It had been a long time since daylight had faded into the star studded canvas of night, but it seemed even longer since Juvia had disappeared to make duplicitous deals with the mages. Bianca wasn't happy about it, and Varric didn't need to know her particularly well nor be able to read minds to know that. She had become quiet and reserved, and the smile that always made Varric smile in return was nowhere to be seen.

Bianca had been staring despondently into the fading fire for some time; and Varric found himself clinging to his own awkwardness as if clinging to a hill of ice. Every time he resolved to close the distance between them, he ended up retreating further and further into his own thoughts. He needed an opening gambit; something to get her to open up to him rather than remaining steadfastly aloof. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any line that might result in anything other than the breaking of his own jaw.

"Stop frowning, Newbie, I'm fine…" She said, forcing a smile that wouldn't fool a drunk nug. "Just worried."

He considered her carefully. The moonlight gave her skin a soft, silver sheen, yet glinted off the blade of her naked sword menacingly. Sweat glistened along her arm as she ground a small whetstone against the blade. He felt like he was seeing her in a new light; still dangerous, yes – yet oddly vulnerable at the same time. "Bit difficult not to frown when I have no idea what to say."

"So don't say anything." Defensive, flippant; it wasn't what he needed. What either of them needed.

"But I can't."

"But you've been doing so well so far."

"I can't anymore. I need you to talk to me." She stared at him, eyes narrowed, and he forced himself to meet her gaze levelly. The rhythmic breaking of the waves against the rocks below seemed to match the pounding in his chest as he waited. When she made no move, he pushed further. "I need to know you're really fine, and that's not just a line you're giving me to save face."

It took a few moments for her cold stare to break. Her features dropped and her shoulders sagged, as she let the sword clatter to the ground. "You are a very strange person, Varric," she said. "What does it matter to you if I'm just saving face or not? As long as we get the job done I can't see it makes a damned difference…"

"Because…" Varric felt the heat rush to his cheeks in an embarrassing wave. He bit his bottom lip - this was ridiculous. She'd rip off his head and use it as an interesting conversation starter the next time someone pissed her off as much as he was about to.

"Becauuuuuuse…" She prompted.

"Because…" He steeled himself against the backlash. He opened his mouth to say it, then caught the look in her eyes. There was no fire in them, their trademark hardness gone. This wasn't fair to her. Not now. He sighed, "Because it just does."

She gave him a blank look. "Newbie, have you been drinking rum and not giving me any?"

"No… well, sipping more than drinking."

"Pass it here," she ordered. He obeyed immediately, shuffling around the fire and uncorking it for her as he presented it to her. She took a long swig and handed it back.

Before long, she broke the silence again. "You know, Juvia never used to be like this… Don't give me that look!" Varric caught himself staring, and looked quickly away. "You wanted me to talk, so I'm talking!"

"Then I'm listening." He made a point of shuffling about in his seat on the grass.

"… Very good… are you blushing?"

"It's the rum." He lied.

"Right… Anyway, she used to be so different. She used to be happy… but Kirkwall has got to her. That's the real reason they fight… my sister and my Grandfather. He brought her to the surface, but expects her to live as if she's shut up underground."

"Well, how do you feel about that?"

"Honestly? I would really like them to stop, because it gives me a headache…"

"That's not what I meant." Varric smiled softly.

"I know it's not. But I can't answer you. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't have an opinion either way. When you're the oldest in a family of such shrill voices you learn to laugh because no one listens to you anyway."

The expression on his face must have betrayed his horror. "Oldest in a family…? There's another Juvia…?!"

Bianca laughed harshly. Not quite the light laughter he was used to, but he'd been staring at her tired, anxious face for so long he'd take anything he could get. "There used to be, Newbie, only he was a brother… still surprisingly shrill though…."

Varric sat quietly, digesting this new revelation. "There was…?"

"He died." Her voice was flat, emotionless. "There was a time when the Carta were not so shy about becoming involved with external sources and politics… he got caught in the cross fire. It wasn't pretty."

Varric observed her. He realised this was the second time he had studied her by fire-light, but how different she looked. How much the past pressed down on her shoulders, it was so obvious now, how had he not noticed before? Yet at the same time she looked the same as ever. So sturdy, unshakeable. "You speak of it so…"

"Bluntly?" She offered.

