You are cordially invited to the dedication of the

Zoya Shepard Cross-Species Alliance Training Facility

This facility will be dedicated to both combat and cultural studies between all galactic races and will receive its first incoming class this Fall. Five races will be represented and we hope to expand in future classes. It will be named for Commander Zoya Shepard, who united the galaxy for this first time in known history.

Vancouver, BC, Canada, Earth

Please RSVP to the office of Admiral Steven Hackett no later than June 1st

Garrus stared at the invitation. The third anniversary of the end of the war. The third anniversary of her death. He ran a finger over her name, grief threatening to overwhelm him. He wouldn't go. It was a kind gesture, but spending that day in a building dedicated in her memory would not be possible for him. He would deal with his pain the only way he knew how- getting blackout drunk at home as he had the past two years.

He ran his finger over her name again and again. What would she think if she could see him now? Turian Ambassador to Earth. Sounded impressive enough, but he doubted she would be impressed with him. Playing politician, trying to move forward, but distancing himself from their friends,sabotaging relationships before they could even begin. Primarily keeping to blowing off steam, as it was. Nobody had managed to get through the walls he had put up after her.

One year, 10 months and 12 days the Normandy had been stranded. Without EDI, and with limited resources, repairs were nearly impossible. It didn't stop the crew from trying. Tali's experience in cannibalizing parts had helped them, but in the end, even she had deemed it an futile task. Their best hope was that someone would pick up their distress beacon and rescue them. But, they didn't even know if there was anyone left. Or maybe it would be the reapers who found their signal.

When the Alliance personnel from the SSV Bombay had found them, he could have wept with relief. She had done it. She stopped the reapers, but what happened to her? To his family? They were quickly transported to the citadel, where they were promised both a debrief and information. His joy was short lived. Councilor Tevos has explained to them all that had happened since the end of the war, but Garrus heard none of it beyond the statement that Shepard had given her life to engage the crucible and destroy the reapers. As she prattled on about mass relay repairs and comm lines, all he could think of was that his love was gone. He didn't realize how much hope he had been holding on to until that point.

He left the room while she was still speaking, a political faux pas surely, but what did it matter? He found his sister outside the chamber, she held him like their mother used to while his sub vocals cried out his pain and grief.

She coaxed him back to her apartment, feeding him a thin soup. Time passed, he never spoke, just allowing his sister to care for him. His father stopped by, and he was surprised by the joy and relief his father was expressing, but it wasn't enough to pull him from his current state. One night, he heard Solana whispering a prayer while the thought he slept.

"Spirits, please, bring my brother back. Give him comfort. I need him. I can't bear his pain any longer. I can't lose him again."

The next morning he decided it was time to move on. For Solana. For Shepard who would be watching him, surely pissed at him for acting this way. For himself.

"I'm sorry Sol. Thank you. Things are going to be better now, I promise."

And they were. When the ambassadors position was offered to him almost a year ago, he accepted gratefully. He knew Shepard has never lived on Earth, but it was still her homeworld. She had died here, and in some sick way, it made him feel closer to her.

And here he was. Invitation in one hand, and a drink in the other. Getting ready to signal the bartender for another.

"Thessian Temple, please" a familiar, melodic voice said, sliding onto the stool next to him.

"Liara" he said, his only greeting.

Liara thanked the bartender and paid for their drinks, tipping generously. She quietly sipped her drink. After about 10 minutes of silence, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Say what you came here to say, Liara. Here to tell me to move on with my life again?"

She downed the remainder of her drink and sighed deeply. "No, Garrus. By the Goddess, you're going to hate me." Her hands were wringing.

He frowned "Liara, I know that I haven't been a great friend to you since we got back, but I could never hate you. Just tell me what's on your mind."

"When you asked me to confirm her death using my contacts, the information I gave you was the best available. I never meant to deceive you."

A minute passed as his brain tried to process what she was saying. He turned and gripped her shoulders "Liara, are you trying to tell me.."

She nodded, waving away a bouncer approaching them. "She's alive, Garrus."

He released her and dropped back into his seat. He was vaguely aware of Liara settling their bill, and her pulling him outside. He followed, what other choice did he have?

"How long have you known? Where is she? Why hasn't she found me? Spirits, Liara how could you not tell me?"

"I've been in contact with her for the past three months. She keeps promising me that she will contact you, and the others. She never does. I won't lie for her any longer."

"Where?"

"I traced her last call to Palaven. To the Primarch's residence. I actually think she let me easily trace the call. I think she's scared to contact you directly after all this time."

Garrus placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. She promised he would never be alone. And even on his worst days he had believed she was looking down on him, like she promised. She was alive and she had abandoned him.

"Is she OK?" he asked, quietly.

"I don't want to discuss her condition too much, that is private. Physically, she is stable. She hasn't told me what happened at the end, and I suspect that it has taken a toll on her emotionally and the reason for all of the lies. She was hospitalized for the first eight months after the war. She left the Sol system on one of the first ships when the relay reopened, and has not been back."

Garrus let out a bitter laugh, he had taken a position on Earth to feel closer to her, and she hadn't been on Earth for over a year.

"Only a handful of people know the truth, Garrus. Me, Hackett and perhaps other Alliance officials, Miranda and those she has been travelling with. And now you. From what I understand, she was barely alive. Miranda was necessary due to her knowledge of Shepard's cybernetics. The others should be obvious. Even her doctors and nurses didn't know her true identity. When she left she spent about five months on Kahje -"

"Why in the galaxy would she go to the Hanar homeworld?"

"She was there with Kolyat Krios. I do not know much about her visit. My sources there died in the reaper invasion. After that, she spent some time with Kasumi, I'm not sure where. She was hospitalized again, briefly. She has been on Palaven for the last year and a half."

Palaven. His home. He ached for it, but he had needed to be here, to stay connected. What a joke. He hadn't been back, not since Menae, but she was living there.

Garrus didn't know what to feel, but mostly there was just pain. "If she wanted to see me, she could have found me. I haven't been hiding"

"Think about it, Garrus. And… I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Liara. You were looking out for her. Respecting her wishes. She should have told me"

A week later, he found himself aboard a transport to Palaven. As he landed in Cipritine, he questioned this decision. She clearly didn't want him anymore, but he needed to know the truth. Even if she didn't feel the same way about him anymore he wanted to confirm that she was alive and happy. That was all he ever wanted for her, relief from endless fights and happiness. Spirits knew she deserved it.