A/N: This story is based off of the series of small quests in Darkwater Crossing and Darkwater Pass in Skyrim. Hope you like it. More chapters to come...well, depending on how many people want me to continue this story, that is. :P

The dragon nearby roared as the several Stormcloak soldiers on the lookout outside of the mine readied their bows in case the dragon decided to fight. But they were frightened nonetheless. A handful of soldiers and some steel arrows weren't going to help too much. When the dragon flew ahead past the springs and far up the road, the soldiers feared the worst.

When they climbed up to their small posts above the mine to see past the trees, they saw a small figure, almost like an ant from where they were, and within minutes, the dragon gave out a roar of defeat as its scales began to fade away. The guards removed their helmets and looked on in astonishment.

"Is that...?" One of them started. The other one smirked in admiration for the figure ahead on the road, and nodded as they jumped down and began to run up the road, signaling for the other soldiers around the crossing and in the cabin to follow. When they realized who was up the road, they wasted no time trying to greet the honored hero.

Derkeethus sighed as he wiped his scaly forehead, rolling his neck afterwards. He grimaced along with his fellow miners at the cracking sounds his neck made. Tormir gave a sympathetic smile as she glanced over at him. She grabbed her pickaxe when she spotted Sondas Drenim and Verner Rock-Chucker coming towards them. Tormir noticed the mischievous gleam in their eyes and suggestive smirks. She grabbed Hrefina's hand and began to walk out of the mine as she passed the oncoming men. They walked past her and surrounded Derkeethus.

"You never did tell us, Derkeethus..." Sondas Drenim started, laughing slightly. Derkeethus sighed, tired of their constant teasing about the same things every week.

"Have you found a lady yet?" Verner finished. When Derkeethus didn't respond and dropped his pickaxe as he began to walk out of the mine, rubbing the back of his neck in exasperation. The two men continued to tease him on the way out.

"There must, at least, be someone you have feelings for." Sondas suggested hopefully. He and Verner somewhat pitied the poor Argonian and thought he was very unhappy of late, or more so, lonely. They had began walking up the road while they spoke, overhearing the guards and other miners walk up to the dead dragon in the distance. Derkeethus fiddled with his fingers as they got even closer.

"Well...actually...there is on-" Derkeethus froze in fear and embarrassment as he looked up with the rest of them and spotted the hero of the day. Sondas and Verner smirked in realization when they saw how the Argonian gazed upon her. Their question had been answered within seconds.

"Oh...the girl who saved your life is the one you want the most, eh?" Verner joked. Derkeethus glared at him before looking up at the lovely woman up the road.

A pale, short girl with freckles dusting her cheekbones. Her chin length auburn hair blew in the wind as her bangs nearly covered her chocolate eyes. Her armor was torn slightly in certain places. The sleeves ripped nearly all the way off of her normal tunic, one leg up to the knee was ripped from its cloth. A gold chain wrapped around her neck and disappeared into her shirt. She was wearing some kind of amulet or necklace. Her leather boots shone with the dragons blood as she panted heavily. Her arms were bare and faint goosebumps began to form. She tightly gripped the dwarven greatsword in her hands as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, resting on her sprawled legs. She wiped the spewed blood from small spots on her face and arms as she dropped the sword and the arrows fell from their holder on her back, along with her bow. She rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. She gazed around at the thankful miners, who slowly helped her up. She glanced at the dragon skeleton, as she just finished absorbing its soul.

"Feel free to take whatever is on the body, guys. Maybe have a smither make you guys some good stuff with that dragon bone." She said with a smile, bagging the gold that was somehow on the dragons body and handing it to Annekke Crag-Jumper, who smiled back and helped her steady herself.

"Raen, you must be exhausted. How far have you traveled?" Annekke asked the Dragonborn.

"I came from Riverwood. I was with some friends when one of my...associates sent word to me of a nearby dragon's nest. I grew worried and immediately began running here." Raen responded, still panting slightly. Annekke gasped and embraced the girl.

"Come, you will dine with us tonight and sleep over. We shall celebrate the rest of this day and relax." She exclaimed. She turned to Tormir.

"If there is anyone left in the mines, tell them to stop working and relax by the fire." Tormir nodded and went to quickly check for anyone else. She returned moments later with nothing to report.

"Alright, everyone. Let's get this dragon's corpse cleaned and looted, then we'll chuck whatever's left because frankly, it'll just block the road, and I don't want to have to wake up to a dead dragon skeleton every morning, if you all don't mind. So let's get moving!" She said with excitement. Tormir and Hrefina helped her bag everything they looted off the corpse, along with as many dragon bones and scales as they could carry. They carried the bags inside the house and then worked to move the 'remains of the remains' away from the road.

Sondas and Verner began to push Derkeethus up the road, which only caused the Argonian to pull away and begin to run back to the mine in embarrassment. But he stopped when a hand touched his shoulder. He was ready to turn around and hiss at the two men who had been taunting him, but they were a few feet away, holding their sides in silent laughter at his expression change when he gazed upon Raen, who had caught up to him. Before he could even make a sound, she crushed him with a hug. He nearly fainted in her embrace.

