AN: So here it is...the final chapter to a fic that has taken a good two years to complete. I hope you all enjoy, it's not as long as my other chapters, but it was maybe one of the hardest to write. I would like to thank the lovely Zepheera who was a most welcome help in editing this story, and to all of you who have taken to time to read this fic. A special thank you to all you reviewers as well, I can't tell you how much your feedback has made me want to become a better writer and do you all proud :)

So without further ado, here it is, the FINAL chapter of Space Between. As always I don't own anything.

Much love for you all.

~Voi

Nora woke to find her suit's barriers depleted and her body burning from overexertion. Struggling to her feet, the world remained blurry for several precious seconds afterwards, leaving her to grope along blindly.

She remembered everything, the final explosion of the tubes, the terrible fall. There was a moment, a second, when absolute hysteria threatened to overcome everything.

Thane.

Garrus.

Feeling as if her heart was in her throat, Nora struggled to breathe, to fight off the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. And though she could scarcely see, the world swam before her eyes, a mix of dark shapes and even darker shadows.

Behind her, there was a sudden screeching of metal and stone. High and shrill, Nora whirled, her hand grasping at the shotgun that still remained tightly clipped to her side.

The figure, when at last he stumbles upright, was little more than a smudge in a vision that is still composed of incomprehensible whispers of color.

"Nora."

She knows that voice, knows that deep vibrating quality that makes her feel warm and safe. But for that moment she cannot remember who it belongs to, and she is too scared to believe it to be one man for fear that by choosing one she has somehow condemned the other to die. The shadowy figure jerks forward, repeating her name as relief floods his voice.

"Nora."

He's walking towards her now, still wrought with shadows and smoke, Nora strains herself to see him clearly, half desperate and just as terrified.

In the end, it is his hands that give him away, those strong fingers tempered as he touched the side of her face. Checking her for injury, it was when he turned her chin upwards to look him in the eye that her eyes finally cleared.

And though her throat tightens immediately, she manages to speak; however strangled the word comes out.

"Garrus."

In that moment his name is the loveliest word she has ever spoken, a moment of gold where nothing matters but this man. Battered though he is, he is still very much alive, and Nora cannot help but smile brilliantly as he touches his forehead to her own, exhaling slowly in a mirror of her own contented sigh.

And that is when Nora acknowledges that Thane was right. That Garrus would forever be the one she held first in her heart, the one to whom her heart seemed eternally tied. But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind when his lackofpresence is acknowledged to the fullest.

Thane.

His name brings about panic; and the heady mixture of emotional distress and the lingering adrenaline of combat, jolt her with near physical force. Head snapping around to try and take in all surroundings at once, Nora's hand tightens on Garrus' before she steps away.

"Thane?" She calls his name tentatively, quietly so as not to attract undo attention.

There are still Collectors about, she does not have to see them to know, but the desperation for her friend dwarfs any real concern. They have destroyed the human reaper, what are a few Collectors in exchange for a comrade and friend?

"Thane?!"

The seconds pass with excruciating silence and the heavy thrumming of her heart echoing in her ears.

In the end she finds him half hidden under a chunk of the platform propulsion system. And he's still...almost too still.

It looks, she thinks, like he is sleeping or perhaps only knocked out. And indeed the dim light makes his scales flicker amidst the dusty air.

"Thane?"

Nora repeats his name for a third time as she kneels beside him, hesitating, assessing. There is some blood on his chest, but not enough to prevent her touch. And so she moves, too full of emotion to properly think further than pulling the panels off of her friend. But even as she moves that final piece, grunting with effort when it takes both her and Garrus' strength, she can feel her hope dying.

He still hasn't moved.

Kneeling beside him when at last he's freed, she rests one hand on his chest and feels the sob build in her chest. Eyes burning, Nora swallows willing her hands to ghost along his neck and chest trembling with increasing intensity as she feels nothing. This time there will be no last minute medpack, no biotic healing.

He was already dead.

"Thane." Her voice is a whisper as she struggles to keep control, "Thane."

She can say his name a thousand more times but nothing will change about this moment. And she wants to cry, she wants to scream. Because it wasn't fair, because of all those who could have died it never should have been this man. Not now, not while he fought by her side. Not when they had been so very close.

She didn't want to say goodbye, doubted she was strong enough to carry this burden.

"Please…" she can barely force the words past her throat, voice choked by the force of her pain. Her hands have fisted on the thick material of his armor but moved of their own volition gently taking Thane's hands, maneuvering them until it looked as if the assassin were merely sleeping.

