Disclaimer: Mass Effect does not belong to me. It belongs to it's respective owners, namely Bioware.
The chairs were set, the decorations in place, the receptionist ready and in the dining room, the ever dutiful staff of the hotel was laying down the plates, knives and forks, the glasses and the cooks had an assortment of food ready for the guests, whoever they were, human, asari, salarian, turian, krogan, quarian, you name it, they were there.
Weddings were a common occurrence for those who staffed the hotel, but not one like this, for they had never seen such a gathering of species, but given who the groom was, it wasn't really surprising.
In the reception room, the now promoted Staff Commander, John Shepard, was standing tall and proud in Alliance Navy Dress Blues, having been ironed and creased accordingly, the and of course the shoes shining so hard that it would have made a drill instructor make him the perfect example of what a shining boot should look like. And he was awaiting the arrival of his bride, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Madeline Williams, who had caught his heart during his first stint in commanding the first Normandy, and had come a very long way, from the Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams that he knew.
He had never thought that when he had first met her during Saren's attack on Eden Prime, it would come to this, but looking back, after all the things he had seen, he shouldn't honestly be surprised. Shepard and Ashley had started all professional, with a slight indication that she had a slight attraction to him, whilst overlooking the Citadel and a certain conversation involving tin-foil miniskirts and thigh high boots…..
But with Shepard becoming the first human Spectre and his promotion to commanding officer of the Normandy SR-1, Shepard and Ashley got to know each other pretty well over the course of the hunt for Saren, with Shepard and Ashley bonding over family as well as poetry.
And when the Alliance locked down the Normandy, Ashley provided the strength for him to carry on and figure out his next plan to get the Normandy to Ilos.
Then, after escaping the Citadel with the help of Captain Anderson, who unlocked the Normandy by punching Ambassador Udina then accessing his computer, the relationship soon came to ahead, with "their night" before their approach to the Mu Relay.
Even after Ash had suffered heartbreak at the hands of losing Shepard, and then a cold frosty meeting on Horizon, Shepard understood, knowing that no words would fix what had happened, and only hoped that time would pass, for a chance to be together again.
And they did get together again, during the Reaper war, in which despite getting another cold reception on Mars (which Shepard vowed to make it work again), he was devastated when she got injured and had to stay behind on the Citadel to recover. And even when she was in the crosshairs, Shepard could not bring himself to shoot the one he loved, and thus managed to get Ashley on his side to stop Udina's coup against the Council. Then came the nice and steady steps in regaining their relationship, being at her side regarding her youngest sister, Sarah, then, a table talk over how her father would have liked Shepard and the kiss that they shared amongst themselves, then came the one time that James had given Ash a bottle to "take her mind off stuff", much to Shepard's amusement, the incident being one that he never lived down.
Shepard was soon brought out of his thoughts as Garrus Vakarian, proudly standing as the Best Man at John's side, was constantly adjusting the collar of his turian suit, clearly uncomfortable, much to John's amusement.
Shepard grinned as he said to his best man "Stop fidgeting Garrus, you'll be fine".
After a cough and a laugh, the response was, "Well forgive me, but this is of course, the first human wedding I've attended, Shepard, and plus, you know very well that suits just don't suit me".
Shepard continued grinning.
Of course suits wouldn't have suited him, heh, glad things never change.
All the times John had spent with Garrus, he'd known him in Turian armor. Well, apart from the time that Shepard hooked Garrus up with that female Turian, which didn't last long. During the hunt for Saren, Garrus had the standard Turian C-Sec operative armor. Then came the hunt against Harbinger's Collectors and he was suited up in the heavy armor he wore while leading as 'Archangel'. It had gotten cracked after Tarek had shot him up with a Mantis gunship, but Garrus, the stubborn Turian that he was, still wore it, until Shepard later put him in his place and gave him quite decorative armor. And Tali said that he still had the Archangel armor, locked away as a souvenir. Well, at least that's what he said, according to her.
It was obvious who'd be John's best man. Not that there were many candidates left. And no one was a better candidate than Garrus himself, for he, had stood by Shepard throughout the entire course of their journey, right from the hunt for Saren, right up to the battle to retake Earth. Even when Shepard had joined forces with Cerberus, and even after everything the galaxy threw at Shepard, nothing could separate the two brothers in arms.
