"Merrill!" Hawke called as she tossed her keys into the bowl on the table beside the door, unslinging her blade and tossing it aside. "I'm home!" She walked up the grand staircase. "Merrill?"
"I'm in here, Hawke!" Her gentle Dalish accent came from the bedroom, and Hawke smiled when she saw her wife laying on the bed, silk sheets pulled up to her collarbone. There was a book beside her, but their dog, Ruffian, was laying on her chest, demanding her attention.
"Welcome home, Ma Vhenan." Merrill giggled, and Hawke sat on the bed beside her. "How was your day?"
Hawke smiled. "Much better, now that I'm with you again." Merrill giggled again, and they shared a brief kiss. "Oh, I'm exhausted. I'm up to here with this stupid Mage-Templar fighting." She shook her head. "I almost wish it were the Qunari again. At least then we had a clear enemy."
Merrill frowned. "I'm sorry, my love." She patted Ruffian to stand, and the dog jumped off so she could sit up. "Should I go have a very stern talk with Meredith?" She held held her wife in her arms for a moment, and then began rubbing Hawke's shoulders.
Hawke threw her head back and laugh. "Oh, I would pay to see that! The fierce Knight-Commander of the Templar Order, brought down by a tiny Dalish girl."
"For you, Ma Vhenan?" Merrill had the biggest smile on her face simply for having made her Hawke laugh after such pain. "I would give every Templar in Kirkwall my best reproving glare."
A smile painted Hawke's lips at the thought of her petite little Merrill folding her arms and glaring at the Templars and Mages until they stopped fighting. And the surprisingly strong hands massaging out the knots in her back only made the smile grow wider.
"Oh, Merrill." Hawke sighed happily, resting her head back. "I love you so much, you wonderful little angel." She kissed Merrill's cheek. "You're the only daisy in the field of thorns."
Merrill kissed Hawke on the lips, gentle and sweet. "I love you more than you will ever know, my heart." She continued rubbing her lover's shoulders gently, with a smile. Then she slipped Hawke's leather jerkin and tossed it aside, feeling the lovely silk shirt her heart was wearing and continuing her backrub. "You make me the happiest woman in the world."
"That can't be true." Hawke smiled, letting her eyes flutter closed. "Because you make me the happiest woman in the world."
"Oh, Ma Vhenan." She kissed Hawke's neck. "What would I do without you?"
Hawke shrugged. "Probably not worry nearly as much?"
"Perhaps..." Merrill shook her head. "But what's the point of living if you don't have anything in your life that's worth worrying about?"
"Oh Merrill." Hawke turned around, and kissed her wife gently, and laid down on the bed. Merrill followed, laying her head over Hawke's heart.
They laid there for a long time, cuddled together and enjoying the warmth, the love, the sheer presence, of their soulmate.
"Hawke." She murmured after a long time, half to talk to her heart, half to see if she was still awake.
"Hmm?" Hawke mumbled, prying her eyes open. She was in bliss after a long, hard day, feeling the warm arms of her lover after the chilling cold of Kirkwall's winter. Merrill was utterly perfect in her eyes, with not even Blood Magic enough to even slightly reduce her opinion of the adorable Dalish girl. She was optimistic, compassionate, intelligent, joyful... everything Hawke needed in her life.
Not the mention that she was utterly gorgeous.
"I have something to tell you, my love." There was a small tremble to her voice. Not a big one, not enough that anyone else could tell that it was there, but Hawke heard it. They had been married for three years, and Hawke could read her like a book.
Hawke sat up a little, meeting Merrill's wide eyes of beauty. "What's wrong, Merrill?" Her own voice had a nervous edge to it, concerned about what had caused her lover's voice to tremble, and tightened her arm around her Dalish.
"I made a big decision today-" She cut herself off when she realized how bad that sounded. "I-it's nothing bad, I promise!" She waved her hand emphatically, worried that her lover was worried about her being worried. "But I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've made a big decision that I wanted to tell you."
Hawke heart began to settle in her chest, and she loosened the grip around her wife's chest. "Oh, alright." So it wasn't bad, although it must be something big. "I'm here for you, love."
"Well," She said slowly, holding herself close to her wife, taking comfort in the ryhmn of her heart beat. "I decided to give up my work on the mirror entirely today. No more Eluvian, no more Blood Magic."
"R-really?" Hawke stammered, her breath being taken from her chest at Merrill's unexpected words. She met Merrill's eyes. "Are you sure, Merrill?"
Merrill nodded. "Yes, my sweet." Her voice was shaky, but also determined. "I'm absolutely certain." They had seen Marethari be killed by her demon, and that had torn it. Maybe the Keeper had brought it on herself, trying to meddle in Merrill's life, but she was still like a mother to the Dalish girl, and it had torn her apart to see the woman who had raised her die for her. And what if the Blood Magic cost her more next time? What if it took Hawke from her?
That price was too high. She didn't care if it would immediately restore the Elven Empire at the height of it's power and would sustain it for another hundred thousand years, nothing was worth the cost of her soulmate.
For a moment they were silent, staring into one another's eyes. "I love you." Hakwe whispered after a moment, knowing exactly how much this meant to Merrill. She knew that her Keeper's death weighed heavily on her shoulder's, but she also knew that the mirror meant a lot to the Dalish girl. It was their history, their power, and was the thing that could bring back her two best friends. To give it up...
"I love you too, Hawke." Merrill's voice was no longer shaky, and it had the strength and endurance of so many years of loneliness behind it. "With all my heart."
Hawke placed a hand over Merrill's heart, and held the Elf's hand over hers. "My heart," Her voice was soft, but reverent. "Your heart."
Merrill's eyes felt a little wet at the romantic gesture, her heart filled with love for her Champion, her wife, her soul, and whispered.
"My heart, your heart."