"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
It is a fresh thing between them and—oh, what a relief it is. It feels like a fresh start, washed clean in his very presence, washed clean by the waters of this new life. There are no scars between them now. There are no poisoned words or ancient hurts or flinching at the feel of his lips against her. She is new with him and there is nothing but joy reflected back in the glittering depths of her hazel eyes as she takes him in.
“Home. Let’s make it home,” she says quietly into him, feeling her heart leap into her throat. “Be its,” she pauses to correct herself, “by my Champion.” It is the greatest show of trust she can show him. That she can show everything within her home—all of Beqanna—to place the honor on his shoulders. She knows that they once stood on opposing sides of a war but she holds nothing from him now.
“I trust whatever you need to do, Vulgaris.”
She would support him in his quest to find a way to protect them, just as she would support him if he had nothing but his wits and his God-given gifts. She’s never thought that his strength came from the sharp edge of his teeth or the scales that adorned his body. Just as she has never shied from the danger of it.
“We will have it,” she assures him and she pulls on her gift to let the rest of the party melt away. For a second, the area around them goes hazy and then grow dim. She smiles up at him and lets her illusions melt away to leave her as herself. Within a breath of time, she finds the mahogany and crimson of her natural form, ivory flowers blooming in her mane and draping down her dappled neck. “We will have everything that we have always wanted,” a quiet promise between them. “Everything.”
it's only you and me there until the darkness calls let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes
Every second in her perfect presence helps him untangle himself a little more, makes it just a little easier to remember who he was before the curse. Once upon a time, he believed he must be the son that Beqanna loved most of all. The wind was always at his back and the sun never shone too hot across his skin in even the depths of summer. Beside her, beneath her loving caresses, he feels that fortunate once more. After a lifetime of resigning himself to seclusion and darkness, he’s learned that he’s taken this world for granted.
Be my champion, she says. His dark face turns toward Hyaline’s lake and his sage colored eyes seem to watch something miles away from here. Could he be trusted? Before dying, he had wanted only to be a dog serving at a master’s feet. Vulgaris wanted only to be a nameless servant of Loess who could be forgotten as easily as a blade of grass in endless fields. There would be no lower place to fall, he told himself. But it is Leliana who asks, for her sake.
“I will protect you for as long as there is breath in my lungs,” he finally says as he turns back to her, pressing his face to her neck as he breathes her in. Then she proclaims her trust for him still and he feels himself smiling before he could even consider trying to hide the bashful expression. How could someone as perfect as her love him after all these years? Someone as lowly and simple as him? A breeze tangles his mane lightly with hers and he laughs softly but doesn’t bother to pull away even as her illusions slip away.
He smells the flowers in her hair as they bloom open once more. She swears her oath to him but he can only shake his head softly.
“You are all I have ever wanted. And more.”
In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing
Don’t look for me; don't look at me
Entire fields of flowers blossom in her breast at the feel of him wrapped around her. She is made anew within his embrace, and she can only press her forehead into him, can only wonder at the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter how they have hurt each other before. It doesn’t matter how they have let the other down. It doesn’t matter because they both lay it to rest together. There is nothing to adorn the tombstone; it is just an unmarked grave and they can move forward with peace in their hearts, understanding finally.
There is the barest of smiles at the corner of her mouth as she looks up at him. “Maybe I will protect you,” she laughs, a rush of wind coming up from beneath them, circling around them with petals and leaves and blades of grass. But it dies as quickly as it came, leaving her looking at him with a softer gaze, unspoken emotions glimmering. “I know that you will always be there to protect your family,” she says, even though she doesn’t think such a thing needs to be said. “I believe in you.”
She tips her head back to look at him and then reaches out to press a kiss against the corner of his mouth. “You found your way back to me,” and there is a tear that falls down down her cheek. “I found my way back to you.” Her lips curve just slightly and then she ducks her head, suddenly shy before him, feeling so raw and vulnerable as she feels the swell of emotions rise in her breast—threatening to sweep her.
Leliana shakes her head again.
“We finally have the chance we’ve always wanted.”
She looks up again, looking at him through the tears in her eyes.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
it's only you and me there until the darkness calls let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes
All the scars across his tattered heart heal and return to perfect pink flesh that’s never known the pain of betrayal, of being the traitor. The soft animal of his love learns to stop running and instead begins to calm beneath her touch. The chase use to be all he knew but now his soul just aches to rest in her summer embrace for the rest of time. Maybe even longer than that. When she laughs, the world laughs with her as the breeze tangles strands of his mane with hers and tucks flower petals within her locks.
He can only smile and laugh in return until she grows serious, yet still delicate with her voice. I believe in you. The words are a hymn to his tired soul and he feels anointed by those five little syllables. A quiet hum of contentment finds its way from his lungs when she kisses him and he’s quick to press his lip against her nose.
“I will always find my way back to you. In the darkest night or most violent storms,” he mumbles quietly so only she can hear. And he knows the same holds true for her because they can never be torn from one another again. They have forged this bond in the deepest fires and stared death itself in the face to reach this tranquil, happy ever after. Eternity yearns to be as powerful as their love. Vulgaris leans his head over hers and keeps her close as his mind goes silent for the first time in maybe ever. This is the kind of peace he had always dreamed of.
When she finally looks up again, he watches the tears fill to the brim of her adoring eyes and he tilts his head curiously. Leliana is so vulnerable here and he wonders if the rest of the world knows how much she loves it. She would break her own heart in a million pieces just to keep others safe. Maybe that’s what he loves best about her. Maybe that’s why she has the capacity to love him at all. But he only laughs softly and kisses at the highpoint of her cheek.
“Maybe we could take a walk down to the river. Start over where it all started.”
In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing
Don’t look for me; don't look at me
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