"That lightning is going to hit us at this rate." Merrill said, looking worriedly at the approaching storm.
It had taken her almost two months, but she had finally managed to get Hawke out of bed and into the countryside. Finally Adrianne was getting back into the land of the living. She, along with everyone else involved in the affair, had suffered more than her fair share of wounds, real and otherwise. Whenever Merrill looked at her face when no one else was visiting, she just looked so sad, not that anyone could blame her. Leandra had died right before her eyes, Carver hated her more than ever now and half of Kirkwall was at their door every day for every last small thing they needed, asking her for help while she was still bed-ridden. Who in their right mind would ask her Hawke to start killing bandits for them when she could barely manage to hobble around the house? It had reached a point where Aveline had stationed one of her guards in the Estate's foyer.
"I think we'll be fine." Came a calm reply from the Champion Of Kirkwall, snuggling her head into her lover's shoulder. "Lightning doesn't seem to like me very much, I never managed to understand the precise chaos of it. I'm much more of a fire person."
"You're silly" Merrill chided, gentle laughter in her tone.
"You love it." Hawke countered.
"I do." She admitted. "And I love you."
"I love you too." Adrianne gave her a small kiss.
"Do you want to rest? We walked for quite some time." Concern dripping from the voice of the elf.
"I'm fine, really. Honestly, I get hurt once and now everyone assumes I am made of glass."
"You almost died that day! Come here..." She said, motioning to the ground by her.
"Sweetheart..."
"Think about it this way if you prefer: There's a storm approaching. Do you really want me to go walking around in metal armour?"
A small laugh escaped the taller woman. "My little voice of reason." She said endearingly, siting beside Merrill.
"Well, that reason has gotten you through a lot."
"That she has. That she has."
Merrill quivered quietly under her armour, the approaching rain sending a shiver down her spine, something that didn't escape Adrianne's watchful gaze.
"Are you cold?" Merrill nodded. "That's because you're all the way over there. Come here." She ordered, patting her side.
"I don't think you want to cuddle armour."
"After all we've been through, you honestly think I have an issue with that? Looks like you still have a lot to learn about me, beautiful."
Merrill laughed and moved to her lover's side. "Much better." She said after a moment.
"Told you."
They sat there for the longest time, staring into the oncoming abyss of a storm together, watching the rain pour down around them.
"Big changes coming." The elf said after what felt like an eternity.
"How so?"
"Well, you're going to be Champion soon, that's important, isn't it?"
"Eh, I guess so. It doesn't really change what I do, since it's merely a title. I'm still going to be the eccentric Apostate Noblewoman who murders just enough people to not get thrown into the Gallows."
Merrill laughed at that. "You do so much more than that."
"Maybe, but that's the most common way of describing what I do."
"You're silly." Merrill hugged even closer to the human. "You being Champion...does-does that change...us at all?"
Adrianne looked confused at this. "Why would it?"
"It's just that...well...the other humans have never been fond of us before and, what if being Champion means they won't let you see me any longer?"
"Won't let me? It isn't their choice. They don't get to tell me that I can't see you anymore. If they do then maybe next time Kirkwall is invaded I won't feel like helping."
"You're too good to just sit by. I know you, you would have fought to save them "
"I don't know about that. This city has taken everything from me before. It killed my mother, getting here killed Bethany. I fought for it only because it's our home, it's the city where my Dalish girlfriend and I live, no other reason."
"You're being silly. You would've fought for them anyway, even if you had never been to the city and were only here when the attack started."
"That's a lot of expectation there. Hope I can live up to it."
"Wh-what if they won't make you Champion though? They might not be able to force us apart but what if they refuse you the title?"
"I don't give a damn. Champion is only a word, one that is now used to describe me, joining many others. It is a title and, unlike my proud noble neighbors, I don't care what titles I hold. Apostate, Noble, Warlord, Hero, Butcher, Champion, they all describe me. I will not miss the use of one word. Being called Champion does not change who I am or what I do. It merely describes those things. "
"You wouldn't miss it? You wouldn't miss the way those people nod their heads at your approach? Or the way everyone says your name in reverence? How everyone seems to love you these days?"
"I would give it up in an instant for just a moment with you. You're more important to me than anything else, let alone a word."
"You really would give all of it up for me? They're even talking about making you Viscountess for saving the city. Am I really worth that much to you? They'd never make you Viscountess if you married a silly, shoeless Dalish girl."
Adrianne sighed. "Maker, are they really considering that? I don't want to be Viscountess, then Kirkwall would officially be my problem. I keep telling them: Official power lessens my real power. As a mercenary-apostate badass, I have a lot more power than any politician ever will."
"It just...I don't want you to throw away any part of your life or your dreams because we're together."
Adrianne pointed to the approaching storm, to where the lightning was the thickest. "Can I tell you a human story about lightning?"
"You're changing the subject!"
"This story has a point Merrill, an allegory."
"Okay...what is it?"
"A very long time ago, shortly after the first Blight, there was a wanderer named Fastus. Fastus claimed himself to be a Grey Warden, and carried a shield with their emblem on it, but in reality he was merely a wanderer hoping to cash in on the goodwill of the people freed of the Blight. Merely a scavenger who has picked the shield from a real Warden who had died against the Darkspawn."
"That seems...very crude. The Wardens saved him from the end of the world and he repays that with a con?"
