"You two are trouble enough apart; I'm not sure that this pairing of yours is a good idea."

"Two wrongs make a right, Aveline."

"No they don't."

"How are we so bad together?"

"Merrill...well, she's not normal. Then there's that mirror; and you...you lack a certain respect for the rules and that troubles me."

"Oh look! I'm getting relationship advice from the all-knowing Guard Captain!" Hawke chuckled, "Didn't I have to step in to save your own love life from certain disaster?"

"Shut up, Hawke. This isn't about me."

"Oh, do tell! Why is it that only my love life is up for scrutiny?"

Aveline sighed, "I'm just worried about you especially after what happened with Leandra..."

"...and being with Merrill is the only happiness I have right now. She's the reason I'm here. She convinced me to stop wasting away in grief and step out of the mansion to get some sunshine...and stop avoiding my friends."

Aveline looked at Hawke sympathetically, "Merrill is a sweet girl but she's just..."

"...not normal? I consider that a bonus."

"You would, but I still worry."

The door to Aveline's office swung open, interrupting the conversation. Merrill appeared in the open doorway, slightly out of breath as if she had ran through the Keep in order to avoid everything else in it besides Aveline's office. She was wearing a green vest with black pants..shoeless as always. She clutched a blue pedaled flower in her right hand.

"Oh, there you are! I'm so glad you left the estate...not that I don't miss you there, of course; but you needed to get out of there and get some sunlight. It's good for your skin."

Hawke beamed brightly at the sight of her lover. "Oh, there you are!" She moved over to the doorway and embraced Merrill, drew her close to her chest, and planted a quick but passionate kiss onto the elven woman's soft and inviting lips.

The lovers pulled apart and faced Aveline, who was still in shock over Merrill's sudden appearance.

Merrill swung a smile over at Aveline before turning to Hawke, raising the flower she carried up to her lover's chest.

"I brought this for you. I thought of you immediately when I saw it."

Hawke took Merrill's hand in her own and then grabbed the flower, "Oh, it's just lovely! Where did you get it?"

"In the garden outside the Keep. The flowers there are so beautiful!"

Aveline crossed her arms with a scowl on her freckled face, "Wait...you stole it from the Viscount's garden?"

"Well, not really. No one saw me take it."

"Still, you were trespassing, Merrill."

"It doesn't matter because no one caught me."

"I agree," Hawke smiled as she placed her right arm over Merrill's shoulder.

Aveline sighed and mumbled to herself, "Why do I even bother?"

Merrill ignored Aveline and gently grabbed Hawke's hand, "You should put it in your hair. It matches your eyes. They are such a pretty shade of blue."

Hawke gently placed the flower behind her right ear, "It does...is that why you picked this one?"

"Of course, vhenan'ara !" Merrill smiled before planting a tender kiss on Hawke's cheek.

Aveline interrupted the display of affection, "Why are you here, Merrill?"

"Hawke asked me to meet her here after she finished speaking with you. We are going to spend the day together walking around Hightown."

"You could have knocked first."

"Oh? Why? Did I interrupt something important? I'm sorry..."

"No...just...nevermind, Merrill."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, Aveline just has her knickers in a twist today," Hawke grinned as she played with the flower in her hair.

Merrill frowned, "Oh, that sounds uncomfortable...no wonder you're so grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy just...go; do as you wish. Wait...forget I said that. Just stay out of trouble. Try to act like a normal couple as you prance through Hightown. I have enough trouble as it is with the Qunari."

Hawke put on her rarely seen 'serious face', "What trouble is there now?"

"I've heard rumors that the Arishok is gathering elven converts to the Qun. It's causing some unrest in the Alienage. The Viscount is also troubled."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not right now, Hawke. You should enjoy yourself...you need it, " Aveline finished with a sincere smile.

"Alright," Hawke took Merrill's hand into her own, "Let's go see what kind of 'normal' couple things we can get up to, my love! Do you have any advice, Aveline? You and Donnic are as normal as they come."

"Don't do anything illegal."

Hawke grinned as she stole a quick glance at Merrill, "We can manage that!"

Hawke and Merrill entered the bright, sun-lit plaza near the Kirkwall Chantry, hand in hand. The plaza bustled with life under the mid-afternoon sun. The pair walked further into the opening without a word until Merrill finally spoke up:

"Normal things...what do normal couples even do?"

"I don't know, Merrill. Let's try and find one and follow their example."

"That's a good idea."

They both scanned the plaza in search of that perfect normal couple to emulate. "Oh, look at them!" Merrill finally pointed to a man and woman sitting on the edge of a fountain at the end of the plaza, entangled within each others arms. The couple laughed at a joke told by the woman; the man then placed a quick kiss on her lips as he ran his hand through her seemingly never-ending, raven locks. "They look so cute together. We should do that."

