Velanna felt Nathaniel's eyes on her.

So far they hadn't exchanged words since she had brought him out of his private dream...and she currently preferred it that way. I had to kiss him didn't I? Her forehead creased into a frown even as her lips quirked into a smirk, it was hard to be annoyed with herself for such a decision, though she did try.

It was impossible to see it as a bad decision, it just...it was...impossible... Velanna found her frown fading as the smirk turned into a smile.

Damn, I ought to focus.

Behind her she sensed Nathaniel shift his feet as they stood before another white wall that their prison had erected. It only made her smile widen. Not used to being led are we? Nathaniel's tracking skills were useless in the fade, which he had admitted with the same calm neutrality as ever...yet by now there was a tangible frustration in his stance, an annoyance with having to follow, to be passive.

Velanna found it amusing.

Sigrun, who seemed to take anything thrown at her with dark humour and an even mood, seemed ready to stand behind the mage forever. And even Mhairi had seemed to come to accept the necessity to follow the elf through the strange land they were in. Only Nathaniel resisted it, refusing to accept himself as dependent, as weak.

Like me. Velanna's smile was nearly painful, the self-critical thought sitting oddly...well with her by now. It wasn't so...painful to think herself similar to a human, even something one would call a weakness.

Focus!

Shaking her head Velanna narrowed her eyes at the white stone before her, tapping it gently with her staff and feeling it waver, like a sheath rather then something solid...which after all...nothing around them was.

A deep breath. Commander... Another. Lynn Tabris... A third, her staff pushing against the stone, digging into it. In pain.

Nothing happened, making Velanna frown.

Sad?

Nothing.

Hate?

Nothing.

Confused? Shocked? Afraid?

Still nothing, the stone before her merely solidifying as her focus wavered.

"This is...vexing." She murmured, glaring at the stone.

"What are you doing anyway?" Mhairi asked, the knight shifting, uncomfortable with all the magic around her, no doubt thinking herself becoming tainted with it as the Ferelden fools usually did. Nathaniel's a Ferelden fool too...

Feeling her shoulders drop Velanna decided to play things nice, though she didn't turn away from her work as she neutrally replied: "Trying to establish a gateway to our Commander. Now be quiet...please." A minuscule snort of amusement escaped Sigrun at that, making Velanna frown. I can be nice when I want to...

Something happened.

A ripple in the wall before her, making her blink in surprise.

Nice?

A ripple once more, a tentative opening, not quite right...yet close to the mark...

H-happy?

The ripple turned into a shudder, a swirl of darkness within the wall.

Happy. Velanna couldn't believe she was picturing it, but she did. The Commander, Lynn Tabris...happy.

With a thump the gateway became 'solid', the edges of the dark hole lined becoming lined with lichen for some reason as Lynn's dream pushed through the pathway.

This is...unexpected. "We're supposed to go into that?" Nathaniel asked, sounding tense, Velanna only nodded, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I..." She nodded again, hesitated, then shrugged. "...yes...let's go."

A step forward was all it took.

With a thud Velanna found herself bending her knees to ease the impact of her dropping onto soft ground. The others quickly following, Sigrun grunting slightly as the dwarf fell comparatively further then the others due to her height.

Looking around herself Velanna found her eyes widening in surprise.

They were at the edge of a clearing in a forest, a forest of tall trees full of luminous green leaves slowly shifting in an ethereal wind. Above them the dark night sky opened up, revealing a large white moon and shining stars...all strangely...peaceful.

It was not what Velanna had expected.

Beneath their feet the grass was dark green and fresh, smelling faintly of dirt, solid and comforting.

She hadn't expected that either.

Ahead of them there was light, warm, living, comforting light...drawing the group's gaze. It was a simple fire, large yet calm...warm...inviting. There was another fire further away, but that one looked cold and uninviting...frightening even...Velanna instantly decided to ignore it and focus on the main camp.

Around it dark shadows of people sat upon fallen logs, apparently not the least bothered by the new arrivals at the edge of the camp. Some were talking, some were simply basking in the firelight...it was a scene of tranquillity. Why...didn't she come from Denerim? This looks like...a Dalish camp. Hesitating Velanna inched closer, the others silent shadows at her back.