"Yeah, Fastus certainly isn't a grand role model. One day, in all of his wanderings, he eventually found his way to Redcliffe, a place that was threatened greatly by the Blight and would have been swallowed whole if the Wardens had not intervined mere days before the village was overrun. As you can imagine, they were immensely grateful, something that did not escape Fastus: He spent several weeks in Redcliffe, enjoying their gratitude. There he met a beautiful young serving girl and they fell in love. He stayed longer than he usually did, he didn't wish to leave the side of this beautiful young woman. He had every incentive to leave, he risked detection of being a fraud with every passing day, and yet he wouldn't leave."
"That's adorable Lethallin. I don't think I could ever leave you if I found you like that."
"Shh, that's part of the point."
"Oh! Keep going then!"
Adrianne laughed lightly at her enthusiasm. "The townspeople grew more suspicious as time went along, Wardens were never supposed to stay in one place for more than a few days and his visit was nearing two months, but they never cast him out. Maybe they would have, but soon a challenge arose for him to prove himself. A High Dragon attacked Redcliffe. The townspeople begged Fastus to save them from this terror, but in the end the only thing that kept the old coward from running was the woman he had fallen for. He knew that he could never defeat the dragon, but he also knew that he could not run. So he took up arms against the dragon...and was immediately killed by it, thrashed by it's claws and tossed aside."
"Oh. I was hoping for a happy ending..."
"It gets better, I promise."
"Oh! Than keep going for me! I want to see Festus and...whatever this woman's name is to end up together!"
Adrianne laughed. "The legend never really says anything about her, so I suppose that you're free to fill in the blanks yourself."
"Maybe she was an elf?"
"Maybe. It'd make sense and nothing says otherwise."
"Then let's assume that."
Adrianne laughed yet again, tousling Merrill's hair affectionately. "Alright then. So Festus was killed by the dragon. And yet, when he began to move on into the afterlife, instead of hearing the whispers of the dead like most do, he could only hear her crying over his loss. When he reached the gates of the Maker's Golden City, he faltered and did not enter. He stood there for several minutes before he knew what had to be done. He turned and did what no mortal had ever done before: He escaped death and returned to his body. He found the edge of the Fade and left. They say that the Maker himself was so impressed and touched by the extent of his dedication that he sent the first bolt of lightning to carry Fastus' spirit back to his body, ressurecting him back into the land of the living. Then, he took up his sword and slew the dragon, saving the day and her Elf lover. Now they say that every lightning strike from a storm is a soul returned back into the land of the living, carried from the Afterlife by dedication and sheer force of will. And that's where the Chantry believes we get lightning from."
"Oh Ma Vhenan, that's an amazing story! And you're so good at telling stories."
"Dad used to tell me and Bethany that story when we were little and got scared of storms. He told it better than I do, but I'm sure he would be proud that at least some of his story telling talents were passed into his children."
"I'm sure he would. But...I don't think I understand what you mean, by telling me this. Do you feel like this story?"
"Yeah. I think I do. When I was fighting that horned bastard, I couldn't keep up with him. He was clearly the better warrior there and I felt myself dying. At one point, he hit me so hard it threw me completely off balance and I tumbled over, I'm sure you remember that part vividly." Merrill nodded quickly, obviously remember quite well. "I could feel myself dying, right there. I felt my blood rushing out of me and I could see distant lights and hear the whispers of the damned. I was going to die. Then I thought of you, and how I couldn't just leave you to live without me. So I got up, and I kept fighting. I would have died if I had never met you, I wouldn't have had a reason to keep fighting, I would've just laid down and died."
"You're just being silly and romantic now. You would've gotten up, I know you would have."
"No sweetheart, I'm not being sarcastic or silly now. I'm being serious. Look at me." She took a firm grip of the side of the small Dalish's face, looking her in her wide, beautiful eyes. "I came back for you. I kept living for you. I didn't have any other reason to keep living. I only have Carver and Gamlen left for family and Maker knows neither of them love me. I don't care enough for Kirkwall for it to be the reason for me to defy death. I only have you."
"You would've gotten up for Isabela."
"No, I wouldn't have. Maker knows, I was trying to save her, I tried. But I wasn't strong enough to kill that Arishok bastard. I couldn't do it. Isabela is one of the best friends I could ever ask for, and I'll always be grateful that I met her, but she wasn't enough motivation for me to stuff my guts back in, only to keep fighting. The only thing I had that was enough...was you. And if Kirkwall wants me to be it's Champion then the people are just going to have to accept that you and I are together and they aren't going to stop us."
"Hawke, I...I love you. When we first...started seeing each other, we were really at risk for the people to run us out of town, and you stayed with me. You dealt with the other humans, endured their scornful gazes and listened to their harsh words. You stayed by my side and kept with me. Now, no one's going to run us out, hm? Not after they watched that battle and saw the amount of bodies you left. And I'm never going to let anyone but you take me from your side. I only asked because I was scared you didn't want me anymore, not now that you've been offered more. I'll never be able to show you all of the love that I have for you. I love you. I'm saying that too much, aren't I? I like saying it though, it makes things clearer, takes away doubt when everything is crazy and people are dying."
"I don't care if you never say anything else, you'll never say it too much. I'm always going to come home to you, that's a promise. I don't care if I had to claw my way out of the afterlife, I'm always going to come back for you, for as long as you live."
The two women leaned in and shared a kiss. Lightning struck dangerous close to the two of them, but neither seemed to mind.
Another soul had been reborn.