He waits for her, like they promised each other in the old times before the world fell apart. Right next to the entrance to Shor's Hall, in his old armour, with his old scowl, and it nearly breaks her dead heart.
"I'm sorry." The words escape her lips faster than her thoughts.
"You had a lot of opportunities to undo your decision."
"No." She shakes her head, searching for the words. "I'm not sorry for our choices. We followed our hearts…"
"No! Had we followed our hearts, it wouldn't have ended that way. We followed our beliefs." Sudden fury, as always. "We did what we thought was right, but one of us was wrong."
"Or both. My love, what have we done? Together we filled the halls of Sovngarde with soldiers."
"Hey. Don't say that." He walks to her side, wants to touch her for the first time in more than twenty years, but she turns around, tears uncried in life running freely in death.
"Every morning I woke up and saw the thrice-damned Dragonborn slit your throat, and then came the faces of those we killed and I wished we had been able to keep out of the war. Mighty Talos, what have we done…"
"They would have fought. Our deeds didn't matter", he says in a feebly attempt to comfort her. He has never been good with feelings, even with those of the woman he loved. Loves. Still loves.
"But less jarl would have cheered Ulfric's cause if he hadn't had a well-known soldier, a true son of Skyrim, at his side. Less men would have left their families if I hadn't told Tullius how to win their hearts." She raises her head to the colourful sky, unable to look at her lover. "What have we done?" she screams.
"The dead stay dead, my love, no matter how long we mourn them. Do you think I never felt the same? But now we are together again. Forever."
And a small miracle happens for Galmar, because Rikke smiles at him and takes his hand, and they walk through the doors in the warm hall, full of old friends and enemies…
…in a new future.
I couldn't think of another title than "Paradise" because hell I don't know. I hope they were not too OOC, but Civil War + Malukah does strange things with one's mind.
The people belong to BeTESda, I don't know if I read about the pairing somewhere or if it just came to me. I can't remember anything. What's this called? GalmarXRikke, Galmarikke, Galmikke?