Dragon Age II/Heartwarming

"Merrill: [sighs] Why do you even like me? I must seem so dull. Isabela: What brought this on? Merrill: Your life has been... so exciting. The adventures, the duels, the passionate love affairs. Compared to that, my life is a stale, dry biscuit. [sighs] I wish I had your life. Isabela: [flatly] No. You don't want my life. Merrill: Why? Isabela: [warmly] Because you have a good heart, and you deserve better."
 * Dragon Age II has one of the most well-put-together Nakama in recent roleplaying history, with each of them, despite their differences, constantly looking out for each other. Varric always keeps bribes ready to keep thugs off the backs of Anders and Merrill, and adds the party's drinks to his tab. Aveline, despite being guard-captain, still bends the laws a little to make sure that Fenris and Isabela don't get into too much trouble. Even Isabela slept with the seneschal to ensure that Fenris can safely stay in Danarius' Hightown mansion without having to pay taxes, and Fenris - despite his avowed hatred of mages - unequivocally refuses to consider turning Anders or Merrill in to the Templars (if only out of loyalty to Hawke). They do this for eight years. Damn, that's impressive.
 * It's probably because they do this for eight years that the Nakama is so strong. One doesn't spend so much time with another without feeling a kind of kinship. They share so many experiences together that they effectively do become a family.
 * Perhaps the most striking aspect of all of this is that the party cares for one another in spite of their differences. Fenris, Anders, and Merrill all grate on one another, Aveline and Isabela are antagonistic, and so on, but when push comes to shove they'll put aside their differences and fight alongside one another like, well, family.
 * Even better, if you manage to max out every party member's friendship/rivalry, they will all follow you, which is especially heartwarming in the mage ending because none of them expect to survive the battle.
 * One party banter between Merrill and Isabela has the former commenting that Isabela has led an exciting life as a pirate, a duelist, and her many love affairs, she then wonders how Isabela could like a girl as boring as Merrill, and wishes she had Isabela's life. Isabela immediately denies this, and says Merill has a beautiful heart, and is deserving of so much more than what she has.

"Aveline: I didn't expect you to stick around for this mess Merrill. This has nothing to do with your elves. Merrill: I love Hawke, I wouldn't go anywhere. Aveline: But it's not your fight. Merrill: I love Hawke. Aveline: You said that. Merrill: I say it a lot. It makes things clearer, takes away doubt when everything is crazy and people are dying. Aveline: I understand. Merrill: Oh, good. Someone should."
 * Another moment from the elf-pirate friendship after Pol runs straight into a monster rather than stay near Merrill:
 * If Fenris or Anders is in the party with Merrill and Isabela, they'll show No Sympathy, with Fenris responding to Merrill's "He acted like I was a monster!" with "You are a monster." Izzy will snap at him, snarling him he's not helping. It doesn't make Fenris lay off, but she tries.
 * If the resident grouches aren't in the party, Isabela responds to Merrill's lament with a soothing "Don't blame yourself, Kitten. Sometimes men do senseless things."
 * If you romanced Isabela during Act II, and then romance Merrill when the option comes up during Act III, if both are in the party, Merril will notice that Isabela seems a bit down, and then blame herself for it (though she doesn't exactly realize the reason). Isabela will then reassure her that everything's fine, and it's not her. Furthermore, if you talk to Isabela about it at The Hanged Man, the only thing she'll really do is note that she's happy for Merrill, and that if Hawke breaks her heart, "I'll cut off your balls". Isabela, thy soft spot is Merrill.
 * Supporting Merrill on your visit to her clan looking for the mirror-fixing tool.
 * If you chose a past
 * The subplot with Gamlen and Charade. Here is an uncle whose a deadbeat, a liar, and an all-around Jerkass. You discover he has a daughter and if you arrange a meeting between the two, Gamlen starts to really cheer up and take to being a father. In the aftermath, he even praises you indirectly by saying your apostate mage father was a good man if he raised a man/woman like you. This comes at the heel of  The letter Charade sends you afterward puts you on such an up - it doesn't bring the rest of your family back, but hearing from a cousin who genuinely cares for you is the next best thing.
 * Speaking with Bethany at the end
 * Alternatively, if Bethany
 * And then, if you support the Templars,
 * Oppositely, if Carver came to Kirkwall
 * Or, if Carver runs off to
 * Romancing Merrill as a rival, oddly enough.  When you go back to your house, she burst in behind you, nearly  . You take a hardline approach, reveal   Rival Hawke melting show show a soft side as they embrace, and Merrill realizing how much you really care about her under the hard front you put up is oddly touching.
 * It's also touching as a friend as well, since she never had anyone before Hawke. She was really lonely.
 * While we still here, the end of Merrill's romance: her final scene is very heartwarming.
 * A conversation between Merrill and Aveline, should you choose to romance Merrill:

