I love this pairing so much, and I needed to write another ending for them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or any of the characters.

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"My lady," Brienne nodded, her gaze moving down to the floor quite quickly after meeting Sansa's eyes. "You wanted to see me?"

"Ser Brienne," Sansa started, with a slight tremor in her voice that only Brienne could detect, "We just received a raven regarding King's Landing."

Brienne's eyes shot up, widening. It had been nearly a week since Danerys and her army left. Though she didn't want to admit it, her first thought was not of Arya, whom she was sworn to protect but had run off to the fight, not of Cersei or Daenerys, either of whose triumph would affect the future of the realm- but of Jaime. While he had left her, chosen Cersei over her, she wanted him alive. "What news is there?"

"Daenerys burned the city," Sansa's tone was solemn, but unsurprised, "Tyrion was imprisoned for treason and Jon... he's ok, but Ser Davos didn't seem to know what he's thinking. He sent the message as soon as he could, so who knows what's happened since."

"Any news of Arya? Or Cersei?" Where Cersei is, Jaime is, Brienne thought.

"They haven't found Cersei's body yet, but nearly the entirety of the Red Keep was reduced to rubble. Qyburn's body was found in one of the stairwells, so I can't imagine she got very far without him," Sansa smirked slightly, but it melted away as she cleared her throat, "There was no sigh of Arya anywhere."

"Arya is quick and clever," Brienne was trying to convince herself as much as Sansa.

"Doesn't help much against dragonfire, does it?" Sansa asked sadly. She handed the message over to Brienne and left the room.

…

The scrolled message started to crease as Brienne clutched it in her hand. She reread it, leaning back against the trunk of a snow covered tree, breathing in the icy air. By Ser Davos's account, the entire city was demolished, which means that there was very little for her to hope for.

When she had heard that Arya left with the Hound, she wanted to follow, to bring her back. But too much time had passed and Arya was too fiercely independent; if she had gone to King's Landing, she would not be swayed to return. Sansa ordered Brienne to stay in Winterfell, in case things went awry at King's Landing and the North needed protection. While Brienne conceded to stay, she couldn't deny that she had failed to protect Arya yet again.

"I'm sorry I failed you," her whisper materialized as a cloud in the air. Her apology was meant for Lady Catelyn and Arya, though she couldn't help but touch the hilt of Oathkeeper as she closed her eyes. Her thumb traced the outline of the lion head in an endless path.

It was only at the sound of hoofbeats that her eyes snapped open. Brienne leaped up and ran towards the gate. It was open, as it had remained since the end of the Great War. She stood at the threshold, her hand now firmly gripping Oathkeeper, ready to defend Winterfell if necessary.

The horse appeared so quickly that Brienne barely had time to process what was happening. A disheveled Jaime was steering the horse with his gold hand and kept his good hand behind him, firmly holding onto an unconscious Arya.

Jaime hadn't even seemed to recognize that it was Brienne standing at the gate when he yelled out, "I need help, now!"

The horse came to a stop just before the gates. Brienne held onto Arya as Jaime dismounted to the other side. When he came around, Arya was leaning fully on Brienne, barely standing.

Jaime finally noticed who had come to their aid. He was caught off guard and opened his mouth to say something, but Brienne cut him off, "No time, we should get Arya inside." She now had her attention on Arya, though she also just wasn't ready to face Jaime. She felt him wrap Arya's other arm around his shoulder, and the two carried her inside.

…

"She'll be ok," the maester said, "The Kingslayer did a good job wrapping up most of her burns." He looked from Brienne to Jaime, "You did the right thing bringing her back here."

Jaime nodded, not looking up. His own wounds had only just been bandaged and treated by the maester after he tended to Arya.

"If there's nothing else you need now, Ser Jaime, I best go back to Arya." The maester left quickly; despite everything, he seemed uneasy near the Lannister.

"Podrick," Brienne addressed the other man in the room, "Go with the maester, and wait with Lady Sansa. If Arya's condition changes, let me know at once." Podrick nodded, hiding a smile as he looked between Jaime and Brienne, then left.

The two didn't look at each other, and the silence seemed to swell between them. Brienne wanted to snap at him, throw insults at him as she would have done. But she couldn't, not yet anyway. All she could think of was the way he had turned away, leaving her sobbing and heartbroken.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

Jaime met her eyes for the first time as both looked at each other. His eyes were sad, defeated. "You know that Cersei was pregnant…" Brienne nodded a fraction, he had told her when he first came to Winterfell, before they had gotten together.

