A/N: I want to thank Bioware for allowing me to let my imagination soar in the Mass Effect universe. I will try to update my story every week. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. The character's first name is mine but the rest belongs to Bioware.

Remembrance

Arcturus Station:

-A small girl stands in front of her mother. Her name was Shia'va Shepard. Shia'va was no more than eleven and was wearing a black dress. Her long black hair tied back in a ponytail. Her mother, a very young Captain Hannah Shepard had her hands on her daughter's shoulders. She was trying so hard to be strong for her pride and joy. Squeezing her shoulders reassuringly. But the little Shepard was too young to understand composure. She turned to her older brother, Marcus, and buried her head into his chest. She wanted so much for her father to come back home with them. But there was no medicine strong enough to bring her father back from the dead. Hannah Shepard held her three children close. Shia'va was the youngest. Marcus was the second oldest. And Braddock was the oldest of the three.

"This day we honor the memory of Captain Stewart Shepard. A man who put the lives of others before his own." The reverend was solemn in his words. He looked at the Shepard family.

A young Hackett stepped forward towards the Shepard family and knelt before the children, giving them a folded flag of the Alliance. As Shia'va shakily put her hand on the flag, Hackett looked into the child's eyes. "I am so sorry about your daddy." Sadness filled his eyes as he saw the hurt in her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "He was the best friend I ever had. And he always loved you."-

Shia'va sat on her bed aboard the new Normandy, looking at the picture of her family from years ago. She kissed her finger, and then placed it on the face of her father. "I guess God wasn't ready for me to join you yet, dad. Because here I am, back in the thick of it. Mom's mad at me because I didn't get a hold her of right away." She chuckled to herself. "I thought she was going to ground me like you use to when I was younger. But I don't think she understands why I didn't. And I'm afraid to tell her that the Reapers might be coming after those I care about through the Collectors."

Shepard walked over to her old N7 helmet and picked it up, looking at it. Why was she chosen to survive when so many others weren't?

-Braddock and Marcus, through their contacts on the Citadel, found out that their baby sister was alive and on Omega. They booked the first transport there and when they saw their sister alive with their own eyes. Shia'va frowned as she remembered them holding her tight, tears in their eyes. Both thanking God that He brought her back to them. Who had seen them? Who would use her family just to get to her? Being the soldier she was, and knowing what was at stake, she pushed her feelings aside and told them that she wanted them to get back to Citadel space quickly. That it wasn't safe for them on Omega or anywhere in the Terminus Systems.

The pang in her heart telling them that haunted her. Seeing the shock on their face, what had Cerberus done to their baby sister? Marcus was the first to protest going back. He told her she should go back and make known the truth that the Council had torn apart and dismissed. Braddock placed his hand on his shoulder, seeing the look of truth and determination in her eyes, and yet, at the same time, seeing the hurt behind her words of sending her brother's away. She didn't want to. She wanted to hold them for hours on end. Braddock told Marcus that he felt something was wrong and felt they should hurry back and tell their mother. Marcus knew better than to defy the oldest of the Shepard kids. He could still kick Marcus' ass. Both brothers gave their sister a kiss on the cheek and headed back to the Citadel. On the way, Braddock told Marcus, in private, that Shia'va didn't want them to go. But she was making sure they would be safe. There was more happening than either of them knew, and they knew best to trust their little sister, the Hero of the Citadel.-

Shia'va sighed heavily. If she survived this, she would make it a point to go back to Earth to see her family. She shook her head and looked over to the Cerberus outfit sitting on the couch. She walked over and got changed, deciding to grab something to eat. She shuttered wondering what kind of "surprise" Gardner had cooked up this time. Before she left, she looked down at a few datapads sitting on her desk. One was an ops report from Miranda. Another was a report from Mordin. The third datapad was from the extranet. It was a conglomeration of articles from Japan. Shepard smiled slightly. Her father was Japanese while Hannah was American. Her father had taken on an American name when his family disowned him from marrying an American woman. 'Old traditions.' Shepard thought. She had always kept up reading Japanese and loved the stories her father use to tell her of the samurai from feudal Japan. Her father and mother wanted Shia'va to learn how to speak both English and Japanese growing up. To remember her heritage, which, she did.

Shepard sat at a table in the mess area of the ship. She noted a few crew members talking about the colonies that were hit. Ferris Fields, New Canton. She looked down at what Gardner had given her to eat. It was passable as food, though just barely edible. The only good thing was the coffee she had. She wasn't sure how anyone could screw up coffee. She picked up the datapad and started to look through the articles. Nothing special, but it was nice to just read something other than ops reports. There was even an editorial about the disservice the Council was doing to the young Shepard. The editor herself was praising Shia'va Shepard for doing the right thing and believed her about the Reapers. This caused Shepard's smile to grow a bit bigger. A shadow cast itself just past the datapad. She looked up to see Kelly Chambers standing just off to her left.

"Commander?" Kelly smiled.

"Yes, Miss Chambers?" Shepard never minded that Kelly checked up on her from time to time, but was leery about her loyalties to Cerberus.

"Commander, I wanted to talk to you about Horizon." Kelly sat down. "That is, if you don't mind."

