I'm keeping track of all the requests, and they will ALL be written! They're amazing! :D I'll be posting a few pre-written ficlets for about a while, as I've just got back to college and all these lovely exams D: so, never fear, suggestions are... Near?
Lots of introduction on this. I always get a little carried away with the Hawkes... Oh, and this is the same Marian Hawke that features in 'Reflection'. I have many Champions. :L
We Are One (The Lion King 2) – Malcolm and Marian Hawke
Malcolm was fond of taking his eldest for long walks through the woods and fields whenever the twins were sleeping. Marian was only seven, but there was a seriousness and understanding in her that seemed twice that. And of course, there was the magic they'd found in her a few years ago.
Was he proud, or pained? Sometimes Malcolm wasn't sure. But whatever happened, his little girl would be free. She would never be a slave of the Circle. That was why he brought her out here – the only time you were truly free, he often said, was when you were outside society's eye. With nature.
A strangled cry from behind him made Malcolm spin around – Marian had tripped, and was nursing a cut knee, trembling and trying not to cry. She was a fighter, he knew, and almost smiled as she stubbornly denied the tears. She would not cry in front of anyone.
"Here," he sighed, healing the scrape with ease. She looked at the freshly knitted skin curiously.
"How do you do that, daddy?"
"Magic."
"Like I have?"
Malcolm chuckled. "Yes, like you have."
A serious expression crossed her little face. "Why do we have magic, daddy? Ser Corren was telling the others in the Chantry that magic is dangerous."
Malcolm sighed. "It's no more dangerous than a sword or a bow, Mari."
"But, they're very –"
"I know. But they can be used for good, can't they?" Marian nodded, slowly. Malcolm smiled. "Exactly. One day, Mari, you're going to be a mage like me. The Maker gave us our power. So we can use it for good things."
"Like you use it for good things?"
"Like protecting the ones you love," he explained. "One day, Mari, you're going to be head of our family. Using your magic to protect mother, and Carver, and Bethany – that's good."
The little girl looked unconvinced. Setting her down on her feet, Malcolm turned her to face her, a tired smile on his face. "As you go through life, you'll see there is so much that we don't understand," he explained. "And the only thing we know, is things don't always go the way we planned." She looked confused, and Malcolm motioned for her to follow him. "But you'll see every day, that we'll never turn away. When it seems all your dreams come undone, we will stand by your side, filled with hope and filled with pride." He shot a bolt of fire at a dead branch, setting it alight before quenching it with ice. Mari clapped her hands, enthralled. "We are more than we are," he said, profoundly, "We are one."
They walked in silence for a while, as Mari digested what he'd said. She eventually piped up. "If there's so much I must be," she began, slowly, "Can I still just be me? The way I am?" She skipped over a stone and looked up at the sky. "Can I trust in my own heart, or am I just one part of some big plan?"
"Even those who are gone are with us as we go on," replied Malcolm, thinking painfully of Ser Carver, the Templar who had helped him escape the Marches. If he could have been here, he would have done everything in his power to protect little Mari. "Your journey has only begun. Tears of pain, tears of joy; one thing nothing can destroy is our pride," he repeated, "deep inside, we are one."
The sun was sinking in the sky, now, and Malcolm pointed at the horizon, where the sun was starting to meet the fields in the distance. "We are one, you and I, we are like the earth and sky, one family under the sun." He hoisted his daughter onto his shoulders as their little house came into view. "All the wisdom to lead, all the courage that you need… You will find when you see, we are one."
Setting her down outside the door, Malcolm dropped to one knee, his hand under her chin. "As long as you live here," he told her, "it's who you are." He kissed her head tenderly before going into the house, leaving Marian to ponder.
All those years later, Malcolm's little girl still repeated that lesson to herself every morning.
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I love this song so much. It's so... Profound. And it's the song of basically every fandom.
Up next: Brosca always has to keep one jump ahead in Orzammar.