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cmk418Title: Five Complicated Relationships Arya Stark has and one that isn't complicated at all
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1165
Written for the 5+1 Challenge at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
1_million_words
1. Sansa - As she grew up, Sansa had always been the perfect girl, the Queen in waiting. She’d been taught how to do everything just so. Oh, the teachers attempted to teach Arya as well, but it just didn’t work out the way it did with Sansa. Her mother never said the words, “Why can’t you be like Sansa?” but Arya felt them all the same. Arya despised being pigeonholed into some image of femininity, she wanted to experience everything her brothers did as well, not just sit still and do needlepoint and learn to talk about things like gardening, dresses, and royalty. She couldn’t understand why Sansa would want to do such a thing.
Arya witnessed Sansa as she stood idly by as first the butcher’s boy and then her father was murdered by Joffrey’s hand. She toyed with the idea of putting Sansa on her list, but family still counted for something and Sansa’s main flaw was being weak, not malicious.
When Arya returned to Winterfell, Sansa was there, still in her pretty gowns, but there was a core of strength running through her that Arya had never seen before. This new Sansa still had a quick tongue and she used it on others as much as she used it on Arya. People seemed to listen to her and respect what she was saying. She truly behaved like a Queen and not just the wife of a King. The new Sansa was someone that Arya wanted to protect.
2. Gendry – In the beginning, on the run, it was so easy. He called her 'Arry', kept her secrets, and made sure she was safe. She couldn't do the same for him. That woman, with her promises of seduction and power, had taken him from her.
He'd come back into her life different, the son of a King- bastard son, but a son all the same. He had royal blood running through his veins, despite the Red Woman trying to take it from him. He played at being the blacksmith, even tried to woo her with a sword of her own. And her reaction to him was so different. She was now seeing what the Red Woman saw in him, the man that he was. She could feel her mouth go dry as she looked at him by the forge, shirtless, and itched to lay a hand against his naked skin.
Death came near and she gave into her impulses. It was a mistake. The girl who had been cloaked in mystery, was now fully exposed. She wanted to run and hide, not experience that again.
If that wasn't bad enough, Jon's Queen ruined everything when she deemed Gendry a Lord and legitimized him. That put them on equal ground and when Gendry offered to make her his Lady in earnest, she refused. She was never meant to be his lady or anyone's.
3. Jaqen H’ghar (the Faceless Man) - He empowered her from the very beginning, helping her with her list. She found his air of mystery alluring and were she not wanting to reconnect with her family, she would have gone with him immediately to Braavos. She didn’t realize that in order to become “no one”, the person she was would need to be destroyed. He was her savior and destroyer, but most importantly, he was her teacher.
Without him, she wouldn’t have been able to blend in and avenge her mother’s and brother’s deaths. A part of her would always be indebted to Jaqen, but she would never return to the House of Black and White.
4. Bran - He was her brother and he had done what little brothers throughout Westeros had done since the beginning of time- annoy his older sisters. If he wasn’t tagging along and getting in the way, he was getting special privileges that, due to the fact she was a girl, Arya never would. She was jealous of the things he was given even though he hadn’t really worked for them. She could climb better than Bran, but since it was unladylike, she wasn’t allowed.
And then he fell and was so still, that it didn’t feel right for her to be jealous anymore. She had the freedom of movement even if movement meant going to stupid Kings Landing with father and Sansa. Once she was there, she was jealous of Bran once again because he was home where it was comfortable.
She never expected to see him again. She’d heard rumors that both Bran and Rickon had died during a siege at Winterfell. She mourned them when she heard the news, and was thrown for a loop to see Bran alive again. But Bran achieved what she couldn’t. He’d become his own brand of Faceless Man, not even a man anymore. Arya could be jealous of his success, but she just missed the annoying little boy that used to follow her around.
5. The Hound - She rode with him out of Winterfell, marveling how everything had changed between them. From the first moment they met, he had been her enemy, a name on her list. Over the years, he had been her captor, her protector, and traveling companion. The hatred that she’d felt from the moment he’d murdered the butcher’s boy on the road to Kings Landing became a gradual acceptance. Perhaps it was her training as an assassin, that allowed her to recognize the same qualities in him. She trusted him with her life, with her secrets. Too many nights, alone in the dark, longing for a bit of connection, had her spilling her guts to a complete stranger. The Hound knew her better than anyone.
In the end, he was still protecting her. This time from the vengeance that would have been her undoing. She knew he had more to do, but she couldn’t let him leave without expressing her gratitude. That was the last she saw of him.
+1. Jon Snow - With Jon, it had always been easy. Even though he was a bastard, she only saw him as her brother. He was closer to her than Robb or Bran. They were both outsiders in their own right- she wanted nothing more than to go to the Wall with him, rather than to Kings Landing. He was the person who saw the warrior inside her, gifting her with her most prized possession, the sword Needle, and a bit of advice, “Stick them with the pointy end.”
Jon was the one person she wanted to see on her journey back to Winterfell. She was disappointed to not find him there when she arrived, but as soon as Jon returned, they fell back into their old patterns. Even when he revealed that he was her aunt’s and not her father’s son, she still treated him like family. Having to leave him again was hard, but perhaps in her travels, they would once again be reunited. As long as she had Needle, he would always be with her.
