A/N: If you'd like any continuations to the snippets, let me know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age, unfortunately

"I want to know your name."

Mara Cadash's head jerked up. She was working at her desk, going over paperwork Josephine has been on her to do. After a month long trip to the Western Approach, Mara had a lot of work to catch up on. It was, of course, Cole. He was the only one who could sneak up on Mara without her catching him. She tilted her head in response to his question.

"Why would you want to know that?" She asked.

"You don't like it. When the call you the Herald. You say you are the Herald. You aren't sure it's true. You wonder if you're lying. You know that you have to say it. You should say it. Its better for the Inquisition. Still, you don't like it. Inquisitor is better, but its not your name. You wonder why heroes always lose their names. But you don't think you're a hero. You are though, a hero."

"I'm just the person making decisions when nobody else would," Mara disagrees politely.

"Rough, harsh, like sandpaper with everyone but me. Soft, kind, like satin. Why?"

Mara rubbed the bridge of her nose, "You're not like everyone else - it's not that I'm babying you Cole- you don't deserve that."

"Motives? What does he want? Everyone always wants. Everyone always takes. What will he take from me? His eyes, wide, innocent, sincere. No lie behind them. What if he doesn't? The first. The only. He's special." Cole mumbled under his breath, though Mara could easily hear him in her quiet room. Her blue eyes stared at him while he avoided her gaze.

"Yes, that about sums it up." Mara agreed, trying not to marvel over his ability. Their roles switch. Mara pretended to be reading over some form while Cole's eyes burned into her.

"You think everyone else wants something from you." He stated.

"They do, in their own way." Mara elaborated, "Cullen wants redemption. Josephine wants her family restored. Leliana wants this task to succeed-"

"She sees the hero when she looks at you."

"Exactly. Varric is also looking for redemption. He thinks the red lyrium and all of this is his fault. He's here to try to put that right. Solas is here for himself, he wants to get new experiences to make the Fade more interesting for him and also save the world. Cassandra wants to right past wrongs. She wants to fix the Chantry and the Seekers. She wants the Inquisition to be a symbol of that. She wants me to be a symbol for that. Dorian wants to prove that not all Tevintars are bad. He's here to be a part of something better, for himself. I have to succeed or else he's wasted his efforts. Vivinne is here because this is the next step that she needs in whatever social climbing game she's playing. Blackwall is here to prove that Grey Wardens aren't a lost cause. The Iron Bull is here because we're paying him and also because the Qunari want him here. Sera is here because she wants something- I'm not sure what yet."

"Motivations, twisted, but reflecting truth."

"I know their our friends," Mara tried to explain, understanding that her mind must be difficult for someone like him to understand, "And I care about them. But in their own ways they're using me. That's why none of them use my name. I'm the Inquisitor to them because I have to be. My first name doesn't matter. It's better no one knows it. The Inquisitor can't be a person. I'm a symbol. Symbols don't have names."

"But you want to hear your name. You need it." Cole said, insistent. Mara's lips flickered up at his utter wholehearted desire to help her.

"I do, but it won't help."

Mara rested her head in her heads and when she raised her head Cole was gone.