A/N:

Hullo! Sorry, this still isn't the final chapter of the MotA quartet. Fenris forced me to make you guys wait even longer, the little rascal. Anyhow, this is a quick story I came up with to appease you guys till I come back from camp three weeks from now (I'm gonna miss you guys :/). It's unedited, like the previous one, so hopefully I'll come back to it and fix it later. This takes place literally days before The Last Straw begins. Unfortunately, Hawke didn't write an introduction for this one, but with luck she'll come back and do it later. xP.

Hawke blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She lay on her side in her sizable bed, gazing at the sliver of light that drifted into the room between the partially closed curtains at her window. She yawned and stretched; even pointing her toes, she couldn't reach the edge of the bed.

She suddenly became aware of warmth at her bare back- not blistering heat, but a comfortable warmth. She rolled over to find herself gazing into Fenris's beautiful jade green eyes, and she could feel her heart melting. She still couldn't understand how she had managed to snag the finest man in all of Thedas for herself. He tossed her that lovely, crooked grin of his, and she felt her heart melt all over again. She responded with one of her own smirks.

"'Morning, handsome," she drawled, reaching over to run her hand over his (also bare) chest.

"Good morning, Hawke," he answered in that sexy bass tone of his as he caught her hand and kissed her fingers. Her eyelids fluttered shut for a brief moment, and the teasing smirk faded into a small, gentle smile. She rolled onto her back and gazed up contentedly at her ceiling while he began to trace patterns idly across her palm. There was an odd feeling to go along with her content, though; something... off.

"You always do that," she mused, half to herself, her brow puckering.

"Sorry?" His fingers stilled, and she glanced at him sideways. He seemed to have frozen in place, his eyes on her face, but he relaxed when he saw her scrutiny. She caught his hand, twining her fingers through his as she sorted through her thoughts. She'd spoken without thinking, and it took her a moment to realize what she had meant.

"You always call me by my last name," she elaborated after that brief moment of thought.

"Everybody calls you Hawke," Fenris pointed out, his own eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Except Bethany, of course." He tactfully avoided mentioning her mother; even nearly four years later, that was a raw topic for her. She squeezed his hand gently in recognition of his omission, her gaze flickering with gratitude before she returned to the topic.

"I needed a professional name, so people would take me seriously," she recalled slowly.

"Hawke is definitely a name that makes one rethink himself," Fenris agreed somberly, and sneaking another peak at him, she could see the teasing glint in his eye.

"Good, that's what I was aiming for," she replied, winking at him. "Anyway, my point was- erm... what was my point?" He was distracting her by playing with her hand and her arm again. She shot him a fake scowl, and eventually his fingers stilled. "Oh, right. I never intended that to be what my friends call me. Or my..." She hesitated thoughtfully, wanting to refer to Fenris, but unsure what she could call him. 'Boyfriend' or 'lover' just seemed insufficient, and 'husband' wasn't technically correct. "Or you."

"That's how you introduced yourself to me," he reminded her, serious now. He propped his cheek up on his elbow, watching her with those inscrutable jade green eyes.

"I... that's true," she admitted. "At the time, I just couldn't bear to correct you, or any of the others... This is my father's name, you know, and I-I feel like I owe it to him."

"That's an honorable sentiment," Fenris noted quietly after an appropriate pause.

"Is it, though?" She was staring at the ceiling again, wearing a bitter expression. "I think my father would disapprove of my lingering on his memory so long. And the fact that I haven't been using my given name since my mother..." She shook her head, unable to finish the thought. Then she added with vague amusement, "He had always admired my 'spirit', though. Told me that with my stubbornness I'd likely be queen of Ferelden by the time I was thirty. 'Champion of Kirkwall' is close enough, I think." Now she wore a gentle smile of longing memory. "I like to think he would be proud of me, if he saw me today."

"I'm sure he would be, Hawke," Fenris insisted, his green eyes intense. "I've never met your father, but if he's anything like you..."

"Thanks, Fenris." She paused thoughtfully. "There you go again. Would it kill you to call me 'Rathina'?" The teasing glint was back in her eyes and words again, and his own expression lit up in response.

"Why the sudden change in heart? You were just telling me how you used your last name to honor your father's memory," he teased her. She rolled her eyes, refusing to be sidetracked from her seriousness.

"I feel like I'm a different person now than I was then, you know? I'm more than just Hawke, the Fereldan refugee; I'm Rathina Hawke, now, Champion of Kirkwall, noble, peacemaker, survivor of the Deep Roads, lover of a handsome elf... And besides, with everything that's been happening lately..." She paused here, her gaze snapping back over to Fenris's with an level of intensity that was rarely observed in her. He gazed steadily back at her, his expression solemn again. "I feel like something's about to happen, Fenris, something big. And it's going to be soon. It's like we're standing on the tip of a knife, and soon everything is just going to tumble. And everything... just... If I don't do this now, I feel like I won't have a chance to do it later. Contrary to popular belief, I am not infallible. I'm afraid that I'll go down with this whole thing, and I can't prevent it, short of leaving this place, which I absolutely refuse to do." Her eyes fell now, a rare blush suffusing her cheeks. "Look, Fenris, you don't have to call me by my first name if you don't want to, it just would be nice if... and nobody else does..." She trailed off. Troubled didn't even begin to describe her expression; concern and anxiety and fear were all visible in her eyes, but her determination and fiery spirit showed in her clenched jaw and narrowed eyes.

Fenris sat up, reaching for Hawke and pulling her up as well. She lifted her eyes, allowing him to see her raw emotion, but when she saw his warm, understanding expression, the other feelings faded until nothing showed but her determination. She knew he understood that this was about more than just a name.

"Rathina," he began, then paused, as if tasting the feel of the word as it left his lips. Her expression lit up minutely, and it was with more confidence that he continued. "We will pull through this, you understand? Meredith and Orsino won't pull you down with them when everything blows, and more importantly, they won't get between us." He seemed to have adopted some of her own fiery spirit, for obstinate conviction danced in his eyes and fierce scowl, and she obviously took heart in this.

"Thank you, Fenris," she said quietly, her features softening into a genuine smile. "For understanding. And for believing."

"I've always believed... Rathina," he growled fiercely, the intensity still bright in his expression. "You're the one who didn't." And he pulled her closer to kiss her with a vehement passion, to which she responded with more than her usual fiery spirit.