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As their carriage draws nearer to the gates of Castle Black, it occurs to her that she’s never been this far up North. She’s been all over Westeros, Braavos and even to lands beyond Westeros, but never here.
She turns to her side to glance at the face of her husband, who’s sound asleep at the moment. His arms are wrapped protectively around her, hands resting on the swell of her belly. She’s envious that he’s able to rest. Their baby’s insistent kicking had made it impossible for her to get any sleep. Still, it’s reassuring to know that he or she’s alright in there.
In the months since the maester confirmed her pregnancy, she’s been waiting for something to go wrong. For a sign that she was not meant to be a mother. That it wasn’t her. But through all that fear, there was a spark of joy that was grew steadily in her, like the child they made did. She needs this child to be born and be safe. She needs to know that she can do more than just take life. That she can bring life into this world and guard it from harm.
She’s brought out of her reverie by the sound of the carriage slowing to a stop.
She nudges Gendry slightly, “Wake up, we’re here.”
He groans as his eyes open blearily, making her smile.
Light filters into the carriage as one of their bannermen opens the door. Gendry pulls himself up and gets down from the carriage, snow crunching under his feet. She heaves herself into a standing position and moves to step down from the carriage.
“Not going to give your pregnant wife a hand?” she jests as she climbs down.
He laughs, “After the last time I tried? No thank you. I happen to like my hands.”
She grins at him before pulling him closer, “Mhmm...I like them too.”
His eyes widen at that; it’s just the reaction she had hoped to elicit from him. Their faces are so close now, his nose brushes hers lightly.
Before they can do anything they definitely shouldn’t do, they’re interrupted when a large man slams straight into Gendry. She startles back, hand instinctively coming up to rest on the curve of her belly. All she can see is a flash of ginger hair before she hears the familiar laugh of Tormund Giantsbane.
“Gendry, good to see ya,” he says and glances up and down at him. “Look at you now, Lord Baratheon. Fancy fuckin clothes and all.”
Gendry laughs at that.
Tormund turns to her then and looks back and forth between them before announcing, “I knew you two were fuckin.”
What?
“This lad,” he says, thumping Gendry on the shoulder. “Was not subtle. Been seven years but I can still remember it. Should’ve seen his face at the feast after the battle when the Dragon Queen said your name. Now that was a look of a man who’d been fucked good and well.”
She’s never seen Gendry look this red before. He’s always been the one to flush more easily of the two of them but never this much.
“Now look at the two of ya,” he continues. “Lord and Lady of what’s it?”
She smiles, “Storm’s End.”
She knew it was coming and grins when she sees his eyes widen as they zero in on her abdomen.
“You knocked up?”
She rests her hand there, “Yes, I’m with child if that’s what you’re asking.”
She can’t speak further because she’s been pulled into a hug. She pats his back, laughing lightly.
He pulls away, gesturing to Gendry, “Jon’s going to kill him when he finds out.”
Hearing her brother’s name suddenly brings her back to why she came all the way here in the first place. She pulls away from Tormund and moves to look behind him,
“Speaking of, where is-” She stops when she sees Jon come into view. He stares at her for a long moment before descending the stairs of one of the buildings.
She’s moving before she realises she is, walking as fast as she can in her current condition. He runs to her and before she can say anything, he has her enveloped in a warm embrace. She feels the tears she’s held back all this way well up before they start trickling down her face and onto the dark furs that adorn his cloak.
She hasn’t seen Jon in seven years but in that moment with just the two of them, it feels like nothing has changed at all. Like she never saw those birds fly away that day in King’s Landing as they beheaded her father. Like Jon never died and came back. Like the dead never came to their doorstep and almost destroyed the place they once called home. Like he hadn't put a blade in the heart of the woman he loved, a woman who had burnt a city down for her throne.
In that moment, they’re just Arya and Jon. Two people who never quite fit in. Two people who trusted each other more than anything, a trust that even years apart couldn’t possibly shatter.
All too soon, they’re pulling away and she can see his eyes glistening with tears.
“Arya,” he breathes, smiling down at her. Then, it’s like she can see the cogs turning in his head and his eyes widen. “You’re-”
“Pregnant. I’ve noticed,” she says, grinning at him.
It’s then that he looks behind her and sees their carriage and Gendry speaking with their bannermen clad in Baratheon black and gold attire with the crowned stag sigil imprinted on their chests.
Before he can say anything, one of their bannermen approaches her, “M’lady, should we bring your items up to one of the rooms.”
She nods, “Yes, thank you Durran.”
Jon is watching this whole exchange with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Thought you never wanted to be a Lady,” he finally allows.
“I never wanted to be a traditional Lady,” she starts. “That’s why I spar with the bannermen and teach the younger girls how to fight. Well, I did until this thing appeared.” She gestures to the swell of her belly.
“Of course you did,” Jon smiles at her. But there’s a faraway look in his eyes that she can’t quite place.
She’s about to ask him when Gendry comes up from behind her.
“Jon,” he greets.
“Gendry,” Jon replies and pulls him in for a hug.
Seeing the two men she loves the most in this world embrace makes her emotional and she resolutely blames the baby for the tears that well up in her eyes.
There it is. Feelings. That’s what she hates the most about the pregnancy. All of the feelings. It’s like the Gods, old and new, are punishing her for all the years she kept them tucked away.
“I didn’t even know you knew each other,” is the first thing Jon says as they pull away. His tone is slightly accusing and Gendry tenses beside her.
She rests her hand on Jon’s shoulder, “It’s a long story. I’m seven months pregnant and just made a very long journey with a very restless baby. You boys sort out whatever it is you need to. Spar if you must. I need a bath and a warm bed.”
With that she walks off, leaving Gendry and Jon shaking their heads in quiet amusement at her retreating figure. By God, do they love her.