This chapter takes place a few years after Inquisition in Aedan's POV. I was listening to 'Let It Go' and then this happened. A what-if scenario in the main story (for Elissa and Alistair at least).

Redcliffe is covered in snow. It has been this way for weeks now, the force of a Fereldan winter washing over it with as much vengeance as ever. Still, I'm outside of the castle early for my arranged sparring match with the Hero of Ferelden. People caught wind of it easily, and whereas we would usually spar in the castle, Teagan requested we move it out to a field not so far from the village so people could watch. That's where I go now, sword and shield in hand, armor equipped. The village is bustling as I pass it; Elissa so rarely comes through this area of Ferelden anymore, and the villagers clamor when the person who saved them does put in an appearance.

Looking down, I see the statue erected in the center of the town, right out in front of the Chantry, and smirk. Elissa's reaction upon seeing that was priceless.

"Is that supposed to be me?" Elissa frowns, brows drawn together. "Blech. I'm even uglier as a rock."

"You're not ugly," Alistair replies.

"I don't know," I say. "That is one ugly rock. Are you sure you want to let that stay?"

Elissa grins halfheartedly. "Do you think they'd listen if I told them to get rid of it?" I shake my head, so she shrugs. "You know what, I've seen uglier all over Thedas. Remember that statue of Andraste in the Vigil? The one Anders said was a looker? I feel like I'm going to turn into that. That statue was horrendous."

"Another reason why we should've known to never listen to that damn mage," I say.

We had been standing in the center of the village for a while now, talking to each other and various villagers as they passed, when two small boys run up to us in turn.

"Mama! Mama! Cameron said you broke the Chantry!"

Elissa looks at both of them, a brow raised, before looking up at me. I throw up my hands defensively. "All right, so which one of you told the boy that?"

"Oh, it was me," I say. "Obviously. I also told him that you can fly."

Both boys' eyes go wide. "Is that true, Mama? Can you fly?"

She sighs. "The darkspawn probably think so. Come on; let's go get lunch where your uncle can't fill your heads with lies."

"I'll tell my son whatever I want whenever I want, sis. Just because you're the Queen of Ferelden doesn't mean you can give me orders."

That was an amusing day.

I shake my head before continuing to the field. A ring has been thrown together rather quickly to keep the children from getting too close; I suspect that was Kaitlyn's intervention. She always has been more...family friendly than Teagan. He's a good man and a good father, don't get me wrong, but he's like Alistair and I. If the kids want to run amok like crazies, why not let them? I swear, if it wasn't for our wives, our children already would have killed themselves. Cameron and Blake (Elissa and Alistair's son, named after an Agent who saved both of their lives, but ended up costing him his own) are thicker than Elissa and I ever were, and get into just as much trouble. They're only cousins, but they already show signs of sharing habits with all four of us. Cameron has hair as red as his mother's, and an attitude to match Elissa's. He's a fiery boy. Blake has dirty blond hair and his father's sense of humor, and already shown signs of being a mage.

"You ready to have your ass kicked, brother?" Elissa asks, flitting over to my side as silently as ever. I'm used to it from her; Leli still manages to scare me half to death when she does that.

"Like that time I knocked you on yours?" I ask, raising a brow.

She grins, shrugging. "I've gotten a lot better over the years."

"You've gotten complacent," I amend. "Sitting in a palace all day will do that to you."

"I go out and train with my guards every morning!" she says defensively. "What do you do? Look over reports sent in from the various nobles? Pfft. You're the complacent one."

"I'm just fat," I say, waving her comment aside. "I'm ready to fight every minute of everyday." She starts to reply, but I cut her off. "No magic tricks."

Elissa laughs, shaking her head. "Good thing you said something about it now, or else I would have. No Templar stuff from you, either, or I'll smack you with a rock."

"Fair deal," I say, nodding.

She leaves me at that, walking back to where Alistair and Blake are waiting for her. I start to join them, but a voice behind me catches my attention first.

"Papa!" I turn to face the boy running up to me. I grin and extend my arms for him. Cameron jumps into them easily, nearly knocking me off my feet.

"What are you doing up so early, kiddo?"

"I wanted to come watch you fight," he says excitedly. "Mama thinks you're going to lose."

"Mama is a lady of little faith," I say, laughing. "But she's probably right, you know. Your aunt always beats me."

"She's wrong!" Cameron protests. "You'll win! You always win!"

"Not when I'm sparring with my sister," I say.

"You have to win, Papa," Cameron says. "Please?"

"All right. I'll do my best, buddy." I set him down on his feet, smart enough to know Leliana will be somewhere behind him. "Go play in the snow with Blake."

"Yay!" He runs off to do just that. They launch into some made-up game only they know the rules of, throwing snowballs at each other and hiding behind large drifts to avoid being hit. I don't lose sight of Cameron once; his hair gives him away easily.

I shake my head, chuckling to myself.

After having my ass thoroughly kicked, the crowd fans back to the village. Cameron and Blake have practically forgotten the sparring to chuck snowballs at each other, having dragged Alistair into it, and leaving Elissa and I to clamber out of the fence ring on our own. Elissa goes to join them, laughing as her boy whips a snowball at her face. I don't exactly see how that's funny, but then again, I don't exactly understand my twin, and I've known her since birth.