'Why did she have to mention, Horizon?' Shepard thought to herself. She was trying to put it behind her. At least, the final words spoken on Horizon between her and Alenko. "What did you want to talk about, Kelly?"

"Commander, I know you've been fairly quiet lately. But this isn't a healthy thing." Kelly was genuinely concerned.

Shepard folded her hands in front of her mouth. She exhaled heavily, remembering the last words spoken between her and Kaiden.

-Shepard stood there looking at Kaiden Alenko. What the hell did he just say to her? "Kaiden, how can you say that? You know I would only be doing this for the right reason. And I'm NOT a part of Cerberus."

Alenko narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe that's what Cerberus wants you to think. Maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus for saving you."

That hurt Shepard worse than any gunshot wound. She felt herself shake a bit as her mouth fell open slightly. She figured no one had noticed her shake a bit. The man she loved basically accusing her of betraying him and the Alliance. But someone had noticed. Garrus Vakarian watched Shepard's body language carefully. "Kaiden…I…" Shepard practically whispered the words. He was breaking her heart.

"I loved you, Shepard. I thought we had something." This was not the same man Shia'va fell in love with. He was bitter, cold. Her death had changed him. "I don't know what you are, Shepard. But I'm an Alliance soldier."

Shepard was fighting back tears. She was about to say something when Garrus stepped forward, and practically in front of her. "Dammit, Kaiden! Listen to yourself!" Garrus' mandibles were flexing. The turian equivalent of grinding their teeth. "You're letting your judgment cloud your thinking! Don't you see what you're doing to her?" Garrus snapped.

Shepard looked at Garrus. He was standing up for her. She wanted to smile, but she was trying to control her raging emotions right now. She was on the verge of tears.

Alenko looked at Shepard. "I'm going back to the Alliance. Watch your back, Shepard."

She watched as Kaiden left. Hurt was etched in her features. But she kept her back to Garrus and Mordin. Garrus didn't need to see her to know what she was feeling. Anger, heartbreak. "Joker, send the shuttle for pickup. I want to get off this planet as fast as possible."

"Aye, aye, Commander." Came the quick reply. –

"What happened, happened, Kelly. It's in the past. There isn't anything we can do to change what happened." Shia'va said quietly.

"That doesn't make it any easier, Commander. You and Kaiden…" Kelly jumped as Shepard slammed her palm down on the table.

"Kaiden made his choice. End of story." Shepard narrowed her eyes at Kelly. She was trying to get her emotions back under control. Though that was becoming a futile effort the more Kelly probed her past.

Garrus had just arrived from the forward batteries when he saw Shepard slam her hand down on the table. He quickly walked over noticing Kelly Chambers sitting across from Shepard. "Damn." Was the only word Garrus said as he walked towards the table Kelly and Shepard were sitting at. He soon stood behind Kelly. "Yeoman Chambers, I think your conversation with Commander Shepard is over. For now. You're needed up in the CIC."

Kelly looked back at Garrus. This was the second time he came to Shepard's defense, she noted. The first was on Horizon. Now here. Kelly took her cue and nodded to Shepard. "Commander." She stood up and left the mess area.

Garrus sat down across from Shia'va. It was just the two of them in the mess area. Gardner had taken off to fix something and the rest of the crew were at their stations. Garrus placed his talons over her hand. "Are you alright, Shepard?"

Shia'va noticed the concern in his voice. She smiled slightly. "My knight in shining armor." She said quietly.

Garrus blinked. "Another human colloquialism?" He asked.

She nodded. "Thank you, Garrus." She watched as his talons gently ran across the back of her hands, offering comfort to her. Over the past few weeks, Shia'va had felt something budding between the two of them. He stood up for her, twice. He was taking an interest in what made her tick. The prayer services she attended to. He would often just stand in the back and just listen. And she often found herself seeing him more often. Just talking with him. Even sharing a few meals with him.

"Anytime, Shepard." Garrus said quietly.

Shia'va looked around slowly. Making sure no one was watching them.

"Shepard, about Sidonis. You were right. That wasn't me. I would have regretted killing him. I don't know what came over me." Garrus looked down at Shepard's hands.

"You aren't a murderer, Garrus. We're all killers as soldiers, but not murderers." She lowered her voice so only he could hear. "There's a gentler side to you, Garrus. And I'm glad that is the part of you I get to see."

Garrus brought her hands to his mouth. He didn't have lips, per se. But when he touched the back of her hands to his mouth, she was surprised as to how soft it was. She blushed and smiled softly. Garrus chuckled. "The great Commander Shepard blushing. Never thought I'd see it."

"Smartass." She said jokingly.

Joker came across the comm. "Commander, EDI is ready to start running tests on the Reaper IFF. You're going to have to take the shuttle to the next mission."

Shia'va lowered her head. Always at the worst times. "Alright, Joker. Let the team know to meet me at the Kodiak."

"Aye, aye, Commander." Joker replied.

Garrus nodded. "I'll meet you at the shuttle, Shepard."

Shia'va watched as Garrus headed to the ship batteries to gather his weapons. Maybe what happened on Horizon was a good thing. Her feelings for Garrus were not a passing fancy. She felt a strong connection to him. And she hoped he felt the same for her.