Skyrim One-Shots

Ulfric x Reader(Female) ~The Secrets We Kept~

The war was won. The Stormcloaks had reclaimed Skyrim- taken it back from the Empire that had betrayed them so harshly. They had won.

You had won.

So why did it feel as if your world was crumbling around you in this small, cramped room? Why did your heart feel like it was cracking apart more and more with each passing second- as the medics worked frantically and all you could do was stare, eyes void of anything but the apparent absence of soul? The absence of life- the impending dread, and the utter terror.

You had never intended this.

You had come in with a single goal, and now... 

Something, somewhere along the long months of the war, had changed. It had changed so quietly and so softly you hadn't noticed, not until now. Right here, right now.

Galmar leaned against the firmly shut door, head rested against the wood as his eyes clenched shut. He did not want to say his goodbyes yet, no, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. None of this should have been happening- this should've been a 'what if' in the back of his head before the battle for Solitude had even begun, but now, now it was reality.

"Talos above, leave me be," came the deep rumble from the Jarl, lacking the confidence he usually had as he swatted the healers away, pointing to the door which his housecarl quickly cleared the way for so they could shuffle out, albeit hesitantly. His blood had soaked through even his armor, the bandages now doing nothing but sponging up all of the dark red liquid.

The silence ran thick, Ulfric's face so perfectly indifferent despite the no doubt horrendous pain he was in along with the lingering fact that he was going to die.

As the thought crossed your face, it seemed to cross Galmar's as well, the man shaking his head roughly before muttering something and walking out.

"I can't watch you die," the general had breathed, choked in one of the slightest ways but making his words so much worse to the ear.

Your head tilted back to the stone wall, your eyes burning as you brought a hand to rest against your forehead. Your vision blurred.

Ulfric waited to speak for a few moments.

"____," came the quiet murmur, "being as this is likely one of my last hours, I think it's more than time to share some things with you."

You met his eyes, yours flickering with denial and anger as you spoke, not out of thought as you would normally, but rather, out of feeling and emotion. "Oh? What? It's pretty fucking irrelevant if you've waited this long. I don't need your thanks, Ulfric Stormcloak, I told you I needed you alive, and now-"

Your voice had failed you, breaking off forcefully as you slammed back tears.

"Come here," Ulfric requested softly, a trait you'd never heard before. You couldn't see his face through your watering eyes as he spoke once more. "Please, ____. Give me something, at the very least."

You did indeed will yourself to sit at his side, eyes faced to the wall and only the wall.

His hand wrapped around your forearm, large enough to encompass it with ease. "I know why you joined," he stated. "I know why you needed me alive, and I know things didn't turn out like you thought they would, otherwise you wouldn't be here crying. I know that you just wanted enough authority to gain access to the border and cross it, and I know you just wanted to see your family again."

"My family is dead," you choked out.

"And you wanted to see their graves," he finished. "I know you. I know you'll blame yourself for that for the rest of your days if I don't say anything, so I'm saying it. I know you planned to use me for that among other things, though mostly irrelevant, like buying a house, and ____, there is nothing I can fault you for."