Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed me! And thanks to Bioware for most the settings, characters and game.

Circle Tower, Lake Calenhad

Anders lay back on the polished floor, sliding some books under his head. The sun slanted through the windows at just the right angle to warm his face. It was quiet up here, except for the tiny mew of the kitten he'd found earlier that day, slinking around tower corners. He lifted the kitten onto his chest. The cat turned around three times and then curled up, purring. Anders sighed contentedly. He should be studying some such or the other, or at least be in the apprentice rooms. Even though he'd passed his Harrowing, Irving made him repeat the courses. Punishment for his escapes. He hated it down there. People going from task to task, never bothering to ask why, never doing anything for the pure pleasure of it. Did they have no clue as to what was really going on here, in these towers? It was nearly as bad as the cult he and his father had run amuck of that time in the woods. At least that had been on a small scale. This may not be as bad in its teaching, but the scope of it…

The image of tower after tower in country after country filled his thoughts, mages like moths caught in lanterns. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to banish the image, trying to take calm breaths and slow his heart. The world was not constricting all around him. Escape. He needed to escape again. He wondered if his parents were still out there, somewhere. He hadn't been able to find them in any of his previous escape attempts. They told him his family was dead, when they brought him to the tower. He never believed them. They said a lot of things that weren't true. He had found his brother, although he never contacted him. Some things were better left as they were.

Anders let his fingers play over the soft fur of the purring kitten. The rumble grew, vibrating through him. It felt calming, like the warm sun on his face. He laughed softly, as to not disturb the little mouser. This was good, but there was more out there. Something he needed to find. The door behind him creaked open, and his laughter stilled. He didn't move, but his fingers clenched in the kitten's fur.

The room seemed more still than it had moments ago.

Then,"The Will of Andraste is your new headrest?" A teasing voice asked into the thick silence.

Anders smile crooked, but he didn't open his eyes. Auria Surana. She'd been a bright spot in the weeks since he'd been released from confinement. With a quick wit and a power that often placed her in the advanced classes, she was a favorite sparring opponent. Like a younger sister, he reminded himself.

"I tried to find Andraste and the Devout Apprentice" he replied, "but I can never find it in the library. I think Godwin likes its pictures."

"You mean those dirty drawings you added to it last month," she said, with a raised eyebrow.

"I enhanced it. They should thank me. More people will want to be the devout apprentice, once they see that."

Anders heard the soft click of her shoes as she crossed the room. A shadow fell across his face, cutting off the warmth of the sun. He still hadn't opened his eyes. He felt her looking down, almost felt the tickle of her hem as it brushed his arm. Then sunlight flooded over him again, and he heard the rustle of her robes as she sat down beside him. He slit his eyes, unknowingly looking much the same as the cat, to look at her.

"That's such a sweet kitty. Where did you find him?" She reached out to stroke the purring kitten, and Anders felt a little thrill as the bare of her wrist passed over his forearm. Much too young, he reminded himself, trying not to notice the tug of the fabric over her curves.

"He was mousing in the upstairs tower, and by his full stomach I think he finds plenty to fill his belly, whether they be mouse or mousey demon."

She laughed, her fingers sliding along the cat's outline, grazing his chest. He realized suddenly this was the first time they'd been completely alone. His smiled faded as hers grew. Her fingertips continued to play along the kitten's side, alternately brushing fur and then chest. "Auria, what are you doing?"

"What?" She opened her eyes wide, innocently. "I was just petting… the cat."

Anders shifted, putting one arm under his head, better to look up at her. She was younger than he was, much too young. Her face was still rounded, and she hadn't quite grown into her features yet. He could see the tips of her pointed ears poking through her dark brown hair. He had an overwhelming urge to run his finger up to the tip. She was quick-witted, strong and had something about her, something he couldn't quite pinpoint. But she was young, and he wasn't going to be kept here.

"You should be down with the other students, in the apprentice rooms. Not with someone like me. You'll get quite the reputation."

She smiled then, and let her hand rest in the center of his chest, giving up all pretense of petting the cat. "But you're my favorite sparring partner," she said, repeating his thought from earlier. Anders opened his mouth to say something, some witty reply, but then just quirked his lips in a half smile and shook his head. "Are you telling me to leave?" her tongue ran lightly over her lips, moistening them. She worried her bottom lip back and forth between neat, even white teeth. Her hand still hadn't left his chest.

He laughed, sitting up, capturing her hand before it slid into his lap along with the cat. "Are you testing out your new womanly wiles on me, Auria?" Anders narrowed his eyes at her, "Or are you just trying to find out if I do indeed, wear nothing beneath this robe? A bet with your girlfriends, perhaps?"

"It's not a bet… although I would like to find out." Here she threaded her fingers through his, turning his capturing of her hand into something much more intimate.

He swallowed, laughing at bit. "Those drawings were just for fun, you know. I'm much too old for you. You should be trying this out on someone your own age."

Anders breath caught as she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his neck, letting a little bit of her power flutter between them, like an electric current.

"I'm not trying anything out, Anders. That's not why I came to find you. I know… I know you'll probably leave again, sometime soon. Maybe this will be the time you don't come back. I just…" her voice dropped to a silky murmur, "I wanted to know you before you were gone."

