"Just to see you smile,

I'd do anything

that you wanted me to.

When all is said and done,

I'd never count the cost;

It's worth all that's lost,

just to see you smile"

Farkas could not remember a time when his brother looked more content. Vilkas was still deeply troubled by the beast-blood and Kodlak's failing health, but there were moments, like the one unfolding before Farkas now, when Vilkas seemed as carefree and happy as he'd ever been. Farkas watched as the honey-haired, blue eyed reason for that happiness dodged away from a slash of his brother's great sword. She dodged the first blow without issue, but her heavy weapon slowed her down and she didn't turn quickly enough. A chuckle rumbled deep in Farkas's chest as the flat of his brother's practice sword swatted her on the behind and she let out an indignant yelp. She stumbled and dropped her sword, immediately dropping into a low crouch.

Farkas knew what would come next, but no matter how many times he saw it happen, the speed of it still amazed him. One moment she would be in a crouch on the ground, eyes flashing, and in the next she'd be a blur of color as she leapt through the air at her opponent. Over the last few months, Farkas had seen his brother try to counter this strike in a myriad of ways. He tried dodging her, which never worked – once she got going it seemed like she could bounce off every available surface – leading Farkas to wonder, at one point, if it was possible for a human to be part Khajiit. Vilkas had also tried withstanding her rush, but she always found a way to throw him off balance. Most notably, there was the time when she wrapped her leg around his thigh and nipped his ear as she swung around his body and swept his knees from under him.

On that occasion, Farkas had braced himself for his brother's rage, and was already halfway into the training yard to shield their newest recruit, when he heard something that he hadn't heard in a long time. When it began, it sounded as though his brother was choking and Farkas was gripped first by worry, and then disbelief, as his brother's face came into view. Farkas had actually stopped, and cocked his head to one side to watch the interesting things happening on his twin's face.

At first the familiar angry scowl was there, but then Vilkas's face started to twitch as though he were about to sneeze. Farkas had glanced down at the blonde Imperial who was crouched over his brother. She'd had an endearingly hopeful expression on her face. He'd spared a moment to wonder how Vilkas could be angry with her when she was looking at him like that, and then a wide grin had split Farkas's face as he realized that his brother was trying desperately to keep from laughing. Farkas had perked up considerably at that and crouched next to the young woman to look down at his brother, his face a hopeful mirror of hers.

For Vilkas, the combination of the two of them looking down at them like that, and the ridiculousness of the way he'd ended up flat on his back in the training yard, proved to be too much. His laughter, so long dormant that it felt unfamiliar in his throat, found its way to his lips at last. It started with a chuckle, but when the two people above him looked at each other and then back at him with crazed grins on their faces, he'd given up the fight and laughed out loud; calling them a couple of idiots as they'd pulled him to his feet and headed into Jorrvaskr for dinner. That incident seemed to mark a change in Vilkas, and Farkas was grateful for it. When he'd relayed the story to Kodlak later, it seemed to lift a weight off the old warrior's shoulders. He'd laughed proclaiming that the Imperial was "good for the boy."

Farkas was drawn out of his momentary reverie by the sound of his brother's practice sword clattering loudly to the ground. He looked up to see Vilkas grinning wickedly at the blonde who was slowly circling him looking for an opening. Farkas grinned and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. This should be good!

The slight weight of Aela's hand on his shoulder distracted him.

"Brother, you need to some inside. We have a . . . situation to deal with." Aela's voice was calm and confident as always, but he could tell she was more than a little displeased. With a last glance at the pair in the yard, he got up from his chair on the porch and followed Aela inside.

Notes: *Lyrical credit at the beginning to Mark Nesler & Tony Martin
**This story starts slowly, but picks up within a few chapters**
***I own Cyrene, Brand, Shaye and Kalv. I don't own Skyrim, or any of its characters. But if I did, Vilkas and I would never leave my bunk. ;)**