Dragon Age is owned by BioWare... However, my birthday is in October, so if they feel like sending me a present...
Oh! And before I forget, this Otto is not the same Otto from the game. I didn't think of him before I started writing, so now they share the same name. Oh, well, though!
Part 3: Awake
Lilah and Jorgen were silent as they explored the rather large room rented for them at the Gnawed Noble Tavern. Jorgen was opening chests and wardrobes, digging through the contents when said chests were filled. Lilah brushed her fingers against the walls as she circled the perimeter, occasionally pausing to gaze at a vase of flowers or open the empty drawer of a bedside table. Once the room had been thoroughly gone through, the young elven boy and only slightly older human girl were at Aura's bedside. Jorgen looked at Lilah, but she was staring intently at the blonde woman laying atop the covers.
"Do you think she's gonna wake up?" Jorgen asked and Lilah shrugged, glancing over at him for a moment. She looked back and placed her hadn voer Aura's forehead, pursing her lips in thought before she crossed the room to the wash basin which sat on a vanity, her small fingers finding the handle of the pitcher and filling the basin. She pulled a slightly yellowed cloth that hung from the mirror and let it fall into the water before she twisted it over the basin and brought it back to Aura. She smoothed Aura's yellow curls of hair off of her face and gently lay the cloth over her forehead. "Did you meet her before she saved us?" Jorgen asked.
"Twice." Lilah answered, "Her and her brother, Paladin, saved my family from bandits on the Wounded Coast. After I was taken to the Circle, I saw her in the gallows. She was buying a pair of gloves from one of the Tranquil merchants, but I don't think she saw me."
"Oh." Jorgen said. He jumped away from the bed, collapsing into an armchair, "You think we're gonna be safe here? From the Templars?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Lilah answered, sitting on the bed so that she was facing Jorgen.
"You're not much for talkin', are ya?" he asked and Lilah shrugged. Jorgen sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I hope she wakes up, soon. It would be sort of sad if she died, ya know?" he said, but his eyes didn't open to see Lilah's glare. At that moment Aura murmured something in her sleep and both of the children's headshot in her direction. Jorgen hopped off of the chair, watching over Lilah's shoulder and Lilah put a hand on Aura's.
"Aura…?" Lilah said quietly, with noticeable hesitation. Jorgen groaned.
"You've gotta be louder than that or she won't hear you! Like this." he grinned before yelling, "AURA!" Lilah rolled her eyes and sighed. "Looks like she's not really up." he decided with a nod, before he returned to his chair. As he sat down however, Aura moaned. In a second he was back at the bedside, looking over Lilah's shoulder. "What should we do?" he asked.
"I don't know." Lilah answered honestly. She squeezed Aura's hand. "Aura? Aura, can you please wake up, now? We've been worried about you. Will you open your eyes for us? For a little while? You can go right back to sleep if you would like, but you should wake up and eat something. Aura? Aura, please? For Jorgen and I?"
Aura murmured something in gibberish and turned her head away from Lilah. Jorgen and Lilah shared a look before Jorgen started yelling, "Aura! AURA! Come on now, get up! Time to get up! Wake up! Get up! Grubs coming! Grub is good, yeah? Don't you wanna eat? Come on, Aura, get up!"
Aura seemed to let out a shaky breath, "…Tired…" she whispered. Lilah and Jorgen shared another look.
"What do we do?" Jorgen asked.
"I don't know!" Lilah snapped, "You could run into the market and find Uncle Otto?"
"I can do that!" he exclaimed and ran from the room a heartbeat later. Lilah turned back to Aura.
"Aura?" she said softly, "Please wake up. I know that you're tired, but if you stay asleep, you'll starve. The healing mages have kept you alive for this long, but you need eat and drink something, now. Will you wake up to do that for me? For all of us? We're all together, all six of us. Uncle Otto says he'll take care of us. Don't you want to talk to him? And what about your brother? Don't you want to see Paladin, again?"
"Paladin…?" Aura's voice was small, feverish, groggy from sleep and raspy from so many days without drinking water.
"Yes, Paladin. Your brother. Don't you want to see him?" Lilah asked quietly.
"…Otto…" Aura murmured instead, turning her face in the opposite direction. The cloth on her forehead fell off of her skin and on to the pillow in a damp pile. Aura's eyes were still shut tight, her chapped lips pressed together in a thin line. She looked like she was in pain.
"Otto will be here, soon. If you open your eyes you can see him. Please wake up, Aura… Please?" Lilah said, and she started at the feel of Aura's fingers tightening over her own. The grip was weak, but it was nonetheless shocking.
Not as shocking as Aura's scream however. Sudden and high pitched, her scream sounded as frightened as it was frightening. At that moment, the others entered the room. Sara covered her ears the moment the door opened, however, and Anita started crying. Otto was the one to rush across the room to the bed, pulling Aura up in his arms.
"Aura, it's alright now. It's just a dream." he said, and slowly her scream wavered and stopped. She opened her eyes and looked at Otto.
"Dream…?" she whispered.
"Yes, it was only a dream. You're awake now. You're safe." Otto told her and she looked up at him with tired, blue eyes.
"I'm… safe? And… thirsty. Water?"
The next hours passed at a slow pace. Jorgen, Sara and Theodore were sent off to bring back food. Which they did, along with a flower for Aura. Lilah was always by Aura's side, as was Otto, and with their help she managed to keep down a few bites of bread and finished off quite a few glasses of water. By the time Otto had helped her to a sitting position and filled her in on the trip to Denerim, All of the children had fallen asleep. Sara, Theodore and Jorgen were all on the floor, a fur blanket draped over them from the cupboard. Anita was curled up in the chair beside the bed. Lilah was asleep beside Aura on the bed. Only Otto and Aura were still awake.
"How are you feeling?" Otto asked and Aura smiled.
"No matter how many times you ask, I still feel awful." she answered and Otto sighed, unsatisfied. She put a hand on his knee. "Relax, Otto. I'm lucky to be alive." And this was true.
It was strange that they felt so comfortable around each other. Like old friends. It was strange because neither knew more than the other's name, when you really thought about it. She was an apostate, he a Templar. She had a brother. This was all.
"The children call you Uncle. When did that come about?" she asked and Otto shrugged, "I think it's sort of sweet."
"Did you dream?" he asked suddenly and he saw her go stiff.
"I… did not. Dream, I mean." Aura answered and he shook his head. He didn't believe her. She frowned. "I did, but they were not good dreams. Sometimes I was in the Fade instead of dreaming, and sometimes the demons were there waiting, tempting me with things I could never possess."
"Like what?" Otto asked. She had expected him to become more suspicious, being a Templar, but he seemed calm instead.
"Like… children. A husband. A little house. No Templars to hunt me down, no magic for me to be hunted for…"
"Well you've got the children." Otto mused, his eyes falling to their sweet, sleeping faces.
"True! Plenty of children!" she laughed and he smiled. Her laughter cut off suddenly. "So what happens now?"
"I told the children I would stay and take care of them." Otto said.
"I told them I would protect them." Aura replied.
"Then we're both staying with the children."
"Seems so." she hesitated before adding, "And I want to find my brother." Otto nodded and she sighed with relief. "Good. For now I should sleep, though. Don't you think?" she smiled and pulled her hand from his knee. He nodded and stood, moving to the candle to blow it out. Once he did, he settled on the floor.
"Otto?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
In the darkness, where no one could see, he smiled.