August 2159 - Santa Monica, California, The United North American States
"I'm gonna be a dragon when I grow up."
Hannah Whitson had to cover up her mouth to keep herself from laughing at her daughter. She had promised herself once she would never laugh at her own kid, remembering far too well the cruel sound of her own mother's laughter. But damn this batch of Red Sand made it hard not to laugh at everything.
"Who the fuck wants to be a dragon?" Wendy asked, rolling her eyes. "Be a princess. Find some rich ass alien with a human obsession."
Hannah smacked her best friend on the shoulder. "If the little Shepard wants to be a dragon when she grows up, that's what she'll be."
"Whatever," Wendy mumbled, turning onto her back and reaching into her beach bag. "I'm doing another line."
"Come here, little Shepard," Hannah said. Shepard picked up her bucket and walked unevenly over the sand. Already tall for her age at only five years old, Shepard looked at Hannah with adoring eyes. John's eyes. People thought it strange that called her daughter by her last name. But Hannah didn't care. She needed the reminder that John was still a part of their lives, even if he died two years ago in the First Contact War. Fucking aliens.
"Momma and Wendy are going to have some candy," Hannah said softly. The section of beach they sat on looked deserted, but she wasn't going to take any chances. Shepard pulled on one of her messy braids and put the tail in her mouth. "So let's play the cop game."
Shepard's eyes lit up as she clapped her hands. "Don't worry, Momma," she said. "I'll protect you."
"That's my little Shepard," Hannah said. She brought Shepard into her arms and held her tight for a moment. Life just wasn't fucking fair sometimes. Hannah was meant for more than this. More than being a twenty year old single mom with a five year old daughter. She and John should have been married by now, maybe even have a kid brother for the Shepard. She shouldn't be living in the basement of her grandfather's house, with drugs being her only escape.
"Keep an eye out for the bad guys," Hannah whispered.
Shepard ran off happily, pulling up her red shorts that had started to fall down. The shorts were a couple of sizes too big, but Hannah had to make do with whatever was cheapest at the thrift store. Least they'd last a couple of summers.
Hannah stared out into the Pacific as Wendy prepped the Red Sand. The sky faded from blue to violet as fluffy red clouds paralleled the ocean. John used to take her out here, before he enlisted in the Alliance on his eighteenth birthday, a mere week before humanity discovered they weren't alone in the galaxy. Two months later John was dead, killed in action. All Hannah had left was a small pension for Shepard, John's dog tags and an actual paper letter from an Ensign Anderson, who said if it wasn't for John's sacrifice, he'd be dead. Cold comfort, that.
"S'ready," Wendy said, leaning forward to take the first line. Her eyes scrunched up as she finished, shaking her head and curling her hands into fists. "They really need to find a pill version of this shit."
"A-fucking-greed," Hannah said, snorting up her own line. The effect was immediate and Hannah flopped back onto the sand and felt herself float away.
"Let's go to Madame Ines tonight," Wendy said, her words slightly slurred. "Been a while since we had our cards read."
Hannah raised her arms to look at her hands. She had such pretty hands, with long tapered fingers. She should have been a piano player…
"My Momma's right over here." Shepard's voice was loud and affected causing Hannah to sit up at once.
"Shit," Hannah hissed as she threw the bag of Red Sand in her tote, underneath a towel. How much time had passed? Wendy sat up, a bit wobbly and grabbed a datapad while Hannah ran a hand through her curly brown hair, hoping she seemed presentable.
"Hi Momma!" Shepard said far too loudly. Hannah waved, and the woman holding Shepard's hand seemed satisfied. Shepard ran into Hannah's outstretched arms, hoping the show would be good enough to get the lady to go away.
"Momma, I found a cop pretending not to be a cop," Shepard whispered, as she wrapped her skinny arms around Hannah's neck. "No more candy."
"And this is why I love my little Shepard," Hannah said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. Looking across the sand, Hannah saw that the woman was already on her way. Now that the fear of getting caught was abated, Hannah felt the effects of the Red Sand flowing through her system again. "You are so good at protecting Momma!"