"Auria…" Anders held her at bay, watched as her eyes grew serious.

"I was here, the day they brought you in, you know. You probably don't remember me," she said.

He shook his head slightly, off guard, "I'm sorry, I don't. I really wasn't paying clear attention to anything that day."

She nodded, and continued, "My magic came early and strong, they took me from the alienage when I was very young. I remember my parents, but it's more an image or an idea of them. A feeling of them. And a feeling of something else. That there is… I don't know. Something more to all of this, something out there. I can't explain it. But when I saw you, it felt more defined to me. You've escaped so many times - every time you do the feeling gets stronger." She looked down, a red flush spreading up across her cheeks. "I've watched you for years. I've listened to your arguments with them. I know… I don't think your family is gone either."

He turned his head away from her gaze. The last time he'd seen his parents… Years had passed since then, but he still felt it keenly, vividly. He remembered his mother's smile. They'd been happy together. Then his brother married, and everything changed. He didn't blame his brother, how could he? But that didn't lessen the sharpness of the old pain. It felt odd, to have someone here, actually seeing him. He hadn't been seen in a long time.

Auria placed her hand over his heart, her eyes strangely old in her young face.

"The templars can lock you up in here, but they can't cage who you are. You aren't one of theirs. Maybe your family is out there and maybe they're not, but you will always be free." Her fingers slid into his again, pressing palm to palm, "Someday you'll make it, you won't be brought back." She sat on her heels, letting her fingers fall from his. "That sounds silly, doesn't it. Makes me sound childish."

Their eyes met, and held. He didn't turn away this time. Close-up, he could see flakes of gold caught in the color of her eyes, and a light dusting of freckles over her upturned nose. It didn't sound childish to him, although it sounded… what? Too simply stated for the complexity he felt?

"I'm not really free, Auria. None of us are. They have our blood. All across this land and the next, and the next. We are all of us bound and hunted. I don't… Don't you see, it's easier to draw pictures in the apprentice manuals and nap with Andraste under my head than do anything important." The bitter tone of his voice surprised him, "I don't think you're a child, but I'm not who you think I am, either."

"But you are. You are exactly who I think you are. You're free, even if you don't know it. You never gave up, or gave in." The words were earnest and idealistic, but they rang through him all the same. Her mouth was so close to his now. He had never given up - he never would. No matter what they did to him, or how many times they locked him up. She smelled sweet and fresh, like morning on a spring day. The past mornings sparring with her, he'd never let himself imagine… he tried always to be honest, never to break hearts. At least, not on purpose.

She pulled back a little, almost as if she knew what he was thinking.

"You're not my first, Anders," here she gave a soft, almost sad little smile. "It might've been nice if you had been." A silence stretched for a few moments before she continued, "I don't… I can't leave here like you do. Maybe I should. Maybe I am young and silly - but I already know you take happiness where you find it. Find contentment in the little things. The purring cat. The sweetness of a freshly baked pie. Burning Senior Enchanter Todd accidentally with a fire spell."

They both laughed, remembering that morning and the look on his face. She moved closer, twining her fingers through his long hair. "This makes me happy, now."

He could see himself reflected back in her eyes, but also something more. A need. Maybe he was her escape. And how could he deny anyone the escape they were looking for?

"It's such a warm, lazy afternoon. No one will be looking for us, and no one will find us here." Anders let his hands encircle her waist as he spoke, feeling her soft cheek rub against his rough one.

"Mmmhmm," she replied, lips brushing his ear, "We should enjoy ourselves while we can. And I was very interested in that second drawing you made…"

Anders laughed, knocking the cat out of his lap as he pulled her further onto him. "And there was still that question you wanted answered… just what do I have on under these?"

"I have been wondering that for ever," she cocked an eyebrow suggestively at him, and glanced downwards.

"Let's satisfy your curiosity then."

And he rolled her over, pulling her under him, letting The Will of Andraste become her headrest.

Much later, much much later, as the dim orange light of sunset fell over their exhausted bodies, Anders held her to him and knew she was right. He would leave soon. But until then… there were a lot of afternoons to fill. And a lot of happiness and contentment to be had in those fleeting moments before his need for escape outweighed his caution.

Vigil's Keep, Amaranthine

Anders couldn't decide if his luck was outrageously good, or outrageously bad. He'd been caught, again. He had no idea what they would do to him this time. Probably hang him. But his captors had just been killed, and he was free. Of course, he was free in a castle full of raving darkspawn, but hey, it was a start. He could hear fighting and the wailing sounds of death coming from other parts of the Keep. Right. First things first, find his mage staff. Creatures poured into the room, snarling, their faces dripping flesh like melting candlesticks. Instinctively, fire shot from his hands. Had he known he could do that?

The door burst opened behind him and he turned quickly. Living people. Armor. He glanced behind him to see the last monster fall right next to a dead templar. Oh, maker. This looked bad. "Ah... I didn't do it!" he exclaimed, raising his hands. The stench of burning darkspawn rose up all around them. The small woman in front of him radiated power, he could feel her aura from here. An elven mage? Anders eyes met hers over the shambles of the room. His heart gave a strange, twisting leap, causing a sharp pain inside him.

Auria?