So Shepard was back? It wasn't surprising, after all once the first Reaper attack was known everyone was crawling back to the commander, on their hands and knees and practically begging him to come back...Save the day once again.

It should have been the thing that consumed most of his thoughts, seeing Shepard and the whole crew but if he was honest with himself, which he was, there was a certain thief that he wouldn't mind seeing, a certain thief that had snuck into his mind more than once when the crew had gone their separate ways.

His first hint was when a few weeks after they had all traveled their own paths he began to have recurring memories of the sneaky human; his first time meeting her when she had actually made him jolt after tazzing his sides with her slim fingers, a time in which she and he had shared tea while discussing Shepard's odd tactics, and even the simple things like passing her in the hallway came to resurface.

She had practically captivated him from the very beginning, after he had thought that no soul could ever get the feared Thane to jump or even sneak up on him for that matter but she had. And then they had spiralled in a game of seeing who could scare the other one, keeping score as they went along...He'd felt so juvenile and so young and often times he'd ponder why he even was a subject in this game before it dawned on him that he actually like the carefree attitude, that he actually liked acting childish. Ever so often that is.

It was her that dragged that out of him, somehow reaching inside and pulling out personality traits that he had forgotten was even there and sure he appeared to be annoyed occasionally at her naïve nature or remarks that she placed here and there but deep down he found them entertaining to say the least. She was a weird soul. Flirting with the shadows and standing unseen in the broad daylight. Sneaking and taking away prized possessions of the Normandy Fleet but not in an impish way that suggested she was evil or doing it to spite others. She did what she did, the for the love of it.

For the love of it.

They were a lot alike; their work was something that was tied so closely to their life that the knots weren't going to come out anytime soon, they both mastered their arts, both of their work involved stealth, however he wasn't sure whether he loved his work. Did he love it? Or was it just something that was sucked into his daily routine? No...He didn't love his work.

So now they were going to see each other, again. He felt like a silly schoolboy, walking towards a bubbly nightclub that Shepard had decided to rally them at, his emotions a flurry of confusion and it almost made him laugh out loud. Thane Krios. Afraid of talking to a girl.

Of course this was all just silly thinking on his part, he knew that at the very first flashback and he knew that now; walking down the street with his hands shoved in his pocket and the artificial air streaming into his failing lungs, that they could never have anything together. He was a dying man, had been for some time, and he couldn't place the pain of losing two lovers in one lifetime on the ramen loving thief.

But it still didn't make him any less happy to see her.

A club, eh? How very fancy, but she should've known, after all it was Shepard. Shephard; the one who had thought Jack would like an animal themed birthday party with an animated giraffe cake, sure the thing was so damn adorable, but Jack had been none too pleased. When she first got the message from the awol commander, she had mixed feelings. Ah, who was she kidding! This was great! Getting the gang back together to kick whoever's ass! She'd be able to see Liara, Tali, Jacob, Thane...Thane.

Dammit. There went her stupid heart again, skipping a beat at the mention of the drell but now it was impossible to deny that she was feeling something other than friendship towards the ex coworker. She wouldn't kid herself by saying she hadn't thought of the man on multiple occasions, and they weren't always topics that were based on everyone else, oh no. She'd be in the middle of stealing something and suddenly she'd remember a similar situation that involved her and Thane; like when they'd had a little competition to see who could startle who the most.

It had ultimately gotten to the point of impossible once both of them had memorized each others movements, now even the slightest scuffle from the bottom of his shoes could alert her but evidently she'd won once she snuck up on him with a pair of black fuzzy socks on her feet and nothing else. She'd looked past her shoulder a ton once that had happened, fearful that he'd try to make the scores even but he seemed content with the fact she'd beaten him...Besides, talking became a much more interesting way to know him, then trying to make him flinch.

