I often found some of the romance dialogue and progression heavy-handed, which is not unexpected in games with a lot of ground to cover. So I will almost always take liberties with those scenes to reflect what seems like a more natural moment to me.

Go go gadget, love triangle

Sometime later she turned to head back out to the main hall, then noticed stairs leading down from Josephine's office. Curiosity took hold. It led to a massive, long room of columns and paintings. Ash blew a low whistle.

"I wonder how many armies I could fit in here? A small nation, perhaps?" she murmured. "Inquisitor Ashiril, warrior of clan Lavellan, empress of Skyhold, bringer of pain and parties…" She headed through one door to find a dusty wine cellar. The bottles she and Blackwall had started finding around Thedas lined one shelf. A thrill tickled through her. Had he put them there?

She headed back out and… which way had she come? No matter. Another door led to a small library filled with cobwebs. Yet another led to a kitchen with a cook grumbling about missing bread.

"Son a shit griffon…" she muttered as she emerged into daylight. A tall barn rose to her left and stairs leading to the battlements stood before her. She would bet money Blackwall would be walking those battlements, watching like a hawk for signs of trouble.

Ash ran up them, chewed her lip before heading arbitrarily in one direction, cursed colorfully when it ended in crumbling stones, and headed back the other way. At least the view was nice.

She threw open a heavy door to an office. Cullen looked up from behind a desk, startled.

"Inquisitor?"

"No time. Very lost. Send help if you don't see me at mealtime," she waved as she jogged through.

"I…" his voice faded as Ash turned and ran through one of the two doors that stood before her.

"Ah! Promising," she hissed as the main building loomed ahead. She looked over the edge to the people below, briefly considering just jumping the few stories to the ground. But then I'll never figure out how all these places connect. And also maybe break a bone.

A hall into the main part of the castle stretched upward. She slowed her steps as she entered a large, circular room glowing with warm yellow light. Strange, elaborate paintings adorned the wall. A table stood at the center, already piled high with papers and books. Solas stood with his back to her, bent over one of the books. He crossed his arms, uncrossed them, rubbed at his chin, and sighed.

She smiled and strode up behind him.

"This isn't a bad pile of rocks," Ash remarked. He turned sharply, then relaxed at the sight of her. His eyes darted over her as he took in the new attire. His face seemed to color a shade darker. "Did I startle you?"

"No," he moved his head in a single shake, then returned his eyes to his papers. She raised an eyebrow. Even more taciturn than usual.

"I see you've made yourself at home."

"Yes," Solas nodded. "Our talks have inspired me to catch up on some reading. And to make some records of my own."

"Oh?" Ash's interest sparked. "Does that mean you'll have more stories to share soon?"

Solas's lips twitched in amusement. Whether he appreciated the attention or the chance to share his tales, Ash couldn't tell.

"I have a moment now, if you do."

She shrugged. Truth be told, she had been eager to find Blackwall, but there was no rush.

"You know I like your stories. If you've something to share, please do."

"You continue to surprise me. All right, let us talk," he moved around behind her. There was an uncharacteristic playfulness to his tone. "But I've somewhere more interesting than here in mind."

Ash wasn't sure when they'd started walking, or how they made the journey, but suddenly they were moving through a quiet, abandoned Haven. Snow fell gently around them. The sky was bright overhead.

"This is… huh. Why are we here, exactly?"

"Haven will always be important to you," Solas remarked casually over his shoulder as he strode ahead of her.

"Really? It was kind of a shithole."

He chuckled softly. He was still ahead, leading her into a dark dungeon. The coffered ceiling above cast dark blue shadows on the ground around them. Torches flickered warmly against the stone walls.

"I sat beside you while you slept, studying the anchor," his voice held a note of nostalgia.

"That must have been quick," Ash quipped.

"You flatter me," he said. "I did not uncover much. You were a mystery." He turned toward her. Ash felt him regard her with curiosity and interest. Her cheeks warmed. "You still are."

"Now who's flattering who?"

"You think I exaggerate? I ran every test I could think of, searched the Fade, yet found nothing. Cassandra grew more suspicious with each day. She threatened to have me executed."

"Cassandra doles out threats on lives like they were 'good morning's and 'how are you's," Ash said.

"Yes," Solas offered with a chuckle. He turned and walked on. Ash blew out a mildly annoyed sigh.

"I'm still waiting on this story, Solas." She followed him into the Haven courtyard.

"This is your story," his voice was wistful. "You were never going to wake up. And I suspected no less. You were a mere mortal, sent physically through the Fade. How could you? I had no answers. I feared for my own life. And the spirits I might have consulted had been driven away by the Breach."

