I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie

Shepard woke with a start, clutching her chest, her breath coming in rapid gasps. She remained on the ground, keeping her eyes closed as she attempted to regain her bearings. The words of the woman and the image of a flash of bright green light were firmly imprinted into her mind, but to her great surprise, she felt no pain. Quite the contrary; she felt utterly painless and lightweight.

She opened her lids slowly and surveyed the sky above her. It was the brightest and most clear blue she had ever seen, and not a single cloud was found to mar its perfection. Her arms felt oddly light as she lifted her hands before her eyes, blinking wildly as she came to realize that all her calluses had disappeared from her hands, and all her imperfections had disappeared from her arms. As she began to move each muscle and joint, she found that the tapestry of weariness had been washed from her body, replaced with the careless perfection of youth.

Where was she?

"Shepard."

Tears instinctively sprung to her eyes at the sound of the sweet, familiar voice with its soothing subvocalizations.

The voice drew her gaze to her right, and there he was.

"Garrus," she whispered, tears springing into her eyes.

"You made it."

He was sitting alone at a small oak bar, with nothing else around him except for the endless impossibly blue sky. An amber drink was in his hand, his mandibles arranged into a faint smile. He tapped the barstool next to him with his taloned hand, and Shepard felt a strong swoop of delight in the deepest pit of her stomach.

"I'm so proud of you," he muttered softly, his mandibles twitching in both pain and happiness. "Come sit with me, drinks are on me."

Shepard jumped up to her feet and ran over to hold Garrus tight in her arms before raining his face with kisses, bringing a throaty laugh from Garrus. His skin was just as warm as she remembered; his scent was just as intoxicating as she remembered; he was just as handsome as she remembered. His scars, like a familiar painting of the battles of his life, had disappeared and he looked younger than she could have ever imagined.

"This must be heaven," she whispered into his neck between kisses.

"It is," he responded, running his talons through her hair. "It is."

A/N: THAT'S THE END!

It's been an absolute roller coaster, but I hope that you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.

I would like to send out a huge than you to all of my readers who have stuck with me through this whole series. It's been a wild learning experience for me, and I'm going to miss Zoey and Garrus very much.

Although it is the end for them, it's not the end for me - I'll be coming back with an accompaniment piece featuring Victus's story during the First Contact War in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

If any of you have any questions at all related to my characters/interpretations/anything at all, please don't hesitate to comment and ask.

Thank you again, to all of my readers and supporters, I love you more than you could ever know.