Dear Naida,
If you are reading this letter it is because I am gone. I was unable to say goodbye directly to you because I know I would be unable to leave. I will no longer be part of the order and will not drag you with me. Please stay safe and out of harm, knowing you are safe will keep my heart at peace. I do and will always love you my dear water nymph. Stay with the order, fulfill your purpose.
Love,
Cullen
I am sorry I never said this in person.
Naida stared at the worn-out letter once again before placing it back into her pocket. She started out over the horizon and saw carriages arriving. She dried her tears before making her way to the great hall. As she got closer to the hall she began to hear a commotion, Naida slowly began to back up and took her shield and sword out. As she got into her battle stance fellow templars flew through the door. As quickly as they came through the door they began to attack her.
"What are you doing? Stop this at once!" None of them answered and continued with their assault against her. She continued to cut them down until there was only one remaining. She finally was able to get a look at her attacker before slicing through his body with her sword. Nothing about this man appeared normal, he looked deathly ill and did not react as a templar should. Once he fell from her blade she looked around and noticed many of the others looked just like him.
"What the hell is going on…" Naida looked around one more time before deciding to venture into the great hall. Upon entering the room, she saw templars fighting what used to be their fellow comrades. She instantly began to smack the ill-looking templars away with her shield. As she continued to smack the ill templars away from the ones who looked to be unaffected a door slammed open and people Naida did not recognize ran into the room.
"Naida! Where are the other veterans?" She looked around to see who called her name and saw it was Ser Barris.
"I do not know Delrin, I parted from them about an hour or two ago." She slammed her shield into the last enemy before driving her sword through its heart, "Could you please tell me what is going on?"
"I might be able to help with that." A man slowly came from behind Barris placing his dagger back in its place.
"And you are?" The man laughed and began to walk closer to her.
"I am Gideon, I've come to help with the envy demon that was dressed up as the Lord Seeker." Naida looked over at Barris to see if what this man was saying was true.
"Gideon is the herald I was telling you about the other day Naida." She nods her head and then hears the demonic screaming in the background.
"So what is the plan that you have come up with Ser Gideon?" Gideon smiled before pointing towards her.
"The veterans are the plan. We are hoping you and the others will be able to take down this field the demon had placed and then we can go and kill it." Gideon smiles at Naida and she nods. She then looks around the room seeing if she can spot other veterans lingering within the great hall.
"Sounds like a solid plan. Should I come with you or stay in the great hall?" Gideon looks at Barris before looking at Naida again.
"Naida just go with Gideon, will probably make it easier for the veterans to trust someone and get them back here. While you are helping the rest of us can cover the hall for a while." She nods before walking towards a door on the other side of the room.
"If I know the others like I think I do they should be just beyond this door on the battlements."
"Lead the way lady templar." She motions them to go through the door before her and once everyone had gone through she shuts it behind her.
"So, herald, I have been introduced to you but not your companions. May be helpful to know peoples' names when going into battle with them." She grins before looking at the group before her. She sees that they have a seeker, a mage, and an archer among them.
"Just Gideon please, my companions are; Cassandra, Solas, and Varric." Naida takes a second glance at the archer who Gideon had said was named Varric. Recognition flitters across her face before a slight grin breaks out on her face.
"Varric Tethras? Is that really you?" Varric tries to get a good look at her but her helmet covers most of her face. Naida laughs before sliding the helmet off of her head.
"By the maker, it can't be. Curly Jr. is that really you?" Naida chuckles before nodding her head.
"Yeah, it's me Varric." Varric came closer to her and gave her a quick hug as they made their way up the battlements.
"I didn't realize you had left Kirkwall." Her smile dims down and all she can do is nod. Gideon coughs a little to break the newly formed tension.
"Curly Jr.? The only person I've heard you call Curly is Cullen, care to explain?" Varric goes to say something but stops when he sees the look on Naida's face. Her eyes snap forward and she quickly pulls out her sword and shield.
"Explanations later, other veterans now." She charges off towards the sound of fighting leaving Gideon looking at where she used to be dumbfounded. When she turns the corner, she sees a veteran fighting a hoard of enemies. Naida jumps in and starts to draw attention off of the other veteran.
"Come on you bastards!" She sliced through one just for another one to take its place. As she continues to fight she notices the herald and his companions come running up the stairs and begin to fight the ill templars. They quickly finish off all of the enemies before checking on the other veterans.