"…yeah…"

"I'm giving you facts, Newbie. Facts require nothing more than utterance to be shared. My soul, however, is staying firmly in my chest. I'm telling you all this so that maybe, just maybe you'll understand why I'm trying so hard to save Juvia. I know that you keep company with Bellam, and he is a good man, but he has an axe to grind and he makes no secret of whose neck he wants it to find."

Varric hesistated. Recalling the words Bellam had spoken just before they had departed 'Juvia will betray you. You must do what needs to be done if it should come to it; at the end of the day you cannot expect Bianca to raise arms against her own kin… her heart is not made that way…"

"He's certainly not a fan." The merchant agreed.

"He has his reasons, his own son died the same day as my brother. Slipped right away in his arms. That was the day we stopped looking for help beyond our own walls…"

"But what has the Old Man's kid dying got to do with Juvia…?" Varric queried, confused as to how all this seemingly random information linked.

"She was the lookout, and when danger came she didn't raise the alarm. She stayed in her hiding place, too afraid to call out in case the bastards found her. Too inexperienced to fight… too young to have been charged with something so dangerous… too young to have seen the things she saw done to her brother that day.

Of course, that was only the beginning… to some she was a coward, unworthy of her status or their trust… to others she was a traitor, orchestrated the whole thing. No matter how you look at it, Juvia was another victim that day. She was treated with contempt, and that is what she has answered with. I'll not pretend that I like it, but neither will I pretend that she is no longer my sister."

Her words were weighted. Not made heavy by her tone, which was almost alarmingly neutral, but by the stiffness in her shoulders and the way she repeatedly bit her lip… By the way she couldn't look at him, yet he could still see the sadness in her eyes. He knew there was only one thing he could say now. Only one thing to let her know he had listened, understood and was grateful that she trusted him as much as she did. "Fair enough."

"That is all I will say for now. My soul is in serious danger of slipping into view."

"It looks pretty good from here." He threw an arm around her shoulders, eager to inject some comedy back into the situation, certain he'd be on his back nursing a new bruise within seconds.

To his shock, she didn't pull away. His breath hitched as her head rested on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Newbie."

…..

Bianca's face was like thunder as they made their way back to Kirkwall. "I say we could have taken them."

"I say we couldn't," barked Juvia. "And you were not the one to find them so your say is irrelevant."

"You bet me gold…"

"And I have the time, the place and the numbers… I'm just not giving them to you…"

"Well what bloody good are they then?"

"The numbers of the enemy were particularly interesting actually… without me finding out them we'd be dead. What part of 'it was suicide' are you not getting?"

"What part of 'we need to convince the Carta you're not a coward or a traitor' are you not getting?"

Juvia stopped, her stance rigid and her expression one of fury. "If those bastards can't forgive a mistake a made when I was a child then maybe I don't want anything from them! It's not like I don't carry scars from it myself...!"

"You're not the only one to carry those scars, you prat. Do you really think you're the only who is still suffering? Bellam…"

"I spit on Bellam!"

"As informative as that is, I also don't give a shit. Lots of people hurt, not just you. You've had a rough deal, I get that, and I'm sorry there wasn't more I could do to stop it. But you've not exactly made it easy on me either. You've acted like I'm one of them and not your big sister…"

"Oh no, Bianca's not feeling the love from every single person in the Carta… I'm sorry I hurt your feelings…" Juvia retorted, her voice dripping with venom, her eyes narrowed and her lips all but curled into a snarl.

"Good! Because you sodding should!"

"… I was being sarcastic…"

"I know! But it's apparently the only apology I'm going to get from you so I'm damn well taking it!"

The sisters stared one another down, and Varric considered the reality of if he would have to intervene. He had given Bellam his word if need arose he would cut Juvia down to protect Bianca… end of story. But with what he had heard last night, he wasn't sure Bianca would ever forgive him. He could try to wound Juvia, incapacitate her somehow, but he knew her fearsome reputation with her range of weapons. As much as he had grown, it seemed a vain hope to outwit someone was ruthless and skilled as her.

Maker! What am I supposed to do?!

Varric was pulled back to his senses when both women erupted into laughter. Not giggles, or chuckles, but roaring at the top their lungs and holding their sides.

"This is ridiculous…" Bianca gasped. "You're my little sister, stop speaking to me like I'm your damned minion."

"And you're my big sister, stop speaking to me like you're my mother."

It took a while for the merriment to subside, but when it did, Varric was once again looking at two very different women.

