Into the Woods (a Dragon Age fanfiction)

Take My Breath Away

Jennie leaned against a tree, listening to the sounds of the forest. It was so peaceful here, so far from all the squabbling and the games-playing. She could almost forget that her sister was out there somewhere, possibly willing to kill her.

A bird squawked in the tree above her, rustling about, and an animal of some sort trilled not far away. Jennie held still, wondering if it would come closer if she didn't make a sound. She wanted to see what sorts of creatures wandered this hidden, unknown forest.

Instead, she heard the unmistakable sounds of all-too-human footsteps crunching the debris that littered the ground.

Jennie sighed in disappointment; she wasn't ready to give up the silence and solitude she had just found.

The footsteps stopped not far from her, and Jennie turned her head to look. Part of her was relieved that it was Fergus, but part of her wasn't ready to contemplate the feelings he stirred in her and wished that it had been anyone else.

"Are you all right?"

"What do you mean?" She wasn't playing coy; there were so many layers to the question, she didn't know which one he wanted the answer to.

"About your sister."

"Oh. No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shrugged. "Bethany ... she's enjoying her power. She's never been able to use it before; she probably blames my parents for that, and, by proxy, me. Can't blame her."

"She tried to kill you, Jennie. How can you not be angry with her?" Fergus moved closer.

"No, she didn't. Not really." Jennie offered a small smile. "Bethany's a powerful mage. If she'd wanted me dead, bing, zap, I'd be dead. She wanted me out of the fight."

"Hm." He seemed to digest that for a moment. "So what will you do if you have to face her again?"

"Return the favor, if I can. I think most of the group will stand back and let me face her, and I'll do what I can to incapacitate rather than kill. What do you think your brother's going to do about Leliana?"

"I don't know. She's coming after his family. After what he went through in the attack on Highever Castle, I can't imagine him countering such an attack with less than deadly force. Morrigan certainly would have no qualms about doing whatever was necessary."

"Very true." There was a heavy silence between them, as Fergus hovered there clearly not sure what to say. "Is there anything else?" Jennie asked eventually.

"I ... wanted to talk to you about what happened. Before."

She could still feel his lips on hers if she concentrated. Part of her wanted to feel that again; part of her was terrified of letting herself go. "What did you want to say?" Her voice sounded strange to her, breathy and soft.

"I'm sorry for it. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"And?"

"And I'd like to do it again, in a way that wouldn't frighten you." He took a step closer to her, his eyes burning on hers. "I feel—things for you that I have not felt in a long time. I think you reciprocate those feelings, but you keep running from me and I don't know why. Is it me? Have I done something?"

Words were running through Jennie's mind, disconnected from each other. She wanted to tell him that it wasn't him, to explain how she felt ... but when she wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling, how could she possibly explain it to him? "Fergus, I just don't know," she said at last, helpless in the face of her own confusion. She pressed back against the tree as if she was trying to become it, be part of the forest with her role and her life already laid out for her.