Even Wendy laughed at that. "Good job, kid. Maybe you'll be a dragon after all."
Shepard seemed pleased at the praise. Really the kid just wanted to be useful, which gave Hannah an idea. She took her new omni-tool off her wrist and gave it to Shepard. "Read Momma a story."
The adult omni-tool looked ridiculous on Shepard's arm, but Hannah didn't have the credits to buy a child's version. Hell, she barely had enough to pay for this one. Shepard brought up the screen - the kid learned how to use an omni-tool in less than a day - and went to the book menu.
Shepard knew her ABCs, but wasn't the greatest reader, though she was smart. So smart. The kindergarten teacher already had her working on sixth grade level math and mentioned working on pre-algebra soon. Reading wasn't coming along nearly as well; Shepard simply understood numbers more easily than words.
Hannah leaned back on her towel and closed her eyes. A nap sounded great right about now. "Find a story about a dragon."
Shepard wished Momma and Auntie Wendy wouldn't walk so fast. Especially when it was dark out and Shepard couldn't see what was in front of her. She didn't like walking on the beach with sandals on, not ones that pinched her toes and gave her blisters she wasn't supposed to pop.
"Your kid's being slow again," Auntie Wendy said.
"Come on, I'll carry you," Momma said, turning around. Shepard reached up and waited patiently while Momma lifted her up into her arms, before wrapping her legs around Momma's waist. "You're really getting too big for this, little Shepard."
Shepard closed her eyes, letting her head rest on Momma's shoulder. She listened to the waves and thought about all the fish getting ready to go to bed. She thought about asking Momma how fish slept, but Momma never liked when Shepard asked questions after she had some candy. She'd ask Mrs. Massani at school tomorrow. Mrs. Massani knew the answer to everything.
"We're here," Momma said. They stood at the edge of the beach, near a parking lot, where a row of small houses stood. "What do you think, Wendy, should we get the Shepard's cards read?"
"Why the fuck not? Not like Madame Ines charges credits for this shit," Auntie Wendy said. "Do a three card reading. Maybe it will tell her she'll be a dragon in the future."
Shepard looked away and tried not to pout. She knew she wouldn't be a real dragon, not one that breathed fire. But she could protect people, like she protected Momma. Someone had to.
Momma took Shepard's hand and they walked up to one of the small houses, Shepard wondered if it should be called a house at all. They walked inside and Shepard started to cough at the strange smell. It was worse than the one Momma sprayed in their room in granddad's house after she had a candy stick. But at least all the flickering lights were pretty.
"Madame Ines?" Momma said. "Do you have time?"
"I do."
Shepard tried to hid behind Momma's legs, suddenly scared of the large woman in front of her. She wore a lot of gold and had bright red lips and long, straight black hair.
"This is Shepard. I'd like a three card reading, if you don't mind," Momma said, pushing Shepard forward. "Sit in the chair, little Shepard."
For Momma, she would. She could be brave for Momma. The woman picked up a stack of cards and started shuffling.
"Madame Ines is going to tell you your future. Won't that be exciting?" Momma said.
Shepard frowned. She knew her future. Granddad would walk her to school tomorrow and she and Maggie would play at recess and the menu said lunch would be macaroni and cheese. Mrs. Massani would spend fifteen minutes with her going over math and then look at the picture on her desk and look sad. After school Granddad would walk her home and they'd make dinner together so it was ready when Momma came home from work. She liked her future. She didn't want anything different.
The woman put down three cards, prettier than the cards she and granddad played Go Fish with. She loved playing Go Fish, cause she always won. Granddad said it's cause she always remembered what numbers he asked for and he always forgot what she wanted.
"The first card represents your past," Madame Ines said.
Shepard bit her lip. The past made her sad. It was Momma crying and screaming in the middle of the night, wanting Shepard's daddy back, and not calming down until she had some candy.
"The Page of Wands," Madame Ines said. "A reliable person, who wants only happiness and and excitement for others."
