Hey Guys - Sorry for the delay, and sorry this is just a short chapter - but please please let me know what you think! I plan on writing more of this story in the next week or so :)

Jon

He stood there for a moment – temporarily frozen by what was in front of him. Coiled in a pile at the base of the wardrobe were Arya's chestnut tresses. He stared at the haphazard pile of discarded curls in disbelief for a moment, before letting his eyes flit over the other contents of the wardrobe. These too, were off – it was clear Arya had ruffled through his piles of tunics and brays – searching for something...

Oh Gods had she…

He slammed shut the wardrobe in frustration and saw, just as he did so, a scrap of parchment resting on the table near the door. He snatched it up, his heart in his throat, and began to read.

Jon –

I can't ask you to leave, but I can't stay either.

I can't sit around waiting for you to jump in and defend me and get yourself killed.

Even after he leaves, there's no life for me at Winterfell any longer – I will NOT be sold off to the highest bidder. I'll be fine – I've borrowed some of your old clothes and things that I'll need on my journey. I also took your old practice sword – I know you'd say that I never took the time to learn how to use it properly – but how hard can it be? If someone comes at me I'll just stick them with the pointy end…

Please don't come after me. I'll send you a Raven when I can.

Arya

He's known it from the second he realized she was gone, but seeing it written out still struck him like a physical force. He read it over once more before springing into action and hurdling out of his room.

She couldn't have gotten that far – from the looks of it, it wasn't more than an hour past dawn. That meant that at the most she would have had to have left sometime in the last four hours. If they went out now to look…

Without him even being conscious of it he found himself flying down the corridor to Robb's room. Robb typically slept in whenever he could get away with it, and was probably asleep, but that wouldn't matter once he heard why Jon was seeking him out. Jon knew his twin would help him…

He threw open the door to Robb's room with a bang, flooding the dark room with light from the corridor outside.

"She's gone—"

He froze and the words died in his through as he took in the sight in front him. Sprawled out asleep in the same bed were Robb and Theon, their bare torsos peeking out from the furs covering Robb's four-poster bed. He'd forgotten that Theon has moved in to Robb's room while the King's entourage was visiting, but even with that the pallet that had been laid out for the heir to the Iron Isles stood unused in the corner.

As the door banged against the wall Robb jumped up in shock. Beside him, Theon jerked awake and reached for his dagger reflexively. As they moved out from under the bedcoverings it became clear that they both had their small clothes on, but still, Jon got the impression he had intruded on something exceedingly intimate. Without stopping to think, he slammed the door behind him, suddenly fearful of what might happen if someone passed along the corridor behind him.

The fearful look in Robb's eyes faded as the door closed, and he gave Jon a barely perceptible nod, telling him that for once Jon would have to take the lead in crafting the conversation. Under any other circumstances he would have turned on his heel, left the room, and never mentioned it to either his twin or the Ironborn ever again. But Arya was gone – and he could not afford to wait.

"She's gone. Arya is gone."

Though a red blush had begun to spread across Robb's chest, at Jon's words his face seemed to go pale. Still, he peered at his brother curiously.

"Are you sure? She might just have gone out early – I doubt she was too keen on being around the King with how he was towards her last night."

"She's left Robb. She left a note."

Robb's eyes widened as he raked his hands through his hair.

"Left a note where?" The question came from Theon, who had been uncharacteristically silent wile pulling on his clothes. He was deathly pale but seemed to be taking Jon's anxiety over Arya seriously at least.

"In my chambers. She said you warned her that the King's men were looking for her in the women's quarters."

His voice was neutral enough, but he couldn't help the creeping blush from moving up his neck. Robb's eyes widened slightly, but if he thought that things seemed beyond the pale, he said nothing.

"There's something else," Jon said faintly, knowing that he had to tell them but feeling loathe to reveal how much irreparable damage had been done. Even if they did find her, there would be no hiding the fact that she'd chopped all her hair off. And if they didn't… well, a scrawny teenage boy would garner far less notice than the budding beauty they'd seen last night.

Robb looked expectantly at him, and grudgingly John continued.

"I think she's dressed as a young boy. Some of my clothes are missing… and I found locks of her hair at the bottom of my wardrobe."

Robb rubbed his forehead, letting it sink in.

"Well… there's nothing else for it then."

Jon looked at his twin hopefully.

"Let's go find her."