Weeks have passed since the battle with the Qunari, and things in Kirkwall were finally going back to normal. Hawke spent much of her time helping with the effort to clean up the city. When next Varric saw her, she was sitting at the bar at The Hanged Man, a glass of bourbon in hand. She looked utterly defeated. Varric just assumed she was tired from all of her newfound duties as Champion and thought nothing of it. However, once he approached her and saw her glum expression up close, he began to suspect otherwise. He tried to lighten the mood with one of his quips. "It's been so long, Hawke. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me."
Hawke's lips quirked up into a slight smirk as she looked down at him. "I would never."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Who in their right mind would willingly deprive themselves of my handsome mug," Varric said as he took a seat on the stool beside her. "So, how's life as Champion treating you?"
Hawke turned her head so that she was now facing forward, her eyes downcast as she stared into her amber colored drink. What smile she was able to muster fell from her face, that gloomy mien of hers surfacing once again. "It's fine," she said.
Varric quirked a brow at this. "Doesn't sound fine to me. Want to talk about it?"
Hawke raised a hand to her face, her forefinger and thumb pinching the bridge of her nose. "I keep thinking about the battle with the Qunari."
"Well, you did kill the Arishok. That's something that's kind of hard to forget," Varric said.
Hawke sighed. "That's not what I mean."
"Enlighten me then," said Varric.
"Bethany was there," she explained. "I finally got to see her after all these years, and she barely spoke two words to me."
"It's kind of hard to talk with a horde of Qunari trying to kill you," said Varric.
"I know that," she said. "It's just, well, didn't she seem a little cold to you? Like she wanted nothing to do with me?"
"I honestly didn't notice," said Varric.
Hawke frowned. "Well, she seemed that way to me. Is she angry with me?"
"Why would she be mad?" asked Varric.
"I handed her over to the Grey Wardens without even asking her what she wanted. All I wanted at that moment was for her to survive. Was saving her life back in the Deep Roads a mistake?"
"You saved your sister from certain death, that could never be a mistake. You did that right thing, Hawke." He spoke with such certainty in his voice that she found it hard not to believe him.
"It still doesn't change the fact that I lost her forever," she said.
"I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a sister who's alive and angry with me, as opposed to a sister who's dead gone for good."
Hawke smiled a little. "I don't know. I recall you wanting to do your brother in yourself."
"But thanks to Blondie, I didn't. I have faith that I made the right decision. You need to believe that you made the right decision."
"Maybe you're right. I should be thankful that she's alive and well. I just wish things had gone differently," said Hawke.
"You and me both. Here, let me buy you another drink," Varric said as he waved the bartender over.
"Thank you, Varric." Hawke smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. "And I don't just mean for the free drink."
Varric put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't mention it, Hawke."