Gendrya

If I Wanted To

Arya walked far behind the group so she could talk to whisper to herself without calling any attention.

"So pathetic," she said. "What would have happened if someone else found us? Stupid. So stupid."

She crossed her arms and kept whispering. She didn't even realize Hot Pie wasn't walking with the group in front of her. He poked the side of her stomach.

"Who ya talking to?" he mocked.

She gasped and then sighed when she saw Hot Pie's face. "Oh, fuck off."

He giggled, "Who are you?"

She looked at him, "Are you stupid?"

"Sorry," he nodded.

"It's alright."

"So you're a Stark. You're father, the Hand, the traitor-"

"He wasn't a traitor."

Hot Pie nodded. "You're angry."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are. Why are you mad at me?"

"Really? You're gonna ask that?"

"Ohhh, you're mad about last night," He realized.

"I'm not mad," she almost yelled. Some heads turned at the sound of her raising her voice. "I'm not mad. Just annoyed."

"Annoyed at who?" he asked.

"I don't know. Gendry? Myself?"

"I thought you were mad at me," he admitted.

"I'm not mad at anyone but myself," Arya laughed a bit. "I almost let it happen. I would have let it happen."

"Why's that a bad thing?"

"Because if people find out that I'm highborn, I don't want them to associate him with me."

"Oh, I see," Hot Pie sounded irritated. "The pretty lady doesn't want people to know she's friends with lowborn scum like us, does she?"

"That's not what I meant. Cersei and Joffrey will come hunting for me. If they find me, they'll find Gendry too."

"Why would they care about Gendry?"

"Because he's King Robert Baratheon's bastard son. And Joffrey is the child of Cersei and Jamie Lannister. Gendry's more king than Joffrey ever was."

Hot Pie walked with his mouth open for a few minutes.

"He doesn't know," Arya said.

"How do you know?"

"The goldcloaks were supposed to kill all of Robert's bastards. There was one they couldn't find, though. A tall boy, black of hair and blue of eyes," She looked at Gendry, way ahead of them. "It's him. But you seriously can't tell anyone. I only told you because-" she crinkled her forehead. "Why did I tell you?"

"So even Gendry's higher born than me?" he ignored her. Hot Pie was sweating, not just because of the walking. He yelled, "I think I need a break!"

Yoren stopped his horse and turned around. Everyone stopped and looked at him. "You heard the boy! We've been walking all day. We'll stop here."

Arya grabbed Hot Pie's arm, "I'm not joking, Hot Pie, you better not tell anyone." He nodded faster than she had ever seen him move before.

Arya gathered dinner supplies and started rubbing sticks together to make a fire while the other men went hunting. Gendry sat across from her.

"Hello," he finally said when Arya was silent.

"Hello," she replied.

"How was your.. walk?" he asked awkwardly.

She nodded, "Alright. You?"

"Boring. Hot Pie was with you?"

"Yeah."

"What did you talk about?"

"Oh, you know." He didn't. "Nothing."

Gendry looked quite sad. "I'm sorry you're dealing with all this. I don't think I could do it. If I knew my father, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to go on after his death. With Joffrey and the goldcloaks looking for you..." he shook his head. "I just wish there was something I could do."

Arya looked at the floor for a moment. "Thank you. I miss my family; my father, my brothers, my mother. Even my sister," Arya laughed. She looked from Gendry to Hot Pie in the distance. "But I have you guys now."

Gendry smiled. "How many brothers do you have?"

"Four. I've got three brothers, Robb, Bran and Rickon, and one other brother, Jon."

"What does that mean?"

"He's a bastard. Mother hates him. But he never complains, not ever," she began to get teary. "He taught me how to fight. He gave me this, Needle." She pulled Needle out from her boot. Gendry flinched.

"Woah, there," he laughed. She put it away. "It's got a name?"

"All the greatest swords have names," she quoted. "It's what he told me."

Before they could continue, Hot Pie crinkled a pile of leaves. When Gendry turned around, Hot Pie was squeezing his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I ruin everything."

"You haven't ruined everything, Hot Pie," Gendry laughed.

"I just feel," Hot Pie put his hands behind his back. "like I don't belong with you guys anymore. You're both-"

Arya was catching on. "Hot Pie, can I have a word."

"Yes," he said immediately.

She pulled him away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm lowborn," he looked down. "You're both highborn. You're a princess and Gendry's a prince."

"I'm Ana," Arya lifted her eyebrows. She gestured to Gendry. "And he doesn't know who he is."

"Well, don't you think he should find out?"

"Not from you. If you even look at either of us any different-" she threatened. "Our families are powerful- yes?"

Hot Pie nodded quickly.

"Don't forget that."

"Okay," he said meekly. "Ana."

They walked back to Gendry. Hot Pie passed them, saying he needed to collect more firewood.

"What was that all about?" Gendry asked.

"None of your business," she smirked.

"You can't even give me a hint?" he asked.

"Not even if I wanted to."