"Oh, thank the Divines!" Hadvar cried out. "This looks like the way out! I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever make it."

Berin grunted wearily in agreement. After two hours of running through halls and then cave tunnels, fighting whatever got in their way (whether it was a group of Stormcloaks, giant spiders, or a gods-damned cave bear), he felt like he'd been trampled by an angry horse.

They'd only taken a few steps out of the cave when Hadvar slowed and held up his hand. "Wait. Do you hear that?"

Berin listened for a moment before his eyes widened at the sound of huge wingbeats approaching quickly.

"Get under cover!" He whispered urgently, diving back into the darkness of the cave entrance. Hadvar, being too far from the cave to find cover there, quickly ducked under the thick branches of a nearby tree. Mere seconds after they were both hidden, a roar sounded and the black dragon responsible for the destruction of Helgen dove from the clouds and flew to the northwest.

Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding, Berin cautiously stepped out of the cave's shadows. "Looks like he's gone, hopefully for good."

"I don't think we should stick around to see." Hadvar replied with a tense chuckle.

"Agreed."

As they started down the hill, Hadvar looked around to get his bearings.

"The closest town from here is Riverwood. It's about a three hour walk, so we should be able to get there before sundown. My uncle's the blacksmith there, he should be able to help us out."

"Alright then, let's go before it gets any later." Berin said as he glanced up at the sun. "I'd rather not get caught out here in the dark, especially with no shelter."

Hadvar nodded and took the lead, walking down the dirt path through the trees.
-

"Riverwood is just around this bend, almost there." Hadvar said tiredly, four hours of walking later.

"Thank the gods." Berin groaned. "The sun's almost gone and I think my feet abandoned me several miles ago."

Hadvar chuckled as they walked around the bend and Riverwood came into view. Hadvar studied it for several moments before nodding. "Everything looks normal here. Come on, there's my uncle." He said, pointing at a tall, burly man hunched over something on a worktable. He started towards the town again before he was stopped by Berin.

"Wait!" Berin said quickly, grabbing his arm. "We probably don't want people to know about the dragon, correct? Avoid a panic?"

"That would probably be a good idea, yes." Hadvar replied sarcastically, his raised brow silently questioning Berin's point.

Berin raised a brow of his own. "I don't know about you, but if two armed and armored men, covered in blood, soot, and gods-know-what-else came walking into my town, I would probably panic a little!" He said in exasperation.

Eyes wide, Hadvar looked down at himself. "Oh..." He said sheepishly, taking in the filth covering his armor and skin. "Good point."

"I certainly thought so." Berin replied, with a roll of his eyes. "Let's go to the river and clean up a bit. Can't change clothes, but maybe we can be a bit less conspicuous."

Luckily the river was only a dozen feet off the road, so they quickly made their way over. Berin knelt at the river bank and cupped some water in his hands, glad that it wasn't icy, but stopped short as a thought came to him.

"Wait a minute!" He exclaimed, turning to glare accusingly at Hadvar. "Why was I unconscious in the wagon?!"

"Oh... um. That may have been me. Sorry." Hadvar said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "In my defense, you were wearing a blue shirt and leather armor."

Berin grumbled and gingerly touched the aching knot on the back of his head, but let it go before asking, with no small amount of desperation, "What about my bag? I was carrying a bag with my things in it!"

Hadvar grimaced. "I had attached it to the saddle of my horse. It's still in what's left of Helgen, if it survived at all. I'm sorry."

Berin turned around for a moment, blinking away tears at the loss of the only picture he had of his wife. "Damn it!" With a sigh, turned back to the river and cleaning the blood off his hands and arms.

When they were as clean as they could get, they returned to the road and walked under the wooden walkway that served as both entrance to the town and a guard post, though Berin couldn't see anyone actually patrolling.

Walking over to the smithy, Hadvar called out a greeting. "Uncle Alvor! Hello!"

The burly man turned at the sound of Hadvar's voice and a large grin grew on his face. "Hadvar! What are you doing here? Are you on leave from…" He trailed off and his eyes grew wide as Hadvar and Berin got closer and he got a good look at Hadvar. "Shor's bones! What happened to you, boy?!"

"And this is with us cleaning up." Berin muttered to Hadvar.

Alvor looked between the two of them before hesitatingly asking, "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Shh... Uncle, please. Keep your voice down." Hadvar answered, casting furtive glances around to make sure that no-one could hear. "I'm fine, but we should go inside to talk."

Alvor began casting between the two battered men in front of him. "What's going on, Hadvar? And who's this?"

"He's a friend. Saved my life in fact!"

The blacksmith's eyes widened again, and he looked at Hadvar concernedly.