She'd finally found her old diary that she'd left back on the Normandy (after successfully sneaking in) and flipped through the pages. Ever since Keiji had died the book was just always there, but she'd never wrote anything else in it from then on. Until she retrieved it, and read a younger version of herself speak the words that seemed so ridiculous to her now...Most of the stuff was about Keiji and how much she loved him, after all what else was a diary good for? Besides stealing of course, Miranda's had been a fairly interesting read, had! Who knew that she out of all people kept a diary?

Anyhow, she'd torn out all the old pages from the red bonded book, feeling that in some dramatic way she was finally burying Keiji for good. That somehow getting rid of all the pages that held his name and little hearts scrawled in the headings and sides would help relieve her from moving on...Moving on? Hmmph. The heart did work in mysterious ways, as they were kind of opposites weren't they?

But maybe it was a good thing; her lighter side clashing with his more serious and dark one. She helped him be less tense, and he helped her tame her more 'wilder side.' Kept her from doing rash things. Kept him from staying cooped up all day in his room.

So here she was, early, settled down on a plushy couch with flashing lights and skimpy dancers prancing around her cloaked self with concealed eyes that scoured the dance floor for any sign of him...Oh right, right. For any sign of them. Because she was also very ecstatic to see them, just less so.

Well at least she was honest with herself.

[time skip; five minutes]

"I know you're here."

Oh god! That gravelly voice!

Kasumi tried her best to hide it, yet the sudden hand on her shoulder made her whole body nearly leap to attention and she heard the low chuckle of an old friend follow suit before his hand withdrew and then the scaled form was sitting across from her, looking slightly amused as she decloaked.

"Tied."

A glare was shot his way but it was quickly replaced by a flimsy smile while the half of her eyes glittered with a more competitive side as she growled playfully,

"We'll see about that, Thane."

Her body itched to just leap up and give the drell a huge bear hug but something inside of her wrestled the urge to the ground, and then pinned it before labeling that move as; awkward. But would it be? He wasn't exactly the most 'huggy' person but it was hard to deny that she did indeed what to do something, besides just saying; hi. But that's what she did anyways.

"Hey-yah drell. Fancy meeting you here."

The corners of his mouth barely arched upwards, this was a sign he was humored, as his webbed hands folded into each other while he leaned back in the unnatural neon yellow seat that was far too big for any normal sized being to sit in. Maybe it was fit for a Krogan, but anyhow he looked somewhat comical settled in it. Anyhow, he didn't look ready to continue the conversation, maybe he was mulling over his options, but as seconds ticked by the young woman became impatient enough to blurt out,

"I've missed you."

Most people would've appeared horrified by their own outburst or a little color would be flushed into their cheeks but Kasumi did neither of these but rather flashed a bright smile that masked the uncertainty that she was feeling. Had he missed her? Did he even think about her once? Oh god...

Did she put deodorant on? What if she didn't? What if she just started sweating like crazy and then got all sticky and stinky? Then she'd have to sit with her friends, and Thane, while all of them had to smell her hideous scent. Did she bring deodorant? No. Why would she do that?

"I missed you too. It is good to see you again Kasumi, I miss our talks."

Oh did he? Did he really?

Ok, stop acting like a giddy teenager. You're Kasumi Goto! Master thief! Kickass stealth expert! You could walk out of this club with any guy you want, because you're that classy!

She stared intently at his features, but nothing seemed to change. He just stared back and it was her that looked away by suddenly finding her couch to be interesting enough that her fingers had to trace the swirly patterns.

"You know, we could always have our 'tea parties' now that we're gonna be working together again."

She said, trying to keep her voice casual yet it came out a little higher pitched then she would've liked, and she still kept her eyes pinned to the cushions until he answered warmly,

"I'd like that."

And he smiled.

Ok! Be honest, you likeh? I personally adore this ship, and I will go down with it with all the haters that try to sink it! I mean, they're so cute together 3 Gah!

This chapter was actually kinda hard for me to write, but don't worry! I'll try to make the next ones better!

I tried to write Thane's POV without using much emotion, because...Well that's just him. I made sure Kasumi got her thoughts in loud and proud!

Love, Breezy