Kandros approved the last militia request, and glanced at the time. An hour ahead of schedule, he was pleased to see. He would surprise Ryder.

The Tempest had docked several hours ago, and Ryder had sent him a message as they were on their way in. He had invited her to make herself comfortable in his quarters while he finished work, and told her he'd meet her there. He logged out of his terminal and headed for the tram.

He was looking forward to seeing Ryder again, and not only for herself. It seemed slightly odd to be getting information about your soulmate from your girlfriend, especially when neither party knew what the other was to him, but it was Kandros' only reliable way of learning how Sloane was doing.

In the aftermath of the uprising, his promotion to leading the militia, and Tann's suspicious scrutiny, Kandros had hardly dared to read the reports of the wild rumors from scavengers and smugglers. The temptation of a first hand, credible report, with no way of his interest getting back to Tann, had been too much to resist.

When Kandros reached his quarters, he opened the door, looking around for Ryder. His rooms were modest, but comfortable enough, and he had managed to get the few personal items he'd brought from home, out of storage.

Ryder was sitting on his sofa, hunched over oddly. He wasn't being particularly quiet, but she didn't budge when he walked in, or turn when he walked up behind her to see what was holding her attention so completely. She had a book opened carefully on the table in front of her; a real paper book, he recognized it as his own by the faint blueish tint on the pages even before he recognized the writing in it as the turian script. Ryder's left arm rested on her knees, her omnitool open between her and the pages. Translating the script, he realized, into something she could read. He touched her shoulder gently, and was rewarded with a slight jump as she turned to face him.

"Kandros! You're early!" She smiled brightly. "I hope you don't mind. I couldn't resist taking a peek when I saw your books. I have never read turian poetry before, didn't even know there was such a thing, to be honest."

His mandibles flicked wide in a teasing grin. "There isn't much of it, and most of what there is tends to be rather martial in nature."

Ryder laughed. "Oh, I noticed. I'm sure I'm missing half the artistry of it, not reading it in the original language, but I like what I have been reading."

She closed the book, and took it back to tuck it carefully on the shelf where she'd found it. Kandros watched her, absently enjoying the grace of her movements while he tried to decide how best to ask the one question that was foremost on his mind. He decided to ease into it.

"What did you think of Kadara, Sara?"

She grinned, an expression he had learned meant she was about to tease him. He braced himself, but was startled when she answered his question. Perhaps he had read her incorrectly.

"It's… dizzying. I was amazed by the sheer magnitude of what the Exiles have accomplished there. Driving the kett out, keeping them out, making a home for themselves, all while maintaining trade with elements of the Milky Way races and the angara… it's impressive. On the other hand, the place is a cesspool of crime and violence. They seem to like it that way, for the most part."

"And… you met Sloane Kelly?" Even knowing that Ryder would never betray him to Tann, he asked it hesitantly, nervous that he might give away the depth of his interest.

That teasing grin flashed again, gone almost before it registered with him. "Oh yes, I met her. She's something, isn't she? Funny story about her, but it didn't happen until later. First, I had to meet an angaran contact, Shena. Who, surprise! Was as human as I am!"

Three hours. Ryder chattered on about her activities on Kadara for three hours, without once mentioning Sloane. There was plenty to tell, of course, she had clearly been busy while she was there. Several times, he tried to direct the conversation back to Sloane; each time, she brushed the attempt off with an allusion to a funny story, and assured him she'd get to it. Then she went back to telling him about the rest of the planet.

The people she'd met, the things she'd seen. The teammates she'd brought with her, and their reactions to the things they saw and did. Finally, she paused her narration.

"Hey, I'm starving! Do you want to go out, or order something in?"

Kandros obligingly called up the two nearest delivery options, and they made their choices. She asked him persistent questions about what he'd been doing since they'd last seen each other, until the food arrived. Finally, they were settled at his table with the food spread out between them.

Ryder was quiet, focused on her dinner, so Kandros resigned himself to waiting, and took a bite of his own food. While he was chewing, Ryder spoke again.

"So, anyway, there I was, just finished with a conversation with Sloane, when I realized why she seemed so familiar. She's your soulmate."

Kandros choked.

Ryder just sat there, demurely eating her dinner, ignoring him while he gulped water and wheezed in shock.

"You… how did you… did she tell you that?"

Ryder snorted, and now she looked at him, her expression exasperated. "Of course not! I doubt she would tell me the time of day, let alone something that personal. She doesn't have much love for the Initiative, after all.

"No, I just put it all together. It was a lot of little things; your message before I reached Kadara, her appearance and manner, the way she asked about you without really asking. I almost didn't believe it, because you told me you lost your soulmate. I assumed - as you wanted me to! - that you meant she'd died. But no, she's just exiled to Kadara."

