Disclaimers: I do not own Dragon Age it belongs to the awesome Bioware and their awesome team of writers!

Spoilers: PLEASE READ ZOMBIE BEFORE READING, Ties in to my other story The Path of the Mage, possibly Stolen Throne and The Calling.

Author's Note: After writing the piece Zombie I had the idea of doing a series of oneshots looking at the memories of the characters that appear in The Path of the Mage story. Many of them will focus on during the Blight, from different characters points of view but I may do some during the gap between the birth of River and six years later. This one is of Cullen and Ami's first encounter of each other.

First Impressions

Ami was seven years Cullen's junior but age never really mattered. When he had first came to the Circle he had just finished his training and was barely sixteen. Ami was nine. The first time he met her was dealing what would become known as the 'birthday incident', something he was never likely to forget. He had to take charge of her after she cast at Jowan for putting a toad in her satchel. Apparently it had been a birthday gift but Ami hadn't obviously seen it like that. The little scamp had been running away down the hall with the golden curly haired girl hurling lightning bolts at him when they caught her. They laughed about it now but at the time Ami was a regular in Greagoir's office and frequently in trouble for some prank or another. It was one of the many reasons why Greogoir had little patience for her. Cullen had to deal with overseeing her punishment this time, the first of many.

He didn't understand why they had to dust though. It didn't seem like a punishment but that was before he had seen the Upper Library. He cranked his head slowly back as he saw the sheer extent of the height of the shelves and the five floors. The bookcases, Cullen noticed, were at least three men high with giant vertical ladders that ran alongside them. They all centred around the outside of a large study area and within the centre of the first floor the Librarian's desk sat in the middle. The upper floors followed this similar pattern but instead of having a roof seperating each floor they were all open plan so one could look up at the huge candle chandelier that illuminating the huge space. The library was extensive and the amount of knowledge it must contained was leaving him astonished.

"You've got to be kidding me. She has to climb that?" he said, pointing to the towering height of the shelves. "What's supposed to stop her from falling?" he asked the senior templar that showed him to his new post.

The templar shrugged and bid him a good evening before turning to scold the little blonde girl behind them. Cullen watched as the templar cocked his head at her before speaking softly.

"You need to stop this little one." He pointed a finger at her. "You'll soon reach an age where this won't be the punishment and it'll be a cold damp cell for you. Be good with ser Cullen or I'll hear about it."

Cullen was astonished at her lack of respect for his fellow brother as she folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Yes ser Bryn. Go," she nodded to the door, "off with you and have fun playing with your statues."

The templar huffed a chuckle then ruffled her hair before leaving the two. Cullen remembered he had his helm on when he first saw her and he regretted it. That first time she had just been a hazy blonde mass that took off down the hallway after the other apprentice. Now, since he didn't have it on, he could see her for her true form.

She was tall for her age and the first thing he noticed was her bright sparkling blue-grey eyes that had a fierce quality to them, much like Senior Enchanter Wynne's after he met her. Then it was her hair. There were curls everywhere and it was swept back into two long pony tails with a rogue curl that fell at her face. He chuckled to himself as he watched her blow it out of her face. She stood there in her blue apprentice robes her arms folded and her hip cocked out to one side waiting for something. She was a rebel that was certain and had an air of defiance about her; Cullen couldn't imagine her without it.

"So?"

"So? What?" Cullen replied, looking at her. The mage just closed her eyes and sighed.

"Aren't you going to tell me which cases and how many cases I have to dust?"

"Huh. Sorry I've not done this before." Cullen said shifting his feet.

"Oh yeah." A sly smile crossed her lips and she looked him up and down. "Your one of the new ones."

"The new what?" Cullen frowned, he was confused.

"Templar's of course." She laughed. "It's good I've met you now, you'll probably see me quite a lot."

Cullen had always wondered what she had meant by that. Had she meant it as innocently as she had said? Well of course she had, she was nine at the time but was she really predicting the future?

"Well if that's the case I guess I should know your name." He smiled back.

"Ha. I'm not going to make it that easy for you ser templar." She flashed him a cheeky grin and added, "If you don't know it already I'm not going to tell you? What's in it for me? What do I get for it?"

Cullen had grinned at that. This mage was a cheeky one and she seemed to be one for mischief and games. "How about we make it a game then?" he offered. "A question for an answer, you ask me a question, I'll answer and vice versa."

"That's an old game," she complained while rolling her eyes then sighed. "I suppose I should start easy with you. You'll be chasing after me at some point because of Jowan eventually!" she threw up her arms and huffed. "That idiot is constantly getting me in the rub!"

"So it was this Jowan's fault? Not yours? Why not tell them that?"