"Arthur, are you okay?" One of the veterans looks at her and smiles.
"I'm fine Naida, I've sent the others ahead to the hall. Everyone is okay, just small cuts and bruises." Naida nods and smiles back at Arthur before looking over at Gideon.
"Well Gideon sounds like you have all of us, let's get this show on the road." Gideon lets out a deep chuckle before following the two veterans to the great hall. Once they reach the hall they saw Barris taking care of the last ill templar. Naida along with the other veterans walk towards the barrier and find a space where they can all begin to channel.
"Watch our backs, okay? Hopefully, with all of us channeling we will be able to break this barrier rather quickly."
"We will make sure they stay off of you guys, just start when all of you are ready." Naida walks back over to her fellow veterans and they all get into place. They then begin to channel their powers and it doesn't seem like long after the sounds of fighting can be heard around them. Naida takes a chance to glance around at the fighting going on around her and sees the herald about to take a sword straight through his back. She quickly jumps the barricade and shoves the herald out of the way of the sword being shoved towards him. She grunts as she feels the blade enter through her armor and into her abdomen before she hears the whistle of an arrow and the templar falls. The sword slowly exits her armor as the templar falls to the ground.
"Naida?" She looks down at the herald and smiled before placing a hand over the wound she had just obtained.
"I'm okay Gideon. I have gotten worse wouldn't while training with my comrades." She kept her hand on the wound and offered the other to help Gideon stand up. He quickly accepted her hand and stood with her help.
"Are you sure you are okay?" She nodded her head and smiled. She heard the barrier burst and looked towards where it had been.
"I will take a potion, get stitched up, and be fine. Now go show that envy demon whose boss, so what is left of the order can help you shut that huge hole in the sky." Gideon patted her shoulder before gathering his team and heading towards the courtyard where the envy demon had disappeared to. The other veterans came toward Naida and handed her a potion.
"Okay Naida, take off that armor, I've got to stitch you up." She nodded and began to peel her chest piece off and watched as her letter slowly fell to the ground. Arthur picked up the letter and handed it back to her.
"Good thing the sword didn't go any higher or it would have gone right through the letter you're always reading." Naida smiled before letting go of her wound so it could be stitched closed. Bariss began to shove the needle through her skin and Naida hissed but slowly sipped the potion to help heal the wound closed. Once her wound was stitched closed everyone began to gather and walk towards the courtyard.
Time skip to when they are traveling to Haven
"Naida, can we talk?" Naida looked over at Varric and nodded.
"I know you have been waiting to do so, so go ahead."
"What happened between you and Curly? Last time I saw either one of you, it seemed like you were attached at the hip." Naida looked down and frowned.
"To be completely honest Varric, I don't know. I did not know he was leaving until he was already gone." Varric looked at her with a shocked expression.
"Wait, so he didn't even tell you he was leaving? He just left you?" She nodded and then slowly handed him the letter.
"This is all that he left me." Varric quickly read the letter and shook his head.
"I think you and Curly need to have a much-needed chat." Naida nodded her head.
"Hopefully we will have the time before we head to seal the breach."
"To be completely honest since you came ahead of the over veterans you should have more than enough time." She let out a light laugh before looking up at the sky.
"So that's why you got Gideon to ask if I could ride with you guys instead of leaving tomorrow." Varric nodded while he began chuckling.
"Yeah, well I thought the sooner you have this conversation the better." As they turned the corner with their mounts they could see the entrance to Haven and the welcoming party. As they got closer more and more butterflies filled Naida's stomach. Once they got to Haven Naida gave her horse to the stable hand before following the scout to her new residence. She waved goodbye to Varric as she passed and continued to walk towards what seemed to be the training grounds. Soon enough the scout stopped and pointed to the tent in front of them.
"Here you are milady, this tent is all yours during your stay here." The scout turned to leave but Naida put a hand on their shoulder.
"Wait, could you tell me where your commander's tent currently is?"
"His tent is actually right across from yours." A slight blush settled on her cheeks before she nodded and sent the scout on his way. Naida peered out of her tent but only saw soldiers training, there was no sign of Cullen. So she closed her tent before stripping off her templar armor and just pulling on a loose fitting top and some pants. She then stuck the letter into one of the pants pockets before leaving her tent and heading across the way to Cullen's tent. She opened the front flap of his tent slightly before calling out to see if he was in the tent.
"Commander Rutherford?" She didn't see him yet but she could hear the rustling of papers.
