TheWild Fox was a small merchant ship, mostly trading in silks (officially, that is. The unofficial trade was raw lyrium). On the crisp winter's morning Fenris carried an unconscious Anna on board, gently like a mother with her precious baby. He hid her in the captain's quarters, and passed several expensive jewels to the beady-eyed man to ensure their privacy for the long journey to Kirkwall.

As Fenris laid Anna out on the rough but clean linen sheets, he could hear the creaking and rustling of a ship being ready to leave the harbour, and the calls and general noises of its crew. Fenris looked at Anna and felt his heart ache at the sight. In her heavy bandages and covers, she looked more dead than alive even though he knew that the healing he had done in the hospital had saved her life. Her lungs, while not fully functioning, now drew in air on their own, no magic to sustain them. Her eyes moved in dreams beneath freshly formed eyelids, and on her head a gentle downing of yellow hair had begun growing. The skin covering her damaged limbs was no longer black and cracked, but even though new skin had begun forming it was still raw and split easily, leaving gaping maws of tender flesh. The damage to her bones, they had said, was too deep for any healing magic and she would never fully be able to walk or move her arms. But that did not matter to him; if she lay like a helpless babe for the rest of her days, he would love her and care for her all the same. She was his templar. But more than that, she was the love of his life, the woman he wanted to call wife, the woman who miraculously still carried his unborn child.

Fenris placed a basket full of ointments, creams and bandages on the floor next to the thin cot that served as a bed, and carefully set about caring for her. Each part of her burnt skin was covered with soothing creams, ointments were rubbed into her scalp, carefully dripped into her eyes, rubbed on the inside of her mouth to accelerate the regrowth of her teeth.

He could hear sailors move in the corridor outside, but the money he had paid for passage had also paid for their privacy and thus no one as much as touched the door handle. He was immensely grateful for this; the captain might have been a greedy bastard, but he was a man o0f his word. Once he had been bought, he stayed bought.

Fenris carefully touched Anna's mind through their bond, searching for any pain, but found only peace and calm. It was as if she floated peacefully in an ocean, rocked by its waves and protected by its depths. No pain or fear could reach her there. If he had the possibility, he would have joined her – but someone needed to care for her wounds. And he did not trust anyone in the world to do so in his place.

He leaned in and kissed a soft, uncovered cheek where the skin was still freshly healed, bright and pink.

"I love you" he whispered. "You are everything to me."

Weeks passed uneventfully as The Wild Fox crossed the Seas; dully, uneventfully, slowly. Each day Fenris cared for Anna, told her stories, rested beside her, explored her mind, and tried to learn more about this power that throbbed within him. He wondered if it was because if this power Hadrianus had been so interested in him; was that why he had been chosen to receive the markings that stripped him of everything he was and gave him unending pain? He didn't know. Would never know, for his previous master was dead by his own hand. He could not bring himself to regret it.

Anna, who laid next to him on the thin cot, moved in her sleep. She had been having lucid moments lately, although she spent most of her time asleep. He hoped today would be the day when she would open her eyes and know who he was. Fenris sat up slowly, carefully watching her face for any sign of consciousness. His heart skipped a beat when she opened her eyes and they were free from the film of confusion that had been there before. She made a noise that was probably meant to be his name, and he pressed a mug of water to her chafed lips. She drank eagerly, and once she had had her fill she coughed softly and licked her dry lips.

"Fenris" she whispered in a voice hoarse with disuse.

"I'm here" he replied, breathless with joy at finally hearing her voice again.

"Where are we?" she sighed, eyes already sliding closed.

"Three days journey from Kirkwall, they tell me." He picked up a bowl of mostly cold gruel. "Please, try to eat. You need it. "Anna frowned unhappily, but obeyed. After a few mouthfuls, she grimaced and turned her face away.

"No more" she murmured, sounding exhausted.

He held her close to his heart as she fell back into a healing sleep.

They arrived in Kirkwall an early morning in the first days of spring, and he carried her through the city towards the Circle, where he hoped to find healers that could help her. First Enchanter Orsino received Fenris with kindness, and he immediately had his best healers brought to attend Anna. When Fenris was reassured that his templar was well looked after, he reluctantly followed the Enchanter into his office.

He sat down in an elegant chair, stuffed with down and covered with expensive silk, and accepted a small glass of some sort of spirits.

"What happens now?" He asked, looking thoughtfully at the golden liquid.

"We will give you basic instruction, but from what you told me about how you healed Templar Hawke immediately after her… incident, my instincts tell me that you ought to head to Skyhold as soon as you can. Your powers are unlike anything I have ever seen before. However, first I suggest that you travel to Lake Calenhad – the best healers in the known world are there. Healers far beyond the skills of my best mages. They can help Hawke in ways we cannot even begin to fathom."

Fenris nodded thoughtfully. He was still far from pleased with the idea of being called "mage", but if it meant that he would get to have Anna, he could manage. He thought of all they had suffered through, all that was left for them to face. Then he remembered the gentle swell of her stomach, of the child growing there. It did not matter what was to come ahead; they would face it together. They were a family.

He returned to Anna's bedside, and took her damaged hand in his healthy one. With his other hand he stroked her stomach, feeling the ridges and indents of the scars there. It was a miracle that their child was still strong in there, still holding on. He leaned in and kissed her left cheek, the one who was grotesquely unmarred amongst the ruin. Into her good ear, the one that heard him, he recited quietly: "My heart it is brighter than all of the many stars in the sky, for it sparkles with Anna. It glows with the light of the love of my Anna – With the thought of the light of the eyes of my Anna.1[1]"

Anna opened her eyes and smiled for the first time in months.

"That was beautiful" she sighed. She squeezed his hand carefully in hers, looking at him through lowered lashes.

"I thought…" she said quietly, not wanting to utter the impossible words. She didn't need to. He moved closer, moving his hand from her stomach to her left cheek, the one who had been left unmarred as she burned. It felt good, like it belonged there. He chose to ignore that the rest was a mangled mess of charred flesh, scar tissue and small patches of fresh skin.

"So did I" he replied, in the same hushed tones. "I thought..." his voice trembled slightly with the impossibility."I thought I would lose you both." The thought of living without her was like ice in his veins. She turned her head, kissed his palm.

"But you didn't" she murmured. "I live. She lives."

"She?" He blinked in confusion.

"Didn't I tell you?" And from Anna's damaged throat rose a sound he had for a time thought he would never hear again. Laughter. The same sweet, teasing sound he remembered from the first time he saw her. "We're having a girl."

End.

[1] Edgar Allan Poe; "For Annie", name changed to fit.