This place is bright.
And serene.
There is a woman walking towards her who looks vaguely familiar, but from this distance you couldn't tell.
Shepard can feel the sand beneath her and she grazes it will her fingertips and the heels of her toes. She is on her back, looking upwards, and she wants to say there is clouds but it looks infinite, till the point were the space above her turns hazy and blurred.
Her armor is gone and she is in a simple sheet of beige that melts into the sand around her. It feels good and the breeze touching her skin melts away the sore, as well. She rises off the beach and turns to look at the golden ocean, and footsteps rest next to her.
The woman is beautiful and looks like she is finally reseving a good night's rest. Her dark hair is down and curled now, and it is odd to see her in such an elegant smiles at the newly arrived soldier. She finally realizes who the woman is.
"Ashley" The arrival whispers. The word isn't a question or statement, but a reassurance that her friend is in front of her.
Willams smiles as her eyes twinkle at the mention of her old name. She nods while laying an arm of Shepard's shoulder, watching the peace of the water. Ashley does not mention that none of the crew is here, but tells Shepard, instead, that Anderson would like to speak to her.
They sit back down, laying next to the other. Silence is comforting, it does not remind Shepard of the scurrying yells and sounds that shadowed Ashley's leaving. The for telling was painful to remember, it made Shepard replay how the event could have unfolded.
Time is blurred as much as the sky, as if clocks are just a jumble of dull clicks and clucks, but after moments of companionship, Shepard stands, her action mimicked by the messenger who she missed all these three years. She turns to Ashley and her words are finally breathed, "What about everyone els-"
Her words are not rough or cold when she interupts, but warm and soft, having already explained this departure to others who came not to long ago. But this is Shepard, a savior, and Ashley has no wishes to remind her that she has left the others. Shepard would think herself a coward, but the gift she gave them was the most important.
She takes her hand, guiding her to where friends are waiting and the words she gives have a smile hidden in them, followed by the echo that makes this place so delicate,
"They're be here soon enough"