"Yes? I am towards the back of the tent." Naida began to walk further in and tried to slow her breathing. As she got further in she caught a glimpse of him and an unwanted gasp left her mouth which caused him to turn and face her, he instantly looked at her as if he had seen a ghost.
"Naida, it cannot be you. You are still in Kirkwall away from the breach…this is just another delusion." Cullen shut his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again his expression stayed depressed.
"Cullen, it really is me!" Cullen came around his desk and rested his hand on her cheek. A smile slowly formed on his face and got even bigger when she rested her hand on top of his.
"I never thought I would see you again. Wait, you must be so upset with me." Naida nodded slightly but kept her hand on his.
"At first I was angry at you for leaving me behind but I slowly came to understand why you needed to leave. Although could you please explain two part of the letter you wrote to me?" A blush quickly enveloped Cullen's cheek when he looked at the parts of the letters she was pointing at.
"What exactly do you want to know?" Naida smiled before letting go of Cullen's hand.
"What do the scribbles saw under them?" Cullen rubbed the back of his neck before looking at the ground.
"Naida, shouldn't you get some rest? I mean you did just get here didn't you?" A sigh left her lips before she frowned.
"Cullen I've been waiting for this moment ever since I read this letter and you left me behind…" Cullen rubbed his chin before pulling her into his arms.
"I am so sorry I left you behind. I wanted to tell you for so long I…" The tent entrance flung open and multiple soldiers came rushing in.
"Commander, we need to begin…" The man speaking looked up and saw the situation the commander was in and stopped talking. Naida's face turned bright red and she pulled away from Cullen.
"I will just…yup…" She quickly exited the tent and ran back into hers. She dove, onto the bed sitting in the middle of her tent and hid her face in the pillow. As she cuddled more into the blankets she realized how tired she was and let sleep consume her.
Time skip to a few hours later
Her eyes slowly opened and she began to stretch but stopped when she heard slight snoring coming from somewhere next to her. She sat up and looked around and her eyes quickly found Cullen sleeping on the chair next to her bed. She took this time to look at how much Cullen had changed since the last time she had seen him. Naida didn't noticed any drastic chances only that he had gotten older and appeared to be pretty sleep deprived. She went to get up to just touch his arm but noticed his breathing was beginning to speed up.
"Maker no, not her, just let her be alive." His face began to scrunch and his body began to tense up.
"Cullen?" Naida frowned and got up off the bed to get closer to him.
"Not my water nymph, please, give her back to me." Her heart jumped at her old nickname. Tears began to fall down Cullen's cheeks and Naida got close enough to wipe them away. She then began to shake Cullen to wake him up.
"Cullen, I'm right here. Please wake up!" Cullen's eyes snapped open and focused in on Naida's face. He raised his hand and rested it on her cheek.
"My water nymph, is it really you? You're not gone?" She nodded her head and smiled at him.
"Yeah, it's really me Cullen." Cullen instantly pulled her close to him and rested his head on top of hers, "Cullen what is going on?" Cullen tightened his hold on her and then sighed. He looked into her eyes before starting to talk.
"The whole reason I left without saying goodbye is because I knew you would want to come with me. Yet I couldn't do that to you especially knowing I was not going to be apart of the order…Naida…I have given up lyrium. I knew the side effects and couldn't do that to you. I love you too much to think of putting you through that kind of nonsense." Naida stifled a sob before pulling Cullen into a kiss. She pulled back after a minute to look into his eyes and giving him a small peck on the lips after.
"You foolish, stupid man. Of course, I would have come with you and helped you through this. I've loved you for so long, I wouldn't just leave you!" She let out a small teary laugh before kissing him again. Cullen instantly responded by kissing her back and pulling her closer to him. They pulled apart from each other to take a breath.
"Never in a million years did I think I would be kissing you like this. I thought I had given this up the day I left Kirkwall without saying anything." He cupped her cheek and smiled softly. She leaned into his touch and shut her eyes.
"Well it's a good thing I went to Therinfall Redoubt and your herald came." They both laughed before leaning in for another kiss.
"I'm sure we would have found each other regardless. Not like you can be anyone else's water nymph…right?" Naida kissed his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.
"Nope, I'm just yours. You're stuck with me…Commander." Cullen pulled her close before standing up and bring her over to her bed.
"Let's get some more rest love before people actually need us for things." They both laughed before curling up to each other and falling asleep in each other's arms.
Fin