"Come on, I'll explain everything, but we need to go inside."

"Okay, okay." Alvor sighed. "Come inside then. Sigrid will get you something to eat and you can tell me all about it over supper, you both look like you could use it."

"We won't argue with you there, sir. Thank you." Berin said in thanks.

As Alvor led them into the house he called inside, "Sigrid! We have company!"

Berin was the last one inside and just before he closed the door he heard an old woman's voice call out from across the street.

"A dragon! I saw a dragon!"

He quickly shut the door and leaned his forehead against the wood with a groan, before turning around and looking at the room curiously.

The small part of the interior that he could see was cozy. The walls and floor were lined with furs to trap warmth inside the house, while a fire blazed in the fireplace with a pot of delicious smelling stew simmering above the flames. Two beds were set against the walls to the right of the door along with a large wardrobe and a small table that had several books stacked upon it. On the opposite side of the room stood a large dining table, set in front of the fireplace so the family could eat next to the warmth of the flames.

Berin's examination of the room was interrupted by a gasp and a small blur as a young girl made it to the top of a staircase that he hadn't seen before and flung herself at Hadvar with a cry.

"Hadvar, you're back! I've missed you!"

Hadvar grinned and knelt to hug her properly. "Hey Dorthe! I've missed you too, little princess! Have you been keeping Frodnar in line?"

Dorthe giggle mischievously and nodded before calling back down the stairs, "Momma! Hurry! Hadvar's home!"

There was a clashing of pots downstairs before hurried steps were heard on the staircase and a woman rushed into the room.

"Hadvar!" She cried with a smile, rushing over and hugging him. Pulling back after a moment, she cupped his face in her hands and inspected him for injuries, looking very much like a mother hen. "We've been so worried about you!"

"I'm fine, Aunt Sigrid!" He said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Well, as fine as a soldier can be."

She smacked his shoulder and turned to Berin with a kind smile. "And who's this?"

Berin quickly took his helmet off and bowed respectfully. "My name's Berin, ma'am."

She laughed warmly before grabbing his and Hadvar's arms and dragging them over to the table. "Come, you two must be hungry. Sit down while I get you something to eat."

Once they were all seated at the table with bowls of warm stew in front of them, Alvor turned to Hadvar. "Now then, boy. What's the big mystery? What are you doing here, looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?"

Berin and Hadvar looked at each other and shared a rueful laugh.

"Well, he's not exactly wrong, but we won the argument with the cave bear. It was the dragon we lost the argument with." Berin said with a grim chuckle.

Everyone but Hadvar looked at him disbelievingly, until Hadvar's answering nod confirmed it, which cause a gasp and concerned look to the both of them from Sigrid. Alvor made a questioning sound to call Hadvar's attention back to the explanation, and Hadvar obliged with a sigh.

"I don't know where to start." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen for the execution of our prisoners," Here he cast an apologetic glance to Berin, who shrugged. "When we were attacked... by a dragon."

"A dragon?!" Alvor exclaimed incredulously. "That's... ridiculous. You aren't drunk, are you boy?"

"Believe me, we wish we were." Berin answered for the both of them.

Alvor was about to continue when Sigrid interrupted. "Husband. Let him tell their story." She chided gently.

Hadvar nodded at her gratefully before continuing. "Not much more to tell. This huge dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion." He shook his head sadly. "I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out myself if not for Berin here."

Sigrid looked at them both with tears in her eyes while her husband just looked shocked.

"He says that like he didn't save my life as many times as I saved his." Berin said quickly, trying to avoid any unnecessary gratitude, but the sentence seemed to make Sigrid break. Bursting into tears, she quickly got up and went over to throw her arms around Hadvar, whispering over and over again how happy she was that he was safe. Alvor walked over beside her and gripped Hadvar's shoulder, holding back tears of his own at the thought of almost losing the boy who was as close as a son to him.

Berin watched all this from his chair, feeling slightly out of place as Hadvar picked up a teary Dorthe and laughingly reassured his family that he was fine, other than a few scrapes and bruises. He was surprised when Sigrid broke away from Hadvar only to wrap him in a motherly embrace.

"Thank you. He's been very much our son ever since we took him in when his parents died. I don't know what we'd do without him. We'll never forget this."

Berin returned her hug with a quiet, "You're welcome."

"Now!" Sigrid exclaimed, pulling away from Berin and wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Finish your suppers while I find some clothes for the both of you. When you're finished, go down to the river and bathe! You both smell!"

