Family
Morgana
She never knew her family, and yet she knew them well. It's complicated to explain, but she tries.
They'd seen Genetivi's assistant and done their duties for the day, so she'd been happy to visit his sister with him - like him, she'd been naive enough to think that he would be welcomed with open arms. That maybe, like the dream, there would even be pie.
Leliana went to speak to the Orlesian woman selling the impractical wares - scents and silks, was it? - and they stepped inside the house, easing the door open and peering around.
She had recoiled at the sight of this... washerwoman that had almost spat upon him, only just stopping herself flinching at the venomous words Goldanna spouted.
She had known that he'd pinned many hopes on this visit, but it didn't quite sink in how much he was hurting until she saw his hand shake on his sword for the first time since she'd known him, the templar's set of his face (calm but blank, always blank), the ominously unusual silence on the way back to camp.
She shook her head when he thanked her, saying truthfully that it hadn't cost her anything - an act of kindness to a friend, that was all.
He'd looked slightly surprised at this, and she wondered when she started thinking of him that way.
He looks up as she sits next to him, offering him an apple picked from a nearby tree. He takes it, thanking her and trying valiantly to smile.
A deep breath. "She never knew you, never made any impact on your life." She doesn't quite know how to explain this. "When I said I had no family... I lied." He looks at her, frowning. "Well, not lied, more... phrased it badly." She is staring into the fire again, a habit she has acquired on their travels, partly so she won't see his face. "I had my family in Jowan, in Anders, maybe even Irving. He tried to make the Tower a home for me, tried to make me accept that I wasn't getting out again. And now I've lost them all, just in different ways." She stops - why is this so bloody hard? "Mages can never know their parents by blood, so we choose our family." She looks to him. "And so can you."
"I... never thought of it that way."
"Your family are those who stand beside you. She didn't. You choose who you trust with your heart." She smiles, even if it's slightly sad. "I, er, have to find some firewood." Any excuse to give him the time he needs.
When she looks back, he's still staring into the fire.