Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Isabela]

Isabela smiles at him, eyes damp. "One more day. And then one more after that," she says, softly, turning to face Cindy. "That's all anyone can ask." 

[Coquette Blacquin]

Cindy stares at them for a long moment, then closes her eyes, hanging her head. She takes a deep breath. "One more day," she repeats. "I can do that. One day of being honest. One day of following my heart."

[Marian Hawke]

"And then one more," cuts in Marian. "That part's important."

[Varric]

"Damn right it is," Varric says softly. "Scaley here isn't wrong about you being the... softer, kinder parts of... Coquette, I guess. But he is wrong about those qualities being bad. Cindy without the Scale can't really help much. But the Scale without Cindy wouldn't bother helping."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Of course he would. He is Justice."

[Marian Hawke]

"Maybe sometimes. Maybe he'd have freed slaves. But would he have gotten free with me?" She shakes her head. "He's not real. There's only ever been you, behind a mask." 

She reaches up, then, and hooks her fingers behind the mask, gently removing it to reveal Cindy's face -- not the face Zevran saw earlier, but Cindy's honest face. She traces a cheekbone with her fingers, then goes up on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to her lover's lips, a tear running down her face. 

When she pulls back, she puts the mask in place. "Let him go, if you want. We know what he'll do. What he did. To me. I won't stop him. If you want to do this, if you have to hide, then you'll need to stop me."

[Coquette Blacquin]

Tears dripping down her face, Cindy raises her hand, toward the pair: Varric and the Scale. "I did love you," she whispers, and the Scale echoes that. "I do."

[Varric]

You might trust her (him) but I sure as hells don't, Varric grumbles mentally, Bianca still held very much a the ready- not that he has much of a choice. 

[Tethras Clan]

"As a note, if you kill Marian, we all die," Zevran comments idly to Cindy. "Delve thing evidently. Figured you should know. And yes, that includes you and Scaleboy." 

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Wh-what?" she says, blinking, hand still raised.

[Marian Hawke]

"Maybe," says Marian. "Maybe not. There's a chance." She sighs. "If you're going to do this, if you have to be this, then let them go free. We'll take a chance together, you and I. If your Silver is real enough, if he's strong enough to control the place alone, then he'll walk away. But if not..."

[Coquette Blacquin]

Cindy hesitates, looking to Zevran, to Isabela. "Leave, then," she says, hand still raised. "I'll give you a chance." 

[Marian Hawke]

"And Varric," says Marian, heart pounding in her chest. "Him too." Him most of all. 

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran stares a moment, then reaches over to slap Cindy in the head. "No!" he growls, tone at odds with the almost playful gestures. "Suicide is not acceptable. This is not a game, this is not romantic or any of that bullshit. You do not- no!"

[Isabela]

Isabela takes half a step back. "This is..."

Seeing Zevran, she forces a smile onto her face, wiping away tears. "What he said. This isn't the way out. Become someone else if you have to. Lie to everyone, slap a smile on your face, steal the whole world -- or burn it down. But don't throw yourself away. You can't start again if you do that. No matter how much it hurts, you can always start again. A new name, a new face, a new life."