"Derkeethus, I missed you so, my friend." She said. He couldn't even respond to her, he was so shocked.

"When I heard that a dragon's nest was so close, I nearly exploded. I panicked, and thought of you and the others all the way out here with hardly any assistance. I obviously thought of their protection, but you were the first one I thought of. My good friend, who has been with me through so much, I was terrified for your life. Where would I be without you by my side?" She had pulled away and poured out her worries in such a rush it took him a moment to recall what she said. On the last sentence she began to cry.

Derkeethus panicked silently and didn't really know what to do, so he just stood there, gripping her shoulders for dear life. She wiped her eyes before her voice could quiver anymore and she smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling.

"I am sorry...I don't mean to be emotional. I haven't seen you in a while and the thought of not seeing you ever again tore me." She confessed. She heard a small whimper from him and noticed how troubled he was.

"Oh, Derkeethus, you don't need to act this way around me. Your my best companion, lighten up." She tried to cheer him, and saw his mouth turn into what would have been a smile, if Argonians could really smile, that is.

"My apologies. I just didn't expect to see you all of a sudden. I acted immaturely." He admitted. If Argonian's could blush, he'd be doing so right now, as well.

"Hmm...yes you did. I went over to talk to you and you began to run away." She said, hands on her hips and smirking in a teasing manner as she was now at arms length. Sondas and Verner were walking by to go pretend to be busy with stoking the fire, and Verner feigned a cough and murmured, "It's 'cause he loves you." Causing said Argonian to hiss and chase after the laughing duo with his pickaxe. Raen watched in amusement, raising her eyebrow. She knew Derkeethus loved her, and she loved him, but she didn't want to risk becoming a nagging girlfriend or wife who would be bossy and bitchy and downright cruel.

She didn't want that at all, so she would make sure not to pour out her love to him so obviously. But she loved the way he would become so shy after just a week or two of not seeing her. Then she would grab him from his job and drag him out on her own quests because she 'felt like it'. He loved traveling and fighting with her, or rather, fighting alongside her. No, he never fought with her. No, they were too close to get into arguments. Too 'secretly' in love with each other to risk creating problems with each other. One went wherever the other suggested, and if it didn't work, the latter would lead the other. That's how it always worked.

She had gone inside to treat her wounds as Derkeethus chased down the men who proceeded to taunt him throughout the afternoon.

She had been sipping her mead when Tormir and the girls began to tease her about Derkeethus' feelings for her, which caused her to gag.

"You guys know too?" She asked incredulously. Tormir giggled.

"Everyone does. He looks at you whenever you visit, with the eyes of a man who's completely and utterly smitten." She explained. Raen smirked and rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't think you feel the same way though. Sometimes, during our bonfires, he drinks a bit too much mead along with the other men, and in a drunken stupor, he complains about how he's too insignificant, too outlandish to be with a Nordic goddess such as you, blah blah blah..." Annekke imitated the Argonian's occasional behavior and mumbled something about serving less mead for the men more often nowadays. Raen shook her head and smiled sadly.

"I swear, sometimes he's as stupid as Ulfric Stormcloak. Nirn, as well as Skyrim, is home to all. The Gods put us all here for us to someday unite as races. How are we to do that if our war tears our beliefs apart? Am I, like many Stormcloaks and Stormcloak supporters, unhappy about the banishment of the worship of Talos? Sure. Do I think, like the rest of the Empire, that Skyrim is big enough for all races and not just the Nords? Damn right. But can my opinion make a difference? Probably not, because our worlds are far from perfect. But my point is, even though I'm a Nord doesn't mean I have to be as hard headed as one. If I thought like most Nords, I would never have found true love. I fell in love with an Argonian, and I couldn't be happier." She said, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

Then she realized that she just confessed her feelings in front of the girls. Annekke, Tormir, and Hrefina all smirked at her. The laughter and tales of adventure could be heard from the men and soldiers outside around the bonfire. Raen smirked slightly at the wonderful sound of Derkeethus' smooth laughter. But then blushed slightly when she realized that the girls now knew she felt the same way for him.

"So are you going to tell him soon?" Annekke asked. Raen bit her lip.

"I plan to...yes..." She mumbled. The girls all 'awwww'd in unison, causing Raen to roll her eyes and smirk a tiny bit as she sipped her mead.

"Derkeethus..." Raen whispered, shaking the Argonian from his slumber. It was the middle of the night, but for Raen, he'd no doubt make an exception.

"Hmm?" He mumbled as he rose from the tent. She smiled up at him and took his hand.

"Come with me...I know of a place we haven't been to yet." She glowed with excitement as she began to walk, nearly dragging his tired form down the road. Little did they know that Raen's whispering woke up the others, and they all smirked and began to softly and slowly follow the two down the road.

A/N: Yeah. That's all I got so far. But, review and let me know if you want more.

Hope you enjoyed. :D

-Noodle12 ^.^