Author's Note: This chapter discusses the time between the Final Battle and SnowHelm's chapter, 'Sunshine On the Horizon', from her story 'Revelations'. Enjoy, and please Read and Review!

Sunshine:

Sunshine had never experienced such pain in her life. And she was not as young as she looked. The worse part was that it was entirely in her emotions and energy so there was no 'leaving her body' to disassociate herself with it. As soon as she lost physical consciousness she found Duncan's energy cord, the beautiful silvery blue, flickering like it was trying to fade out. And so she poured all of her energy pushing it back, strengthening it. Thereby depleting herself and causing Duncan's cord to flicker, once again. And then she would be infused with energy and it would start all over again. She often got mad at Duncan for not fighting for his life harder, knowing that it was irrational, but she was getting really tired and cranky. It was a good thing he was so damn lovable. This went on for a long ass time, to Sunshine's reckoning.

Duncan:

The first time he woke up, he struggled to sit up, something was wrong, he just had difficulty pinning down what it was. He opened his eyes, groaning at the light, and saw what he thought was his beautiful daughter. "Shh," her voice soothed, "you still need more sleep" He agreed.

By the fifth time he was getting tired of either being put to sleep by magic or by some bitter draught and he pushed Grace away. "Enough! I need to get up."

Grace was a little sad that she couldn't get him to sleep any longer, though she had to admit to herself that at this point it was mainly to delay the bad news. She sighed heavily as she helped him sit up and drink some water, she noted with dread that her father was thinking, hard, instead of giving commands. Bad news, that. She tried her best to look serene, calm and the picture of a loving daughter. The last one was a little harder, mainly because she hadn't much practice, but she would try. She was relieved when Leliana and Alistair came in to check on them.

Leliana saw Duncan awake and sitting up and ran up and hugged and kissed him. "Oh, my dear, Duncan. We have all been so worried. You must let me tell you all about what happened." Still a little fuzzy Duncan allowed himself to be lulled by Leliana's story, when she started talking about the dead and wounded his mind began to clear. He sat straighter in bed, eyes clear.

"Where is she?" He voice asked, low and hoarse. Everyone was quiet, he looked to his daughter, "Grace, where is she?" He let out a howl as sorrow and rage shook his body. Tears flowed freely. Grace looked startled at Leliana and Alistair. It was Leliana who responded first and wrapped her arms around Duncan.

"Shhh, Shhh," she rocked him gently and sang a little for him. "We don't know that anything bad befell her." I need something better to say. "In fact there is some evidence," that of the fictitious variety, "that she left with a small band of Fereldens to chase down fleeing Darkspawn." Alistair and Grace shared an uneasy glance but latched on to the idea. Anything to keep Duncan's hope up and get him functioning again. Grace didn't understand why her father was worried that he'd never see Sunshine again. Surely she had to be somewhere. She had been frustrated as she had no idea how to chase down Sunshine's energy.

Duncan grabbed onto this, he rationally knew that she was probably gone, but he had a whisper in his mind of her pushing on him, taking care of him. He had been so sure that she would be here, she was the only thing he truly felt when he had been injured. Even this little hope was both crushing his heart and expanding it, he began to weep, hard. He never felt so vulnerable and alone as he did now.

Grace threw a worried look at her father, and then at Alistair and Leliana. His anguish was palpable. It was Alistair who made all the difference, and she loved him so deeply for his actions at that moment. "Father," Alistair said, "Sunshine loves you, she would not leave you. I believe this. You know how she is very heroic, she will come back to you. You must be an anchor, a strength, you must believe in her. I promise you, we will put the word out. She will be found." The words made Grace's heart swell with love, especially once she saw Alistair and Duncan embracing each other. She had always known he was the right man for her, but seeing this made her realize that she would never second guess that.

An anchor, Duncan thought, I must be her anchor, I must believe that she will fight for our love. That she will fight for me, for Grace, for us all. Grace, so buoyed by love at that moment, embraced her father with all the love that she didn't know how to use her mouth to express.

Sunshine:

She knew when Duncan was fully healed and gave a relieved sigh, it was unfortunate for her that she also loosened her grasp somewhat and was ripped to her travel nexus. Fuck! No, not now. She felt the pull of her nexus and she popped out onto a cliff. Huh, she thought, this is strange. At first everything was calm, and she explored her surroundings. She recognized this as a place that Duncan had described from his childhood. There was hope, there was hope. Her nexus was there, but there was hope.