"Merrill: You really believe don't you? Anders: What are we talking about? Merrill: Believing. You do I can tell, in freedom, in mages, in good spirits and bad templars. With more fire than the sun. Anders: And your point is? Merrill: I miss it sometimes, things being certain. Anders: Some things are certain. Merrill: Not anymore."
 * Please excuse User:Desert Dragon, there's something in his eye...
 * Its even more touching when you consider an earlier conversation she'll have with Anders, unrelated to romance but connecting to that bit about things being clearer;

"Aveline: No one should tell you how to mourn. And when someone says 'move on', you take their hand and say, 'my choice'."
 * After All That Remains, while Hawke is sitting at home in the throes of a Heroic BSOD, your love interest or (in the absence of a romance) closest friend comes to try to offer some comfort. Regardless of who shows up, it's very heartwarming.
 * If you romance Isabela, even if Hawke remarks she's not good with 'emotional stuff', she comforts him/her and reminds him/her that family isn't just the people that are related to you and there are still people that care about you.
 * Fenris, likewise, admits that he has no idea what to say and finds words inadequate in a situation like this, but tries to be there for Hawke nonetheless - particularly touching since it is highly likely to be taking place after he's already broken off his romance with Hawke in confusion about his feelings.
 * Anders will calmly accept all of Hawke's anger at mages for what He stoically accepts it, letting Hawke get out all his/her frustration.
 * Merrill and Hawke agree that she is in a better place, whether by the Maker's side or with Falon'Din, the elven god. She just sits there with Hawke though, being there for him/her like s/he was for her.
 * Gamlen comes in and begins to chew Hawke out, as usual, starting with claiming it was all his/her fault - but he can't even get through the first sentence before he bursts into grief-stricken sobs. He and Hawke wind up mourning Leandra together.
 * Then there is the conversation with Aveline in the Guard HQ. She isn't fooled by Silly!Hawke's Sad Clown act. To console him/her, she tells you a story about her father, a chevalier named Benoit Du Lac. Every night, when she was a girl, he would read stories to her, but only turned the page when she grasped his hand. It was symbolic of her only continuing the story by her choice. When she became an adult, she would read stories to her ill father, and like old times, he would grasp her hand when it was time to turn the page. The point of the story? She says that no one should tell Hawke when to move on, when to proceed with the story. It will be his/her choice. Probably the most poignant thing Aveline says in the entire game.

""Would you tell the world, the Knight-Commander, that you love an apostate and will stand beside him?""
 * Much like in the first game, Bodahn and Sandal. It is very heartwarming how much Bohdan loves the kid, especially when he worries what will happen to Sandal when he's gone.
 * Not just that, at one point, Sandal outright says "I like Bodhan!" and then Bodhan, like a concerned parent, laments to Hawke what would happen to Sandal after he's gone. The man really does consider the kid his son.
 * The best part happens in act III. Hawke and Bodahn are talking about the future of Sandal after Bodahn is gone. Hawke can offer to look after Sandal, but Bodahn quietly rejects the idea, saying that everything that Hawke has done for the two of them over the years was good enough. Bodahn has come a hell of a long way from the scamming salesman of Origins. I love how his face changes over the years, and there is a little twinkle in his old face by Act III.
 * The sheer hope in one sentence in Anders's romance scene:

