Chapter 1
Garrus Vakarian limped into the room, sadly righting the tables and chairs that littered the floor. This was where she had revealed her true self to him and where he realized that he felt the most at home. Looking around, he could see her shadow in every corner. The sadness overwhelmed him and he sat down on the bed they used to share, sighing. The sudden landing had upended the furniture, but hadn't done any major damage. Turians can't cry like humans, they don't possess the tear ducts, but Garrrus wished he had some outlet for this overwhelming sense of loss. He picked up her pillow, crushed it to his face, deeply inhaled her scent and allowed himself to wallow in his grief. A slight sound made him look to the head of the bed. A datapad sat chirping where the pillow had been. He reached over, picked it up and her pretty face filled the screen.
"Garrus...If you are seeing this, then I must not have made it back to you...I am truly sorry. Please, I want you to have this, the only thing that is truly me...and remember, I love you...always..."
A play button appeared at the bottom right corner of the screen. Garrus' talon hovered over the button, his turquoise eyes lingering on the face of the only person that ever moved his soul. He knew her features by heart, the blonde hair that she kept cut short, the oval face that wasn't too thin or too round, the soft, slightly red lips and the piercing blue eyes. He pressed the play button and was amazed at the younger version of his love that appeared on the screen. As the young woman began to speak, he lost himself to the story she told...
...
It's my sixteenth birthday and Mom thought I might enjoy having a journal to record my story ideas into. My name is Alexis Shepard, but everyone calls me Lexi. I have an eighteen year old brother named James that everyone calls JJ. My dad is Dr. James Shepard, leader of the agricultural team on the planet Mindoir. My mom is Martha Shepard and she runs the colony's school system (lucky me). JJ has a girlfriend, Suzanne Johnson, Suzy, and they do everything together. I don't have an 'official' boyfriend, but there's this guy. His name is Marcus, he's eighteen and really cute...
Let's see, (she brushes her hand through her long dirty blonde hair), my favorite subject is science and I love researching ancient pasts. I try to imagine what those people's lives must have been like.
I had a great day today with birthday wishes from so many people in the colony. Maybe they only spoke to me because of my parents, but hey, it's fun having so many people talk to me, I felt like a celebrity.
There's only a few more weeks until JJ leaves for training. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know Suzy is upset about him leaving, but he wants to join the military to fight in the war with the alien pirates that we've heard about. War must be a guy thing. I don't get it. Why would anyone want to go to war? But JJ is adamant about it . He truly feels he can make a difference. Dad is proud of him, but Mom is upset and worried. Me, well, I love my brother and I don't want to think of him in danger, but I'm also proud that he is following his dream of going into the military.
I've got another year of school, then I plan to find work in the ruins with the Alliance researchers. Mom thinks I should be a teacher and help in the colony, but I really want to travel to distant planets and learn about all the diverse life in the universe. Ever since I read about the ancient ruins on Mars, I've wanted to be a part of some big major discovery.
Mom's calling me for dinner so I have to go - maybe this journal wasn't such a bad idea after all.
...
Lexi turned off the datapad, looked around her messy bedroom and decided to hide the journal under her pillow. She walked out, closing the door behind her and hurried to the kitchen to help her mother set the table. As she put the dinnerware in place, she heard the door open and her father called out "Hi family!".
Lexi yelled, "Hey Dad!"
"Do I hear a birthday girl?" James teased.
Lexi giggled as Martha responded from the kitchen, "There's no one here but us chickens."
James went into the kitchen and gave Martha a passionate kiss, then entered the dining room, smiling at Lexi. He handed her a brightly wrapped present. "Happy Birthday, sweet sixteen!"
"Thanks dad. Can I open it?" she asked, giving him a hug.
"Of course you can," he said, laughing. "It's just a little something from me to you."
Lexi traced the outlines of the package that looked suspiciously like a book and began to unwrap. "An archeology lexicon!" Lexi exclaimed and threw her arms around her father in a big hug.
Martha laughed from the doorway. "You don't want to know how long your father has had that hidden for you."
"How was your day kiddo?" he asked, sitting down at the head of the table.
"Everyone was wishing me a happy birthday today. That was kinda fun. I felt like a hero or something." Lexi smiled and went into the kitchen to help Martha bring the food to the table.
The front door opened and as Lexi set the steaming casserole down on the hot plate, JJ entered the dining room. He had a large grin on his face and a hand behind his back. "Look what was left on our doorstep." Pulling his hand from behind his back, he produced a bouquet of brilliant white lilies.
Lexi looked at JJ astonished. "Are they from you?" she asked.
"No silly. I told you, I found them." He pointed to a card, "Read it."
"I wish you a very happy birthday. Let's do something to celebrate," she paused and blushed a brilliant red. "They're from Marcus."
