Disclaimir: I do not own Skyrim or it's characters. This is just a story that popped in my head and I decided to work on it.

I hope you enjoy. Feedback, and constructive criticism is always welcomed. Thank you.

A Thought

"You knew me before I was who I am. Before who else I might become." Those words echoed through his head. The look on her face forever imprinted on his mind. He would remember those words for the rest of his life. As well as the warmth of her arms as they wrapped him up in a hug. "You and Lydia are the only two. Even your father and sister didn't know me before this country had already started to change me."

Blaise stops in his tracks and picks up a round stone from the ground. He rubs it in between his hands. It was smooth and flat. Perfect for skipping across the stream. He tosses it back and forth in his hands before catching it one final time. He slides it into his pocket and begins moving again.

He ignores the sheath his fingers occasionally ran across. "Carry this on you when you go outside. You never know what might show up. I need to know you are safe." It was a knife his mother had given him. One of his first, elven, with an intricate design pattern that covered it from the blade to the hilt, and he always took it everywhere.

"Blaise!" Came a shout and his smiles wide. "It took you so long. I was beginning to think you got lost." The girl stand up from her spot by the stream and rubs dirt off her hands and onto her skirt instead. She runs over to greet him.

"Not everyone gets up to come out here as early as you." He replies and ruffles Sofie's hair. He did not do it often because he knew how much it bothered her but he couldn't resist. Recently he had hit another growth spurt and was six inches taller than her now.

She swats his hand away and storms off back to her spot. Sofie bends over again and returns to her previous activity. Whatever that had been. If Blaise had to guess she was looking for extra materials to use at the house or sell at her and father's store.

Blaise walks over to the stream and stands a few feet downstream from her. Close enough so he could get to her incase anyone came by and tries to cause trouble but far enough so he wouldn't bother her or her part of the stream with his stone skipping much. Sofie had a weapon on her as well. An ancient dwarven dagger. Mother made sure both were armed and could use them effectively enough against any burglar or random ruffian. However they were no match for some of their mother's stronger enemies. A fact that had been drilled into Blaise's head a few years back. A few weeks after he had first been adopted. When one such group came after them.

He still remembers the vampire attack. Aunt Lydia had held them off for a great amount of time but it wasn't enough. She was the housecarl, meant to protect it. He was an idiot who had a toy wooden sword and a steel knife. He practiced often and was sure he could defeat the villains besieging his home. He have a yell and charged at the vampire closest to him. They, in turn, kicked him away as if he was a fly and returned to the previous enjoyment. Lydia had killed one of them then but there was still two more. He was useless, out of breath, and in pain as he writhed on the floor. He had hit one of the shelves, hard, but the shattering of the plates he had hit weren't as loud as the fighting was. He was left alone as they ganged up on Lydia. He wasn't sure what was happening because his eyes were squeezed shut.

He heard the front door slam open and his eyes opened wide in terror. He was terrified that more vampires had came but it wasn't more of them. It was his mom. He starts crying as she quickly through one of the vampires off of Lydia before stabbing them in the chest. After that the fight was soon over and he was so happy. Even though he was still crying.

"Next time, run. I do not want to face your mother if she ever found out you were killed because I failed to protect you."

He nodded as Lydia lifted him and stuffed him into an empty dresser. "Stay here and stay quiet until I get back." He had stayed there for what felt like an entirety. He had started to fall asleep when the front door was opened and shut. He woke up and caught his breath, waiting. Lydia opened the dresser. His sigh of relief had escaped him as Lydia offered him a hand to help him out.

As Lydia walked him back to his room Blaise took notice of the blood that decorated her clothes now. "Did you kill them?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"All the ones in this town."

"There's more out in the world?"

"Yes child. Many more. But do not worry. Your mother is out there protecting people from such evils."

He was suddenly scared for his ma. If she faced nightmares like that while she was gone, and she was gone a lot, what if one day she never came home?