The play of a lute softly rolled through the clearing.

A giant of a man, still dressed in full armour despite the late night, standing apart from the others, glared at the approaching group when they came closer. With his greyish skin he already looked part demon, his purple eyes strange as they bored into the group, making Velanna feel even smaller then she already was in comparison to him.

He made no move to bar their way though as he harrumphed and continued his slow march around the camp, hand moving up to push something small into his mouth.

Those closest to the approaching group was an odd pair, a male elf and a dwarf...Velanna heard Nathaniel and Mhairi both mutter something under their breaths, though she herself couldn't understand why. The dwarf was ugly and looked drunk...but other then that there was nothing odd with him, as for the elf...he simply looked too mischievous as he eyed the dwarf's ale.

Further away two women sat, one old and grey-haired, bent over her staff as she used it to poke the fire, eyes kind. The other was a red headed woman in one of those atrocious Chantry robes, but there was an oddly un-priestly smirk on the woman's lips as she slowly played on the lute in her lap, a smirk aimed at...gods.

Lynn looked...healthier. She was still gaunt and pale, but now more naturally so...healthily even. Dressed in nothing but a brown tunic the elf sat on the ground, one hand idly scratching the back of the ear of a massive Mabari hound lazily stretched out over her pale legs. She didn't seem to see the others, her amber eyes soft as they gazed into the fire, a content smile on her lips.

Her other hand was reaching up and back over her shoulder, holding the hand of a tall human sitting on the log behind her...whose abdomen she currently rested her head on as the pair rested in silence. The man was tall, blond...and looking down at Lynn with such kindness and unspoken affection that Velanna found herself struggling for breath all of a sudden.

He was a demon, she knew it...yet it was infinitely hard to believe it as she saw him...saw the utter and complete selflessness nearly glowing from his being.

And in contrast to Nathaniel's dream it didn't feel wrong...changed.

It was a true, unaltered memory.

Velanna swallowed.

Found herself unable to walk forward, to end it.

She looks so...happy.

The elf still didn't see them, her gaze finally leaving the fire as she looked up at the man she rested again, smiling softly.

He needed no further invitation, bending down where he sat he kissed her lightly, yet his lips lingered, holding hers just a bit longer, as if unwilling to leave hers.

When they finally parted Lynn's ears were visibly red, her breathing heavier, lips still formed for a kiss as she with closed eyes kept leaning back against him.

The man chuckled at her expression and muttered something inaudible, making the woman smirk, the hand scratching the mabari momentarily darting up to playfully smack the man in the chest.

Another song of the lute, slow and soothing, making the elven man yawn theatrically and stretch his arms out, nearly catching the elder woman's shoulder, earning him a scolding look from her that earned a soft chuckle from the gathered group.

It was...tranquil.

"I...can't..." It was a mere whisper escaping her lips.

Velanna winced and looked away, away from the whole person before her. Back in the real world their Commander was a sick beast, harsh and cruel, ready to sink its fangs into anything...a monster, a dog so whipped it hated everything.

Here she was a woman, happy...relaxed...content...who was Velanna to take it away from her?

Without her sister Velanna felt haunted...torn...constantly driven, as if something was pushing at her to move on. In a way Lynn seemed to be the same...yet it was too much...too many losses...too much grief...yet here she had found peace.

It was like seeing the sun for the first time.

"I can." Nathaniel muttered, even less passion in his voice then usual as he brushed past Velanna and marched towards the camp.

"Don't-" Velanna's protest died in her throat as the lute's playing stopped with a twang of a broken string.

All eyes were suddenly on Nathaniel, the soft whispers having stopped, the calm broken, the tranquillity gone...now there was only a guardedness as the demons impersonating strangers eyed Nathaniel with strangely neutral gazes, the demons too caught up in their act to truly be angry any more...infected by Lynn's calm.

And Nathaniel just stood there, eyeing the one they had come for.

