Hello there!
This is a short story of how my Skyrim character Victor adopted Sofie in my current playthrough. This just came to me and I had to write it down so here it is.
I do not own the Elder Scrolls series, it's characters or any of the intellectual property. I'm merely borrowing it for this story.
He would never get used to the biting cold in the north. As an Imperial he wasn't used to it and personally he did what he could to avoid it. But sometimes you have to go places where the snow is and if you are going to Windhelm it is hard to avoid the cold and the snow.
Making sure his armor and thick coat was on to preserve what little heat they could, he looked around the streets of Windhelm as dusk was falling, bringing with it the darkness of night.
Most people were on their way to or from somewhere, you could see it on them as they navigated the streets with clear intent. But among all of these people he noticed someone that didn't do this. A young girl was walking slowly down the streets of Windhelm, asking any passerby if they wanted to buy a flower.
He hadn't seen her yesterday when they arrived but now he couldn't take his eyes off her. Questions in his mind started to pile up as to why she was out doing this and why did no one care? She was just a child.
His mind flashed back towards his childhood in Cyrodiil, growing up on the streets and doing what he had to survive. It was brutal, he had to hurt and steal from people to survive. It was a period in his life where he cared little for anyone else. No one cared about him so why would he? Many years later when he got older he realized that he had to change, otherwise there would be nothing for him going forward. He joined the Imperial army to escape the streets since he didn't want to spend another day there. He could never undo that time of his life and all those things that he did so he tried to not think about it too much. Only the present and future was something he could shape. He needed to speak to that young girl and find out why she was out in the cold when she should be at her home.
Nodding to Lydia who had watched him, she quickly followed as they went towards the young girl.
"Would you like to buy a flower?" The young girl looked up with hopeful eyes towards Victor as he approached her. Since his height was much greater than hers he went down on one knee to match her height better before he answered:
"Sure, which do you have?" As the girl pointed out the few different flowers in her basket he noticed that the girl was shivering from the cold and she had black bags under her eyes. Probably lack of sleep he thought to himself.
He picked out two flowers from her basket that he liked and then paid her. But instead of giving her the specific amount he tripled it and said it was because she "had picked such nice flowers". The girl thanked him and watched the gold in her hands, like she couldn't believe how much was there. After a moment she must have come back as she put the coins in her pocket.
"What is your name?" Victor asked as he gave Lydia one flower and put the other one on his own armor.
"Sofie" She answered and looked at him again.
"Sofie. What a nice name! I'm Victor and this is my companion Lydia. We were on our way to the inn for some dinner. Would you like to join us?" As he asked her eyes widened and she looked up at him with what seemed to be shock.
"I.. I can join you? Are you sure?"
"Yes. We would like to talk to you but it is freezing out here and I'm starving so I thought it might be nicer to do that."
The shock in Sofie's face soon gave way and she replied:
"I would like that." Sofie now had a small smile on her face and Victor couldn't help but mirror the smile as he heard her answer.
"Great! Let's go!" The three of them left the snowy streets of Windhelm and went to the inn to get some much needed food and warmth.
Sofie could hardly believe what had happened, this nice man had walked up to her, bought flowers from her and then invited her to join him and his companion for dinner. As they had eaten they had asked her why she was going around selling flowers on the streets and so she had told them about her past.
How her mother had died when she was young and her father had left for the war and one day never came back. To live she had started selling flowers. It was a difficult way of living, she could barely get enough gold to get food and she had to sleep out in the freezing cold. There had been a few nice strangers over the years that had helped her a little by giving her warmer clothes and some gold which had helped for a while but she couldn't stop selling her flowers since she knew the money would quickly run out.
Victor had then told her about how he lived in Whiterun, in a small but comfortable home along with his other daughter. He asked her if she had ever been there and if she wanted to join him. The memory of this event was something she would never forget.
At the time when she heard him ask it she couldn't help but want to make sure she understood him; did he want to... adopt her?
You know what he said? He looked her straight in the eyes and answered her:
"That is right Sofie. I want to adopt you if that is alright with you." Sofie saw that he had a smile on his face as he did.
As his word had sunk in she couldn't help but feel tears of joy roll down her cheeks and she lunged at him, giving him a sudden hug. He was a giant compared to her in height and weight and she tried to give him the best hug she could; she was so thankful. It was like a dream come true, a small part of her feared that she would soon wake up and she would realize it was all her imagination.
Victor put one of his arms around her and gave her a light squeeze back, his armor pushing against her small body. She realized she hadn't answered him yet so she quickly said, while still hugging him:
"Yea! Thanks! I promise I'll be the best daughter ever! I need to get my things and say goodbye to everyone. Thanks! Thanks so much!"
As she said this Victor had chuckled and said that there was no rush, they wouldn't leave until morning anyway and that she could stay with them at the inn. They had a room reserved already.
She had taken her head away from his chest as she looked at him, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I'll… I'll get to sleep in a bed?" She must have stared at him in disbelief.
"Yes you will." Victor said as he nodded his head and then looked at the woman that was named Lydia. She was also smiling towards her.
True to his words she had shared the large bed with Lydia as Victor had slept on the floor that night. He hadn't listened to her protests and told her that either she slept there or no one did. He was fine on the floor. And so she had been able to sleep in a bed for the first time in a long while and as she felt the comfort of warmth all around her the tiredness had quickly taken hold of her and she fell asleep.
She could feel Victor's armored gloves grab her around her waist as he easily lifted her up to the horse Lydia was already on. With new and warmer clothes along with a good night's sleep and a belly full of food, she was now on her way to Whiterun. She had never left Windhelm except when she had to find flowers, it was a scary thought yet she felt at ease for some reason. With Lydia at her back, taking her from Victor's hands and putting her in place on the saddle, Sofie soon felt excitement at the thought of riding a horse. She had never done that before.
Victor asked if she was alright to which she quickly nodded in reply. He gave her a smile and she followed him with her eyes as he went to his own horse and easily jumped upon the horse, despite his heavy armor. He looked like a mountain, she was amazed how strong the horse must be to be able to carry him and all his gear.
"I'm sure you will like it in Whiterun Sofie, and I think Lucia will enjoy having a sister. Let's go home Sofie."
"Home". It was such a simple and common word which that day had changed it's meaning forever for her. While she had vague memories of her home from before she could now look forward to creating new ones, instead of focusing on distant memories of the past. She may not have seen her new home yet but somehow knew she would like it. She looked at Victor as he rode on his horse next to them, she could see the flower he had placed on his armor. Sofie smiled to herself as she heard Victor's voice repeat the line over and over in her head:
"Let's go home Sofie".