Someone was touching him but he couldn't find himself in the dark. The unbearable pounding of his head and a blackness covering his eyes was all there was. Panic took hold over him as he struggled to feel the rest of his body; a decision he regretted the second sensation flooded back into it and a sharp pain bolted through his chest.

He heard a scream and realized it was his own voice. Other voices weaved with his own but they sounded so far away, muffled. Sebastian tried to find his tongue, to ask words that made no sense to him until a familiar voice pierced the fog and formed itself out of air and vibration and resentment.

"Stop moving, will you?" it said, annoyed.

He obeyed because there was nothing else he could do, except feel the warmth that had started to ease his pain and was spreading slowly from his chest to the rest of his body. He tried to remember what had happened but memories were fuzzy, slipped away every time he tried to focus on them. Still, he kept trying to catch them with an urgency he couldn't comprehend.

The other voices had disappeared and Sebastian was afraid he might be left alone in the darkness forever. Until he found a small flicker of light somewhere deep inside the dark and he moved toward it, held on to it with all his strength. A sudden peace started beating, guiding him toward his heart, where he found the bright face of the Maker's bride, smiling down on him. She extended her hand toward him and touched his face lightly while her own face changed; her golden long hair grew darker and darker, until it was black and short like a raven's feathers framing her pale skin; her eyes became a pair of azure jewels staring at him under dark eyebrows. Even her gentle smile was now hinting at a brush of irreverence hiding in the corner of her mouth.

In that second, everything that had happened came back to him.

"Hawke!" Sebastian shouted as his eyes snapped open.

"Finally!" Anders said, not able to hide completely the relief he felt. "About time you woke up."

The mage's face was hovering above him. Sebastian tried to raise his left arm to grab Anders's shoulder but the pain forced a grunt out of his throat.

"Stop. Don't make me tie your arm to your body with a binding spell. Cause I'll do it gladly."

"Where is she?" Sebastian asked, feeling the place where the arrow had almost stolen his life from him with his hand, too light-headed to attempt to raise his head from the floor.

"She left to face the Arishok and I'm stuck with you, trying to save your pious life."

His heart stopped for a second, then started beating faster.

"We need to get to her, Anders!"

"No, I need to get to her. You need to stay here and rest. You almost died."

"NO! I need to reach her!" Sebastian shouted and struggled to stand up.

"Damn you, you're so bloody stubborn. Alright, but if that wound reopens and you bleed to death it won't be my fault."

"Thank you, Anders. Now help me up, will you?"

Anders glared at him but his urge to reach Hawke was too great to stay there having a discussion with Sebastian. And he had promised her he would save him. So he stayed silent and helped Sebastian up, a groan coming out of the prince's throat.

The mage half-dragged Sebastian across the long hall that lead to the Viscount's Keep throne room, no words coming out of their mouths. The door was open when they reached it; the qunari didn't stop them from entering but they heard the double doors close behind them with a sense of finality that made them nervous.

They could see a circle of qunari fencing the center of the great hall, where a battle seemed to be happening. But neither Sebastian nor Anders could figure out what was going on until a couple of the horned soldiers dragged them to where Aveline and the rest of their friends were standing, along with dozens of Kirkwall's nobles. Surprisingly, Isabela was there too.

Only then could Sebastian see that Hawke was battling the Arishok by herself.

He vaguely heard Varric explaining the moments that had led to this duel, but his gaze was stuck on Hawke; a vile of fear rose to his throat as he watched the Arishok grabbing her by the neck and lifting her off the ground.

She was gasping for air, struggling in vain to free herself from the iron grip of the Arishok. Sebastian could see how weak and battered she was and, for the first time, the real possibility of losing her settled like the touch of a cold metal in his heart. He envisioned his life without her and a fierce determination flooded through him. Sebastian reached behind him to grab his bow but the pain made him wince before he could even move more than an inch.

