Note: This story is all sketched. Nothing very intricate or long. It's an extension of my one-shot "Love Sets You Free", with the addition of more chapters and plot. I've learned my lesson from my other long story. Again sorry for that unfinished one.
I'll try to post regularly. But rest assured that this fic will be completed.
I thank you readers for dedicating part of your time to this story. I'm happy to bring a little entertainment and evasion to your lives with your favourite characters.
P.D.: English is not my native language and I have no betas because I like a challenge, so all mistakes are my own and I apologize in advance for them. :-)
P.D.: The first chapter is a literal copy of the beginning of the one-shot, but from then on it will have modifications.
In an isolated corner at the stables of Winterfell, where she was sure she wouldn't cross paths with another living soul, Brienne cried herself out for the dream that was about to end. A dream she secretly had known in her heart of hearts couldn't last, even from the very start. But she had allowed herself to embrace it to the fullest all the same. She had indulged in one of her deepest, most hidden desires.
Her love for Jaime.
A century ago, in a different lifetime, she had fancied herself in love with Renly. How she had laughed later at her own naiveté regarding the ways of the world and of the heart.
That had just been a childish, pale infatuation compared to her feelings for Jaime. Sometime between his saving her from rape in the Riverlands to him jumping recklessly into that bear pit at Harrenhal, she'd been irremediably and hopelessly lost.
She'd always been certain her love would forever be unrequited. Since an early age, she had resigned herself to being an unlovable excuse for a woman who was only suited for unwomanly things.
So when Jaime, upon his arrival at Winterfell, seemed to be showing signs of true interest in her (surely a consequence of his disappointment with Cersei's betrayal and the euphoria of surviving the war against the Night King), she eventually let her walls down.
For a whole moon turn, she had welcomed him inside her soul and body. The happiest period she could remember.
But now that was all going to crash down. Since news arrived about the enemy's advances and blows to Daenerys (the killing of Rhaegal, the destruction of her fleet and Missandei's capture), Brienne was as sure as the passing of days, that Jaime was going to leave for good. His true love was in danger. He would go back to Cersei. His days of peaceful stay at Winterfell by Brienne's side had been an illusion. His relationship with Brienne was little more than a rebound one. She could no more deceive herself believing otherwise. For a while, she had.
No more.
As of late, he was withdrawn and restless. No doubt he felt strongly compelled to return to King's Landing. She understood his plight and pitied him, even forsaking her own heartbreak.
She would be strong for the both of them.