities and all the passengers and crew were already on board, so they shouldn't linger in King's Landing much longer. They were just waiting for the moment whenthe wind was favorable, and it was likely to be so soon. Arya was satisfied with the answer, she wanted to part from Westeros as soon as possible. She didn't want to have time for any second thoughts. She was afraid of changing her mind, of wanting to get down of that ship.
Arya was walking on the deck of the ship, trying to get distracted while she waited for the ship to finally set sail and move. The wind played with her long hair, which was messy after all the travelling and little time to tend to it properly (not that she cared much), and made it float around her and get in her face and get tangled, but she disn't mind. She had had the opportunity to change into clean clothes, getting rid of the filthy and almost torn breeches and tunic that she had worn all the way from Winterfell to the capital. It felt nice to be clean again, though she would still need many warm baths to feel decent enough. However, she would have to wait until arriving at Braavos for that. There were no hot baths on a ship.
She had nothing to do, other than walk around trying to get distracted watching the sailors go from one place to the other fullfilling their captain's orders and found their chores. She wanted to do something, but she had no idea of how to do anything on a ship. Even if she did, she was tired. She had almost exhausted herself on the journey, both physically and emotionally. As much as she liked goig around doing things and being active and helping out with men's activities, she needed to rest and relax a little bit, so she didn't protest when the only thing the could do was enjoy the views from the deck of the ship.
For the hundreth time, she had time to refekct on everything that had been happening lately. Specially earlier that day. She had already admitted to herself one of the most difficult things that she ever had before. She loved Gendry. She really did, but so many things had happened that had scared her off... So she was leaving to run away from all that. She had decided to get away from Gendry and run off to Braavos with Jaqen, whim she had kissed...
Why in Seven Hells did I kiss him? she asked to herself, and she frowned.
Maybe because he was the complete opposite of Gendry? Maybe because he was there with her when she needed him? Maybe because he was strong, dangerous, and had an incredible halo of power surrounding him? She was somehow attracted to him, that was undeniable. But attraction did not mean love, that much she knew very well. Her sister Sansa had taught her the difference with her own experiences; you can be attracted to what's perfect, while love is almost always inperfect, but that was what made it valuable. Arya's relationship with Gendry was the most inperfect thing in the world, because they were both imperfect and she knew it. Arya had trouble trusting people, it was what life had taught her. And she was incredibly stubborn, just like Gendry. Gendry had a rock-hard head. Arya felt like putting her hands around his throat at some times and choking the life out of him!
...But then again, with Gendry she felt home.
At least she did when he wasn't being an idiot. Like he had been doing lately.
Arya let out a sigh of frustration. She had to stop thinking about all that! She was going to the Free Cities to start a new life, and that was the end of that! But as soon as she stopped thinking about Gendry, she thought about her family. About Sansa and Bran and Rickon and Jon and Ygritte and even Sandor. And she thought about how sellfish she was being by leaving them like that.
I'll send them a raven when I'm in my new home, she decided.
She hant really thought about what she would do once she was in Braavos. Her life would be very different from how it had been in Winterfell. Maybe she would go back to train in the House of Black and White... But she didn't feel like she did years ago. She didn't really want to be one of the Faceless Men, she didn't want to be No One. She was Arya Stark.
"What am I doing...?" she asked in a whisper, rubbing her face with her hands.
I'm an idiot. I should have stayed home...
She wanted to hit her head against something hard, because as she had feared, she was having second thoughts, and that wasn't good.
She wanted to hit her head against something hard, because as she had feared, she was having second thoughts, and that wasn't good.
But why not?, her mind kept asking her.
Just because, she stubbornly mentally replied.
She heard footsteps approaching her on the deck of the ship, and she moved her hands away from her face and opened her eyes to see who it was. It was Jaqen, who had been down in the cabin since she left it.
"Is a girl alright?" he asked. Arya nodded, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to talk at that moment. Jaqen walked closer to her, but stopped when he was about two feet away from her. "Is a girl ready to depart?"
Arya moved her eyes away from him and looked down, to the port of King's Landing and at the people going from one place to the other. She listened to the mixed sound of their voices, the hooves of horses hitting the ground, the movement of carts, the shouting of the guards... It was an overwhelming noise, the sound of King's Landing. The sound of the voices of Westeros. She hated King's Landing because of all the pain and loss it represented for her in her life, but she didn't hate the rest of Westeros. If she left, she was leaving many loved things behind.
"I don't know" she finally admitted, not afraid to say it in Jaqen's presence. "I used to be ready, but now I'm not so sure anymore..."