Vaguely she can feelGarrus' hand on her shoulder, his blue eyes sympathetic but also very much aware of their precarious situation.

"We have to go, Nora. He would understand." He spoke softly, out of deference to the man who had done so much for the both of them. Numbly, Nora could feel herself nod in agreement, but her hand remained clasped around his for one moment longer.

"Go to your wife across the sea..."

The words spilled from her lips, with them all the best wishes that Nora could gather for the man who had not only found redemption for himself, but had also helped her.

There was one tear that fell from her eye, only one.

Solitary and glittering in the dim light, it disappeared into the dusty ground as she stood and led Garrus from the room. A single tear to represent the months of camaraderie, the connection that had been so instantaneous it seemed as if they had known each other all their lives.

"…And thank you. For everything."

A single tear to represent all that war had stolen.

They had won against the Collectors.

Watching the base explode behind them, the yellow and red blooming like a flower, Nora felt her lips twist into a smile but there was no answering emotional response. Her chest felt empty, hollowed out. It would pass; time and experience had taught her as much, but for now she would live, strive to live each day to the fullest.

Swallowing painfully she wrapped her arms around herself, marshaling her heart against the constant self-battery and loathing that came with leaving someone behind.

Thane should never have died; they had already completed the mission.

Remembering what would be her final mission brief with the Illusive Man Nora felt the surge of anger at his lack of understanding, his sheer inability to realize that the 'human' cost was more than just a number. His desire for an edge against the Reapers had made him blind to everything else. And the realization had made their continued work together unthinkable; repellant to the furthest degree.

Her hands curled into fists, but even her anger could not stave off the sense of loss.

Denial was not something she did often, but every part of her fought against the truth of Thane's death. Her body ached though Chakwas had seen to all her wounds, her heart ached.

"You've been standing like that for over an hour. Want to talk about it?"

A gentle hand touched the small of her back, caressed her waist as he spoke. His voice, low and throating wrapped itself around her and drew her back to the present, back to him.

"How's Jack doing?"

Her voice was hoarse and she had to clear her throat to repeat her question with any semblance of clarity. She had gone in to see the biotic earlier, but had been turned away. Jack had needed yet another minor surgery to fix the damage done.

"She's doing fine, all things considered." Garrus brushed her hair from her cheek, lingering over a quickly darkening bruise, "Though really I think everyone is wondering how you are."

His question was met with a jagged inhale and a look so broken that he needed not an answer at all. Instead he offered his quiet support, easing his arms around her, tucking the small human woman against his side as he carried her across the room and settled them on the edge of her bed.

"You can cry, Nora. You know I don't judge."

Dark and soothing, his warmth drove the chill from her body, drove enough warmth back into her that the pain felt all the closer. And she so cried, sobbed into his shoulder as she wound her arms around him and held on, anchored against the storm of her emotions.

Agony over Thane, but fear too. Fear that the man her arms could have been another casualty, lost as easily as she had lost her beloved friend.

One stray bullet, one split-second mistake and she would have stood in her room alone.

The tears spilled in multiplicity, the crying jagged with the emotion she had kept controlled long enough to make it out alive. And she did make it out alive, even if every step had felt as ineffectual as pressing a hand over an open wound.

Commander Nora was a survivor, and she would survive this too.

"Let it all out." Garrus crooned softly into her hair as he held her close, "I know he meant a lot to you."

"It wasn't just him," she whispered resting her cheek on the side of his cowl, "It was you too."

Not knowing what to say, Garrus turned to look at her, the paleness of her face, the tear tracks that were impossible to miss.

"Seeing Thane dead seemed like a bad dream; a horrible nightmare." Nora caressed the scarred mandible that had since become part and parcel of the man she loved. Eyes blinking wetly, she took a shuddering breath before continuing.

"I've lost people before, you know. Jenkins was a friend of Kaiden's on the Normandy; he died on the mission to Eden Prime. And then there was my whole unit on Akuze. But…"

She took a breath, took another shaky breath, "Seeing Thane die drove the point home; reminded me how much we have to lose. How much I have to lose."

"Selfish as it is, I think of this fight…of our struggles for the better of the galaxy. And all I can hope for at night is that I don't lose you." She closed her eyes as her face tightened in pain, "I can't lose you again."

The arms around her tightened at her words, his voice rough as he said, "There is no me, Nora, without you."

"No Shepard without Vakarian." Nora said with a small smile in her voice, "I like the sound of that."

Chuckling softly, Garrus nuzzled her cheek, "Yeah…me too. I'll always be at your side."

"That reminds me…" Nora pulled back and dug into the collar of her shirt, pulling out the long chain and pendant she kept close. "What's the significance of this necklace?"

