❝𝑹𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒏. 𝑮𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔, 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝑪𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍.❞

➳❦

HER FATHER WOULD ALWAYS TELL HER A STORY WHEN SHE WAS LITTLE. Of a family living in the meadows, away from civilization. Away from the pain of the capitol. A place where they were truly able to live a life of content and be safe and sound from the potential threats that lurked in the shadows. They grew their own food, built their own home, and provided a sense of security for the children they raised. They were happy together, living every single day the way they should.

Arya always believed it was just that; a story. Until she lived that exact life that was pictured within it.

Her gaze moves over the swaying grass, the wind flickering through her shortened curls as the waves crashed behind her. The birds chirping above, filling the sweet silence of the meadows. Until the sound of laughter filled her ears, the laughter of her beautiful daughter.

Arya smiles as she watches her run away from her loving husband. The man chasing the little girl through the flowers blossoming all around. As he catches up to her, lifting her up, earning a squeal as she clings onto him, his eyes meet Arya's in a longing gaze.

A bright smile forms on his features as he holds onto his daughter tightly. "Come on, Ash. Let's go see Mommy." He says, putting her on his shoulders as he makes his way toward Arya who was stood by the make shift dock in the water.

Arya instantly falls for the kiss he gives her, her hands placing themselves on his chest before pulling away and admiring him deeply. Her daughter suddenly reaches for her, giggling as she smiles at the woman. Arya returns it, grabbing a hold of her daughter and swinging her around before placing her on her hip.

Looking out into the water, she places a kiss onto Ash's cheek as arms are wrapped around her from behind. Arya closes her eyes momentarily as she rests against him, feeling his lips press against the back of her head.

Human touch is the first form of communication that you learn. As a baby, you're held and nurtured as they whisper assurances in your ear and rock all the sadness away. So much can be taken from you with a simple touch, a brush against your shoulder, a kiss against your skin, a hug that feels like it's sucking out all the bad things from your body.

People never really understand the importance of it. Not until they really need it. When you have so much pain and sorrow built up inside of you, accumulated over years of sad memories and lost words, you never realize how much you need that touch from the one you love the most.

The person who makes all of your problems seemingly go away. Who brings you joy, excitement, passion, and even a little adventure. And for Arya, that person was Finnick Odair.

The man who had started as her greatest annoyance, transformed into her greatest love. She didn't know what she would do without his touch, without his words of affirmation, without his soul to help heal her own broken one.

The one thing that Snow had taught her, from all the suffering he caused, all the lives he took;

Is that life was way too short to waste even a single second. That the fear of rejection, the nervousness of someone's touch, it meant so little in the grand scheme of things. Because you could die tomorrow and instead of doing all the things you could've achieved, instead of going running in the direction of the thing you loved the most, you ran away from it. Because you were scared of what you could lose.

But the reality is, if you die tomorrow, you lose it all anyways. She never understood that until she almost lost everything. Until she was so scared to face her own feelings, that she damn near lost her chance to be with her soul mate.

And if that had happened, she wouldn't be where she is right now. In the meadow with her beautiful family, loved, cherished, safe and sound from the troubles lurking in the shadows.

Because the shadows that we're all so scared of, a lot of the time, they are our own reflections.

➳❦