NOW:
Tyrion's home was obnoxiously large for a man living alone, and of his diminutive stature. After knocking soundly on the front door for the third time in just as many minutes, Brienne had then spent several seconds staring up, slack-jawed, at a gold and crimson brocade that hung from a second-story window directly above their heads. The thick tapestry flicked and billowed in a vigorous breeze; a gold, rampant lion, woven directly in the center, snarled down at all who dared approach this particular house.
"Hear me roar," Jaime gravely stated as he raised his eyes to take in the familiar sigil. He lowered them again, to the scar-puckered stump at the end of his right arm, and let loose a deep sigh.
"Indeed," Brienne said with wide eyes.
Before either one could utter another word, the front door swung open to reveal a fashionably disheveled Tyrion. He held the door open wider and beamed up at his dour-faced, crippled brother and his immensely tall, self-appointed caregiver.
"Brother!"
"Jaime," Brienne quickly cut in as they stepped into the foyer.
"Jaime!" Tyrion corrected without missing a beat. "And Brienne! Please, come in! Come in!" They were already inside the house, standing awkwardly within the blessedly warm vestibule before he noticed and shut the door behind them. "Welcome to my humble abode, Brienne."
"Thank you," she offhandedly replied as she chanced a look toward Jaime. He seemed to be taking in the plethora of various potted plants with a slight, dazed frown. Brienne herself had to side-step one that appeared to be encroaching the main door frame, lest it smacked her directly in the face. Jaime, however, reached out and gingerly touched the leaf of one particularly monstrous one with the tip of his index finger. "I never took you for a botanist," he said with a lackadaisical drawl.
Tyrion flapped a hand at the immense greenery. "Moi? No, no, no. I have quite the black thumb, broth- Jaime," he hastily revised mid-sentence at Brienne's pointed raise of a brow. He narrowed his eyes questioningly, but the slight shake of her head indicated it was something she would fill him in on later. He detested being the one left in the dark. However, with a lingering accusatory look in Brienne's direction, he continued, "Shae, on the other hand-"
The end of that particular thread hung in the air as a long-haired, doe-eyed woman appeared from the end of the elongated hallway and joined them in the now decidedly smaller foyer.
"Speak of the woman, and the woman shall appear. Love," the dwarf visibly melted under her affectionate smile, "Shae, this is my brother Jaime, and his friend Brienne."
Brienne shot him a good-natured glare at the audibly emphasized term.
"Pleasure," Shae greeted with a relaxed smile. She turned back to Tyrion, bent at the waist to place a kiss on his cheek, then straightened back up. "I'll be back before their bedtime." Her dark eyes twinkled as she faced the very confused Jaime, and uncomfortably awkward Brienne. "I hope you enjoy your dinner."
I guess he's not so alone then, Brienne thought as the exotic brunette exited the house with only the smell of homemade macaroons the only indication she was ever there.
Tyrion immediately lifted his shaggy-haired head to gauge his elder brother's reaction. Jaime merely peered down at his sibling, the barest hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips. It was the closest thing to happiness that he had exuded in the past few weeks, and it made Brienne's heart thump painfully against her rib cage. She hoped that the surprise she and Tyrion had arranged for him only lifted his decidedly low spirits higher.
The smaller of the two men wagged his finger, and Jaime ducked his head at the motion, his eyes glimmering with something other than contempt.
"I'm happy for you," Jaime said with a nonchalant shrug before he strode down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.
Tyrion craned his head up to look at Brienne. He perked a dark brow, and asked in his unusually deep voice, "Will you care to explain why I can no longer call my brother, brother?"
"Cersei," Brienne said by of explanation.
"Ah." He sighed and nodded. "Are you ready?"
She offered a weak smile. "Are you?"
He lifted his arm in the direction of his brother. "After you, Miss Brienne."
She inclined her head and followed the route the taller blond had taken. Just as she rounded the same corner, however, she pulled up short at the scene before her. She had expected it, had even initially conceived the plan herself before asking Tyrion for his permission, but she hadn't expected it to happen this early into the evening.
Jaime, in the center of a lavishly decorated living room, stood struck dumb at the sight of the two beaming blonds standing before him. His thin lips were parted, and his eyes fiercely bright, as he could seem to do nothing but gape. Brienne did not miss the fact that he had his shortened arm tucked at the small of his back.
"Tommen," Jaime hoarsely managed after a lengthy pause. He swallowed thickly. "Myrcella. What are you doing here?" He immediately frowned and ducked his head with a small shake. He raised his left arm, eyes still lowered, and said in a voice strangled with emotion: "Come here."
The two nearly flew across the room, long legs crossing the distance within seconds, before they crashed their lithe bodies into Jaime's trembling form. He staggered back, one foot falling behind the other, as he ducked his head into the golden ringlets of Myrcella's hair.
Brienne watched, with eyes misted with emotion, as Jaime pressed a chaste kiss against Myrcella's forehead before doing the same to Tommen's temple. His right arm was noticeably held away from them, but his left arm was wrapped tightly around Tommen's shaking frame.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured, alternating between pressing his forehead against theirs and pressing his lips against their temples. "I'm so, so sorry." His face was creased with anguish as he continued to shower them with the love and affection he had been refused to allow the entirety of their lives.
I'm sorry for never being there.
I'm sorry for your loss.
I'm sorry this was the hand you were dealt with.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
It was another several minutes before Tommen's body-wracking sobs, and Myrcella's sniffling quieted; before Jaime pulled away with eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot. He gruffly cleared his throat, trying and failing to dislodge the painful lump there, before he looked back and forth between the pair as if he were unsure they were indeed there.
"Uncle Tyrion said we could stay with him," Tommen explained in a voice not unpleasantly high; it was a voice still soft with youth, although the boy was now in high school.
It made Jaime realize how long it had been since he had last seen his niece and nephew.
His children, Brienne thought in wonder as she took in the golden trio. She had hung in the background, unsure whether or not she should stay, but equally unable to tear herself away from the sight. He can finally be a father to his children.
"Joffrey wants to come home," Myrcella quietly said. She averted her blue eyes, her father's eyes, to the carpeted floor. "Grandfather said he should stay abroad, finish up his studies, but he wants to come back." She lifted her steely gaze to meet Jaime's. "We don't want him to."
Jaime swallowed under the intensity of her gaze but shook his head in regret. "I don't think we could stop him if he did," he replied softly, "He's a man grown now. But-" Jaime flicked his eyes over to Tyrion, who had remained at the end of the hallway as father greeted children. "This is Uncle Tyrion's home, so if he isn't welcome here, then he isn't welcome here. You'll be safe." He bent his knees to meet Tommen's worried eyes. "I promise."
After a beat of silence, the younger man nodded.
There was a sudden, abrupt clap that startled the group. Tyrion, with an apologetic wince at having interrupted the moment, gestured toward an open entryway at the opposite side of the room. "I'm starving!" He announced with only the slightest hitch in his voice. "How about we move this joyful reunion to the dining room, and commence with the feasting part of this party?"
The willowy siblings reluctantly extracted themselves from Jaime's embrace and left the adults behind. Jaime touched his chest with his chin, willing the quiver threatening it to stop before he turned to his little brother and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Thank you," he said softly, fiercely.
Tyrion placed his right hand atop his brother's left and patted it gently.
"Don't thank me, Jaime. It was entirely Brienne's idea."
He followed after the children, leaving Jaime stunned as he turned toward his former partner.
Brienne simply offered him a tender-hearted smile.
Her heart near burst from her chest when he returned it.
TBC...
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