A Rest of Swords

Part seven

Just a short remark at the beginning: I know in the series the scene I started with took place after the battle against the army of the dead, but here it's before, so don't be confused:)

The day went by and Brienne and Jaime thought it best to leave the safety of their chamber to stroll a bit around the grounds of Winterfell so Jaime's return would be made official. Sansa had already announced it at breakfast, and earned the expected amount of complaint, anger even, but the Lady of Winterfell had known to stop the biggest part of it. They were still followed by disapproving looks and whispered comments but they tried to ignore it to the best of their ability.
It had been no surprise that most inhabitants of Winterfell wouldn't be glad to see him again, Northmen were generally suspicious towards Southerners and his last name wasn't of any help either. They had only waited for him to betray Sansa and Daenerys in the first place and he had proved their point to their full satisfaction when he had left without any explanation.
Now that he as back, their opinion of him wasn't any higher and although neither of them would dare to question their Lady's decisions loudly, they secretly disapproved of that Sansa had let him stay, without any signs of punishment. Most of them, for their part, wouldn't have refused to see his head on a spike...

"Don't pay any attention to them", Brienne told Jaime when they saw some of the men whispering not very discreetly in a corner of the courtyard as they passed.

"I'm getting used to it", he replied. "I couldn't expect anything else. And I actually don't blame them. I'm sure I would react just like that when I was in their position."

"Perhaps", Brienne agreed reluctantly.
"But Sansa decided to let you stay. You're her guest. They should respect their Lady's orders."

"True", he granted her, but he knew the reality didn't work like that - very few people were as conscientious as his Brienne, and why should they be? As ignorant as they were?
"But you're the only one who really knows everything", he reminded her. "Why I left. And that I always planned to come back. None of them really knows about my intentions and neither do they know me. Not even Lady Sansa. When they look at me, they don't see me - they see a Lannister, a rich, highborn and arrogant former swordsman who spent most of his life fighting on the wrong side until he became useless because he lost the one thing that made him special - and they aren't even wrong. Nearly everyone in Westeros looks at me and sees the Kingslayer, sees dishonour and mistrust." He looked at her from the side while they were walking, her eyes stuck to the ground before them.
"You were the first who just saw me for who I am, who saw just...Jaime", he added warmly and saw how she smiled to herself.

"Maybe they will too, someday", she said hopefully, observing another group standing near the stables. "I think Lady Sansa has already started to change her point of view."

"You think so?"

"Yes", Brienne said slowly. "I believe she tries, at least. She knows that I see something in you she can't see yet, but I think she's trying to see it as well. And I'm sure she can", she added confidently, "as she was also the first to see and appreciate me, apart from you, of course."
The last part put a smile on Jaime's face and he instantly thought back to the first weeks they had known each other. How different things had been then... So much had changed, it almost seemed like another life to him.

"We also had to learn to appreciate each other, though", he noted and she gave a laugh. He loved that sound. He heard it far too rarely.

"Indeed", she agreed. "Although I think I actually never really despised you the way I pretended to. I always had this feeling that there was more to you than meets the eye, but I didn't want to admit it." He knew exactly what she meant.