[SKYRIM]: The Name of Time - Miraak & Female Dragonborn Fanfiction - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

His protective instinct made him only took a few hours of sleep. Whatever Sanguine said, Miraak did want to let his guard down nevertheless. The Deadric prince might appear and snatch her while she was unconscious. So he spent the night enjoying the silence they were both in.
Sometimes he gently poked her forehead, her cheeks, or just simply gazed at her for a moment. But most of the time he let Ammra nudged herself closer to his body while his fingers made their way through her hair gently.
But as the dawn almost breaking, Miraak started to sense another threat from outside of the house. Mephala's cult had found them. Those pests were fighting with someone outside. Miraak carefully left her side then made his way out.
He found two guards who were cornered by the mages and several zombies. He sighed, imagining the drag he had to go through early in the morning.
Fus Ro Dah...
It pushed the enemies. Miraak stepped forward then stood before the guards. "Move aside and guard the house! I'll handle them."
Half of his power had returned. So that morning the Dragon Priest had his light exercise of power by killing the poor mages. Enemies mustered all of their power but Miraak totally overpowered them. Soon four attackers were dead. The zombies they conjured turned into piles of ash.
Miraak turned to the guards who watched in terror. "Why were you lurking here?"
They flinched. "We were patrolling. This area belongs to the thane and we saw..."
"Yes." He snapped. "I believe you will take care of this mess. Your thane won't be happy waking up to see corpses lying around."
"Y—yes, sir."
"Good. Do as I say."
Meanwhile, Ammra woke up when she heard the racket. She could smell Miraak's scent in the room and now she knew he was outside. At the same time, what happened last night came to her head within seconds. "Dammit! Why do I always end up embarrassing myself!"
When she walked out of the room, she heard what Miraak told to the guards. "Did he just protected me while I was sleeping?" she was almost flattered to get such kindness from him.
The door opened as Miraak entered the room. "You look terrible." He said in a flat voice. "You finally awake. But do you remember anything?" he held his urge to laugh seeing her bed hair and swollen eyes.
Ammra held her head, pretending to be in pain and confusion. "What happened?" he just smirked but did not answer. A wave of relief flew inside her body. She could not let Miraak know that she remembered everything.
As soon as Ammra bathed herself and they had their meals, they headed to Breezehome.
"I came to know that you have some kind of immunity against Daedric influence," Miraak spoke when they were on the way. "Tell me if I'm hearing lie or truth."
"It's true." She replied. "I just knew I had it."
"How is that possible?"
"Well, it is actually simple." She explained. "I simply don't want what Daedrics Prince has to offer. They can influence or even control someone when they get a grip on one's obsession." She paused. "But when I strongly have no desire for their power, I'm totally free of their threat at the same time. Temptation only works when they know what you want and exploit it."
It might be simple for Ammra to practice such a concept but Miraak, on the other hand, found it incomprehensible. For someone as determined as him, a strong will and passion were something necessary to achieve a goal. So he did not question her any further.
Ammra was deep in thought when suddenly a Dunmer female approached her.
"Greeting," she spoke.
Ammra smiled and was about to speak when suddenly Mirakk pulled her backward. Instinctively he moved forward to stand between her and the stranger. "Speak quickly!" he told her. "What do you want?" He was alerted by the Azura's energy carried by that Dunmer.
The younger Dragonborn was about to protest when she realized his intention. The Dunmer told them their name, Aranea Ienith, and came because of Azura's order. She was never in a situation where someone physically as close as he was now to defend her. Ammra felt a mild flush of heat that burned her cheeks.
"Leave at once, before you regret it!" Miraak ordered with his usual threatening aura.
"I come in peace. Lady Azura only wants me to tell you that she meant no harm. But if you are willing to come under her wings, you will be ultimately blessed."
"No thanks." Ammra spoke from behind while poking her head out. "Can we go now?"
Without waiting for the priestess' reply, Miraak grabbed Ammra's hand and directed her to continue walking while he followed from behind, keeping his guard up.
"If I were you, I would have killed it," he muttered.
"Why didn't you do it?"
"Because I know you will not like it," he answered. The younger Dragonborn secretly blushed.
Upon arrival in Breezehome, the younger Dragonborn spent her time and immediately used every channel she had to gather information about Mara and Dibella. Perhaps if she knew them better, she could somehow find a way to detect their source of power. Ammra planned to study its legend, culture, teaching, history, etc.