His earnestness gave Ash pause. He was right. She had never heard this side of her own story. Of his own experience while she lay comatose. By all accounts it had seemed harrowing at the time. He stopped walking and turned to her. He held her eyes with a stern, fervent expression.

"Despite my wish to help, I had no faith in Cassandra… nor she in me. I was ready to flee," he admitted. That drew another smile from Ash.

"Where to? You could no more run from the Breach than the sky. Because, well… you know."

Solas shook his head, almost bashfully.

"I am aware. I had thought I could find someplace to hide, to research, and perhaps find answers. Something to repair the Breach before its effects reached me."

Ash raised a doubtful eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Solas shrugged.

"I never said it was a good plan."

She laughed. He smiled, as if the sound drew it out of him. Then he turned and looked up into the sky, at the bright green tear stretching across it. The Breach still open? That seemed wrong, but his voice drew her out of her musings.

"I told myself: One more attempt to seal the rifts." She watched the back of him as he reminisced. "I tried and failed." He shook his head again, a silent reprimand. "I watched the rifts expand and grow, resigned myself to flee, and then…"

Ash's heart jumped in surprise as she felt electricity pulse through her outstretched hand, her wrist encircled in Solas's strong grip. This was the moment they closed the first rift together. They reached up to the sky in tandem, watching as the intense light flashed and coiled, fighting and losing against Ash's will to shutter it into nonexistence. She gasped as it burst one last time and faded. The recoil of energy into her hand knocked her backward onto the ground. She looked up at Solas, bewildered.

Then she was standing again. The snow was falling quietly around them. Solas paced before her, still lost in his tale. She blinked in confusion.

"And so it would seem you hold the key to our salvation," he concluded. He stopped his pacing a step from her. He tilted his head to the side, regarding her for a moment in contemplative silence. "You had sealed it with a gesture." She could hear the respect underlying his words. That, and something else. Something that made her stomach tighten and her heart quicken. "And right then, I felt the whole world change."

Her face warmed. Did he realize how he sounded?

"Naturally. No more need to flee or dwell in frustrated ignorance," she offered. Her voice shook ever so slightly. She broke away from his stare and looked down. She watched his feet step closer.

"That was one benefit," he said quietly.

"I can't say it was my plan all along, but I'm glad for it."

"I am not often surprised," he continued. He reached out and took hold of her hand to clasp between his own. She had never seen Solas act so boldly. "For all the ways this could have gone, I never expected…"

Ash looked up into his face. He stared at her hand in his. He looked confused, earnestly searching for words.

Solas had been a solid mystery to her since they met. She had never needed to know his secrets. She liked him all the same, with his quiet manner and subtle biting wit. But his mask had been slipping recently. And behind it, she had seen both a harsh, calculating mind, and a soft, aching sorrow. She knew he had grown to appreciate their talks together, but as they stood in the crisp air of Haven, her fingers warming in his gentle grasp, she felt an anxious stirring in her stomach that there was something new in his regard.

He looked back up into her face, a dimple of thought marring his brow. He shook his head and sighed.

"You change… everything."

She stared back at him boldly, keenly feeling the heat rush to her face.

She opened her mouth to speak, breathed in, and hesitated. His gaze flickered down to her lips, pinker from the cold, and he moved a fraction closer. Her fingers tightened on his hand instinctively. The sensation snapped him from whatever reverie he'd been entertaining. His eyes darted back to hers, a flicker of regret passing across them, then he looked away. The hand atop hers fell as Solas began to turn.

Ash didn't know why she did it. She was thrown by the strangeness of being back in Haven, of the intensity in Solas's voice, of the way his eyes darkened when he stared at her. She acted on instinct.

She tugged at his other hand still in hers, drawing him toward her. Solas turned back with a brow knitted in confusion as she closed the distance between them. Her other hand reached up, fingers gently trailing along his jaw to settle against the crook of his neck.

He inhaled slow and deep as if to steady himself. Ash arched up and tilted her head to meet his lips in a quick, searching kiss. She pulled back just as fast. The blush was burning her skin now. Her head rang with white noise. What had she just done? She started to shrink away, struggling to compose herself.

It was her turn to feel strong hands grasp her, fervent fingers digging into her waist as he spun her back around. She didn't resist. Ash sank into him, pressing the length of her body to his, and for a heated moment, he responded in kind. She felt his arms tremble as they tightened on her. His mouth was warm and eager against hers. She could feel the muscles of his back tense as she clenched her fingers against him, balling his tunic in her fists. They broke apart only when their lungs demanded air.

