Chapter Text
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Waterdeep
Freya slowly opened her eyes at the weak sunlight shining through a small opening in the curtains, feeling completely warm and comfortable. She was lying with her head on Gale's chest and felt it slowly go up-and-down with every breath he took, his arm loosely around her waist. Glancing up, she smiled at seeing her husband, her husband, still fast asleep, looking more relaxed than he'd ever done in the time she'd known him.
The only time she'd ever seen him even slightly as relaxed as now was back at Moonrise Towers when he confessed his feelings for her and she replied that she felt the same. She still remembered the relieved sigh he let out when she told him she loved him as well, at that point still on that idiotic suicide mission that Mystra had put him on and hoping that he could spend what he thought was his last evening with her.
With her support, Gale had recovered the crown of Karsus and had delivered it to Mystra as he had promised and in return, she had cured him of the orb that threatened his life and the lives of everyone around him. A part of Freya wanted to rage the words "why didn't you do so sooner?!" at the Goddess, but she kept her mouth shut, although she wouldn't be surprised if Gale knew her thoughts as she had made her opinion about the stupid suicide idea more than clear and she had never been so utterly glad when they managed to destroy the brain without Gale needing to sacrifice himself.
Seeing him sleeping so peacefully next to her after the exhilarating night they had made Freya realise it had all been worth it in the end. Gale was fine, she was fine. Everyone was fine and now, she and Gale could start the next chapter of their lives together without having to fear either Gale blowing up or the both of them turning into mindflayers. She started to smile as she looked at her wedding ring shining in the sunlight.
They'd been married for less than 24 hours and she still could barely believe it. They had obviously sent out invitations to their friends who were still in Fearun, but only Astarion and Shadowheart had been able to come as everyone else had their duties to attend to. Freya smiled as she remembered Shadowheart telling her that she had first gone back to Baldur's Gate to pick Astarion up before heading to Waterdeep.
This way, they could set up a tent together to protect Astarion from the sun during the day and now that she was a full cleric of the Goddess Selúne, Shadowheart honestly didn't mind travelling throughout the night at all. Freya had joked that she was glad Lae'zel was travelling space with Orpheus so that it was guaranteed at least one of them would arrive with how much the Githyanki and fellow half-elf hated each other in the beginning of their journey and they had both immediately cracked up at the idea of the two of them being forced to travel together
Feeling Gale slowly starting to stroke her hair after a while, she looked up to see him smiling at her and she immediately smiled back. "What were you thinking of to have such a big smile on your face, my darling?" He asked, not that he obviously minded. Seeing her so happy and knowing that he (hopefully) was the source of that happiness made his heart lift after months and months of carrying the weight of his orb around.
"About how incredibly happy I was that at least two of our friends made it, one even having ensured the other would be there. It wasn't everyone like we wished fir, but it was enough." She explained and he smiled as he kissed her forehead and she smiled back, before snuggling closer. Tara had wisely decided to bunk with his mother for the night after they both had wholeheartedly approved of his relationship with Freya.
Her having tried her very best to help him get rid of the orb had quickly endeared her to them when he officially introduced her to them (after Freya had quietly made a joke about Tara honestly sounding like a lower, genuinely nicer version of the hag Ethel and now, he could never unhear it). He hummed in answer as he was glad that two of their friends had made it too. If he had to be completely honest, he'd actually been jealous of Astarion once upon a time as he and Freya had seemed pretty close in the beginning, but she had explained that they were simply best friends.
Her past hadn't exactly been nice and easy either to the point that her mother had been the only family invited and she had simply recognised the signs of a fellow survivor in Astarion, even if he had it a hundred times worse and vice versa. They were more like honorary brother and sister if anything and Gale had relaxed at that. Now, with his amazing wife lying in his arms, he had no idea what he had been so concerned about.
Gently tracing a finger down Freya's face from her temple to her chin and making her giggle, he smiled at hearing her laugh. He thought there had never been a lovelier sound in existence. He then gently lifted her chin up and kissed her passionately as he slowly rolled them over until she was lying on her back and he was hovering over her without even breaking apart once. Pulling back for just a second, Gale smiled at her before kissing her again.
A few hours later, they finally joined the others. Some of Gale's family members were leaving and they had to at least see them off. "Aw, look who finally made it to the land of the living. Did you finally manage to pull away from each other to deign us with your presence?" Astarion asked with a teasing smirk from where he sat in a dark corner of the living room where the sun would be unable to reach him. Some of Gale's family members had been admittedly hesitant to share the same tower as a vampire spawn, but they had managed to not blast him to pieces when Freya made it clear he was family to her.
Freya wasn't sure if that statement had been enough to keep them from attacking Astarion or the fact that Shadowheart was usually no more than a few feet away from him, the sharp-looking spear of night strapped to her back most of the time, giving them looks that dared them to hurt her friend, but either way, Astarion had been left alone and had been standing at her side with Shadowheart during the ceremony.
