A/N: This is the end of the story. I had so much fun coming up with this for the 2014 DAFW's Summer Competition. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it. I would appreciate it greatly if there are any other stories of mine that you are interested in, please read them and let me know what you think. I adore writing for Dragon Age and plan to continue to do so as we await DA:I. A huge thank you to Apollo Wings for creating this competition and letting me be a judge for it. I am looking forward to seeing what the contestants come up with. I want to extend my sincerest thanks to those of you that have commented, but especially to the following: karebear, FenZev, Michelle Clover, KatjaLaRoux, and alyssacousland for their endless support. I am truly blessed to have friends such as you.

Note: I was listening to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol earlier and it inspired the flashback. :)

Epilogue

A chill breeze blew in from the Waking Sea. It tossed Anders' loose blond hair into the air and brushed against his unshaven jaw. The robes he wore did little to block out the cold surrounding him, although in that particular moment, he gave little consideration to the discomfort it caused. His companions stood beside him; Fenris, Varric, Aveline, Merrill, Isabela and Sebastian. Not one of them could offer a word of comfort for his otherwise empty heart.

The day before Marian had placed a sleep spell on him, rendering him unconscious and unable to stop her from doing the very thing he had feared. She had let her anger and her grief consume her. It lead her on the destructive path she so willingly waltzed down and now the time had come for her pain to end. She had committed murder within the walls of the Gallows, the very place the templars ruled. They had sensed her magic and had sought her out, but she hadn't run. She submitted to their twisted sense of justice and allowed them to treat her like a dog. Fenris, when he had returned to the estate without her, had explained what happened. She didn't even put up a fight.

Fenris was certain that she had let herself be caught on purpose. That she had a death wish. He might have been right. Had Anders been there, he might have had a chance to stop her from making the terrible mistake. But he hadn't been and now Marian had to pay for Orsino's brutal death with her own life.

Knight Commander Meredith, in her heavy templar armour, lead a procession of soldiers towards where the executioner, the man who would take Marian's life, stood. He was situated on a raised platform a few feet from where Anders and his friends waited, a mask covering his face so no one would know who had done the grisly deed. A noose hung next to him, opened and ready for a neck. Swallowing his fear, Anders' golden eyes watched as the templars formed a line in front of the platform, keeping the crowd separate from the place where the woman he loved would die.

The Knight Commander lead Marian Hawke through the crowd with chains secured around her wrists. Chains that most likely drained her of mana in order to stop magic from flowing through her. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes downcast. Her normal pale skin now had a sickly pallor to it and she looked exhausted. It was as if she'd finally given up all hope. Anders had never seen Marian look like that, so lost and broken. Even though her mother had just passed, the grief and sadness was second to the all consuming anger she'd felt against those who had taken Leandra from her. Now she was a shell of her former self.

Meredith positioned Marian directly behind the suspended rope before turning to face the crowd that had gathered below. "This woman is to be executed for the crime of murder. She killed our First Enchanter in cold blood and admitted to doing as such." The Commander of the templars glanced at Marian with a disgusted expression. She wasn't hiding her hate of the mage and the audience could see it easily. "Do you have anything to say before you are sent to your fate, murderer?"

Marian finally looked up, but it wasn't to gaze at Meredith or the crowd waiting for her death. She didn't waste those precious last moments on her friends. No, her topaz eyes found Anders and locked on him as if the words she was about to utter were for him only. "I do not regret what I did. I did it for reasons of my own which no one will understand. But I will not apologize for the First Enchanter's death. I did what had to be done for the good of Kirkwall. I did what had to be done for myself. If I pay for that with my life, so be it. I'll have died doing something I believed in. Justice."

The crowd began to chatter amongst themselves as the executioner strode forward to place the noose around Marian's neck. Meredith and a few of her templars left the platform and began to make their way back the way they'd come. Isabela placed her hand on Anders' shoulder as the rope was tightened around the throat of the only woman he had ever loved. A woman he would have given anything for. If only he had listened to her cries for help sooner. Shrugging the offending appendage from his shoulder, the healer took a step closer to the platform, his gaze never wavering. Marian wasn't afraid of her death and he wouldn't let her seen how scared he was to lose her. She deserved that much, after all they'd been through.

His friends tried to discourage him, telling him that it would be easier if he didn't watch, but he was too far beyond caring to listen to a single thing they said. He would stand as a witness to the depravity that the templars, that this damned city, did to a beautiful soul such as Marian's. Once the rope was secured to the executioner's content, the man walked to the lever that would be the end of it all. Anders fought against the desire to shut his eyes. His heart pounded out a steady cadence as he waited, praying to the Maker, to Andraste, that this was all a nightmare that he would wake from. That hope died as he heard the wooden trap door drop out from beneath Marian's feet and the sound of the rope snapping under her weight. His eyes barely had time to register it all. As she fell through the opening underneath her, the sudden drop immediately snapped her neck, giving her a quick death. Gasps and murmurs erupted within the crowd. Closing his eyes to block out the image of his dead lover, the sound of Merrill's weeping reached his ears. Anders thought about a time when he and Marian had been happy. Truly happy. Before mages and templars and the injustice in the world had become their life.

Marian was motionless beside him. Her breathes were slow and steady, her face turned so she could stare at the fire across the bedroom. Lupo, Marian's mabari hound, slept on the rug in front of the hearth without a single ear twitch or whine.

"You know what I want?" Her soft voice asked, her eyes staring into the hypnotizing red and orange of the flames.

Anders glanced at her with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips. He'd only been living with her for about a week now, but every night, before they fell asleep, she would share something with him that he'd never known about her. He was intrigued to know what she was intending to share tonight. "What is it you want, love?"

With a wistful sigh, her blue eyes met his amber ones without hesitation. "I want to stay like this. Forever."

Anders wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. Resting his chin on her head, he brushed a gentle kiss across her hair. "As do I. Nothing would make me happier."

They were silent for a few minutes, both content with lying in each others arms for no other reason than to feel safe and loved. Anders hadn't felt safe many times in his past, but with Marian, he knew that nothing could hurt him. Her love was like fire and ice, hot and cold, but one thing was certain, though she was passionate when it came to love, and even hate, she was reliable and trustworthy. She was there for him and he couldn't say he knew another person the way he knew his lover.

Marian pulled her head from his chest in order to glance up into his eyes. "Do you think that's possible?"

"Hmm?" He murmured, placing a kiss on her nose then her cheek before finally arriving at her lips.

"Anders- do you think we could just stay in bed and never get up? I don't want this to end." Marian said with a pout.

He couldn't deny the effect that expression had on him. With a smile, he said, "Love, I will be here until the day we die. I promise you. I will never leave you, no matter what happens."

With a breathless laugh, Marian snuggled closer to him. As Anders held her, he knew this was what he'd been searching for his entire life. He hoped it wouldn't be ripped from his grasp like everything else...

When he finally opened his eyes again, the sight of Marian dangling from the noose was enough to anger him. Justice stirred within and knowing that her death had pained the spirit as much as he, Anders turned away and began the walk back to Darktown. He had nothing left for him here. The least he could do was make sure that when he finally did leave, or die if that was what the Maker willed, that the templars would finally get their due and that the mages of Thedas finally had a means to fight back.

There was no chance of compromise now.