Tali'Zorah, was quite shocked when she was chosen as the maid of honour by Ashley, and of course, Ash's 3 sisters, Abby, Lynne and Sarah, had questioned her about it, but Ash had told them, that Tali was "a special part of family" and that she had an equally important part in mind for them, being the bridesmaids, which they were thrilled to be. And thus, Ashley had said that Tali was like a sister, so she fit the bill. But of course, even though shocked, Tali didn't refuse.
Ashley had hidden it well, but she was worried that Sarah wouldn't come, due to her still mourning the loss of her husband, Thomas. But Sarah, knowing how important family was, was adamant that she be part of her eldest sister's wedding.
Sitting in the rows of 7 benches (rumour had it that they were strong enough to hold the weight of an Elcor), were many of those who had been invited to the wedding, most dominantly, the crew of the Normandy, the centrepiece of their lives.
Looking at his omni-tool for the time, Shepard turned to Garrus.
"Garrus, you've got the rings?"
After fumbling through his pockets, and producing a case Garrus said "Right here, Shepard".
The music starting, everyone present was standing up.
Shepard then turned and faced to see his soon-to-be wife, who was also dressed in her Alliance dress blues (on her insistence), glanced to Shepard and smiled. But Shepard could also notice the watery eyes in his bride.
Smiling back, Shepard was starting to feel a bit apprehensive.
Thoughts were swarming in his head and he was feeling butterflies in the stomach already, unsure if he could go through this.
As she was now facing him, Ashley, seemed to have noticed this, and whispered in his ear, "Come on, John, you've faced Sovereign, the Collectors and death right in the face, surely you can survive a simple wedding!"
Shepard, who was sheepishly smiling, relaxed at her reassurance.
And soon, it was time for the official, a bald man in a suit wearing glasses, presiding over the ceremony to read their vows.
The official asked the groom,
"Do you, Jonathan William Shepard, take Ashley Madeline Williams, to be your lawful wedded wife? To love and to cherish, until parted by death".
"I do".
With that, the bride was asked, "And do you, Ashley Madeline Williams, take Jonathan William Shepard, to be your lawful wedded husband? To love and to cherish, until parted by death".
"I do".
Whilst in the midst of this, looking over at the maid of honour, Shepard could see that Tali, under her mask, was now shedding a couple of tears. And he could have sworn that he heard someone blowing their nose, presumably not due to the common cold.
Then came the time for the wedding ring, which Garrus soon produced the case, and gave to Shepard, who opened it, then produced the ring, which made Ashley's eyes suddenly water at it's beauty.
It was silver, with nine blue Asari crystals (provided by none other than Liara, of course), and an engraving on the inside saying 'SHEPARD - WILLIAMS'.
Taking her hand, Shepard then slipped on the ring onto her ring finger, and as they looked upon each other in absolute happiness, the official soon said,
"I declare you now to be husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride".
There wasn't even a pause. Everyone, who seemed to be on the edge of their seats, breathed a sigh of relief as the moment they had been waiting for, came.
John and Ash's lips met, and soon came the applause, with everyone rising from their seats clapping at their happiness over the two's union.
Once the newly-weds had mustered the will to tear themselves away from smacking lips with one another, it was now time for the honoured tradition at military weddings, the Saber Arch.
Lieutenant James Vega, Jacob Taylor (who, despite not being in the Alliance military anymore, was allowed to don his Dress Blues once again, just for this occasion, John had made sure of that) and the Marine detachment of the Normandy, both officer and enlisted, assembled, unsheathing their polished sabres and formed the archway on James' order.
Then, as the music began, Shepard and Ashley, arm in arm, walked through and under the archway of sabres.
Upon the exiting of the archway, the voice of James Vega was heard behind the happy couple.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour to present to you, Staff Commander John William Shepard and Lieutenant Commander Ashley Madeline Shepard".
With the ceremony over, it was now time for the reception.
And therefore, a dream story idea has come to fruition. Shepard and Ashley getting married.
Next chapter will be a while. I've only just had this chapter's basic framework written down, and once I put it down here, it was just a slight tinkering around to do before I got this published.
With a next chapter, I'm just going to have to start from scratch, which is time consuming. Plus, I've got other stories I'm working on, so don't really expect a quick update with this.
Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!