Dear Tali,

It's me, John. I've been doing some thinking since you left. My whole reason for staying cooped up here on Mindoir was because I'd never been convinced anything interesting was out there. But now I know there is… You. And now that you're gone, everything's a lot slower back here; Ken and Gabby returned to the Alliance, and I'm no longer needed at the clinic. I really want to see you again, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet…

I don't know if this message will ever reach you, but if it does: please, write back.

Missing you,

John

/-/

Time elapsed: 1 week and 3 days (TCU)

Shepard was tearing himself apart. He wanted to see this girl again, but he couldn't without leaving Mindoir, and the only ways out were either hijack a batarian slave ship or join the Alliance. Since neither sounded appealing, he returned to his day job at the impound shop.

He really didn't want to, but he needed the money. It didn't help at all that he was working in the very hangar that his now long-distance relationship had launched from. He sulked, moving to his station to start working.

"Hey, John," his coworker, Mark, greeted. "How're you, today?"

"Fine, I guess…" Shepard responded, which was basically a lie.

"Something got you down?" asked another employee; Mark's current girlfriend, Frieda.

"Nothing," Shepard answered.

Mark raised an eyebrow, but shrugged off Shepard's strange behavior and proceeded back to work. Frieda, however, was not so easily quelled. "Come on, Shep," she said. "We're your friends. If something's wrong, you can tell us. Right, Mark?"

"Can we please just get back to work?" Mark pleaded.

"Thanks anyway, Frieda," Shepard said, starting away, "but I doubt you could do anything to help…"

/-/

Dear Tali,

Firstly, I realize the chances of these letters reaching you are slim to none, but writing them helps me take my mind off things… And second, only after sending the previous letter did it occur to me you probably don't read English, so attached is a translation for that and the letter you're reading. I had to go to several sites on the Extranet to find a working English-to-Khellish translator, and it didn't work amazingly either.

Back to the subject at hand, though. I can't sleep lately; all I can think about is you. Just knowing you're out there is driving me mad. I miss you, and would do damn-near anything to see you again. I'd go looking for you, if I only knew where to look… Write back if this finds its way to you, okay?

Sincerely,

John

/-/

Several hours passed, and Shepard was still sulking. Mark just wanted to get his work done for the sake of not getting in trouble with the boss again, but Frieda was still trying to help. "If he wants to mope," he said to his irate girlfriend, "then let him. It's healthier if we just leave him be."

"Your best friend is emotionally drained," she responded, "and you're not raising so much as a finger to help him!"

"What am I supposed to do, Fries? Take him out clubbing to find him a new lady to cry about when she leaves? Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

"Then you should know that it's not helping."

"Neither is you two arguing," Shepard said, approaching the pair. "I know you mean well, Frieda… But, for my sake, just leave it alone. Please."

"I can't," she replied. "It's not in my nature to leave a friend to his own devices if that means he's going to rip himself apart out of grief!"

"Even if I wanted you to help, you couldn't!" Shepard's eyes began to water as he spoke. "Don't you get it? You have to understand that not all problems can be solved as easily as holding a conversation!" He took a seat, slumping over from the weight of his emotions. "Sometimes, I wish they could… But they can't." He buried his face in his palms, heaving a loud sigh.

"…Well, John," Frieda said, kneeling next to him, "my philosophy is: 'Anything can be done, but nothing will unless you try.' You see whatever's got you down as unfeasible, yet I see it as a challenge to be completed. Even though you don't want to talk about it…" she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I just want you to tell me."

Shepard wiped his eyes and explained the events up to this point: Tali, his volunteer work, and her inevitably leaving. When he was finished, Mark let out a long whistle. "That was quite the story."

"So you're all sad because she left?"

Shepard nodded. "It's only been a week and I'm already fed up with her being gone… I just wish we'd had a little more time together."

"Well," Mark chimed, "it's not like she died. She just left to complete this pilgrimage thing. And from the sound of your explanation, you two were together for about three months."

"Not helping," Frieda glared. "Anyway, it sounds like the only remedy for you is to see this girl again."

"How?" Shepard sat upright. "She blasted off into space God-knows-where ten days ago. It's impossible…"

"Well, you know what they say," Mark said. "Only the impossible is worth doing. Now, we know that this 'Tali' babe shot off into space. So step one, obviously, is get into space. She's a quarian, so step two should be along the lines of 'look for quarian dames that look like Tali.' Simplicity itself."

"Except one problem: There's no way off of Mindoir."

"Hm… Have you considered hijacking a slave ship?"

"Not gonna happen."

"Then that kinda leaves us with the one option."

/-/

Dear Tali,

It's me again. My friends tried to cheer me up today to no avail, but I appreciated their effort. They actually suggested that I should join the army just to see you again. Can you believe it? I myself have never considered signing my life away…

However, my options for leaving are limited… If this reaches you, write back, okay?

Yours truly,

John