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She pushes herself up onto her hands and knees, and spits blood. Her lip is throbbing where it has been split open by the latest punch to her face and she suspects she has at least a few cracked ribs. Gritting her teeth she gets slowly to her feet.
“Fuckin’ bitch doesn’t know when to give up, does she?”
Turning towards the man who spoke, Naomi smiles. Her lip tears a little more when she does. “I’m waiting for one of you losers to do some real damage. What are you? Men… or vorcha?”
She knows she is taunting them, goading them into another attack, but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care about anything anymore. The galaxy has already taken everything from her. She doesn’t want to feel anymore, but she feels too much. And so she taunts the men even more, hoping the physical pain will numb the emotional anguish… if only for a moment.
Hot searing pain flashes across her arm, just below her shoulder. She feels the warmth of her own blood running in rivulets down her arm, and her smile broadens. Someone is talking near-by, but she can’t make out what they are saying. She grabs one of the men with her good arm, channelling all her energy into one last biotic attack that will crush the life from him.
A hand folds over hers and gently prises her fingers from the man’s throat. He’s dead, but she doesn’t see that… she doesn’t see anything but ruins and fire and people burning. Someone is talking to her – the same person that spoke earlier, she thinks – but she can’t make out what they are saying over all the screaming. She knows they’re all dead. She can see the bodies: mangled, charred and decimated, but still she hears them screaming…
-x-
Garrus pulls Shepard towards him, holding her close and carding his fingers reassuringly through her hair as she battles through another nightmare. The doctors have advised him not to wake her at such times… have told him it was simply her minds way of dealing with everything that had happened. But it kills him to see her like this, knowing there is nothing more he can do to help. She’s saved the galaxy three times, has even died once and been brought back, and what does she have to show for it: a handful of medals, a body full of cybernetics and a husband who couldn’t be with her when she needed him the most. She will never fight again and neither will he, he knows that. But without the fighting and the scurrying around the galaxy to save everyone’s ass, he doesn’t know what the future will hold for them.
After a few minutes he can feel her body start to relax again. Occasionally he can feel her lashes flutter against his neck and he is reminded once again how vulnerable she is… how vulnerable they all are. He hears her mutter something – a name, perhaps – but he can’t quite make it out. Over the years she’s told him about her past: about Mindoir and Akuze and wanting to die. He can’t recall when he fell in love with her, and it really doesn’t matter now anyway. What matters… what is important, is that she is still with him; damaged and worn, but alive.
-x-
Opening her eyes, Shepard raises her head slightly so she can plant a gentle kiss on the softer skin of Garrus’ throat and neck. His hand, the one that was carding through her hair, moves down her back and settles on her hip. She pushes herself up onto one elbow and looks at him, but she can’t see him. Her sight was just one more thing she gave up to stop the Reapers. The doctors have told her that her eyes might heal, but she doesn’t mind if they don’t… not anymore. She doesn’t need to see to know she has everything she needs right beside her.
She smiles as Garrus’ fingers brush lightly over her cheek and she leans into his touch. Without her sight her remaining senses have become heightened, and she can feel the scars the final battle left on his skin. He had apologised to her countless times for abandoning her, but she is glad he couldn’t follow her for the last leg of the journey. Knowing he was safe and among friends made things that much easier for her.
-x-
For a few more minutes they just lie there, listening to the sounds coming in through the open window and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Neither of them know what the future holds… who does? But as long as they have each other they know everything will be alright.