twenty-nine

He liked that Kat called him John.

Jack always called him Shepard. Everyone had. He was always Shepard. N7, war criminal, last hope of the galaxy, hero.

Ghost.

With a simple choice, by using his first name, Kat made him feel like a man.

end of part one


A/N:

It's been a while since I've written fan fiction. I missed it. Writing "Sunshine" reminded me of how much fun it was to revisit a world I loved. To speculate. To further the stories of the characters I felt a connection with. My previous fan fiction stories have all been set in the world of Dragon Age. I still get notes from fans of those stories asking when I'll write the next chapter for Aedan and Leliana. I'm sorry I haven't. I miss them, definitely. In writing Sunshine, I've put together another handful of characters that are going to tap tap at my conscience for more words. The bane of any writer, eh?

This story came from exactly the same place as "The Hero of Ferelden", though. I finished the game and asked: what's next? The control ending is not a popular one. I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of any of the Mass Effect 3 endings; I simply want to share my vision of what happens to Shepard after he disappears. I have often wondered where he went.

Several people have already asked if I plan to continue this story. The simple answer is: yes. I have a ton of ideas. The more complicated answer involves finding time to write it. I'm currently working on the sequel to "Less Than Perfect", which is original fiction. (Science fiction/romance, published and available at Amazon, etc, for those interested in checking it out. Message me for details. :) )

I will try. I love this story and would like to see it continue. I'd like to make the same promise for Aedan and Leliana, but I only have so much time. Never say never, though!

As always, thank you to BioWare for allowing me to play in their sandbox. Thank you to Whuffie for the wonderful art work she made for this story. It can be viewed at Ao3. Look for "sisimka" :). Finally, thanks to Azzy and Bioticbooty for organising the Mass Effect Big Bang.