Freya only gave him a smirk as she stuck her tongue out at him as she sat down while Gale went to get them some food and he laughed. Tara then suddenly jumped into Freya's lap and immediately curled up. "Careful, Tara. I almost got feathers in my mouth." Freya said as she could barely dodge the wings getting into her face and Tara apologised as she settled down and Morena Dekarios also walked in and smiled at the younger woman.
Freya had given her only son so much pure happiness and had completely lit up his life even when everything seemed dark thanks to that blasted orb and had managed to help him even when she and Tara had been unable to. Morena knew both she and her son's tressym would always be grateful to her for that and the way Tara immediately jumped into her lap proved that since she was usually more reserved when it came to new people in the tower. Gale then walked in with food for the both of them and his mother smiled at seeing the lovestruck look in his eyes.
It honestly reminded her so much of his father, gods rest his soul and it always warmed her heart that her son had finally found his partner after she had feared he'd stay with Mystra or when he locked himself into his tower with just Tara for company. Now, it was hopefully only a matter of time before she had a grandkid to spoil. Well, they were still young. They had time enough to first enjoy this wonderful time in their lives.
Joining her son and his close friends in the corner, she happily listened to some funny stories from when they had been very busy saving the world. "And then, while we were just completely covered in blood and gore, Gale comes in and talks how the thrill of battle can lead to thrills in... other areas and asked Freya if she'd read such a book. She replied that she could have written it." Shadowheart said while most of them laughed.
Morena covered her face in slight embarrassment and Gale's face was completely red. Freya was quietly chuckling as well, before grabbing her husband's hand and squeezing it. "In my husband's defence, this was only a few days after Elminster told him he was basically sent on a suicide mission and he was panicking a bit as he did want to tell me how he felt. He just could have chosen a better time." She stated as she smiled at him and he smiled back, before Astarion said that he really could have chosen a better time as he had lost all his appetite after that little speech.
Gale, Shadowheart and Freya all rolled instinctively their eyes at his usual dramatics as they all knew that he would likely have locked the couple in a closet in Moonrise or the Last Light Inn if he had the chance or if they hadn't confessed their feelings after that. Gale then teasingly said he could just as well send Astarion back to where he lived, a genuine offer to help the vampire back home without him possibly burning up in the sun.
"Ugh, if you have to, but I'm was thinking of joining the other spawn in the Underdark and see how they were doing." Astarion said with a put-upon sigh that his friends could tell was completely fake and that he was actually rather touched. Freya chuckled again as she petted Tara with her free hand and both heard and felt her purring in response as she simply had a lot of fun talking with her husband, friends and mother-in-law.
Over the next few days, the wedding guests left, Freya's mother Morgana giving her daughter a tight hug and telling Gale to look after her daughter and he solemnly promised that he would protect her with everything he had and treat her like a Queen. Satisfied with this answer, Morgana left for Freya's childhood home. The couple had offered for the wood elf to come live near them, but she refused to live in the city where there was almost no contact with nature. As promised, Gale opened a portal to the Underdark for Astarion so he could get there without trouble.
Astarion pulled Freya into a brief hug before he left. "Do write to me if Gale is ever an even bigger idiot than normal. I'm sure he'll make a nice midnight snack." He said, the implication that he would drink the other man completely dry if he hurt Freya very clear and since Gale was standing less than five feet away, the threat had been received too. Gale shot back that he still tasted awful, making his wife and friend laugh before Astarion left
Shadowheart eventually left too to go back to her parents again and basically ordered them to stay in contact with her. "Of course. We wouldn't dismiss an order of God's favourite Princess." Freya replied with a smile and everyone burst out into laughter before Shadowheart went home as well and once Morena had left for her home as well, it was just the couple plus Tara and even the latter knew when to leave the room.
One evening, as snow slowly fell down from the sky and completely covered the city and its surroundings in a cloak of white, Freya snuggled up to her husband underneath a blanket as the fireplace crackled and burned. Having one arm around her, his thumb stroking her side, Gale was reading through some important forms that he needed to fill in as he was planning to become a professor at Blackstaff academy now that he could fully live his life without fear of the orb and with his amazing wife at his side. Looking down at her as she dozed a bit, he once again wondered how he'd become so lucky.
Only a year ago, he had thought he'd die a lonely and painful death with only Tara and his mother to mourn him, but then he was kidnapped and got stuck inside a portal, holding out his hand and asking anyone for help. She had been the one to grab it and help him out of that sticky situation and ever since then, she had never fully let go as she was the light in some of his darkest moments and he couldn't be more grateful.
Looking up and seeing him staring, Freya smiled as she gave him a kiss. Breaking apart, she then snuggled even closer and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the fact her husband was right there with her, something she'd feared would never happen with that suicide mission, but here he was. As she closed her eyes, she remembered the book he'd shown her about the first nights of a newlywed King and Queen during that special night.
'I wonder what our first nights will be like' She thought before simply enjoying this moment