Well guys, this is the end for this story. I have some ideas for others but am having a hard time figuring out where I want to go with them.
Thank you to Dovah Kulaas, Fiery Shorti, Kiltiana, LazyKT, williesprite, and csorciere for following/faving! You guys have all been great and I really appreciate all the support you've given me. And as always thank you to my silent readers :-)
I hope you guys like my ending
Now, without further adu, the final chapter! :-D
I did not look her in the eye again until after Corypheus was defeated. It was bad enough to feel her pain, I was too much of a coward to want to see it too.
When I found my orb in pieces, I wanted to flee. I had failed so completely in my plan and now she was paying my price.
"Whatever happens, know this was real." I had told her, though it would bring little comfort in the long term.
It has now been several months since I last saw her. I've done everything I could think of to break the connection between us but it remains, though very feint.
I try to not dwell on it, on her. I feel her pain almost constantly. It is strongest at night though. I suspect her dreams are not kind to her now that I have gone.
It was night now and that pain was there, lingering in the back of my mind. I hadn't focused on our link in well over a month. I wondered how she was. Where she was.
I couldn't stop myself. I had to know she was ok. I focused on our link, finding her almost immediately. I was shocked at first, sensing she was closer than she had been since I left Skyhold.
I panicked, she was here, she had found me. I knew my resolve would break if I saw her now. I did the only thing I could think of, I abandoned my small camp and ran.
I could feel her sorrow grow but there was a determination hidden there as well. Worse, I heard her behind me.
"Solas stop!" She pleaded as she pursued me.
I could not. I would not look at her. We were reaching the end of the path, a steep ledge that went up a ways. I would be able to scale it but I doubted she could.
I leapt at the steep incline and ran up until I was at a small ledge, higher than she would be able to get to. I heard her behind me, trying to mimic my action but sliding to the ground.
"Solas!" She shouted at me. "You promised I would understand. You lied!"
That stopped me in my tracks. I didn't need to look at to see her. In my mind, I saw her, glaring up at me, defiant. There would be anger in her eyes but a desperate pleading hidden there too.
"Solas, please." She pleaded, barely above a whisper but I heard it perfectly.
I could not deny her that. Not again. I slowly turned to meet the image my mind had predicted.
I slowly descended from the ledge I was perched on. "Da'Fen." I greeted her as I landed in front of her.
There was a spike of rage as she reached back and slapped me. Before I could recover from the hit, I felt her arms wrap around my waist.
"I finally found you." She whispered as a single tear escaped her eyes.
"How did you find me?" I inquired.
She pulled back a little still keeping her hands firmly around me. "I followed our link. I know you tried to sever it but I have been trying to find ways to make it stronger. It lead me here and then I saw you." She frowned at me. "Then you had to go and check on me for the first time in over a month and run off when you felt how close I was."
"I'm sorry, Vhenan." A smile broke across her face. "I was panicked. There is much I need to do and cannot afford to be dissuaded from my mission."
"I don't care of your mission." She replied harshly. "I would travel with you to the ends of the earth if you would but ask. I don't care what we would have to do if I could be near you still." She pressed her face into my chest.
"Then I must tell you a great many things." I replied. I started to sit down, placing my back against the mountain wall behind me. She sat in my lap, ensuring that I could not go anywhere.
As soon as we were comfortable, I told her my tale. Of my origin, what I really was. Why the gods had fallen in the first place. My slumber that lasted far too long and left me weak. The real reason behind Corypheus possessing the orb and why we first met.
She sat, listening to my every word. Awed by some parts and terrified by others. I could not blame her, my past was not always something pleasant to think of.
"Now, you know the truth. I have left nothing out. Do you still wish to follow me, knowing all I have done?" I asked, looking away from her.
She faltered for only a moment, thinking about the magic that still resided in her hand. "Yes." Her resolve solidified. "It doesn't matter what has passed, all that matters is you are trying to fix things. I will follow you still ma Fen'Harel, ma Vhenan."
I could almost not believe it. After everything, she still accepted me. Still loved me. "What of your own duties as Inquisitor?" I asked, somehow I had forgotten about them.
"It's been long enough that they don't really need me all the time. I can keep in touch through crows and head back only if it is truly needed. Otherwise, I will stay at your side, helping to rebuild a world long since lost."
"Ma serannas, Da'Fen." She smiled at me as she leaned up to press her lips to mine.
The elves never reached what they had been in ancient times. In that sense, my mission failed. Truly, the elves grew though. It took time but eventually some of the Dalish clans started to listen, started to change.
They refused to give up their Vallaslin, which Fenlen helped me to understand. It was part of their culture now, and they had shaped it to represent something more pure than its origin.
Eventually, with a lot of persuading from Fenlen, Fen'Harel was pardoned of his crimes. People now seeing it as an act of compassion verses deceit.
The elves were never again the great force that they had been in ancient times but they had learned. They were incorporating what they were being taught into their lives and truly honoring the old elves.
Fenlen and I finally rested. I had completed, to some degree, my mission and she had long since retired from Inquisitor. We went into the forest where I taught her everything that I knew.
We were together and happy and the world was at peace once more.
Halem