Arianna slammed down another beer. She cringed as it slid down her throat. "I think this game is a little unfair," she said to the others.

Arianna, Mark, Blackwall, Iron Bull, Varric, Sera, Cullen, Dorian, Josephine and Leliana were all sitting at the tavern. Varric and Bull had nearly forced to come celebrate with them; something about none of them had died yet. Cassandra, Vivienne, and Solas had refused to come because it was not in their nature to make fools of themselves around others.

"Oh, it's not not fair," Bull's voice rumbled out. He was only a little drunk, but they had been making Arianna drink every time she got a bad hand of cards, which seemed to be every round.

Dorian patted her on the back. "Usually it's me who has to get completely drunk from these games. I'm just surprised you've made it this long."

She chuckled at the Tevinter. "I can drink. I'm hardly even buzzed yet."

"Oh, well this should be interesting," Mark said. She had always been a lightweight back when they were together.

Varric looked between Arianna and Cullen, then looked at Mark, and then smiled. "What do you say we make this interesting, Curly. Let's half the booze, and loose the clothes."

"No! Varric, you are not doing this to me again! Last time, I lost all of my clothes!" Cullen shouted to the room; he was already drunk.

Arianna smiled at Varric, understanding what he was wanting. "You want to cause some sort of ruckus, is that it, Shorty?" She sat up in her chair. "I'm willing to do it."

Mark spat out his drink that he had been sipping on. "Um, I think I've had enough fun for one night. I think I will retire to my quarters." He started to get up.

Cullen pushed him back into his chair. "What's the matter, Inquisitor, are you frightened of the competition?" He motioned towards his own body.

Mark rolled his eyes at his drunk rival. "You get quite conceited when you drink, don't you, Cullen?" He looked at the others around the table and stopped at Arianna. "You all know now, I assume, that Arianna and I know one another. You can poke fun all you want, and you can rub my nose in the fact that she is with another, just as I am." He got out of his chair once again. "At the end of the day, we have a war to fight and a breach to close. That is my priority right now." He glared at Varric. "And I think it would do you all good to remember that I am the one in charge."

Once he walked away, Arianna went after him. She waited until they were outside to speak to him. "Mark, I am sorry."

He spun around to see her and chuckled sadly. "It seems that every time we speak to one another, one of us is going after the other." He slowly walked towards her. "We should stop doing that, dear."

She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice. It calmed her as she felt the fogginess of her head. "I want to go where no one can ever find me. I want to be free from everyone."

He brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "We always said we would go to Antiva together." He tilted her chin up towards his face. "I couldn't stay to see you get undressed. I know it sounds silly, but that would have made me die a little bit inside."

She laughed, but there wasn't much happiness in it. "I wanted you to die a little bit. I wanted to make you want me, and not be able to have me." A tear slipped out from the corner of her eye.

Mark pressed his forehead against hers. "I already want you, and I already can't have you." He took a deep breath. "Maker's breath, it gets worse everyday."

Instead of pushing him away, she wrapped her arms around his waste. "I feel terrible because I want to give Cullen all of me, but I can't because such a huge portion still belongs to you. He deserves so much more than I can give him."

It felt so good to feel her arms around him again; he returned the favor by putting his strong arms around her too. "That is how I feel. Harriett loves me so much, and for so long, I have tried to love her as much as she loves me, but my heart still belongs to another even after all this time."

She brushed her hands against his back. "I don't know how we will fix this, Mark, but we have to. We can't keep lying to the people we care about."

He squeezed her tighter. "I don't want to lie anymore. I want to be with you, but I feel like I shouldn't be. This is a life decision that I need to make, and I can't have any doubts."

His words brought her back into a memory.

"This is a time where we need to focus on ourselves, and decide what we want to do," Mark told her as he grabbed her hands. He had been questioning their relationship for a few days now.

Karla ripped her hands away from his. "I want to be with you! I know that I do!"

He wasn't trying to hurt her; he just wanted to talk to her about it, to have a civil conversation about it. "Neither one of us have experienced anyone else. Maybe this is something that we need to do!"

She shook her head at his words. "No, apparently it's something that you might need to do. Not me. I thought I was enough for you, but I guess not." She started to walk away from him.

"Karla!" He chased after her. "I love you; you know that. I want to be with you. All I'm saying is that maybe we need to experience freedom from one another."

"And how bitter does that freedom taste now, honey?" Arianna mumbled under her breath.

Mark leaned back to get a better look at her face. "What was that, dear?"

She gently pushed him away from her. "Unfortunately, Inquisitor, I have some matters that need tending to. I'm sure you do as well." All emotion had left her face and there was no lingering sadness in her voice. "I have decided for you, Mark, on how to solve this. I will not sit around and wait for you to decide if you want to be with me again. You won't put me through that again."

He gave her an extremely confused look. "What are you talking about?" He cupped her face in his hands before she smacked his hands away.

"I keep forgetting how lost you make me, how weak and powerless you make me. Not to mention, how I used to tie you down so much. Go, Mark. I want you to have all the freedom in the world from me. Take that trail to Tevinter, Antiva, the Free Marches! Go wherever your heart desires!"

Mark suddenly got furious. "Typical, when something doesn't go your way, you just push me away."

"I'm doing this for both of us, for real this time. You're free from me, Inquisitor."