So how were everyone's holidays? I think they're all done now, right? Or at least all of the major ones that I know the date of our done :P Anyway, mine was good, lots of food and prezzies. My dad and I watched a Muppet Christmas Carol like we did when I was a kid ^-^ All in all I had lots of fun. The best part is, I have all week off :)
Thank you to timman94, Bingham Vance, Vivian Thomson, alyssacousland, Sasuke's Kanojo, Raven Jadewolf and Hanna5693 for reviewing ^-^
Anyway, I have a lot to do today so I'm going to keep this note short, Enjoy!
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Kallia's group had been walking for about 30 minutes when they came to a large cave. Levi stopped and began digging through his cart muttering, "I know I have some torches in here somewhere."
"Don't bother," Kallia told him. She held out her hand and several brightly glowing wisps floated from her palm. "Sometimes, it's good to be born into sin with no hope of redemption," she commented lightly.
"Sin can be quite enjoyable, no?" Zevran laughed and moved close to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Kallia laughed as well, quickly spoiling the good mood she'd managed to get Alistair in. "Too bad you'll never know exactly how good it can be," she told the elf giving him a poke in the neck and smiled when the small amount of lightning sparking from her fingers made him yelp in surprise.
"Be careful in here," Levi warned them. "There are spiders and traps to watch out for. I think I've already sprung most of them, but there's always the chance of others."
Kallia nodded in understanding. "Alistair take point with Leliana. Leliana, you watch for traps. Levi, you go next, Zevran and I will take rear guard."
"I do so love taking rear guard. It always gives me such a lovely view!" Zevran replied with a mock salute.
.oO***Oo.
"Alistair, could I talk to you in private for a minute?" Kallia asked him after they'd set up camp for the night. He glanced over at her.
"Well, we're in camp, so now's as good a time as any I suppose, right?" he chuckled as he made his way over to her.
"Mmm, sneaking off alone after a long hard day of fighting and killing, Eh? It really gets the blood pumping, no?" Zevran laughed from the other side of the campfire. Alistair glared at him.
"No, we're sneaking off to make plans for your dastardly demise," Alistair huffed angrily, still sulking from the conversation he'd had earlier with Morrigan.
"Do I get a last request then?" The elf called after them with a smirk as the glow from the wisp following Kallia around began to dim.
"Don't wander too far," Levi warned.
Kallia and Alistair walked around the corner, still close enough they could yell for help or hear if the others did. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Alistair asked her. Kallia stood before him, a feeling of doubt she had not felt in some time fluttered in her stomach... The tiniest seed of doubt could cause your spell to falter. If you did not believe a shield would hold, it would not.
It was not her magic that she doubted, however. Those skills would do her no good here. No, it was her skills with people that had her questioning. There were no gifts given at the Tower, not only because there were no gifts to give but also because gifts were a sign of affection and affection meant attachment. The very thought of what she was about to do would have put her on the Tranquility list.
She'd only ever received one gift at the Tower besides the yearly robes the Chantry gave every mage. Her journal, from Irving. But that had not been a gift of affection, it had been a gift of congratulation. And it had been useful. This was a trinket, a meaningless token to anyone but Alistair.
Was it normal to be nervous?
"Is everything alright?" Alistair asked with a frown on his face, Kallia realized she must have been silent too long.
"Here," she finally told him, bringing the amulet out of her pouch and placing it in his hand. In her nervousness she grabbed a thread from the Veil and began fiddling with it, not actually casting a spell just twisting it around her fingers as any other person would a piece of string.
Confusion played over his features for a moment as he studied the object she had handed him before realization then surprise. "But this is... My mother's amulet... Where did you get it?" he asked with wonder.
"I found it in Eamon's study," she answered hesitantly. What if he questioned why it had taken her nearly a month to give it to him or why she had taken it in the first place?
But he didn't. Instead he just shook his head as though he thought this were some figment of his imagination. "I thought I'd lost this to my own stupidity. I thought it was destroyed..."
"Eamon had it repaired," Kallia brought the light wisp closer and released the thread of the Veil that she had been playing with to point out the much smaller seams left from her own repair. "See?"
"But why would he do that...?" Alistair asked, she could see his eyes were beginning to become misty.
"Perhaps you mean more to him than you think?" she offered. She didn't want to cheapen Eamon's effort at repairing it by admitting she had repaired it after he had. This was his gift to Alistair, admitting her part in it would only intrude.
"Do you think so?" He looked up at her with a hopeful expression, but then his face fell and he looked completely crushed. "All those times he came to visit... He probably..." Alistair trailed off and swallowed thickly. "He probably brought this with him to give me... Not that I would have given him the chance, belligerent as I was..."
Kallia reached up and brushed a stray tear that fell from his eye, it drew his attention back to her and he brought his own hand up to rest on her cheek.
"Thank you," he told her looking directly into her eyes. "No, I mean it. I'm so used to people tuning me out when I talk. Not listening, not caring..."
"I care," she told him hesitantly. "About you... I care," she added then suddenly seemed to get a burst of confidence and repeated, more resolutely, "I care about you." She nodded curtly as though to indicate that that was the end of the matter.
Alistair wasn't about to question her anyway. He felt a grin begin to split his face. It wouldn't sound like much to anyone else, but he knew what an admission like that meant coming from a mage. He wasn't just family, she cared about him. She was going against everything she'd ever been taught.
For him.
Because she cared about him.
He couldn't help but notice the prideful way she was tilting her chin as though daring anyone to deny the truth of her statement put her at the perfect angle. He hesitantly took a step forward, knowing that she could probably kill him in an instant and he would do nothing to stop her.
But she wouldn't.
Because she cared about him.
His hand on her cheek moved backward to tangle in the hair at the nape of her neck. Her plaits were too tight, however, so he found his fingers slipping between her head and the braided bun instead. He couldn't help but notice that her expression had softened and there was a new light in her eyes. Maybe she wanted this as badly as he did.
"Kallia…"
"Kali," she reminded him gently without breaking eye contact.
"Kali," he repeated, her name coming out sounding more like a whispered prayer.
That one word gave him the courage he needed to lean down, relief flooded him as her eyes closed and her chin tilted just a smidge more. Their lips met and his own eyes closed as he felt her take a step closer as well.
Kallia's hand came up to wrap around the back of his neck as she lost herself to the kiss. She caught herself thinking this kiss was unlike any kiss she'd received at the Tower. All those kisses had been hungry as they were merely a prelude of what was to come. They were always selfish going by the belief that pleasing your partner was simply a means to which you pleased yourself. They held no emotion beyond lust and promised nothing beyond the physical pleasure of the moment. Nothing more.
No, this kiss… This kiss was soft and innocent, asking for nothing but offering a lifetime of dedication in return. He poured every ounce of affection he held for her into it, promising to stand by her side for an eternity and to use his every last breath to make her happy.
All of that in one kiss.
Because he loved her.