Of Fond Memories [Skyrim and WoW one shots] (Requests Closed)

(Skyrim) Ulfric- Last Words To Her

(Note: The art used here is from a mod called "Immersive Armors" all credits for it goes to the original author.)
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The Jarl's forces stood at the main gates of Solitude, his forces awaiting his order to launch the attack. Anticipation, anxiety and the grim knowledge of massive death plagued the Stormcloak soldiers' mind.
Some of the soldiers' family members or friends were on the enemy's side and they knew that either they have to kill them or their friends will have to.
Including Jarl Ulfric's, before the death of the High King Torygg, when he used to work under the empire, there was a champion that he had. (Y/n) was her name. Ulfric and her enrolled into the Imperial army together, they trained together, they sparred, and they fought together.
They even fended the great forsworn threat alongside each other, which resulted in Ulfric to become a hero of the Empire and (y/n) being his champion.
The Jarl of Windhelm remembered the dark day when the High King signed the peace treaty to end the Great War with the elves. A peace treaty after years of bloodshed against them.
At that moment Ulfric and all the others were relieved that the horrible war was ending against the elves, but soon he understood that the Thalmor wanted nothing but to keep the Empire below them by enforcing their laws on Skyrim.
The worship of Talos was banned, the divine's shrine removed from the Temple of Divines and all outlying shrine destroyed. And when that didn't stop people from worship Talos, the Thalmor began arresting or killing the worshippers. It was a nightmare.
"This is no peace if we cannot worship our god, the hero god who saved our people, Torygg!" Ulfric said in disbelief
"This isn't as horrible as the Great War, there is peace now in these lands" Torygg replied
"This is no peace! People are still being slaughtered for worshipping, by these elves!" Ulfric shouted
"I'm your High King, Ulfric! You have no place to talk like that to me" The High King replied.
Ulfric knew that there was no point in arguing with him anymore, he knew that he had to take actions and free their people truly.

It took a few years before the formation of Stormcloaks were somewhat stable, they chose Windhelm as their base. Until Ulfric decided to challenge the High King in the old Nord way, by dueling to death.
The winner would be worthy of the crown.
Preparations were made, the next day he would challenge the High King Torygg, and possibly this would begin another war.
As Ulfric stood in his chambers pondering the plans, his champion arrived there
"You have grown distant... staying away from everyone at the castle, you don't even talk with King Torygg anymore... who is one of your great friends" she said as she stood beside him
"There are... reasons" the cold demeanor of his began to fade as he tried to smile at her, he began to think whether he should tell her about this growing rebellion
"I won't force you to talk about them" she said "but this silence seems like a coming of storm... I don't know why" she looked at Ulfric who was still, staring out the window, at the light snowfall.
Did she already know about the rebellion and his plans?
Ulfric darted his gaze to her, brows frowning, trying to read her eyes
"There was a small disagreement between us, nothing more" he reluctantly replied
"It doesn't seem like a "small disagreement" if you stop being around everyone altogether" she said, concerned.
Ulfric didn't reply to that, he allowed her words to sink into the silence
"Ulfric... what happened to you?" she started "you are absent from the castle the entire day, and you appear only when summoned..." she didn't continue.
Ulfric replied after a long pause, he took a deep breath before talking
"Why are you so eager to know that (y/n)? Aren't you a general? Shouldn't you catch illegal worshippers and throw them at the Thalmor's feet? Just for worshipping who they believe in?" he said coldly
(Y/n) didn't appear surprised, she simply stared at him "whatever they did was unfair, I understand that, it is wrong to stop people from doing what they believe in and I don't agree with the Thalmor at all... but have you seen the slaughter in the Great War against them? The state of the survivors of that terrible war? It is better to not worship a divine than to lose countless innocent lives to them" she explained
Ulfric became agitated by that statement, as a nord, how could she say that? He turned to her and grabbed her shoulders
"I thought your High King signed the treaty to end that god damned war! To maintain a stable alliance with the elves, not to sign a slavery with them! Where we are robbed of our freedom and slaughtered if we attempted to act against it!" He shouted before making his voice quieter "do you not see? This will lead to another war, only this time we will lose to them... I cannot see that (y/n), I cannot see our proud people die out like that" he said, his expressions revealed the pain and grief he felt, and yet he could do nothing about it. Ulfric had to fight his friends, if he wanted to save his home.
(Y/n) and Ulfric stared into each other's eyes for a long time before she winced away from his grasp around her
"Remember one thing Ulfric" she started "home has no meaning if there are no loved ones around you, it becomes a reminder of your crimes if YOU were the one who killed them..." she calmly said, turned around and began to walk away. She had taken a few steps when Ulfric held her wrist, she looked at him questionably, while he stared at her as well
"I... it really... I didn't mean to hurt you..." he fumbled around for the right words but it seemed to have disappeared from him completely
"It's alright... I wasn't hurt at all" she smiled, he could tell that it wasn't a genuine, she did that just to make him feel better.
(Y/n) looked at Ulfric grasp on her wrist, he looked at it soon after and quickly let it go
"I apologize for that..." he took a few steps back, she nodded slightly and smiled before leaving.

That night before he betrayed Solitude, he knew that (y/n) was aware of the rebellion. Maybe she even knew that he was leading it all. At that point Ulfric didn't understand what she meant, but now as he stood here at the gates of Solitude, he understood the meaning of her statement. And now she stood, to fight him and his army, Ulfric knew that he had no choice but to die at her hands at the end of this siege or remove her from his life like he did to Torygg and the Empire.
The only regret he will ever have was that he never got the chance to hold her, to tell her of the growing affections in his heart for her, and now she would never know of them....