She sent a courier to tell her message to Byrnjolf as well as to the Harbinger of Companion, Vilkas. Ammra even contacted her scholar friends across Skyrim—including, Calcemo, Urag gro-Shub, and Enthir who stayed in College of Winterhold.
For the next few days, Ammra spent her time reading books she gathered. Had Lydia not reminded her to have her meal, she might have starved herself to death. Day and night, she spent it behind the books. Meanwhile, Miraak would always be next to her; most of the time he also read, sometimes he just watched her mumbled alone and focus on what she was doing, sometimes he would pick up on her to see her reaction.
With each passing day they spent together, Ammra learned that she became more comfortable with his presence. He did not talk much but when Ammra needed some random ancient information, surprisingly he knew it well. It was the first time she felt close to someone while at the same time felt comfortable. Even if he could be a jerk sometimes and so proud, Miraak was the only person that could make her feel connected in an unexplainable way.
"Tell me, how did you learn to construct a portal?" he asked one day.
"One of the vampires I know made her portal to Soul Cairn. I learned the basic concept from her portals." Then she went on, "Of course if you understand some quantum physics and relativity laws of space and time, it would be easy. I wonder if I have the same IQ as Einstein, I always wanna be an Astronaut..."
Miraak smiled to see her mumbled about things he never heard. "Bookworm." He snapped.
"Geez! What does it make of you who spent thousands of years in the giant library!" she threw a ball of paper to him. "You are the ultimate bookworm and geek of the history of Tamriel."
Miraak chuckled. "Say that to yourself who often studying while half-naked."
Ammra grunted. "Shut up!" he pouted then hide her face behind the book. "
"Tell me about your project. What weapons or things are you actually trying to get?"
"Hmph!" he sneered. "I am happy to see you suffer and die out of curiosity. I will never tell you!" she squeaked and Miraak smirked to see her annoyed face.
Knowing her thane was having a good time doing sarcasm war, Lydia quietly put the meal for them, remained unnoticed. It had been days and Lydia noticed they enjoy themselves. Oftentimes they were sarcastically complimenting each other, in other times they would chuckle and in one time absorbed into a deeply intellectual conversation.
However, that was not the thing that made Lydia let her guard down. For days, she had been watching how Miraak covered Ammra with a blanket if she happened to fell asleep on the table. Ammra often could be too carefree and fell asleep whenever she happened to be. After knowing she had stiff neck out of sleeping on the table, Miraak stopped what he did, instead of taking her to the bedroom and only leaving after making sure he tucked her properly under the blanket.
"One is too proud to say, one is too dense to understand." Lydia thought to herself.
Miraak on the other hand, beginning to notice something inevitable inside him. He used to get bored after hoarding enough gems. But her time and her presence were something he could never get enough of. He liked seeing her smiled when she did something silly or thought of the unthinkable.
With them being together in the library, Ammra almost easily noticed when her ward needed to be renewed. This resulted in many nights without a nightmare from Hermaues Mora.
On that particular night, Ammra fell asleep on the floor. Books lying around her. Pieces of paper with her scraps were everywhere. Miraak could tell she was trying really hard. That time, he noticed she was holding another book, or more like a journal, judging from its cover. Miraak had read all the books she had but never saw that one. Could it contain the secret of her project?
Slowly he pulled it from her grip and read it. It was just as he expected. The journal had all information about her plan and project. It was not difficult for him to understand, but it was terribly incomprehensible for him to accept what he just read.
His portal to escape Apocrypha was actually the same as Ammra's portal. It needed a strong soul to function. Miraak learned that she had figured it out yet she chose another way by gathering energy from divines blessing instead of just killing him in their first battle.
What surprised him the most was her intention to create the portal. He did not expect she was telling the truth when saying the portal was her way to return home. This only led to one conclusion: Ammra wanted to leave Skyrim.
Miraak read the journal further and found names of places he never heard existed.
Last remembered date and location: Singapore, 26 January 2025
The place to go after leaving Nirn: Bali, living a new life. Might consider seeing relatives.
His heart sank when he figured out her plan. Finally, he found out the truth about her origin. It explained what he saw through her memory was so foreign.
"Was this why Sanguine said her cause was pure and of no ill-will?" he chuckled sadly. "She just wanted to go home to see her parents? How childish!" seed of anger and sadness quickly grew in his heart. Now Miraak understood why she could promise him the 'Only Dragonborn' title. But things had changed now. The first Dragonborn could not accept if she was to leave forever.
Miraak put the journal away and took her to the bedroom. He could not decide what to do or what to think yet. All he knew was he need to find a way to convince her to stay.