She awoke with a sharp breath, pushing herself up off where she lay on the soft grass, casting her eyes upward.
The sunlight blinded her for a moment, and felt uncomfortably hot upon her skin.
She raised a hand to shield herself from its cruel rays, but then her eyes adjusted to the brightness and a cool wind washed softly over her like a lover's caress, allowing her to put her hand down and get a sense of where she was.
She sat in a grove of trees, leaves whistling as that same wind rushed through them.
Another sound got her to look behind her, where a small stream gurgled lazily, the lapping of the waters against the rocks providing a soft music which harmonized with the swaying of the trees and the soothing breeze against her naked skin.
Naked. She had been the whole time, but only now realized it. She looked down over her body, brushing her fingers against her palms, poking at her abdomen, wiggling her twin toes in the grass and feeling it tickle the bottoms of her legs where she sat, savoring the feel of it.
Some part of her felt that it was wrong, that she should be wearing something, that this was dangerous, but it was faint; it came from someone else. She discarded it, going back to how nice her environment was.
She cast her eyes around a little further to find that the grove in which she stood was more of an oasis, and that red-and-gray rock formations stretched out as far as she could see beyond where the tree line ended, craggy and uniform and dead. A desert.
Above the wind and the babbling of the stream, she heard the distant rush of falling water, something greater than the little trickle next to which she sat.
In the absence of any idea of what to do in this idyll, she decided to seek the source of the sound. Maybe she could find someone else to explain where she was or why she was here. She pushed herself to her feet, her muscles protesting a bit at having to move. Apparently, she had been there for a while.
Drawing in a preparatory breath, she began to walk toward the sound, stepping over the odd rock and ducking under a few hanging vines.
Following the stream was rather easy. The path beside it was not paved, but it was well-trodden. It gave her hope she might find another person in this place.
The stream widened as she walked, which, along with the intensifying sound, seemed to indicate a larger body of water ahead.
It was not far to the source of the sound, and as she pressed away a screen of leaves, she beheld a clearing containing a large pool.
The water was clear and a little choppy. The reason for it became obvious as she cast her gaze to the far end, where a large waterfall came pouring over a bluff, which seemed to have its own oasis on top.
The size and height of the marvelous formation meant that, as the water came to crash down into the pool, it sent up a great veil of mist, each drop glittering and shimmering in the sun as though it was a star all its own, light dancing and shifting so quickly that every moment it presented a new face, eternally unique.
Add to that the sound of some twittering birds and the delightful sensation of the heat of the sun dueling with the cool breeze on her skin, and the whole scene was exquisite, immaculate, a perfect picture of natural beauty.
But she was not paying attention. For through the veil of mist, even from so far, she could see that there was a silhouette. It was vague and indistinct, but something in her told her to go toward it.
Curiosity, yes, but also something deeper.
Placing a foot into the water, she found that, despite its depth, it was solid, and she did not fall beneath the surface. She might have stopped to reflect on how strange that was, but she could not, mind affixed firmly on her task. She continued to walk, and the silhouette grew a little more clear. Upright. A person, and shaped like her, mostly.
It was a quarian, she thought.
No, a human. A man. Broad of shoulder and tall, facing her way. She was sure he could see her through the veil, though he did not speak.
But he did take a step forward, revealing more of his features.
Her heart rose to her throat and she took a step back.
It was him.
Just standing there, on the surface of the water like her.
He had a relaxed posture, and was as naked as she was.
She ran her eyes over the musculature incredulously, before flicking up to search his face and finding the same strong jaw covered in brown stubble, same aquiline nose, same icy blue eyes.
It was, indeed, him.
What was different about his face now, was that it was mostly blank of the emotions that he normally wore so freely upon it. Nothing was there but a little sadness that colored his eyes alone.
She ended her examination of him to ask the obvious question to herself.
How? He was supposed to be-
"John?" she said, voice shaky.
"Hey, Tali." He greeted easily, a tiny wan smile appearing on his lips.
"But…I don't understand. What are you doing here?" she said softly.
"Couldn't say. Seems like you could, though." He said knowingly.
"No, I couldn't. I have no idea what is going on. And you're…" she trailed off.
"Not around anymore. I know. I'm here now, though. Gotta be worth something, right?" he asked her.
"No, John, it's not. This doesn't mean anything. You left me!" She yelled.
His eyes did not leave hers, nor shift at all at her accusation.
"I did. But you know why I-" he began, before she cut him off.
"Yes, I know why you did it. That hasn't made it any easier for me. Do you have any idea what you put me through?" She let the words spill out of her.
He just looked at her, understanding but unmoved by her words.
She felt a wave of shame rush over her at her own selfishness.
"I'm sorry…I know I shouldn't think that way, but I can't help it." She choked out.
He gave her a slight nod.
"I just miss you. A lot. And it still hurts so bad." She confessed, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I know." He replied sadly.
She wanted to reach out and take him in her arms, then, to rest her head on his chest and hear his heart thump against it while he placed his chin on her head and stroked her back like he always did.
She wanted to bask in that warmth and that closeness and that sense that all would be right in the world for as long as they held each other, but suddenly the few steps which separated them appeared to be a thousand miles, and she found her legs would not move, besides.
She did hold out her arms, though, begging.
"W-why won't you come here? And why can't I go to you? I want to hold you." she said, tears now running hotly down her face.
He still just looked at her, and did not move.
"I'm not sure. I want that, as well." He said genuinely before his eyes bore through her again.
"But it's been two years, Tali. Maybe this is your way of letting go of me?" he said, tone questioning but sounding completely convinced of its truth underneath that.
She would not accept it.
"No, I don't want to. You deserve better than to be let go."
"This is your mind, Tali. It's not me keeping us apart." He said softly.
"I…I know that. But…how can it be me? We've been here before, John. We've said these words to each other so many times. If I want to let you go, then why do I keep coming back here?"
She began to sob, then, the sound tortured and loud and ugly, her arms wrapping about her body as her shoulders shook and her tears joined the water below her feet. Her knees failed her and she fell.
He just looked at her, sadder than he had ever been but fully aware of what he could not do.
"I'm sorry." He said, turning away from her and walking toward the waterfall, the mist swallowing his form more with every step.
"No. Please…" she cried, reaching a hand out feebly toward him, but he did not look back, and then he was gone. Again.
"Don't leave me…" she whispered, curling into a feeble ball on the water's surface as she wept, even as the trees around her began to wither and fall away before a consuming tide of white light.
She did not fight as it swallowed the shore, then the lake which surrounded her, and then herself.