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1165
Written for the 5+1 Challenge at
1_million_words1. Sansa - As she grew up, Sansa had always been the perfect girl, the Queen in waiting. She’d been taught how to do everything just so. Oh, the teachers attempted to teach Arya as well, but it just didn’t work out the way it did with Sansa. Her mother never said the words, “Why can’t you be like Sansa?” but Arya felt them all the same. Arya despised being pigeonholed into some image of femininity, she wanted to experience everything her brothers did as well, not just sit still and do needlepoint and learn to talk about things like gardening, dresses, and royalty. She couldn’t understand why Sansa would want to do such a thing.
Arya witnessed Sansa as she stood idly by as first the butcher’s boy and then her father was murdered by Joffrey’s hand. She toyed with the idea of putting Sansa on her list, but family still counted for something and Sansa’s main flaw was being weak, not malicious.
When Arya returned to Winterfell, Sansa was there, still in her pretty gowns, but there was a core of strength running through her that Arya had never seen before. This new Sansa still had a quick tongue and she used it on others as much as she used it on Arya. People seemed to listen to her and respect what she was saying. She truly behaved like a Queen and not just the wife of a King. The new Sansa was someone that Arya wanted to protect.
2. Gendry – In the beginning, on the run, it was so easy. He called her 'Arry', kept her secrets, and made sure she was safe. She couldn't do the same for him. That woman, with her promises of seduction and power, had taken him from her.
He'd come back into her life different, the son of a King- bastard son, but a son all the same. He had royal blood running through his veins, despite the Red Woman trying to take it from him. He played at being the blacksmith, even tried to woo her with a sword of her own. And her reaction to him was so different. She was now seeing what the Red Woman saw in him, the man that he was. She could feel her mouth go dry as she looked at him by the forge, shirtless, and itched to lay a hand against his naked skin.
Death came near and she gave into her impulses. It was a mistake. The girl who had been cloaked in mystery, was now fully exposed. She wanted to run and hide, not experience that again.
If that wasn't bad enough, Jon's Queen ruined everything when she deemed Gendry a Lord and legitimized him. That put them on equal ground and when Gendry offered to make her his Lady in earnest, she refused. She was never meant to be his lady or anyone's.
3. Jaqen H’ghar (the Faceless Man) - He empowered her from the very beginning, helping her with her list. She found his air of mystery alluring and were she not wanting to reconnect with her family, she would have gone with him immediately to Braavos. She didn’t realize that in order to become “no one”, the person she was would need to be destroyed. He was her savior and destroyer, but most importantly, he was her teacher.
Without him, she wouldn’t have been able to blend in and avenge her mother’s and brother’s deaths. A part of her would always be indebted to Jaqen, but she would never return to the House of Black and White.
4. Bran - He was her brother and he had done what little brothers throughout Westeros had done since the beginning of time- annoy his older sisters. If he wasn’t tagging along and getting in the way, he was getting special privileges that, due to the fact she was a girl, Arya never would. She was jealous of the things he was given even though he hadn’t really worked for them. She could climb better than Bran, but since it was unladylike, she wasn’t allowed.
And then he fell and was so still, that it didn’t feel right for her to be jealous anymore. She had the freedom of movement even if movement meant going to stupid Kings Landing with father and Sansa. Once she was there, she was jealous of Bran once again because he was home where it was comfortable.
She never expected to see him again. She’d heard rumors that both Bran and Rickon had died during a siege at Winterfell. She mourned them when she heard the news, and was thrown for a loop to see Bran alive again. But Bran achieved what she couldn’t. He’d become his own brand of Faceless Man, not even a man anymore. Arya could be jealous of his success, but she just missed the annoying little boy that used to follow her around.
5. The Hound - She rode with him out of Winterfell, marveling how everything had changed between them. From the first moment they met, he had been her enemy, a name on her list. Over the years, he had been her captor, her protector, and traveling companion. The hatred that she’d felt from the moment he’d murdered the butcher’s boy on the road to Kings Landing became a gradual acceptance. Perhaps it was her training as an assassin, that allowed her to recognize the same qualities in him. She trusted him with her life, with her secrets. Too many nights, alone in the dark, longing for a bit of connection, had her spilling her guts to a complete stranger. The Hound knew her better than anyone.
In the end, he was still protecting her. This time from the vengeance that would have been her undoing. She knew he had more to do, but she couldn’t let him leave without expressing her gratitude. That was the last she saw of him.
+1. Jon Snow - With Jon, it had always been easy. Even though he was a bastard, she only saw him as her brother. He was closer to her than Robb or Bran. They were both outsiders in their own right- she wanted nothing more than to go to the Wall with him, rather than to Kings Landing. He was the person who saw the warrior inside her, gifting her with her most prized possession, the sword Needle, and a bit of advice, “Stick them with the pointy end.”
Jon was the one person she wanted to see on her journey back to Winterfell. She was disappointed to not find him there when she arrived, but as soon as Jon returned, they fell back into their old patterns. Even when he revealed that he was her aunt’s and not her father’s son, she still treated him like family. Having to leave him again was hard, but perhaps in her travels, they would once again be reunited. As long as she had Needle, he would always be with her.
