Author's note: I'm pretty sure I'm a sap, especially after writing this.

Sorry for such a long delay guys. I don't really have an excuse, except that I have the attention span of a bird. I've been mainly going between trying to write every day and playing video games. It has interesting results... Anyway, this particular prompt was supposed to be posted on Valentine's Day (again, I'm a sap), but obviously didn't make it that far. I'm sorry I wasn't able to wish you guys a Happy Valentine's Day, but please accept an extremely late chapter.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to my readers. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Prompt: I promise

When they finally walked into Whiterun for the first time, it was slow and the air seemed heavy. Passersby took one look at the two travelers and sped away in the opposite direction. Gabrielle didn't think it was possible to be depressed and angry at the same time, but she was proving herself wrong. Faendal stopped a moment and squinted in the distance ahead of them.

"I think that's an inn. We should rest there for the night," he said, looking at her back before quickly turning his gaze away.

Gabrielle didn't try to argue with him or call him a pansy elf. She just kept walking, seemingly ignoring everything he'd said. The inn keeper was surprised and a bit disgusted at how bloody the two looked, but gave them some rooms after the Redguard glared the woman down. Before Gabrielle could lock herself in her room for the rest of the day and night, Faendal put a hand on her shoulder. When she finally turned her attention back to him, he smiled and said, "Come on. I owe you a drink."

She was quiet a moment before snorting and said, "After the trip down the mountain, you owe me a bar of drinks….bastard."

Faendal couldn't help but laugh as he led the way to a nearby table and ordered the first round.

"You're paying," she said, immediately latching onto the first bottle of mead before it even hit the table.

It wasn't until they'd both had three bottles of mead and a jug of wine between them that they finally relaxed. So much so, that Faendal finally looked up at Gabrielle and said,

"So, we're here. In Whiterun."

He watched as she tensed up, though it was sluggish under the haze of the alcohol. She scowled before slamming her fourth bottle down and slouching in her chair.

"I don't want to talk about this."

Faendal was silent a moment before continuing, "What are you going to do now?"

Gabrielle sighed and let her head fall back against the chair. She closed her eyes and let the Bosmer shift in his seat for awhile before she straightened up. The two stared at each other before she finally said, "I have no idea."

He startled at the answer.

"You aren't going to keep adventuring?"

She shrugged, "Who knows. I don't."

He was silent for a moment, but Gabrielle wasn't done. She sighed in a kind of defeat or resignation and laid her head on the table.

"I've never really traveled alone before. Thinking about it, it's depressing, being a true Redguard warrior and all. But…that's how I was trained, you know? Be aware of your surroundings and cover your partner's back." She looked up at Faendal and giggled at the shocked look on his face, "You're too easy to surprise. I think that's what I'll miss the most. That and teasing you."

"I wouldn't call what you do 'teasing'," Faendal said automatically. Gabrielle laughed at him again.

"That's because you're too soft. My mentor used to do worse to me, every hour of every day."

Faendal smiled at the wistfulness in her voice. She was obviously drunk, humming some song he'd never heard before, but there was a feeling of being content over the table. Later on in life, he would blame the alcohol for what happened next.

"Would you call me honourable?"

Gabrielle's nose scrunched up before she lifted her head and stared at him. Finally, she said, "Not even close."

He shook his head, still smiling, "Do you still need me?"

It got very quiet, the silence filling his ears and making his head buzz. Or maybe that was still the alcohol. Her eyes were huge and her mouth had dropped open. She reminded him of a fish.

"What do you mean?" she whispered, something like hope shining through.

He had to take a deep breath before he could continue. Then he had to take a drink from the wine jug. Gabrielle had to wrestle it from him before he'd answer her.

"You said back in Riverwood…you said that you'd make me keep my promise. That I'd become an honourable man and you wouldn't let me go back on my word," His mouth felt dry and he had to steal Gabrielle's bottle to sooth it, "I told you that I'd follow you until you said otherwise and you told me that you would make me keep my promise."

He swished the bottle around in his hand before setting it down on the table and looking her straight in the eye.

"Are you going to let me go back on my word? Or do you not need me anymore?"

Gabrielle seemed frozen in place, staring at Faendal, but not quite seeing him. The air was tense around their table and it felt like Skyrim itself was poised on a thin string of spider's web. Then the tension was gone as the Redguard smiled huge and goofy. She took her bottle back from the Bosmer and drank the rest of it before slamming it back on the table and calling for another one.

"You won't be rid of me so easily Faendal. I'll make a warrior of you yet."

He grabbed the wine jug and sipped at it before saying, "And our next adventure?"

Her grin looked like it was about to split her face open.

"Who knows? I don't. But, divines, that's half the fun. Now drink, friend, and forget about the world for a moment. That's a thought better suited for tomorrow."

They had massive hangovers the next day and had to work off their debt to the innkeeper for two and a half days afterwards. After finally paying it off, they ran out of town and up through the mountains, (completely forgetting about the Jarl) off to the next encounter with a giant, a bear, or whatever else was out to kill them. And they never regretted a single second.