Momma gripped Shepard's shoulder so hard is almost hurt. "That's John."
"Someone who served others."
"Her father," Momma said. Shepard looked up and saw Momma wipe her eyes. "You've just described her father."
"The next card is your present," Madame Ines said. "The Star reversed."
Shepard inched forward and shrugged off Momma's hand from her shoulder to look at the card. She liked stars and someday, she and Maggie were going to visit one. They promised they would during recess one day last week.
"This shows a certain amount of stubbornness or perhaps an unwillingness to adapt to changes in life."
"She's a kid, she's not allowed to be unwilling," Momma said.
"Perhaps it represents certain people in her life," Madame Ines said.
"What do you think, little Shepard, that fits Granddad to a tee, doesn't it?"
Shepard nodded, thinking about how angry Granddad got sometimes, especially watching vids about aliens. Shepard liked aliens; she thought the asari were pretty and the salarians were really smart. She didn't know what to think about turians. She liked their face paint but Granddad told her over and over she should hate them. But Shepard didn't want to hate anyone.
"This last card represents your future," Madame Ines said, turning over the last card. Shepard looked and saw a skeleton on a horse. "Death-"
"No!" Shepard shouted, jumping out of her chair. "No!"
"Baby, it's okay," Momma said, grabbing her hand. "That's not a bad card."
Shepard didn't want to hear. She didn't want anyone else to die. She already lost Daddy and couldn't lose Momma or Granddad or Maggie or Mrs. Massani. She jerked her hand away from Momma and ran out the door.
"Wendy, grab her!" Shepard heard Momma yell behind her.
But Shepard knew she ran faster than Auntie Wendy could. So Shepard ran and decided if they couldn't catch her, the cards didn't matter and none of it would come true.
She didn't stop running until she made it to a part of the beach she didn't recognize. It was a lot more crowded and there were more aliens then where Momma always brought her. Shepard hugged herself, wishing it was day and not dark out. But there were lots of lights from people's omni-tools and she heard lots of laughter, so it couldn't be all bad here.
Not sure where she should go, Shepard finally decided to sit down on a bench. Momma would find her eventually and Shepard knew she was going to get in so much trouble, even more trouble than when she pushed Jared too hard after he tried to take Alicia's lunch. So she brought her knees to her chest and buried her head.
"You not old enough to be alone, right?" a voice said. Shepard looked up and saw an asari with pretty purple markings. "Granted I'm no human expert, but you look pretty young."
Shepard looked straight ahead. Momma and Granddad both told her never to talk to strangers, especially aliens. She already would be in enough trouble, she didn't need to break another rule.
"So that's the way it's gonna be, huh, kid?" the asari said. "How about I just sit next to you until your mom shows up."
Shepard shrugged and looked out at the ocean. She thought it looked the prettiest at night.
"Damnit, Shepard!"
Shepard closed her eyes tight. No death, no death, no death.
"Don't you ever run away again," Momma said, shaking Shepard's shoulders.
"But Momma, the cards-"
Momma knelt in front of her. "Little Shepard, it's a game. It's pretend, like how you want to be a dragon. She shows us cards and we pretend to believe them cause it's fun. No one's gonna die, baby."
"I think that's my cue to leave," the asari said.
Momma looked at the asari. "Thanks for sitting with her. She can get really - wait. Is this mixing pier?"
"Maybe," the asari said. "You looking for something?"
"Know where I can find some Red Sand?"
"Oh I can do better than that," the asari said with a smile. She had a really pretty smile. "Ever heard of Hallex?"
Shepard hugged Momma's pillow as she tried to fall asleep. She didn't like sleeping alone. She liked curling up next to Momma.
But back at the beach, Momma and the pretty asari had a bunch of candy and started to hold hands and then Momma told Wendy to take her home. She and Wendy had to be really quiet opening the basement door, to not wake Granddad cause he hated when Momma stayed out all night.
Shepard yawned and hugged the pillow tight and hoped that when she fell asleep, she dreamed of dragons.