Slowly he blinks his eyes, willing them to open. The first time he did manage to open them, everything was so blurry that he slammed them shut again. He shakes his head hoping that it would help. Did he hear someone laughing nearby? He opens his eyes again. At first everything is still blurry. He blinks a few times and his vision clears.
In front of him in the near distance is a bar. He looks at the various people standing and sitting around and he realizes that he recognizes most of them. He squints as he tries to remember exactly where he remembers these people but all it does is make his vision blur. He shakes his head again.
He hears the laugh again. He tilts his head as he listens. It was so familiar. Where had he heard that laugh before? His eyes scan the crowd and rest on the back of a woman with red hair. As he stares at her, a memory triggers: "I love you. I always will."
He is jerked out of this memory as the woman's laugh hits him again and his eyes open wide. "Shepard," he whispers. At the mention of her name, another memory triggers.
The reapers were everywhere. They were running toward the beam that would take them to the Citadel. An explosion caused by a reaper ship launches an Alliance vehicle into the air above them. The next thing he remembers is the explosion of pain as the same red-headed woman drags him to safety and calls for an evac. The ship, the Normandy, comes to take them away but the woman refuses to leave. He would have given anything to remain at her side but she refuses. They share one last kiss and as she touches his face, she tells him the last words she would ever say to him. "No matter what happens here – I love you. I always will."
"Shepard," He starts, wanting to argue with her but he knows it's useless. He tells her what's been in his heart for a long time. "I love you, too."
She bumps his forehead with hers and takes a deep breath. When she opens her eyes, he can see she has steeled herself for the final push. As the Normandy lifts off at her command, he watches as long as she can as she runs towards the light.
The last words they spoke to one another ring in his ears as he finally recognizes the woman in front of him. "Shepard?" He choked out.
He watches as the woman swivels around on her barstool and gives him a smile. "Garrus," she says to him in her calm way. She leans back on her seat, her back resting against the bars' edge. "I saved you that seat," she tells him as she tips her head to the empty barstool next to her.
He rushes to her, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck. "Spirits, I've missed you, Shepard."
"I've missed you, too," she tells him before placing her hands on his arms and slightly pushed him back. "Come and sit. We've been waiting for you."
"We?" Garrus asks as he sits next to her.
She points her chin towards the bar. "The crew, of course. There may even be some visitors here and there. Mostly people we knew in our last life."
Garrus takes a look at the current patrons. Ashley, Mordin, Thane, and even Saren. Most were all members of the Normandy at one time or another. Some were people they had either fought with or against. Seeing some of their faces made his head swim.
Joker calls to him from across the bar. "Hey, Garrus! You ever remove that stick from your ass?" He gives the turian a grin.
Garrus feels his jaw hang open. He snaps his mouth shut before asking, "When?"
Joker shrugs. "Not sure how long I've been here. Time's funny in this place. As in, it doesn't exist. But I'm here and look!" Joker jumps up from his stool and stands up straight. He even dances around a bit just to show off. "No more Vrolik's syndrome!"
Shepard laughs. "All right, show off. I think you've confused him."
"What's going on here, Shepard?" Garrus asks her. He gestures to some of the people that were sitting at the bar with him. "Where are we?"
Shepard takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "We've all crossed the veil. We're home."
"What do you mean: Home?" Garrus asks, confused.
"This is where all of our souls go when we are done with our lives on the physical plane," Thane explains. "Each culture has their own beliefs on what the afterlife is. They're all right in a way."
"What do you mean?" Garrus asked.
"We all experienced what we expected upon death. I saw the shores of Kalahira. Shepard saw this bar. Saren saw darkness for a time. He had to reflect upon his last life for a while before his soul could accept it. That happens when a soul has experienced a traumatic life or death. The soul can sometimes carry that into the spirit world. Once the soul heals and accepts what happened, they can be among those they once knew." Thane continued.
"So, living through the Reaper Invasion?" Garrus asks.
"A test of sorts," Thane answers. "It seems that then was the time for the harvests to stop. We all agreed to be a part of it. Shepard's soul is the one that agreed to carry the burden."
"But how does that work?" Garrus asks.
"I can tell you that," Shepard speaks up. "Come with me. There's something I need to show you."
Shepard and Garrus raise from their stools and walk side-by-side until they come upon a beautiful library. It was bright. "What is this place?" Garrus asks her in awe.
"This is where the records are kept. Every life that has ever been lived. Before we are born on the physical realm, Earth, Palaven, Thessia, etcetera, a soul creates a life chart. Things the soul wants to learn and accomplish in that current life. Anger, depression, pain, all the negative feelings we feel down there, we don't have that here. We can only experience that on the physical realm."
Shepard walks down the aisles until she finds what she's looking for. She pulls a scroll off the shelf and opens it. She holds it out for Garrus. "That's my life chart as Shepard. Even though I was an orphan who grew up on Earth, this states who my parents were. They agreed to my beginning before I was born. Now, a lot of the stuff on there was written in as it happened to give a full life over view. But, as you can see, the main things my soul wanted to learn is written in a different color from the rest."
Garrus scanned the scroll and saw what she meant. Things like Join the Alliance, be a Hero, fall in love with Garrus Vakarian, were all in gold. Majority of it was written in silver. There was also some bronze and black. He looks at her. "So, this right here," he mentions, pointing at his name, "We agreed to this?"
Shepard nods her head. "Yes. While each of us were writing our charts, we all agreed on how we would meet and what part we would play in each other's lives. You and I, our souls have been connected a long time. This isn't the first life we lived as a couple. It was one of many."
"So the term soul mates..." He began.
She nods. "It's a real thing. Soul mates don't always live every life together, but they spend a lot of them together. Some not always healthy. But we've taught each other a lot. And I suspect we have a lot more to teach one another."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" He asks her.
"Are you ready to live another round with me?" She asks him.
He looks at her and places his forehead against hers. "More than anything."