Ash leaned back, disoriented and breathing hard. Solas's skin was flushed, his jaw tensing and untensing with some inner turmoil as he searched her disheveled face with hungry eyes. He shook his head, coming to a decision, and leaned back down for another kiss. She made a small sound of acquiescence and closed her eyes, falling yet again into the feel of his skin against hers. Heat radiated off him. Had he been this warm before? Forceful hands against her hips crushed her closer to him. Fire ignited inside her. This was escalating fast. She buckled against him as desire turned her limbs to useless jelly. His face moved a fraction as he inhaled a shuddering breath, then suddenly, he stepped back, turning his head away with a short, angry grunt. Ash almost stumbled, saving herself the embarrassment of falling to the ground only thanks to fabulously honed warrior reflexes.

"We shouldn't," Solas declared breathlessly. He looked as confused as she felt. His chest rose and fell in rapid, controlled breaths.

"Huh?" she offered dumbly.

"It isn't right. Not even here," he seemed to gather his wits with each assertive statement. Ash processed his words.

"In… Haven? What?"

Her dumbfounded words drew a genuine laugh. He had almost regained full composure. The sudden shift in mood sent Ash crashing back to herself.

"Is that where you think we were?"

"Well… no. Maybe. Something's off," she scowled and looked around. "This isn't real, is it?"

"That's a matter of debate… Probably best discussed after you…" he paused for dramatic effect, "wake up."

Ash bolted upward in bed. Her thoughts were a groggy, confused mess. She looked around. She was in her room at Skyhold, alone. So, it was all a dream?

She touched her lips. No. Definitely not just a dream. Her stomach went through a round of flipflops as the memories of Solas's body against hers came back in full force. It intermingled with frustration and annoyance at his sudden withdrawal.

But, no... He's right, she thought. Ash's face burned with anger at herself. Why had she lost herself so quickly? She'd never looked at Solas that way before. And did she still, now?

An image of Blackwall flashed in her memory, of him growling commands at nervous young men trying to learn how to protect their families. Of Blackwall rushing to shield a commoner who had the sore luck of being in the wrong place in the Hinterlands. Of the way he had looked at her from across the campfire the night she came back to life. Of his everpresent scowl and aloof manner, save when Ash shot him a smile. She recalled the day she surprised him with the first of many Grey Warden artifacts. His stoic façade cracked, that thick beard shifted in a rare smile, and a spark had ignited in her heart that she had yet to quench.

But Solas…

This ambivalence would not stand. Ash sighed and climbed out of bed to get dressed.

In minutes, she was padding softly along the echoing stone halls. She barely registered Varric's friendly hello as she strode past. No time for chats. She had a singular mission.

Solas was sitting at his desk when she walked in, reading to warm candlelight. Oh, great. Mood lighting, Ash thought ruefully.

The elven mage stood at her approach. His eyes glinted in a cursory evaluation of her. Ash felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck and along her arms. The memory of his unhinged kiss was still vivid.

"Sleep well?" he asked in that damnable soft voice. Ash frowned.

"I can't say I feel particularly rested," she remarked dryly. "That was… a new experience. On a number of levels." Solas laughed. She was taken aback at how collected he was suddenly. The passion that had so flustered him seemed as if, appropriately, from a dream.

"Yes, well… I apologize. The kiss was impulsive and ill considered. I should not have encouraged it." It sounded almost rehearsed.

"It was certainly… something," Ash didn't understand his calm. Had it not been mere minutes earlier when he seemed for all the world like he wanted to… Her face grew hotter. "I suppose if anyone is to blame, it's me." He frowned at that.

"I… No. You are not solely responsible. I am more at ease in the Fade about some things. And it has been a long time since…" he shook his head. "I am not certain this is the best idea. It could lead to trouble."

That made little sense to Ash. When weren't they in trouble since they'd met? Regardless, something had changed. She had wanted a decisive push in some direction, and here it was.

"Then, alright," she did not meet his eyes. His cool manner made it easier to erect a wall against the feelings he evoked. And he did make her… feel things. But so did Blackwall. "This is perhaps for the best."

She exhaled a sigh and took a step toward the door. Solas's eyes were fixed on her. He clenched his jaw tightly against the words bubbling up in his throat. It was better this way.

"Indeed. I appreciate that," he said. She was walking toward the exit without a backward glance. His voice dropped in volume. He wondered if she even heard him. "And I will always remember a surprising moment stolen in a dream."