Valiant
by I Am Better Than Orange Soda
AN: Random little thing I came up while procrastinating on Out of Cyrodiil. For Christmas, I got Oblivion for the PC. So a couple nights ago, I was up at three in the morning, naming all of the guards in Skingrad and listening to The Spill Canvas. Then in my head spawned my idea for this story.
She was back in town again.
I loved when she was in town.
Natalie Marie. Lips quivered at just her name. She had done remarkable things. Several times, she had gone into Oblivion and back. Many people say she was the famed Hero of Kvatch. Rumor had it that she was a part of some secret service that was sworn on protecting the Emperor. Looking at her, you couldn't tell it. Sweet as sugar, that girl. Always minding her manners, and a smart one too. In fact, she was the kind of girl you expected to be holed up in a Mages Guild Library. I just couldn't picture that pretty little thing slaying Daedra, blood splattering on her boots as her blade clung against a fearsome Xivilai's sword. Many people in town had the highest respect for her. Half of my fellow guards would bend the rules a little bit for her. I don't recall the last time she actually had to pay a fine in Skingrad.
Then again, she hadn't been in Skingrad for quite some time. Not since Else God-Hater attacked her, and that was a good four months ago. According to Cassius Amantus, she spent most of her time up in Bruma. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on up there. Apparently an Oblivion gate had opened near every major city in Cyrodiil. The count of Cheydinhal's son was rescued from one. I guess that's where she had been, and I guess that's why she had come back to Skingrad. About a month ago, the damned thing had opened. Honestly, Dion had no idea what to do with it. He eventually came to the conclusion of just treating it like a guardpost. We took shifts on which of us were supposed to guard it next. Luckily, I had only gotten gate duty twice. It was pretty uneventful honestly. Every hour or so, a random clannfear runt would run out. The other guy and I took turns on who had to kill it. I had seen more frightening things on one of Glarthir's bad spells.
I was in the guard house when I found out she was back in town. That particular week I had night-shift. After waking up from a rather pleasant dream, I sat down at the table to eat my, well, breakfast, when I overheard little Colin Liric and Ol' Cassius talking at the table next to me.
"I hate gate duty," Colin groaned and took a swig of ale. "Why doesn't Danus send his men out to deal with it? Talos forbid the Castle guards have to do any real work! All they ever do is stand there and look professional. Have they ever had to deal with a raging Bernadette Peneles accusing Ambroise Canne of stealing her hoe when all along Tamika had borrowed it and forgotten to tell her? Have they ever had to deal with Glarthir shooting his mouth off at Davide Surielle for looking at him funny? Have they ever had to deal with Glarthir?"
Cassius chuckled, "Don't worry, my friend. At least the gate will be gone soon. I can't say the same for Glarthir or the Castle guards."
The younger guard tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I will tell you this," he grinned, "I stopped at The West Weald Inn on the way back from my post, and Erina told me that Natalie Marie had just rented a room upstairs and retired for the night minutes before I came in."
"Natalie Marie?" Colin gaped, "The Hero of Kvatch? The one who saved Count Dunmer's son? She's a legend and she's sleeping in the West Weald Inn!"
The old guard chuckled at Little Liric's utter astoundment, and I smiled to myself. I couldn't believe she was finally back in town. But then I realized something. Tomorrow, she would probably close the gate sometime in the afternoon, and then be gone for another four months. Meaning I wouldn't see her, because I had night-shift this week. Frowning slightly, I shrugged it off and ate my breakfast. That's just how life went.
Colin let out a loud yawn and brightly said, "Well, I am completely worn-out. Off to bed."
He left the room and Cassius moved over to sit in front of me.
"Gregory," the old man grinned, "Just the man I needed to see!"
I looked up at him suspiciously. He had that smile on his lips that showed he was up to no good. Cassius might have been an old man, but he had the heart of a young troublemaker. So many people mistaked him for a harmless elderly man only to be shown time and time again that problems seemed to follow him around like moths to a flame.
I swallowed my food and asked, "What do you need to see me about?"
"I was wondering if you could do my shift tomorrow," he stated bluntly, "I'll do yours for tonight."
Cutting my meat, I didn't break my eye-contact with him. "What's the catch?"
"See the Missus wants me to-"
"You said Sybil was out of town until Fredas," I said, interrupting his thinly veiled lie.
"Will you let me finish?" he defended and continued, "I was saying, she's coming back early and wants me to pick her up."
"Not buying it."
"Okay, fine! You want the truth?" he asked, giving up the charade.
