Room 322, Tuesday Morning

[not_every_mage]

Anders hadn't been sleeping well for weeks, and Dante's sudden departure hadn't made it any easier. It wasn’t anything unusual for Dante to spend a night or two away, either because of demons or because he was occupied elsewhere. But given the timing, Anders couldn’t help but worry.

The room was too quiet now. It was nearing dawn before he finally fell into a restless slumber.

And in this sleep, he dreamed.

A Fade spirit?	His dream wasn't going to be any more restful. Sorry, Anders. For the most part, the Fade was much like it always was, the colors shifting, the landmarks hazy. Veins of raw lyrium glowed blue on the not-light and things moved and skittered out of the corner of one's eyes. But there was one section that wasn't like the rest--a splash of brilliant white, surrounded by rainbows that danced on a breeze that didn't exist. A girl, slender and pale as moonlight, with shadows in her hair and eyes, sitting on a rock not far from where Anders found himself. Her feet were bare and so was her face, her mask laying in a puddle of fabric on the stone next to her. "Anders," she said softly, but he could hear her voice clear as anything from where he stood.
Anders	"Kathy." The name bubbled to Anders' lips immediately. How he had ached to see that face and hear that voice! (But not like this, never like this.) He moved toward the girl so swiftly that it seemed to take no time at all. "What is it?" he said eagerly. Then, with more suspicion as he remembered to never trust the Fade: "And what are you?"
Kathy(?)	Kathy's bright, welcoming smile faded at his tone and she cringed away. "That's a hard question to answer," she said, reluctantly. "I'm not really sure."
Anders	"Oh, love, I didn't mean you were anything bad" -- and now Anders felt like a shit for even letting suspicion cross his mind. How could he not trust Kathy? He found a rock to sit on. "Why don't you tell me what you do know, and we can figure it out from there?"
Let’s just call her Kathy	"Oh good," Kathy looked at him with relief in her eyes. "I've kinda got a lot going on without adding an existential crisis to the list. Asking what I am--that's kind of heavy, don't you think?" She looked at him, over on his rock, and held out her hands. "Hey," she said softly. "You feel so far away. I've been wandering here all myself for...I don't even know anymore. Feels like forever. I've missed you, Anders. I've missed you so much. And now you're all the way over there."
Anders	"I can come closer," Anders said, and did, grasping her hands in his. In that moment, it didn't matter if she was a dream, a demon, a dead girl's spirit, or something else entirely: She looked like Kathy, and she said he missed him. How could he resist? "I've missed you too," he said softly. "I never thought I'd see you again, unless the stories about the dead reuniting at the Maker's side are true."
Kathy	First, before she did anything else, Kathy had to kiss him. He'd let her, right? Just to feel warm, living skin under soft lips, to cling to those moments of respite and happiness of earlier kisses?
Anders	Anders hesitated for a moment, unsure kissing her was safe. But he sincerely felt like he might die if he didn't. He pressed his lips to hers, soft and affectionate, and lingered there as long as his need to breathe would allow.
Kathy	Kathy didn't deepen the kiss, keeping it sweet and soft, if not entirely chaste. Enough to allay his concerns and keep him close; anything more might make him doubt her again. He had chosen to set those suspicions aside but they were still close; she could feel them in the hesitation before he'd closed the distance and kiss her. "I miss you," she said when they finally pulled away. "I'm scared Anders. I'm so damn scared. I need you. I wish--I wish you were here with me. That you hadn't left me behind."
Anders/b>	"I shouldn't have," Anders said quickly. "I -- Kathy, if I'd known how bad it was getting I would have stayed in LA so I could fight beside you. We could have figured out something to do for Carys." He looked at her with real sorrow in his eyes. "I wish so much that there was some way to help you now. You shouldn't be alone and scared."
Kathy	"Come find me?" she begged. "Please, Anders. Come back for me. I don't mind that you left--I don't care how we parted--if you would just come back and get me, nothing will matter anymore." Tears stood in her eyes. "Please don't leave me alone here. I need you."
Anders	"Of course. I couldn't leave you alone. But where should I look?" Anders asked urgently. "Los Angeles? The Fade?" One was slightly easier than the other, in that humans had traveled to it physically in recent memory. Neither was actually easy.
Kathy	"I'm in LA," Kathy said. "Part of me is, anyway. The rest of me is trapped. Here, I think. Or not? I wander..." She looked off into the distance, like she could peer through the Fade and find her way. "I'm stuck and I don't know why. But if you could find me, in Los Angeles, you could free the rest of me. I could come back home again." She reached for his hands, letting her tears run freely down her face. "I could come back to you."
Anders	"I'll do it," Anders promised, tears standing in his eyes as well. "I don't know how I'll do it or how long it'll take or what I'll have to do to get there, but I'll search every inch of the city on my hands and knees if I have to. Can you wait for me?"
Kathy	Kathy hesitated. "I would wait for you forever and then some if I could. And I'll try. I'll try like hell," she promised. "But I don't know how long I have. There's something--I don't know! There's so much I don't know and don't understand!" She dashed away the tears with an impatient hang, then clung to his hands again. "I don't know how long I have until I'm trapped forever. All I have are--are vague feelings. But I'll keep fighting, I swear it, and I'll wait and I'll trust in you, Anders. I'll never stop believing in you, if you never stop believing in me."
Anders	"I believe in you," Anders promised. "I'll never stop. We barely found each other and then I lost you and I'm not going to let you go, not ever." He leaned in to kiss her again to seal the promise. All thoughts this might be a demon were gone: This was Kathy, or at least her spirit, and he was determined to help her. "Hold on, love."
Kathy(?)	"Come for me," she said once more, breath still warm on his lips, before disappearing into the Fade. "Please, Anders, find me." And then she was gone and he was alone again.
Anders	"I will," Anders promised, and then she was gone. He woke up with tears wet on his face and a new sense of resolution in his mind. He was a mage, with all the power of the Fade swirling through his very blood and breath. If he couldn't use that to find his love, what good was it? He had some research to do.

[OOC: Preplayed with the beautiful spin_kick_snap. Closed post, OOC is love.