Hadvar and Berin both blushed as Dorthe began to giggle and Alvor filled the small house with a hearty laugh.
-

Three hours later, Berin lay huddled beneath a blanket, clean and tired, but very much awake. When he and Hadvar had come back from the river, Sigrid had set up two pallets for them in front of the fire, but as soon as everyone else had dropped into sleep he had picked up his makeshift bed and moved down into the basement. Though it was much cooler than in front of the fireplace, he had no desire to wake the others should he wake loudly in the middle of the night, a circumstance that has happened for too many times in the past few months.

Unthinkingly, his right hand went to the wedding band on his left, spinning the warm metal around his finger. His last thoughts before sleep claimed him were of the two most beloved women in his life... both of whom he had lost.

Anya. Zeliza

Pictures and scenes from his memories flew through his mind almost faster than he could comprehend, but some stood out far too much...

The way she had looked when he woke up the morning after their wedding. Her dark hair beautifully mussed, a slight smile on her parted lips, her dark skin shining in the morning sunlight, her cheeks still rosy from their first time together. Then he had to restrain a laugh as the goddess sleeping beside him loosed a loud snore. (He had teased her about it when she woke, to be rewarded with an indignant yelp and a cry of "I do NOT snore!" before she grabbed the back of his head and silenced his laughter by crushing her lips to his, continuing the night's activities.)

The sound of her voice as she sang in the taverns of the cities they stayed at while he looked for caravans who needed a guard.

The look in her eyes as she stared at him whenever he trained with the other guards and the rather distracting outfit she would wear when she wanted to train with them (Though it was mostly him, since he kept her away from the other men when she was dressed so scantily, and it always led to a reenactment of their wedding night.)

The joy on her face as she told him that she was with child. That he was going to be a father.

When she had grabbed his hand and dragged him to the small house in Cheydinhal and announced that it was to be their home.
-
He came home from guard duty on the wall and smiled when he found the map she had drawn for him. Following the path she had laid out and reading the notes of encouragement and love she left at any convenient landmark, he finally came upon a sight that took his breath away. She had set up a picnic on the island in the middle of the river and was sitting on a blanket, singing softly to the babe in her womb as she waited for him. He stood for several minutes just staring at her, admiring the way her violet skin shone in the light of the setting sun, before finally walking to her quietly and sitting himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and settling his hands on her swollen stomach gently. He hummed a lullaby in her ear when she leaned back against his chest and placed a kiss on the tip of her pointed ear, inciting a giggle to bubble from her lips and causing the babe to kick against his hands. Her giggle turned into a musical laugh when his face erupted into joy upon feeling his child move. Still grinning happily, he placed his chin on her shoulder and leaned his head against hers.

"What should we name the baby?"

"Well," Anya replied with a soft smile. "I was thinking about naming her Zeliza."

"Her?" Berin asked with a raised brow and a grin. "What if it's a boy?"

"Nope! It's a girl."

"How can you tell?" He teased, tickling her sides.

"Mother's intuition." She replied haughtily, drawing herself up proudly, before succumbing to more giggles as he tickled her again. Her face softened though, and she turned to face him fully. "I was thinking Zeliza for both of our mothers."

He gave her a sad smile and tightened his arms around her. "Zeliza it is then. It's lovely." He pulled her closer and captured her lips with his and they said nothing more for a time, simply enjoying being together.

But the visions of happiness in the dream abruptly turned into his worst nightmare.

They had been so happy when she first went into labor. Nervous, of course, but blissfully happy that they would soon be able to hold their daughter in their arms. Now all Berin felt was terror as he paced outside their bedroom. It had been hours, so many hours, since the healers had pushed him out into the hall so they could work, promising with smiles that he would soon be holding his child. So many hours had gone by, filled with nothing but the sound of Anya's agonized screams and the unintelligible murmurs of the healers. Suddenly it was quiet and Berin turned to the door in hope, waiting for someone to finally come out and tell him that he was a father. But it was too quiet, far too quiet. Shouldn't the baby be crying out for warmth and her mother's arms? The door opened slowly and Berin took a step forward with a tremulous smile on his lips that disappeared when one of the healers stepped out covered in blood, too much blood, holding a bloody blanket that was too still, far too still and what was wrong? Is she asleep? Berin stared at the woman uncomprehendingly as she stepped forward and placed the bundle in his arms, whispering "I'm so sorry" before stepping back.

He stared at the still unmoving form in his arms. She was so beautiful, just like her mother. She had inherited the dark indigo skin of her mother and he wondered if her eyes were the same deep red color. He wished she would open her eyes. His eyes quickly checked on the rest of her body, wondering what was wrong, wondering why the healer was looking at him like that, when his eyes fell to her small chest and he understood. The tiny body that should be full of breath and LIFE was still, unmoving.