""Ten years from now... a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no Templars to tear them apart.""
 * And it gets even better if you complete the romance as a warrior or a rogue:

"Aveline: You're right. Isabela: About? Aveline: About knowing who you are. I'm the captain of the guard. I'm loyal, strong, and I don't look too bad naked. Isabela: Exactly. And if I called you a mannish, awkward, ball-crushing do-gooder, you'd say... Aveline: Shut up, whore. Isabela: That's my girl!"
 * If you romance him as a mage, he'll say something about not being torn apart for how you were born.
 * The above exchanges (especially the third one), get extra points if your Hawke is also a man.
 * In Act I, Merrill and Varric banter reveals that Varric has given her a ball of twine in order not to get lost in Lowtown. Later on in Act III, she tries to give Varric it back because she does not need it any more (this may be because she was living with Hawke in my game by this point), and he comes up with a bunch of other reasons why she should keep it, but the way they say these lines you just know the big softie still cares about his Daisy after all these years.
 * The codex also says that, she doesn't leave the house much, not even to buy food, and so Varric has taken to having produce delivered to her house. In fact, for someone so brash on the surface, Varric has CMOHs all the time, from big ones like to little things like putting Anders on his tab at the Hanged Man. He's also the only one besides you who genuinely seems to like everyone else, and is always trying to help them or cheer them up.
 * He is, however, the man taking the story, so some of his smaller moments of generosity should probably be taken with a grain of salt. But that doesn't detract from the parts he would have no reason to lie about, such as his brother or the ball of twine.
 * Speaking with Merrill after Bethany is
 * She also does this with Carver
 * Isabela and Aveline do not get along. Eventually, though, they find some common ground...in their own way.

"Isabela: Mummy, what's a slattern? Aveline: Well then all I would have to do is point at you and say 'That's a slattern!'"
 * In Act 3, Hawke may walk in on the two of them sharing a drink in Aveline's office. Isabela leaves and Aveline admits that she's not all bad.
 * Aveline will vehemently object to Isabela being taken by the Qunari. She claims it's because she wants to kick Isabela's ass herself, but we all know she cares.
 * She even invited Isabela to her Solstice dinner party. (Though Isabela was too sheepish to turn up...)
 * Which doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny, since Isabela alludes to "What happens when you have kids?" and says in a little-girl voice

"Fenris: If there is a future to be had, I will walk into it gladly by your side."
 * Giving Fenris the book A Slave's Life. The problem is, Fenris was a slave...so he never was allowed to learn to read. Your Hawke can offer to teach him.
 * Made even better when you find out that there's a bookshelf you can examine in your home, and one of your Hawke's comments is about how Fenris' reading has improved, and he/she should pick out a new book for him to work on.
 * Similar to Aveline objecting to Isabela being taken by the Qunari, Merrill will basically beg you in the saddest way possible not to go through with betraying Fenris  Given how rude he is to her the entire game, and especially horrible he is to her after her final personal quest, it just shows how selflessly kind Merrill can be.
 * Merrill's made of selflessly kind. Anders openly despises blood mages like Merrill, for whom he (often justifiably) blames society's hatred of mages. He spares no opportunity to berate her for the careless stupidity he feels she embodies as a blood mage and a demon apologist.
 * Repairing Fenris' and Hawke's relationship in Act III is a CMOH on it's own, however one line in particular stands out:

"Fenris: If I could go back, I would have stayed, told you how I felt. Hawke: What would you have said? Fenris: ...nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you."
 * For this troper, it was the lines just before that that got to her:

