Note: I really wanted to write a piece about Thane and Shepard post-destroy option, but with Shepard actually passing on. I didn't have any fear of Shepard dying on my playthrough because I had already lost my wonderful lizard husband, so what was there left to lose? I tried to find anything like this piece and couldn't, so I decided to write it. I know it's short, I literally sat up in bed at midnight and just started writing but most of my works tend to be short so whatever.

Shepard sputtered and coughed, gasping for breath and desperately trying to grasp her bearings as she crawled forward out of the dark and breathless hold she had been under. Her academy training was failing her as she grew more and more overstimulated by her surroundings. There was sand, lots of it. Still gasping, she raised her hands to her face to watch wet, clumpy sand drop into the water. Water? Shepard glanced down at the shallow waves that gently rolled over her body, clad in what was left of decimated N7 armor. Portions of carbon fiber remained intact, but much of the flexible pieces had been burned off by the plummeting Citadel.

On that note, Shepard began to take stock of her physical condition. Considering the fall out of deep space, she was miraculously unhurt. No broken bones, no burns, no obvious signs of concussion despite the splitting headache and overwhelming brightness she was still trying desperately to overcome. She flexed her fingers and felt no pain. Stiff, but no pain. She flexed her muscles as she struggled to sit up on the beach she found herself marooned on.

Her headache began to subside finally, and she began surveying the landscape. There was a surprising lack of ruble considering the incredible seismic battle that had just torn the galaxy limb from limb. The sky looked remarkably serene, save for a few stray clouds that gently rolled through the atmosphere. No ships dominated the airspace, or were smashed on the beach for that matter. Large rock faces pushed up into mountains behind the sandbar, their valleys littered with healthy trees and other exotic foliage. There was a peacefulness that the beach held, an overwhelming calmness. Shepard felt like she should be uneasy, but just couldn't find it within herself to question her predicament. It felt…nice?

There wasn't a bit of functioning technology anywhere on her armor. No omni tool, no communicator, no medi-gel dispenser. Who would she call for help? Shepard wondered. Would she have to live out her days in some Lord of the Flies-esque manner on the remote location she had been dropped? Would she have to eat coconuts and hunt wild boars every day until her lonely death?

Something rustled in the tall bushes behind her and she immediately sprung to action, adopting an old Earth-style martial arts stance that she had learned in the Alliance. At least her reflexes were returning. The rustling moved closer, as if it wanted to better survey her. Shepard continued to stand her ground.

"Whatever you are, I don't have enough sharp sticks to go up against you yet, but I'll definitely give you a run for your money," she called to the rustling, as if it would understand her.

But, understand her it did.

"Siha," a soft and familiar flanging voice replied.

Shepard immediately dropped her held stance, and clutched her chest as if the words had been fired from a gun at point blank into her body. Her eyes immediately began welling as a figure emerged from the foliage. It was a tall, handsome Drell with soulful, black eyes whom Shepard could never, ever forget; it had only been a few months since she'd seen him quietly slip away in a sterile hospital bed. Heavy sobs started within her as she was racked with deep, penetrating emotions that shook her very soul. Everything she had wanted to express on the day of his funeral began exploding out of her. Her knees felt weak. She began to collapse.

Quick on his feet, Thane ran to her and caught her before she could hit the ground. He clasped her so tightly against himself that he feared her was going to crush her.

"Shh, Siha, it's okay," he cooed to her, stroking her hair and kissing at the tears that cascaded from her strange, human eyes that he had always adored. "I'm here, Siha. I've got you."

Was this a dream? Shepard thought as she buried her face into the neck of her former lover, still bawling and heaving. Or perhaps a cruel nightmare? It was hard to think of any rational explanation for Thane's return. Why was he here of all places? Did he really pass away that horrible day? Did Kolyat know he was alive? A thousand thoughts plagued her.

Eventually, her cries subsided enough to speak. "Thane," she began, struggling to even form the single syllable of his name. The name she carried with her into the last stand against the Reaper threat. The name that was her last thought as she destroyed every single leviathan-sized invader. Thane nodded against her.

"It's me," he responded softly. "I am here."

Shepard felt another wave of sobs, but sustained herself. "H-how is this…possible?" she choked out. "I saw you-…I saw you pass away. We held your memorial service. I visited your grave every day. How is this possible?"

Delicately, Thane took Shepard's chin in his hand and lifted her face to his, admiring her for the first time since he had been stolen by the throws of death.

He placed a kiss on her beautiful lips, and whispered against them, "I promised to meet you across the sea. Your last mission is complete, my Siha."