Hi, everyone, happy Friday! Enjoy the chapter and see you at the bottom!

For all of the odd quirks that Ellana had, sewing was the most prominent and yet it was her most treasured secret. Solas watched her closely, always waiting for the anchor to consume her whole when he least expected it. Not that it had happened yet, but watching Ellana had made him notice the strange habits she had.

One being that she always plays with her braid before telling an outlandish story that Solas was still not a hundred percent convinced were true. There was also the way that she curses in long strings of hyper sexualized Elven whenever she got the chance, where she learned them Solas will never know, but she always takes pleasure in seeing him lose his composure after he hears her speak with the most innocent of expressions on her face. Or, how she talks in her sleep, something Cassandra complained about constantly while they were in the Hinterlands.

It took the Inquisition's inner circle months to realize that Ellana even had a side hobby that didn't include stabbing people or hunting. Solas had noticed that whenever someone tore a piece of clothing Ellana would be the first person to volunteer to fix it. At first, he thought that she did that because no one in the group even knew how to stitch a piece of fabric back together, but when Ellana didn't think anyone was around she'd pull out the various pieces of clothing she'd promise to fix and with a smile on her face she'd fix them. Even The Iron Bull didn't know about this quirk until that box arrived from her clan.

It had been a quiet afternoon, for Haven's standards, when Solas had been called to the war room to check the enchantments of an Elven box that had been allegedly sent by the Herald's family. The Spymaster and Cassandra were waiting for him in the war room, Ellana nowhere in sight. A small box sat on the table in front of them. The two were staring at it as thought it would attack them if left unattended.

Solas held back a deep sigh. He vaguely wondered how long they had this in their possession before calling him to look at it.

The box was beautifully decorated it was obviously a treasured item by the fine details carved into the iron bark. There was a child's rhyme he had not thought survived the fall of Arlathan delicately carved into the sides. It was one given to the children of Mythal. Ellana's name was written next to it in Elven, as well as a date, which Solas belatedly realized might have been her birthday. Solas could sense protective runes and magic embedded into the object, but none of it was dangerous or malicious in nature. It just seemed to be a wooden box, a beautiful one, but ordinary.

"Is there a reason that you want me looking at this item and not one of the many mages in your care from Redcliffe?"

Leliana gave him a pointed glare that made Solas' stomach churn. Despite the fact he was millennia older than this woman, he did not want to cross her. Even if she had no connection to the fade, she would end him if she felt he was too much trouble. With his power so depleted there was no way in his current state he could escape her wrath.

"Solas, we trust you more than we trust mages we've barely met. More importantly, that the box is of your people. We wanted to make sure that it wasn't dangerous," Leliana replied calmly, eye still resting on the box.

"I still say we destroy the box and its contents. I can sense the magic coming off it. I don't trust it going to the Herald."

She was never Ellana or even Lavellan when they discussed her in private, always the Herald. To them Ellana was there Herald and a champion for the humans, who couldn't be seen holding anything to do with her own people. Even though Solas had his gripes with the Dalish, they tried in their own misguided ways to keep traditions alive, no matter how mutilated and misunderstood they were. He was not going to let this women destroy something that was no doubt very precious to Ellana.

"Why don't you let the Herald look at the box? If her clan has sent it, the item belongs to her. There is nothing dangerous about it."

"Look, elf, I can sense the magic around it. Take it off. It could be dangerous." Cassandra snarled.

Solas resisted letting out a long suffering sigh before picking up the box and heading towards the door. He heard Cassandra draw her sword from behind him. "The magic isn't dangerous it is protective. Whatever is in this box was something the clan did not want broken," Cassandra looked like she wanted to stop him, but the Spymaster put a hand on her arm, keeping her in place. "I will deliver this to the Herald."

He walked out before either woman could respond. He didn't have the energy to explain ambient protective magic to Cassandra. Especially magic that had survived the fall of Arlathan. The box was just another mystery that surrounded Clan Lavellan.

Luckily, Ellana wasn't hard to find. She was chatting with Varric around the central campfire about what sounded like red lyrium. When her eyes landed on the item in his hands her eyes lit up and she quickly excused herself from her conversation with the dwarf.

She circled Solas with a predatory like grace and hunger, her eyes never leaving the box in his hands. "Where did you get that," her voice nearly cracked, he could see some unshed tears threatening to spill. She wouldn't want her people to see her crying, so Solas figured he'd move this conversation elsewhere.

