Song: Someone like you (Adele) (419 words)
"I heard that you're settled down, that you found a girl and you're married now..."
Valka remembered the first time that she had seen a snowflake. It had been at Soldier's Peak, right after they had finished with that dreadful business that the previous Wardens had left for them. She had gone out of the outpost for a breath of fresh air –how funny that she really wanted that air now, when she had first hated it– and was surprised by something so small, so light, that she thought its existence almost impossible. Alistair had found her like that: her chestnut hair sprinkled with snowflakes, her plump hands extended, palms up, trying to figure out what was happening.
He had stood in front of her and looked up, his mouth open, his tongue out. Valka had seen a tiny snowflake land on his tongue and instantly melt. He had given her a cheeky smile and a wink and she had found herself grinning back. Still, she had not liked the idea of snowflakes disappearing so soon. She had asked Wynne if there was a way to avoid that, but the mage had shaken her head and told her that the best she could do was to enjoy them while they happened; every snowflake was unique, precious and ephemeral, but with a beauty that had no equal.
And so, as Gorim continued speaking in a painfully contrite tone, as he told her of his wife and their little bairn and his new life among their surface brethren, her mind drifted back to the snowflakes.
He had moved on.
Somehow, at some point in time, he had left Orzammar behind. Her brothers, the betrayal – it was all in the past now.
And so were they.
Every moment with him, what they had once had –not only the words of love, but the days of glory and companionship– had been unique. Precious.
Ephemeral.
Her lips presented him with a noble smile, rare and discreet. She wished him good luck, but when he reached out to touch her, she withdrew her hand and waved it naturally and delicately, like a true Aeducan woman. She turned around and walked back to the Estate. The air was getting cold in the market, and she wrapped herself in the cloak that Leliana had adapted for her. She looked up and saw the evening sky covering Denerim with a metallic brown shade.
They would probably have snow that night.
Valka smiled, thankful for the snowflakes that she had once caught, and for the new ones that she would surely find one day.
.
A/N: Valka is not my headcanon Aeducan, but I needed one who would act this way with Gorim. Sereda... She gets a bit mad at Gorim. But I thought that Valka served the purpose wonderfully.