"Quite frankly, yes," I replied.
"You have night-shift, and I want you to be able to see Natalie," he admitted.
I shook my head, trying to rack my brains for any logical reason why he could possibly want me to see Natalie. Of course, it was completely useless because Cassius Amantus was not known for his rational thinking. Wise Julianos would be lost trying to figure out how his mind worked.
"Why?" I gaped.
"Because you're sweet on her, and not even Akatosh knows the next time you'll be able to see her."
"I am not 'sweet on her'!" I exclaimed.
"I get it Greg," Cassius said, "You don't have to lie to me."
"I am not lying," I defended myself, "and if you excuse me, I have a shift to start."
I left the room and made my way out of the guard house. The sun had just set when I began to patrol the south side of the City. It wasn't until around midnight when I noticed some strange movements around Tamika's house. Figuring it to be Glathir, I took out a torch and looked around the shrubbery. That Bosmer was really becoming a pain in the ass. Actually, he had been a pain in the ass. Honestly, most of the town couldn't wait until he actually committed a crime so we could finally lock him away and end the misery.
"Looking for somebody?" a soft voice came from behind me.
Startled, I whirled around to see a Breton girl. Her satin blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. Her blue eyes shimmered by the torch light. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress. Last time I saw her she'd been dressed in clothes somebody could easily find off the street. Blushing at being caught off-guard, I tried to regain my composure. Okay maybe Cassius was a little right. There was something about Natalie that got to me.
"You're out late, ma'am," I stated as professionally as I could.
"Oh, Greggie," she giggled, "Always trying to be the big, tough guard."
"I take my job very seriously, miss," I replied with a small smile.
She walked toward the bush I had been looking through and leaned next to it. "I don't think Glarthir can fit in here, Greggie," she commented and stood back up.
"Probably just the wind," I muttered.
"Probably," she agreed with a nod. With a look of boredom, the girl turned and walked out back onto the street. Looking back at me, she smiled softly, "Come walk with me, Greggie!"
Grinning dryly, I unwillingly followed her out onto the street. Once she saw I was coming, Natalie began to head down the road as I trotted along behind her. There was a bit of a skip to her step as she walked under the moonlit city.
"I really should be getting back to my patrol," I told her.
She shot a look at me and turned to face my direction. Now walking backwards, she shook her head and laughed, "C'mon Greggie! The worst thing that could happen is that Glarthir starts stalking us. When was the last time something actually happened in this town?"
It was too true for me to deny. Other than the clannfear runts that had to be killed during gate duty, the last time a crime was actually committed was when Else attacked Natalie four months ago, and she had taken care of that just fine.
She turned back around and continued on to say, "Any way, I'm leaving town tomorrow after I close the Oblivion gate and get the soldiers to help us with Bruma,"
I gave her a strange look. "What's going on with Bruma?" I asked.
Without warning, she stopped in her tracks and looked around the street cautiously as if for looking for somebody spying on our conversation.
"That's not something I can discuss out here in the open," Natalie mumbled in a very Glarthir-like fashion and gave me a quick smile.
Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and began to run toward the church. At first she was basically dragging me, but as soon as I figured out what we were doing, I ran alongside her. We arrived behind the chapel, and she let go of my hand. Sitting down in the grass, she motioned for me to do the same. Once I did, she whispered quietly.
"A great Oblivion gate is opening near Bruma," she explained, "I have been put in charge of rallying troops to come to Bruma's aide. That's why I've been gone so long. Between Martin asking me to go all over the Nirn looking for random objects that apparently have more value than they look and closing Oblivion gates so the Counts and Countesses can send their men to help Bruma, I'm ready to pass out and die. And swear to the Nine, if Baurus makes one more crack about my hair, I might just kill him."
I stared at her for a second. There was no way a girl that small and cute could possibly be doing all she claimed to be doing.
"Why you?" I finally asked.
She blinked and shrugged, "I asked myself that question for a long time. Honestly, when I got caught stealing from the bet box outside the Arena, I had no idea that a tiny, little mistake like that would totally and completely change my life. When I first went into the Kvatch gate, that's all I could think about: 'why me?' There had to be another person in Cyrodiil who could do this. Emperor Septim said it was fate, destiny, and I guess that's one way of looking at it. But from where I'm standing, I see it as there's a job to be done and somebody has to do it. So if I don't do it, who will?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I understand exactly what you're saying."
She gave me a soft smile and pulled at a blade of grass. "I knew you would."
