"Thank you all for coming," Hawke said to her friends as they sat around her dining room table. "It's that time of year again, when it's up to us to take care of those destructive night gangs. And in honor of Sebastian joining us for the first time in these raids, I decided to make it a rogue night. Any objections?"

Varric shook his head. "Point the way Hawke, easy coin for a night's work."

"I love a good night on the town," Isabela said. "And the added bonus of getting their stuff!"

Hawke explained the usual plan for Sebastian. "We'll head out just after midnight. Isabela will be, well, Isabela, and flaunt herself as she does. Then when the gangs strike, we'll hit back."

"Is that not dangerous?" Sebastian asked, slightly concerned for the pirate.

"Watch and learn sweet thing," Isabela cooed. "Meet at the Hanged Man? I need to see Martin to stock up."

Hawke nodded. "We'll start there. The Dog Lords have been making life miserable for the locals. Even Gamlen's been complaining about the barking all night. A shame really that they are raising the mabari's to kill innocents. If you can, spare the dogs."

Sebastian couldn't help but smile. Here she was discussing the slaughter of several dozen men and women in the next few hours, and she was more concerned about the animals. "You never cease to amaze me Hawke," he said.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I love mabaris! I am from Ferelden after all." Her mabari, Talyn, as if on cue, released a long soulful howl from the living room.

Over the next hour, battle plans were hashed out and positions were assigned on the large maps of Kirkwall that Hawke had spread out across the table. Sebastian was fascinated with just how well organized she was, and the leadership that she handled with ease.

As Hawke walked Varric and Isabela to the door, Sebastian remained. He remembered the first time he had witnessed Hawke dealing with the night gangs in Hightown. It seemed like so long ago, before he had come to be part of her group of companions. They had only talked three times before; when she avenged his family, when she came to the Chantry after a bad dream, and the night he carried her home when she was too intoxicated to get there on her own.

It was also the night he discovered that she was a mage.

Back then it meant a great deal, finding out that she was an apostate. Lately, Sebastian realized, he only seems to remember that fact when it comes up in conversation, which usually leads to an argument of some sort. When she returned to the dining room, and her lip curled ever so slightly, Sebastian forgot about it again.

Dearest Father,

What a night, I don't even know where to start! We set out to rid the city of some pesky problems, and I ended the night more confused than ever.

First we ventured through Lowtown, taking on a group of thugs that called themselves the Dog Lords. After a brief exchange of words before they attacked, it was clear this group was from Ferelden. More refugees no doubt, struggling to survive in the city, but unfortunately they were hurting innocent people, so they had to go. Their leader, Cor Blimey, was easy enough to find hiding in some decrepit alley.

Our next stop was the docks, where a gang who called themselves the Undercuts were trying to run the place. They would harass passengers from late night ships coming in, go through cargo as it waited on the docks to be brought to storage... there was no end to their crime and corruption. Their leader, a man named Kanky Hammertoe (I mean really Father, who runs around admitting to a name like that!), was hiding in a run down alley in the northeastern section of the docks. Three rogues in the group? Piece of cake!

Hightown is where things got interesting. An all women gang calling themselves Invisible Sisters, were spread out all over town. The plan we had been going with, Isabela drawing them out, wasn't going to work with this group. So I had to get creative.

"Wait for me behind that wall," Hawke whispered to Sebastian. She handed him her staff, and then quickly walked away before he could protest. Varric and Isabela were on the other side of the courtyard, already hiding within the shadows of the large columns.

He watched from his hiding spot as she entered the courtyard, her hips swaying with a purpose he didn't yet understand. It was surely distracting to him, but if Isabela in her barely clothed body wasn't going to get this gang's attention, how was Hawke?

And then he realized her plan. Slowly the coinpurse on her hip was coming loose. When the velvet pouch hit the ground without a sound, Hawke continued a circle, walking around the other side of the courtyard, and stopped to pick a flower from a nearby flowerbed before disappearing back behind the wall where he was waiting for her.

Quickly Sebastian grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, thankful to have her out of harms way. Without her staff she was defenseless if the gang had chosen to attack her alone, and the thought both frightened and infuriated him. He opened his mouth to begin scolding her for her actions, but was stopped when she pressed a soft finger to his lips.

Two members of the Invisible Sisters were already descending upon the find, hoping to grab it and run before the person who dropped it realized it was missing. Isabela immediately jumped out of the shadows to attack, Varric backing her up with Bianca.

Sebastian and Hawke didn't realize that their friends had engaged in combat. The close proximity to each other, Hawke's finger brushing his lips, and his arm tightening around her waist, had the two of them lost in their own world, oblivious to the fighting a few feet away. She stared intently into his deep blue eyes, wanting and begging silently for him to finally make his move.

He didn't do it Father. We were so close, I was so sure it was going to happen, but then Isabela called for healing and snapped us out of our private reverie. We rushed to assist, taking out the remaining members of the gang, and then headed to a seemingly abandoned house to find their leader.

Sebastian remained quiet the rest of the time we spent together, and when we had completed our mission, he retreated back to the Chantry. I guess he needed to return to his safe zone, to the place where he feels most comfortable, because apparently I have the opposite effect on him.

I saw it in his eyes, felt it in his touch. He wanted to, I know he did. Maker knows I wanted to. Maybe I'm the fool for continuing to wait for him. Maybe he'll never figure out what he wants, and I'll forever be stuck here, a pathetic pining girl hoping for just a kiss.

It would've been an amazing kiss.