"Do not worry. My thane will be home soon and she will be as happy to see you as she always is." Aunt Lydia turned Blaise around and lifted his shirt up slightly to view his back. "There will be a bruise. I will go out tomorrow and see if there is anything I can get to help with the healing." After that she had left him and he laid down in his bed as his resolve to begin training grew. He would become stronger so he could fight alongside his mother one day.

The next day his mother came back, walking through the Breezehome door.

"Ma, you're back!" He ran to greet her as soon as she was through the door. He was going to hug her but then he stops himself as she pulls out her blade and sets it down on the shelf beside her.

"Hello Blaise. I hope you've been a good boy while I'm gone. You two alright? I met a group of hostile vampires camping in the mountains outside of town. They didn't cause you much trouble did they Lydia?"

"No my thane. I was able to dispel them before they harmed anyone permanently."

"Did anyone contract." Mother stopped glancing over at me, as if she wasn't sure I should hear what she was going to say, or maybe the answer.

Lydia ignores the pause. "No my thane. Everyone is healthy."

Nowadays they weren't doing much adventuring. His mother came back, different from what she had been all those years ago. Of course she had changed a lot over the years and she would never be the young woman who was always polite and courteous when addressing people. The world had made her think more, trust less, and always reach for a blade if she was unsure if someone was friend or foe and was leaning more towards the latter.

"Blaise come here." His adopted sister, Sofie calls out to him with a wave of her arm.

Blaise strolls down the side of the stream until he reaches her. "What is it sofie?" Blaise asks as she flashes him her childlike smile that always convinces him.

"I need help carrying these." She gestures to the two baskets that lay behind her. One filled with fish while the other was filled with mushrooms, flowers, some crab legs(looking around he saw the dead mudcrabs floating down the river), and a few other materials.

"You grab the one with the fish and I'll carry the other basket." Sofie states as she lifts her self-assigned basket up. He picks up the fish filled one and follows his sister back home.

When they open the door their father was sitting in one of the six chairs that encircled the fire pit where they cooked all their food in the pots and pans that hung above it. He uses a stick to move the wood about before adding another log. After he places it in the place where it would burn the best he breaks the stick in half and tosses it into the flames. When he stands to grab a pot from above was when he takes notice of the two.

"Blaise. Sofie. Hahahaha. Welcome home kids." He says with a great big smile on his face. "I was actually on my way to meet you two at the river. Need to grab some water to boil for dinner. Would one of you mind doing it for me though, since you're back now?" Balimund asks and Sofie quickly sets her basket near the stones that kept the flames from spreading everywhere.

"I will." Sofie offers. She gently takes the pot from him before running out of the front door.

"How is she?" Blaise asks as he brings the fish filled basket to sit next to the other one.

"She is out of bed right now, but," he drifts off and looks over his shoulder into the trophy room behind him. "she won't leave it. She's just sitting in a corner in there. I can't get her to leave. I tried picking her up and bringing her in here too sit by the fire, but she tried to scratch my eyes out. Drew a little blood from my shoulder."

Looking over him again Blaise could see the small cut on the top of his shoulder. "Did she have her blade?"

"No she hasn't gone near it since she came back from, then. She hasn't actually touched any of her weapons since." Balimund carefully bends down and goes through the baskets. He and Sofie were the two who ran stores. Sofie, having been selling flowers since she was orphaned, now sold a variety of ingredients, flowers, and extras things. Balimund taught her some of his tricks to the trade though he still sold mostly just armor and weapons, he helps her with her own store.

Blaise took more after his mother. He prefers to be out there, exploring, fighting, and improving his skills. Pa and Ma would take him out and teach him to hunt, forage, fish, and fight when he was younger. Sofie was taught the same things. Sometimes they were taught together but ma thought it best if they were taught separately so they could be flourish at their own rates and not compete. That's what ma wanted. Pa thought a little competition was healthy. He wasn't wrong but Ma was careful. She was always careful and always watching the skies as if she was expecting them to fall on top of her. She was always calm though, ready, but calm.

