Coming Home

When they finally made it back to Kirkwall, it had been a grand total of a month spent away. Marian entrusted her share of the funds to Varric, knowing that as a business man he would have a much better idea of what to do with it than she had. She insisted that Fenris and Merrill take some for themselves, for their time and effort, and both of them also entrusted it to Varric, neither elf having experience with money beyond going to the market.

"Give one of us your pack, Hawke. You should go home to that baby of yours. Tell her Uncle Varric says hi."

"I don't remember having a dwarven brother..." Marian pretended to ponder as she took off her pack.

"After what we just went through, I've decided to replace Bartrand with you." Varric smiled coyly as he picked up her pack. "Broody, Daisy, if you could follow me to my place, I don't want to carry all four packs."

"Of course!" Merrill responded quickly. She loved spending time with Varric, he was like an older brother to her as well.

"I'll join you in a moment." Fenris said softly, and Varric gave him a knowing smile before leading Merrill towards the Hanged Man. Once they were out of earshot he turned to Marian. "I... I want to..." The words caught in his throat. He didn't know how to speak his thoughts into reality.

"It's alright, Fenris. Take your time." She smiled softly, her gaze attentive and gentle.

"I... I enjoy your company. Would you please come visit me soon? You can bring Liz if you want to, I enjoy her company as well." He scolded himself internally. That wasn't what he wanted to say. Maybe he could have his thoughts put together by the time she came to visit.

"You'd have to bar the doors to keep me away, Shiny." She chuckled, then put her arms around him, hugging him loosely so as not to hurt herself on his armor. He put his arms around her instinctively. Years of physical touch meaning pain made him wary of allowing anyone close, but this woman, this marvelous woman, she could touch him as much as she liked, and he would never complain.

"I am looking forward to your visit." he whispered.

"Looking forward to us being alone, perhaps?" She whispered back, a light teasing tone to her voice. She pulled away just enough to look at his face, the slight flush of his cheeks, the way his emerald eyes flicked down to her lips before making contact with her own. "If you're waiting for my permission, you have it." She said softly, hoping she had interpreted him correctly.

He leaned in slowly and pressed his lips gently to hers, unsure of himself, but wanting to try nonetheless. She returned his kiss without hesitation, tender and gentle as she cupped his jaw. Touching her felt like finding a safe haven, and he wanted to nestle into the moment and make it last. Eventually she did pull away, her hand lingering on his jaw for just a moment before pulling it away.

"Thank you, Fenris. I'll see you soon, alright?" She smiled at him, her own cheeks lightly colored.

"Yes." Was all he managed to respond with, and she giggled. He spent a moment watching her walk towards home, She had worn leathers instead of her usual robes for this mission, and he could admire the curves of her body this way. Once she turned a corner out of his sight he sighed softly and made his way to the Hanged man, finding himself suddenly very eager to go to bed.

-

"My baby! Oh Elizabeth, how I've missed you." Marian dropped to her knees next to her child playing on the floor as soon as she entered the hovel. Liz turned her attention away from the wooden blocks she was playing with to look at the interruption, then erupted into squeals when she recognized her mother. She crawled over to her, climbing into her lap. Marian scooped her up and peppered kisses all over her face.

Leandra allowed her girls their moment before interrupting. "I'm so glad you've come home, darling! It's been so long, I prayed for you every day. Oh! You've just missed Anders by the way, he was here this morning, he wanted to give Liz her breakfast before he started working for the day."

"That's nice. Where's that dreadful brother of mine?" She changed the topic quickly, not wishing to discuss Anders right now.

"He... He joined the templars."

"He did what?! Why would he do that?!"

"Bartrand returned to the city without you, we feared the worst. He wanted more reliable work, and as a Templar he would be able to hide Liz's magic better, assuming she gets it."

"I suppose that makes sense, but now that I'm home won't he be required to turn me in?"

"If he's already making plans on lying for his niece, I'm sure he'll lie for his sister."

Elizabeth grabbed onto Marian's leathers and pulled herself up to standing in her Mother's lap.

"What? Oh my goodness, when did you start doing this?" She asked her baby, and got only a smile in response. She had three teeth now, she'd only had one when Marian left. "Oh, look at your smile! My big girl is growing up so fast." She beamed at her baby, ignoring the pang of regret at having missed out on these developments.

"Anders said she's developing just as she should be, and that she's very healthy. I'm glad her father is also her doctor. You were such a pain whenever we took you in for a check-up."

"Well if Father had been the one doing it I'm sure it would have gone much smoother."

"He was no healer, he specialized in the elements of nature, just as you do." Leandra smiled softly at her daughter. "Your father was so excited to have you. Every day he would make sure to have time just for the two of you to cuddle and play together. Anders is very much the same."

"Please don't compare them, Mother."

"I'm simply stating an observation. I know that you and Anders have been going through of a rough patch, but please, consider giving him another chance. Liz deserves to grow up with both of her parents raising her."

"You remember what he did, right?"

"I do. While you were gone, Anders had the misfortune of coming over while Carver was home. Carver pummeled him, and Anders didn't even put up a fight, he just accepted his punishment. He knows he did wrong, and feels terribly for it. If you give him another chance, and it doesn't work out, you can always tell Carver."

She stared at her mother for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, I'll think on it. Happy?"