Looking up at the night sky, the girl gave a soft sigh, "Well Greggie, I guess you should be getting back to your patrol, and I should be getting back to sleep. I need to be fully rested when I go stealing that Sigil Stone tomorrow."
We both stood up and she dusted the grass off of her dress.
"It was nice seeing you again," I smiled. She leaned up and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Nice seeing you too, Greggie."
"Levitus, get your lazy ass out of bed!"
The afternoon following my midnight meeting with Natalie Marie, I awoke to the lovely sight of Dion shaking my shoulder. In my opinion, every person should wake up to this. It really makes your entire day. Groaning, I pulled the sheet back over my head. Of course my un-amused superior yanked the whole damn sheet off the bed, forcing me to get up. In defeat, I sat up and tretched my arms out with a audible yawn.
"Move it soldier," he growled. "The Count wanted me to pick two of my best men for a special mission."
I groaned again because before he even got the words out of his mouth, I knew what he was going to say.
"So I hope you like snow, Levitus, 'cause you're going to Bruma."
I cannot begin to describe how unbelievabley cold Bruma is in the winter. I honestly don't understand how Nords stand it. When I arrived outside Castle Bruma with the other two men, I wanted to get this battle over with, just to get out of the cold. There were men from all over Cyrodiil: Anvil, Cheydinhal, Leyawiin and even a Captain from Bravil. I was having a very hard time believing Natalie closed all these gates. I spent about a week waiting for word about the battle. Apparently Martin Septim, the Emperor-to-be, and along with Natalie, were going to be leading us. When they weren't teasing us about being cold, the Bruma guards told us stories about the Oblivion gates, and how Natalie showed them how to close one. Just waiting around for one week was enough to drive me mad, but the Anvil guys had been there for two months.
Finally one morning, two men from Chorrol arrived. Later, the captain of the guard for Bruma told us that Countess Carvain and Martin Septim were meeting in the chapel to discuss plans, and that we needed to get ready for battle. As we readied, I saw two figures step out of the church. It appeared to be Natalie, dressed head to toe in heavy armor. I wouldn't have recognized her if she was wearing her helmet, but instead she held onto it as she spoke to a Redguard man who was dressed in similar suit. They headed to stand with us when all of a sudden Natalie stopped in her tracks only feet in front of me.
There was a small thud as her helmet hit the snow and she stared at me. The Redguard that she'd been talking to kept looking back in forth between us, trying to figure out what had caught her by surprise.
"Gregory, what are you doing here?" she asked, completely shocked to see me.
"I'm here to play my part in the Oblivion crisis," I replied with a smile.
She didn't smile back. The Redguard coughed and leaned over to her, "I think I'm going to go talk to Captain Steffan."
He quickly walked away leaving us alone. Finally Natalie spoke. In a weak voice, she shook her head, "You shouldn't be here."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you to be out there!" she cried, suddenly, and whimpered, "I've seen what will come out of those gates, and I won't be able to concentrate when I'm inside if I'm worried you're out here dying."
I took a few steps closer to her and held her hands. "I'll be fine," I tried to reassure her. It was really no use because tears had started to form in the corners of her eyes and now they were rolling down her cheek. She flung her arms around my neck and buried her head in my chest.
"This isn't going to be like fighting the little clannfear runts or scamps that came out of the gate back in Skingrad," she sobbed, "You aren't ready to be here. You've never really fought something big like this. You're a guard, Greg, not a soldier! These are going to be Dremora and Atronachs and Xivilais and maybe even Daedroths! Greg, I don't want you to die."
I sighed and kissed the top of her head. Seeing her upset was new to me. Every time I saw her she was in this state of carefree bliss. The fact that she was worried about me to this extent brought a small smile to my lips. I put my arms around her and held her for a moment. So Cassius was wrong. I wasn't sweet on Natalie, but fully and helplessly in love with her. It had taken me a year to recognize it, and now that I did, there was a very real chance that I would be dying today. A tragedy was what it was, and I couldn't tell her that I was because then the death would be all the worse.
"Do you trust in me?" I asked her. She pulled away as I let go of her and looked up at me. I repeated, "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do," she answered, quietly.
"Then trust in me to get through this," I smiled. This time she at least tried to return it. A weary, half-hearted smile formed on her red lips as she tried to hide the fact that she'd just been crying. The Redguard reappeared and looked at her concerned.
"You okay Nattie?" he asked.
She turned to face him and answered in a confident voice, "Yeah I am."
"Well we should be getting back to the chapel before Jauffre has a fit," he told her.
