It had been a month since her victory at the citadel, yet people still spoke of Lana with such respect and surprise. One second she was a mere office woman, the next she was knocking criminals unconscious with a gun. It was almost frightening, the reaction that is, so much so it drove Lana to annoyance. Whenever someone stopped to congratulate her, she would simply nod, smile, and continue on her way with a subtle roll of the eyes for no one but herself to know of. Well, that was until a certain someone noticed from the shadows of the Combat center she passed unbeknownst.

"... Starting to annoy you, huh?" asked a familiar voice, a little clearer than usual.

Of course, it was Vann. He was turned so he could see both his desk and the woman passing him, a partially calibrated gun in his hand. Lana smirked, she hadn't spoken to him in a while.

"Well... yeah." Lana hesitated, before deciding to elaborate, it was Vann after all, not a stranger. With several emotions filling her up, she took a step forward, preparing for a good old fashioned rant.

"I mean, come on! It's been a month, and people are still talking about it! All I did was knock the guy out, it's not like I jumped in front of a bullet whilst knocking the guy out whilst... I don't know, running from an explosion-"

Vann couldn't hold back a giggle at such a ridiculous statement.

"-who am I? Commander Shepard? No! I'm just a woman on ship who just happened to take the kill shot."

"... I know a certain turian who'd claim to take the kill shot. A stubborn one too." Vann commented with a smirk. Lana frowned, her arms crossed now.

"But yeah... don't worry about it. It'll pass." Vann reassured.

"When?"

"... Well..." Vann searched for a number, maybe a date. No, nothing. All he could do was shrug.

"Exactly!" Lana threw her arms to her sides, shaking her head. Realizing she was probably appeared more and more aggressive as the rant continued, she stopped, changing the conversation.

"Anyway, forget it. How are you?" She asked, hoping the question would work. Vann hesitated, looking down.

"Is something wrong? Has something happened?" Lana asked, becoming concerned. To her relief, Vaan nodded.

"No. It's not that. It's this." Turning back to his desk, he produced a letter and presented it to Lana.

"They gave it to me. They couldn't find you, I was the closest person they could find. It's... of great importance to you, Lana. Don't worry though, I haven't opened it, but I know the... details. Here." Frowning, and almost shaking, he slowly handed it to Lana. Growing pale for reasons even she didn't know, she took the letter and examined the envelope carefully. A grave expression grew in the grey eyes Vann adored and found so beautiful, much to his horror. It was a letter of condolence. Gazing coldly at Vann, she tore it open, her gaze never once leaving his, not until the letter was open and the writing was completely visible. With a deep breath, she met the writing with as little emotion as she could muster.

Alas, it was the letter that should have been sent so long ago; the one she had begged for from the commander she and her fiancee served under on that day. 'on paper,' the voice of a younger, softer, grieving Lana Woodstone echoed in her mind with perfect recollection, 'we only read paper, no datapad, no omnitool... email... whatever the fuck it has! Plain, A4 paper, do you understand? Do you? Tell me you do! You have to! Please, he has to rest... without it he-!' No, no more memories. It was time to read this, with a clear conscience.

'I'm ready for this, I'm not a young girl anymore, I can do this.' she kept telling herself as she tackled every letter, word, sentence that the letter gave. In five minutes she had read two sentences, in ten she had read a paragraph. In half an hour there was nothing else to read. Her eyes were red now, her lips trembling. Vann's hands reached out, almost certain she would collapse onto the ground in a heap of agony. But she hadn't. Not yet.

"It's done." she whispered, "It's read. Now I can..." Lana started, her hands trembling. Vann nodded slowly, there was no real reason to, but he did. It was reassuring in its own, meaningless way.

"I can move on now." she confirmed, nodding herself now. "Yeah, I can. I know now, he's fine. He's fine."

The letter had slipped from her hand and tumbled to the ground without her even knowing, her hands still out before her with fingers clutched on an invisible paper. She was in a fit of subtle, silent tremors, and she was gasping for air as she stood in place. But what was tragic, the fact that nearly brought Vann to tears himself, was that she didn't even know she was doing it. As far as she was concerned, she had won.

