There Is Nothing To Forgive a Braime soulmates one shot
This fic is a twist on the “shared dreams” soulmate trope, where, in my version, the God’s let your soulmate appear in dreams.
Jaime Lannister had never been good with words. All his life they had evaded him, from the time when he was a child and he couldn’t read without a heafty struggle, to his adolescence when he’d attempt to express to Cersei his feelings.
She didn’t care of course. She didn’t want his love, his admiration, and she didn’t care about his words, or lack thereof. All she wanted was his body and the pleasure it could bring her, all she sought was the security of knowing he was hers, under her spell, forever.
So the appearance of anyone speaking to him in dreams was odd. He was visual, and his dreams often came as a bombardment of images, some cruel, some lovely, all powerful, without a word to be gleaned from any of them.
But this night was different.
The dream was simple really, he was there, in the throne room, watching from above like a raven in the rafters, Aerys on the throne, his own white cloak shining. He watched as the mad king laughed, and he could hear the innocent scream as the king shook with wicked, mad laughter. He tightened the grip on his hilt and stepped closer. He could not hear what Aerys was saying, nor could he hear any other words, but he could smell the sickly chemical scent of wildfire and could feel the heat that would surely come from it.
He watched his own hands shake as he took another step up behind the king, all the fear he had felt in that moment evident on his terrified face.
But suddenly, he was not alone as he raised the sword to strike true. A girl, tall and strong, with long blonde hair hanging down her back. She was younger than him, but her eyes glowed like saphires and as she pressed herself against him, she took his hand on the swords hilt in her own, wrapping a warm hand around his, and helping guide the blade.
I understand. Her words materialized in his mind, and she smiled sadly before helping him guide the word into its sheath through Aery’s back.
Forgive me. Never before had he spoken in a dream. Nor had he cared to.
There is nothing to forgive.
She faded before he could get a true glimpse at her face, leaving him alone to claw at the air, before waking bolt upright, alone in the summer night.
—
Actions spoke louder than words, and yet words were what Brienne put stock in. Honor was her pillar of principle, and she believed in any man’s word as she expected them to do in hers.
And so, when a young man’s begging voice pierced the foggy clouds of her dreams one night, begging for help, for forgiveness, and justifying why he killed.
For the innocent. For those he would slaughter. Because if I do not do it, who can?
She felt a strange sense of longing for that voice, for the man who must wield its mighty tone. She let herself drift towards it, it’s words becoming more and more earnest, panicked, even.
Please, mother, father, someone, guide me.
She searched the crevasses of her dream for its source, but as always found no images, only fragments of words. But then, just as she was about to give up, heappeared.
Forgive me.
The boy was behind the mad king, drawing his sword, tears gathered in his eyes. And suddenly, Brienne was there too. One look at the boy and she knew what he needed. She wrapped her hand around his, and pressed herself gently beside him, taking on the burden of the blade and the sentence it was about to deal. She knew how this story would end.
The sword pierced.
There is nothing to forgive.
All was warm and light was everywhere for a moment, and then it became too much and she awoke, sweating and panting in the summer night air.
Soul dreams are a thing of the distant past. I am no fool. She repeated the sentiment over and over, across years as she travelled lands and seas, and came to the service of Renly Baratheon. Finally, she had stopped thinking about the boy, the Kingslayer, with whom she had shared a dream unlike any other.
Until the night she dreamt of the shadow.
Though she could not see it, she could feel the cool air sweep through the tent, and could feel the hair on her arms stand up. She felt her heart hammer in her chest, and her blood run frozen.
No. No. Please no. Do not make me watch this again.
Renly was dead a week, and yet she could not sleep without watching it play out, over and over again. Perhaps I am the Kingslayer.
You are not.
Suddenly she could see again, and there he was. Older now, but without mistake: Jaime Lannister.
It takes one to know one, and it is not you.
It was his phantom turn to come closer, to warm her against the chill.
How can I ever forgive myself? She wept as Renly before her died once again, and her heart felt as if it were frozen to ice.
There is nothing to forgive.
Her heart beat fast and she turned to see his face.
But he was gone. And she left alone in her bedroll in Catelyn Starks tent.
—
There is nothing to forgive.
Jaime repeated the words his golden haired maiden had once offered him so many years ago. He prayed it would bring her the same solace it brought him.
He had heard of soul dreams, of the most ancient and purest loves, ones which the gods themselves were invested in. Ones for whom the soul was so tightly bound that they could, when direly necessary, appear in dreams.
But he didn’t believe it. Rather, he believed that as comfort had been offered to him, so would he offer it. For some reason. He couldn’t quite place why, but something had compelled him to speak to her, to comfort her, despite not even knowing if she was real, or just a figment of his imagination.
He thought about it a lot on the road to Kingslanding, as him and Brienne walked in silence. There was something in the way she looked at him, this odd familiarity, overshadowed by anger and confusion. It made him wonder a great deal about what she knew of him. It was not an expression he was used to being on the receiving end of.
—
To Brienne’s chagrin, Jaime did not appear in her dreams after the night he lost his hand. Despite the fact that she so sincerely blamed herself for it.
But as they stared at one another at the bathhouse, and he suddenly, inexplicably began to speak, something in her chest thrummed.
“I know, Ser Jaime.” She said, before he had fully begun the explanation of why he killed Aerys. “You did it for the people, for the innocents. If you didn’t, who could?”
His face went slack and his jaw hung loose, eyes fixed on hers as they simultaneously put the pieces together. In unison they spoke their next words carefully.
“There is nothing forgive.”