She looked at me and whispered, "Stay safe, Greg."
"There he is!" a Nord woman exclaimed from the crowd as the chapel doors opened.
Out stepped Countess Carvain and behind her came a man dressed in bright and shiny armor. Obviously, he was none other than our future emperor, Martin Septim. Behind him came an older man suited in the same kind of armor as Natalie had been wearing. Then finally the Redguard and Natalie came out of the church. We were waiting by the city gate as the little parade made its way through town. The citizens cheered for their emperor, but I couldn't take my eyes off Natalie. She had a calm look on her face, showing she was over that breakdown she'd had only an hour ago. Now she was a hero again. She was going to charge into the Great Gate and save us all.
As she passed us by, we began to follow them out of the city. There were three gates waiting outside. I gripped my sword and grimaced at the sight. My stomach began to churn. Natalie hadn't been overexaggerating when she said I wasn't ready for this. I got the feeling most of the other guys were thinking the same thing. Emperor Martin stood in front of us and made some amazing, elegant speach. Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to him. My eyes were set on the three Oblivion gates that were standing in front of us.
A soldier's voice rang out from the crowd just as Martin finished speaking.
"Daedra!" he cried as a swarm of Dremora began to pour out from the gates. We all unsheathed our weapons and began to charge at the enemy.
A creepy looking Xivilai ran toward me. Without a second thought, I swung my sword and lopped him into two. Suddenly something burned me from behind and I fell to the ground to see a little Flame Atronach standing near me. I got up and charged at the damned creature, tearing through it like parchment. Swerving around, I speared a Xivilai's Clannfear. The Xivilai lunged at me and I struck him down with my blade.
Through the chaos, I could see men falling. Martin Septim was still standing and kicking ass. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Natalie disappear into the big gate. Smirking to myself, I chopped through two Dremora Kynvals. Then from the side came a Dremora Lord. He threw a spell at me and I flew back to the ground. The scene started to get dark as I heard somebody scream: "Protect Martin!"
Who was Martin?
I woke up in a daze. Immediately, I knew I wasn't dead. This place was too damn cold to be the afterlife. A bright light shone through the window as my eyes focused in on the scene. It appeared to be somebody's house, but wounded soldiers were every where. My head was pounding, and there was a burning pain in my side. Groaning, I managed to sit up. Recognizing I was now conscious, a Bosmer woman, who had been tending to a rather badly burnt Bruma guard, ran to my side.
"Oh good!" she smiled at me, "You're awake."
I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, awake," I muttered, too out of it to do anything other than repeat everything she said.
"The Savior of Bruma will be glad to hear you're alive," she chattered, "Bless her little heart! You should have seen her, pacing in here for an hour before her friend took her outside for some fresh air. "
"Fresh air," I repeated and rubbed my head.
"Does that hurt?" the mer questioned. I nodded and she put her hand above my forehead. Merrily she told me, "Sit still and you'll feel better in a moment!"
She cast some healing spell that made helped me get to the point where I could put together a full thought.
"Natalie!" I thought aloud.
"Yes the Savior of Bruma," the mer brightly stated, "She's right outside if you want me to get her."
I nodded, "Natalie..."
She left the room and I rubbed my head again. What the hell had that gods-damned Dremora done to me to make me feel like this? This was worse than having a hangover and dealing with a pissy Dion and Glarthir. The door creaked open and I looked to see my Natalie. Her face was covered in a mixture of soot and blood and she was wearing thin raggedy clothes, but I'd never seen her so beautiful. With a squeel of happiness, she ran and leapt onto me.
"Gregory!" the Breton girl cried out as she landed on my bed. I let out a pained grunt, but she paid no attention to that. She was too busy hugging me to death and talking my ear off, as she chattered away, "I was worried you were going to die! Don't ever worry me like that again! I had never been so frightened in my life! Talos, you don't look well! What in Oblivion happened out there? You know what? I don't care! You're alive and that's all that matters."
"It's good to see you too," I mumbled, forcing a pained smile. She pulled away, but left her arms around my neck.
"Oh, stop being a smart-ass all the time," she moaned and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I hear you're the new Savior of Bruma," I smirked.
"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Natalie drawled, "I'm getting a statue erected in my honor, right here in Bruma. By next year, I'm pretty much going to be the Savior of all of Tamriel. When not at work in the Imperial Palace, I'll be out signing autographs, making special appearences. You know, basic hero stuff."
I leaned in to the point where our noses were touching. "Well promise me that you won't be too busy to visit old, crippled Gregory."
