It was late afternoon as they had just been dropped off on the beach, and Anders couldn't tell what Hawke was feeling. She had been quiet the entire week out here, barely saying a word to him. Isabela had included herself on the trip, but saying there was a change in plans and she had to meet a contact in Rivain to discuss Castillon's whereabouts. She told Hawke she was hoping to make it back in a few days, but she assure Anders in private that she had decided to give the two mages the full two weeks alone.

Now Anders was left standing on an idyllic beach, white sands, palm trees, and blue waters stretching for miles, and the one person who was with him wouldn't talk to him. With a sigh, Anders picked up one of the crates of supplies left on the beach by the boat that had dropped them off. He carried it to the bungalow thirty meters back from the shoreline and set it down to check out where he and Hawke would be living for the next two weeks.

The house itself looked weathered, but well maintained. There was a small porch on the front of the house, with a bench and a couple of chairs. He could make out a hammock hanging between some palm trees just around the corner of the house. Inside the cottage, there was a kitchen on the far right with a small dining table set with four chairs. Between the door and the kitchen was a living area with couch and comfortable looking chairs and a fireplace. There was also a bookshelf full of books. Anders set down his crate, and opened the door on his left to find a bedroom. The stairs directly in front of the door led up to a second bedroom and a nice sized bathroom. He headed back down the stairs, and paused when he saw Hawke hesitating in the door also carrying a crate of supplies.

"This was supposed to just be the girls," she accused, as Anders relieved her of the crate and brought it to the table to find out what was inside.

"I'm sorry when Bela invited me, I thought you knew," Anders bluffed, keeping his back to Hawke as he began unpacking the food stuffs in the crate.

"And now she's not even here," Hawke huffed, setting the other crate on the table with Anders, and opening it up to find even more food goods. "Why don't you grab the rest of the crates and supplies, I'll start unpacking."

Anders took off his pauldrons and coat, and threw it on the bed in the downstairs bedroom, before trudging back out to the beach to grab another crate of supplies. After a few trips back and forth Anders had to stop, so unused to the difficulty of walking on sand he rested on one of the chairs on the porch. Hawke surprised him by bring out a water skin, as she handed it to him and sat in the other chair. She pulled up her feet to the edge of the chair and rested her chin in her knees staring out at the rolling ocean.

"Why did you come?" she finally sighed.

"Two weeks on a beach?" Anders joked. "How could I not? Why? Would you rather I wasn't here?"

"No, then I'd be here alone," she answered simply as she stood and went out to the beach to fetch another batch of supplies.

"No love, you wouldn't be," Anders whispered before taking a deep drink from the water skin.

The rest of the afternoon and early evening was spent organizing and unpacking the supplies. The kitchen was equipped with everything they could need, minus food. The bedrooms each had a large bed, wardrobe, and desk with chair. The bathroom was rather simple, but contained a large tub that could fit two people, making Anders grin. When the supplies were put away and Hawke was about to begin making dinner Anders stopped her.

"How about a quick swim before dinner while it's still light outside and warm?" he asked, a smile brightening his amber eyes.

"I suppose," Hawke replied, nervously biting her lower lip with a faint blush forming across her cheeks but she headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Anders darted into his room, stripped quickly and pulled on the cobalt "swim trunks" Isabela had him purchase. They seemed like normal breeches, but had a slight waxy feel to the outside, and hit him just below the knees. Once ready, Anders raced outside towards the water, excitement over going for a swim in the salty water making him feel like a child again. He had dreamed about the ocean his whole life, and though he had seen it in Denerim and Amaranthine, it was always too cold to actually swim in. The water was warmer than he thought it would be against his legs, and he found himself diving under in order to submerge his entire body in its aquamarine depths. Rising up from the salty water, he pushed his hair from his face laughing and sputtering at the salt. He turned back towards the beach and the bungalow and the laughter died on his lips.

Hawke was standing at the edge of the water, the waves playfully lapping at her feet, her face bright red as she watched Anders' reaction. Forcing his jaw closed, and grateful for the fact that she couldn't see his lower half and the sudden erection she caused, Anders stared at the sexy mage on shore. The swim clothes Isabela had helped pick out for Hawke looked like brightly colored small clothes, which were a brilliant scarlet, and set off the color of her pale skin beautifully. Anders really didn't have to imagine what she looked like naked anymore, because her swim clothes left nothing to the imagination. Anders sent out a quiet thank you to Isabela, as he continued to stare at a rather uncomfortable Hawke.

"Is it that bad?" she asked, looking disappointed.

"No," Anders objected quickly, adjusting himself so he wouldn't tent his shorts as he came out of the water to stand in front of her on the beach. Boldly he continued: "It's that good."

Hawke grinned and blushed even further under his praise. Anders reached out a hand towards her, encouraging her to swim with him. She slowly took his hand, and the two walked deeper into the salty sea. She eventually broke their contact so she could dive under the water as he had done. Anders watched her glide under the surface, marveling at Hawke's grace even while swimming. She broke the surface of the water a few meters ahead of him, and spun around to face him a smile on her lovely face.

"I thought you bragged one of your escape attempts had you swimming across Lake Calenhad to escape the heavily armored templars," she challenged.

"What of it?" Anders requested, swimming out to her.

"How about a race?" she smirked.

"Where would you propose we race to, my dear? There's nothing out here but us," Anders pointed out.

"I guess we'll have to come up with something, we'll be out here for two weeks," she acquiesced. "You won't get out of a race that easily."