Jaqen followed the line of her sight and locked his own eyes on the port of King's Landing.
"Perhaps..." he murmured "a girl will find the answer to her doubts in time. Perhaps it is getting closer at this precise moment."
Arya had no idea what that meant. She got closer to the ship's rail, and she leaned her arms on in, and rested her chin on her arms.
"Yes" she whispered as a seagull flew right in front of her eyes, "perhaps."
The guards stopped Gendry as he was about to cross the gates to King's Landing. They weren't stopping everybody, just a few random people that they wished to interrogate, and Gendry cursed his own bad luck that he had been one of those random people. Maybe it was the fact that he was travelling with a giant direwolf. Nymeria had stayed with him during the entire journey, and all the other travelers that had crossed paths with them had quickly moved away in fear of the beast.
One of the gold cloaks approached Gendry. His expression was rather unfriendly.
"You," he called him, placing his hand on his sword and constantly eyeing the direwolf. "What are you doing coming to King's Landing? Why do you bring this beast with you?!"
Gendry pulled the reigns of his horse to stop him and then he faced the gold cloak. He hadn't missed those guards. He remembered when they were all over the city and the country, killing Robert's bastards on command of King Joffrey and also looking for his own head. Gendry had had to run away and face multiple dangers to get away from the gold cloaks who wanted to slit his throat.
At least I met Arya thanks to that, he thought. That hadn't been a bad thing.
"I'm looking for Arya Stark," he replied to the question the gold cloak had made him.
The man first smirked and then he laughed. He didn't believe what Gendry had just told him. Of course, how could someone of the likes of Gendry the bastard, with his lowborn appearance, be looking for Lady Arya Stark? It was ridiculous! But that wasn't what made the guard laugh.
"Looking for a Stark? You are a bit down South for that, don't you think, lad? If you want the wolves, go to the fucking North."
"This is her direwolf," Gendry explained, looking down to Nymeria, who growled at the guard. The man stopped laughing and smirking and took two steps back, away from the giant and fierce-looking wolf. "Nymeria has guided me here. Me and the entire Stark family have been looking for Lady Arya for weeks now. Have you seen her?"
"Arya Stark? Haven't seen her in my whole fucking life, I've got no idea how she looks like, boy. Now go on with your way," the guard said. He started walking away mumbling something under his breath that Gendry couldn't really hear.
Gendry didn't move. He couldn't start searching the entire city, it would take him hours! Who knew where Arya could be in that amount of time, or what could happen to her if he didn't find her soon! Nymeria had guided him to King's Landing, and he was sure that Arya was there.
"She's travelling with a man," he said to the gold cloak. Perhaps if he described Jaqen to them they would recognize him. Gendry just hoped that the man hadn't changed his appearance since he left Winterfell with Arya. "He has half his hair white and the other half red. He had a braavosi accent."
"Never saw him" the gold cloak replied, but a second gold cloak stepped forward.
"I've seen that man, he was with a young girl of no more than five and ten. Pretty thing with dark hair and grey eyes, but she looked wild. That is Arya Stark, you say?"
Pretty, dark hair, grey eyes and wild. Yes, that was Arya, no doubt. Gendry nodded, finally hearing some good news. His horse noticed his excitement and moved a little, but Gendry held the reigns tighter to keep him still.
"They arrived some hours ago," the gold cloak said. "I saw them in the streets on my way here. They were heading for the port."
The port. Damn it, they were going to take a ship! He had to hurry, before it was too late! If it wasn't too late already…
"Thank you," he said to the second gold cloak. That was probably the only time in his life that he would ever have words of gratitude towards one of them, but they were true. He started galloping through the streets of King's Landing, making his way through as he could between the crowd. He forced them to move out of the way, he had no time to lose. Thankfully, Nymeria was there with him, and she growled and howled at the people, making the citizens of the capital step aside in fear as soon as they saw the beast.
Gendry managed to get to the port in good time. There, he asked a man where was the ship that went to Braavos. The man pointed to a ship that was just starting to move very slowly away from the port.
"It's that one," the man said.
Gendry's eyes went wide with horror.
No!
He ran towards the ship and looked up. There! There she was! She had her arms and chin leaned on the railing, and she looked absent minded and somehow sad. Gendry's heart skipped a beat when he saw her. She was fine! She was fine, she wasn't hurt… He gave a sigh of relief, but then he became alarmed again. He had just found her, and now she was going away, so far away…
"ARYA!" he shouted.
Arya had been distracted for the last few minutes. She had no idea of what was happening around her, and for a moment she didn't even hear any sound or noise… She was alone in the world, enjoying her little place of solitude inside of her distracted mind…
She was about to close her eyes when suddenly she heard her name. It wasn't Jaqen calling her name, or some stranger. It was…
"Gendry?" she whispered.