"Don't worry Greggie," she smiled widely, "I'll make sure to visit you as often as possible."
"So what happens next?"
"I'm going to kill Mankar Cameron and get the amulet back, or get the amulet back and kill Mankar Cameron. It really doesn't matter what order it comes in. After he's dead, the Oblivion crisis will be over and Martin will be Emperor. By that point, he'll have finally fallen for my charm and good looks then I shall be his Empress."
"And you'll live happily ever after?"
"Exactly."
"I don't think you'll have time to do anything between being the Savior of Tamriel and the Empress."
"Then I guess I don't have to become Empress," she shrugged with a soft smile, "But if Martin asks me to, I'm not going to say no."
I laughed, but abruptly stopped because of the pain in my side. Natalie tilted her head and asked in a concerned voice, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I lied, "just a tiny pain. No big deal."
There was a silence, and I think we both noticed how close we were. I should've kissed her. I sure has hell wanted to, but my mouth ran dry and I couldn't bring myself to move. If I had kissed her, things would have been different. Things would have worked out perfectly. Or maybe things would have worked out worse if I had kissed her. The only important thing was that I didn't. She let go of me and stretched.
"Well Greggie," she smiled, "I best be going. I'll see you back in Skingrad."
She turned toward the door and began to walk away. I knew if I didn't do something, I would spend the rest of my life regretting not taking that chance.
"Wait," I called out, "Please stay. Just for a second longer."
She stopped, but didn't turn around. Her voice was as serious as she had been before the battle. "I can't Greg. I have to save the world. When everything is over. I'll find you in Skingrad, okay?"
"Be bloody valiant," I spat, "I'll see you then."
Natalie whisked around, and her satin blonde hair twirled with her like a graceful dancer. I had braced myself for a rage of fury, but instead her beautiful face was stricken with something I had not expected: hurt. In my heart, I felt a pang of regret at what I had just said, but I just couldn't stop myself.
"What?" she asked, in that way that meant she heard me but she wished she hadn't.
"You heard me loud and clear, hero," I hissed. Why was I doing this? Stop it! Bad Greg!
"Why are you doing this?" her voice trembled. Tears were filling the corners of her eyes. I had to stop myself, but I just couldn't. Maybe it was fear of getting close to her, or maybe it was resentment that I'd never be her first priority. To this day, I still can't figure out why I did this act of complete self-sabotage. But it just kept coming, spewing out of my mouth, like I was possessed by some demon spirit.
"Because your highness, I'm tired of you running around like you're some kind of goddess," I growled, "You aren't the Natalie I know."
"Greggie!" she cried, "I'm still her! I'm still the girl who used to always address Valandrus as Your Eminence just to piss him off. I'm still the girl who danced on the tables in the West Weald Inn. I'm still the girl who used to stay up at night and wander around the streets past every last damn guard post to find you!" She was screaming by the last part. Then she exhaled heavily and in a calmer voice said, "No, I was looking for Gregory Levitus. You can't possibly be him. Greg would never be as bitter and hateful as you."
She left the room, and I sighed to myself. The Battle of Bruma took many casualties. Neither the men from Chorrol nor the men from Leyawiin made it off the battlefield. Several of the Bruma and Anvil guards were left dead. Many died in the make-shift hospital. I think Gregory Levitus died there as well. Near Natalie's statue there was a stone slab in remembrence of the men who lost their lives in the battle.
"...Doran Jonus. Colin Liric. Gregory Levitus. Timothee Mandolin..."
After I finally recovered from my injury, which took much longer than it should have. Apparently a piece of steel had been lodged into my side. If they pulled it out there was a possibility I could bleed to death, but if they left it in, it would just be a minor pain and be no real harm to me. Even though I felt nameless, I returned to Skingrad a hero. Because of my injury I got an offer from Danus Artellian to become a castle guard or resigned from my job as city guard. I chose to resign. I arrived in Anvil the day before Martin Septim sacrificed himself and saved the City. According to the Courier, Natalie had been named Champion of Cyrodiil for her heroic efforts in the whole thing. I always wondered how Natalie reacted when she showed up in Skingrad to find out I had left.
In Anvil, I found a new identity: Linus Cohen, a traveling merchant. For two years, I floated around from town to town, selling and buying. Sure, it paid well. I made more gold as a merchant than I ever did as a guard. The only problem was Linus didn't have the same zeal toward his job as Greg did. Really Linus didn't show much interest in anything. He just spent his time in a hotel room counting stock and reminiscing of his life as Gregory Levitus.