"What can you possibly do, Bianca? They have decided that I don't belong… so how can I? I'm not living life in their scorn to keep you happy."

"You're my sister… the only one I've got. They'll come around… just try not to be such a bitch all the time, eh?"

"Will you call off Bellam the Bloodhound?"

"He's not mine to call off… but I will speak with him."

"And you'll take my side occasionally instead of Grandfather's…?"

"Depends if you're right or not."

"… no guarantees on the 'not being a bitch' front then… that man knows how to piss me off…"

"I'll settle for you winding in your neck. No more secret agendas, no more sneaking around behind our backs… tell us when you get wind of something…"

Juvia sniffed, "I think I can manage that."

"Great! We'll have a practise before we tell Grandfather the good news, eh? So, Juvia, have you got any hair-brained schemes that you haven't made us aware of yet?"

"No."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Pinky promise?" Juvia scowled as Bianca laughed. "Thank the Maker for that! I'll admit, I don't know how we'd have coped if you'd said yes…"

…

Varric leaned back in his chair, pulling the tankard of ale closer to himself. "You still with me, Elf?"

Fenris was certainly looking worse for wear, his eyes blood shot and his posture slouching against the huge arms of the chair he had commandeered. "Of course." He slurred.

"Ale not getting to you?"

"Just finish your story…"

"Fine, but be careful or you might fall asleep. I'm not repeating the ending…"

The merchant waited for the grunted response before continuing.

"How we felt when we returned to Kirkwall was much different than how we felt leaving. Somehow, it was like a burden had been lifted. Bianca and Juvia talked all the way back, as if they hadn't spoken in years… well… they probably hadn't. I can honestly say to this day, the sight of Juvia laughing was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen, when you get so used to someone scowling, seeing their teeth and open mouth is enough to send you into fits… ahem… anyway… we found our way easily back to the Carta, but I had a feeling that when we got there things were going to change again, and not for the better.

I'll never forget walking through that door with the two of them smiling and laughing like they hadn't a care in the world. Never forget walking in on Bellam and Old Man Carta. Bianca's grandfather held a piece of paper in his shaking hands. Plans to the Keep, apparently… found in Juvia's room…

"You're wrong." Bianca told them all sternly. "Juvia's told me there's nothing else and I believe her."

"The evidence is in front of you, Bianca! She is planning a raid on the Keep, the Viscount will have our heads!" Bellam snapped.

"Why would I plan a raid on the Keep?" Juvia retorted, "That makes so little sense I struggle to see how anyone would even come up with it."

"A traitor doesn't need logic to be traitorous."

"That's enough Bellam," cut in Bianca. "This isn't true, Juvia… is it?"

Juvia's swung to her sister, eyes wide with disbelief and anger. "You clearly believe it is so I suppose it may as well be!"

"I'm only asking…"

"You already asked me on the path from the Wounded Coast."

"That's enough, you two." The voice was thin and hoarse, barely audible under the shouting, but it cut through the room like a knife. As one, everyone present turned to face the ashen, white-haired old man. His eyes were blistered with threatening tears that he refused to shed. "Juvia," he spoke softly. "My Granddaughter… I am sure that this is my fault. I have failed you. I know that. But in this room stand people whom I have not yet failed… and whom I have no intention of hurting as I have hurt you. Your actions are dangerous and your thoughts are naught but malice."

He paused, and took a deep, unsteady breath.

"I cast you from the Carta, Juvia. And I cast you from my kin. May you find solace elsewhere, because I will not let you wreak your havoc here."

A shocked stillness gripped the room. Varric looked to Bianca, ashen faced and perfectly still. It took him a moment to realise that Juvia had already made her swift exit through the door and the loud thud of her footsteps were fading. He shook Bianca's arm to bring her to her senses. Rather than look at him, she turned and fled out of the door, ignoring the voices that called after her. Varric followed as quickly as he could.

"Juvia!" She cried out to the fleeing figure. "Sister, please! Wait!"

To Varric's surprise, Juvia stopped and turned, and Bianca pulled up short. The younger sister stared for a moment, taking in the sight of her sibling one last time. Then she drew up her sagging shoulders and chocked back her anguish.

"Did you not hear?" She said quietly. "I am no longer your sister."

She turned again, and disappeared into the shadows. Varric watched, helpless, as Bianca slumped to her knees, sobbing.