Prompt: You'll always be my baby brother/sister
Character(s)/Pairing(s): f!Hawke(Puck), Bethany
Warnings: Post-game. No explicit spoilers, though.
Rating: G
Notes: Written in response to a prompt fest over at the dragon_age community on livejournal.
"What do you think Mother would say, if she were...if she could see..."
Puck waits, watching Bethany with what Bethany remembers as uncharacteristic patience. But Bethany cannot finish her thought. She turns back to look out over vast blue plains of the sea. Rolling white capped waves break against the hull of the - Isabela's. Puck's. Their - ship.
"What happens now?"
"Dinner, I hope. It is getting rather late." Bethany looks again to her sister. A small grin, tight but honest, graces Puck's lips. Bethany chuckles despite herself. It's a good sound for a good sight. They've had few reasons for smiles and laughter since Kirkwall.
"I'm serious!"
The sister Bethany remembers would have dismissed her comment with another laugh and quip. That Puck's snicker dies and her face turns serious is but another reminder that this woman bearing her sister's name and wearing her sister's face is not the sister Bethany lost. Nearly a decade in the Gallows, for all Bethany has gained, has taken so much from her.
Perhaps her sadness peeks through her eyes, for without comment Puck steps forward and draws Bethany into her arms. Bethany embraces her tightly and rests her chin on her shoulder as naturally as she'd done when they were children.
"She would be so proud of you, you know. She would look at you and say 'My little Bethany has become so strong.'" Puck's voice catches, with tears, except that Bethany knows her Puck does not cry. Sniffing softly, Puck begins to comb her fingers through Bethany's coarse dark hair. She murmurs: "My baby sister has grown so much.
"I don't know what's going to happen, Bethany. It's too dangerous for you here. It's too dangerous for you anywhere, the Templars…"
"I know."
"I don't want to lose you again."
"I know ."
"I never stopped missing you. I never will."
"I know. I know."
Something wet rolls down Bethany's cheek, and it takes a moment to realize her face is wet with tears not just her own. Puck presses her lips to her sister's temple before burying her tear-streaked face in her hair; she sobs once: loud, strangled, broken. Bethany pulls her close and says no more.
