It was my sister, Marie. Gods she has changed. She was taller now, only a couple centimeters shorter than me now. Her eyes also had a sterner look to them. It didn't occur to me how much time had seemed to pass. It felt like even more than just three years now. Now I realize I had really missed her in my time away.

"Valund? Is that really you? My, oh my you've changed. When did you grow a beard?" I laughed.

"Yes, yes it is me; I know I've changed, a lot. I've missed you and our parents so much…" I then hugged Marie, and she hugged back, just as tight. I think she was trying not to cry as well. It makes sense though; it's been such a long time. We broke from the hug before I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. "You slapped me!"

"That's for not coming to see us in three years!" She sighed. "Well come on in, Val. You missed a lot."

I walked into the old house and looked around. Everything still looked the same, Fireplace in the center right in front of the door, wooden furniture around and a medium sized table next to the stairs. There were some new things too, such as a mounted bear head above the fireplace, and a new desk in the corner. There was also a dog in the corner, which was new. He was lying down in front of the fireplace. He was trying to sleep before I walked in, he looked at me slightly before resting his head back down and closing his eyes. He strongly reminded me of a dog we use to have when I was about five, Marie four. His name was Gus and I use to love that dog. Then one day he disappeared, my parents saying that he found his old owner or something. I was heartbroken for a while; we had that dog for five years.

The place seemed such Smaller than I had remembered. I could hear talking upstairs, pressingly from my parents.

"So brother, I've heard you were the Dragonborn? Mind explaining what the hell happened while you were gone? Also why you didn't come back after returning from High Rock with that expedition?" MY sister said. Well I didn't expect the interrogation to come so soon, I mean I did just get here.

"All in due time, I don't want to repeat it so can we go up to mom and dad so I can explain to all of you at the same time?" She looked down.

"About that…"

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Common, you should see for yourself." She said before walking to the stairs. I reluctantly followed, bad scenarios flashing through my head one by one. What if mom died and dad married another woman? What if they became Stormcloaks? What if they became Draugr!? What if they were kidnapped and the people upstairs were just babysitters even though my sister is too old for that!? I know that some of them make no sense, but when I am panicked I lose all rational thought whatsoever. Finally we reached the top. All of guesses appeared to be wrong; both of my parents were there, though they were not the same. Dad was lying in the bed, looking deathly pale. He had large bags under his now sunken eyes. He seemed to be shaking as well. Was he Ok? Where was that tan skin he usual has from working outside? Why does it look like he hasn't slept in days? Mom was sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding his hand. She had aged in the past three years, the wrinkles around her eyes more noticeable than before. They both still hadn't noticed us yet. I couldn't stop staring at dad as my sister made a noise to attract both of their attention. They both looked towards us and their eyes widened in surprise. My mother quickly got up, letting go of father's hand.

"Valund? You're here! Oh my gods you're really here!" She said as she ran up to hug me. She didn't hold back her tears like my sister had, they ran freely down her face as she clutched on to me.

"Yes mom, I'm here." I said as I hugged her back. We both let go and she went to go sit back in the chair she was sitting in before. My smile drifted off my face as I looked to my dad again. I slowly walked over and sat in the chair on the other side of the bed as my sister remained standing. "Dad… What happened to you?" We broke eye contact as he looked down.

"V-valund, don't you worry about me." His voice sounded weak. He looked weak and acted weak right now. That was not my father, my father was the strongest man around, whether he was chopping firewood, hunting bunnies, or protecting our home, he was always the strongest and the best. He was never weak.

"Dad," My sister said "Of course he's going to worry, you haven't seen each other in three years and he comes back to see you looking like this. No offense to you or anything, but you look just terrible." Surprisingly, my dad laughed at this. His laugh sounded different as well, fading into slight coughs.

"You're right Marie, I d-don't know what I was thinking. My son may be s-stupid but he isn't just a sack of rocks!" I smiled. There's old dad, making his jokes at our expense. Normally, before I left, I would roll my eyes or complain at his jokes 'against' me, but I was just too happy to know that he was still making them. He looked sick. He looked like he was going to die, and I bet I'm right this time. What if I had put off coming here again? What if I came too late and found out dad was dead? If he dies, then at least I got one last talk with him. One last goodbye. I won't let him die though, I owe that much to him, to the whole family.

"So? You guys going to tell me what's going on with him or are you going to leave me in the dark forever?" I said. My mother started telling me about this weird sickness he had caught. They don't know where it came from, and they used almost all of their money on healers.

"All the healers we could afford had no idea what it was. They said that there was no way they could cure him until they found out what this thing was. The usual healing magic just wasn't working with him. They said they would come back soon, but they never have, and I doubt they ever will."

"What about the healers that you couldn't afford?" I asked her.

"Well, what do you think? We couldn't afford them, and we probably never will be able to, especially before he- well, you know." She seemed afraid of saying that he would die. My mom has always had this strange view on life and this was a part of it. If she didn't like something, she would ignore it and never mention it. She pretended like it didn't exist or it wasn't happening. She seemed to have gotten better at accepting things now though.

"Well, after all my adventures I am very rich, too rich if you ask me, and I have plenty of gold for the best healer in all of Skyrim." My mother smiled at me.

"Speaking of your adventures, what kind of adventures have you been in, Dragonborn brother of mine?" My sister said. Then I told a, what was supposed to be, simple story of everything I had done. It ended up being hours long as I told of all that had happened to me and the people around me. They're reactions changed from shock, to sadness, to laughter. I left parts out, the one's I wasn't proud of. I didn't want my family to judge me in any way. Yeah I've done things I'm not proud of. The most notable of this is murder. I've killed before. I'm no Dark Brotherhood Assassin, but I have killed. Gods know why though.

Eventually we all decided it was a good idea to go to sleep after I finished. My parents were sleeping on the bed while my sister was sleeping on the couch. I was on the floor but wasn't complaining. I'd take the floor if it meant being with my family. I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket closer to my chest. This was a good day, I'm glad that I finally came to see my family. I will never regret this.