Just West of Remembrance
A new dawn, a new day. Shepard and her crew had put a hold to the collector threat. It seemed like things were at peace for once, if only for a short while. There was still an obstacle to be overcome. There probably always would be, but not in this moment. In this moment, Shepard would have a moment to herself. She stood weary, though – Jack and Miranda could be at each others' throats again any minute.
Shepard stepped out of the elevator and onto the main deck. The Normandy was quiet. Only the quiet chatter amongst crew members and the echo of soft footsteps filled the ship. Avoiding eye contact with Kelly from across the room, the war hero made haste for the armory and slipped in as soon as the door opened. It was not that she did not like Kelly, just that the girl could talk forever and Shepard had someone else in mind.
Jacob peeked from behind the corner to see the commander walk into his little part of the world. Instead of standing at attention, like he used to do every time he would see her, he simply put down what he was working on and folded his arms before letting a slight grin come to his face.
"Commander."
"Jacob." She acknowledged him with a smile as she crept further into the room. As she neared him, she extended her arms for an embrace. Jacob let his arms down only to shoot her down and walk right past her. Shepard's arms fell back to her sides and she turned to look at him questionably. The hell...? She thought to herself, awaiting an explanation. Jacob turned back to look at her with an expression of excitement.
"Sorry, commander. This can not wait. I have something that I want to show you."
Skeptical, Shepard put her hands on her hips. It must have been important, but somehow she doubted that. Jacob moved his hands to what seemed like a box of old-school files on the island in the middle of the room. He opened the box with care, as every little thing inside seemed to be ancient. Before he took anything out, he looked at Shepard with gratitude.
"I have to thank you. When I found out about my father, I wanted to do some digging into my family history. I thought I'd share it with you if we lived through the suicide mission and, well, here we are." He chuckled.
An eyebrow raised on Shepard's face. She smiled again and moved closer to the box. Upon glancing, she saw many miscellaneous objects from the past. None of it really seemed familiar at the time. Jacob continued speaking.
"I didn't really find much worth sharing on the Taylor side. No surprise there. But my mother's family, the Wests..." He gingerly slid out an old laminated photo from the middle of the box and handed it to Shepard. She looked at him quizzically before accepting the picture and taking a look at it. On the paper was a smiling portrait of a man who looked exactly like Jacob. A relative of his, no doubt. There was writing on it as well. She read it out loud.
"To Kanye...Love, Kanye."
Jacob nodded and smiled at the sentiment that his distant relative had written to himself. He began to dig more things out of the box. Shepard placed the photo on the counter, peering at the new things Jacob was finding; photos, music albums that surely would not work anymore due to age, awards, lists of nominations.
"So," Shepard said as she glanced at the array of objects, "Who was this guy?"
Jacob halted and ceased to smile. A whimper of a laugh escaped him, as if to say that he could not believe what he was hearing. She must have said something wrong, she thought as Jacob stared at her in disbelief. He recollected his thoughts and replied.
"Are you serious, Commander? You have no clue who Kanye West was?"
Her silence gave him a No for an answer.
"Well, not everybody does. That's alright." He slid a couple of photos her way before continuing. "Kanye West was a rap sensation, way back in the day. And not only did he rap – he produced music as well. By the year 2012, he was nominated for one hundred sixty-one different awards and won forty-nine of them. I guess you could say that the man was music. I just can't believe my mother never told me this."
Shepard looked up from the photos and at Jacob. He seemed pleased with himself and even more proud that he had a relative that was worth something. She smiled and took his hand, which was rested beside the old box. He looked down at their hands before returning a gaze to the Commander.
"I'd like to learn more about Kanye West, Jacob."
"Aye, Commander."