Disclaimer: I own nothing. Bethesda owns it all. Not even Susan, for Susan is actually based on a character from a Stephen King book, The Dark Tower.

Authors Note: I am so sorry I haven't updated this in forever! I've just been so busy lately with High School entrance exams and such... I promise I will try to update more frequently. It feels so good to finally get this published... For some reason, this was so freaking hard to write. I want to give special thanks to those who reviewed last time! You guys rock! You made me follow through with this one! Please review! I read every last one!

Ralof scarcely remembered the events that had taken place at Helgen. He remembered being utterly shocked to find Susan in the carriage along with him as they rode into Helgen, the place where they had met, the place where they will die. Susan was equally surprised to find Ralof taken prisoner along with her. He could tell by her expression she had a million questions she wanted to ask but she old said one thing.

"Do you remember what I said to you at Lake Llinalta? On the little island?"

"Aye, I do," Ralof said. He didn't mention that after she had left, he hung onto those words for dear life, some days them being the only things keeping him going. "You said that if it was meant to be, then it will be. And if it is, then one day we will see each other again," he finished, trying to keep the lump in his throat out of his voice. Susan smiled a smile that was tainted with sadness and grief. They clasped each other's hands.

"Then it is meant to be so. Even just for a short while," she said gravely. Lokir, the horse thief that was prisoner with them, averted his eyes from the two.

"This isn't right, this isn't fair…." He mumbled to himself over and over.

"Face your death with courage, horse thief," Ralof murmured to him.

They came to a halt towards the back of the town, along with a few of the other carriages transporting the other prisoners. The Imperial soldiers hustled them out of the wagons and assembled them in a courtyard outside of a stone tower. In front of the door to the tower, a shin high block stood. Behind it stood a huge man wielding a frightening axe, his face hidden by a mask. He and Susan climbed down from the carriage and fell into line with Ulfric Stormcloak and Lokir. Two imperials stood in front of them, checking their names off on a piece of parchment.

"Imperials and their damn lists," Ralof muttered bitterly to himself.

"Next prisoner," one of the two Imperials said. Ralof could tell she was a captain by her the red decoration on her helmet. They shuffled forward.

"Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm," the second Imperial called. Ulfric stepped forward, his eyes shooting daggers at the Imperials. "Lokir of Rorikstead." Lokir cracked, his moral finally shattering. He cried out as he attempted to run, sprinting up the road towards the entrance in hopeless desperation. Ralof winced as he was mercilessly felled by an archer. May your soul rest in Sovngarde, my friend, Ralof thought. As he stepped forward when his name was called, he was astonished to see Hadvar, his old friend, to be the Imperial holding the clipboard. Ralof said nothing to him, just stared as coldly as he could at the man, hating him with every fiber of his being.

He joined his fellow Stormcloaks assembled in the yard, keeping as close as he could to Susan. For about to be executed, her face was rather devoid of emotion. He tried not look at the faces of his fellow soldiers who were grimly awaiting their deaths. He remembered one of his fellow Stormcloaks yelling at the preacher to stop her yammering as she went on and on about the Great Divines. He wanted his death to be quick. As fearless in death as he was in life.

Thankfully, Ralof was called before Susan was. He knew he wouldn't be able to bare watching her being brutally killed by the masked man's axe. His name was called. He walked courageously up to the beheading block and stood defiantly before being shoved to his knees by the officer. He looked up at the hulking man, knowing death was inevitable to come. This was it, the end of the line. Sovngarde awaits.

Then the dragon appeared. First it was a strange noise like a shriek. Then, almost out of nowhere, a dragon landed atop the stone tower. For a moment, everyone was stared at in a shocked horror as it seemed to survey them. After a moment, a shout was heard from someone unknown and they were snapped out of their shock.

"Dragon!" the man roared.

The dragon felt it was the perfect time to Shout, staggering everyone in the courtyard. After Ralof had recovered from the dragon, he took the opportunity to leap up from his knees and dash to a dazed Susan and, half dragging half pulling her to one of the stone watchtowers.

Once inside, they found Ulfric had already taken cover inside the tower.

"It's a dragon, just as in the legends," Ralof remarked to him.

"Legends don't burn down villages," Ulfric said gravely. Ralof nodded. He grasped Susan's hand and briskly led her up a spiraling staircase leading to the second floor of the tower.

"We have to get out of here," Ralof said urgently.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not quite yet…"

As they were about halfway up the stairs, the wall ahead of them was completely blown away by the dragon. Huge chunks of rock the size of boulders cascaded down into the tower, crushing an unfortunate soldier who had been unlucky enough to be standing there. His screams could not be heard over the roar of fire that ensued. Ralof instantly threw his body over Susan to shield her from the inferno. Miraculously, they were unhurt, save for a few minor burns. The dragon seemed to lose interest and went off to attack a different target for now. It had left a gaping hole in the wall.

"Susan, hold onto me," Ralof commanded. Susan did. Ralof neared the edge of the whole and looked below. If he jumped would he make through the hole in that roof below? Perhaps….

"On three jump through the hole."

"Are you insane?" Ralof didn't reply. They jumped.

They hit the floor boards of the second story of a house hard and rolled, Ralof taking most the impact. His legs felt jarred, but had no time to register the pain. They had to keep moving.

The rest was a blur. They ran through the house and out into the street where they followed until they came to another courtyard where they went down into the keep. Inside they dashed through the dungeon collecting anything they needed along the way. They ran into several Imperials which they dispatched without too much difficulty. They had the element of surprise on their side. Once they left the man-made part of the dungeon, they stumbled through the dark cave tunnels until; finally, they burst into daylight.

They both breathed in deeply, cherishing the fresh air. No sooner had they left the dungeon when a black shadow flitted across the sun. The dragon. Ralof crouched behind a rock and Susan followed his lead. They waited until it had disappeared out of sight.

"Looks like it's gone for good this time," he said cautiously peeking around the rock. Once they were sure it was in fact gone, they started making their way back to the road. As they traveled along, they soon reached the three guardian stones that stood facing Lake Llinalta, the last place they had seen each other, fourteen years ago. Susan stepped towards the stones in a sort of awe. She had seen the stones before, but this time one seemed to be… calling to her. She took a few tentative steps towards the one with the image of the mage engraved upon it.

"Go on m'lady, don't be shy. Choose one," Ralof said, a smile touching his lips. Oh, how long it had been since he had smiled. Susan looked unsure.

"Have you already yours?"

"Aye, long ago." Susan glanced at the other two for a moment then placed a palm on the stone with the mage. Almost instantly a beam of light appeared from the top, ascending to the heavens. After several moments it was gone. Ralof was slightly amused.

"Typical Breton," he said under his breath. Susan shot him a look but didn't truly seem to care. Once she was done, she took his hand and he led her down the road towards Riverwood.