Authors Note: This was written for a DAWC challenge. F!Warden Julienne Amell lived in the Circle of Magi from the age of 5. What happens the next time it rains?
To be completely transparent, it's been several years since I played my F!Warden Amell, and her character got deleted upon a computer reformat. Julienne was not her original name.
The drop landed on top of her head. She looked up at the trees, not sure of where it came from. Wiping the top of her head, another drop landed on her nose. "What the..." she said under her breath while wiping her nose.
She looked again up at the branches above her, puzzled. Her companions either didn't feel what she felt, or they didn't seem to care.
Not wanting to look stupid, Julienne Amell didn't say anything about what she was feeling. She tried to convince herself that it had something to do with the taint or darkspawn. She hummed to herself, though slightly off key, as she tried to ignore the unfamiliar sound of drops hitting the leaves. She pressed on, walking with her companions. Alistairs hand found hers, and he asked if they might want to set up camp soon.
"Why? Getting tired already?" She teased him.
"What? Me? Never!" He chuckled. "I just figured that with this rain starting - "
"Rain! Oh!" She started to laugh at herself.
"Julienne? Um, are you okay?" Alistair looked quite confused.
"Yes!" She tried to regain her composure, but was failing miserably. "Yes, yes. Yes, I think we should set up camp!" She nearly doubled over with laughter, so Alistair took control of their comrades and told them to set up the camp. Julienne, still chuckling, helped him pitch his tent as the rain began to fall faster.
"So, I have to ask," Alistair questioned as he pushed the last tent stake into the ground, "just what exactly is so funny?"
As an answer, she threw her pack and staff into the tent and grabbed both of his hands, pulling him into a nearby clearing. Leaving him near the trees, she ran out under the cloud covered sky, twirling in the rain. It was then the realization crept over Alistair's face, and he began laughing.
"Alistair!" She called to him. "Come feel the rain with me!" She wanted him to experience what she was experiencing, to share in the joy this rain brought to her. She hadn't seen rain since she was about 5 years old. There were windows in the Circle tower, but they were mostly accessible only to Templars - they couldn't have the mages jumping out the tower window trying to escape. It was rare the times that she was able to see out a window, and it was typically dark out when she got the chance, because she was on her way back to her room after her studies.
Alistair laughed at the sight of her - robes dripping wet from the rain, hair matted to her face. She couldn't have realized that his experience in the rain brought back painful childhood memories. He was intently focused on watching her childish amusement. She caught him out of the corner of her eye and stopped mid-twirl. He was leaning against a large boulder, watching her, thumbing a flower she hadn't noticed before.
She brushed her wet mop of hair out of her eyes and ran to him.
"Here," he said. "Have a look at this. Do you know what this is?"
Julienne was puzzled. She had spent her whole life in the tower, but she knew what a flower was. "Is this a trick question?"
"Yes! I'm trying to trick you! Is it working?" He let out a hearty laugh. "I just about had you, didn't I?" He brushed the rain off her nose.
She smiled. She was relieved to know she didn't seem like an idiot after all. Julienne grabbed Alistair's hand and pulled him away from the safety of his boulder to an area under some trees where they could sit. She gathered a small amount of mana, just enough to light a small fire to warm and dry them, and she sat. Alistair followed suit, sitting close enough to speak with her, but far enough away to still be a gentleman.
"You've been thumbing that flower for a while, now," she observed. She reached to touch it's soft petals. As she did, Alistair explained how he came to have the beautiful flower, though she was hardly listening. She couldn't help but admire the way the rain sat on the flower, thinking that even magic couldn't create something so perfect. Only when she realized that he was giving her the flower did her focus return to the man she had come to have strong, unrecognizable feelings for.
She glanced back toward the clearing to discover that the rain had almost stopped. She didn't know what to say to him. Alistair had just bared his soul, and she had nothing to say.
"So, does this mean we're married now?" Julienne teased, hoping that only she knew that the question was actually serious one.
"He laughed "Ha! You won't land me that easily, woman! I know, I'm quite the prize after all. No need to start crying or anything on me."
She let out a half laugh. "Oh! Oh good. Okay." She exhaled deeply before smiling back at him again. "Now, before the rain stops completely..." Julienne extinguished the fire with a quick burst of ice from her fingers, and grabbed Alistair by the wrist. She yanked hard to pull him off the ground. She was a petite woman, and Alistair easily had the weight advantage over her, so getting him to stand up was no easy feat.
She dragged him to the clearing again, and started humming a tune that she used to hear someone singing in the Tower. Holding onto Alistairs hands, she lifted her face to the rain and began twirling in circles with him.