And crap, there was the storm. Of course, I couldn't just find a way off this cliff and walk back to Denerim. This is completely the nexus. Still, Duncan's influence is here, I can get back. I can get back. I can get back. It became her mantra as she watched the storm approach. She backed up as far as possible, she never fought the pull before but knew it was strong. For Duncan, I can do this. For Grace, I can do this. For Del and For Zen. For Danforth and Gavarth. For sassy Loren. For sweet Leliana. For charming Alistair, Zev and Anders. For Aedan and Fergus. And for herself. She belonged with them, and right now Thedas needed them, well at least for a positive outcome. Or else she'd pull all her Wild and let Thedas have the 'what for' and take them back to her clan home, she was pretty sure though that they weren't ready for that brand of immortality - yet.

And so when the storm came to her, she fought the oppressive pull and felt like she was playing some horror filled round of tug - o - war with her nexus and the storm. Please, love me enough to help me pull, she prayed. There would be reprieves, and the storm would fall back, but it was very difficult. God, this is worse than labor, Sunshine realized. She didn't think that was possible. She kept singing every hopeful love song she knew.

Duncan:

Sunshine was standing on his cliff. The one he had told her about. He heard her voice, singing some song he had never heard her sing before:

'One day I opened up my eyes,

And I was really quite surprised,

I realized some things I'd always hoped to see,

Light was dancing in the air,

Love was sitting in her chair,

The Gold and Silver in her hair wove magic into me

And I knew there could be no doubt in what the poets write about,

Made me want to laugh and shout to see it all come true -

I've never been so much in love as I'm in love with you.

Well there are flowers in the soul,

I want to grow until I'm whole.

Don't want to turn cynical,

Act like I've seen it all.

Don't want those traps of petty schemes,

picking specks, ignoring beams,

Using all those glory streams for living that is small

But let me like a child be, in some place of mystery,

Where laughters flowing free, beside the waters blue.

To learn acceptance like you get in late Beethoven string quartets,

Unheard beauty set to fires he walked through.

I've never been so much in love as I'm in love with you.

Two weeks ago a big ol' moon was grinning light into the room,

Now it's just a black cocoon waiting to be born.

And night will be an absentee from tomorrow's jubilee

But without it could we ever see the beauty of the morn?

And day by night I learn to face a dark and light I must embrace

Every shadow I must trace and every shade of blue

For every ending to begin to learn to love, without, within

Take the nearest hand and say to Life again, "I do"

I've never been so much in love, as I'm in love with you

(Song by Steve Kinzie)

Duncan was so caught up in the beauty of it. He felt himself reach out for her, he watched in wonder as a silvery blue shaft of light went to her and wrapped itself around her. He felt her love for him, and sent his to her. He saw her relax and look around for him, he tried calling but realized she couldn't hear him.

He woke with a start, his hand on his heart. Suddenly a massive hunger consumed him, he sighed, wanting to recapture the dream but knew that his recent insatiable appetite wouldn't allow it. He put on some clothes and went down to the Keep's larder. Trying to not season the bread with his tears. When he returned to his room he knelt in prayer to the Maker and to Sunshine's God, to let his dream be real and not some wild imagining of his mind.

Sunshine:

Sunshine felt Duncan, he was there, the storm was pulled back and settled. She looked down and saw his energy embracing her. She looked around, desperate to see him, to ensure that he was safe. She cried out when she couldn't see him, but felt his love pulse through his energy, and she touched sending her love back.

Grace:

Grace was growing more concerned for her father. There had been a lull in activity to distract his mind from Sunshine and she getting worried by how much sorrow he seemed to be trying to hold in. She wished she knew the right words to say to him. She found herself outside his door, debating on what to do. 'No guts, no glory' as she imagined Sunshine would say, and she quietly opened the door. Her heart broke so see her father asleep in his chair, dried tear stains on his face, looking so old and worn out. She carefully went up to him and noticed his journal in his hands with one of Sunshine's glass pens next in the fold of the book. She looked down and noticed that it wasn't his handwriting. Curious she went to read the entry:

'Duncan, lover of mine, I couldn't help myself and had to write this to you. I'm anxiously awaiting your return from your 'Wardening' and have dressed myself up in a lovely, violet silk number. I hope that you're remembering this night right now, and it was full of delicious sex'

(Grace blushed at that bit, but kept reading.)

