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Shepard and Thane were back on the Normandy, lying in bed watching the stars fly by above them, when Juniper decided she had put off the topic long enough. "They want me to go to Earth."
Thane's arm tightened around her shoulders, but he made no other protest. She was certain he had already known this was coming. "So I gathered. The batarians?"
She nodded. "They want their pound of flesh."
"I will go with you."
"No." She sat up, agitated just by the thought of him wasting what remained of his life detained as part of a military tribunal. "You can't. I don't know how long they'll keep me, what the eventual judgment will be, but I won't put you at the mercy of the Alliance on a strange planet. Not with your condition … advancing."
"That doesn't matter to me. Not when compared to being away from you. We can't know if I'll— We can't know the future."
"No, that we can't, and the last thing I want is to be separated from you—but I can't bring you there. Please don't ask me to."
Thane sat up as well, frowning at her. "But you told Kolyat you wanted to take me to Earth."
"Yes, I did. Do you know I've never been?" It was true, but she was also stalling before she broached the topic she wanted to discuss. She had come up with this idea, crazy as it was, set her heart on it, but she knew it would be a hard sell.
"I believe I did know that, yes."
"So, if I'm going to go to Earth, to see it for the first time—I want that to be with you. We'll go to the desert." She took a deep breath, willing her heart to stop pounding long enough to be able to get this out. Reaching for his hand, she held it between hers, looking at him intently so he would see just how serious she was. "On our honeymoon. Thane, will you marry me?"
"Oh. Oh, Siha." His eyes filled with tears. "Siha. Please know how incredibly touched I am by the gesture, but just as you will not drag me to an Alliance facility, I will not be party to your tying yourself to a dying man."
"I am tied to you, Thane. Nothing can change that. I am yours until the last breath leaves your body, whether that is tomorrow, or by the grace of Kalahira, ten years from now."
He smiled briefly at her use of his goddess's name, and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. "That knowledge is already beyond anything I could have wished for in my life, you know that. I need nothing more."
"I do know that. But … But I do. Need more, that is." She paused to put her thoughts in order. "Between the Collectors and the Alliance and your illness, we have so little time, Thane. Not enough time for any of the usual milestones. But I don't have to report to Earth for a little while—Hackett is buying me some time—and we can manage this. One thing that could have been, if only; one thing for me to keep. Will you? Please?"
"Ah, Siha." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "I ... will think about it."
She nodded. It was what she had expected. "Don't take too long."
"I will not."