A/N: My friend long-liv-prairies gave me a prompt a while ago to write something featuring one of her OCs and one of my OCs. I decided to have a go at writing her OC Naomi Westerkamp from her fic Neither Angels, Nor Demons, Nor Powers (which can be found on A03), and what would happen if Naomi met my canon Inquisitor, Venara Lavellan.

I hope you enjoy, liv! (Hopefully I didn't completely butcher Naomi's character!).

Thanks for reading. :)

Naomi Through the Looking Glass

"Let me get this right," Varric said, tapping his fingers against the table. "You fell out of the Fade, from another world, and landed up in this one?"

"Yes," the girl said. "I mean, not quite. That's not all of it. I fell through the Fade from Earth to Thedas, but then somehow I ended up here."

"This is Thedas," Varric said. "You're not making sense."

"Yes—no!" The girl groaned and put her head in her hands. "That's not what I meant." She muttered something under her breath in a language Venara had never heard before. Since her arrival, the girl—young woman, no, Naomi—had been speaking it frequently to herself whenever she became frustrated with something. Venara wondered where she was from—her command of King's Tongue was excellent and she only had the barest hint of an accent.

Naomi was a mystery. She had shown up three days ago in the Skyhold courtyard, delirious and asking for a man named James. She had been swept off to the infirmary, where she was watched over carefully by the healers. Venara had been told that Naomi had talked incessantly in her sleep, moving in and out of two languages, and all that they could understand was that she believed she was in the Fade, dreaming.

"But she's not a mage," Venara had said. "She can't be lucid in the Fade."

"I don't understand either," the head healer had said. "Regardless, the Fade is where she believes she is."

Once Naomi had recovered and was lucid enough to hold a conversation, Leliana had swept into the infirmary and demanded to know who she was, where she had come from and how she had managed to get into Skyhold unnoticed. After scaring Naomi out of her wits, Venara and Cassandra ran in and stopped the interrogation. The circumstances were suspicious, but clearly there was something odd about the situation. And Venara's gut instinct said that this human woman did not have anything to do with Corypheus or any of their other numerous enemies.

"You don't know that for certain," Leliana had said. "Be careful, Inquisitor."

Today, Venara had allowed the young woman to move about Skyhold on her own and recuperate, though she was always under watch. Desperate to get some clear answers from her, Venara had taken her to the Herald's Rest, where she hoped drink and social company would get her to open up. But apparently she hadn't needed it: she quite happily spilled the beans as quickly and concisely as she could, explaining her circumstances and how she believed she had ended up in the Skyhold courtyard.

Perhaps a little too quickly and concisely, because no one understood what she had said.

"You told your story like a professional storyteller just moments ago," Varric said. "Best stick to it and keep it straight."

"It is straight," Naomi said. "It's not my fault you don't get it. From what I can tell, I was in Thedas—my Thedas—and somehow I ended up here."

Varric shook his head. "Still not making sense, kid."

"Ugh!" Naomi threw her hands up in the air. "Why are you always like this?"

Varric chuckled. "How can you know what I'm like?" he asked. "We've only just met."

"Oh, trust me," Naomi said. "I know you, Varric."

"That's funny. I can't recall ever meeting you, Freckles."

Naomi nodded. "Yeah. There. There is it. I was wondering how long you would take to get to that."

"Get to what?" Varric asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nicknames," Naomi said. She waved a hand at her very freckly face. "You called me Freckles back home, too. Well, no home home," she corrected herself quickly. "Back on the other Thedas."

"…you're making my head hurt," Varric said. "I'm going to need a drink to get through this mess. Excuse me."

Pushing his chair back, Varric stood up from the table. He mouthed "good luck" towards Venara and disappeared towards the bar. Naomi groaned again and nervously ran her hands through her light brown hair, repeatedly unravelling her loose braid and putting it back together again. Venara watched her silently for a moment, trying to put the puzzle of her existence together. Her heritage was human, yet she was not from any human nation. She was not a mage, yet she spoke of the Fade with such certainty that she had to have some kind of connection to it. She was claimed she was not a fighter, yet she could handle herself in combat with bow and dagger if she had to.