"Fenris: The future of a slave is never uncertain. But I am no longer a slave. Perhaps it's time I remembered that."
 * For most of the game, Fenris' obsession, fear, and hatred of his past has been one of his defining character traits. It's what makes him end the relationship with Hawke, what makes him obsessed with revenge, and what makes him angst so much. Him saying that shows that he's finally willing to put the past completely behind him so that he can be happy with Hawke, and is really, really touching, all the moreso if Hawke is a mage.
 * Even before that, there's a small touch that proves very heartwarming if you stop to think about it: Most love interests have some kind of change to their outfit at some point during the romance. In Fenris's case, he puts Hawke's family crest on his belt and a red armband (described by Word of God as Hawke's favor to him) on his right wrist. He begins doing this immediately after he and Hawke spend the night together in Act II, and continues to do so after abandoning their relationship... and for the next three years afterward.
 * And then, after you finally discuss matters and tell him he's forgiven, his default response when you approach him? A husky statement of "I am yours." SWOON.
 * It is unfortunate that there are not Crowning Moments of Sexy, because that would be one.
 * It's doubly heartwarming for players of the first game as a call back to Zevran's romance path.
 * Isabela's last line of dialogue before the last leg of battle  She comments that, when Hawke looks for her, she'll be right by his/her side fighting beside him/her.
 * A small, easily missed note in the Hawke estate reads: "I'm proud of you, Love Mother." It's just a simple thing, not that far from what a parent could leave in their child's lunchbox, but after everything Hawke's been through, especially All That Remains, it means something.
 * At the very beginning, if Hawke is a Mage, when Bethany dies, Aveline's husband, a Templar, commends Bethany- an Apostate- to the Maker. It's small, but it is a touching moment.
 * And this comes maybe twenty minutes after they first meet. Wesley was more than prepared to apprehend her. The fact that he isn't just a stone-cold mage hunter shows how far the Order has fallen in Kirkwall.
 * Isabela trying to justify not attending Aveline's Solstice dinner party, saying she isn't the type of person Aveline would want in polite company. The awkward way in which she says it really sells the moment, because by this point, she and Aveline really are best friends.
 * For some reason, this line always gets to me (takes place after Fenris' last Companion Quest):

"Feynriel: Why do you care? You don't even know me? Hawke: *gently* I am you."
 * In one of the random moments of party banter, Sebastian will tell Aveline that he added Wesley's name to the memorial wall at the Chantry. She is surprised, because he never knew Wesley, but his response is that he refused to abandon the people of Ferelden during the Blight, fought the darkspawn, and died far too young, with the unspoken addendum that it doesn't matter that he never knew him - Sebastian still considers him to be a hero worthy of being mentioned during the Chant of Remembrance. It's just a small moment, but everytime it comes up I can't help but be moved to tears.
 * There's one when you meet up with Isabela at the beginning of Act III. If  Isabela expresses frustration over her past decision to   and questions why Hawke, who is now Champion, is bothering with someone like her. Hawke can then reassure Isabela that they are still friends and that Hawke is grateful that she came back and acknowledges how hard it must have been for her to do the right thing. Hawke further promises that if Isabela needs help, Hawke will be right there to back her up. Isabela acts nonchalant about this, but you just know she's touched.
 * Hawke has some touching moments with his/her family during the Legacy DLC. Of particular interest is the end of the "Malcolm's Will" quest when Bethany or Carver is in the party. Bethany recalls happier times and how Carver could make her smile when she was sad, and Carver breaks down and actually admits how much he misses both Bethany and his father, even though Malcolm spent very little time with him.
 * Even further, when the DLC is finished, Hawke will speak with his/her mother. She can talk about Malcolm and how they met, but a really poignant conversation comes  It's the sort of emotional speech only a mother could give.
 * Fridge Heartwarming. Varric tells Cassandra up-front he'll take liberties. The conversation with is there just because Varric thought his friend deserved it.
 * Another example occurs if Hawke and a  Carver part on bitter terms at the end of the DLC.
 * Carver has issues, given that (if you're a mage and actually get the opportunity to learn about him) he's got two mage siblings and considers himself The Unfavorite. But when Fenris realizes that Hawke's a mage, he's instantly protective of his sibling, saying that if Fenris has a problem with Hawke, then he has a problem with Carver.
 * This ties in with a lot of Carver's friendship/rivalry scores. If you do something that could bring you to the attention of the templars and put yourself in danger, he disapproves. realizing that, despite his problems with his older sibling, he is trying to look out for Hawke, is incredibly heartwarming when you consider that Carver's feeling of being in Hawke's shadow is such a key part of his character.
 * During "Wayward Son" in Act 1, Mage Hawke gets one when Feynriel angrily questions why Hawke came after him, thinking he'll turn him over to the Templars for being an Apostate Mage.
 * Hawke creates a blinding ball of light in one hand*