"Settle down. We cannot help her..." Anders said, eyeing one of the qunari who was fencing the duel, his voice mirroring the impotence and rage he was feeling. Sebastian knew the mage was right and so he did the only thing he could. He prayed.

Please, Andraste, keep her alive...

Hawke embedded her fingers on the Arishok's arms and, tapping on the pool of mana she had left in her body, channeled a storm of lightning directly into her huge opponent. She fell to the floor as he screamed in pain and rage and she tried to scramble away from him, trying to catch her breath as she retreated as far as possible. But she didn't stop to rest, she couldn't, so she got up, dizzy, and ran.

The room was slowly spinning around her, exhaustion replacing energy as it left her body through sweat and blood. The Arishok seemed unbeatable, relentless, and he was walking toward her, dragging his ax behind him. She could scarcely feel the mana that flowed through her veins, but there was another song reaching her ears, faint, alien but familiar at the same time, and her gaze drifted from the giant to the open wound that his ax had left in her left arm; there it was, her blood dripping out from under her skin, suddenly shining with a red haze that beat along with her heart, a melody that promised immense power if only she dared tap into it. And, suddenly, she was afraid, not of her enemy, but of herself. Hawke doubted, knowing what it meant to give in, knowing once she chose that road, there was no coming back; a deeper instinct made her unlock her eyes away from her wound and look for her friends.

She found Sebastian among the multitude staring back at her with fear. He was alive! The light in his eyes scattered the temptation of blood magic from her heart like a torch making the shadows flee.

She rolled away just in time to escape the Arishok's fury and hit him on the back of the knee with her staff, forcing him to stumble, giving herself time to put some space between them. She ran, limping, to the other side of the room, and, using her last reserves of energy, began to summon the last spell she had left in her. She concentrated, keeping her eyes on him as he approached her, weakened too by the battle that seemed to have been going on for ages. She knew he had no more healing potions left, and so she waited until the very last second to unleash a ball of fire on the Arishok. An enraged scream stormed savagely from his mouth as he was set on fire, and Hawke seized the opportunity of his crazed pain to stab him through the heart with the edge of her staff.

The Arishok fell to his knees, and then to the floor, as life left his eyes forever.

Hawke leaned on her staff, panting; it was all she could do not to collapse. A loud cheering erupted all around her, her own name riding the wave of grateful voices and applauds. She raised her eyes and found familiar and unfamiliar faces surrounding her, pouring out relief and joy from their eyes and lips. She couldn't help but smile back at them despite her exhaustion, her smile widening when her friends made their way through the crowd to reach her. Her gaze caught Isabela's, but only for a second; she was standing behind the others, fidgeting as she looked back at Hawke. A moment later, Hawke found herself inside Sebastian's one-armed embrace; both careful not to further hurt the other's battered body, both speechless when they looked into each other's eyes and recognized the emotion living in there.

A commotion at the doors interrupted them and Hawke turned around in time to see Meredith running into the Throne Room, branding her sword as if she was ready to slice the Arishok himself with it. She stopped abruptly when she absorbed the scenery in front of her.

"Is it over?" the Knight-Commander asked as the rest of the templars followed her into the room, along with First Enchanter Orsino.

Hawke nodded, "It's over."

A clamor raised above the crowd: "The city has been saved!", followed by more cheerful celebration and voices shouting Hawke's name. Meredith stared at the crowd and frowned. She grudgingly put her sword away behind her back and said, "It appears Kirkwall has a new champion."

Hawke straightened her back and allowed herself to smile at Meredith's words. Her the champion of Kirkwall? She liked the sound of that.

Anders closed the door behind him, making sure he didn't make a noise. He found Hawke sitting outside, waiting, and sat down next to her, enjoying a moment of rest.

"How is he?" she asked, every word full of concern. After the Knight-Commander had taken charge of the situation and had dismissed Hawke and the others, Sebastian had almost collapsed from his wound. They had carried him to Hawke's estate; she had decided to put Sebastian in one of her guest rooms so she could be closer to him as he healed.

