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Hawke stood over the Arishok’s body, listening to his dying breath leave his body. Her daggers dangled from her fingers, and blood dripped slowly onto the floor from the blades. Thane, Hawke’s mabari, slowly moved toward Aveline. The other qunari in the keep left without a word, leaving the Arishok’s body where it was on the stairs. Anders was immensely proud of her; she had stood for what she believed in and protected her friends, even at the risk of her own life. He was worried, but he was proud. Hawke placed the daggers on her back and began walking back toward her friends, just as Knight-Commander Meredith and Grand Enchanter Orsino ran into the throne room followed by some templars.
“Is it over?” Meredith asked.
“It’s over.” As Hawke finished saying that, the nobles began to cheer, glad they were now safe. Meredith placed her sword on her back and moved closer to her.
“It seems Kirkwall has a new champion,” she said, the nobles’ cheering growing even louder. Hawke looked around the room, seeing the happy nobles and her proud friends, and allowed the corner of her lip to quirk up.
Before anyone could do anything else, Hawke strode out of the room and out of the keep, her friends trailing after her. Isabela was practically singing her praises to Hawke for rescuing her, and the others were just as proud.
They made it halfway back to Hawke’s mansion when she dropped.
It was all in slow motion for Anders. One moment, she was fine, walking slowly but otherwise normally, and the next, she was on the ground.
“Cressida! No!” he cried, terror laced through his voice.
Everyone immediately began to crowd around her, worried. Even some passersby began to gather. “Everybody move! Give her some air! Get out of the way!” Anders cried, shoving people out of the way. He fell to the ground next to Hawke and carefully cradled her head in his lap.
He was disgusted at himself. He should have seen this coming. Hawke always ran everywhere, even if it was just to give someone something she had found on one of their adventures. She never walked, and she never was so quiet after a battle. Her witty nature wouldn’t allow for it. On top of all that, he had been watching the entire battle, watching her lose all that blood.
Anders smoothed Hawke’s bangs out of her eyes, begging her to open her eyes. Her skin and armor were splattered in blood, and Anders was sure she would be covered in her own blood under the armor. Even her hair was soaked in blood. The longer it took for her to open her eyes, the more harsh his berating himself got.
After what felt like an eternity, Hawke finally fluttered her eyelids. It took a moment for her to focus, but when she did, she gave Anders a weak smile. She tried to lift a hand to his face, but grimaced and let it fall when it proved to be too painful.
“Looks like I’ve fallen for you all over again,” she whispered. Anders smiled as tears filled his eyes.
“Cressida, love, now isn’t the time for jokes. You’re half dead. Let’s get you home and healed up,” Anders replied. He carefully gathered her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to her mansion, the others trailing behind and carrying her daggers and pack.
Hawke let out a weak laugh. “The magic touch,” she mumbled.
Fenris opened the door to the mansion for him. Anders carried Hawke upstairs to her bedroom, allowing the others to explain to Bodhan, Sandal, and Orana. He settled her onto their bed before quickly heading to the banister to tell the others he would send for them when Hawke was well enough to be visited. Once they had left, Anders returned to the bed and found Hawke stirring. She was moving and groaning, obviously uncomfortable in her armor.
“Cressida, love, it’s okay. I’ll get you out of your armor and into more comfortable clothes.”
Hawke laughed. “My own personal nursemaid. Nursemaid Anders,” she croaked. Anders breathed a laugh as he expertly unfastened her armor and carefully removed it from her body. Once he had gotten her down to her smalls, he began giving her a sponge bath, carefully wiping away blood and using his magic to knit the flesh back together. When he healed a particularly large laceration, Hawke let out a sigh of relief.
Once Hawke was clean and Anders was sure she wouldn’t bleed any more, he dressed her in her home robe. He pressed a gentle kiss to her brow, careful to avoid the bruising that was blooming around her eye. Hawke smiled and slowly reached up to pull him back to her for a moment. She grimaced as she let her arm back down to the bed.
“Is there more you can do?” she asked. “It still hurts to move.”
“I can try, but I couldn’t guarantee that you’ll feel much better.” He passed his hands over his body, focusing everything he had on healing her. Anders had been trying to keep from draining himself so he could continue to care for Hawke and do anything she needed, but this was too much. When he stopped, Anders collapsed onto the bed beside Hawke.
Hawke slowly sat up and looked at Anders. She reached over and gently moved his bangs out of his eyes. Anders smiled up at her.
“I take it you’re feeling better now?” he asked.
“Much better.” Hawke laid her hand against his cheek. Anders placed his hand on top of hers, rubbing circles over her knuckle with his thumb. “What would I do without you?”
“You don’t need to find out,” he replied, smiling.
Hawke lay back down next to Anders and laced her fingers with his. They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying their time together.
“You used my first name,” Hawke said, breaking the silence between them. “No one uses my first name, not even you. You must have been so worried.”
Anders pulled their hands onto his chest, squeezing hers. “Of course I was. I watched you nearly kill yourself. I was this close to jumping in and helping you. It was only the threat that if anyone joined you that he would kill you that kept me from doing so. And then I didn’t notice the signs that you weren’t able to continue on. When you dropped, I was so afraid for you that I almost didn’t know what to do.” He paused, took a deep breath. “Don’t do that to me again.”
“I swear I won’t. It kills me to see you in so much pain because of me.”
They fell back into silence again. The tension that had built up while Anders was talking about his pain quickly broke, and they just basked in each other’s presence.
“Do you think we should let the others know that I’m okay?” Hawke asked.
“You need more bed rest before you can have any visitors,” Anders replied, tightening his grip on her hand and rolling toward her.
“Doctor’s orders, or do you just want me to yourself for a while?”
“Both.”
Hawke laughed and moved closer to him. “Alright, Anders. I suppose they can wait until morning.”