He remembered the scowl and look of disgust after he had said that, it made him laugh every time he thought about it. At the time he hadn't, he'd thought he'd offended her, especially after what she had said.

"Cos we're mages, you don't tell on your fellow mages. We're family," she pointed at him then, "you wouldn't tell the Knight-Commander if you caught one of your brothers with his hand in the cookie jar, would you?"

Cullen was old enough to read further into what she actually meant. She might not have understood the implications of what she was possibly meaning at the time but the morality behind it was a grey area. He had heard of sly visits to brothels and the overlooking of certain activities. And he said as much.

"Depends on the cookie jar and the brother's motives."

The look she gives him was priceless and is another locked in his memory. A look of pure confusion and annoyance crossed her expression. Her brow furrowed, her lip curled in a way that was between a smile and a scowl but her eyes showed complete lack of understanding and sweetness that made Cullen chuckle. She had no idea what he had meant, or what she had implied for that matter.

"What?" she frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're a strange one Ser Cullen," she shook her finger at him and walked to the first shelf of books. As she had walked passed the large desk a number of apprentices walked by, none of them paying much attention to either her or Cullen. They were just another mage being watched closely by another templar.

She sighed and looked up at the case, "I suppose I should get started then."

"Yes you should, I'll tell you when you're done," Cullen replied, turning back into his position at the door, watchful of the little mage.

She huffed and slowly ascended the steps to top of the shelves. As she began her climb another set of apprentices had walked passed, these three had stopped and looked up at her. Cullen noticed one of them speak, a female elf with short cropped brown hair, and she carried a large number of books and appeared to be shaking her head at his charge.

"In trouble again?" the elf exclaimed. Cullen watched as the two other apprentices shook their heads at the elf's declaration. The blonde girl didn't seemed too bothered by them and smiled at the elf.

"Oh Surana! It was Jowan again." She grinned and put her hands on her hips while balancing her weight on the ladder to look at the elf. "You know me though, I can't let him take the fall all the time, otherwise he'd never learn any of his spells!"

The Surana girl didn't seem impressed and Cullen watched as she shook her head and put down her books to give the girl a reprimand that he didn't hear before grabbing her books and walking off. His charge seemed to snort as the elf and her companions walked away. Cullen was interested and walked forward, taking a position a few feet away from the bottom of the bookcase.

"Friend of yours?" he asked. The girl didn't turn but continued to dust the top shelf.

"What Surana?" she shook her head, "no. She's Irving's favourite, though she wouldn't get anywhere if she didn't have me to practice with."

"So she is your friend." Cullen surmised.

"I suppose in a way, but not like me and Jowan."

"The boy you cast at? He's your friend?" Cullen looked at her sceptically as she turned to regard him.

"Yes," she shrugged, "I don't know why but he is. My only friend for that matter."

"Riiiiight," Cullen said sarcastically, "and you said I was the strange one."

Half an hour passed and another set of apprentices hurried past. All of a sudden Cullen heard a clatter and then a smash as one of the apprentice boys tripped over the hem of his robes and went flying across the floor, book, vellum and ink everywhere. As Cullen walked forward another apprentice, not seeing the spilled ink slipped and crashed into the base of the ladder that held Cullen's charge. The ladder leaned dangerously to one side then swung to the opposite before falling to the floor. In the seconds it took Cullen to move the girl screamed as she fell with the ladder. Then thump. He'd caught her, just in time. He looked at her as she held her eyes firmly shut just inches from his own face. The boy who had slipped had already run off along with the other who'd tripped and made the mess. But Cullen didn't really care. As the girl opened her eyes, realising he'd caught her, he was lost in the beauty and fierceness of her eyes. When he felt her breath on his lips his mind kicked him into realising how close they had actually ended up. Cullen cleared his throat and set her down gently and unwrapped his protective arms from around her.

She stared blankly at him, her mouth open in shook but he watched as her eyes looked directly at him trying to probably figure out why he'd helped her. Cullen needed to clear the now awkward silence between them and rubbed the back of his neck while he stuttered out a sentence.

"A-Are y-you a-alright?" why was he stuttering? He had no idea.

His words seemed to shake her out of the shook at being saved a trip to the infirmary and she replied quietly.

"Yes, um thank you."

"I-It w-was n-nothing," he said hoarsly, why? "Don't worry about it. I'm sure o-one of t-the others would've done the same," he replied, now for some reason his neck had begun to feel like it was on fire. Then he noticed the sly smile across her face and she lowered her eyes from his.

"No, they wouldn't have," she replied quietly, shaking her head then she looked back up at him. "You're a rare sort ser Cullen. Kind."