"Thank you, Vann." She smiled with quivering lips. Lana turned to leave but almost instantly collapsed onto the ground, him at her side a split second afterwards. For an unknown time, they were just there in each others arms, Lana sobbing silently against the turian's chest as he gently stroked her hair, lulling her with hums and hushes. Eventually, she feel asleep against him, feeling only him lifting her and the sensation of being carried.

Waking with a deep sigh, Lana rose slowly on her elbows, lifting herself so she could sit up, with her knees against her chest. With her hand in her hair, she realized the emptiness she was feeling in the pit of her stomach, and grief temporarily washed over her once again. The letter. Wondering where she was, she looked around the room with a frown.

'My room.' she realized. 'Vann brought me back to my room.' A smile creased her lips.

'Vaan, where are you?'

With the sudden and unbelievably deep desire to see the turian who had arose these dormant feelings within her, Lana literally jumped from her bed, charging through the rooms of her cabin.

"Vann!" She cried a few times. She had to see him, right now. She was fine, and only now did she realize it. She was-

Vann was in her kitchen, pouring some water into a glass he seemed to be having difficulty holding; it was a human's glass after all. The cute image made Lana beam the biggest smile she had in years.

"Vann!"

Vaan turned to her almost instantly, shocked at the woman he saw. The woman who was usually so distant, so withdrawn and frightened, the woman he loved was smiling at him, looking so much younger!

"L-Lana?" he asked, stunned at the sight. "Are you... okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Vann, I get it now..."

"Get what?"

"Why the letter has come now."

Vann looked puzzled.

"The letter has come now because I needed someone to be there with me. Someone who... otherwise, I'd have collapsed before I'd even opened that damned letter." Explaining herself, Lana slowly approached the turian.

"Because of you, only now can I get rid of this anger I've been feeling for as long as I can remember. I'm ready... to be me again." Lana stopped, just a few footsteps away from the turian. "I mean, that probably sounds cheesy. In fact yes it does... shit."

"No!" Vann explained, now approaching Lana himself and taking her hands. "It's not, it's not at all! Lana, I want nothing more but for you to be happy. I want you to be you, and to not be frightened anymore! And if I... if I can be the one to do that, then let me! Spirits, that's all I ask!"

Lana smiled, closing the gap between them.

"Y-you do, Vann. I-"

"Lana..."

Without a second thought their arms were intertwined and they were kissing. Closing their eyes in the beauty of the harmony between them, their kiss became deep and passionate as their grip on each other grew tighter with longing and desire. It was a little awkward at first, being two different species, but soon it became natural and real. Longing for time to stop, they kissed for as long as possible, separating only to take a breath and joining once again. It was as if everything around them was nonexistent, and it was only the two of them together, for what was probably hours. Soon, they grew tired of just kissing their lips, and with that their cheeks, foreheads, cheekbones, necks and shoulders were kissed just as passionately also. Hands moved and swayed with the rhythm of their movement, until it was all too much. Time becoming relevant once again, as was the need to breathe, their lips parted, yet they still held each other close as they caught their breaths once again. Eventually, Vaan spoke.

"Lana, let me in tonight." he whispered into her ear.

"W-What?"

"I want to be with you tonight, to show you how much I love you."

'I love you'. Those three words were enough to form tears in Lana's eyes with joy.

"You... love me?" She asked, longing to hear it again from him.

"Yes, I love you, Lana Woodstone."

"And I love you! And yes, I will let you in tonight, so please, come soon!"

So as the ship became dark, Vann was greeted with an unlocked door, the woman he loved awaiting him, and a night of sweet, pure and unbelievably passionate love for the two to share, so when they awoke in the morning beside each other in a wonderful embrace, they were lovers. And that was unmistakable.

I'm baaack, and they're together! Yaaaay! Oh my Jebus this is overdue, but it returns! Haroff! I offer only the most humble apologies, and I hope you enjoy.

Spacetastic away, but has returned, therefore... not away, whatever, enjoy!