Part I:

RAKKA

continued

Braith chews on her next mouthful in the galley of the Ni S'pri, looking more herself now she has been through surgery and showered, but her lack of appetite is not apparent after such an ordeal as being stabbed in the heart, dying, and somehow coming to in Ylyssus's arms.

Tetonbaum and Kasumi have come by to check on her, seen that she was eating still, and left…The rest observe, unwilling to move a foot beyond the galley as she stuffs herself full of food…

"Why is she so hungry," Casnar asks Thane.

Grunt laughs as Garrus flattens his mandibles to his jaws, Braith consuming another plate into her lean, linen-coated body.

She finally burps and sits up, crossing her arms and bending a black eyebrow at them all, "…Oh, hi, everyone…" She sees Ylyssus wink, "…Are you going to stare at me the entire time or is deliberate rudeness to be invoked," she smiles back at him.

Casnar closes his lips, then, "…You are a disgusting woman…I can't believe I'm to marry you."

Ylyssus chuckles and looks back to her face, her freckles, her eyes, "…I think she's the most beautiful woman in the world…Crumbs and all," he sighs and leans his patak into palm.

"You can marry her," Casnar says—he, Garrus and Thane all looking at the smitten drell.

Braith dabs her lips, looking conspicuously at Grunt, "…I'm still so hungry I could eat a krogan!"

Grunt snorts and turns, "…That's my battlemaster."

Braith chuckles and grows serious, "…So I died, I get?"

They all nod in unison.

Braith takes a deep breath, "…Shit…I'm having trouble recalling that happened."

Casnar rubs his neck and sucks in through his teeth, "…You don't remember anything?" he asks, dropping his hand.

"I…I seem to remember," she squints, "…Hitting the floor of a cave, and the ceiling on my head…I think I was responsible for that."

"You remember everything before the mine collapsed on you—saying you were actually in a mine as the stories go…that you pulled down over your head."

"Is that what happened," she says to herself wonderingly.

Casnar straightens and turns to Thane, "…You fix it."

Thane makes to sit with her but Ylyssus holds up a hand, clearing his throat. "Do you remember the reason why you went to the mines to begin with? Who you went searching for…"

Braith thinks for a moment, squeezing her eyebrows down to her nose, "…Mia'tonia…She was—" her eyes widen into pools, "…My God…She was in there with me!"

Ylyssus hesitates, "…And…Little Behe?"

Braith emits a cry…Ylyssus looks at the others.

"Everyone out," Miranda enters the galley from another iris, urging them all to leave, "…Shepard's been brought back to life and she's reprocessing all her memories…Don't force them. Everyone out, leave her so she can regroup…Boyfriends—out especially!"

Everyone grumbles as she pushes them towards the nearest iris…One by one they leave.

Casnar prevents the door from sealing with his arm, however, "…Not a word?" he asks, looking from Miranda to Braith and back again.

Miranda nods and pushes him, "…Never happened."

Casnar smiles, "…I was that good, wasn't I." He kisses her cheek, leaving Miranda flustered as she seals the iris.

Rubbing the spot on her cheek, she turns to Braith, alone in the galley among bulk dry ration bags and box hot-meals.

"I never found…She was there, I believed…" Braith sniffles over empty plates and cans of beverage, "…Why am I crying?" She extends her hands, palms up to the ceiling, "…Give me some meds, Lawson."

Miranda enfolds her arms to herself, "…You need to sleep, Shepard…That way—" She directs Braith to the iris she has come in by, "—there's a room and a bunk waiting. Shoo."

After settling Braith in the bunk and pulling a sheet over her, Miranda left.

As soon as the iris to the galley sealed behind Miranda Lawson, however, Casnar Soterios slipped out of another cabin and let himself inside Braith's.

"Hi," Braith looks up at him from her pillow.

Eyes wet, tears have started falling shamelessly down his patak. "I've missed you…It's a relief to see you again, Braith."

Braith sits up and rolls her wrists, waving her hands towards herself to invite him, and Casnar goes on his knees, crawling into the bunk and making do with the small bed.

He tucks her head under his chin and holds her as she brushes her nails back and forth through his tebris, feeling the stiff spines and soft channels along his throat, placing kisses on his broad golden clavicles.

They kiss a few times on the lips, then hold onto each other in silence.

"I love you…I will always love you," he whispers in her hair, "…and I have a big mess I need your help with."

"I'm here," she says, muffled by his skin, and adds, "…That's what I'm here for."

"You are," he suddenly coughs through his nose and throat, cutting off the choking sob, "…You…are…here."

Casnar holds her tighter, and vows this time never to let her go again.

A sudden hiss and the iris opens, and both look up as Ylyssus pops his crests in, his grin vanishing at the sight of Casnar.

Casnar frowns as Braith waves Ylyssus over to the bunk, "…Come on in…We're going to have to squeeze for this..."

( "Bed's too small," ) Casnar growls in Rakhïken as Ylyssus stands next to them, looking from his sered's dangling boots off the end of the bunk, up to his green warning eyes again, ( "…Wait your turn." )

Ylyssus points at him, but directs his expression at Braith, ( "…He's a big soft one, deep down, would you agree?" )

( "Like a kit," ) Braith laughs.

Ylyssus laughs too, then quiets…He bends to kiss her—on the mouth—in front of Casnar, who sighs and resignedly rolls onto his back, laying a forearm across his brow scales as he gazes up at the ceiling.

Fin.