Chapter 2: Damn it, Solas.

*This scene takes place just outside Haven after In Your Heart Shall Burn (Before the group reaches Skyhold and after they sing the song)

Sera sat in her tent, scowling at her broken bow, thinking about how they had landed themselves in their current predicament. They were miles from civilization with tons of wounded soldiers and civilians and to make things worse, their Herald was lost in a blizzard, or possibly even dead for all they knew. Sera's weapon of choice had been broken during their battle with the Red Templars that had attacked Haven and she was having trouble keeping her mind on her task of fixing her bow and off of the Herald.

It had all started shortly after the Herald had sealed the Breach with the help of the Rebel Mages. Everyone was so happy and had celebrated their victory with lots of food, drinking and plenty of dancing. Their celebration was cut short when the warning bell went off and everyone began to panic, then shit had gone downhill from there. Haven had been attacked by some strange creature calling itself the Elder One and his army of corrupted Templars, who began killing everyone in their path. There was so much screaming and lots of death after that first attack. The Herald had taken a small group with her to fight off Red Templars so she could reach one of the trebuchets, which she had used to bring down an avalanche on top of most of the enemy army. They had bought some time for most of the civilians to get to the safety of the Chantry.

But nobody could have prepared them for an Archdemon attack. The huge dragon had taken out the trebuchet and very narrowly missed Lavellan and her companions. Everyone retreated to the Chantry to escape from the terrifying beast and the Herald decided to go out and take on more Red Templars to give the civilians a chance to escape Haven through an underground passage. The Herald had planned to set off a huge avalanche to bury Haven and the Red Templars' army under a mountain of snow. It was a really risky plan but she was determined to try and give the people of Haven a chance. Sera, the Iron Bull and Dorian had volunteered to go with her to help her fight her way to the final trebuchet. Everything had gone according to plan, save for one detail. Lavellan had been cornered by the Elder One and his Archdemon just as she had finished aiming the trebuchet. She sent her companions away to protect them from the Elder One and so they could escape through the secret passage in the Chantry. Somehow, Ellana had managed to set off the avalanche and bury Haven and their enemy, but her status was currently unknown. Sera was kind of angry with Ellana for sending her companions away to save them. She was convinced that she could have helped Ellana and that she would not be missing if they had stayed with her.

Sera was really worried about Ellana and wanted to do something to help find her. She was on her way to Cullen's tent to find him so they could get a search party started when she had overheard the good news: the Herald had been found and was resting in the healer's tent. Sera's heart nearly skipped a beat when she had heard the news. She was so relieved that Ellana was alive and well. They had grown close in the few short months that they had known each other and even though Sera was still not sure if they were more than just good friends, she cared for Ellana a great deal. She cared more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. She had to go see Ellana to make sure that the rumours of her survival were true.

Sera made her way towards the healer's tent and tried to make sense of all that had happened. She was sure that the Herald should have died out in the cold and it felt like a miracle that she had lived. If the Herald could survive a situation that would have killed any normal person, then maybe she did have the Maker's favour.

Sera finally got to the healer's tent, but she decided to wait until Mother Giselle left to get supplies or something so she could talk to Ellana alone. Ellana was laying on a cot in the tent and looked like she had just been through hell and come back. She looked utterly exhausted but she was still as beautiful as the day Sera had first met her. She had likely gotten a little sleep before Sera had heard the news of her survival and rushed over. Ellana looked like she was getting restless and Sera could tell that she wanted to get up and do something to help the others, but Mother Giselle was making her rest. Ellana saw Sera standing near the entrance to the tent and decided to send mother Giselle out to run some sort of errand for her, so she could talk to Sera in private.

"Umm... Mother Giselle, could you please get me something to eat? I still need to rest." Ellana asked in her best meek, sick person voice.

"Of course, dear. I will be back with some stew shortly." Mother Giselle replied, leaving the tent to get their hero some food.

"Sera, I know you're there, you can come out now." Ellana said, squinting out into the night, searching the darkness for Sera.

"So it's true, you did make it." Sera said, opening the tent flap and stepping into the light of the tent so Ellana could see her.

