In War, Victory. In Chaos, Romance.

"Yes...Swooping is bad."

She had subconsciously registered that she knew him from somewhere, but as the words came out of his mouth, the memories came rushing into her head. While Daveth, Jory, and Alistair suspiciously questioned the witch, Mia drifted into remembrance.

Mia and Alistair stared, puzzled, at their home made kite stuck in a tree. It was stuck just above the reach of their 13-year-old selves. "Oh! I have an Idea!" Mia said excitedly and Alistair turned to her, raising one eyebrow. She squeezed her eyes tight and then a large hawk flew down, bumping in to their kite and releasing it. "Yes! I knew that if I could get it to swoop down far enough, it would come down!" Alistair caught the kite as it fell and turned back to Mia. "But didn't I tell you? Swooping is bad." Her hand flew to her mouth as she giggled behind it.

Mia picked up their picnic basket, full of cookies and delicious sandwiches and continued with her new friend down the beaches of Redcliffe. Through out the day, she would summon squirrels and rabbits to play with and feed. They never separated for more than a minuet throughout the week Bryce Cousland visited Arl Eamon, unless it was to sleep. Even then Alistair and Mia would sneak out to wander the castle at night. The day before she was supposed to leave, the two snuck out after supper to go see the sunset. "I don't want to leave. With Fergus just married, I have no one to talk to. I wish you could come with me." Mia rested her head against Alistair's shoulder and stared into the beautiful colors in the sky. She sloshed her feet in the water below the dock they sat on in the village and sighed in contentment, or disappointment. She had no idea which.

"Me too. There aren't any children around the castle, and Isolde absolutely detests me." "I am so very sorry, Alistair. I can tell just by the way she looks at you." They turned to face each other as they talked, and when they were out of words to say, Alistair looked into her eyes. Slowly, but deliberately, Alistair leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Their kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to leave them both blushing. Mia smiled wide and leaned back into Alistair's arms, gazing into the beautiful sunset.

She remembered feeling empty for a long while after leaving, and begging her father to take her back. They had written to each other for a while, but one day Alistair's letters suddenly stopped. Her mother tried to convince her that she was young, and it didn't mean anything, but disagreed .Mia spent the better part of 2 days in her room crying, feeling hurt and abandoned. Only the birth of little Oren lured her out of her room and could hold her attention.

"Mia? Hellllooooo? Anyone in there?" She had passed out from the joining and Alistair was standing over her, patiently waiting for her to wake up. He was the only one there. "Why didn't you write me back?" Mia blurted out suddenly. Alistair looked confused as he helped her up."What? What ever could you possibly mean?" In order to demonstrate that he was seeing his old friend (as she had...blossomed...a bit since age 13) Mia squeezed her eyes tight and a large hawk swooped down and landed on her shoulder. "Didn't I ever tell you? Swooping is bad." She said and smirked, as realization and shock crossed his face. "I...um...I...I was sent to the chantry. They didn't really allow flirtatious conversations with beautiful young women. I'm sorry, I should've warned you. I-" Mia interrupted his yammering with a soft kiss. The same kind they had shared all those years ago. "It's good to see you again, Ali-Bear." He blushed profusely and she giggled at his silly nick name had given him. Mia was so incredibly happy to have him back again, hopefully they would continue down this long awaited road. "This is going to be interesting." She stated, and elbowed him playfully in the stomach.

A/N: Female Cousland is a Rouge (ranger), obviously. Not the traditional start to their romance, but I thought it was a fun idea. Thanks for reading!