And for a moment, a split second, Garrus was paralyzed by indecision. It would be so easy to wait to reply, to not tell her. Putting off the question was comfortable, and in the grand scheme of how long they had known each other probably the more conventional solution.

But time was not a luxury they had, and in a galaxy that seemed so insistent on going crazy there had only ever been one person who had mattered enough to keep going, to keep fighting. Convention or not, Nora Shepard had swung quite suddenly into his life and had rooted herself there ever so deeply.

The two years without her had seemed unbearable, devastating. And though they still had so much to talk about, to catch up on, their reunion had been the sweetest of dreams-made-reality.

This mission had shown him that despite the odds, hope could find a way. Nora would find a way to remember him, he would find the strength to rebuild their relationship, and they would find a way.

What was the point of that necklace, his gesture, if he said nothing?

There would be no other. He had known it the first time she had brought him on a mission and proven herself the leader, the first time she had sat down and talked to him with an intensity he had never known. Human she might be, but she had all but ruined him for any other female.

And so he would tell her about the necklace; because she mattered. At the end of the day there was not a moment that went by when he was not entirely, deliriously (perhaps even foolhardily) in love with her and he needed to let her know.

"It's a promise." Garrus finally answered slowly, touching the smooth surface with a gentle fingertip, "To be your shield against those who would see you harmed. The necklace is…a promise to be with you always, that you are always in my thoughts."

He gently took the pendant from her and held it between them, turned it over to reveal the markings on the back that mirrored the markings on his face.

"Kasumi hinted that it might be something like that; something special." Nora smiled again, shyly, "Turians don't give these to non-turians do they?"

"No, they don't." Garrus chuckled, "They also don't give them to anyone but the person they are bonded with. I am one bad turian."

There was something in the way he said it, a slight waver in his nonchalant response that make Nora blink in surprise.

Had she heard him right? Eyes widening as she looked into his too-serious face, Nora moved until she could look him directly in the eye.

"Garrus Vakarian…" she could scarcely breathe at the possibility, "Are you asking me to…marry you?"

"I…uh…" For a split second Garrus gulped awkwardly before nodding, "Yes...I think – we call it something different but…yeah."

A second passed before he mumbled, "That is…if you wouldn't mind."

"If I don't mind…" Nora repeated his words as a smile bloomed on her lips. Full and bright, she almost laughed aloud, "Of course I don't 'mind', silly man. I love you."

"Ah. Good." Garrus seemed to exhale in relief, "I wasn't sure if it was offensive to humans to just…ask."

"What did you think we did?" Nora asked, her smiled widening, "Fight to the death?"

Her lover seemed to consider it for a moment, "Not to the death exactly…but I did wonder if some sort of combat display would be required."

"Trying to impress me with your prowess?" Nora grinned, "I thought you did that already. You know…the whole 'popping the heat sink' thing…"

Groaning amidst Nora's laughter, Garrus shook his head, eyes looking at her mournfully, "I am never going to live that one down, am I?"

"No." Nora kissed him on the mandible, still snickering, "Never."

Garrus rubbed small circles in in her back, "There's nothing I can do at all?" His hand slipped beneath her shirt to stroke bare skin.

His offer was met with a sanguine smile.

"Well…you're more than welcome to try." Nora smiled more broadly and gave him a sassy wink, "Give it your best shot."

And though the room lights dimmed on the couple there was no dimming the moment, the promise.

No matter what the future held, Nora knew she would forever love this man and together they could accomplish anything.

There was no Nora without Garrus.

No Shepard without Vakarian.

It was a promise - and they both had every intention of keeping it.

FIN

Extended Ending:

"You never did answer me."

The room is almost completely dark now, save for the light coming from the fish tank.

"About being your wife? Yes I did." There's a soft feminine snort in the darkness. "Though really the question should be whether or not you are ready to be my husband."

"As if you even have to ask." The response is appropriately cocky, and in the dark a turian mandible flared in amusement, "Besides….there's no one else even remotely qualified for the position."

"Oh really?" There is no mistaking the teasing disbelief in Nora's voice.

"Yeah. Really." He growled the words, and the bed squeaked as he shifted. "I'd like to see you find anyone as stylish as me."

"Hmm…"and then, a moment later the silence is punctuated by a very satisfied female groan, "Oh…so true."

AN: And because there is still a little bit left to say, tune in Sunday for the first chapter in a three chapter conclusion to the Garrus/Nora saga covering a post ME3 universe.

I hope to see you there, thanks again for all your love and support these past 2 years!

~Voi