When I Look at You (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Rose

During their travel the next day, Alistair kept his distance. Una couldn't tell if he was still angry or not.

As they left the shady spot where they had paused for lunch, Leliana was walking with Zevran, ostensibly to keep an eye on him in case his wounds pained him any further. Alistair hung back, letting the other two walk ahead. He liked to have the elf in sight. Just in case. He didn't see Morrigan, as usual, and Grenli was chasing a butterfly by the side of the trail. Una had been leading as they left the glade, but now he didn't see her.

Until he passed by a pair of beech trees growing by the wayside. Una stepped out from between them. Her green armor, an ancient elven set they had found in a ruin in the Forest, had blended right in with the trees. "Alistair?" she asked hesitantly. "Can I talk to you?"

"Did you know that armor completely camouflages you in the trees?" he grumbled, but he let her fall in step with him.

"I did know that, actually. It's one of the reasons I like it. Also, it's comfortable and it moves well." Her voice trailed off, and they walked in silence for a few minutes. "Um, Alistair.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about yesterday. You were right, that was reckless and impulsive and stupid, and I could have gotten us all killed. I'll pay more attention next time." The words spilled out in a rush.

He glanced sidewise at her. She was staring down at her boots as they scuffed along the track. Alistair felt a strange combination of guilt for making her admit she was wrong, pride in her that she was able to, and triumph that he'd won the first battle of wills. "I shouldn't have yelled at you about it," he said. "I could have been more, uh, thoughtful in my criticism."

She grinned. "I wouldn't have listened. Sometimes you have to beat me over the head to make a point."

"I'll keep that in mind."

As she thought about the literal beating they'd tried to give each other the day before, she said, "Or maybe we could just learn to communicate more effectively. You know, without the fighting."

"And never figure out which one of us is better?" His eyebrows lifted. "This is a question the ages insist must be answered."

"You're on, buddy. I'll wipe the floor with you."

"You wish."

They both laughed, and walked for a while in companionable silence. Much better, Una reflected. Then she remembered the object in her pack. "Alistair, wait a second, will you?"

"Sure." He stopped walking, watching her curiously as she jumbled things around in her pack until she found what she sought carefully tucked away in the bottom. Alistair assumed it was some trinket she'd picked up at a vendor's stall somewhere. She did that, bought little things the rest of them liked just because. It was a generous part of her nature. Although come to think of it, Alistair thought, none of them had ever gotten anything for her. Maybe he'd have to work on that.

Una straightened up, handing him a small bundle wrapped in a piece of soft wool. As he unwrapped it, he could tell by her air of expectancy that this was no ordinary trinket. Then the wool fell away, and he stared at the amulet in his hands. "This— This is my mother's amulet! It has to be. But why isn't it broken?"

Una explained that she had found the amulet in Arl Eamon's desk when she was looking for more vellum. She'd guessed it was Alistair's mother's amulet as soon as she'd seen it, assuming that Eamon must have painstakingly put the pieces back together.