Disclaimer: I do not own the Dragon Age franchise, which would be the people at EA and Bioware.

Spoilers: There are both spoilers for Origins and Origins-Awakening

Raiting: M

Sequel to: I Cried For You

Daylen Amell's P.O.V.

It had been nearly two years since first leaving the Circle of Magi to start your journey as a Grey Warden. The journey had been quite the trial starting from the beginning. You had found yourself thrown into an epic quest along with your fellow Gray Warden Alistair. You went through various expeditions that some would not be able to believe if they even had heard such a tale. From fighting dragons, finding sacred artifacts, and all the while recruiting the various races to help in the coming Blight. It just seemed impossible, even to you at times. The most unreal aspect to your tale was the defeat of the Archdemon without having to sacrifice a Grey Warden. But here you were, in Denerim, and standing beside the new King of Ferelden and your closest friend, Alistair.

It had been quite the astonishment that the awkward companion was actually the successor to the throne and it was even more shocking at just how suitable he was for the role, a much better alternative than Anora ever would. He is absolutely glowing with joy towards you at how everything had turned out for the better. There's much joy and relief across all of Ferelden by this victory and you can't help but be a little smug.

Since your time in the Circle you've changed quite a bit, taking on the role of leader. You have grown taller and filled out quite nicely since then, had finally reached full maturity upon your arrival to Ostagar. Your once white alabaster skin is now unevenly tanned from constantly being outdoors and in your armor instead of robes; being an Arcane Warrior had its perks. The innocents that once adorned your brilliant blue eyes are gone, faded with life experience and time and now look wiser and harden. Your chestnut-brown locks that were once cropped at the base of your neck are now just above your shoulders and pulled back away from your face. In your armor, shield, and your Spellweaver sword by your side you look like one of those legendary knights.

"So, I get to do kingly things and you get to go off on more adventures. That's unfair." You hear your close friend say and it brings an amused grin to your lips. "Being Warden-Commander doesn't sound fun, my liege." Your reply seems to bring a grin to his lips and he shakes his head lightly. "I'm never going to live that down." He mumbles before continuing, "Yes, well I think you're the better choice either way." It appeared you would be the only choice in leading the Grey Wardens and it's been left to you to become the newly appointed Commander. A role that has left you feeling…tired.

Over the following days you meet with your friends, the ones that are still around, and you say your good-byes. Leliana is all tears while Sten and Shale don't really understand the need to saying farewell. Zevran has made promises of some business in Antiva that he must attend, to which he refuses to go into detail but you know it must involve the Crows. Orghren is drunk, as usual. Wynne says she plans on returning to the Circle and chides you to visit while the reconstruction is underway. You can't help but wish you could return with her in that moment as a nagging memory calls from the back of your mind. Though the tower is your past and you can't make any promises of returning.

The next few months are spent planning over the details over the location of where the Grey Wardens would base their operations. With help from Alistair, Vigil's Keep near Amaranthine had been decided upon; considering Rendon Howe and his family no longer resides there.

Before your planned trip towards Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep you meet with a young new recruit that will be accompany you, Mhairi. She is the face of youth and eagerness that the Wardens need right now in helping rebuild the order. Your journey towards the former Howe home is rather uneventful and is spent answering the questioning Mhairi. She reminds you a little bit of yourself when you had travelled with Duncan to Ostagar, which suddenly seems a life-time ago.

It's near dusk and rain is falling when you and your new travelling companion come upon the large fortress that would come to be home. However, something seems to be amiss as you come to the wooden bridge that leads to the gates. Somehow Darkspawn had swarmed over the keep, killing everything in sight. You and Mhairi go into action to clear out this menace before more lives are lost. With sword and shield in hand you find that Mhairi is quite competent in battle and know that she'll be a fine newcomer as you watch her bash into a Hurlock Grunt.

As you make your way through the halls, you begin to investigate the various rooms to seek out survivors and to ensure none of the tainted menace is hiding away for a lovely surprise latter on. It is during this that you open a door to find the whirlwind of fire taking down a Darkspawn. On the floor is a mess of Darkspawn and what appears to be Templars. The owner of the fire spell is what catches you off guard.