"I think I like this idea," Hawke winked at Merrill before the elf hastily grabbed her hand and led her to the fountain. The pair jogged over to the fountain and took a seat on the ledge, opposite the other couple. They sat for a few moments, unsure of what they should exactly be doing in order to be like that couple before Hawke turned to Merrill:

"And...here we are..being normal...Now..."

Before Hawke could finish her sentence, Merrill reached over and grabbed her face, pulling her down into a kiss that lasted a few moments before the elven woman pulled away.

"I think we should be doing this."

"I think you are right, Merrill; but we think too much. We must take action!" she added with mock bravado.

Hawke cupped Merrill's chin with her right hand, pulling her face close to her own. For a few moments, she stared longingly into the large, green eyes of her lover before lips joined with lips. Hawke planted a few short, tender kisses as Merrill's hold around Hawke tightened. Desire grew within the two as their kiss deepened. Their tongues darted in and out of the others mouth; the kiss quickly grew passionate; both lost all sense of time or place. A soft moan escaped from Hawke's lips as Merrill's hands explored her back and chest. Hawke pulled away from the kiss for a moment, before diving in again, gently rubbing the center of Merrill's lower back, a known weak spot for the elf. Merrill responded by drawing her human lover even closer against her body. They continued their kiss and feel fest until bellowing laughter drew them from their little slice of paradise:

"By the Maker, what are you two doing?"

The couple pried themselves free to address the source of the disturbance. A city guard was standing a few yards away with an amused expression written all over her face.

Hawke, relieved that the guard wasn't angry, chimed in first in mock defiance, "What does it look like, guardswoman?"

"It looks like you two need to take this somewhere private, Serah Hawke."

Hawke surveyed the area beyond the guardswoman and spotted a few gawking nobles, their faces showing obvious discomfort over discovering Hawke making out with her Dalish lover in the Chantry plaza.

She ignored their disapproving looks and turned to the guard, "We weren't doing anything wrong."

The guardswoman chuckled, "Sure, but just take this somewhere else. Your disrupting regular Chantry business."

"It's not our fault people can't mind their own business. They need to carry on with their worship without bothering about what we are doing," Hawke replied. "That would be the logical course of action."

The guardswoman became more stern and impatient, "Just take it elsewhere."

"Fine, we will."

"Excellent. Good day to you, Serah."

The guardswoman left the pair sitting on the fountain's ledge. When she left their sight, Merrill turned to Hawke and whispered:

"Did we do something wrong?"

"Maybe..." Hawke knew they were probably disturbing the other residents of Kirkwall and breaking some law that dealt with too much kissing in public but didn't want to spend a moment dwelling on it. "We should do something else, I suppose. We could go to the market and walk around there. Aveline takes Donnic there all the time...but I doubt they have anything that would interest either of us."

"I have an idea!" Merrill sprung up and grabbed Hawke's hands with conviction and drew the human up from her seat on the fountain. "I've always wanted to show you this but never got the chance."

"What is it, Merrill?"

"I'll show you, Hawke. It's a place I found a few years ago."

"Where is it?"

Merrill, still holding tightly to both of Hawke's hands, pulled her towards the Chantry. "Just follow me. I think we can both get in."

Merrill continued dragging Hawke towards the Kirkwall Chantry. They both entered through the large front doors and walked further into the large cathedral that formed in the main area of the building. The Chantry was relatively empty given the time of day with only a few sisters about. They paid little attention to the pair as they traveled further towards the center and the large statue of Andraste.

"Um, what are we doing here, Merrill?"

Merrill ignored Hawke as she led the human further into the building, up the left-hand portion of the stairwell that surrounded the main alter.

They reached the summit of the stairs and then Merrill made a sharp left turn, dragging Hawke down a narrow hall-way. They continued on almost to the end before Merrill suddenly stopped them, still holding tightly onto Hawke's hand.

Still confused, Hawke asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"Oh, look! You lost your flower."

"I did?" Hawke pawed at her hair around her right ear. The flower was gone; it must have fallen from her hair while sitting on the fountain...

"I'll have to get you another one."

"Oh, thanks."

"The door's right here, come on, emmalath."

The elven woman led the human through the door which opened up into another stairwell. They continued to ascend towards and unknown destination...unknown to Hawke at least. She thought it mildly funny just how easy it was to break into the inner depths of the Chantry...you'd think there would be more security.