"He's sleeping."

"What happened?"

"I'm guessing the adrenaline kept him going. He should have rested, but he insisted to get up and reach you. It seemed almost as if something had given him strength..." he looked at Hawke and then at his hands. "Anyway, with the adrenaline gone..." he shrugged.

"Will he be alright?"

"Yes, he'll be alright," he said and watched a sigh escape her lips as they parted, erasing the line that had been on her brow. He added, "But enough about him, it's your turn now."

"I'm fine," she replied, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

"And I'm Andraste's knickers. Come on, let me take a look, Hawke," he said as he leaned towards her.

"Fine."

Hawke watched his hands as he worked through the worst of her wounds, even though she had gone through them herself earlier while Anders tended to Sebastian. The truth was she could use his help, as she was too battered and tired to heal herself fully. Mostly, she needed a good sleep but that would have to wait.

When he had done what he could, Anders leaned back, and, letting out a long breath, closed his eyes and relaxed. He was exhausted.

"Thank you..."

Hawke's whisper made him open his eyes. He was about to smile at her when she added, "Thank you for saving his life." This time she was looking directly at him.

He frowned. "I did it for you."

"I know."

The frown remained on his brow as he struggled to ask the words that had been burning in his heart for months.

"Why him?" he finally said, letting the rest of the question imply: why him and not me.

She lowered her eyes and stared at the axe wound on her left arm, remembering that moment when the temptation had almost doomed her and everything she loved and believed in. If it hadn't been for Sebastian...

"I used to ask myself the same question all the time. Why him? The one who seemed to be the opposite of who I was."

"Used to?"

"Yes. Used to."

"Not anymore?"

"No."

He paused. Then, "Why not?"

She looked into his eyes again. "Because I don't care why anymore. It just is. I cannot change that fact that I love him."

Anders doubled over himself as if Hawke had just punched him in the gut.

"But he is so..." he said with a grimace that made the frown travel to Hawke's face.

"So what?"

"So righteous. So full of himself."

She chuckled, amused by Anders's expression. "I don't know... Sometimes I think he is happier than you and I, Anders. And he—"

Anders's snort cut her short. "Please. He is blind, that's what he is. Ignorance is bliss, don't they say that? Blindly following the words of oppressors."

Hawke shook her head. She had been about to tell him that Sebastian had saved her back at the duel with the Arishok. But she now felt that Justice had invaded their conversation. "I don't think you are right on this one. I think he has found something we haven't; some truth that connects him to some light we haven't found yet, that makes him be at peace most of the time."

Anders stared at Hawke, unbelief pouring out of his expression. "You are talking about the man who embarked on a quest of revenge after his family was murdered? I don't see a lot of peace there."

The frown returned to Hawke's forehead. "He did what he thought was right at that time."

"Don't we all?" Anders's brown eyes locked into Hawke's.

She stared at him and answered after some time. "It's not the same..."

Anders's nostrils flared. "How is it not the same?"

"He has doubts in his heart. He wanted to walk away from it all when he realized the price he would pay might be too high. Too many lives would be lost."

"So? That only means he has no backbone! A coward who is not willing to do whatever it takes to have justice be done!"

A strange fear nestled in the pit of her stomach when he heard his words. Or Justice's words. Somehow, she knew they were no longer talking about Sebastian.

"Whatever it takes? No matter what?" she asked softly, scared to know the answer.

"Of course!" He was too angry to think.

"Even if it meant to hurt the people you love?" she insisted and waited.

Anders hesitated and looked at Hawke, at her soft skin and sad blue eyes. Could he? Would he? "Sometimes, there is only one way to change the world..." he whispered, looking away. He couldn't face her gaze.

Hawke lowered her head, a sadness she could not face creeping over her heart. So she stood up without a word and walked away from him.

"Hawke, wait!"

"I need to check up on him..." she said, opening the door to Sebastian's room and not turning back.