James raised an eyebrow, "Marcus Freeman?" he asked. "Is there something I should know about?"
JJ laughed. "She's only had a crush on him since she was twelve, Dad! Where have you been?"
"Alright, everyone," Martha said. "Let's eat before dinner gets cold."
"I need to put these in water first, Mom." Lexi said, and rushed into the kitchen for a vase.
...
After dinner, they had the traditional birthday cake, but Lexi was impatient for the festivities to end and barely ate any. As soon as her father looked finished, Lexi excused herself and rushed to her room. Now she had something to tell her new journal.
As she entered her room, her phone chirped. She pressed the on button and tentatively said, "Hello?"
"Happy birthday, Lexi." Marcus said.
"Thank you so much for the flowers. Did you grow them?" In her mind's eye she could see Marcus in his greenhouse with the many plants he loved to take care of.
"Yep. JJ said lilies were your favorites so I wanted to give you some," he answered, shyly.
"They are beautiful," she said, softly.
"Well, um, about what the card said..." he hesitated.
"Yes?" Lexi prompted into the silence.
There was a long pause, then all in a rush he said, "Would you want to show me around the ruins on our next free day?"
"That sounds like fun," she said, excitedly.
"Ok, we'll meet there. I'll see you then. Bye and happy birthday!" he said and Lexi sat listening to the silence. She hugged herself and thought that the next two days were going to be dreadfully long. She reached under her pillow, took out her new datapad and pressed the record button.
...
I can't believe it! Oh my gosh. Not only did Marcus send me beautiful lilies for my birthday, but he asked me to go out to the ruins with him. That's my favorite place on all of Mindoir. I can't wait!
...
Lexi couldn't believe her luck. Here she was, in her favorite place - the ruins, with the cutest guy -Marcus, on a date. The first few minutes had been awkward, but soon they were climbing over the rocks and peering into crevices, absorbed in the wonder of these ancient stone buildings.
Most of the carvings had worn away, but there were a few left and Lexi's wild imagination made up all sorts of stories about the ancient beings who may have lived here.
Marcus watched her trace her fingers over the rough stone of one of the carvings and listened as she talked. He often would sit near her when she was in charge of the younger kids. The kids would pester her until she relented and told them one of her stories and he would close his eyes as he listened in.
Lexi looked at Marcus and blushed, realizing she had been talking non-stop. "I'm sorry. I like to tell stories."
"I know," he said and held her hand as they followed a path deeper into the ruins.
"Wait a minute," Lexi said, suddenly. "What's this?"
"What?" Marcus asked, looking around.
Lexi bent down and began brushing dirt from a black rock. Marcus got down and began to help her. Soon they had excavated a small pyramid shaped, ebony rock that was about the size of a baseball. Lexi picked it up and was amazed at how cool it felt. As she looked closely at it, she thought she saw movement. She brought it closer and it began to get hot and emit a high pitch hum.
"Lexi! Put it down!" Marcus yelled, but to Lexi he sounded miles away. Her eyes glazed over and she began to see images of ancient lands and strange creatures.
...
Far off in the center of the galaxy, a slumbering life form awakened. Stretching its mind, it began to receive images of a young girl and began to perceive a threat to its plans. "Shepard." It stated and began to put forth ideas in lesser minds to eradicate this threat.
...
"Lexi! Lexi!" Marcus yelled, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and shaking her. He tried to pry the rock she was transfixed to from her hands but she held it so tightly, he was afraid he'd hurt her.
Suddenly, she went slack and dropped the rock. Marcus caught her as she fell over and opened her eyes.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Marcus asked, concerned.
"I'm sorry, I guess I got too much sun." She said, blushing and sitting up. "Maybe we should head back."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Marcus asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our date by fainting like a stupid girl," she said, standing up. "But I'm okay."
"Alright let's go back." Marcus looked at the ebony pyramid, lying innocently on the ground. He quickly covered it with dirt before Lexi could see it again and followed her closely out of the ruins, back to her house.
By the time they reached Lexi's house, the events at the ruins seemed like a bad dream. Lexi was chattering away as if nothing had happened. They stood together at the door to her house and he leaned down and kissed her briefly on the lips. "Would you like to do something next free day?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she said, breathlessly. "I would like that very much."
"Sleep well, Lexi," he said and he turned to leave.
"You too, Marcus," she called back and entered her house.
...
Wow, what a great day! Marcus kissed me! My first real kiss. We went to the ruins and had a great time. I had a stupid fainting spell but I guess Marcus didn't mind. I don't know why I fainted...I've never done anything like that before. I don't even really remember fainting.
Oh well...it doesn't matter. I'm going to see him again. Maybe this means I finally have a real boyfriend!