'I want you to know that I love you, fully. And I really hope that I'm near you right now, and that you are about to make love to me after you read this. If something has happened to me, I want you to have the words of my favorite poet, Pablo Neruda, to help you understand how much I care -

I want you to know

one thing.

You know how this is:

if I look

at the crystal moon, at the red branch

of the slow autumn at my window,

if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists,

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats

that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,

if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly

you forget me

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners

that passes through my life,

and you decide

to leave me at the shore

of the heart where I have roots,

remember

that on that day,

at that hour,

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

But

if each day,

each hour,

you feel that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness,

if each day a flower

climbs up to your lips to seek me,

ah my love, ah my own,

in me all that fire is repeated,

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,

my love feeds on your love, beloved,

and as long as you live it will be in your arms

without leaving mine.

I love you, Duncan, Commander of the Grey.

Your Sunshine'

Grace noticed that next to her signature was a kiss mark. Oh, Sunshine. She decided that her father would want to keep these words to himself, and so she gently kissed his brow and slipped out the room.

Sunshine:

She was being grabbed, viciously by the Storm. She had begun to realize that it was some evil entity. Okay, probably not actually evil, per se, but definitely not doing what she wanted it to do, which was let her return to her love. She was starting to get really pissed off. And started having one sided rants at it. It didn't really help, but it made her feel better.

Anders, Duncan and Grace:

Anders was outside, enjoying the relatively nice day in the Keep's courtyard. When a special delivery arrived. It was a huge, bulky package for Duncan and had a letter attached to it for him. It was a little awkward and heavy, and so it was with a little help from the deliverer that he made it up to Duncan's room with it. Duncan looked up at the entrance and gave Anders a puzzled smile.

"What's this, Anders? Did my birthday come while I was unaware and you brought me a large token of your affection? My, my what would Zevran say if he knew." Duncan was in mixed spirits. He had news of Sunshine, but the awful First Warden was there. Anders took it as a positive sign that Duncan was teasing him.

"Shhh, don't tell him. It was hard enough keeping our love for each other a secret from Cullen, and Zev is craftier in the art of love than my sweet, Cullen was." Anders grinned broadly back, "oh, the suspense is killing me! Open it! I don't know who it's from, but just please, open it!"

Duncan grinned and grabbed the letter:

'Duncan,

I hope you enjoy this, and see! I even made a matching set for myself. That way everyone knows I'm yours, and well, that you're mine! Snatch!

Love You,

Sunshine'

Duncan started at the words, how had she done this? He saw a separate note in the envelope.

'Sunshine,

As per your order, the armor is complete and a near masterpiece. If you have more of that metal I would like to purchase it from you. I hope that you made it out of the battle safely.

Master Wade'

The letters fell from Duncan's hands, and tears began to form in his eyes. "What is it," Anders cried. And grabbed the letters from the floor, reading them quickly. "Oh, Duncan." He reached out and wrapped his arms around Duncan, Duncan returned his embrace fully. It was with some surprise that Grace found Anders and her father embracing and crying, instantly worried she rushed into the room

"Dad, dad, what's wrong? Anders, what happened?" Too choked to respond, Anders handed Grace the letters. She quickly read them, understanding. "Dad, you need to open the package, for Sunshine. Please." Duncan cried harder hearing his daughter calling him 'dad', it was too much, and not enough in the same breath. Grace took it upon herself to open the package herself and gasped at the contents. "Oh! Dad, Anders, look!" She pulled the two of them to face the open package. In it were two sets of armor. One clearly for Duncan, and one meant for Sunshine. Grace stood in awe. The metal was not Thedas in origin. She touched one of the pieces, in amazement.

Anders slowly stopped crying and reached out to the armor, "well not all of us can get feathers." Everything eased and they all laughed. "Now Duncan, let's get you into this armor."

Duncan's face dropped, "I can't."

"Grace, a little help here." Grace smiled and between the two of them got Duncan into his new armor. Noting that he looked quite handsome in it. The shade of blue, with silver threaded in, seemed to be perfect on him. They pulled him in front of a looking glass so he could see for himself. She smiled as she watched him pull himself taller, and look resolved.

"We'll get her back." He said, resolutely.

"Most definitely," Grace said.

