A/N: Bioware and David Gaider own all, I am merely tiptoeing through their creative tulips.

Well folks, I'm baaaack! Did you miss me? Sorry this update has been a month in the making but I was going through a bit of a self confidence crisis. But, all is well now and here is chapter TEN of Rose! I hope that it is well worth the wait and that you all enjoy it. I would love to promise that eleven will be out in short order but it seems that when I promise to have it done quickly it takes a lot longer. So I will say chapter eleven is in progress!

Huge thanks go out to my lovely Beta and friend Erynnar, I do not know what I would do without her and her Louisville Slugger (for those pesky self doubt goblins). You are the mac to my cheese, and I mean that! Please read her three WONDERFUL stories "Soulmates", "The First Cut is Always The Deepest", and "Whispering Sighs of the Blade". Be warned, have your tissues at the ready!

Also huge thanks go out to Ladyamesindy for letting me use Cyril, her barkeep from the Gnawed Noble Tavern. Please read her story, all about Cyril called "The Barkeep Diaries". I truly hope I have done him justice!

Lots of love goes out to my reviewers; CynderJenn, Erynnar, Ladyamesindy, TheNightWatch, Bingham Vance, Piceron, and LadyMetallica. You are all SO special to me and are the fuel to my fire and truly what keeps me writing.

Just a little update, I am currently working on another long story that I'm hoping to start publishing in the near future. It is about my mage Essemere Amell and her true love Jowan. Hope you all will tune in for that!

Once again thank you so much for sticking with me, you are all awesome.

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of my Dad, Timothy Daniel "Danny" Cathey who I lost to stomach cancer a year ago tomorrow. You are missed Daddy.

Please, I beg all of you, never let anger and pride cloud your heart, you never know when the last words you say to someone will be the LAST words you say to them.

God Bless!

After playing with Rose for a while and then sending her on her way, Zev got dressed and made his way downstairs; a smile still painted across his face. When he got to the bottom step he noticed a commotion near the door to the larder. Leliana and Felsi were standing atop the counters pointing toward the larder doorway as Oghren stood just outside the door with his arms folded and shaking his head.

"I told you it went under the sugar" Anders voice muttered from within the larder.

Then came the obviously annoyed voice of Morrigan. "'Tis not under the sugar nor is it anywhere near the sugar; I am certain I saw it in that corner, near the potatoes"

"CRACK" the unmistakable sound of a lightening spell echoed from within.

I got him I got him!Anders rejoiced as he ran out of the larder carrying a rather large rat by the tail; a smug smile set upon his handsome face.

Leliana and Felsi jumped off of the counter as Leliana shouted with delight "Oh Anders you're my hero!"

Anders smile grew even larger as the pretty bard and her dwarven counterpart kissed him simultaneously on each cheek.

"Oh ya, such a sodding hero…all hail the amazing sparkle fingers…beware his wrath of glittery doom." Oghren grumbled, with obvious jealousy seething in his voice as he watched Anders relishing every moment of attention from the ladies. Then as Morrigan walked through the doorway he threw his arms up and with much bravado shouted "and his faithful sidekick Witchy Poo!"

"Darling, it seems we have missed one, a rather ugly and filthy rat at that." Morrigan glared sidelong at the dwarf as he returned to his brooding stance.

"I don't see what you're getting so upset about you great pile of bronto dung, after all you are the one that was screaming that he was in there in the first place." Felsi playfully slugged Oghren in the shoulder.

"If I'd known it was a sodding rat I would have taken care of it myself woman." Oghren argued defensively "I thought it was a schleet and I need my sodding eyeballs seein' how I'm leavin' today and all!"

"But my stocky little friend, I thought you said you were not leaving until tomorrow?" Zevran chuckled as he approached the group.

"That sodding nug humper Howe got his small clothes in a twist and decided we should leave early."Oghren shook his head.

"Not my orders dwarf." Nathaniel stated as he walked in the door "Commander Caron said that we need to check in with our cloaked friend along the road on our way back to Amaranthine."

