A/N: This chapter is a little short and I just wanted to give Hawke and Merrill just a little bit more interaction and show what their lives were like in the three years after Hawke was named Champion of Kirkwall. I also wanted to give them a little happiness before the shit hits the fan in the last chapter :)

Disclaimer: I dont own Dragon Age or the characters


After the battle with the Arishok Meredith, the Knight Commander of Kirkwall, named Hawke the Champion of Kirkwall and then named herself the new Vicount of the city, or she might as well have. She claimed to be stepping in until a new Vicount could be elected to keep "order" in the city. But the way Merrill saw it she was just creating greater disorder by the way she was cracking down on the mages. Tensions were rising and there was no worse time to be a mage. Luckily being an elf helped Merrill blend in more with the home raids on suspected mages and their families did nothing for her nerves, or Hawke's.

Luckily Merrill was able to hide behind Hawke's status so they were never raided but Templars were known to question Hawke's other companions about her, though no one was brave enough to question Hawke herself. With this tension rising it became much harder for Merrill to go back to her house to work on the Eluvian, especially with Hawke being as over protective as she was. In fact they often fought when Merrill tried to leave.

"No Merrill its not safe."

"You're kidding right? Are you really trying to tell me I can't go to my own house?"

"This is your home Merrill."

"Yes well so is the alienage, that's where I used to live remember?"

"Yes and now you live here."

"You know why I go back Hawke."

"Yes I do know and that's exactly the sort of thing Meredith is hunting Merrill."

"I'll be fine!"

"I can't protect you there you know."

"I don't always need your protection Hawke."

"Don't go Merrill."

"I can't stay locked up in here all day all the time! You go out all the time!"

"I'm not a mage Merrill, I'm just trying to protect you. Just don't go ok? I don't want to lose you."

"Ok," Merrill would always say and then as soon as Hawke left the manor Merrill would always pick up her stuff and mutter, "abelas lethlan," and then steal off to her house. She always managed to get back to Hawke's manor before Hawke noticed that she was gone and made Bodahn and Sandal swear they wouldn't tell Hawke that she had left. One night however this was not the case, one night Merrill had felt she made a break through with the mirror and lost track of time. She kept working late into the night and only stopped when she heard a loud thumping on her door.

She went really still and tried to push herself against the wall praying that the thumping would stop. Her heart was pounding in her chest and all she could think of was how furious Hawke was going to be at her if she got caught by the Templars. After a minute the thumping stopped and Merrill let her breath out. Then there was a crashing sound and Merrill froze she heard footsteps moving quickly toward her bedroom and she knew it was over.

She was ready for a Templar to round the corner and accuse her of blood magic and then take her away, but instead it was Hawke, though by the look on Hawke's face she thought she might be better off with the Templars. Merrill cleared her throat, "hello."

Hawke looked furious with her and her hands were clenched, "hello? That's what you're going to go with?"

"Well I wasn't sure what else to say and I thought that maybe-" Hawke held up her hand to silence Merrill, something that she never did.

"Merrill I asked you not to come here," her voice was calm, however her features betrayed her anger.

"You did and I didn't listen," Merrill said shortly, she would be damned if Hawke was going to order her around.

"Why didn't you listen?"

"I'm your lover Hawke not your child, you can't just order me around because it suits you."

"I'm not ordering you around."

"Mm? You're not huh? What do you call, don't go to your house Merrill stay here, cooped up in this stuffy house all day while I go out and have a grand ol' time."

"It was for your protection."

"Yeah too much protection! Don't you think it's a little bit more suspicious that you have an elf that stays in your house all day like a blasted slave!"

"I'm not treating you like a slave!"

"Oh please you're right! I'm a prisoner! You stay in your manor all day Hawke and I'll leave!"

Hawke looked at the ground, "I suppose I have been a little over bearing."

"A little?"

"Ok, ok! I've been worse than Meredith. I'm sorry Merrill, it's just, well I love you and I'm afraid to lose you, I've lost so many people, I couldn't bear to lose you too."

Merrill crossed the room and kissed Hawke, "I'm not going anywhere lethelan."

Hawke nodded and hugged Merrill tight to her, "I guess if you're going to come down here I should probably fix your door."

After that night Merrill was able to go out more often without Hawke protesting and Hawke even started to take her along on some missions and for the next three years they were happy and things were, for the most part peaceful, but as things happen the peace seemed to quickly be coming to an end, and Merrill felt that there was no one else to blame except for the Knight Commander. Though there was one silver lining when Merrill's three years of peace came to an end.

One night when Merrill was at her house working on the Eluvian Hawke came over to the house, which she usually did to walk home with Merrill, however that night she had a huge grin on her face when she came into the house and Merrill looked at her suspiciously, "what is it?"

"Do you fancy a drink tonight at the hanged man?"

Merrill raised her eyebrow at Hawke, they rarely ever went to the hanged man unless something was being celebrated, "whats going on?"

"Nothing I just thought we might have a night out tonight."

Merrill grabbed her coat from the rack and followed Hawke out of the house, "you're acting very strangely."

"I am not. I just want to take you out I think it might be a good time."

"Alright, but I'm onto you Hawke."

"Well there is nothing to be onto is there?"

Merrill shook her head and allowed Hawke to grasp her hand and drag her off to the Hanged Man. When she entered everyone was there, Varric, Aveline, Fenris, even Sebastian and Anders were there all sitting around a table laughing with a tankard in hand. Merrill looked at Hawke questioningly, "did something happen?"

Hawke just smiled and started pulling her toward the table with the others, as she moved she noticed they were all laughing at a story someone was telling and the voice sounded suspiciously like, "Isabela?"

"Kitten!" Isabela jumped up from the table and hugged Merrill tightly.

"Oh I missed you! How was traveling? Did you see much? Where did you go?" Merrill's excitement was spilling over the edges.

Isabela laughed, "sit down and have a drink with us and I'll tell you all about it."

Merrill sat down next to Isabela and joined in the drinking and laughing, she beamed at Hawke and whispered, "you're wonderful lethallan, thank you so much for this."

Hawke smiled and kissed her lightly, "I love when you are happy."

And Merrill was happy and the night was wonderful and in the months that followed she would often find herself remembering that night and remembering that there were good times to be had even in all the terrible things that happened.