A faint breeze from the Waking Sea was their only companion on the white beaches of Bourdain. The waves lapped gently with the wind, their silver coat morphing into foam as they kissed the shore.

Leliana had taken off her shoes and had made Alistair follow suit – walking barefoot on sand was among her favourite things to experience.

"I would come here often," she told Alistair as they walked, arm in arm, the water just barely tickling their feet. "Sometimes during breaks in my education. Mostly at night, after everyone had fallen asleep."

Alistair chuckled. "Yes, I can see it. Little Leli, sliding down vines and ivies and sneaking past busybodies to get to her secret hideout. Is that how you got so good at being sneaky?"

"Partly," she replied with a slight shake of her head. "It was good practice, now that I think about it."

"But go on. What do you like about this beach?" Alistair asked, curious. "What made you come here at night? Meeting someone special? A paramour, perhaps? Eh? Naughty, naughty, hon hon hon!"

She elbowed him in the ribs. "Nothing like that. I just... really liked it here." With a sigh, she looked at him. "It was my place, you know? Did you ever have anything like that?"

"The stable," Alistair answered without skipping a beat. "Sometimes, late at night, I would sneak in there and..." he shrugged his shoulders. "I'd talk to the horses. They were my friends. I cared for them and I like to think they understood me." He smiled at her, but there was a hesitance about his bearing now – a slight aura of helplessness hung about him. "At least they'd listen. Y'know?"

Leliana squeezed his bicep. "I know," she told him. "I know. Believe me, I do." Okay, he's vulnerable. Change topics. Don't linger. She sighed and jerked her chin forward. "And this is where I came to dream."

"To dream? How so?"

"Look up."

He did, and immediately came to a halt. Leliana hid a smile and followed his gaze.

It was a bright night, and all about the incredibly vast canvas of the night sky lay littered an utterly incalculable number of stars. They twinkled, lively and exuberant, as if boasting their wondrous nature at the mortals gazing up on them longingly.

"I would lie down on the beach and look up at that," Leliana spoke into the silence. "Being up so high, I thought that the stars could see everything all at once. Orlais, Ferelden, Nevarra, Tevinter, Antiva... everything." She paused to take a long, deep breath, trying not to lose herself again. "And I told myself that I would see everything there was to see in Thedas. If I did, maybe I would be like them." She bit her lip, suddenly shy, and whispered, "Like the stars."

It struck her then, how silly a thought it was. The embarrassing fancies of a little girl. How long had she been able to entertain them before reality dashed them all?

"Do you think it's a stupid thought, Alistair?" she asked quietly, refusing to betray her self-consciousness. "Do you think I was-"

"Brilliant," he interrupted her. Then he pecked her cheek. "I think it's a brilliant thought and inspiration. And you did succeed." He squeezed her hand. "You succeeded. That's the main thing. You went to all the places you wanted to go, saw all the things and ate all the food. How many people can say that they lived their childhood dreams? I can't." He sighed dramatically. "I wanted to be a cobbler, did you know that?"

Leliana had ducked her head as soon as Alistair had started his spiel, but now she looked up.

"A cobbler? Why a cobbler?"

With a grin, Alistair resumed walking. "There was this crochety old cobbler in Redcliffe. Rubbed everyone the wrong way, yeah? I used to watch him sit under a torch and make shoes and repair them. He was pretty good. He just sat there, worked, and barked at everyone."

"Sounds like a fun man. What was his name?"

"Percy No Mates."

Leliana burst out laughing. "That is amazing. Is he still there?"

"Oh yeah. After the Blight, he was making shoes with the skin of the undead. Was pretty popular in some circles."

"I don't doubt that." Still grinning, Leliana pressed her cheek to his shoulder. "There was a rock, a little bit out to sea, that I used to sit on and sing."

"Like a siren?"

"Exactly. Luring hapless young men to their doom with my wiles has always been a hobby of mine." She kissed his shoulder. "And I've done rather well for myself."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Alistair replied, eyebrow cocked. "But show me this rock. How far out is it? Did you have to swim?"

"Yes, but you can see it from the beach. I think I can see it now." She peered at the rocks in the distance, trying to find her old perch in the darkness. "It should be there somewhere..."

Alistair pointed. "What's that?"

"What's what?" She looked down his finger, squinting at what he was pointing. "That's not a rock... is it? No... it's floating... bobbing..."

"Looks like... a sack?" Alistair ventured. "Maybe?"

While it did look like it, Leliana wasn't convinced. She squinted, concentrating her vision. It was too stiff to be a sack, which would naturally flop about. This was like a buoy, but much smaller bloa-

"No," Leliana told him, realisation dawning all of a sudden. She squeezed Alistair's arm, reflexively sucking in a breath. "That's a dead body."