Somewhere in Waterdeep, a year later...

"No, Peter, you may not eat it. We've been through this. Also: you already had a bandit to feast on," Tav said, slightly annoyed with his spider companion.

"Skkrt" was all Peter said in his defence.

"Just wait here until I give you a sign to come in, alright? It shall be a surprise."

"Skt skt."

"Good."

Tav opened the door to the tall stone tower. This home certainly wasn't his choice – and until the very end he'd been convinced that Gale had been joking about the whole wizard-tower-story. He couldn't understand why they couldn't just live in a normal house but maybe this was exactly the level of eccentric that was befitting for Gale. Truth be told, such a tower held a lot of space. For a giant library, a laboratory, a herb garden...

If it just wasn't for all those stairs!

Tav wasn't a wizard. He couldn't cast any levitation or teleportation spell. He had to climb all those cursed steps.

And of course their living room had to be at the very top.

Of course.

"You're home!" Gale put the book aside and got up from the large, comfy arm chair to greet Tav. A cup of tea was casually floating next to him, filling the room with a faint scent of lavender and roses.

Tav groaned and threw his crossbow on the table. He was covered in a week worth of dirt and mud but Gale didn't care and pulled Tav into a tight embrace.

"I thought you wanted to get your arm back while I was gone?" Tav asked and drew a snort from Gale.

"You've been gone for a week and this is how you great me, my dear? Gale, where is your arm, I thought you wanted to get your arm back?"

Tav shrugged with an innocent face but then leaned in to give Gale a kiss.

"Thought you might wanted to throw me into the bath tub first," he murmured with deep voice against Gale's lips and earned a longing hum that way.

"I will do that, yes, but I do demand a 'hello, I am back home' kiss, too" Gale said chipper and stepped away from Tav to offer him a smirk.

"There's a letter for you on the table," he said and prepared a second cup of tea.

Tav raised his eyebrows and grabbed the letter.

"What is it?"

"Well I wouldn't know, because I am not opening your mail."

"Hu," Tav said curiously and opened the letter. He noticed immediately that it was expensive, perfumed paper. "It's from Astarion," he said surprised and narrowed his eyes before he handed the paper over to Gale who just shook his head.

"I am not reading it for you, Tav. We've been through this," he said softly yet in a disapproving tone.

Tav let out a nagging whine.

"But his handwriting is so... so... squiggly and... what is this even supposed to mean?"

Gale looked over Tav's shoulder on the word he pointed on.

"Intricately."

Tav gave him a dull look.

"That means complicated," Gale explained.

Tav muttered something into his beard that sounded like a couple of nice curses. Finally he sat down and took his time to read the letter.

"So what does he want?" Gale asked and handed Tav the cup of tea.

"Hm. Says he's going to visit next new moon... also offers like... four different methods of murdering you, that all look like accidents but demands at least fifty percent of the inheritance I get then."

"If I were you, I would argue him down to thirty. At least," Gale said.

Tav dropped the letter and looked up, his gaze wandering over Gale for a few moments.

"Seriously spoken. I thought you wanted to get it done... your arm, I mean. Don't tell me you can't do it...?"

"Of course I can. I just decided not to. As a humble reminder to the past, so it shall always serve as an admonition not to get power hungry ever again or desperately try to gain the attention of a goddess!"

Tav frowned.

"Humble? Who are you and what did you do to my man?"

Gale was quiet for a while but then pulled a chair to the table and sat down next to Tav. With a small wink of his hand he ordered his own tea cup towards him, picked it out of the air and took a sip. Tav reached out with his hand to put it on Gale's shoulder.

Gale never told him what really happened in the astral plane. Tav wouldn't push him now to do it but he wanted to let him now: you can tell me. You can share the burden, if you want to.

"I won't do it," Gale finally said with a sigh. "Not because I am not capable but because I fear what would happen. I didn't destroy the Netherese orb. I didn't even detach it from myself."

Tav tensed up.

"Don't worry. It's not here," Gale said quickly.

"Then... explain it to me," Tav said irritated.

