Chapter Text
Tired from the fight, she wandered home. A small cottage, in the middle of nowhere would keep them safe, keep others safe. She had missed him, especially as she had almost died. A dangerous game she played, but she liked that until now. She was tired, of saving a city, the world, everything. All she wanted was so sit down for a moment, have a drink and play Wicked Grace with her friends again. Oh how she missed the company of her closest friends, their stupid remarks and small fights.
The fade wasn't a place she liked, it made her feel helpless. After being in the fade with the Inquisitor, and nearly dying, she was terrified. She would have died for them in a heart beat, but that didn't mean she wanted to die. Hawke knew that the Inquisitor was very important, that only she could close the rifts in the sky, so if Hawke were to die it would be for a worthy cause. The war with the darkspawn was over, mostly. The Inquisitor somehow pulled it off, and the rifts were gone. While Hawke didn't know the full details, nor did she want to. Corypheus was destroyed, that was all she needed to know. "For good this time," she hoped.
Before she left for her cottage, Varric had told her of his plan to return to Kirkwall. He wanted to help rebuild what was broken, and asked if Hawke wanted to help. She did, but she was afraid of how Anders would react. After all Anders had a rather exploding relation with Kirkwall. After hours, she decided she would discuss it with him, she still had her family house and could help him make amends. An idea of opening a clinic for Anders crossed her mind, or even something to help the mages. While these seemed like ideal solutions, she feared what Justice would make him do next, if anything. Over the years, Anders and Justice seemed rather peaceful. While he was still filled with anger, Hawke allowed him to see slight reason, especially that such drastic actions resulted in nothing but a civil war. She wasn't sure whether Anders simply agreed to finish arguing, or whether he actually saw her point.
She was worried about coming home, about how he was affected. Corypheus messed most the Wardens up, which made her fear the worst. Slowly, she wanted to the cottage, their cottage. It was small, but that's all they needed. The cottage reminded her of when she was a little girl, of what her mother gave up to be with an apostate. The door squeaked, as she pushed it open. The cottage seemed tidy, with four small kittens jumping on the furniture. Hawke laughed as she saw them, as she knew it meant their cat had young while she was gone helping the Inquisition. She walked to a kitten and picked one up while stroking it.
"Hello little guy," she whispered softly, while scanning the room for Anders.
As she stroked the kitten, she sat on the bed. Dropping her staff onto the floor, she sighed. Her body ached after hours of travel from Skyhold. As she kissed the kittens head, Anders appeared in the room, with slightly longer hair than when she left. When he saw Hawke, he dropped the leather bag in his hands and ran to her. She jumped up as they hugged tightly. Tears rolled down her cheek as they embraced. All her fears and doubts disappeared, she felt safe again.
"I was so worried for you," Anders almost whispered as he held on tight, "don't leave me again Hawke."
"I won't."