Zevran rose an eyebrow toward Howe "You mean that darkspawn creature? I don't understand why the wardens do not just kill it."

"He was essential in saving Amaranthine and is doing no harm to anyone. Commander Caron said that as long as that remains the case, he is allowed to remain alive; thus why checking on him is essential." Nathaniel threw an insistent glance at Oghren.

"I still don't understand how this skirt wearing thunder humper has been able to get out of having to report back." Oghren pointed a thumb toward Anders who was still holding the rat by the tail.

"I'll have you know I do have to report back should the commander decide that I am needed." Anders handed the rat to Leliana who immediately turned green and threw it upon the floor. "Since the Architect was allowed to live there has been little need for wardens but should an issue arise I will report back as I promised."

Oghren merely grumbled as he picked the dead rat up from the floor and tossed it out the side door to Ruthi's Mabari hound Emaba. "I'll go get the rest of my things together."

"It was good seeing you again Nathaniel." Felsi waved as she walked up the stairs behind her husband.

Nathaniel grinned and waved back to Felsi as he turned toward Leliana. "So how are things Leli? I've heard rumors of some excitement; something about a long lost bastard king returning to Ferelden?"

"Oh Maker, what a nightmare that has become." Leliana shook her head "In fact I'm on my way to meet with him as we speak; I only hope he is more receptive toward what I have to say."

"Would you like for me to come along Leli?" Anders asked as he rinsed his hands in the basin by the counter. "Since I don't know him I could be a bit of an unbiased party, maybe help him to see the truth?"

Leliana shook her head "No, but thank you Anders. Alistair knows that you are Morrigan's husband and would take anything you say as coming directly from her mouth."

"Well should you change your mind; I shall be taking a nap. All of this being a hero has taken its toll and I need my beauty rest." Anders patted Leli on the shoulder as he headed into one of the overstuffed sofas in the sitting room.

"I guess I should be going." Leliana looked out the window, noticing the sun getting higher in the sky. "And Zev, this time please just stay here; let me handle this!"

"Si Leliana, I shall behave. I swear it." Zevran held up his left hand and placed his right over his heart.

Leliana gave him an apprehensive smile "You had better Zevran Aranai or I will have Emaba come in and sit on you."

Zevran chuckled "No, no need for that my dear Leliana."

Leliana smiled as she walked out the door, mentally preparing herself for what was to come…whatever that may be.

Alistair sat alone at a booth in the private section of the Gnawed Noble Tavern. He decided to get there a bit early so he could do some reading and get away from the temptation of Talah over at The Pearl. He had already read a couple of letters while sitting there and as he finished each he would fold the parchment and carefully place it back in the wooden box. He then reached back into the wooden box and took out the next letter, unfolded the parchment and began to read.

My Darling Alistair,

You are a father! This morning I gave birth to the most beautiful, perfect baby girl. She has my eyes but everything else about her is you. She has your warm smile, loving face, broad shoulders, and I swear I could see her smirking at me even though she was only moments old. Oh how I wish that you could see her. Anora offered to send out some knights to try to locate you but I told her no, if you wanted to be found you would have been found already. I know one day you will come back to me. Until then we will be waiting for you.

All of my love,

Eruthiawen

PS. I have named our daughter Rose Adaia Tabris Theirin.

Alistair wiped a tear from his eye as he carefully folded the parchment and placed it back inside of the box with the other letters. His heart ached, knowing how much of his daughters life that he had missed while he was away. As he began to feel the tears stinging his eyes again he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"She never stopped loving you you know." Leliana gave Alistair's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Even as the world told her to just forget you, she never would."

Alistair sighed. "I think that is the hardest part to get past, even though I knocked her to the ground and told her that I hated her she never did give up on me. I never did deserve her."

Leliana sat across from Alistair and gently set her hand upon his. "Anger can cloud even the most loving heart; I'm just glad that you are finally opening your eyes."

Alistair merely shrugged as he pulled his hands from hers and set his gaze upon the table.

"Now you said there were things you needed to talk about, are you not finding the answers you were hoping to find within the letters?" Leliana asked as she tried to pull his focus back to her.

