After Thane had died, Darla was distraught, not that she showed it. Her original team knew though, but they had the kindness to not say anything where the rest of the crew could hear.

A few days after, Liara pulled Darla aside, gently handing her her personal tablet. "There's a message here that Glyph and I were able to obtain after Thane…" she trailed off and her large blue eyes softened and her sensual voice dropped to a whisper. "Well, after."

Darla's eyes welled up and she nodded sharply, talking the tablet. "I… recommend reading it in your cabin Commander," Liara cautioned.

Darla's voice was rougher than normal when she spoke. "Thanks Liara." The Asari nodded and went back to her cabin, stealing a look back as Darla gazed at the tablet. With a deep breath she headed up to her cabin, telling Specialist Traynor to hold all of her comms until she came back to the CIC.

Safe inside her cabin, Shepard took a shuddering deep breath and settled onto her chair, fingering the fabric of the jacket that hung off the back. She allowed a single tear then, wiping it away before selecting the new message that Liara had showed her. His voice echoed in her head as she started reading.

"Siha,

I write this with a heavy hand, knowing you will read this letter when I am no longer able to share my thoughts. I am dying, Siha. Perhaps because of the differences between our species, I can hope that time will treat you with kindness and dim the hurt of my passing to faded recollections that a drell would forever remember with perfect clarity.

Selfishly, however, I could not leave this world without leaving a piece of me behind that would never fade.

I once accepted my fate. Nothing remained but a shell destined to die. I only had to choose the when and how of my passing. I had refused to be confined to a bed, gasping horribly as my life beeped away to machinery I had no use for. I thought of my Irikah, broken, bloodied, and betrayed by my absence. Of Kolyat, small and afraid, bravely pushing at his eyes to stem the flow of tears I had entrusted to him to cry… for both our sakes."

"Thane," his name came out on a sob, tears flowing down her face freely. She was so tired, tired of having to put on the strong front, bouncing between diplomat and bully. And with Thane gone… She didn't know how she was going to be able to go on without his eternal peace by her side. Sure he had been at Huerta Memorial while she was "relieved of duty" for six months; that was another level of hell right there. But he was always there to see her when she had to go to the Citadel. And now… he wasn't even there anymore.

"The expectation to move swiftly to my end vanished upon uniting with your cause. You awoke me, Shepard. My heart quickened its sluggish beat if only to remain at your side and protect you with everything that I am. I was content to simply watch, take the time left given and praise all I know for allowing me to walk my final days with hope and certainty that I am worthy of more than my cold isolation, solely because you believed."

Her heart skipped a beat at "you awoke me". She knew he had cared about her, but the significance of him admitting that she had "woken" him was not lost on her. She wiped her tears away, though more quickly came as she continued to read.

"I love you. If all else whispers back into the tide, know this for fact. By grace given me by the Goddess Arashu, I bid her divine protection to you, my warrior-angel, my Siha, to succeed in your destiny. To light your path through the coming darkness. To give you hope, when all seems lost.

I will await you across the sea.

Thane"

"Oh God Thane," she cried, lowering her head to her desk, reaching out pale fingers to caress the frame that held an image of him. She picked it up and kissed it before putting it back in it's place.

"This will be for you Thane," she whispered as she stripped out of her dirty uniform. She went and took a quick shower, letting the water run over her face for a moment longer before getting dressed and heading down to the CIC.

Later that night, when no one but EDI was looking, a lithe red-haired figure toting a familiar jacket slipped into life support and locked the door. She went to the cot that was still there and put his jacket on before wrapping herself up and falling asleep.