"Why don't we open this parcel in your room and I'll tell you how it ended up in my possession?"

She nodded and rushed them both to her cabin. Solas looked around, he hadn't been inside since she the day she partially closed the Breach. Nothing had really changed. She had added a weapons wrack for all her different bows and knives. Her pack of unground herbs was on her desk next to small open book. Ellana closed the door and quickly took the box from his hands, pulled a key out from under her shirt and stuck it into the lock. The box immediately opened and inside of it tumbled out at least half a dozen different colored treads, needles, some pins and a tied stack of notes.

He turned away from her as she picked up the notes, untying each one and scanning their contents. This wasn't for him to watch and he knew that. He'd wait till she wanted to speak to him again.

"How did you manage to get this, Solas?" Her voice was thick with emotion. It was in this moment he realized how homesick she must be. He could at least visit the spirits he knew in the fade. He could even visit memories of Arlathan, see his old home in its glory. Ellana didn't have the ability. Nothing was Dalish in Haven or anywhere they camped, everything was built for humans. No one wanted her to remember her culture, just getting a little piece of it back must feel like the largest of victories and a huge relief.

Solas wished he could feel the same.

"Your Spymaster and the Seeker asked me to look at it before destroying it."

Ellana gasped and cuddled the box to her chest. "They better not, this was made by one of our craftsmen who designed it for my birth. It was a gift for my mother and her children. There's a twin to this box, one identical, save the name engraved on the bottom for my brother. They are meant to hold our small hobbies and memories. They are easy to travel with."

She then dug through the box and pulled out what looked to be gold earrings and squealed in excitement. She seemed to forget that Solas was there and when raised his eyebrow at her, Ellana flushed a little bit. "I had left these behind with my clan before the Conclave. If I didn't come back they were to go to another family member."

Ah, so they didn't just look like gold. They had real value to them.

"Did you expect to die at the Conclave?"

She shrugged a sheepish grin on her face. "There's a never a guarantee when dealing with shemlen. Elves are killed for less than coming uninvited to their Conclave."

Solas watched as she threaded multiple gold chains through her left ear, as well as add two gold cuffs near the tip of her right. Each appeared to be carefully designed and he'd need to get a closer look at them to see what the Dalish put on their jewelry because he swore he saw a wolf on one of the cuffs.

Ellana ran her hands on her ears with a smile on her face and she did something that Solas didn't expect.

She lunged at him and embraced him.

He could feel her lithe, but muscled form around him, gripping him tightly. Solas didn't remember the last time he had been hugged by anyone outside of the fade. He slowly put his arms around her and gave her a gentle squeeze before pulling her away from him.

"Thank you for bringing this to me, Solas. It means a lot to me."

He could tell.

Days later Inquisition members began receiving small gifts from the Inquisitor in the form of sewn objects. Some gifts were better received than others. Sera, tackled Ellana to the ground with the strength of her hug for the haphazardly patterned pants Ellana had created for her.

Solas was the last to receive anything. He found a small stuffed wolf sitting on his bed with a note attached to a leg. He didn't recognize the handwriting, but he did know the language: Elven.

To match your necklace

~Ellana

His hand went to the age-old jawbone. She had been paying enough attention to know what animal it had come from. It seemed he wasn't the only one watching their teammates. Though, he thought it would be sacrilegious of her to create something in a wolf's image. He was going to need to figure out what designs were on her earrings, they could give him more insight into her clan.

A question that came him moments later… Where had she learned to write in ancient Elven? Every time he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him again.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I felt that I needed to have a hobby for Ellana that didn't have to do with killing. Sewing is going to keep coming back into the story till the end I think. Solas and Ellana finally had a moment together that wasn't him stalking her. XD It also wasn't overly broody for the first time in a long while.

While I personally can't sew, I'm going to try learning the basics. I'm making the dogs halloween costumes...they're going to be Ace the Bathound and Krypto the Superdog, so I need to make some capes and sew on some logos...I also need to make my own costume, damn. At least I save money doing it myself.

Anyway, thank you so much for the favorites and follows this week! At least I know that people are reading what I'm writing! So, continue, favoriting, following and reviewing!

Next week is going to be treat for you guys! It's going to be like 3K words!

Till next week,

~Animerocker