Alistair looked up. "I am finding plenty of answers Leli, but for every answer I find, ten more questions arise."

Leliana gave him a warm smile "Well ask away, that is what I am here for; take all of the time you need, I want to help."

Alistair cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of him. "Well for one, what happened with the Archdemon?" Alistair began thumbing through the letters in the box. "I have gone through this entire box of letters and cannot find anything. The last that I read was that Riordan wanted to speak to Ruthi and Loghain when you were preparing to march out of Redcliffe; the next letter tells about her discovering that she is pregnant with Rose."

"It wasn't something she would talk about; and with good reason." Leliana looked up from a cup of tea that the bartender Cyril had placed in front of her. "Loghain did not have a glamorous death; were you never told what happens when the archdemon is slain; why the Grey Wardens are needed to slay it?"

Alistair shook his head "I always thought it was more of an exaggerated proposition…I thought it had to do with the fact that we could sense them and therefore were better equipped; is that not the case?"

"Well you are partly right, it has to do with the taint which is what allows you to sense the darkspawn; when the archdemon is slain it's essence seeks out the nearest source of the taint so that it can be reborn within the creature. If anyone other than a Grey Warden slays the archdemon it's essence is reborn within another darkspawn, making it immortal." Leliana took another sip of her tea. "However if it is a warden that slays the dragon the taint seeks them out instead, killing the archdemon and ending The Blight….but also kills the Grey Warden in the process. Loghain died a horrible death; I was there, the sounds of his painful cries will forever haunt my dreams. Ruthi wouldn't talk about it because she is the one that sentenced him to that fate."

"He deserved to die Leliana, don't you think all of those soldiers suffered at Ostagar?" Alistair shot her a questioning glare. "Duncan died a terrible death, Cailan died a terrible death and on top of that, his body was desecrated by those monsters and hung as a trophy."

Leliana merely shook her head. "No one deserves the fate that was handed to Loghain, you weren't there; if you were there you would understand. And I will have you know that in his suffering he saved Ruthi's life. We didn't find out until much later that it was SHE that had volunteered to take that blow but he arranged with Zev to hold her back so that he could. She didn't want to live without you."

Alistair looked back down at the table as he shook his head. "I am definitely not worth dying over."

"She couldn't imagine her life without you." Leliana bent her head down to look Alistair in the eyes. "You were her one and only true love, nothing and no one could ever fill that void."

"So is that why she did not want Zevran around her?" Alistair questioned. "She said in one of the letters that Zevran and Morrigan were the only people who would speak to her after the Landsmeet but that they were the only two she didn't want to talk to; Morrigan because she kept praising her for "getting rid of me" and Zev because she didn't trust herself around him." Alistair gave Leli a puzzled look. "Why didn't she trust herself and why would no one else speak to her?"

"We were angry with her Alistair." Leliana said in an insistent tone. "We thought just as you did that she had betrayed you, the only difference is we stuck around. Zev tried to talk to her and find out what she was thinking; why she chose Loghain over you. She became hysterical and when he tried to comfort her she apparently threw herself on him. He pushed her away but that is why she no longer trusted herself around Zevran. However if you want more details on that you will have to talk to Zevran as I was not there."

Alistair laughed "Riiight, talk to Zevran, like that would go well."

"Alistair, you were the one that started that particular war, Zev was willing to hear your side of things before you attacked him the way that you did." Leliana gave him a stern look. "He was not happy with you but like me he wanted to at least give you the opportunity to explain yourself and a chance to understand the things that happened after you left. You are the one that went on the attack."

He shrugged. "Add another one to the list of people that I have wronged."

Alistair stood from the table and looked at Leliana. "Now I believe that I promised you lunch, what would you like?"

"Ah, so this is where we change the subject I see." Leliana picked up the bowl of half eaten stew that Alistair had been eating when she walked in and sniffed it. "I think I shall have some of this mutton stew, it smells yummy, and some more tea if you don't mind."