It was impossible. But it wasn't! There he was! Mounted on his horse and with Nymeria at his side, on the port in front of them as the ship moved away to set sail. Arya looked at Gendry in disbelief for a second, not believing her eyes. She thought that she was having another one of her crazy dreams. But Gendry's face was so real, and the hurt expression on it and his worry and his disbelief and so many other things!
It was real. He was there. He had come looking for her.
"Gendry!" she shouted. It sounded more indignant than surprised, for some reason.
Jaqen heard her calling that name and approached the railing of the ship. He locked his serious eyes on Gendry and he didn't say a word. Gendry chose to ignore the man's presence.
"Arya, please, you can't leave!" he shouted as he dismounted his horse and got as close as he could to the border of the ship. Arya remembered that Gendry didn't know how to swim. If he fell, he would drown on the Blackwater Bay.
"Yes I can!" she shouted stubbornly. "That's what you wanted, wasn't it?! For me to leave!"
Gendry frowned. He was genuinely confused.
"When did I ever say that? I never said that!"
"Yes, you did!"
"No, I didn't! All I ever did was tell you what my guilt was! Or what I thought my guilt was! But I never, ever told you to leave! Never!"
It was true. He had never said that he wanted her to leave, or be away from him… Arya was just trying desperately for a reason not to get off that ship at that exact moment and send everything to the seven hells. But her pride came first. Gendry had hurt her, and now she was going to leave.
"But you don't want me there! If you did, you wouldn't have been such a halfwit the entire time!" she shouted back.
"I admit it, Arya, I was an idiot!" he shouted from the port. There was a lot more of distance between them at that moment, and people were looking at them amused, wondering if it was some lovers' quarrel. Jaqen was just standing there, watching them argue, and the sailors looked at Arya wondering what to do. Maybe they thought that she would give the order to stop the ship.
"Lady Arya…"
"No!" she exclaimed. "Keep going, keep sailing!"
Gendry kept shouting from the port. Nymeria was at his side, howling. It broke Arya's heart to see her direwolf there, and she felt guilty for leaving her behind. Maybe she should go back, just to get her…
"I was an idiot, and you can't believe how sorry I am for it! There isn't a day or a night when I don't regret taking many of the decisions that I took regarding you, m'lady!"
Arya's heart stung when she heard that. Damn it, what was it about Gendry saying those words, that she hated so much but at the same time made her want to smile? M'lady.
I only let him call me that… I complain about it, but I never really stop him.
Gendry was still watching her from the port. His figure was much smaller now. It was too late to go back now, the ship couldn't go back to the port even if Arya wanted or told the sailors to do it.
"You have to believe me, Arya! Please! I need you! Your family needs you! Come back, please!" he begged. He wasn't asking anymore, he was literally begging.
Arya looked at Jaqen for a second. The man hadn't said even a word or even lifted a finger while Arya and Gendry shouted at each other. But Arya needed him to speak now. She asked a silent question with her eyes that he understood. She needed his help now, more than ever.
"A girl must do what a girl needs to do" he reminded her with a soft but firm voice. Then he smiled a little bit with the corner of his mouth. She returned the little smile and looked back at Gendry again. She couldn't see his features clearly anymore, he was too far away. But if she spoke, he could still hear her.
She felt tears stinging in her eyes as she said the next words.
"You were never willing to fight for me!"
As she shouted that she turned around and walked away from the railing. Her intention was to leave the deck of the ship, go back down to the cabin, lock herself in there, and just let her heart die painfully ad slowly. But before she could do anything of that, Gendry's voice came back to her again.
"I'm willing to fight for you now! Now and always, until my last breath if I need to, m'lady!"
Immediately after that, she heard a heavy splash in the water. Then she heard multiple voice shouting things that she couldn't hear, and she heard Nymeria howling. Arya turned around, frowning and wondering what was going on, and she saw that Gendry wasn't on the port anymore. He had thrown himself to the Blackwater, and he was struggling while trying to swim towards the ship. Arya opened her eyes and her mouth wide, horrified.
"Seven hells, Gendry!"
He can't swim, he is going to die!
She ran back to the railing and without even thinking it once, without hesitating, she jumped over it and dived into the Blackwater Bay. The water was freezing. After all, it was winter! The air had been very cold in the ship, and snow had fallen while they travelled South, but those days had been warmer than the previous months of the winter. However, the water of the bay felt like red-hot needles stabbing her bones. She wanted to scram when she felt the freezing water all around her, and when her head broke out to the surface again, the air hut her lungs. She was almost paralyzed, but she tried really hard to swim. She could see that Gendry was still in the surface, he didn't seem to be struggling that much, except with the cold, of course.
