"-under reconstruction. Everyone came together to help once again, building a better place for every species in the galaxy. But the priority reminds the same, we want to remember the hero who brought us all together and helped us win the Battle for Earth. Commander Annie Shepard will always be remembered not only here on Earth, but on every planet in the galaxy. This is Diana Allers, reporting live from London." as the camera turned off, Diana gave out a heavy sigh, Looking back at the events of the past month, she could hardly believe that a war took place right here in this city. Who'd have thought that humans could get back on their feet so fast.

Reapers were destroyed and the fight was won. But at what cost? Hero of the galaxy, Commander Shepard gave out her life to save every planet in every system. Not only her, but humans lost another great man, Admiral Anderson died at that fight, too.

No one believed it when they didn't come back, when the Citadel was blown to pieces with them still inside. Reapers lost their strength and eventually they died and everyone was cheering at the outcome. But there were those who had panic in their eyes, their struggle wasn't over.

As Kaidan managed to bring himself up on his feet, he looked up to the stars. He cursed himself fot not being there with her. How could he let her go alone?
Tears filled his eyes and he felt back on his knees. He covered his face with one hand, the other one pushing against the bleeding wound in his stomach. That pain was nothing compared to what he felt in his heart.

One Turian also looked up, searching for a sign of hope, or rather, a miracle. But she wasn't coming back, not this time.

"Come on, Shepard. You can survive this." said Garrus in a quiet voice, hardly believing his own words. Someone whispered his name, the familiar voice was shaking and when he turned his head towards the source, he saw the Quarian struggling to stand up. He could see her face, but he knew that Tali was also crying. He wiped his own tears and run to her, catching her in mid air as she tried to stand up once again but failed. Her arms immediately wrapped around him. He wanted to say something, reassure her in some way, but no words came out of his mouth. There was nothing he could say to make this better.

The Asari watched them from afar, but she wasn't crying. Not this time. Liara knew that Shepard did what was right and was no at a better place. She finally earned her rest. But Liara made a silent promise to Shepard, that no one will ever forget her sacrifice.

"Liara!" hoarse voice dragged her out form her thoughts. Krogan ran to her, with few others right behind him. Wrex's face was filled with happiness, he obviously enjoyed the battle. But his happiness faded away as soon as he took one look around. "Shepard?"

Liara managed to shake her head, lowering her head. Wrex gave out a loud cry and punched the nearest wall. He lost his friend, his sister. And it hit him harder than he thought it would. He never cared about humans, he always thought they were weak. But this one was different, strong, determinated and loyal to her people. She helped him more than anyone ever did.

His hand reached behind his neck, stopping at the place where his N7 tattoo was. James was remembering all the things they talked about, every advice she gave to him. He couldn't dance with her anymore, hell, he still didn't have his rematch. He lifted his head, his unfocused gaze looking at the remainings of the Citadel, as he stood at attention, saluting her wherever she was.

He almost didn't notice one other soldier doing the same thing right next to him. Major Coats heard so much about Commander Shepard and when finally he had a chance to meet her personally, she was gone. But she was a hell of a soldier, of that he was sure. Not only she brought the whole galaxy together, she was a hero until the very end and the galaxy will remember her for that.

More soldiers stopped cheering when they realized what happened. Some of them hesitated, thinking she would come back, but some of them saluted to the stars, following the example of the two men in front of them. It didn't matter that they've never had a chance to meet her, talk to her or see her. She saved them all, that was all that mattered.

Diana turned around to face the statue of the hero. Even if the rest of the city was still in ruins, the statue stood proudly, reminding them all of the great victory and sacrifice. Her lips curved into a smile as she remembered her first meeting with Shepard. She thought that Shepard would sent her to hell when she asked to come aboard of the Normandy. But she gave her a chance to prove herself.
But Diana wasn't here alone. A figure of a man sitting on the near bench watched her as she was leaving. He gave her a light nod, standing up. He was alone, there was on one to follow him around anymore, no one to help him when he needed it. Yes, Joker thought she was annoying at the beginning, hell he wanted so bad just to turn her off, but he never did. And now when she wasn't here, he missed her so much. Shepard promised to keep her safe, she kept her promise in a way. Because Shepard also wasn't safe, she was dead. And it hurt to lose the person you respect the most. And the one AI he came to love. He stood by the statue, his arm slowly raising to his forehead in a salute as it did every day he came here.

As he was leaving, he passed Kaidan, who was spending most of his free time here. He was helping with reconstructions in the cities, which was a good excuse to come here every now and then.

He still thought about what he did wrong or how he could help. At least he could've died with her, but she'd never forgive him for it. But he could no longer hold her in his arms, kiss her lips or even watch her laugh. He lost her again and this time she wasn't coming back. Nothing will ever be the same without her. But he tried to smile even though he had tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Goodbye, Shepard. I love you."

I wrote this short story while listening to the song from the ME3 soundtrack, "Leaving Earth". I wanted to write about how everyone else felt about Shepard's death, so I hope I managed to capture at least a small part of their emotions.

But honestly, many people are saying that they didn't like the ending of ME3 and are asking why Shepard had to die. But I think it was the most logical ending. I mean, Shepard saved the whole galaxy. The happy ending would looked kind of like a cliché. And after all, it only showed just how much Shepard wanted to save everyone. But I admit, they could've at least show what happened after that...and no, I wasn't satisfied with the old man and the little boy.