"I wonder what happened." Blaise says aloud. they never got answers about that night she came back. It was just like any other night. Clear dark skies, quiet night, and nothing out of place. Until she came back, covered in dirt and mud, falling to the ground as she tries to approach the house. J'zargo was right behind her, he picked her up and threw one of her arms over his shoulder. He held her up as Blaise had ran inside to get Balimund. They both ran over to them and helped get her back inside faster. J'zargo wouldn't say anything though. No matter how many times they asked. Blaise wanted to throw the stubborn khajiit out but Balimund wouldn't let him. He had been a family friend for years and Blaise saw him as an affectionate if not eccentric uncle. That night, he hated him though. J'zargo always was with his mother. They've fought things beyond Blaise's imagination together. Yet he refused to say anything about what had happened. He still wouldn't.

The first night they had all stayed up throughout the night to keep her company, and to keep her safe. Sofie and Balimund had stayed in the upstairs bedroom with her as Blaise and J'zargo stayed downstairs watching the front door. It took hours to get her to calm down and even longer to get her to finally rest.

"Blaise?" A call from the trophy room causes the men to raise their heads and turn their attention towards it.

"You better go."

Blaise follows his father's words and walks towards the solemn room. In the corner was Tiger Yarrick, the dragonborn, Dovahkiin. She had her head resting on top of her knees, which were pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were quiet and empty. He had never seen her eyes so dull. It filled him with grief. Her hair was the cleanest he had ever seen it. It shined a bright red color, with specks of orange throughout it. There was none of the dirt or dried blood that typically discolored it. Sofie and Balimund have been taking turns, bathing her and she was the cleanest she had ever been in the years she had come to Skyrim, for she was no longer going out on the adventures she once had. She wore regular clothes and it struck him how odd that was. There were very few times over the years where she wore no armor. Even when she took most of it off to hide her identity she would wear armoured gauntlets or a special chain of some kind. If not those then her rings were also magically embedded. None of which she had on now. Instead of her signature gear she wore slippers, a comfy looking hat, and a newer women house garbs.

She raises her head painfully slow and examines me. I approach her careful to tread softly so the noise of the rise and fall of my feet didn't scare her. "You called ma." Blaise tells her as he bends down to become eye level with her.

She smiles softly, as if she was scared to, her eyes fall down to the floor. "Thank you."

This sentence surprised him. "For what ma?"

"For being the best little boy a mother could ask for. You've grown up so much that you're now my little man. Soon I'll have to start bringing you with me because I won't be able to stop you from coming anymore." For a moment he imagined hearing her say those words. For a moment there was a gleam in her eyes like there use to me, but the moment was gone. He had imagined those words. He had willed himself to hear them from her because he wanted her back. His mother back.

Instead she said, "For coming." She looks back and forth around the floor space closes to her. She moves her hand down abruptly and wipes it across the floor furiously before lifting her hand up and frowning at it. She wipes it on the bottom of her clothes before patting the same spot she had just furious wiped at. "Sit."

Blaise does so without question and soon, in silence, she leans against him. He raises one arm and drapes it around her shoulders and she falls into his chest. Not a word is spoken between the two as she begins to shake. Cautiously he wraps the other arm around her body and he held her closer. The shaking didn't stop, but at least she wasn't crying this time.

Blaise heard the door open as Sofie came back in. He heard her set the pot of water, and hang it over the fire to boil. He could hear every step everyone in the house took from his spot in this room. Looking down at his mother, he now understood why she had gotten up and fled to here. No one would be able to surprise her if she was in here. He wanted to ask if that was what happened. If someone had surprised her with a terrifying surprised but he didn't. He knew it was a stupid question and not one that would give him the answers he needed. Or the comfort that his mother needed right now.

Thanks for reading it all the way through. I hope to update this soon. By the way the dragon born is based off of mine. Her name is Tiger Yarrick.

In this story the Dragonborn or Dovahkiin is suffering from PTSD. Hence why she is acting the way she is.