Dead.

"No. No! Gods, please no!" Came the despaired cry as he fell to his knees, kissing her small forehead as tears fell down his face, over and over again, as if he could bring life back to her by will and love alone. He stayed there for many minutes, clutching the small body of his daughter as sobs wracked his body, but was brought back to himself as a new wave of terror crashed through him.

"Anya?" He croaked out desperately.

The woman shook her head sadly. "She..."

But Berin didn't stay to hear. Lurching to his feet, he stumbled past the healers, only to stop in his tracks the second he caught sight of his beloved wife. She had been stripped of her own clothes when she first went into labor, but the healers had put a white gown on her when the birth was over.

Berin cried out with relief when he saw her chest move with the weak breaths that she took. The healing woman behind him stepped forward quickly, not wanting him to hope, knowing that Anya would soon be leaving this world. "She doesn't have long. She lost too much blood." She ushered the few others out of the room to leave him in peace to say goodbye, stopping only to say her condolences once again before closing the door.

Fresh tears rolling down his face, he slowly made his way over to their bed, lying down beside her and taking her hand, still holding his precious daughter close to his chest.

Anya's eyes fluttered open as she felt his familiar weight settle beside her and she threaded her fingers through his, clutching his hand with as much strength as she could muster. Seeing her husband so broken brought tears to her eyes, but she knew that she would be leaving soon, so she swallowed back her tears and gave him a small, sad smile. "I love you."

"I love you too." He managed through a tight throat. "So much. Please! You can't leave me! Please!" He begged through sobs, turning on his side and burying his face in her shoulder, cradling Zeliza between them.

Weakly, she raised the hand he wasn't holding and ran her fingers across his face, tracing the features of the man she loved so much. "I don't want to leave you, love, but there are some things you just can't change. I'll see you again someday." She stroked Zeliza's hair for a moment before cupping his cheek and wiping away his tears. "We will both be waiting for you."

They stayed like that for many minutes, but with each passing second Anya's movements became slower, her fingers colder. Finally, in a voice barely a whisper, Anya made her final request. "Berin?" He raised his head and his bloodshot eyes met her glazed ones. "Let me hold her please. Hold me?" Berin nodded and gently placed Zeliza in her arms and wrapped his own around her as tightly as he could without hurting her, and he remained like that long after her heart had stopped and his had died in his chest.
-

Berin woke with a choked gasp, which quickly turned into a sob. This wasn't the first time he had been tormented in his sleep by the memory of Anya's death, as if his suffering during his conscious hours wasn't enough, and he knew it would not be the last.

He knew he should be getting some sleep. Rest would help heal his wounds and he and Hadvar had decided to leave the next day, Hadvar to report back to his superiors in Solitude and Berin to tell the Jarl of Whiterun of the dragon attack and to request aid and protection for Riverwood.

It just... hurt so much. So much that he almost wished that the dragon hadn't shown up when it did, just so he could be with the wife he loved and the daughter that he never got to know.

But no, he couldn't think like that. Anya wouldn't want him to.

Heh. If Anya knew I was even thinking like that, she would come down from Aetherius and kick my ass. He thought with a watery chuckle.

He absently fingered the ring on his hand again, a habit he had developed whenever he thought of her, and an idea came to him, something that would keep Anya and Zeliza with him always. He would ask Alvor's help in the morning.

He felt a sudden warmth in his chest then, as if she were lying right next to him, and he fell into a deep sleep with a small smile on his face, knowing that they were watching over him.

Sigrid crept down the stairs when she heard the sobbing end, wanting to make sure the young man was alright.

He's too young. She thought sadly. Too young to have such sad eyes.

She'd been awoken near midnight by the faint sound of broken sobbing coming from downstairs and had been concerned when she noticed that Berin's pallet was no longer by the fireplace. It had taken several minutes for the cries to fade away and she hoped that he had fallen back asleep.

Knowing how cold the basement got during the night, she quietly made her way to the large wardrobe in the corner and pulled out two of the extra blankets, hoping it would keep him warm enough.

Thanking the gods that some of the light from the fireplace made it possible to see down here, she tiptoed over to the now-shivering form curled up under the blanket. Kneeling down beside him, she gently laid the extra blankets over his body and watched as the shivers slowly stopped.

Looking at the boy's sleeping face, she sighed sadly at the sight of still-wet tear tracks on his cheeks.

Poor dear. She thought, brushing his hair away from his face and feeling a rush of maternal protectiveness. Sending a prayer to the Divines for him and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, she got up and returned to her bed, determined that he would be accepted into their family as much as Hadvar was.

She'd always wanted a large family.