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Shepard folded her arms on the blanket, resting her chin on top of them, and looked out the open flap of the tent. It was relatively cool and shady here, protected from the midday desert heat, and she was thinking about taking a brief nap … but the sight in front of her was hard to take her eyes off. Thane lay stretched out along the top of a rock that was nearly covered in sand, completely naked, his legs crossed at the ankles, eyes closed, basking in the heat of the sun. There was such utter contentment in his pose that it made Juniper smile to look at him.
They were halfway through a two-week honeymoon here in the Mojave Desert. It was the first vacation either of them could ever remember taking, and as such they had been nervous they wouldn't find enough to do … but the morning hikes discovering the desert, the afternoon siestas, the evening campfires and love-making long into the night had been completely fulfilling. Shepard felt a certain urgency to enjoy every moment, knowing it would likely be the only time they would have together as a couple—but they had agreed not to talk about that. Not until they had to.
She would go from here to a transport out of Las Vegas that would take her to Vancouver and the tribunal there. It had taken a certain amount of ingenuity on their part to get her to Earth unrecognized to begin with, and in the midst of her excitement to be seeing the homeworld for the first time she had been terrified that someone would recognize her and stop her and she would lose part or all of this precious time.
But they hadn't, and she hadn't, and here she was enjoying the fabled Earth her parents had talked about so often. She thought this was probably very different than the often cold coastal town they had come from, far to the north and east of here, but the desert had been Thane's dream, and she was happy just to be here with him.
The rest of the crew had drifted apart after the wedding—Tali back to the Migrant Fleet, Garrus to Palaven. Miranda and Jack had taken off to parts unknown; Grunt had stayed on Tuchanka. Mordin had muttered something about a task unfinished but had left no details. Joker and Dr. Chakwas and the rest of the humans still aboard the Normandy had been given a choice—return to the Alliance, or disembark at the Citadel, where they had stopped to drop off Kolyat. Most had remained on the Normandy, which would be meeting Shepard in Vancouver. She figured it was the least she could do. With the Illusive Man's support withdrawn, she could hardly afford to maintain a ship such as the Normandy on her own, and the Alliance might go easier on her if she brought their rebuilt ship back. Or so she hoped.
In the meantime, she had another week of this blissful freedom. She sighed.
The corner of Thane's mouth quirked in a smile. "Enjoying the view, Siha?"
"Immensely. Come join me when you're through with your sunbath?"
"I don't mind if I do."