But stranger than that was both her eye colour—a fantastic shade of blue-green that Venara was certain was unnatural—and the fact that she spoke of fantastical things that should not be possible.

Such as falling through the Fade from another world.

And falling from one version of Thedas into another.

Was she lying? Or was she telling the truth? If the former, what purpose did she have in creating such a convoluted falsehood? If it was the latter… either Naomi was mad and she believed she had fallen through worlds, or there really was something such as parallel universes.

Naomi was looking at her. "You think I'm lying, don't you?" she said. "Either lying or crazy. Neither of those are great options—"

"I don't think you're lying," Venara said. "And I don't believe you're mad. I think—for the time being, until I get more information—I have to believe that you're telling the truth."

Relief washed over Naomi's face. "Oh, that's a relief!" She paused, drawing back. "Wait—really? You really believe me?"

"Why not?"

"I've faced enough scepticism in my day," Naomi said. "To be perfectly honest, I was preparing for the worst and making myself think I had to go through it all again, but looks like I don't. At least with you." She wrapped her arms around herself and glanced around at the boisterous tavern. It was as if she was expecting someone to appear out of thin air, someone she would much rather not encounter. "Anyway… is there really no Nassella Lavellan here?"

"No," Venara said. "Just me."

"Venara…" Naomi voiced her name cautiously. "And there's no Nassella Lavellan back at your clan?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Venara said.

"Shit," Naomi said. "Shit… then she doesn't exist in this universe?"

"I… I don't know," Venara said. "I've never known a Nassella."

"Shit," Naomi repeated. Her eyes widened, the colour retreating from her face. "So she's gone," she murmured. "She never was. I'm really on my own, then…"

"What makes her so important?" Venara asked.

"She was—is—the Inquisitor where I come from," Naomi said. "She's you, just without the magic. She's a hunter. She knows how to get out of a bad situation, whatever it is. The things she's gone through—" Naomi stopped and glanced at Venara's left hand. As if on cue, the anchor starting sparking. "Well, I guess you know what that's like."

Venara folded her hands together. "Yes. I do." She leaned back in her chair. "Why don't you begin again. The whole story. And then we'll figure out how to get you home."

Naomi took a deep breath. "My name is Naomi Westerkamp," she said, "and I'm not from here. I am not from Thedas. My home is on a world called Earth, but I haven't lived there for months…"

Venara's mouth hung open. She clutched her drink and stared across the table at Naomi, taking in the young woman and her incredible story. Everything she had witnessed, everything that had happened to her—she spoke about it with such genuine emotion that it had to be true. The details she had included about events that had happened in her Thedas struck a chord with what Venara had witnessed in hers—the Battle of Haven, Corypheus' dragon soaring through the sky, raining down destruction and chaos, the journey to Skyhold afterwards...

It all rang impossibly true to her.

"My only conclusion," Naomi continued, taking a quick sip of her ale, "is that there has to be parallel worlds. I don't know how or why, but I somehow fell through from mine to yours."

"I'm not surprised that there are parallel worlds," Venara said thoughtfully, brows furrowed. "Considering that Dorian and I travelled through time at Redcliffe, into another timeline and then travelled back… If that's possible, then it makes sense to me that there would be multiple worlds, where different choices lead to different circumstances."

"You're making my head hurt," Naomi said, rubbing her brow. "I think we—"

"—need to talk to Dorian," Venara and Naomi said at the same time.

They paused.

They looked at each other.

They grinned.

"Exactly," Naomi said.

Venara pulled herself closer to the table. "What I find fascinating," she said, "is how similar, yet different our two worlds are. How some things are the same—Josephine is still the Inquisition's diplomat, Cullen is still commander, Leliana is—"

"—still scary as fuck," Naomi said.

