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It seemed an obvious choice, to bring Bethany along here. She and Hawke had no regular correspondence—it was impossible with Bethany now a Warden, sent to and fro to such wide-ranging places—so when things had lined up just right, Hawke had to take what could be their only chance for an actual in-person reunion for quite some time. Bethany was angry at her, and who could blame her? Hawke would be mad if she'd been in Bethany's place, too, forced to give up freedom in exchange for being able to live. But Hawke knew she had to try for some sort of reconciliation, before the two of them could settle into cold relations forever. More than anything else—more than Kirkwall's perpetual turmoil, more than the escalating tensions between templars and mages—that was something she refused to accept.
Hawke knew that it wasn't ever going to be the same as before. Too much had happened. But that didn't stop her from imagining that they could just go back to their easy childhood friendship. And when she'd spent so long rehearsing a situation that she knew would never come to pass, it could only ever lead to disappointment.
Bethany was different now. Shorter-tempered, more acerbic. Not that she'd always been sunshine and rainbows, even before the Blight drove them all out of Lothering, but, well. Being forced out of your home, having to watch your brother die, then being conscripted into the Wardens to avoid dying, then finding out about your mother's death after the fact—Hawke supposed it was a miracle that Bethany didn't simply refuse to meet. She certainly had every right to. At least Hawke had gotten rich, but Bethany hadn't benefited from the windfall at all.
But the fact that Bethany had agreed to come was a good sign. A sign that they could take what was left of their relationship and put it back together, no matter how sloppy the stitches connecting them would be now.
While the party was resting after clearing out the Carta cultists who had attacked them, Hawke took the opportunity to sit down next to her sister. "Bethany, are you alright?"
She hummed at Hawke's question without actually looking at her. It wasn't an answer, but it answered enough.
"I'm...I'm really sorry. About...everything."
"You'd better be," Bethany finally says. "I've spent half of the past five years in caves, and then you bring me down to another cave. I'm so tired of rocks." It was snarkier than Hawke was used to from her, but still had no real bite to it. "But then, you've never been good at taking other people into account, have you?"
Alright, so that last part did have some bite. And it was true. Hawke had gotten too used to deflecting everything with a joke, too used to avoiding tough conversations. "No, I haven't."
Bethany looked at Hawke silently for a while. "I suppose we've both changed."
"We have." Whether it was for the better or worse, Hawke couldn't tell yet. But perhaps it didn't matter, as long as they were both alive and well. They didn't have anyone else anymore. "So how are the Wardens treating you? When they're not kicking you into caves and leaving you to rot, anyway."
"They're..." Bethany looked away. "It's not a life I would have chosen for myself. And they can tell. But it...could be worse."
"You could be dead."
"I know." There was an undertone there that Hawke didn't like: I wish I were. But what could they do? Turn back time, convince a younger, even more impulsive Hawke to not take her sister with her to the Deep Roads? Perhaps Bethany could see the thoughts racing through her sister's mind, because she continued, "I'm not...mad at you. Not anymore."
"...thank you, Bethany. I only—I just didn't want to see you die too. I don't think I could handle being an only child."
Bethany laughed. "What? Was that it the whole time, you just didn't know how to exist without having a little sister?"
"I've been taking care of you for your whole life, of course I'd get used to it. And I wasn't—wasn't just going to stop just because the stakes were higher."
"Yes, that's a theme with you, not knowing when to stop."
"This is about us, not about me—"
"You're a part of us!"
Despite the serious way their conversation had started, it had devolved into a childish argument anyway. That was for the best; Hawke got itchy when things were serious for too long—not an ideal trait for someone now known as a champion, but then, she couldn't have predicted any of where her life would go.
The two sisters laughed and hugged. Underground wasn't the best place to catch up with family, but it was worth it. They fell into easy conversation afterward; about what Hawke and her friends had been up to in Kirkwall, about places Bethany had gone to, about old memories, about Carver and their mother.