Eventually, Merrill found what she was looking for; a door at the very top of the stairwell that led to possibly the highest floor of the building. It opened up into another tiny hallway. "This is it," Merrill whispered to Hawke. The human continued to allow her to lead, not knowing and not particularly concerned where they were going to end up.

Merrill stopped before a small, wooden door against the left wall. She grabbed the brass handle protruding from it, "I hope we can still get in here. It's been awhile since I did this." She turned the handle and with a click, the door opened up, revealing a vacant apartment filled with dusty furniture that had long gone unused. Against the far wall was a large set of glass doors that led out into a balcony. Before Hawke could study the room, Merrill led her over to the set of doors that opened up to the balcony.

Aveline would approve of this! Hawke mused to herself. Breaking and entering into the upper levels of the Chantry...totally a 'normal' couple thing to do!

Merrill and Hawke stepped through the doors and onto the balcony. Hawke's silent amusement over Aveline's possible reaction to their indiscretion ended as soon as she saw the view of Kirkwall from the balcony; it was marvelous! She could see the harbor stretching out to the horizon with the mid-afternoon sun glistening over the water. She could see all of Hightown and Lowtown and...the Gallows. Her thoughts immediately went out to her sister, Bethany. She wondered what her little sister was doing at that moment; holed up in the oppressive fortress. She hoped she was safe there...and happy. A twinge of anger rose up inside as she remembered that day Cullen took her away from them...

The touch of a hand on her own interrupted Hawke's reverie. Merrill smiled, "Isn't it all beautiful? All of it!" Merrill gently squeezed her hand.

Hawke could barely speak. She was slightly out of breath from running up all those stairs while the view took the remainder of her breath away but somehow she managed, "It is...how...how did you find this?"

"I was lost one day and ended up here. I don't know how, but it happened," Merrill walked over and leaned against the railing with a contented smile on her face.

Hawke knew she wouldn't get a straight answer but still pried , "Yes, but how did 'being lost' get you here?"

"I don't really remember, but it did. That's all that matters, right? It's so beautiful..."

Hawke laughed to herself and walked over to Merrill's side to join her against the railing, "Yes, that's all that matters."

Both women stood in quiet contemplation as they studied the glorious view of the city. They watched the inhabitants of the Chantry plaza below going about their business, unaware that two pairs of eyes were studying them from such a height. It all seemed simple to Hawke from this vantage point; it was just the city in itself minus all the politics, minus the struggles of daily life, minus the Qunari, minus the murders and cut-purses, minus her mother...

"I used to come here when I was feeling lonely," Merrill broke their thoughts with her confession. "It made me feel better and a bit less lonely."

"Why come here? This makes me feel lonelier."

"It did at first," Merrill scratched her head, "Then I thought about it more...and seeing the entire city from this point of view made me realize that I was just...another tiny part of it all...just like any other. I felt a connection." Merrill sighed, "I know that sounds crazy. I'm not making sense, am I?"

"No...you're not crazy. I understand." Hawke assured her truthfully...It was a strange feeling...almost surreal; looking at your life from a detached vantage point made you realize the specific things that were important...

"Good, I was worried you wouldn't..."

"I guess this is what Sebastian meant when he said the Chantry brings a soul peace."

"Well...I don't know...I still don't believe most of what he says but the view from the Chantry is lovely." Merrill smiled and then turned away from Hawke and gazed aimlessly towards the city for a few minutes before interrupting the silence again, "You really miss her...your mother...I mean."

"Every day I wake up in that house and it hurts that she's not there anymore. I have the house and the noble title because of her. It doesn't really mean anything now that she's gone. I don't care much for it anymore. Bethany's gone too. Carver never made it to Kirkwall..."

Merrill stepped away from the railing and placed her arms around Hawke's waist, bringing the human in close contact with her own body. She buried her face under Hawke's neck and whispered softly, "I brought you here today because you seemed awfully lonely."

"I was, but not anymore."

They held each other as the sun continued it's descent over Kirkwall.

They exited the Chantry as nightfall fell on the plaza. Walking hand in hand, they progressed unopposed towards the Amell estate until a familiar voice called out, "There you are? I was wondering what you two had gotten up to."

"We broke no laws, Aveline, if that's what you're worried about. Have any of your guards reported us?"

"No."

"Good."

"That's not very reassuring. What did you two do all day? Why were you in the Chantry?"

"We...prayed or something. What else would we do?" Merrill giggled as Hawke wrapped her arm around the elf's shoulder, pulling her close before kissing her forehead.

Aveline rolled her eyes and rubbed her right temple slowly. A weary breath escaped her mouth as she spoke, "Just...go home...both of you."

"We can do that."

Hawke and Merrill laughed together as they left the Guard Captain's scrupulous gaze and traveled home.