[SKYRIM]: The Name of Time - Miraak & Female Dragonborn Fanfiction - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Miraak silently watched as the guests seated themselves across the table. Beside him, Ammra remained silent. He could tell she was pressured but hid it well.
"What brings you here, Delphine?" she broke in the silence.
"Straight to the point. I like you." She replied. "Then let me be the same too. The Dragon that Greybeards have been hiding. Paarthurnax. You must kill it."
Had it not because of Ammra, Miraak would have annihilated those insolent mortals. Even after what happened between him and the dragons in the past, secretly he still cared for his Vahlok. With the new decree given by Akatosh himself, his goal became clear; he must side with the dragon.
"That's all?" Ammra asked with her laid-back tone. "What about you Esbern? Do you have any requests? Who or what should I kill?" everyone in the room could catch the mild sarcasm in her smooth voice.
"Now calm yourself, Ammra." Esbern muttered. He knew better than Delphine to not invoke a Dragonborn's wrath. "Our request here is for the sake of humanity."
"With the death of Alduin, Paarthurnax would replace his tyranny." Delphine suddenly interrupted. "Once a given a chance, the dragon would enslave mortals again and we must stop it before it happened."
"How old are you, Delphine?" Ammra's sudden unexpected question left them all flustered.
"30. And don't try to change the subject."
"How about you Esbern? 40?" Ammra continued the new topic anyway. Hearing no answer from Esbern she then added, "Let's see what I can do about your request."
"Dragonborn, it is your destiny to kill the dragon." Delphine added with a great assertion. "It's in your fate to end their slavery."
Fate. The very word that Miraak knew too well. For eons, his fate was in the hand of Hermaeus Mora. After the Daedric Prince's death, his fate was decided by Akatosh. It seemed being a Dargonborn was nothing but a tool. He began to hate those guests. They reminded him of something so unpleasant.
"Watch your tongue, Delphine. Fate and destiny are not decided by you." Ammra replied.
"You'd better do this right," she told her. "If you choose the other way around, I'm afraid you will not be part of the Blade." They saw how Esbern nudged her with his elbow, trying to stop her.
"Say Delphine, what is your goal exactly? To kill and to gain peace are two different things." Miraak heard her deep calm voice, showing her usually hidden wisdom.
Since she got important things to do, after some more minutes of talking, with a polite and gentle gesture, Ammra kicked them out of her house. She resumed her task in the kitchen happily as soon as they left as if the conversation never happened.
Meanwhile, Miraak remained silent because he was quite displeased. Ammra did not show any defiance against them. In his eyes, she just accepted being ordered around. On top of that, she was told to kill his vahlok.
"Our own fate never really become ours eventually." He wanted to talk about the topic with Ammra when he spotted her walking out of the kitchen but she quickly dismissed it.
The former Dragonpriest noticed how she had been excited since the break of dawn. The sweet scent from her baking apple and lavender dumpling filling the air. Ammra put the meal she prepared into a basket then took Miraak to a grassy hill near Whiterun.
Surprisingly, he found the children with Lydia and Gregor in that place. The Housecarls were helping the children fishing. "Why don't you join them? Still remember how to fish, right?" she giggled.
He did not respond and just turned his body to face her. Clearly, Ammra knew he was troubled. "I will not harm your vahlok. I like Paarthurnax too."
"Then why didn't you just reject their request and kill them?" he protested. His annoyed tone blatantly saying how hard he tried to not kill Delphine and Esbern with a bolt of lightning. But the same voice, at the same time, showed a great amount of concern he had for the dragon.
Even if he rarely showed it, Ammra was so happy to see Miraak started to grow compassion. The man that stood before her now might be more than five thousand years old, however, she couldn't help but feel he was like a sulking child. "Such an audacity to talk about our fate!" he added.
Now she got what he was upset about. Miraak might regret his treason but he couldn't be blamed either. He was put into servitude of dragon. He was made to do that, whether he was willing or not. Whatever the case, he had been always a subject of someone else's will.
"I do agree with Delphine. As Dragonborn, we are destined to stop what the dragons did. It is our fate." She told him. Miraak couldn't be more upset because what she said was correct.
Even after Ammra stated Paarthurnax would be free of harm, he remained resentful. Perhaps it was the truth itself that enraged him but he just did not notice. Yet nothing could be done to change the fact. This time he looked at her in the eye—a hint of a cry for help. For some reason, he just couldn't sort this particular thing by himself.
