#axgweek

The timing couldn’t be any less inconvenient if it tried. First there was the fact that they were in the middle of a war. Second there was the fact that Arya had very illegally snuck into the army to fight in said war. Third there was the fact that like all of her other fellow soldiers, Gendry had no idea she was a girl.  

She had known that joining the army was a risk. Not only would her remaining family likely disown her on principle, it was very likely the commanders would kill her or maim her for tricking them. No one, least of all men as Arya had learned, liked to be taken for a fool. All of it had seemed worth the risk to Arya, who had nowhere left to go and no reachable family left to turn to. She’d been living on the streets in the Riverlands for years when the war began and they called all fighting age men and boys to join them. It had been an easy decision to hack off her hair and join their ranks and it had been surprisingly easy since then to keep her gender a secret.  

The men weren’t half bad, some of them at least. The main cook Hot-Pie, would often bring her leftovers or breads that got too burnt to serve any of the higher ups. Anguy taught her how to use a bow and arrow. Lommy sparred with her and only got mad at her the time she nearly broke his nose. The best of course was Gendry.  

Tall, silent and stoic Arya had had no idea what to make of him the first few weeks they were marching. But then they fought their first battle and he was beside her the whole time. They fought well in tandem and his silence proved to be a good thing because they could now communicate without talking. He only spoke to her once that first battle, and never during any battles since. That first one she was reloading her musket when he suddenly grabbed her by the midsection and knocked her down flat. Arya’s heart was pounding in her throat, certain he’d felt something through the wrappings on her chest but Gendry was too focused on firing at the enemy. That was when Arya noticed the large chunk missing from the tree behind them, right around level where her head had been.

“Thanks.” she’d whispered in a brief moment when their muskets were loaded and no one was firing at them.

Gendry nodded and Arya had thought that would be the end of it but then he turned his eyes on her, the blue seeming even brighter with all the gore and dirt on his face. “I’ve got your back.”  

For a long time, those were the only words he’d ever spoken to her.  

War brought out the worst in most people but a few people thrived in it. Arya and Gendry were not those people.  

Both of them retreated into themselves, going deeper and deeper each day until it was nearly impossible to get them out. Arya didn’t want to be there anymore. She wasn’t even sure what they were fighting for half the time. How would killing small folk help lower tax laws? The peasants didn’t make the laws, the Lords did. Her father had. His taxes had been fair and when people couldn’t pay due to a bad harvest or wolves getting into their sheep pens, he’d always worked with them to make sure their family was fed before the tax was paid. The Lords in the South did not work that way.  

Gendry seemed to feel the same way she did about the war but he never questioned it vocally like she did sometimes when it was just the two of them. She felt like she could say anything to Gendry and he wouldn’t judge her, wouldn’t think her mad. After a while he began to return the favor and finally started to talk to her instead of just listening. It wasn’t long after that she began to notice how fast her heartbeat got when he was around.  

Arya managed to ignore it with some difficulty and months continued to drag on in one endless loop of blood and mud and shit. Finally, they received word that the war was over. Her comrades began to cheer as their captain gleefully shouted out that they’d won but Arya didn’t join in on it. She just felt an overwhelming sense of relief and as she watched everyone begin to dig out their secret stashes of booze she slipped away into the darkness.

They’d passed a lake just before they made camp and Arya headed to it now, walking far enough from the camp that she could no longer hear the sounds of everyone’s merriment.  

She felt desperate to be clean in a way she hadn’t felt since she’d joined the war. She stripped off her boots but waded into the water in her clothes, scrubbing the mud from them the best she could. She was glad it was summer, the night still held onto most of the day’s warmth.  

Her clothes as clean as they were going to get Arya struggled out of them, wringing them and laying them flat on a rock that still felt warm to the touch. She waded back into the water until it reached her chest and then slipped underneath the surface, scrubbing mud from her short hair.  

When she surfaced, she felt cleaner than she had in years. Turning back to the shore Arya nearly let out a yelp of surprise to see a figure on the shore.  

“Gendry.” she breathed, crossing her arms over her chest under the water even though she knew she was far enough out that he couldn’t see anything.

“Can I join you?” Gendry asked.

Arya knew that she should say no, that this was way too dangerous, but she reminded herself the war was over. She was going to leave in the morning and disappear back North. She finally felt ready to face her ghosts. It didn’t matter if Gendry learned her secret now.  

At her nod he stripped down and despite having seen naked men daily for the last two years Arya turned her head away until he waded into the water. She took a step back as he approached her and felt the slippery surface of the lake disappear. She had to move her hands off her chest to keep herself afloat as Gendry stopped a foot from her, the water barely halfway up his chest.  

“What will you do now?” he asked curiously before splashing under the water as if giving her time to think. When he came up, he was behind her a few feet, and it seemed the lake’s surface was too far even for him as he moved his arms to the sides to stay above water.  

“Going North.” Arya admitted softly. She wanted to say she was going home but it wasn’t home anymore. Not without her parents and her brothers and even her sister. Winterfell wouldn’t be home without them but maybe she could still make a life there. She was ready to stop running.  

“You going alone?”

Arya nodded once, knowing they were close enough for him to see the motion. Gendry paused for a moment before saying hesitantly, “Long way to travel. Not safe for a girl on her own.”  

She was so surprised she forgot to tread water and slipped under the surface. Spluttering she came back up and stared at Gendry in horror. He looked sheepish but not angry or upset.  

“How long have you known?” she asked softly, the food they’d eaten for dinner turning in her stomach. If he reported her-

“Since the first week.” Gendry admitted sheepishly.

“You never said anything.” Arya said in surprise thinking back on what she could have done to have given herself away. Either Gendry was more observant than the other men or he’d walked in on her changing and she hadn’t realized it. She supposed it didn’t matter how he found out; he’d kept her secret all this time. If she’d been caught and it was revealed that he’d known as well he would have been in heaps of trouble as well.