~~~~~
Thank you so much for reading!!!! I am so happy to be back, and I hope to write a lot more in the coming weeks. Pleaaaaaaaaase send me any suggestions or promps you might have, or if you’d like to see more continuations of any of my work lmk!!!! As always, PM me if you want to be added or removed from the tag list :) Love you all xx, Bea
Thinking about the fact that all of the couples who either had “I am hers she is mine” playing for them or sampled in one of their songs had a tragic ending DONT text
Don’t mind me. Just making comparisons between Jaime & Brienne and Satine & Christian from Moulin Rouge in order to cope with the emotional whiplash of the latest episode (Jaime is Satine/the courtesan, Brienne is Christian, and Cersei is the duke/evil maharajah):
Once death is almost (or completely) certain and Jaime/Satine don’t want Brienne/Christian following them in their mission/responsibility only to get killed themselves:
And from here I’m guessing Jaime will go back to Cersei and it’ll appear to be something like this:
But he’ll actually just be playing a part, biding his time for the moment to save the kingdom (again).
And maybe Brienne will show up, putting herself in danger (distressing Jaime - for putting herself in that danger, but also just because HE LOVES HER SO MUCH and he can’t allow himself to be with her):
But hopefully at some point we’ll get something like this:
Before we get to this:
(Thanks to the gif makers of all of these stolen gifs! Also I’m sorry that I don’t know how to link back to the original posts!)
Dishonorable Mention 1 :Daenerys Targaryen And Khal Drogo
the Actors have great chemistry, but don’t let it fool you. it started with dani being sold for an army, raped till she became suicidal & developed Stockholm syndrome. It wasn’t cute Dani just adapted to her abusive life.
Dishonorable Mention 2: Tyrion Lannister & Shae
We all Rooted for these two in the beginning, happy to see our favorite lannister find love however shae’s Jealousy despite Tyrion’s reassurances then their dramatic break up, betrayal and Passion killing ended it on a bitter note.
Dishonorable Mention 3: Jaime & Cersei Lannister
Emotionally abusive, we’ve seen instances of gaslighting, betrayal “two halves of one soul” and “Born together die together” were not romantic, but rather delusion meant to be invalidated as Jaime’s awakening/redemption progressed
GOT however chose to delete the tysha/Lancel Conversation Jaime has with tyrion which deeply hurt both of their stories and forced twincest to last longer than it should have. Jaime condoning cersei’s actions on s6 finale made the showrunners’ bias in favor of this ship clear
10- Sansa & Theon
Friendship or more, these two are quite a pair. Sansa awakens theon after years of being reek and he earns his redemption by helping her escape their hell. the Reunion on 8x2 was so heartwarming. After his death Sansa pays him a last homage as a Stark
9- Jon Snow & Ygritte
Fun Enemies to lovers pair. with her spunk and quips “you know nothing Jon Snow” and his double agent mission complicates things No matter what, they loved each other and her death was one of the most tragic of the show. If we die we die But first we’ll live
8- Grey Worm & Missandei
Love blooming when it didn’t seem as an option for two former slaves (one mutilated) was so great to watch unfold,unique and inspiring. A shame GOT fridged Missandei in an Illogical way (how did euron reach their ship?) to create drama. Deserved Better
7- Daenerys & Jorah
Unrequited love/friendship, but in hindsight the closest to love she got. it was a unique dynamic, full of trust, love and devotion with a few bumps in the road they overcame. it ended as it was meant to be, having each other’s back till the end.
6- Sam & Gilly
the cutest relationship and only endgame. You don’t have to be all warrior-like to be a savior, started as a selfless act that slowly developed into love through kindness and devotion. Perfectly complete each other.
5- Oberyn Martell And Ellaria Sand
Most badass and Spicy ship everEnded too shortly yet their love was so obvious. it was PERFECTION Can I take a skull to bed with me? to give me comfort in the night? Will it make me laugh?write me songs, care for me when I am old and sick?
4- Arya & Gendry
Her story was about building a pack after being a lone wolf for so long almost losing herself, she was traumatized that should not have been glorified. their marriage could have reshaped the whole concept by being together without conforming to tradition.
3- Ned & Catelyn Stark
“Love didn’t just Happen to us, we built it over the years, stone by stone… for all of us, it’s not as exciting as passion in the woods but it is stronger, it lasts longer.” Not all love starts at first sight and it’s beautiful and more realistic.
2- Loras & Renly
“When the sun settles no candle can replace it.” The tragic story about two men in love when their world was not so accepting, and the heartbreaking loss when renly is killed in their youthful/reckless quest for power. Deserved so much better.
1- Jaime & Brienne
Enemies to friends to lovers, Longest slowburn stretching through 7S. A pairing that look so different on the outside yet so Similar on the inside a stark contrast to twincest. Both beauties and beasts, cast outs finding love and acceptance only in each other
the relationship that provides the love and validation each character needs, brienne loves and believes in Jaime despite his past in a healthy way he sees past her exterior to love her for who she is, Admires her as a knight and makes her dream come true by making it official+
the show failed them purposefully for their own bias, turned brienne into “the big woman” joke gave them the shortest safest sex scene of all the show, denied them the acknowledgment of their long repressed feelings and separated them in the worst, OOC, insuling way possible
to validate jaime’s abuser?he can’t move on from cersei? despite his book counterpart doing it in the equivalent of s4 finale? when u aren’t conventionally beautiful u don’t deserve love? u aren’t enough? no one will choose u? GRRM’s goal is the exact opposite this is show bias+
Game of throne failed its most important relationship for nothing. giving those character the worst end possible. Brienne is alone, heartbroken,unloved condemned to serve for life. Jaime died as an honorless Knight and his sister’s prisoner erasing 8 S of character development
Regardless the two worst episodes cannot erase SEASONS of a beautiful relationship and their ASOIAF origin. Jaime and brienne is the couple that makes u believe in love, it is the deepest and healthiest of all, in another world they could’ve had a better more fitting ending.
