I've always been interested in Thane's childhood and his relationship with his family.

So... This is some of my head-canon when it comes to Thane's background.

This isn't too fluffy, more hurt/comfort.

Old wounds

It was rare that Shepard woke up without having Thane next to her in bed. During their time on the Normandy, he had always been the first to rise, saying that he wanted to meditate on the dreams of the night before he started the day. He had never explained what kind of dreams he felt the need to meditate on, but in the end, it didn't matter. But now, when they were living a civilian life, they often woke up at around the same time. Perhaps it came from being together for such a long time.

However, this morning, Shepard found that she was only sharing the bed with Thane's cold pillow. He had been up for a while, then. Glancing at the clock on their bedside table, Shepard frowned as she noted it was only a few minutes past five in the morning. There was no need for him to be up this early. Slightly worried, Shepard rolled out of bed, wrapped the dressing gown Thane had given her for her birthday around her body and left the bedroom to find her lover.

It didn't take long for her to look. After all, their house wasn't large. He was stood by the large patio windows, staring out over the still dark desert. His shoulders were squared, his back straight and his hands clasped behind his back. It was a tense posture that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hey..." Shepard walked over to him and smoothed her hand over his back. "What's wrong?"

The first response she got was just a low hum. Over the years, she had gotten used to the myriad of sounds Thane made. It turned out drell communicated a lot through small noises that humans had issues picking up on. She rather felt his body vibrate with the sound than hear it.

"I recently got the news that my father has passed away." He muttered without looking at her.

Whatever Shepard had expected, she hadn't expected this. Thane never spoke of his family. Actually, he rarely spoke about his life before meeting her. Neither of them did, she realised.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Were you close?"

"No." He said almost immediately. "I haven't spoken to anyone from my family since I was sixteen. I hadn't spoken to them for ten years before that. My parents know little of my current life. They know nothing of Irikah, Kolyat, you, Miyo... Yet, I'm uncertain on how I should react to these news."

"Well, he was your father." Shepard shrugged. She had no idea how to deal with this.

"My family and I were never close. They left me in the hanar's care as a child and our contact seized for ten years. But they came to visit at my sixteenth birthday. Why, I still don't know." He hung his head and let out a sigh. "I was six, siha. I felt... Betrayed. I didn't understand. What was actually an honor for my family, I saw as abandonment. I lived with these feelings for ten years before they reappeared in my life. Their explanations fell on deaf ears. I should have listen, should have forgiven... But wounds heal slowly with drell."

"Oh, Thane." Shepard wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "I didn't know... I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"I should have opened up to you." He muttered as he hugged her back. "But I didn't see a reason for it. I'm over forty and haven't seen my parents for thirty years. I thought it didn't matter anymore."

"As you said, wounds heal slowly with drell." She ran her hand over his head ridge. "You don't have to be ashamed of this. It must have been hard for you."

"I have a brother as well. He's five years my junior."

"Really?" Shepard couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. She had never considered the possibility that Thane had siblings. To be honest, she hadn't actually thought about his family much.

"For a long time, I assumed he was the reason they gave me over to the hanar. That they preferred him to me." Thane ran his hand through Shepard's hair. "He was the one who sent me the message. How he got my extranet adress, I don't know. We are only brothers in blood. I see Garrus as more my brother than Rutkak."

A snort escaped Shepard before she could stop herself. She clamped her hand over her mouth and turned away from Thane to hide her snickers. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry." She chuckled. "That's just a really ugly name."

"Yes, I agree." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. The tense atmosphere in the room was beginning to lift. "Don't linger on this too long, siha. It is in the past."

"Well, it apparently bothers you."

"I haven't thought about those times in a long while."

He pulled her body flush against his and kissed her gently. She ran her hands over the frills on his cheeks and neck. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon and the rays fell on him. Suddenly, she was reminded of when they met, how he had been back-lit by the rising sun on Illium with Nassana Dantius' rapidly cooling body on that desk.

For a few moment, she allowed herself to see a much younger Thane. A young boy who had been torn from his parents in order to become a skilled killer to do the hanar's bidding. Though he still refused to compare the Compact to slavery, she couldn't shake the comparison.

"If it makes you feel any better, my childhood was fucking shit." She chuckled.

"It doesn't manke me feel any better." He said solemnly.

"Considering everything we've been through, I'd say we're pretty well-adjusted." She grinned at him.

They leaned forward and kissed deeply. His hands moved down and settled on her hips. They only had a few more moments before their daughter would wake up and their full attention would be on her. Moments like these were even more precious now, since they were so rare.

"Thank you, siha." Thane purred. "For being you."

"SOME PEOPLE WORKED LATE LAST NIGHT AND ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

The sudden shout made both of them jump and they turned to look at Kolyat's room. The younger drell was only dressed in his underwear and was glaring daggers at them from the door frame.

"Take your make-out session elsewhere." He slammed the door shut and they heard him muttering before his bed creaked again.

Shepard couldn't help the bubbling laugh that came from her and she pressed her face against Thane's chest to hide it. She felt his chest rumble as he wrapped her arms around her.