A/N – Writing ghosts is harder then one would think, and let me tell you, Ketori is a pain to do, well Fenris' dialog with her is harder, but...I mean seriously, he's freaking hard to write well and in character. And ghosts are hard to write in general too, Malcom was...yeah Argh, oh well. Anyhow, enjoy, read and review.

Chapter 3 – Ghosts of the Past

Rin sat in her bed with a book in hand, the fire flickering and crackling in the hearth, her mabari snoring from the foot of the bed. The book she read was one her parents had read to her when she was younger, it was about an elven rogue who had gone into the fade in search of her sister, and killed countless spirits until she reached her sister, but something horrible had happened, and both the sisters suffered because of it.

The door squeaked as it slid open and Rin looked up from the pages of her book. There seemed to be nobody there but she wasn't sure if it was a trick one of her companions would pull or not.

"Isabela? Is that you?" she called, knowing it was a trick the pirate would be the one to pull. When there was no answer, Rin got to her feet and set the book aside. She quickly and quietly moved to the door and pulled it open.

In front of her stood a pale man in mage robes. He looked familiar to her and it took her a moment to figure out where she had seen him before...it was her deceased father, Malcom Hawke. She nearly jumped and fell backward, he was dead, what was he doing in front of her?

"Rin..." he said her name softly, and she could only barely hear. She blinked in disbelief, her golden eyes flickering.

"Father...but I...how?" she asked in complete confusion. He looked at her and seemed to smile sweetly at her, taking a step closer. Rin wanted to back away in terror. She had dealt with many things, but seeing a ghost, and not to mention her father, scared the shit out of her.

"You'd be surprised." he told her simply. "You know, you look a lot like your mother. So does your sister. You two have grown up so well. I wish I could have lived to see it." he paused. "Your mother and brother are glad to see you both doing well too."

"I'm sorry." she blurted. "For not being able to save you all. I shouldn't have let Carver attack the ogre, I should have been quicker for mother, and I should have killed the darkspawn before they got to you."

"It's not your fault, dear." he told her, his tone calm and caring but firm. Rin felt tears well up behind her eyes but she blinked them away. She wanted to argue and tell him that it was her fault, but her mouth stayed shut. It was silent for a few moments but then he spoke again.

"So, about this elf you're with..." he trailed off.

"Oh! Father, I...must we talk about this?" she asked, her skin turning a light pink. "I'm a grown woman, I don't need a lecture."

"You've always been so defensive, Rin." her father chuckled. "No, that's not it. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you found somebody to spend your life with. Though he is a bit...different." Rin looked back to him, her skin still slightly pink.

"I know, yes." she said. "But it was you who told me that nothing should stand in the way of feelings, be that magic, gender, race or origin. And I took that to heart." she gave a small nod

"I can see." he paused. "And I can also see you've done well for yourself. Gotten the estate back, become the champion of Kirkwall, and saved so many. You've done well." he told her. Rin blinked slowly and shook her head.

"It's not all me, father, I had some help." she smiled. "I've had help from the best people around, even better than those cousin Laura traveled with. Nobody can beat my friends, no, it's not possible."

"Yes, I can agree with that." Malcom told her. "Rin, I must go, alright? Take care of yourself and Bethany. We'll all meet again in the future. But for now, it's farewell." with that he started to fade away. Rin was silent as he did, and after he was gone, she felt herself crying, already missing her father again. A few tears feel from her eyes and she murmured words that her father had once told her when she was young; through everything family will always be with you, as will friends and loved ones, never forget that.

For once it was quiet, and he wasn't used to that. There was always something that broke the silence, but for the many times he had wanted it, now that he had it, he felt out of place. The fire was flickering with a dim light. Fenris laid on one of the ruined couches in front of the fire, an empty bottle of agreggio pavali wine on the floor and an over turned book next to it. His eyes flickered closed in exhaustion but he managed to stay awake.

"Oh Leto." a voice rung out. He sat up quickly, looking around. "Or should I say Fenris, now?" the famine voice didn't sound familiar to him what so ever, and he had no idea who it was. A pale white woman with long black hair in a blue dress and a snow white apron stepped off the stairway and smiled softly.

"You couldn't have forgotten me, could you?" she asked. "Oh you have changed so much from when you were younger. I remember the days you would tease your sister and she'd coming screaming for me to help her. The masters never were pleased with all the noise you two caused." the woman continued. "Oh, how rude of me, I had forgotten you don't remember because of that lyrium. No trace of me, then? I am Ketori, your mother." He nearly jumped when she said that, this was his mother? She took a few steps forward and looked at him with a kindness in her pale green eyes.

"Hmph, so you don't remember me. I should have known, I guess, after you didn't even know Varania. That damned bastard Danarius took everything away from you. It makes me happy to see the old master dead. And killed by you no less, I may sound like a horrible mother, but I'm proud of you for doing what you did." She told him. Now he had no idea what to reply, yes he may have wondered what his mother was like, but this, this wasn't how he wanted to find out.

"Not going to talk to me?" she sighed, turning away. "I didn't think so. A mother you don't remember visiting you as a ghost. Alright, I suppose I can just go ahead and leave then."

"No, I just do not have any idea of what to tell you. Or even if what you say is true. You said it yourself, I can't remember, I lost everything." he said. She turned back and smiled sweetly.

"You can trust me, alright? I'll tell you anything to prove it." she pursed her lips in thought. "But this isn't what I wanted to talk about. Actually, I wanted to talk about that human rogue, Hawke. She seems very...wonderful, really. I'm not hear to lecture you, no, I just want to wish you two well. It's nice to see you've found happiness in this hell of a world. And by the looks of it, you two will be together for quite a long while."

"Your point?" he asked. He failed to see her point in her telling him this, though he saw truth in her words, hadn't Rin said something similar once? She had, about the ribbon, being a bind.

"My point being that you take care of that girl. She can do a good job by herself, sure, but I've seen how fragile she can be, just like a piece of glass. You do something wrong and she breaks." Ketori replied, her eyes giving a serious look now.

But she didn't have to tell him that, Fenris had already known that for years now, ever since that night.

"Now, I bid you farewell, my dear son. I may just go visit your sister next," Ketori laughed and faded from sight. Fenris blinked and looked around, that had certainly been strange. A ghost, his supposed mother. He sighed and fell back onto the couch, in moments he was asleep.