"Everyone seems to think I died and came back to life. I just barely escaped the avalanche. Then I spent hours making my way back here." Ellana replied, her mask of calm briefly slipping, giving Sera a glimpse of her true emotions. Her normally bright eyes looked sort of dull, her head hanging in defeat as she refused to meet Sera's gaze.

"That Elder One thing really messed with your head, huh?" Sera asked, trying and failing to get Ellana to look at her.

"The Elder One attacked Haven with an army of Red Templars because of me. It wanted to kill me and take my mark. It's my fault that so many people were killed." Ellana replied, her voice breaking towards the end of her sentence.

Sera walked over to where Ellana was sitting on the cot and sat down next to her. She placed her hand gently on Ellana's shoulder and Ellana looked up at her, her emerald green eyes full of unshed tears.

"None of it was your fault. That monster attacked Haven because he is friggin' insane. And we managed to save most of the town anyways. There isn't a damn thing you should feel guilty about." Sera said, her voice calm and soothing.

"Maybe you're right. But that bastard had better hope we never find him because he has a lot to answer for." Ellana said, her newfound determination beginning to show through the guilt and pain that she had felt before.

"That's the spirit. When we find him, you can kick him in the danglebag while I fill him full of arrows. Sound good to you, Lady Herald?" Sera asked, her face breaking out in a large grin as she imagined that actually happening.

Ellana chuckled softly and nodded. Sera always knew just how to make her feel better when she was feeling down about being the Herald. She always knew how to make her forget about the burdens of leadership and remember how to just be herself.

"I still can't believe you escaped that avalanche. Everybody was so worried about you." Sera said once they had gotten over their fit of giggles.

"Everyone was worried? Does that mean you too?" Ellana asked

"We're friends, right? I'd be a really bad friend if I didn't worry about you." Sera replied, trying to avoid Ellana's eyes.

"Just friends? I thought we were more than that." Ellana said, her ears starting to turn red. She was worried that Sera didn't feel the same way and she didn't want to ruin their friendship, but she had to know how Sera felt.

"Well, yeah. You're really confusing. Like I can never tell if you're really interested or if you're just takin' a piss." Sera replied, smirking slightly when Ellana's nose wrinkled adorably at the crude turn of phrase.

"Maybe this will help you figure it out." Ellana whispered seductively, cupping Sera's cheek and turning her head so she would face her. She slid her hand around the back of Sera's delicate neck and slowly pulled her towards her, with the intention of kissing that smirk off of her face. She made sure to go real slow so that Sera could pull away if she didn't want to kiss her too. But Sera didn't pull away and when their lips were less than an inch apart and she could feel Sera's warm breath teasing her lips, they both heard someone loudly clear their throat, announcing their presence.

The women both panicked and pulled away from each other quickly, their hearts beating loudly in their chests because of the scare. They looked up to see Solas standing at the opening to the tent, his bald head reflecting the moonlight.

"Damn it, Solas! You have the worst timing ever." Sera grumbled, scowling at him.

"I need to have a word with the Herald." Solas said, ignoring Sera's comment.

"Ugh, Fine. Just give me a minute. I'll meet you outside." Ellana replied, grudgingly agreeing to meet him.

"Sorry, I have to go talk to Solas, it may be important." Ellana said, turning to Sera as she stood up and put on her coat.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later then." Sera said, standing up and making her way to the exit to leave the tent.

Ellana suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a tight embrace. Sera wasn't used to being hugged and it took her a few seconds to return the hug, wrapping her arms around Ellana's slim waist. Sera smirked and moved her hands lower, squeezing Ellana's firm buttocks. Ellana was shocked and pulled away from the hug with a slightly scandalized look on her face.

"Sera!" Ellana gasped, her face turning a lovely crimson colour.

"Don't act like you didn't like it." Sera teased, walking past Ellana and out into the cold.

Ellana stayed frozen in place for a few seconds as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. She got lost in her thoughts for a few minutes before she remembered that Solas was waiting to speak with her. She left the tent and went to meet Solas, but she knew it would be difficult to focus on what he had to say when Sera was clouding her thoughts. I guess that is Sera's way of showing that she is interested too, Ellana thought to herself as she made her way towards Solas. Sera was all kinds of trouble and she couldn't wait to see her again.