A/N: I own none of the content that BioWare has created for the Dragon Age universe. But it's sure a great place to let one's imagination take off... :)

This story is the sequel to my story "Forgiveness." It continues Fergus' story but in a different direction, which is why I decided to create a sequel rather than continue the other tale. I hope you enjoy it!

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His sister was going to get married.

Married!

To Nathaniel Howe!

If someone had asked Fergus six months ago if he would approve of, or even tolerate, Elissa marrying Nathaniel Howe, he would have sent that person to a healer for a head examination. But since then, Fergus had worked through some of his own issues and had learned to see some of the greater truths about life and the people who surrounded him. Armed with his newly-found wisdom and evidence that Nathaniel was, indeed, nothing like his father where it mattered, he reevaluated his stance on his sister's relationship. It took him a long time to get to this point, but he was actually looking forward to the wedding.

He sent off the letter to Elissa the moment he decided that he would definitely attend, and not so many days later, he received a reply asking him if he would please consider standing as one of the primary witnesses to the ceremony. He smiled at the request. "Of course I will, dear Sister," he said under his breath and wrote to her immediately. He had just finished pressing his ring into the sealing wax when he heard a knock at the door.

"Enter," he said, and the door swung open to reveal Aura. "Hello, Aura. Did you sleep well?" he asked pleasantly as he smiled at her.

"I did, Fergus. Thank you." Aura returned his smile before she sat in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk. "You said you'd wanted to see me?"

"Ah … yes. Yes, I did." Suddenly, Fergus was incredibly nervous. Fergus bolstered himself as he stood and walked around the desk to sit in the seat next to Aura's. Come on, man! This is AURA you're worried about. She's your best friend in this world – you have nothing to be nervous about! The idea had hit him the previous evening and it seemed like such a good one, but now that he was preparing to discuss it with Aura … he shook his head to clear it of negative thoughts before he started. He had to stop thinking that everything he did would turn out for the worst if he was going to keep his promise to himself to keep moving forward in life. After all, he had never expected that hiring Aura as his personal bodyguard would work out as well as it had – Aura had turned out to not only be an excellent protector, but had also been confidant, sounding board and best friend. It was partly because of her influence that he had finally let go of old hurts and made the decision to live his life for the future, rather than linger in the past.

He cleared his throat and turned to face Aura. "I … I had an idea." His voice sounded unsure, so he cleared his throat again and squared his shoulders before he continued. "I was trying to think of ways to deal with the whole inheritance situation, and I thought … well, none of the women I met in Denerim were at all what I would be interested in for a romantic relationship, even if they would have been qualified to act as teyrna otherwise." He shuddered as he thought of the parade of noblewomen who had been shoved under his nose to inspect as if he was purchasing livestock.

Aura raised an eyebrow. "What was your idea, Fergus?" She crossed her ankles and turned partway in her chair to face him. As she did, he noticed that she was watching him with curious eyes. He cleared his throat again.

"Well, I was thinking ..." he paused to look at her. Yes, she was still paying attention. His next words came out in sort of a rush as he barreled forward to get them all out. "I was thinking that you and I get along really well and since we have a sort of partnership going anyway, maybeyouwouldwanttomarryme?"

Smooth, Fergus. Really smooth. At least the words were out there now, even if they were not eloquently stated. He looked at her as she blinked in confusion before the reality of what he had just asked dawned on her. She put her arms on the armrests of her chair and her eyes widened in shock. "Did .. did you … just ask what I thought you did?" He'd never seen her so flustered before. Her mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish before she found her voice again. "Fergus, did you just ask me to marry you and become the teyrna?"

"...Yes." Suddenly this didn't seem as good an idea as he had originally thought, but he went ahead and explained his reasoning to her. "We do get along really well, you know? And we trust each other. That's important. I know you can pick up the additional duties that a teyrna would have to handle without question. Besides, I know you would make an excellent mother," at this Aura's eyes widened even further, "and that you want children. This could be a chance for both of us to make a step forward, to take control of our lives and really start experiencing everything again." He sat back in his chair as he watched her. "I think that for both of us, this would work out to be an excellent way to move on."

Aura had listened carefully to Fergus' impassioned speech, and afterward she sat and looked down at her hands while a thoughtful look took over her features. After several moments, she looked up at Fergus and smiled. "You forgot one thing, Fergus."

He blinked. "What would that be?"

Aura rose from her chair and moved over to where Fergus was still seated. She sat on his lap and wound her arms around his neck before she lowered her head to his. He barely had time to murmur a surprised noise before she touched her lips to his. Fergus soon learned that Aura was an accomplished kisser and after the initial surprise, he moved his arms to her waist. Aura deepened the kiss and Fergus complied as she began to run her fingers through his hair. It was … it was nice, but Fergus found himself worrying if he was kissing her well enough or if he should try to caress her back or if he should attempt to take control of the proceedings from Aura. He found the entire experience very odd; he didn't remember worrying about those types of things before.

Before too long, she lifted her head from his. "Did you feel that?" she asked softly as she smiled at him.

Fergus looked at her in confusion. "Feel what?"

Aura's smile grew wider. "That would be my point, Fergus. There is no spark between us." She sat up straighter, but stayed in Fergus' lap. "All the reasons you gave me, all the explanations? They are absolutely true. And in the case of a political marriage, they would all be perfect reasons to arrange a marriage. You and I, however, have already both known what it's like to marry for love. After that …" she stroked his cheek as she smiled at him again. Fondness was evident in her expression and tone. "You are not a political creature when it comes to marriage. Neither am I. Which is why I'm afraid my answer has to be no. You need to take some time to meet people and give yourself a chance to find someone your heart desires."

"I'm … I don't feel like that will ever happen," Fergus confessed to Aura. He felt some distress at the sentiment. "You've said you didn't think it would happen for you, either. What do we do if we don't find people to love and share our lives? I'd much rather marry someone I at least know will be my best friend than just anyone who happens to be available at the right time."

Aura moved to stand, so Fergus let go of her waist. She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "I have a suggestion," she said. "If neither of us finds someone by the end of the next Landsmeet, we can talk about this again. But you need to get out and really try before you decide that there is nobody out there for you." She smiled and straightened. "So, after the next Landsmeet, which will be about a year from now?"

Fergus sighed and looked up at Aura. "As my lady wishes." He smiled at her and she grinned back at him before she walked to the door.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" she asked. Fergus didn't have to look at her; he could hear the teasing humor in her voice.

Fergus chuckled. "No, that was all. Thank you, Aura." He heard her laugh softly and then the door closed a moment later. He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back. "What would I do without you?" he asked as he smiled. He sat a moment longer before he stood and went back to his desk. "The paperwork isn't going to do itself," he murmured as he pulled the top letter off a particularly large stack. "I guess I had better get started." He looked at the door one last time and shook his head as he smiled one last time, then bent his head down and broke the seal on the letter before him.