Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Even the tranquil in the room remained quiet while observing her sudden intruders. The girl was short and her hair very long but apart from that she could have easily been taken for Isabela's sister. The girl's skin shone with a dark, Rivaini shade and her dark hair was held back from her face with a bandana; even her ears were adorned with big golden hoops. It was clear that she was Rivaini, and that Isabela had helped dress her.

"Umm, Isabela," Varric was the one to break the silence, "is there something you want to tell us?"

Isabela thought about it for a moment, wondering how she was going to play this. She didn't want to give the impression of being… caring.

"Oh yeah," she eventually said in a matter-of fact voice, "I have a tranquil here whom I think really deserves to be, well you know, not tranquil anymore. I was thinking that perhaps Justice could help with that."

Nobody replied, they were still in shock. Eventually Hawke had to say something.

"Isabela… how… what?" But before Isabela had a chance to reply Anders cut in.

"Isabela, if we agree to help you, and that is if agree to help you, we will still want information. And you should know that I'm not even sure if we are able to help you. The reversal ritual is difficult and it has hardly ever been done."

"Not to mention," Hawke said, "it would be such a shame if she turned out to be a blood mage."

"I am not a blood mage." Everyone turned to look at the girl.

Hawke stepped closer into the room and without giving Isabela as much as a look started talking with the tranquil. Hawke knew that if Isabela didn't want to say something, there was nothing in the world that could make her reveal her secrets. The mage also had to admit to herself that she was irritated with Isabela for keeping this from them. They were supposed to be friends.

"Who are you?" Hawke asked the tranquil.

"My name is Aisha," the tranquil replied in a monotone voice without blinking.

Anders followed Hawke's lead and walked into the room, also facing the Rivaini girl.

"Why were you made tranquil, Aisha?" He asked her.

"I don't know."

Isabela tried one of her usual grins and tried to hide the worry in her eyes.

"See, she doesn't know," she said, "doesn't matter. Can we just fix her?" The pirate received no answer, "pretty please?"

Hawke and Anders looked at each other for a little while, seemingly having some sort of silent conversation. Hawke lifted an eyebrow at Anders butAnders just shrugged; he wasn't exactly an innocent and didn't feel like he could judge the pirate. The mage could feel Justice in his head, pressing him to try… Aisha was most likely innocent. No mage deserved tranquility.

"Okay," Anders said.

"Okay?" Isabela asked, she hadn't expected him to actually say yes, "so you will do it?"

Anders nodded.

"I will try with Justice's help, but I can't promise anything."

"And," Varric added, "we still want to know what you are doing with a tranquil. A Rivaini tranquil at that. Your people don't follow the chantry, so I'm guessing there is a story there; knowing you, a good one at that."

"I will tell when she is restored," Isabela said, but didn't mean it. She did not like talking about her past and had no intention of starting to. They would just have to be pissed off with her later, but then maybe Aisha would finally be herself.

Hawke nodded, she didn't believe that the pirate would actually tell but there was something in Isabela's eyes that made Hawke wanting to help her. And if Anders didn't mind…

Varric sighed.

"It's late," he said, "We are all tired. Perhaps it is time to call it a day?"

Isabela nodded eagerly, it felt so invasive to have her friends in her room. She wanted them to leave, to remove them before they kept asking questions… before the stupid tranquil said something they would both eventually regret. She let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding when Hawke nodded and her intruders finally left. Then Isabela walked forward and closed the door behind them. This was one of those nights when she did not feel like going out and finding somebody else's bed to sleep in. The pirate turned around and reluctantly faced the tranquil, the shell of the girl who had once been her best friend, her partner in crime, her… lover.

"Naishe," the girl tried to get Isabela's attention, and the pirate twitched at the usage of her birth name, "what is going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry your pretty head with," Isabela replied, trying to sound light but failing miserably. She had had Aisha for a few months now, hiding her from the world. She had had no plan, until she had, having her ear to the ground as usual, heard about a tranquil who had reversed the rite of tranquility, since then the pirate had been wanting for the right opportunity to bring it up with Anders. It was so handy being friends with a possessed mage. It was probably good that her gang had found out about Aisha, now she could get help, but it didn't make Isabela feel any less uncomfortable about them having been in her room.

"I would like a bath," Aisha suddenly said and Isabela nodded absentmindedly. She knew that if Aisha asked for something it was because she needed it, not because she fancied it as such. "We'll go to the bathhouse in the morning."

...

The most popular bathhouse in Low town had dirt on the floor and the tubs were rarely clean but there were private stalls and hot water. That was all a stranded pirate could ask for. It was very early in the morning as Isabela guided her tranquil friend through the streets in order for them to take a bath. She needed one herself anyway.

"Hot water, one hour." She said to the elf by the front door and threw him a couple of gold coins, ignoring his raised eyebrows and smirked at the thought of two women sharing a bathtub.

Inside the room, Isabela turned her back as Aisha removed her clothes and entered the tub. Then the pirate was quick to remove her own clothes too and slipped into the warm water. She took up one of the soaps she had brought with her, threw another one to Aisha and started proceeding to wash her body. Aisha mimicked her movements.

When the actual scrubbing was done, Isabela sank down in the water enjoying the warm sensation. The tub was large and square, something Isabela appreciated. This meant that she could lay on her side, facing away from Aisha so she didn't have to look at her or even acknowledge that she was there. The pirate closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time in days. She had been tense ever since Aisha had moved in with her.

Isabela's calm moment was over when sudden small hands were touching her back, scrubbing with the soap, kneading the skin. Isabela tensed up and turned around, pushing Aisha's hands away.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, trying to cover up the apparent and unwilling sign of arousal that her chest was showing.

"I was washing your back." Aisha replied, her voice void of emotion, "like I used to when we were young."

"Don't ever touch me." Isabela said and went out of the bath to get her towel. Her relaxing moment was over and Isabela felt furious. Furious with Aisha for being a tranquil and furious with her body for longing for Aisha's touch, for even reacting to it when Aisha wasn't herself. Anders needs to fix this, Isabela thought to herself as she quickly dried and got dressed, motioning for Aisha to do the same.