I'm checking my sword for any damages, frowning slightly, when someone says, "Avoiding the fun?"

I jump, nearly dropping my sword, and scowl at the woman staring at me. Leliana is wearing an amused smirk, arms crossed over her chest. "Will you ever stop that?"

"No, probably not. It's actually funny watching you start like that."

I glare at her and resume my task, flicking a gloved finger over a speck of brown to check that it's not rust. Leliana is much more obvious now that I know she's here; I hear her footsteps (barely) as she siddles up to me. I catch a glimpse of her, watching me frown at my sword as I take care of it, eyebrows knit together. Half a laugh escapes me and I shake my head.

"All right, what?"

She raises an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything."

"You were staring at me."

"I was not!"

I laugh entirely, rolling my eyes. "You know, you're not as sneaky as you think. I've got you figured out. See, being around someone for as long as we have will do that." She starts to reply, but I continue. "And I can tell when you're lying. You get defensive. Unbearably so."

"I...what?" She blinks, confused, and then shakes her head, glaring. "No I don't!"

"You just did. Twice."

Leli groans, obviously not pleased with how easy I find reading her. "Yes, I'm an open book." She shoots me a grin, one that has me groaning for a very different reason than her. "One you enjoy reading, yes?"

"There are children around. One of which is ours."

"And you haven't said worse, or let Elissa say something?"

I open my mouth, a comeback ready, but snap my jaw shut. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a blur coming for my head, and without thinking, I duck. The snowball passes me harmlessly.

And smacks Leliana right in the face.

"Oops," Cameron says. He's already retreating, afraid of the onslaught of strictness he's about to see. "I'm sorry Mama!"

I stifle my laughs as Leli wipes the snow off her skin and spits it out of her mouth. She shakes her head, blinking rapidly, but her hands are behind her back now, on the fence. She's smirking at me as she steps past.

"Cameron!" The boy shrinks back, completely oblivious to his mother's snowball hidden behind her. "You're in so much trouble-" I bend down and, setting my sword and shield aside, form a snowball of my own. I put a finger to my lips so the rest of them get the idea to be quiet, and while she pretends to be mad at Cameron, I sneak up behind her. She's just about to throw it at him, but I lock an arm around her waist and pull her into my chest, ignoring her yelps of surprise and the elbow digging into my ribs. I smother the lightly packed snow on her face, cutting her off mid-sentence. I set her back on her feet a moment later and step back, crossing my arms.

"Yay Papa!"

Leliana clears her face again before turning on me. Her skin is flushed, whether from the chilly air or laughing, I'm not sure, but she marches up to me all the same. "Aedan Cousland!"

I quirk an eyebrow. "Leliana Cousland!"

That catches her off-guard. She hardly uses the name despite being my wife, and people rarely call her by it. Still, she plants her hands on her hips and tries to keep a straight face while glaring at me. "What did you just do?"

"I defended my son's honor like a good man. He can't be beat by a woman."

"Is that so? Are we going to be sexist now? Last I saw, Liss just beat you in a sparring match. And I-" She brings her arm up and whips the snowball into my own face with a surprising amount of force. "-just beat you!"

The boys start giggling as the snowballs resume flying. It ends up with me, Leli, and Cameron throwing them at Ferelden's royal family, and losing. Elissa cheats and blasts me off my feet with an entire snow drift, but Cameron and Blake jump on me the same instant, pushing snow onto my face and my hair. The other three just stand there, laughing, as I wrap my arms around them and roll them into the snow. They squeal with delight, kicking fluffy white stuff everywhere, while I alternate tossing them up into the air and catching them with dropping handfuls on their heads.

Eventually, we return to Redcliffe Castle as a group. Cameron sits on my shoulders, his customary place, and Leli walks along beside me, telling a pointless story meant to entertain the two kids. Leli will smile up at Cameron every so often. The sight of the easy grins makes my heart swell. She never smiled this much, or laughed as much, or even looked as genuinely happy as she does now. She's changed into the woman I met in Lothering again. She's not afraid of showing her softer side around us, and she's even started composing ballads of her own, something she's talked about doing but never got around to. I'm not sure if she avoids telling our story, the four of us, or if it was Elissa's urging, or of her own will, but I'm thankful for it. As far as I'm concerned, only one good thing came of my time as a Warden, and that was Leliana. I don't want people to remember the hell we lived through for over a decade. I want to forget, for it to fade away and become nothing, but I know better.

Remembering the moment I finally got to see her and the redhaired boy on my shoulders, I realize how lucky I am. I never thought I'd end up with a family that I made on my own; I thought my mother would marry me off to some Bann's daughter and that I'd be forced to live a boring life with the woman. Instead, I have Leliana, the most beautiful, caring woman I've ever met, and Cameron.

The Maker is finally smiling on my family. Elissa is safe as a mage (a mage, the Queen of Ferelden!) and Alistair doesn't have to worry about the Crows coming after him for being King. I'm perfectly happy where I am with them and Blake and Cameron. Leliana is back to her old self, and surprisingly, that's all I find myself caring about.