"When she didn't send her armies north, I thought I made my decision; I was choosing life over her and her need for power. But when I heard Daenerys was going to King's Landing, I knew that was it for Cersei, that was it for the baby. I-" His eyes were pleading, wanting Brienne to understand, "I couldn't outlive another child. And if Cersei did survive by chance, I couldn't leave him or her without a father."

Late, after one of their many nights together, Jaime had told Brienne about his regrets, that he was only ever able to truly be a father to Myrcella in the moments before her death. Brienne knew it pained him that he had never been there for his children.

Brienne was silent, allowing him to continue, "Once I got to King's Landing, it took me much longer than I thought to reach the Red Keep. When I turned down an alley to get to one of the entrances, I saw her- Arya. A piece of rubble crushed one of her legs. In that moment, I knew that leaving her there would have been murder, another Stark child I would have been responsible for-"

"You didn't kill Bran," Brienne interrupted.

"He's not Bran anymore, is he?" Jaime asked sadly, "Anyways, I couldn't leave her to die, so I brought her to the rowboat that Tyrion had left for me and Cersei, should I have gotten to her. I realized as I left with Arya that even if I had been able to get to Cersei, which was doubtful, I still wouldn't have been a father. When Cersei wanted to tell people that I was the father, it was a power play; no matter what, she would have controlled the child." Jaime still obviously felt guilty.

"Cersei made her choice to stay there, you didn't kill her." Brienne told him.

"I suppose," Jaime said, unconvinced, "But, regardless, I made my choice. We got to the boat and I rowed us away from King's Landing across Blackwater Bay to Kingswood. I knew of a stable there, got a horse, and took Kingsroad to Winterfell. Arya was in and out the whole time, I think she knew who I was, but she seemed to trust me enough when she realized where we were going."

After a few moments of silence, Brienne realized he was done talking, "Thank you for saving her."

Jaime shrugged, then winced in pain. At Brienne's concerned look he said, "It's nothing." But it wasn't. Brienne crossed the room towards him and slowly began to untie his shirt, mimicking the scenario from that first night. When she removed it, she saw his shoulder was a deep blue color, badly bruised.

Jaime looked at it, "Must've been from King's Landing. So many buildings were falling, and I had to keep Arya shielded."

"I'll go get the maester," Brienne turned to leave but Jaime caught her hand.

"I'm sorry, Brienne. I'm sorry for leaving you."

Brienne hadn't turned around yet to face him. This was the first time they were addressing them, and that night. "I thought you went back for her, you said so yourself, it's always been Cersei."

"It's always been Cersei… when I made selfish decisions, hurt people for my own benefit. She's always been the worst in me. I- I suppose I thought sacrificing myself, or saving her for the baby, maybe it would have made up for it. I didn't want to be hateful anymore, I needed to finally go against that part of myself."

Brienne finally turned around, "Can't you see that you have been going against that? Was loosing your hand for me selfish? Fighting the bear with me? Coming here alone to fight the dead knowing fully well you might not make it out?"

"I didn't-" Jaime started, "It seemed like I had to make amends in other areas, right the wrongs I had made with all of the of the others… Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen." Jaime paused, looking down again, "Maybe I was also scared. I didn't deserve to outlive another child, but I also didn't deserve you."

"No, perhaps you didn't," Brienne agreed. It was silent for a moment, then she countered quietly, "But, perhaps you did." Her hand was still in his, she realized, and she squeezed it slightly. His eyes widened as he looked at her incredulously.

"We've wasted a lot of time, over the years and more recently. I wouldn't have ever been with you if I didn't love you," she paused- that was the first time she acknowledged it. "And that hasn't changed. But I need to know you won't just leave again."

Jaime let go of her hand, standing up to meet her. His hand cupped her cheek, despite the pain in his shoulder. "I will always stay with you. From now on, I'll always choose you." This time, she was the one to initiate the kiss. It was hard, as was the first, though there was a slowness to it that came with the familiarity they had shared since their first kiss.

Brienne moved back, stopping the kiss. "You haven't, you know," she said in a whisper, "outlived all of your children."

Jaime met her eyes, realizing what she said, "You're sure?" Brienne nodded.

That night they retired back to Brienne's bedroom, where they had spent their nights together before. They held each other close, Brienne careful of his injuries, and Jaime disregarding them in an effort to be even closer to her.

"I love you, too, you know," Jaime said, realizing he never said it back.

Brienne lips lifted in a small smile, "I know."

I know the ending was rushed, but I really wanted, or rather needed, this ending of their story. Let me know if you'd want this turned into a multi-chapter and I might expand it.