Venara laughed. "Yes. She can be, can't she?"

"I think she wants to kill me," Naomi said. "The way she looks at me—"

"She looks at everyone like that."

"Oh, I know," Naomi said. "But still, I don't like being on the receiving end of it." She twisted her braid between her fingers. "How is Solas?"

"He's fine. Why do you ask?"

Naomi shrugged. "In my world, he and Nassella were… close."

Venara flushed. "…I see."

Naomi's eyes lit up. "Oh," she breathed. "No way. No way! You, too?" She crowed with excitement. "What are the odds? What are the chances? Two Dalish Inquisitors, in two separate worlds, both falling for the same man—"

Venara flushed deeper and decided to take a long drink so she could hide behind her tankard. "It's not that interesting," she muttered.

"All right, all right, I'm not one to pry," Naomi said. She paused, running her fingers thoughtfully across the rim of the mug. She looked like she had a million different questions to ask. "Is… Cullen with anyone?" she said finally.

"Cullen?" Venara said. "No. Why?"

"Just out of curiosity, that's all," Naomi said delicately. "I'm trying to pinpoint the differences."

Venara's eyes narrowed. "You're not asking because you're with him in your world, now, are you?" she said.

"Of course not!" Naomi said, blushing fervently.

"Of course," Venara echoed, smiling impishly. Her eyes darted to the tavern entrance. From where she was sitting, she had a good view of everyone who came and went. She had seen several of her friends and acquaintances come and go over the course of the night, though most of them had recognize the strange situation she had landed herself in and had been polite enough not to interrupt her conversation with Naomi. Whether it was by fate or by fortune, Cullen had just entered the tavern. He didn't frequent it often, and Venara was surprised that he had chosen tonight of all nights to stop by.

Cullen caught sight of her and Naomi and immediately strode towards their table.

Then again, maybe it isn't that surprising.

"There you are, Inquisitor," he said. "Cassandra told me you were keeping an eye on our visitor—"

"Naomi," Venara corrected.

"Naomi," Cullen said. He turned to her. "That's you, I assume?"

Naomi blushed. "Um… Yes?"

She shot a scandalized look towards Venara.

Venara shrugged.

You've got to be kidding me, Naomi mouthed, and in the same motion stood and held her hand out to the commander. "Naomi Westerkamp," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Cullen took her hand. "I—well—I wasn't expecting…" He stared at Naomi, as if she was both familiar and a stranger. "You're not quite what I expected," he added.

"No," Naomi said, smiling faintly. "I don't think I would be."

"Cassandra said you think you fell out of the Fade and onto our doorstep."

"That's putting it mildly."

Cullen was still holding her hand. "It sounds like it was quite the adventure."

"You have no idea," Naomi said.

"Well—" Cullen ran a hand through his hair. "We can add it to the strange list of things that keep happening. Perhaps you can regale us with the tale sometime."

Naomi smiled. "Maybe."

Venara watched, brows raised in astonishment, as Cullen bowed courteously to her and left the table. Naomi watched him go, a confused, but happy, look on her face.

Maybe somethings were just meant to be, Venara thought. Regardless of what world you're in.

"Well, that was weird," Naomi said, sitting down quickly and pulling her chair into the table. "Nice, but weird."

"As I expect most of your time here will be," Venara said.

Naomi chuckled. "You know, there's a story back on Earth where a girl goes through a mirror and finds herself in a reflective version of the world she's from. I kind of feel like her right now." She paused, a look of horror overcoming her expression. "Oh God. I've turned into Alice. I've been Lewis Carrolled. Literally. Oh God. This is going to be a nightmare."

Venara ignored the reference. She had learned this evening that there were quite a few things that Naomi said that she just wasn't going to understand. "I hope it won't be all that bad before we find a way to get you back to your Thedas," Venara said.

"Of course it won't, I was exaggerating a bit there," Naomi said, laughing good-naturedly. "After all, I have you watching out for me."

the end