Sanctuary
Why couldn't you have just run away with me Commander Shepard? Femshep/Miranda and friendship!Femshep/Kasumi. May contain ME3 Spoilers so don't read if you don't want to know.
Kasumi watched as the world ended with her feet propped up against the steel railings and her back slouched lazily into the armchair she sat at.
Commander Shepard was dead and the only people that had any hope of defeating the Reapers were preparing in the armoury with looks on their faces that easily told what they were missing; hope, leadership, love, friendship…
Kasumi lifted her hand up to stare at the hologram that Shepard had made for her with dark eyes, moving her thumb restlessly over the switch before flicking it on with a sigh that echoed through the Normandy's halls like a ghost seeking it's justice.
Shepard appeared miniature in the centre of her palm and just seeing her brought a hollow feeling to Kasumi's chest that made her feel like she couldn't breathe, not that she, herself, or Miranda Lawson had breathed properly since the Commander's death.
"Right so Liara advised me to make this goodbye thing to y'know….Say goodbye and all," Shepard's miniature form said quite loudly, but not loud enough to disguise the distraught tone that was clearly in Shepard's voice. "To say goodbye to the people I most cared about and I was going to do tons of these little goodbye things but I only have time for one at the moment so if I do manage to die - but no pessimistic thoughts right? - then at least…At least they'll be a good enough person to tell the others I was thinking of them too yeah?"
Kasumi thumbed at the corner of her eyes to be rid of the wetness that resided there; soon she would be riding into battle with Miranda and Ashley Williams so that they would be able to meet up with the rest of the Normandy crew and to do this she knew that letting her emotions overtake her was not a smart move - so she buried them with a single sharp breath and continued watching the hologram.
Mini Shepard grinned up at her then (all cerulean hues that shone like diamonds and with a spiked crop of a golden halo for hair) with her hands coming up to tug and wrestle with the spikes of her hair, looking as though it was becoming harder and harder to think of what to say.
Finally after what felt like minutes…Shepard spoke once more.
"Kasumi Goto. I…Hell I don't know where you are to be honest," Shepard started with a shake of her head that probably hid the sadness that Kasumi assumed was in the Commander's expression. "You said you'd get my ass out of purgatory if you could; fat chance of that happening now eh? I don't even know if you're alive or not or if you even know what's going on but I've got to try haven't I? Try and make some sort of communication with you."
Kasumi closed her eyes at the mention of her absence; it pained her to say it but Shepard had been the last thing on her mind considering the work she had cut out for her with the hanar and Keiji's grey box - work that Shepard had not been lucky enough to find out due to her untimely death and Kasumi's lack of attendance.
"And Miranda? Kas I don't know where she is either," Shepard's voice had suddenly become very desperate and Kasumi didn't have to be a genius to tell that the Commander was on the verge of tears. "Some Sanctuary place or so I've heard but I can't let my hopes overtake what's right here, right now…Me, the galaxy and the Reapers. I'm sorry Kas but I can't…I can't do what you asked me to do the night before the Omega Relay."
At the mention of that night before the Normandy crew had descended into what Kasumi thought was the deepest bowels of hell, the master thief clutched at her forehead and rubbed angrily at the pain there; it had been a stupid question and she had known the answer before Shepard had even confirmed it.
"I thought about it though, I honestly did." And even now, sitting here watching the world crash around her, Kasumi doesn't know whether Shepard is lying or not. "But I can't do that. Can you imagine the stick I'd get off Miranda? Heh, bet she wouldn't ever speak to me again."
A wave of bright light flooded the room, outlining Kasumi's form in a dark shadow that stood out starkly against the light the armoury door opening brought however Kasumi still did not move even when she recognized the tell-tale signs of a certain woman's click-clacking of her heels.
"But Kas you know how much I care about you and how much I wish I could have done what you asked and so I want you to tell Lawson something just before I go. Tell her, tell her…"
Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Thud.
Kasumi winced as another shadow melded with her own and restrained herself from turning around, instead choosing to stare longingly at the hologram in the palm of her hand.
"Oh she knows…"
The hologram cut off and Kasumi jumped from her seat at the feel of a hand grasping at her shoulder despite knowing who it was; it still made her feel uneasy at being in the same room as the person Shepard had sacrificed so much for - it made Kasumi think of questions like, was it worth it?
"It's time." Miranda Lawson told her with a voice that was despicably strong like kryptonite, not that it surprised Kasumi in the slightest, this was Miranda she was talking about after all. "If you're ready the meet us in the hanger, we can't be moping around."
Kasumi nodded curtly and watched as the shadow of Miranda Lawson walked away before she lifted her head up and regarded the back of the ex Cerberus operative in the reflection of the Normandy's windows, mouth moving diligently whilst her fingers curled into fists that hung uselessly by her side.
"Did you know?" It's a simple question to ask but Kasumi knew it wasn't her place to ask it in the first place; yet still she wanted to know, wanted to know if Miranda really did live up the name of Ice Queen and if that name was still the thing that shaped Miranda to this very day.
Kasumi felt her breathe leave her when Miranda stopped and turned to address her over her shoulder, cobalt eyes narrowed but the soft look in them was hard to ignore even when Kasumi tried to move her attention somewhere else - she found out quickly enough that she just couldn't.
"Yes, I knew." Miranda answered with her habitual raise of her head and voice, but this time not arrogantly but knowingly and somewhat affectionately; as if she was granting Kasumi her last gift by allowing her to see the true human side of herself. "I just hoped she knew as well."
"She knew." Kasumi replied hastily with her fist coming up to her mouth so she could dig her teeth into her knuckles to prevent herself from speaking anymore.
Miranda smiled for a split second at her reflection in the Normandy windows before se departed with a sway of her hips - leaving Kasumi alone and feeling empty.
Oh Commander Shepard, Kasumi thought bitterly with her free hand once more coming up to thumb at the tears that streamed down her cheeks, why couldn't you have run away with me?