#cause it worked

Here yer go :D!

They had been sword fighting most of the day, and Brienne refused to let up on Jaime despite his hand being lost. She was still upset with him for not taking Sansa back to the North, where she truly belonged. Their spat the other day over the issue had gotten under her skin, more so than the personal jabs Jaime had taken. If there was anything that could get Brienne upset, it was not upholding one’s vows. She lived by the codes of being a knight and would die with them. Brienne couldn’t say the same for Jaime. 

“Focus. Focus right here, or I’ll pop your goddamn knee off.” Brienne forewarned Jaime as he went from graceful to full-on rage attempting to knock Brienne to the ground. He was losing his balance, making him an easy opponent for her to subdue. 

“You’re letting the lack of a hand get in the way of your mind, concentrate.” Brienne commanded. 

“And who elected you High Sparrow?” Jaime countered sarcastically as he stopped for a moment, panting and giving his arm a rest. Brienne kept her sword up, waiting for him to make a strike as he took a breather. 

“You’ve been in a foul mood all day. Why don’t you just hack me and get it over with?” Jaime said, not hiding the fact he knew Brienne was purposefully going more rough than usual on him in their sparring practice. 

“Because unlike you, I have standards.” Brienne said bluntly as Jaime sighed, rolling his eyes as he squinted at her. 

“There’s nothing I can do about Sansa, so why do you keep pushing me to ‘do the right thing’ as one would call it?” Jaime asked, giving a shrug after Brienne went quiet for a time. 

“See? Even you have nothing.” Jaime muttered, then picked up his sword again and got into a position to strike. Brienne kept her eyes on Jaime as she swallowed. 

“I push you because I know there’s some part of you that still cares about the duties you had sworn to when you became a knight. A part of you that still has honor.” Brienne stated firmly, even taking Jaime by surprise as his face went neutral and his eyes widened a bit. He recalled their conversation in the bathhouse all that time ago, his confession, it dawned on him Brienne still held him in high regard despite his sins. Jaime couldn’t tell if he wanted to hug or bash Brienne in for it, given he felt he didn’t deserve to be put high on a podium because of the crimes he had committed. 

Jaime didn’t say anything but used her words as motivation to keep fighting. There was a point in the battle where Brienne acknowledged, had Jaime been in his prime and had he not lost his hand, he could have easily beaten her now with the energy he had suddenly found within himself. She only hoped that he would wise up and do right by Sansa and Lady Stark.