A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates! I've had a horrible case of writer's block, but I think I'm finally getting past it. I wanted to get something out asap, so it's a bit on the short side.

Chapter 25: When Past Meets Present

Hawke paced back and forth, the grass beneath her completely ground into the dirt. It was almost time for the homunculi to do their part, and for Marian to meet up with Hawke in the Wilds. The elder mage had spent the night up in a tree, which wasn't the first time she had done so, but it had been long enough for the experience to be uncomfortable. Skyhold had spoiled her and pillows and sheets could no longer be substituted by branches and bark. She stretched her back once more and was rewarded by several minor cracking sounds. Her pace resumed and she found herself thinking on her appearance. Luckily her armor hadn't time-traveled with her, so she wouldn't look as intimidating as she usually did. Would they be able to tell that she was Marian grown old?

"Father is going to burn us alive!" Hawke heard Carver whine in the distance.

"He would not; plus sis said we were covered." Bethany reassured the boy and rolled her eyes when he continued to pout.

"You mean by those things that look like us?" Carver went white at the thought of the two doppelgangers that had appeared out of thin air. "Father told both of you not to use magic!"

"I didn't use magic and neither did Beth." Marian replied and stopped short of the clearing she knew Hawke to be waiting at. "I'm going to introduce you to one of my friends-" the small mage took a breath to continue, but was cut off by her brother.

"Is it a demon? Or a spirit?" He borderline shrieked.

"No, she is another apostate," Marian's patience for her brother's fretful nature was wearing thin.

"The pretty witch?" Carver asked meekly.

Both Hawke and Marian raised their brow; they hadn't known that Carver thought Morrigan was pretty. Just thinking about the small witch was enough to make the young mage's heart feel an acute sense of yearning. She shook her head and took her siblings by the hand.

"Just follow me." Marian sighed and led them out of the trees into the clearing where an awkward Hawke stood.

Carver hid behind his eldest sister, but Bethany found the stranger to be intriguing so she took a few steps forward. Hawke smiled as her baby sister approached her with big, curious, brown eyes. It had felt like an eternity since seeing that doe-eyed look, and it warmed her heart to the core.

"Hello there, I'm Haw… I mean, ummm, Sparrow." The elder mage fumbled on a name for herself seeing as she could hardly introduce herself with the same surname as her father.

Bethany giggled at the woman's comical facial expressions and found herself at ease with the stranger.

"I'm Bethany, but you can call me Beth." The small healer took the elder mage's hand in her own and pulled her closer to Marian and Carver. "This is my baby brother, Carver."

"Hey, we're twins!" Carver protested at being called a baby, "I'm just as old as you are."

"It's nice to meet you Carver," Hawke kneeled, "it must be tough being the only boy in the family, and having two sisters that can zap you whenever they feel the need to do so."

Both Marian and Beth felt their faces heat up as Hawke called them out. Carver smiled at the strange woman and came out from hiding behind his sister; perhaps she wasn't so scary after all. The longer he looked into her blue eyes, the more he felt like he knew her. When he turned back to look at Marian, to ask how she knew the woman, his mouth went dry. His head swirled with strange ideas and he wondered if he had been put under a spell. Marian watched her baby brother react strangely after observing Hawke, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Carver, are you alright?" Marian shook her brother who seemed to go almost as pale as when he had seen the homunculi.

"She's….you?" Carver managed to say.

Beth's eyes widened as she also gave the stranger another look and realized why she felt so comfortable in her presence. Hawke sighed and knew her facade was up, but her heart was still hopeful that her siblings would accept her.

Marian smirked, "she is me… well kinda. She's from the future!"

"But Marian…" this time Beth sounded unsure, "father said to never deal in time, blood or magic greater than yourself."

"I didn't, I promise." She reassured her baby sister.

"And neither did I," Hawke spoke up as she smiled gently at her siblings, "me and my younger self seem to be caught in a strange situation is all."

At that moment, Feros returned from chasing a wild hare and rushed excitedly towards the older version of her comrade. Unaware of the charging mabari, Hawke soon found herself on the ground relentlessly being attacked by the pup's tongue. The children laughed and helped restrain the mabari so Hawke could recover from her fall.

"You are our sister after all," Beth concluded and smiled, "you seem very tall; I wonder if we'll be as tall Carver."

"Of course I'm going to be tall!" Carver exclaimed even as he looked up to both his twin and elder sister; his growth spurt hadn't kicked in yet.

"And your hair is cut short like father's." Beth noted.

"It is much easier to take care of," Hawke reasoned, but the truth of the matter was it was much easier battling without one' s hair flailing about. "Anyways enough about me, how would the three of you like to take a ride on a big, white wolf?"

"Wolf?" Carver squeaked.

Hawke smirked and ruffled the boy's hair, and said, "don't fret too much little brother; one day wolves won't seem so frightening. So how about it?"

The small boy nodded, and in seconds Hawke transformed into her giant wolf version. Bethany's jaw dropped at the display of magic, and found the white, beast to be majestic. Father had taught her and Marian that there was such magic that could change the human form, but he himself had not been a shapeshifter. With a sparkle in their eyes, the three children boarded the large wolf and clung to the white fur as it bound off towards a dilapidated ruin.

Meanwhile, back in Skyhold's tower, Morrigan felt her heart quiver as she read through the passages of Hawke's life. For every triumph in Hawke's story there was an equally grisly account of death and destruction. Her home in Ferelden destroyed by a blight, her sister killed by a darkspawn Ogre… and a run in with her mother. From there things only got worse, one by one Hawke's family seemed to be torn apart, and those close to her always seemed to suffer or disappear. It was a wonder that Hawke had managed to stay sane after everything that had happened.

Morrigan flipped through the pages, hoping that there was a happier ending, but she stopped and chuckled at her pointless efforts. She already knew the next chapter of Hawke's story, written or not. Thanks to her, the pirate queen she had fallen in love with had left her, and her future self was unable to be anything but a complication for Hawke. The small witch cast the book aside and threw herself on the bed. Marian's life without her sounded awful; worse than she could have ever imagined. She wondered if her life was just as awful, but she doubted it.

Whilst her elder self definitely seemed to be missing something vital, she didn't seem altered for the worse. However, thinking back on the smiling elder mage that had slept by her, Morrigan had to admit that Hawke seemed unfazed by the contents of her biography. The small witch frowned, she had begun to notice Marian's tendency to obscure her hardships with humor and happiness; could it be that her older self had perfected that deception? A sure and steady pain resided in the small witch's chest as Marian's strengths slowly began to seem unfair to herself.

"This entire time you've been smiling for others… though at this point you probably have to smile for yourself as well…" Morrigan murmured as she grasped the small cube that dangled on her necklace. Marian deserved more from the world than it had thus offered, and the little witch would not simply allow time to warp her mage's heart.

She knew enough of time magic and memory to hatch a plan, and if she was successful, she would be able to spare her mage from a life of darkness and tragedy. Morrigan clenched her fists and headed towards the bedroom door; it was time she sought out her older self.