Anders.

"Uh…I didn't do it." Those words were just like him.

Your blue eyes travel over the blonde mage slowly, not sure if what you are seeing is real for a moment. No, this wasn't the fade. That was truly Anders before your eyes. You almost forget to breathe in that moment, but you are able to recover quickly. There are more important matters at hand, such as darkspawn. Yes, darkspawn are much more important. ….Ahem. Well, you tear your gaze away from the apostate and towards the Templars with an arched brow.

"….did you…?"

You leave the question hanging in the air as you indicate the Templars on the floor near him. To which his eyes widen and he shakes his head. "Oh no no no no. Those creatures got them, I sort of just watched them duke it out." Anders states, which you can't help but grin slightly at his response. Yes, the same Anders indeed. The blonde seems to notice your smile and relaxes slightly.

"I am Anders at your service, mage and wanted apostate."

This catches you off guard as he introduces himself. You quirk a brow towards him and tilt your face in a familiar fashion. He doesn't recognize you. This is…disturbing but you can understand that the sword and shield may have thrown him off. Not to mention you've changed quite a bit since the Circle.

"Right, Anders. You'll be accompanying us in expelling these…'creatures'." You find yourself saying, a tone of amusement in your voice. He's more than a little surprised by this command from you and looks a little nervous a moment before nodding his head. Mhairi seems more hesitant about this decision as she looks from the apostate and yourself. "Are you sure we can trust him?" She asks as her attention shifts back towards Anders with a certain glint in her eyes. You however seem to wave off her concern and visibly shrug as you turn towards the open hallway.

"He'll be useful, the more the merrier."

As you fight you still rely mostly on your sword, amused by the fact that Anders has yet to recognize you. You continue to watch the blonde mage from the corner of your eye, seeing his skills in magic had truly increased since your last meeting. A lingering thought of his lips against yours causes you to become distracted.

"Commander!"

The voice is that of Ohgren and causes your attention to shift in front of you, barely bringing your shield up in time as a blade came down. You stumble back a moment and plan on using a wintersgrasp spell but suddenly the tainted creature is aflame and shrieking in pain. You waste no time as you slice your blade down and cleave the creature in half. You mentally scold yourself and are reminded not to think of certain apostates while in the heat of battle. Honestly, that was a novice mistake and an embarrassing one at that.

"Ohgren, what in the blazes are you doing here?" You ask this as you eyes land on the red-headed dwarf in mild disbelief, wondering if the man is really there. But his stench seems to confirm this.

"I'm here to join of course! When all these darkspawn showed up, I thought 'just you wait until the new commander gets here and you'll all be spitting teeth out of your arses! So I followed the screaming and found ya here."

"He was here when I left…I'm surprised they didn't kick him out."

"Weeelll… A dwarf that smells like a brewery. You almost never see that."

With the awkward introductions squared away you and your company trudge on until you come upon the roof of the keep, where a talking darkspawn (Which is somehow frightening as all hell) with a man being held hostage. Oh dear, this just didn't seem it was going to end well. Thankfully the battle with the darkspawn, known as The Withered, had ended well with the man surprisingly unharmed. He reveals himself as being Seneschal Varel, the man who was to help you with your plight of being Warden-Commander.

With The Withered dead the other lingering darkspawn seem to retreat, leaving all unnaturally quiet except for the gentle rain. You are more than tired now and slick with mud and blood. What a wonderful welcome! Your eyes move towards Mhairi, Oghren, and Anders to see if they are alright. For the most part they seem fine, perhaps a few minor scraps but nothing life-threatening. Thank the Maker.

"Warden-Commander…" You hear Varel behind you and a long-winded sigh leaves your lips. "Please, just call me Daylen. I'm growing weary of these titles." You state, your eyes going towards Anders to look for some sort of recognition. And there is. He's looking intently now towards you, which brings a grin to your lips. But he seems unsure. Honestly man, how many Daylen's have you met? You wonder this a moment about to chastise the mage for not comprehending or remembering him but are cut off by Varel once more.