Kandros was desperately trying to form a reply to this. What could he say? She was right, about everything. He had meant her to assume he meant his soulmate was dead; he hadn't wanted to explain why he was willing to have a relationship with someone else while he knew who and where his soulmate was. He still didn't want to explain that. When he didn't say anything, Ryder spoke again.

"Why are you here, if she's on Kadara?"

"What?" He blinked at her. That wasn't the question he had expected. "I… I'm here because I have a duty to Nexus, and the people here. I can't lead the militia from Kadara."

Ryder stared at him. "But you haven't tried to see her? Or send her a message? Or… anything?"

Kandros shook his head. "You don't understand what it's been like here. The Exiles are criminals, yes, but anyone who has any contact with them is also called a criminal. Tann already suspected there was something between Sloane and I; though he didn't come close to the truth, he's always been suspicious of me.

"I have a duty here, and it's a necessary one. Someone has to lead the militia, to protect Nexus and our interests. That job is increasing every day, as more of our people wake from cryo and head out into the galaxy. That someone also has to be able to stand up to Tann when it's needed - and it has been needed. I can't leave this to someone else. I'm upset enough that Sloane left it to me without a thought for all these people when she joined the uprising."

The flanging note in his voice had increased as his emotions got the better of him; he paused for a breath before finishing more steadily, "I can't risk contact with her. No matter how much I want to."

Ryder sighed and stood up, walking around the table to stand behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, her cheek resting next to his.

"Yeah, I get that."

Her voice was quiet, and he let himself relax slightly. She understood. It was more than he'd hoped for.

She didn't move for a long moment, then she straightened and went back to her seat.

"We'll just have to fix it, then." Her voice was back to her usual optimistic tones. "Get permission to set up a colony on Kadara, and the rest will sort itself out."

Kandros wasn't so sure, but her confidence was infectious, and he truly wanted it to be possible, so he didn't argue.

They finished dinner in a companionable silence. Once the debris was cleared away, they moved back to the sofa; Ryder seeming nervous now. Guessing that he knew what she was thinking, Kandros decided to beat her to it.

"I hope you will understand that this is not in any way a reflection on you, but I cannot continue this relationship. It has meant more to me than I can tell you, Sara, please do believe that. All this time, I've known that Sloane was lost to me. I told myself she was as good as dead. It was easier to think that way, and I almost started to believe it.

"Now, though, you've made me face the truth, and you know it too, and I just can't continue a relationship with you, when you've brought her so much closer to me than she was."

Sara smiled at him, her eyes clear. "Oh, don't worry. I knew that as soon as I figured it out. And, well, I haven't told you about the other issue that came up while I was gone. It's a doozy."

Kandros tipped his head to the side, watching her. "Doozy? That word doesn't translate."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that if we were giving out prizes for 'shocking revelations,' you and Sloane would come in second place. A pretty distant second, at that, compared to the revelation Jaal dropped on my while we were taking the moshae back to Aya."

It took the rest of the night for her to explain the "doozy" to him. Jaal's certainty and her own dismay; his persistence, and her own wildly varying emotions and credulity. Kandros listened, and finally had to agree. Sloane being his soulmate was a pretty tame revelation compared to this one.

Finally, they were both fighting yawns between words. Kandros was leaning back comfortably on his sofa, feet on the table; Sara was sitting in that curled up position that he couldn't imagine anyone but a human managing without injury, facing him, though her head was resting on the back of the sofa more often than not.

"Well, I hope you figure it all out soon, Sara. For your own peace of mind. You'll be going back to Kadara, sometimes?"

She nodded. "Yes, after we try to find the Archon. Gil has a kett transponder, he should be able to find the ship for us. We'll leave directly from here. Once we've finished there, I'll head back to Kadara. There's a lot to do there still." Ryder grinned. "Want me to pass any messages along?"

"No, that would not be wise. Just, please… keep Sloane safe, if you can?"

He knew it was unlikely that there was anything Sloane couldn't handle, and even more unlikely that Sara would be present and able to help if anything did happen. But he couldn't stop himself from asking. She was already nodding, anyway, not bringing up any of the logical objections, so he thought she probably understood.

Before he could say anything else, her omnitool beeped a message. As she read it, he looked at his own omnitool; they'd talked through the night, he was due back on duty in just a few hours.

Ryder stood and gestured at her screen. He would have stood as well, but she waved him off, so he stayed sitting.

"Well, duty calls, Kandros.

Kandros chuckled slightly. "You and me both, Pathfinder."

Her answering smile was brilliant. She leaned down, and kissed him, a soft brush of her lips against his mandible.

Then she was gone, leaving unlikely hope in her wake.