I went two years avoiding her memory. Until one evening, I was drinking in the Grey Mare. The place was rather uncrowded. Emfrid was tending to the bar, and Reynald was sitting at the table, drinking in the corner. The door creaked open, and Emfrid looked over the bar. A smile appeared on her face as she greeted the newcomer.
"Well it's been a long time ma'am," the Nord woman said as the stranger sat down next to me at the bar.
"You must have me mistaken for somebody else," sighed the person, as she removed her cloak to reveal a Breton woman. Her short satin blonde hair hung right above her shoulders. Her face was worn from her battles, but still she was as radiant as the day she ran into a make-shift hospital and jumped onto the bed of a wounded soldier.
Emfrid looked at me. "Eh, Linus! Doesn't she look just like the Champion of Cyrodiil?"
I glanced over at the woman once more. She looked at me and I could tell in her eyes she recognized me as well. "I wouldn't know," I said in a weary voice, "I never met her, Saw her a long time ago, but somehow, I can't remember that face."
The Nord shrugged and went back to cleaning the mugs, muttering "I think she looks like her."
"Linus Cohen," I introduced myself, holding a hand out to greet her.
"Emelie Liric," she replied and shook my hand. Her hands were not those of a warrior, but she had never been a warrior in my mind.
I took another sip and finished my drink. Getting off the stool, I headed towards the door and exited. The sun was just setting as I came out side. The shadows on the ground seemed to grow with every step I took away from the Grey Mare. If I walked fast enough, maybe I could get away in time. My steps became more hurried, but it was too late.
"Greg." a little voice called.
I could've kept walking, but I didn't. I stopped at the sound of her voice. There was no need to turn around; I knew who it was. Or maybe I just couldn't bring myself to face her so I just stood there and chuckled to myself. "It's been a long time since somebody called me that," I said in a low voice. It was more directed to myself than to her. I heard her hurried footsteps approach me and felt her hand upon my shoulder.
In my mind, I thought: Run away, Natalie. Gregory is dead, and he's never coming back. I won't let him come back. Of course, she didn't listen to my warning. She was never one for listening to advice of any form. That's one of those things I loved about her.
"I went to Skingrad," she told me. I closed my eyes and she asked, "Why weren't you there?"
"You must have me mistaken for somebody else." It was all in vain, hoping that somehow she would buy it.
"I had to do something, Greg!" she cried. "I had to save Cyrodiil. I couldn't stay with you. Believe me, I wanted to stay. I wanted to be with you. I loved you Greg."
My eyes opened to see the sun slip under the Nirn and the darkness begin to enclose the heavens. I spun around to face my Natalie, her gorgeous face was filled with desperation to try to reach me. She looked up at me with those big blue eyes and I said something that should've been said a long time ago.
"Natalie, would you marry me today?"
Her face went to upset to shocked. "What?" she gasped, "Greg, have you completely lost your mind?"
I looked up at the darkened sky and saw the moon. In my head I could still see the night that we walked under the stars in Skingrad. She, in her blue dress, skipped down the roads in the moonlight. It was amazing how she radiated in a moonlit street. Even now as she stood in front of me, completely shocked at my proposal, her dumb-struck face was shone brightly. I pulled her close to me and put my arms around her. Her eyes were widened with surprise and her mouth hung slightly agape.
"Natalie Marie, will you marry me?" I asked.
"Greg! This is ridiculous! We haven't seen eachother in two years! We were never even-"
She was so cute when she argued. I could tell in her eyes that she was trying to be rational, but deep down the answer was yes.
"I loved you."
Her jaw clenched, "Exactly, Greg, you loved me, and I loved you. Feelings change."
"Did they?" I asked softly.
Most of the time, people would rather hear a yes instead of a no. Yes, I want you to have this job. Yes, I think your cooking is outstanding. Yes, you are completely correct. Yes, I will marry you. Instead of: No, you aren't qualified for this. No, I think your cooking is as bad as Khajiit's. No, that isn't true, you idiot. No, I won't marry you.
"No, Greg," she whispered, "they didn't. I still love you."
I leaned down and kissed her softly. When she finally pulled away, I looked at her and with a small smirk, I asked her once more.
"So will you marry me?"
Heh...I'm done on my little random story. Just something I came up with because I was totally bored. I decided it didn't need to be answered because that was really all that mattered.
I swear I'll get working on Out of Cyrodiil immediately. I have severe writer's block for that one.