The woman seemingly didn't notice him, or that the atmosphere had changed, her eyes still fixed upon the man she rested again, drinking him in, as if...in a hurry?

She knows...?

"Commander." Nathaniel's voice was low, yet demanded attention, a careful probe at the nearly unrecognisable woman before him.

The elf didn't react at first, eyes large as she kept staring at the man, her shoulders tensing up, breathing becoming more laboured.

Then a whimper escaped her, a pained little sound...

Only then did she turn her head, looking over at Nathaniel, a hint of wetness in the corner of her eyes. "Nathaniel..." The name was spoken...and the elf shuddered, looked away, the hand in the man's clenching his tighter.

A worried whine escaped the mabari at her feet, the demon playing a dog shooting its mistress a questioning look...then whined again at the pained look she shot it.

It rose...and trotted away, disappearing into the darkness.

After having looked after the mabari with longing eyes until it had disappeared Lynn turned her eyes back to Nathaniel...then shifted the gaze over to Velanna.

Pain.

Velanna winced at the naked emotions looking back at her, yet found herself unable to look away as Lynn spoke: "Velanna..."

The giant patrolling the camp turned to dust, the distant fire containing something unwanted flickered...then died.

Another turn of her gaze: "Sigrun."

The dwarf and elf faded away, turning into ash before their very eyes, the demons holding their forms silently banished, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to remain.

Another turn: "Mhairi."

The two women faded away, the woman playing the lute shaking her head in mute sorrow.

And then only they remained, the real people, Lynn...and the man that didn't even seem to notice them, his soft gaze fixed on the elf below him as he kept holding her hand, his other coming to rest on her shoulder, squeezing it softly, begging.

"You..." Mhairi's voice was choked, small. "...knew this was a dream?"

"I've...experienced this before..." Lynn answered, looking down at her lap. "I.." She hesitated, her eyes suddenly so expressive that Velanna couldn't look away from them, despite the pain it caused her. "...knew you'd find me in the end." She looked up, at Velanna...and the mage found tears trickling down her cheeks, the words were meant to be kind perhaps...but it felt like an accusation, a painful accusation...shaming her.

"I..." She tried to answer, but no words came. Wish you could stay...

The other elf nodded, smiling at Velanna despite her eyes brimming with tears, understanding. "It's okay..." She moved to rise-

Yet could not move as the man behind her kept his hand on her shoulder. It wasn't the demon acting though, trying to keep its grip on her, it was the man...clinging to her. Even his voice was kind...but tinged with sadness. "Lynn...please...stay..."

Lynn hesitated.

Then smiled, reached up and pried the man's hand off her shoulder. It was easy, the man wasn't resisting...only looking at her with eyes like a puppy, silently begging.

She released his hand, slowly, fingers lingering against his before pulling her hand away, putting it down in the dirt as she pushed herself up and around, onto her knees.

She looked up at the man...who by now was crying, his hands hanging limply at his sides, powerless. "Stay..."

Again she hesitated.

Again she acted, shaking her head. "Alistair..." A choked sound escaped her, her small frame shaking as she bent forward, hand coming to rest on the man's cheek. "...soon...my love..."

She kissed him, carefully, softly, as if afraid he'd shatter by anything more.

The kiss lingered.

She only reluctantly moved her lips away from his, shaking nearly uncontrollably as she took a step away, then another, her voice small and quaking: "I...I'll a-always...M-Maker..."

A sob and she looked away, hands coming up to her face.

The man began to fade, yet didn't seem to notice it as he stared up at the woman, grieving with her, his voice fading, distant: "But I love you..."

"A-and I y-you..." Lynn visibly swayed as she moved to walk away, as if drunk. Her arms dropping to her sides, revealing eyes firmly closed, as if trying to stem the flood of tears pouring out of them: "Wh-which is w-why I c-can't c-ome wi-with y-you..."

A gush of wind and the fire died out, the man disappearing, the stars flickering into darkness, the moon simply fading away.

Leaving only darkness.

Lynn's voice was but a whisper in the darkness: "Th-the r-real A-Alistair w-would ha-have k-known th-that..."

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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for being as great as she can be.