"Ah… Commander Daylen, we seem to have soldiers down on the road. Maybe a little more hospitable than our previous guests?"

Another long sigh seems to leave your lips at this bit of news, moving your eyes away from Anders and towards the open road towards the gate. There is indeed someone coming with a company of soldiers, waving the flag of Ferelden in tow. "It's a little late for the Calvary." You quip lightly as you attempt to wipe muck from your face, only smearing it. You were going to need a very long soak after this.

You and the rest of your rag-tag team make your way through the keep, sure to avoid the various corpses that were haphazardly thrown about. Upon your arrival to the gates of the badly rundown fortress you find that it's Alistair of all people. "Well, it looks like I arrived a bit late, too bad. I rather miss the whole darkspawn-killing thing." He states with that impish grin upon his face that is infectious and causes you to smile.

As the grim situation is being explained to your King, you can't help but notice that it's Rylock beside him. Templar Rylock. You remember her from the Tower and more importantly she was a mage hunter. Your eyes flit towards Anders, who seems a little tense. And as if she has read both of your minds the female templar pushes herself forward.

"King Alistair! Your Majesty, beware! This man is a dangerous criminal! This is an apostate who we were in the process of bringing back to the Circle to face justice!"

'Oh hell.'

You can't help but think this words as your eyes return towards Rylock and give Alistair a quizzical look who in turn glances between you and Anders before shifting towards Rylock as she continues to rant.

"Oh, please. The things you people know about justice would fit into a thimble. I'll just escape again, anyhow."

You can't help but snigger as his comment, which catches his attention again. But the harpy continues still and accuses him of being a murderer of all things. You quickly look back towards the woman in mild surprise at the accusation. Alistair looks at a lost and looks to you to say something.

"Anders is a lot of things, but he's no murderer. I hereby conscript him into the Grey Wardens." Your words leave your mouth without much thought, causing a look of surprise to come over her before she resigns a look of anger. "You mages always stick together! He must pay for his crimes!" She barks towards you and your own anger begins to swell as an arm wraps around Anders' shoulders and pulling towards you in a rather childish manner that screams 'mine'.

"I believe the Grey Wardens still have the Rite of Conscription. He stays." Alistair states, and suddenly the quote, 'it's good to be the king' enter your mind or in this case 'it's good to be friends with the king'. Rylock looks conflicted but backs down and you release your hold on Anders, who for once is at a loss for words.

"Well, sparkle-fingers! Welcome aboard!"

Once King Alistair and Templar Rylock and co. have finally left do you and the others return to the great hall. You are utterly exhausted at this point and sure that the others feel the same, but it's Varel who points out that there are things that must be done. Preparations are underway in clearing out the Keep and Varel has set in-motion for The Joining ritual. This was going to be a long day and you can't help but fear The Joining for a certain mage. Not that you do not fear for Oghren or Mhairi. You manage to avoid them until nightfall while you clean yourself up for the coming Joining.

Sadly it does not go well and your travelling companion Mhairi did not survive. Unsurprising Oghren lived, not even passing out. And Anders lived, but is heavily passed out. You order for Mhairi's body to be taken with the utmost care and that Anders placed in a room to recover.

Now with the events that have finally processed you are unsure about Anders. And your feelings for the man. Since the start of the Blight and becoming a Grey Warden you had accepted that you would most likely never see him again. And since he had left you on that night so long ago, you weren't sure if you could ever recover. But that wasn't true. Zevran was a testament to that. The Antivan elf had been more than willing to comfort your fractured heart and had turned out to be a good friend.

You couldn't exactly talk about such things with your other companions, now could you? Leliana wanted too many intimate details, Wynne was far too scolding, Morrigan was just a horrible idea, and Alistair lacked that sort of experience, hence the lamppost in winter talk. That left…Shale, Oghren, and Sten. All of which were out of the question. And so Zevran was the one left to mend you, both physically and mentally.