"Something tells me you would never let me out of the challenge," Anders snorted, swimming even closer to her and reaching for her. Hawke saw the move, and swam backwards away from him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, mischief lightening her voice.

"Trying to catch you," he smirked.

"Not very good at it are you?" she laughed, before ducking below the surface and swimming towards shore.

"Better than you think," Anders mumbled to himself, following her slowly enjoying the feel of the water and the last rays of the setting sun. He headed towards the cabin, grateful for the large bowl of water Hawke had sitting next to the door to wash the sand from his feet. He changed out of his trunks into a simple shirt and breeches before coming out to help prepare dinner, and enjoy each other's company for the rest of the evening.

Anders awoke the next day to dull, gray light filtering into his window and as he listened he could hear the sound of rain outside. With a stifled groan at the sudden change in weather, Anders rolled out of bed and pulled on a loose shirt before padding out into the living area. He paused in the door as he watched Hawke at the table up to her elbows in flour, singing as she pounded on a mound of dough.

Oh fair damsel of the garden,

Arlessa of honeysuckle and rose,

I humbly beg your gracious pardon

For the offense that here arose.

Surely your work is far too vital

To be interrupted by one like me

I am in no way entitled

To earn the notice of a honeybee.

I was a fool to pluck that flower

For my lady fair. On my honor I

Swear to bring you dozens more within the hour

If you give me leave to try.

Listen traveler, if you could walk the garden paths some spring:

Mind that you don't trespass, for the gardeners do sting.*

Anders was transfixed, her voice was beautiful when she spoke but now he didn't dare move for fear she would see him and stop singing. The Maker was not smiling on him today because she noticed him when she used her flour covered elbow to brush some hair from her eyes.

"Anders, I'm sorry did my singing wake you?" Hawke stopped humming and singing, flour now covering her nose.

"No, I was already awake and didn't want to disturb," Anders told her, moving towards her as he spoke. "You have a lovely voice."

Hawke barked out a disbelieving laugh before replying in a whisper: "You should have heard Bethany. She had the voice of an angel."

"Can I help at all?" Anders changed the subject, noting she didn't want to be complimented about her singing.

"Sure," she said, scrunching up her nose trying to think. "I was trying to get this done before you woke up but since that obviously didn't work, how about you take over and I can start making a different breakfast?"

"I can try," Anders responded. "But I've never helped make bread, and doesn't it need to rise before it can be baked?"

"I started this last night," Hawke confirmed.

"Wait, so you were up later and earlier than I was? Did you even sleep?" Anders joked, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt.

"Too many years on a farm, up with the chickens and asleep after dark," she quipped back. "Kneading bread is just a matter of punching and folding it until it's ready to be shaped and baked. Put flour on your hands, so you don't stick to the dough."

Anders followed her verbal instructions while she went about making eggs, bacon and warming some biscuits she made last night for dinner. After breakfast was eaten, she set to work making sweet rolls, jelly rolls and a large loaf of bread. By the end of her ministrations, the whole house smelled of yeast and spices making Anders stomach grumble loudly. Laughing as she patted his protesting stomach, Hawke pulled a block of cheese from the icebox and set about making a simple fare of fresh baked bread, cheese, salted meat, and dried fruit.

"Two out of three meals, your turn to make dinner," she smirked at him as they finished their mid-day meal.

"Have it your way, but you'll just get this again," Anders laughed, starting to wash the dishes. "How do you know so much about cooking anyway?"

"Family?" Hawke reminded him in the form of a question as she pulled a large pot out of one of the cabinets before setting it on the stove. Filling it with ice, she quickly melted the ice with a fire spell and cut up potatoes, carrots, celery and threw in chunks of roasted chicken before setting it to simmer. "After father was killed, mother taught me just in case anything happened to her so I could continue to take care of the twins. She still does most of the cooking at home, but every now and then I cook as a treat for her. Granted now Orana is learning from mother, but she was anxious to learn. It's like she so afraid I'll go back on making her a servant she goes out of her way to be as useful as possible. I feel badly for her, to have that much fear in your heart all the time. Fear of being beaten, being starved, it just makes my gut twist."

"How did your mother react when she showed up at the house?"

"Positively livid," Hawke grinned at the memory as she leaned on the counter. "It took me hours to calm her down and explain that I intended to pay her."

"So what do you intend to do with the rest of the day?" Anders asked, changing the conversation.

"I'll probably just read," she replied, moving to the stairs and ending the conversation. Not wanting to push his luck, Anders went into his bedroom, but left the door open and began scribbling away at the manifesto he brought with him by candlelight. He wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed but when he heard Hawke calling his name for dinner, he noticed it was dark outside. The two ate the chicken stew she had made, conversing as they ate.

"I can tell Isabela picked out all the supplies," Hawke told him, after finishing her helping of stew.

"Why's that?" Anders questioned, resisting the urge to lick the bowl clean.

"The amount of alcohol she sent," Hawke chuckled, motioning towards the four crates stacked up behind the table that Anders hadn't noticed before. "Two crates of wine and two of rum. It's like she expected to spend the whole time making me completely drunk."

"Bela is always trying to get in everyone's pants," Anders pointed out, going over to the crates and pulling out a bottle of wine. "We might as well put it to good use."

Anders found two wine glasses in the kitchen, pulled out the cork on the bottle, and poured them each a generous glass of the wine. They spent the next few days like this, waiting out the rain, growing more anxious with each passing day.

A/N: The song/poem Hawke sings is Codex Entry: Meditations and Odes to Bees from Dragon Age: Origins.