Everyone was beginning to filter into the dining room. Some of the kids - and also Alec - had damp hair, a sure sign they had gone into the pond instead of picnicking next to it. Diana didn't bother changing into the dress that Rosalie had given her; she stayed in her pants and loose shirt and took the same seat she had occupied the night before.

Cullen also took his same seat.

"You look like you feel better, Lena," Rosalie remarked, filling a plate for the former Inquisitor.

"I do," she said. She was slightly shocked to realize that she did, in fact, feel better. The sleep had definitely contributed to the improvement, but a part of her also wondered if maybe Cullen had something to do with it, too. Talking to him had been strangely freeing, even if he hadn't convinced her that someday she would find her own peace.

It seemed too much to hope that maybe she wouldn't always be like this. Someday she might dream without seeing Solas or Corypheus or the corpses of people under her command, might forget everything she had seen in the future at Redcliffe Castle. That particular future hadn't come to pass, but it had stayed with her, a constant reminder of how close they had been to failing.

Diana had never told anyone about what had happened in Redcliffe or what she and Dorian had seen in the future. Under her orders, the mage hadn't shared that information, either. She stared, unseeing, at the plate in front of her. Blood rushed to her ears and she could feel her hand beginning to shake under the table.

"Lena, what's the name of this town?"

Cullen's voice cut through her nightmares like a sword.

She snapped back to the dining table, out of Corypheus' future. The former Commander was leaning forward in his chair quite intently, his eyes trying to catch hers.

"What's the name of this town?" he asked again, holding her gaze. Rosalie was giving him an odd look but if the innkeeper had said anything, Diana couldn't hear it. Her attention was focused on Cullen and his clear eyes.

"Holmfirth," she said, trying not to let her voice sound shaky.

"The name of this inn?"

"The Owl Roost Inn."

The little worried crease between his eyebrows was smoothing itself out. "My mabari?"

"Roger."

Suddenly the mabari was there, too, shoving his nose into her hand under the table and snuffling loudly. Disappointed she had said his name but didn't have any food for him, he wandered off to go beg at the feet of the kids, instead.

For the rest of the dinner, she could feel Cullen's watchful eyes on her every time she fell silent. He was apparently on guard to make sure she wasn't fading out of the present and back into memories. Diana appreciated it, but she also wasn't used to being watched so closely. She squirmed in her seat as many left to take a post-dinner walk in the crisp night air.

Cullen lingered.

"I very nearly called you Diana," he said, taking the now-vacant seat next to her. "But I thought you wouldn't appreciate me ruining your secret while I was trying to get your attention."

"It's going to be ruined eventually anyway," Diana said, shoulders shrugging slightly. She felt better. Braver, maybe, knowing that she had someone watching to make sure she didn't slip back into the past so easily.

"It's very likely," Cullen agreed. "Do you miss being called by your name?"

"I don't care about people using my real name. I was Herald and then Inquisitor and I don't…" Diana trailed off. Cullen waited patiently and eventually she sighed, rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and continued. "I miss not having to lie all the time."

"I can see why. These past few months must have been tiring."

She felt like laughing. I've been lying for a lot longer than that. Diana had said untrue things all the time as Inquisitor. Yes, we're going to win. No, I don't think we'll die. Yes, I have a plan.

"I used to feel like I was pretending," Cullen said. He had lifted a cloth napkin from the table and was now folding, unfolding, and folding it again and again in his lap. "Playing the part of noble Commander… and playing the part poorly."

She blinked at him. "I didn't ever think you were ever playing a part. I just thought you were… being you."

"It's difficult to tell where I ended and the act began," he said quietly. "I suppose in situations like that, with so many people depending on you, you have to become who they expect you to be; who they need you to be. It's easy to lose yourself entirely."

The hair on the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably. She wasn't sure if she liked feeling like this, feeling so vulnerable and open and like he could read her thoughts and feelings.

Something on her face must have betrayed her, for Cullen said, "We can stop talking about this if it makes you uncomfortable."

"No, I just… I feel like you can read my mind," Diana said, then laughed slightly at her foolishness.

"I wish I could. Perhaps then, I…" he trailed off, a faint blush coming to his cheeks. He focused on his folding more intently. "I learned how to fight the demons that live inside my mind. I know how it feels, how hopeless and lonely it can be."

"Were you always this benevolent and I just never noticed before?" she questioned.

He laughed slightly, giving up on the napkin and tossing it in a messy heap on the table. "We were both very busy during the Inquisition. Not much time for conversations like this."

She nodded in agreement. Maybe it was good that they hadn't been very close during the Inquisition. Maybe their weird friendly-acquaintances history was exactly what she needed in order to talk so honestly to him. Maybe-

A bark interrupted her thoughts.

"Ah, sorry," Cullen said, leaning down to pet Roger. "I should take him for a walk."

Diana and her former Commander both stood. She wiped her palms on her pants nervously. "Can I - do you mind if I join you?" He looked so surprised that she quickly regretted asking. "Sorry, nevermind, I-"

"No! No, uh, not at all. No," he cleared his throat, the blush returning. "I just wasn't expecting you to want to join us. Please, feel free. You're welcome wherever I am. Of course."

So Diana and Cullen took Roger on a walk, winding through the footpaths around the inn. They didn't speak at all as they walked, but it was an easy, good silence. The night air was crisp in her lungs and Diana's legs were glad for the challenge as they climbed a steep incline up to the top of a rocky hill.

"There's a shortcut through a field," she said, pointing, the first to speak in half an hour. Cullen looked at her with steady eyes.

"I'd rather take the long way back."

And so they did.