"Hawke: I've spent my entire life fighting to protect my sister from the same fate you fear."
 * A non-mage Hawke can also gain Feynriel's trust, and the dialogue hints just how protective Hawke is of Bethany and how s/he has spent their entire lives keeping her safe from the Templars:

"Fenris: I'm no leader, and I doubt humans would want me training them. Sebastian: Then why not train elves? I bet there's plenty who would admire all you've accomplished. Fenris: I... haven't accomplished anything. Sebastian: No? You are your own man, living as you see fit—you give yourself too little credit. Fenris: You are being kind. Sebastian: Not at all. Think about it."
 * Sebastian shows how much a bro he is when chatting with Fenris about the possibility of Fenris training his army if he ever retakes Starkhaven.

"Carver: Right, lets get to it. My brother/sister will be missing you. Merril: I'm glad you think so."
 * Mark of the Assassin has a short, but sweet sidequest involving Hawke's mother. If you examine the fountain at Chateau Haine, Hawke explains to Tallis that it's tradition for noblewomen to throw Orlesian coins into the fountain and make a wish. Leandra had a coin collection just for the occasion, but since she married an apostate, the resulting social stigma meant that she wouldn't even be invited to the Chateau. Hawke spends the quest finding Orleasian coins to throw in the fountain in Leandra' stead. Hawke, you big softy.
 * Not sure of how it works out with other Love Interests, but in Mark of the Assassin when Carver and a romanced Merril are, there is a short but sweet exchange between them goes to show just how much the Love Interest means to Hawke, at least in the eyes of the sibling, and especially how it is just accepted as the norm considering a same-sex romance

"Isabela: I... I have purpose. I have Hawke."
 * Especially meaningful considering Carver's usual jealousy in relation to his older sibling and his own one-sided crush on Merrill.
 * If Isabela is along for the ride and is in a romance with Hawke, she gets drawn into Tallis's debate about having a purpose. When asked directly about not having a purpose:

"Carver: "Running around with you has made me realize just how much I miss it."
 * What's particularly heartwarming is the look on Isabela's face. MotA happens before the final affirmation of the relationship at the Gallows: Isabela looks a little unsure, a little bemused at what she's saying, but despite her personal doubts she's still sticking with Hawke.
 * Carver gives this one simple line in "Mark of the Assassin" if he

"Aveline: Why are you still here, Varric? Varric: Starkhaven's too pretentious and Cumberland's too boring.
 * Aveline and Varric have this banter during Act III that never fails to make me go "Awwww...":

Aveline: You always talk about how much you hate commitment, yet here you are six years later, still at Hawke's side.

Varric: Aveline, I thought you'd have noticed by now: I lie a lot."


 * At one point during Mark of the Assassin, an Orlesian asks you to help find his two missing dogs, as well as a quest to find an antidote for wyvern poison. The two seem unrelated, but then you see a dog elsewhere in the woods. He leads you towards another dog, lying injured on the ground. You can give him the antidote and save its life.
 * Not to mention the Orlesian's reaction at the end of the quest. Throughout this DLC Orlesians are usually shown as the typical evil fops. However, this man is genuinely thrilled to have his dogs back safely. Awwww.
 * During the Legacy DLC  Hawke can tell him it's his choice on how to handle the situation and Varric says   Just shows how close Varric is to Hawke.