Duncan chuckled, "well now Anders, I'm going to give Zevran a right run of it now," returning to their earlier joke. Anders laughed.

"Not in front of Grace, Duncan. We don't want her to know of our sordid love affair." For a moment they sounded serious to Grace, but then she realized she was being teased, especially when her father added:

"Oh, yes, I'd hate for my daughter to know that you were my lover first." Grace and Anders couldn't believe their ears, both turned bright red and in spite of their embarrassment laughed with Duncan.

Sunshine:

The stupid Storm was in full force. Sunshine was losing her ability to come up with anything better than four letter epithets to shout at it. She felt like a yo-yo with the dual forces pulling at her. Of course she was part of the force trying to keep her. No way was she going. She told Duncan she'd fight and fight she would. She'd be damned before she let this Storm get in the way of her love. The Storm pulled harder on her than it ever had before. What the hell? "I'm not leaving him!" She suddenly felt another presence by her. She looked startled at the coursing rays of energy standing next to her. It felt familiar, yet different. It was beautiful, so beautiful. It had a color drawn from every time and place. It had Arcane and Wild, she noted, with amusement, that it unconsciously gathered more of the golden light of Wild Magic to its ever flowing strands of energy. She heard what sounded like Grace:

"As nice as this place is." Sunshine saw the energy twirl around. "I think it's time for you to wake up." Rays of a rainbow extended to her. Sunshine looked at her confused, was this really her baby?

"Okay, just in case your brain is a bit frazzled at the moment, you're in love with Duncan the Commander of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden and if you don't come back with me the guy is probably going to have an aneurysm." Sunshine felt the sting of tears, it was her baby!

"Can't do it honey." She watched as Grace's energy wavered.

"Why?"

"It's too late." Sunshine felt the whisper of Grace against her cheek. And she was filled with a yearning to hold Grace.

"It's never too late." Sunshine had to smile at her stubborn girl. She suddenly heard Duncan's voice, pleading with her to return to him. A grin lit up her face.

"Never gives up does he!"

"It's one of his more charming qualities." Grace replied, gently laughing. Sunshine felt herself wrapped up in Grace's energy and brought back, she took a moment to stick her tongue out and give the Storm the finger.

Sunshine felt herself reenter her body, it was an extremely wonderful feeling. Her eyes opened and she took in the most incredible sight: Duncan. Thank God for Grace. Thank God for Duncan. She was half afraid that she'd been pulled through the nexus and was asleep in her clan home, dreaming all this up. She wanted to touch him, but contented herself to looking at him. She saw Duncan take a deep breath, and from his mouth came not sweet endearments, not tender words, but, "Are you completely insane! I've been worried sick. Never do that to me again!"

Sunshine laughed at that, this was her Duncan alright, and not a dream.

"Now there's a way to greet a girl of the verge of biting the dust." She laughed as Duncan all but pounced on her, kissing her. She happily made sweet, passionate love to Duncan.

After much loving and dozing Sunshine was elated to be reunited with Del and Zen. She smiled at the armor that Del had fashioned from hers. It suited her. They caught her up on everything. Duncan was anxious to get all the details from them to ensure that Sunshine could never pull a stunt like that again. He only got vague snippets from their 'insider' conversation and had he not been required to take care of some correspondence he would have throttled her for not sharing every last detail.

When he returned that night it was to a soundly sleeping Sunshine. He spent an hour, thanking the Maker and her God, and especially Grace for bringing her back. He felt so whole. And he was never letting her out of his sight again. He wondered if she could be pulled away again, and woke her up. "Sunshine, Sunshine," he said, shaking her.

"Sunshine, wake up!"

Sunshine sat upright in bed staring at Duncan for a second before feeling around. "What's wrong? Where's my gun?" Duncan grabbed her and held her close. Weeping in relief, all of his emotions too strained to hold it in any longer. Sunshine quickly realized that it wasn't an attack or fire that had him waking her up, but his own emotional tumult.

"Lover, I'm here. I'm here. What's wrong?"

When he could finally talk he asked, "will you leave me?"

"Will I? No. Could I? Well, that's more complicated. But I would not take the opportunity to leave, without you."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when we talked about the different worlds I've been to. Well, generally once I complete some sort of objective I'm pulled back through my nexus, which is my travel point, to my clan home. Then I generally hang out for awhile until the wanderlust hits me and a write a request to go to another world. Before you ask, the request is generally about what I'd like to do. I haven't figured out a way to beat the system, so to speak, and so I write goofy things. This last time I believe I wrote, 'somewhere where my guns won't scare the general populace, and that's beautiful.' Ironically I ended up in a world where that translated to 'because they don't know about guns, and the people you meet will be beautiful'.