Cullen hadn't understood that comment until much later but at the time it hadn't bothered him like it did now. She had said this before he had been consumed in his infatuation and not in the love he now felt, when he was still bound by his blind faith. It was the time of his innocent, naive foolishness. Circle Templar's were supposed to be vigilant, unwavering and distant. They were not kind, generous and friendly, or at least they were not supposed to be. As Cullen looked at the mage in front of him he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her. He may be young but he wasn't stupid. She hadn't chosen to be a mage much like he hadn't chosen to be a Templar. So he told her as much.

"Well I didn't choose to be a templar. It was made for me."

He watched as her eyebrows rose and then fell as she glanced away. A small smile played on her lips and she then held out her hand to him.

"Well, from one outcast to another I bid you welcome to the Tower," she smiled and Cullen took her hand giving it a firm shake. "May you never have to strike me or my friends down."

Cullen sniggered and tilted his head, "May you never turn apostate, turn abomination or use blood magic against me."

The impish grin returned and Cullen saw the cheeky glint in her eye. "Well I can safely say that two out of three will never happen."

"Good," Cullen said. "I'd hate to stick a sword through a friend."

"Amell." She said hurriedly.

"Sorry?"

The girl sighed. "Amell. My name. It's Amilia Amell."

Cullen's smile widened and he bowed his head. "Pleasure to meet you Miss Amell," and his hold over her hand tightened in responce.

"Ami."

"Huh?"

She grinned, "My friends call me Ami, ser Cullen."

"Miss Ami," he corrected.

She grinned playfully and shook his hand again. "You really are new. You'll either love me or hate me by the end of the month, of that I can assure."

Cullen had just chuckled, "Well hopefully neither, I don't think Greagoir would appreciate it. Friends only."

Ami scoffed and folded her arms. She narrowed her eyes, inspecting him closely and then tilted her head. "Maybe, we'll have to see."

Cullen chuckled and shook his head. "Don't push your luck Miss Ami," he shook his finger at her. "I may be your friend but there are rules, remember."

He nodded to the shelves and gave her a silent command and catching his eye Ami let out a huff. She walked back to the ladder realigning it against the shelves and began climbing back up again.

"Well I guess that means I've got more shelves, doesn't it," she said while looking over her shoulder at him.

Cullen grinned and pretended to think about it which infuriated her. He chuckled as she sent him a disgusted look and he shook his head.

"You know, this will go smoother if you just calm down. You never know I might actually be good company."

The girl let out a shrilly snort of a laugh and bit her lower lip. Shaking her head she spoke, "A templar, good company? Who'd have thought such a thing existed!"

Cullen chuckled. "Back to work mage. You've three hours left of this punishment then it's off with you back to the apprentice dormitories."

"Humph!" answered Ami. "Be that as it may, I'd rather sleep in here!"

"Why?" Cullen asked.

Ami went on to tell Cullen about the numerous apprentices, especially the older ones, who snuck out, got into trouble, got caught doing 'intimate things' and the various other nightly activities that went on. All of which resulted in little to no sleep for the other apprentices. Cullen soon discovered that the most 'intimate things' that Ami knew about had involved her, unexpectedly, walking in on two mages kissing in a cabinet which happened to store the ingredients for her healing classes. When she commented about what his cheeky grin meant he had to avoid telling her the truth that there were more … erm … intimate acts than what she had witnessed but thankfully he was able to avoid that topic. She was too young to know them and it was sweet.

The time soon came for her punishment to be over and Cullen noticed the dark haired boy standing at the doorway of the library. He was obviously waiting for someone and kept looking in Ami's direction.

That must be Jowan, Cullen thought.

"Ah the little scamp has turned up for me!" Ami said as she slowly descended down the ladder. She walked up so that she was standing only a few feet from Cullen but close enough to for only him to hear.

"Thank you ser Cullen," she smiled. "You didn't have to save me but you did and," she blushed and looked at her feet, "and I just wanted to thank you."

Cullen smiled and nodded. "Goodnight Ami. Try not to get into too much trouble with him." He nodded to Jowan and grinned. "Otherwise we'll be seeing a lot off each other in this library."

Ami looked up at him then, "Is this going to be your post?"

Cullen nodded and watched as her cheeks flushed more and a sly grin appeared.

"Well I think you'll be seeing me more anyway, ser Cullen. I practically live in this library."

Cullen shook his head and then indicated the door. He watched as she walked over to Jowan, clipped him around the ear and before leaving the library turned and gave Cullen a smile and a nod. Cullen returned the gesture before returning to his post for the remainder of his shift.

Little had he known that in a matter of months he'd be completely under her spell. It was as she had predicted, in one month he had fallen for her. Not quite in the way he had now but he had fallen for her in the naïve way of a templar infatuated with a mage.

Who knew that this little mage would help change the course of history and the survival of a nation.