"The astral plane is a place without time. The Netherese orb of destruction was... is a time bomb, that has been ticking inside of me, attached to my heart. That is a very simple explanation of the magic that had been at work but one that is easy to understand. Now in the astral plane it was rendered inert, because of the nature of this place, outside of time and reality. The problem was just that... I couldn't detach it from me. This primeval Netherese magic was a part of me. Fused into me. It was me. At some point, I was indeed the Netherese abomination that Amina had seen in me. And I was very well aware of it. The only solution I saw at that moment was for me to stay in the astral plane..."

Suddenly Gale got a tormented look on his face and Tav felt the need to squeeze his shoulder.

"I wasn't honest to you when I told you that it only felt like a couple of hours to me what has been a month to you. Actually it had felt like an eternity. And in this eternity I'd tried everything. Eventually I came up with a desperate solution. The orb was clutched around my heart, balled up inside of my chest. I couldn't, of course, remove my heart but I knew I could remove a less vital part of my body."

It slowly began to dawn on Tav.

"You moved it. The magic... this... orb. You managed to move it inside of your own body, away from your heart?" He wasn't sure if he really understood any of this but Gale nodded. "And then you... removed your own arm?" Tav continued.

"I did. I feared that I would bleed out from the injury or faint from the pain, it hasn't been... a pleasant experience to cut off my own arm. I used some incineration spells and..."

"You don't need to go into detail. It's... alright."

"But when the arm fell off, severed from my own body, I didn't lose consciousness. Instead I felt a rush of power. My old power coming back to me just like that. As if Mystra herself had seen what I've done and opened up the Weave for me, again. I could heal the wound, plane shift back to you and... the rest you know." Gale smiled weakly.

"An eternity, hu?" Tav mumbled. "And I complained about a month... I'm sorry, Gale. I had no idea..."

Gale waved aside.

"Of course not, because I didn't tell you much about it. Now I fear that if I would use magic to get my arm back... that the Netherese orb would still be attached to it, that I would draw it out of the astral plane, back into our world and I am not that arrogant any more to risk and release such a horrific doom on the world ever again. So I decided to lower my ambitions. I probably won't become Faerûn's greatest wizard but I might as well become Faerûn's greatest one armed wizard!"

"You know... as far as I'm concerned," Tav started and got up from his chair to slowly start and rub Gale's shoulder, "you already are the world's greatest wizard. You fought off the Absolute, saved Baldur's Gate and most likely the world order as we know it. You managed to impress the goddess of all magic, managed to even get ignored by her and just to gain her attention back! You defeated some destructive magic from the ancient empire of Netheril after surviving it for several years. And you travelled through planes – on your own. You are Faerûn's greatest wizard."

Gale let the words sink in for a moment, judging from the look on his face they went down like honey, while he leaned into Tav's touch.

"Oh, I know. Yet it is good to hear!" he said amused, as modest as always.

"There's only one thing greater than you, oh arch wizard Gale and that is your ego," Tav snickered and pressed a kiss on Gale's head before he stepped away from the chair and whistled. "Got something for you."

It only took a few moments and something large came in through the window. Peter carried a small basket in his fangs. After delivering it, he left through the window again – probably to find a shady and cold place somewhere outside.

Gale threw a questioning look at Tav but then the basket made the tiniest and most adorable "meow!" sound and Gale gasped in surprise.

Tav just grinned as they both watched how a small, grey kitten climbed out of the basket. Shy and a bit scared at first, it looked around, throwing a helpless "meow!" at the two men again.

Gale couldn't stand and watch – he quickly went over and carefully picked up the adorable furball. Curiosity mirrored in big, blue eyes as it sniffed and finally licked Gale's hand. It could easily sit on his palm.

"What's her name?" he asked.

"Pebbles," Tav answered and stepped next to Gale to carefully pet the now purring bundle of joy. "Her name is Pebbles."

Gale's smile couldn't get any wider.

It was what he desired. What he truly desired.

To be at his tower in Waterdeep, back to his studies, with a cat, his library – and with the one he loved.

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me