That was almost too easy, Zevran thought lazily, sifting through papers and contracts on the former guildmaster's desk. He sipped at a glass of chilled wine and looked idly out the window, watching the play of shadows from the branches of the orange tree in the garden. Orchestrating his most masterful assassination to date and the subsequent takeover of the Crows should have been quite the proud moment for him. But after his adventures in Ferelden, the victory didn't have quite the savor that it should have.

Zevran sighed and drained his glass when the door opened, admitting his current second-in-command. "Yes, what is it, Paolo?"

The man bowed briefly. "Master Arainai, there is a… young lady demanding to see you. She has already threatened to kill the gate guards if we don't let her in."

"Really? My charms have already have the ladies of Rialto threatening to break in?" Zevran twirled his empty glass by its stem and propped his feet up on the desk. "And here I've only been back in Antiva for a few months."

Paolo shifted his weight nervously, and Zevran glanced over the rim of his glass with interest. Usually the man had nerves of steel. "She is not Antivan, Master, not even human. A dwarven woman, in fact. Her accent is Fereldan and she has some odd tattoos on her face. "

Zevran felt the glass falling out of his hand, and caught it just before it hit the desk. It couldn't be.

Luckily, Paolo didn't seem to notice Zevran's momentary lapse of composure. "Master Arainai?" he was saying. "What would you like us to do with her?"

"Let her in immediately. Clear the halls and bring her here. And Paolo," Zevran added softly, picking a dagger up off the desk and running his finger along the blade, "discretion is everything."

It was all that Zevran could do to keep from jumping up and pacing the room once Paolo was gone. Maintain composure, he thought sternly to himself. It could be any dwarf. It does no good to -

The door to his office opened abruptly and a short figure barged in, waving Paolo back in irritation and slamming the door behind her. "This is how I get treated, walking here all the way from Amaranthine?" a very familiar voice grumbled. Aza pulled her traveling cloak off and let it fall to the floor, planting her hands on her hips. "Your guards were sodding annoying, and Antivan Crows or not, I was about to - "

Zevran was across the room before she could finish, pulling her into his arms and lifting her off the floor. Her words were muffled against his chest as he held her tighter, burying his face in her hair and trying to remember how to breath. He sank to his knees and let himself fall backwards onto the cool marble floor with Aza on top of him, listening to her startled laughter and finally, finally, feeling her lips on his.

There were months poured into that kiss, months of worry and yearning and doubt on both sides. They parted only reluctantly to catch their breath, and Zevran drank in Aza's smile as she looked down at him.

"You look thin, my heart," he murmured, tracing her cheek with one finger. "I'll have to feed you some proper Antivan food."

Aza sat up to straddle his hips with a roll of her eyes and then helped him to sit up. "I'm supposed to be the emotionally constipated one, Zev," she said drily. "You haven't seen me for over six months and all you can think to say is that I look thin?"

Zevran settled his arms around her neck. "Forgive me. Shall I say, then, that I have not been able to sleep for worrying about you? That I have had nightmares of darkspawn carrying you off, and that rumors of your disappearance reached my ears weeks ago and I feared the worst?"

"All right, all right, don't lay the guilt on me," she retorted. "I got things taken care of in Amaranthine, and then I just… I don't know. Felt like I needed to get away from it all. Maybe forever. Too many people relying on me. And I missed you," she added in a low voice, ducking her head to rest it against his shoulder.

"Well, if there is anything the Crows are good at, it is helping someone to disappear," Zevran grinned. He got to his feet and pulled Aza up, keeping hold of both her hands and kissing each of them in turn. "For now, I think that it is time for us to retire to the bedchamber and continue our long-overdue reunion there, wouldn't you say?"

Aza unbuckled her belt and let it drop to the floor, raising her eyebrow in a challenge. She took a few steps towards the door while undoing the clasps of her jerkin. "You coming?" she asked coyly.

Zevran hurried to follow her, more than eager to make up for lost time.