Arya fought against the freezing sensation and managed to swim towards Gendry and eventually reach him. She grabbed him with the little strength that she had at that moment to try and keep him in the surface. She tried to yell at him, but she was too cold and her lips felt numb.
"Y-you id-idiot!" she shouted in his face. Gendry was pale, and his lips were a little bit blue because of the cold, but otherwise he seemed fine. Arya wanted to put her hands around his neck and drown him herself for his stupidity! "Did y-you w-want to k-kill you-yourself?!"
He shook his head.
"I j-just want-wanted you t-to listen to m-me!" he replied.
"Well I-I'm list-listening!" she said, angrily.
"I k-know you hate me!" she started saying. "And I un-understand why you d-do! I wo-would hate m-myself t-too! But I know n-now, Arya, that w-we c-can't do anything a-about the p-past! But I wa-want to try and do so-something r-right with the present! I want y-you to go h-home and be ha-happy and fo-forgive me if you c-can! And I pro-promise that I will never fail y-you again! I swear on what is most precious to me in the whole wo-world, Arya!"
"And what is that?!" she asked, not sure of the value of his vow.
"You!"
She felt like she had been slapped in the face.
She stared at Gendry in awe. She couldn't believe that he had just said that. She was, by nature, a distrusting person. She didn't usually believe people when they told her something, but she could see at that moment in Gendry's face that he wasn't lying. What he had just said was the truth. He really cared about her, unlike what she had originally thought about him. But he had been afraid, so afraid... Just like she had been. She had been so afraid, and now she could understand him. When she was afraid, she acted in an aggressive way. On the other hand, when Gendry was afraid, he made the wrong decision, which usually meant acting the wrong way or not acting at all. It was just that simple.
"C-can you promise me o-one thing?" she asked. Her lips were still trembling, but she was beginning to feel less cold than before.
"Yes, Arya" Gendry nodded. "Ask anything you want, and I will do it."
"Never h-hurt me again" she said. Silence reigned over them for a long moment that seemed to never end, while they floated on the water of the Blackwater Bay as they stared into each other's eyes. Them, slowly, Gendry leaned in closer to Arya. At first she thought that he was going to kiss her, but that didn't happen. Instead, they pressed their foreheads together. Arya moved her legs underwater to keep them both from sinking, and they just enjoyed that closeness, that innocent intimacy between the two of them that had generated so unexpectedly. It made them forget the cold and how soaked they were because of the Blackwater, and Arya felt tickles in her fingertips. She could also see something in Gendry's eyes that she hadn't seen before, but whatever it was, she liked it. She also loved the way in which she could feel his war, breath all over her because of his closeness, which was warming her up. Gendry moved, and he put his strong arms around her. She smiled, feeling protected.
Finally, Gendry spoke.
"I promise."
Arya smiled even more. That was all she needed.
"We should return to the port" she said then. She thought they had been very lucky that Gendry hadn't drowned yet, and she didn't want to push her luck.
"Yeah, we should" he agreed. Then he asked: "Why did you jump from the ship?"
She frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
"The ship. Why did you jump? I thought you had stubbornly decided to stay on it and sail away."
Arya looked at the ship in the distance. It was very far away now, and it was no more than a little spot in the distance. She couldn't see anyone on the deck.
"I was" she confessed, looking back into Gendry's blue eyes. "But..."
"But what?"
"I couldn't let you drown!" she exclaimed. She had been really worried when she saw that Gendry had jumped into the Blackwater. "What kind of idiot jumps into the water when he doesn't know how to swim?!"
Gendry didn't reply right back. He just looked at her keeping a serious face for as long as he could manage it, and then he broke eyes contact, threw his head back, and started laughing. Arya raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he was crazy.
"What is so funny about it?" she asked, really wanting to know.
Gendry stopped laughing (but he didn't stop smirking) and he moved his head forward until his lips were almost brushing Arya's ear.
"Do you want to know a secret?"
Arya nodded, and then she waited...
"I learned how to swim last year."
It took her a few seconds to process the information and actually understand what it meant. Once she did, she gave Gendry an indignant look. The boy was still smirking.
"Gendry!" she almost yelled. "I hate you!"
She hit him in the shoulder, but he let go of her and started swimming away. She chased after him, pretending to be angry, but soon Gendry's laugh became contagious and Arya found herself swimming after him laughing as well.
GENDRYA!