I think now that it uses not just the words I write, but the intention behind them. I wanted to have something more, I was yearning for a deeper connection. I think it was you and Grace who brought me here. I feel like I was destined for you, and to be a family with you. You two have fully anchored me here. I can leave, if I wanted to, but I wouldn't leave without you."

Duncan thought about this for a while. "Promise?"

"I give you my solemn oath that I will remain here, with you, until such a time as we both desire to leave, together. I will not leave without you."

"I could really go with you?"

"Yes, but...you would have to want to stay with me, forever. That would change you, but I think it the change would suit you if you chose it."

She reached his face with her hands and drew him down. She needed to taste him fully. After his mouth she made her slow way down his body, touching him. "You're wearing the armor, I love it. Although maybe it looks too good and I'll have competition for your affection."

"At least then we'd be even," he growled. Helping her remove his armor and sucking in a deep breath as she took him in her mouth. Her fingers weaving magic around him, pulling at balls, playing with his prostate, exploring him in a way he never had before experienced as she pushed a finger gently inside of him. He bucked and brought his hands to her head, pulling her mouth deeper on to him. At the gentle press of her finger inside of him, he lost control and spilled into her waiting mouth as she swallowed his taste.

He grabbed her and tore off her nightgown, pressing his mouth to her sex. Vibrating a moan of pleasure at her taste. He laughed at the purring sound she made and made vigorous use of his mouth and hands to rush her to a climax. She came so hard all over him, he smiled and came up, changed positions, saying, "ride me." She moved her hips in these tantalizing thrusts and circles, moaning his name as she hit her g-spot and he reached his hand to her clitoris, stroking it lightly. She began to writhe at his touch, both from his fingers and from his cock and he saw her come apart hard. He smiled in self-satisfaction and flipped her over so that he could penetrate her from behind, fucking her hard for a few minutes before letting his own orgasm overtake him.

Once laying side by side again Duncan said, "Mine. You're mine, Sunshine. And I'll be damned before I let you from my side again."

Sunshine chuckled as his possessiveness, "I'm all yours, lover. All yours." Duncan hoped that he could actually manage to fulfill what his male pride was trying to demand of him.

The next morning Duncan finally extracted a promise from Sunshine, Del and Zen to fully discuss what happened at the Alienage over breakfast. While Sunshine bathed and readied herself he went to invite Grace to breakfast. He was amused to notice how protective Del was of Sunshine, she helped her bathe and get ready even though Sunshine had insisted that she could do it.

"Del, it's not like I'm in my dotage and need help bathing, you can ease up a little...ow" She said at a yank on her hair from Del.

"Well who do you think bathed you when you were out cold? Zen? He could barely look at your naked body. And let me tell you I don't know how you still managed to piss and shit when we could barely get a thing in you."

"Haha, consider that payback for letting you handle Big Bertha."

"Hey! I saved your arse back there. So I'll tell you when I think you're ready to clean yourself on your own again."

"Bah, so bossy!" Sunshine complained.

Duncan overheard this exchange as he quietly entered the room from returning from Grace. Watching as Del helped Sunshine with her hair, he noticed with concern that she did seem a little shaky. He instantly felt bad about having lain with her. Maybe he should...

"Duncan." How did she do that? "Come over here and relieve Del of her self-imposed duty of bathing me."

Del harrumphed and left the room with a lingering glare at the two of them, saying, "no more shenanigans before breakfast you two." And walked out.

"I'm sorry, Sunshine."

"For why?"

"For pressing my lust on you," he looked down as he said it. She laughed at his wording.

"What? I believe I was there, moaning your name, encouraging you all the way."

"Yes, but you're recovering, I really should have waited."

"Pshaw, I loved every minute of it. I'm weirdly tired, a little gassy and queasy, but nothing a really, really big meal won't fix. Otherwise, I'm right as rain. I am fully healed, ever since I got back."

"Promise?" He asked, with worry.

"Promise." She quickly got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, noticing that her pants felt tighter, slipped on her cowgirl boots, the red ones, and they made their way to breakfast.