Written for my 20 Fandoms Challenge, it ended up half the length I wanted, but Leliana/f!Tabris won the draw, so here it is! Hope you like it. Betaed by righteous-maximus!


The night before was hot. Sweat dripped down Leliana's face as they stood in the garden. Her Warden's hands were shaking as she picked flowers. It was nighttime and yet the air was so humid Leliana felt as though she were parting a curtain with every step.

"I love these kind of nights," said her Warden, back to Leliana.

"I do too," said Leliana, and it wasn't a lie as she gazed at the woman she loved.

The Warden stood, turning towards Leliana. She smiled and held a makeshift bouquet of Andraste's Grace in her calloused hands, offering them towards Leliana. Leliana took one and tucked it behind the Warden's pointed ear, nestling it into her dark hair.

"Can you believe it?" said the Warden, a grin spreading across her face. "Look at where we are. You know, when I started that first wedding all those years ago, I couldn't have dreamed we'd be standing here."

Here was a small Chantry garden, the hot summer's night beating into them even though the sun was nowhere to be seen. They were in Orlais; the Warden's first visit, but certainly not her last. The Warden's family, her father, her cousins, half the Alienage, slept in the Chantry beds, everyone waiting for the following morning.

"Do you think it's past midnight yet?" asked Leliana.

"I don't know," said the Warden. "Why?"

"There's an Orlesian tradition," said Leliana. "Where the two getting married aren't supposed to see each other the day of the wedding."

"Well that doesn't make much sense, does it?" replied the Warden, eyes shining in the dark. "How are we supposed to get married?"

Leliana let out a peal of laughter. "I meant until the ceremony, but you know that."

The Warden looked up at the sky, at the bright stars untouched by a single cloud. "Can you believe it?" she repeated softly.

Leliana threaded their fingers together. "I can," she said. "The two of us, joined in matrimony. I can believe it."

The grip on her hand tightened. Leliana looked over and realized her love was shaking, trembling as her other hand reached up to lightly touch the flower in her hair.

"This won't be like the last time," said Leliana. "I promise."

"Promise?"

"Yes," she said. "I do. We're going to have a beautiful wedding. Nothing to stop us. No one to stop us."

Her Warden continued to squeeze Leliana's hand heedless of the heat, of the sweat beginning to collect between their fingers.

"No one to stop us," she whispered. "And I get to marry the woman I love."

Leliana didn't reply. These words weren't for her.

The Warden reached her hand out and brushed Leliana's check, her eyes now brimming with tears. "Maker," she said. "The second time's really the charm, isn't it?"

Tabris pulled Leliana down, pressing their lips together, mindless of the dry heat, of anything but the two of them and the ground their feet was on. Leliana kissed her back, her chest aching at her Warden's past, but most importantly, their future together.