This was requested by the wonderful imani148dr. This was a very interesting and challenging short story, but I'm always up for a challenge! I hope you all enjoy!

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12th of Hearthfire, 4E 210

I latched onto Mama's hand. I didn't want her to go. I wanted her to stay and be safe. I didn't want her to go fight with the rest of the soldiers.

"Please, Mama, don't go." I pulled on her fingers and stared at her. "Please!"

She sighed and dropped to her knees in front of me. "It's going to be okay, little pup. I have to go, but I'll come back." She pushed a piece of my hair away from my face. "It's going to be all right."

I threw myself at her, wrapping my small arms around her neck. I turned my face into her long and soft hair and started to cry. "Don't go, Mama. Don't go."

She patted my back and kissed me. "Don't be afraid. Be brave, okay?" She pulled away and wiped my face dry with her gloved hand. "You're a Companion, aren't you?" She smiled a little and placed her hand under my chin. "Keep your chin up, little one."

I nodded a little, wiping a fist under my nose. "Where's Papa?"

Then, the doors opened, and Papa walked in. He always looked so scary with his warpaint on. I latched onto Mama's neck even tighter.

"Why are you crying, Embla?" he asked as he knelt next to us.

"Because." I sniffed and wiped my nose again. "I don't want you and Mama to go."

Papa smiled a little. "It's going to be fine, Embla. We'll be back before you know it." He pressed his gloved hand to my cheek. "Be brave. Can you do that for me?"

With another sniff, I nodded.

"That's my girl." He pulled me into his arms, and I buried my face into the side of his neck. "We'll be fine. Don't be afraid." He pulled away and let his hands rest on my shoulders. "Stay with your brother and cousins, all right?"

Again, I nodded.

Mama stood up and turned me towards the stairs. "Now go on, downstairs."

"Mama, I don't want to go alone."

She sighed and took my hand in hers. With a look back at Papa, she took me downstairs to my room. Jergen, Bria, and Kale were already there, Bria holding her little brother tightly. Jergen had his toy sword in his hands, and he kept swinging it around. He stopped when Mama and I walked in.

From a dark corner, the old maid Tilma stepped forward and took my hand. "You'd best go, Ylva."

"Thank you for staying with them, Tilma. I know that babysitter isn't included in your job, but—"

"Just go! Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

Mama nodded before walking up to Jergen and me. She gave us both a kiss on the head, then she left.

Time passed in mostly silence. Bria bounced Kale on her knee while I sat on my bed and scratched charcoal lines over paper. Jergen kept pacing back and forth, holding his sword like Papa taught him: tip pointing up and hand firm on the hilt.

The silence was broken when a low rumbling noise shook the very walls of our room. We all stopped what we were doing and listened in fearful awe.

"What is that?" asked Bria, clutching Kale tightly.

"A war horn," said Tilma, her wrinkled face still. "The Stormcloaks have begun the attack."

I gasped, snapping the piece of charcoal in my hands. Jergen gripped his sword even tighter.

We waited in tense silence, straining our ears for any sound. My ears rang with the silence. I couldn't stand it. I was about to give up when—

CRASH!

Everyone gasped. Kale started crying. The walls and floor shook with the sound. We all rushed to Tilma's side, Kale still sobbing, and huddled by the chair she sat on.

"What was that?" I asked as another loud crash shook the room.

"I don't know, dear," said Tilma as she stroked her withered hand over my hair. "But we're safe here. Don't be afraid."

"But Mama and Papa are out there!" Tears started to well in my eyes. "What's going to happen to them?!"

Jergen let go of his sword and instead grabbed my arm. "It's okay, Embla. Papa told us to be brave, didn't he? We have to be brave."

I sniffed and nodded. "You're right. But it's hard."

"He wouldn't have told us if he thought we couldn't be. We have to be brave for him and Mama."

I leaned my head against Tilma's leg, clutching her worn dress in tight fists. I kept telling myself to be brave, but it was so hard.

I just want Mama and Papa back.

The sounds of battle raged on. Men shouted and swords clashed. More rumbles shook the ground as people screamed. Kale cried, even though Bria continued to try to shush him. I buried my face into Tilma's skirt to keep my tears from showing. Jergen still sat beside me, his hand on my shoulder. I wanted to put my hands over my ears and ignore everything going on. I wanted to pretend it was all a nightmare, and that I would wake up soon.

Papa had told me to be brave, but I couldn't be. How could I be brave when everything was shaking and crashing around me? I was terrified.

But then I started to remember some of the best times of my life. I remembered the time Papa and Mama took Jergen and me outside of the walls and to a small pond down the road from Whiterun. Papa taught us how to swim while Mama sat on the bank and sang. I remembered listening to her voice carry on the wind, and it was like everything around us had stopped just to listen to her. Papa stopped talking to us and stared at her, giving her his full and rapt attention. That is, until Jergen splashed water in Papa's face, and it turned into a water war.

I remembered when Papa gave me my first wooden sword. The very minute I held it in my hands, I dragged him outside and begged him to show me how to use it. He had smiled on me and told me not to be so eager. He helped me hold it properly, taught me the proper stance, and showed me some of the most basic moves.

Lastly, I remembered the time Mama took me out to pick wildflowers. She and I had run through the open fields of red, blue, and purple; she was chasing after me and laughing the whole time. When she caught me, she tickled me until I laughed my sides sore. Then she sat down in the fields and began to braid my hair. She put all sorts of flowers in my hair and left them there until bedtime that night. My hair had smelled like flowers for so long after that.

When I remembered those things, it was easy not to be so afraid. Remembering the good things instead of focusing on the bad. It helped me relax a little and gave me hope that Mama and Papa would return to us.

They're going to return. I know they will. They always come back.

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The requests and questions forums are STILL OPEN and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future! I hope you, my lovely and wonderful readers, will continue to help me write this book with your creative requests!

That's all for now! Love and sweetrolls!
~WG 💙