Get up, Siha.
Within the muffled echoes of her mind, she heard his voice call to her. Lips too swollen to open her mouth and call out, eyes smeared with blood and unable to see. He's here, but that's impossible. Thane! she screamed the thought through her relentlessly pounding headache.
You are not finished.
She was pretty sure that she was. Her body no longer responded to the commands she gave it. Her will faltered with every breath that shot daggers through her lungs. The last time she died, she was floating yet falling into a mysterious abyss of warmth and peace and completion. There wasn't the pain she felt now. The heaviness of her body. The nagging voice in her head telling her she couldn't rest.
"Commander Shepard," a new voice called out to her, stinging her ears in a way the other hadn't. It resonated through her, repeating over and over. Shepard… Shepard…
Respond, Siha.
"Mmmm," she groaned, unable to form any coherent words. The voice in her head was warm, comforting, she wanted to please him and tried.
"Nothing's happening, the Crucible's not firing."
She wanted to cover her ears from the pain that sound brought her, but her arms refused to move. The Crucible, her foggy mind repeated. That was an important word, but why, what was it about that word that caused her heart to beat faster.
They are all dead if you do nothing.
Dead. They. Who? Her friends. Those she was fighting for. Yes, she was in a battle. A race. To where? It hurt to think, but she fought her way through the maze of thoughts and images that flooded her mind. Where was she? Citadel. Crucible. What was it for? Reapers! "What?" Shepard responded, finding her words again. "What do you need me to do?"
"It's got to be something on your end," Admiral Hackett replied. She recognized his voice now, though what he asked of her was impossible.
Move, Siha. I will help you. Remember me.
And she did. Thane, his strong arms around her, holding her close. Kissing every inch of her body as if memorizing it with his lips. The feel of his skin on hers, the way they moved together in perfect harmony. He knew her body better than she did, and Shepard focused her thoughts on him.
Slowly she dragged her body across the floor to the control panel. Barely able to move, but a push from within or beyond helped her get through every painful inch. Each sting, burn, twinge and strain that shot through her quickly subsided when she imagined his kiss. Almost there, she heard as she pulled herself toward the console.
"Commander Shepard," Hackett's voice called out to her again.
Shepard used what little energy remained within her to reach for the console. In that moment, she felt Thane's presence leave her, and without him she faltered. Collapsing to the harsh metal beneath her, she felt the cold darkness of death consume her, and she welcomed it. Death was not instant, unlike the last. She could feel her body temperature drop as she drifted into that blissful moment before sleep would take hold one last time.
A bright light interrupted the process, and Shepard felt a rush of life pass through her. Every ache and broken bone seemed to have mended as she easily found the strength to stand. Opening her eyes in anticipation of seeing Thane again, instead she was met by a young boy, the one that had haunted her dreams since his death on Earth.
Their fate is in your hands.
"Thane," she said aloud. "What do I do? How do I know which is the correct path?"
You already know the answer, Siha. Decide, and then join me across the sea.
He knew just as she did what decision she would make. She chose her destination, walked toward it willingly, and molded the future for those she would leave behind. When the last of her essence was taken from her physical form, Shepard found peace again.