And so here you are now….

You are lingering outside of Anders' room, dressed in more casually after your long bath. You are sure he's recognized you by now, but you haven't been able to speak and you are not too sure what to say. Everything had happen in such a rush. You take in a deep breath before you open the door and slip yourself into the darkened room, closing the door behind you softly as you go.

The only source of light is coming from the nearby fireplace, giving off a warm glow. Your eyes seek out the bed, seeing the sleeping figure of Anders. For some reason your heart races a moment and you inwardly curse at your own weakness for the blonde. As you near the bed you notice he rustles every so often and you catch glimpses of his face that is contorted in anguish. Nightmares were plaguing your apostate friend, that much was clear and to be expected. You remember when you had joined the horrid vision of darkspawn and that overly spiny dragon, which had turned out to be the Archdemon (which was just a wonderful thought).

Your find that your fingers go out and brush against the other's face lightly, pushing away the reddish-blonde locks from his face. He's burning up. A twinge of concern enters your face as you seek out the water basin in the room and a cloth to dampen. Why are you doing this? You didn't have to. You ponder about this as you dip the cloth into the cool water, wringing out the excess water, before returning to the mage and placing the cool fabric upon his forehead. This seems to calm him as his face becomes a more peaceful visage.

'I am lost when it comes to him.'

The very thought causes you to feel slightly frustrated as you take a seat on the edge of Anders' bed. Your fingers run through his hair lightly, not sure if you should wait until he awoke or if you should leave him alone. But for some reason you can't bring yourself from moving away from him. It was Anders. The same lovable man you had fallen for those years ago. Were you still in love with this man? You already know the answer; it is something that will always be.

Your eyes leave his visage and shift towards the fireplace, watching the embers flicker in its wistful dance. It's a hypnotizing vision that you fondly remember from all your times making camp along the roads and woods of Ferelden.

"….Daylen?"

Your breath hitches in your throat, but your eyes remain upon the flames of the fireplace. But a sly smile forms on your lips. "So, sleeping beauty awakes." You hear yourself saying with a slight chuckle leaving you. You find it difficult to look towards Anders in sudden fear that you might utterly lose yourself to him. But as soon as you feel fingertips graze over your knuckles you shudder lightly and your eyes adjust on the man beside you.

He is smiling.

And he is smiling at you.

And for some reason this annoys you. Emotions begin to bubble and simmer and your eyes avert themselves away from the blonde and reach a hand into your pocket, pulling out an amulet. "Mhairi didn't make it." You begin; a pang of guilt hits you at this statement. "It's tradition for all surviving Wardens to keep a bit of the blood from their Joining." You hear yourself continue, business as usual. You hold this amulet out for the other who you can feel is staring and your heart flutters and the pit of your stomach is sickly warm in response.

It seems like an eternity until he plucks the talisman from your fingers. Though his hand doesn't leave and instead grasps yours and you feel his warmth and the cool metal against you. This causes you to finally move your gaze back upon him, the smile had faded and an expression of concern is all that is left.

Before you can say a word or move away he is around you. His arms are a warm embrace and in your ear you hear the sweet comforting words, "I'm sorry." You are unsure if it is because of what had happened in the tower so long ago or because of Mhairi. But you find yourself melting into his hold as if nothing had changed. A soothing pulse of magic is emitting from his fingers as they stroke through your hair and your own arms come around the man in response.

Without notice tears had fallen from your eyes as your face is buried into his shoulder. No more words are said as he gingerly pulls you closer to him, finding yourself being pulled into the bed beside him and the warmth of a blanket being wrapped around you. You do not resist to this, in fact you welcome his touch and heat. He does nothing more but hold you to him and you are thankful for this as you lay your face against the crook of his neck and his stubble scrape against your flesh pleasantly.

You both stay like this through the night with only sound coming from the pitter-patter of rain against the nearby window and the occasional cackle of the fire. During this time you had drifted towards the fade and for once you had a pleasant dream instead of darkspawn and of dragons and you realize that in your heart he will always stay.