Alistair walked up to the bar and flopped down in a stool in front of the bartender Cyril who was busy wiping down the counter. "I need another bowl of the mutton stew and a hot tea please."

"Having a rough time of it eh?" Cyril wrote down Alistair's order and handed it to the young barmaid standing beside him behind the bar.

Alistair groaned. "That is one way of putting it; a total bloody disaster would better describe the situation."

"You know, I remember you lot from way back when during The Blight." Cyril began wiping the counter again. "You were close as could be and I don't think a one of them was the same after you left. The way I see it, they want to understand what happened and let you back in, but you gotta be able to let them in too. Of course this is just the opinion of an old barkeep, take it for what it is."

"Here you go ser, mind the bowl; it's hot." The barmaid sat the stew and tea down in front of Alistair and gave him a friendly smile.

"Thank you Cyril, it is something to ponder anyway." Alistair picked up the tea and bowl of stew from the counter and headed back toward Leliana.

"You know that man Cyril?" The young barmaid leaned against the clean counter and looked at Cyril.

Cyril gently pulled her from the counter and wiped the spot where she had been leaning. "Believe it or not Lizette, that young man is a close friend of the late Hero of Ferelden AND our rightful King."

Lizette raised a questioning eyebrow toward her employer "Riiight, tell me Cyril; does anyone believe any of your tall tales?"

Cyril laughed as he shook his head. "Ah to be young and so full of negativity; fine missy, I didn't want to tell you about it anyway!"

The young woman gave Cyril a warm smile and a friendly slug to the shoulder before leaving to attend to one of her tables.

Meanwhile Alistair returned to the table where Leliana waited patiently. He sat the stew and tea down in front of her and returned to his seat directly across from the bard.

"Oh this stew is absolutely delightful!" Leliana smiled after eating a large spoonful and taking a sip of her tea.

Alistair nodded in agreement as he began to carefully examine a small tooth that he pulled from the box with the letters. He knew that it had to be the first baby tooth that Rose lost. "Tell me about my daughter Leliana, I have missed so much of her life."

"She is a beautiful person, inside and out." Leliana gave Alistair a warm smile. "She is so sweet, she never hesitates to help anyone in need; she is smart and has her daddy's sense of humor. She always strives to see the good in people, friend and stranger alike. Especially bearded wanderers who retrieve prized necklaces from Alienage bullies."

Alistair quickly looked up into Leliana's eyes. "She mentioned meeting me?" A large smile spread across his tearstained face "What did she say?"

"Oh that a wonderfully nice man who smelled like Uncle Oghren helped her get her necklace back from a particularly nasty little girl." Leliana took Alistair's hand in hers "She said that you were so nice but looked very very sad and that she felt terribly for you."

Large tears rolled down the templar's face "She never should have seen her father in that state, she deserves so much more than that." Alistair buried his face in his hands.

"You are here now Alistair, which is what matters." Leliana squeezed his hands in hers. "Nothing else is important but the fact that you are here and you love her and want to be a part of her life."

"I have done so much wrong Leliana, hurt so many people." Alistair shook his head and tried to pull his hands from Leliana who squeezed them tighter.

"I forgive you Alistair, and I'm sure Ruthi would too…you are trying, you are here, you are trying to understand and willing to forgive." Leliana gently placed her fingers under his chin and tilted his face up to look into hers. "You can still make everything right, the first steps are behind you and they are the hardest to get past; I'm here for you if you are willing to see it through."

Alistair nodded his head. "Yes Leli, I think I'm ready. I want to make this right."

"That's what I like to hear." Leliana gave Alistair a warm smile and kissed his forehead. "Now come, lets take that next step." She took his hand and began pulling him from the table.

"Wha…Where are we going?" Alistair questioned nervously.

Leliana looked back at him and smiled. "Taking the next step, we are going to my house and you are going to clear the air with Zev."

As Leliana lead Alistair out of the Gnawed Noble, he nervously looked back at Cyril who was once again wiping the bar. Cyril smiled and mouthed the words "You'll be fine."

Alistair turned back toward Leliana and took a deep breath. "Maker Help Me."