A/N: Again, I must thank all of my readers. I also should apologize for the delay. I've had the hardest time with this. I know it doesn't seem like much, but you wouldn't believe how long it took me to finish. I think part of me didn't want it to end.

)O(

"That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong."

Esmerelle had been right: Amaranthine would take decades to rebuild, and even then it may never be restored to its former glory. A city torn apart could not be put back together very easily. At least the keep had withstood the attack. That was something. It was well worth the price.

Jenji hated to leave Nathaniel with the difficult task of reconstructing both the arling and the order. That was her job, and she had failed. It was up to him now. He would make a better commander anyway. He had the motivation, love for his homeland. He would not see it fall apart like this.

Anders wanted to see the world, take advantage of his freedom while he had the chance. No one could deny him that, but he still had a bet to settle with Oghren. What a fool he was to even dream that he could drink the dwarf under the table. He would learn that, in time.

Velanna had vanished. This was not surprising since she did have her own reasons for fighting, after all. She refused to rest until she and Seranni were together again. She had a purpose, and she didn't strike Jenji as the type for long, tearful goodbyes.

Sigrun, on the other hand, had no purpose. Jenji hoped the dwarf would stay and serve with the Grey Wardens for a few years at least, but she belonged to another ancient order already. Despite her usual cheerfulness and humor, Sigrun took the Legion, darkspawn, and her symbolic death very seriously. In the end she decided her life was better spent on the front lines in the Deep Roads than waiting around for another Blight to threaten the surface.

Justice vowed to put things right again, and eventually returned to the Fade. Aura could now mourn her husband properly. Though Justice could have used his physical form to puruse many worthy tasks, he did not wish his existence to cause anyone unnecessary pain.

The day had come for Jenji and Daveth to return to Denerim.

"Erlina, aren't you coming along?" she asked. The bard had no bags with her and was in no way prepared for traveling.

"I think...I will stay, for now, with your blessing of course." Erlina replied nervously, glancing back towards Nathaniel, who was smirking.

"As you wish." the other elf shrugged. "I'm not your Commander anymore. What you do now is your choice."

"But..." Erlina nodded, "Yes, as you say."

As the ship moved farther and farther away from the shore, Jenji watched the fog swallow them up. It hadn't been a dream. She'd won.

"Are you sad to leave them, love?" Daveth asked.

"I shouldn't be, but I am."

She would not return. That much was certain.

Yes, the elf decided, maybe she would miss it after all.

)O(

Even the king was waiting to greet their hero.

"Welcome back," he said. "Denerim has missed you. I trust the situation in Amaranthine has been resolved?"

"Yes, though the cost was very grave."

Alistair frowned. These were discussions for another time. For now, Jenji was swept up in the joyous welcome of her city. Hope had returned to Denerim. Alistair, Wynne, Ms. Kay, Leliana, Shianni, Soris; they all had come to greet her.

"Leliana, do you think you could teach me Orlesian?"

"Of course I can! The only question would be where to start."

"I was thinking...poetry." Jenji replied with a grin.

"Poetry?" the bard asked in confusion.

"Poetry." the elf confirmed.

"Poetry it is then!"

)O(

Her tale was over. It was up to those who came after, those who aspired to find the deeper meaning of it all, to take from it what they will. But there was nothing more to tell. It is simply one of many stories. There was no fathomable reason why fate should have chosen her over anyone else.

And without him, she was nothing.

Jenji prayed that Adaia would grow up to be something more than just the Hero of Ferelden's daughter. It was on a whim, a leap of faith, that she had decided to love the child as if she was her own. They had become a family.

This was as much as history would record. In time, the collective attention span of Thedas would shift and all of it would be forgotten. It was what she wanted.

End...