Voices… why could he hear so many voices…?

They were faint whispers in the wind, almost echoing all around him… but still barely noticeable.

With the first blink of an eye, a multitude of colours met his vision, more than evident within the entirety of the black sky above him. It looked so strange, and yet, oddly familiar… had he been here before…?

Those voices… it was the faint sound of singing, a choir of sorts…

A sharp groan escaped his lips the moment he first moved his body, the soft grass and drowsiness in his mind almost tempting him to simply stay put, to never get up anymore and simply feel at peace. Everything was so quiet and soothing…

… however, his eyes shifted towards a hand that was suddenly being offered to him.

"You have been asleep for quite a while, Dragonborn. I knew that I would welcome you again one day… as one of us.", a strong voice rang in his ears, and when his eyes moved up towards the face of the man standing in front of him, he furrowed his brows slightly.

Who…

"You, this place… it all seems so familiar, but…", despite how hard he was trying to grasp any concrete memories, his mind was almost blank, merely filled with a dense fog that veiled any kind of memory that he might have of this place.

"You truly don't remember…?", he stared back at the tall Nord in front of him, who was now regarding him almost probingly. It was the first time when he took note of his entire surroundings. The grass, the trees, all of the nature around him… it was all in perfect harmony. And yet, when his gaze looked past the Nord in front of him, he noticed the giant bone bridge that was leading forward towards an enormous building in the distance.

The entire scenery almost seemed to be… too unrealistic and… perfect…?

A sharp pain surged through his head, his teeth clenching in pain as he held a hand against his forehead. For just this moment, the fog in his mind seemed to be lifting, allowing him to shed light into the memories that were so desperately evading him.

But he gasped when another hand suddenly took hold of his own, forcing him to look back at the stranger in front of him.

"... are you certain that you are not forgetting something?"

And it was within that moment that the sheer harmony around him was pierced by a single, ear shattering roar.

All of the voices were silenced, the atmosphere changed, even the stranger in front of him looked up towards the sky with a blank expression.

And all of a sudden, all the memories flooded back into his mind.

… where… where…?

With her eyes almost piercing through the landscape, her dark wings cast a shadow over the land she trespassed while her gaze never ceased to search, never ceased to bore through the entire world if it had to be until she found the one she was looking for.

And nothing would stop her. Not even death…

Hundreds, thousands, if not millions of souls she had utterly dismissed, her desperate gaze skimming over them all in a matter of seconds. None of them had value, none of them were him… so where…

"Dii Sil… Dii Sil… Kolos Los Hi…!"

Nothing but a cry of utter agony escaped her, and with each moment that passed, her mind threatened to succumb. To give in to the despair that was clawing at her sanity without restraint.

But her soul would not rest. It never would again. Not until she found him.

Thus, the moment her soul began to stir, feeling the presence of him reaching out to her own…

… her head snapped into the direction it was guiding her to, stopping her amidst her flight before she all but lost herself in her instincts.

The entire ground trembled when Alduin landed upon the earth, her eyes entirely concealed while her head was facing downwards. Slowly but surely, the talons upon her wings scratched along the dirt, trembling in a manner that only barely revealed the sheer intensity of emotions within the goddess.

And with one swift motion, her golden eyes met with his own.

Silence stretched in the air, a silence that was filled with an unbearable amount of tension. But with each second that passed, with each second that she gazed into his eyes, those eyes which were filled with warmth, with care, with unwavering devotion towards her… those eyes which had been the last thing she had witnessed before he died…

It was subtle at first. A small shudder coursing through her body, growing stronger with every moment. But even so, even when tears all but stained her scales, her entire body trembled with barely suppressed feelings. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, she wanted…

Her breathing was heavy and erratic, and in the end, a smile that was shining as bright as the sun was starting to form upon her maw with each moment that passed. She wanted to lunge forward and…!

… suddenly, all of that faded away in the blink of an eye.

Tsun was holding a hand between them, holding… him back from her…

Her mind snapped, her entire expression was blank, and her body became completely still.

"You… you dare…"

It was an almost silent whisper, one that did nothing to cover its murderous intent. To stand between them, to actually block him from her…

"It is not for one of the dead to leave Sovngarde. The last time your dreaded Soul Snare has encased this holy place, Shor has commanded us to sheathe our weapons and to endure. Now you have come here again…"

One moment more, and she would have lost it. She would have slaughtered anyone who would stand between them. But in the end, she was snapped out of her near madness once a warm hand suddenly and desperately touched her face.

Another shudder coursed through her entire body, and slowly but surely, her head shakily shifted to glance at her second half, and blood red eyes reverted back into a shimmering, golden hue.

"... Dii Sil…?", in the blink of an eye, her voice had turned frail, barely suppressing another shudder as Arcos's touch caused her to lean further into his hand, closer against his eyes.

Tsun had moved his hand away, no longer blocking Arcos's path to reunite with Alduin. Instead, he merely closed his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"... but this time, it is not Shor who is holding us back. Once, you have followed a path of destruction, however… it seems that, this time, there is no need to interfere.", and with that, he simply took his leave, not sparing another glance at the pair.

For a long time, Arcos kept holding her as Alduin trembled, tears freely falling down from her eyes. But it was without warning when suddenly, she all but pushed him down to the ground with her head before keeping him pinned with her feet, pressing her forehead against his own to force him to look into her tear stained eyes.

And it was not only joy that was reflecting within them.

"Why… why did you…", Arcos was left without words as Alduin clenched her maw, her eyes narrowing with more and more tears flowing down her scales. He had died, he had left her alone, and now, even now, he had not a single word to offer. His own hands began to tremble along the surface of her face as he still tried to avoid her piercing gaze. He had… he had been too-

"... too weak…?", his mind turned blank with shock when Alduin enveloped his lips with her maw, never once hurting him, but forcing him to speak not a single word as she relentlessly licked his lips. And all the while, she forced his eyes upon her own, which were gazing into the deepest parts of his soul.

"... not good enough…?!", only to speak did she part lips with him, before immediately claiming them once again with her own. It was when the last bit of air left his lungs, leaving Arcos with the necessity to breathe, that she parted with his lips at last, a string of saliva still connecting them.

"... you are mine, and mine forever… how dare you believe this…? You are my other half, you are what keeps me alive, you are my world… and you say that you are not worthy…?", with each word, she struggled more and more to speak further, and in the end, she slowly licked his lips one last time, holding him dearly.

"... wherever you go, I will go with you… whenever you should leave, I will follow you to the ends of this world… and beyond… death will not stop me. But… if you should ever leave me alone… if you should ever go somewhere where I cannot follow… I will not be able to go on…"

Once, he had wondered what would happen if he were to die. But in the end, it turned out that death was not even a mere obstacle to her. For regardless of what may happen, she refused to live in a world without him.

And thus, after everything she had endured, she held him close, never wanting to let go of him ever again.

"... Dii… Mahfaeraak…"

I can't write bad endings, I really tried this time, but I hate it. Shame on me.

Thanks to everyone who has been taking their time to read this story up until the very end, and I hope you enjoyed it! The huge support and readership has been a giant motivation and every single chapter was truly a joy to write.

So, for the last time,

the Translations:

Dii Sil… Dii Sil… Kolos Los Hi…! / My heart… my soul… where are you…!

Dii… Mahfaeraak… / Mine… Forever…