As a dragon priest, he was drowned in duties. When he was under Mora's servitude for eons, Miraak fed himself with an obsession with power that eventually turned into an obsession with freedom—to be the master of his own fate. This might turn him blind to the real freedom itself. Even when it was at his hand now, he couldn't help but feel he was still bound. Perhaps now he thought Akatosh was just another new master to serve. Ammra saw this well.
The girl gently caressing the side of his face. "It is true that we have such a bitter fate with the dragons. It is also true we cannot change the past. But it does not prevent us from choosing a way that we like to live with the fate." They were drowned in each other's gaze. "I was sad to know I have to kill dragons to be strong. But I chose another way without changing fate." She smiled.
Then she mischievously added, "Delphine and Esbern have revealed their age. Soon they'll die out of old age. Until then, I just have to pretend I do what they wanted." She smiled widely when noticing his relaxing face. She couldn't care less if those two lunatics made her their enemies. She did what she wanted. "We cannot change fate, but we can control how we see it, and eventually we can live in harmony with it."
"You just need a robe then you'll make a greybeard." He teased but Ammra giggled.
"I don't have a beard." She snorted. Ammra stood on her toes so she could land a kiss on his forehead. "There, stop frowning." Miraak pulled her closer for a hug.
The sound of the kids cheering as they caught something was heard from the distance. Aleesan and Sofie mentioned Miraak's name several times as they excitedly waiting for him. "If you forget how to be happy after all this time, perhaps the kids can help you remember it," Ammra told him as she pulled away. "But before that, you must remember how to fish." She giggled.
He petted her for a brief moment then left for the children.
Except for the giant tentacles and terrible lurkers, nothing lived under the dark inky water of Apocrypha. Surely Miraak never thought of fishing when he was inside. Now the funny thing was he had to cope with Aleesan and Sofie who eagerly told him how to fish. It took him sometimes to understand the fun in waiting until finally, a fish caught on bait.
Gregor helped Aleesan whenever he had problems with the fishing rod. But the kid insisted Miraak do it for him. Sofie also wanted to get Miraak's attention by keeping on telling how she was better at fishing than Aleesan. They felt happy to be with him.
They had grown fond of him ever since the stargazing and started to idolize Miraak. The first Dragonborn himself found their company enjoyable. He noticed it was nice to see them cheering as his fishing method proved useful and eventually helped them caught more fishes. Perhaps Ammra was right. They made him smile and entertained. But she did not know it was actually hers who mainly reminded him how to be happy.
While Miraak was busy accompanying the kids—Gregor trying his best to make sure the children did not exhaust him, Lydia and Ammra prepared the picnic spot. The housecarl set the picnic mat while Ammra arranged the plates, cups, and meals. After everything ready, Lydia called the rest for lunchtime.
"You have a house but why do we eat here?" Miraak asked as he sat next to Ammra.
"This is called picnic." She told him while putting some lavender dumplings on her plate. "We ate outside while seeing the nice view." She gestured him to the enchanting golden autumn landscape beneath the hill. Miraak noticed its beauty and when he turned his head to Ammra, the girl gestured him to open his mouth and feed him with the dumpling.
He was stunned, never expecting it. What she did in fact making his heart skip a beat. Had they been alone, he would have kissed her on the spot. Miraak watched how Sofie and Aleesan competed to eat. They joked around and talked, making the others laughed. He also noticed how Ammra oftentimes fed them too then realized she only did it once to him.
At first, his pride forbade him to ask for more, but as time passed by, finally he gave in. He nudged Ammra using his elbow. She stared Ammra for a moment then stared at the dumplings. She giggled then did as he wished. A fluttering sensation filled his chest and it doubled when he noticed the defeat in the children's eyes. He completely took their mother's attention.
The group enjoyed the meal and had a great time. The children decided to swim by the river after they're done eating. Gregor and Lydia left to watch them. Miraak took the liberty of the chance to sleep on her lap. The shade of the maple tree and the gentle breeze made him sleepy. Ammra caressed his head gently and noticed him smiling.
"I think I like this thing called picnic." He told her.
"Then let's do it often."
For someone as young as Ammra, she could be surprisingly wise sometimes. Indeed, they had a new fate now. But more importantly, Miraak had a new point of view. Thus, he then decided to move the relationship between them further.
"Sleep well, big guy." she told him.