The Quarian girl fiddled with the projected control panel, barely aware to be careful with the sensitive dials and gauges. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking of the Commander and herself.
He helped her through so much... So many times to count. Her Pilgrimage and the defeat of Saren, helping Veetor, saving her from overwhelming Geth forces on a planet near a dying sun... Too many times to count. Now, Rannoch was again home to her people, living peacefully alongside the Geth?
"Tali? You free to talk?"
A human man stood in front of her, the door from engineering sliding closed as she turned to greet him. Standing over her by almost a foot, unkempt chocolate hair decorating his head, stubble poking through his pale skin, and nigh-luminescent green eyes seemingly piercing her sealed pressure suit, draped in purple clothes.
"Oh. Commander Shepard. I wasn't expecting you."
"No doubt. Listen, if you have a moment, can we go up to my quarters? There's... There's something I want to discuss with you." He stammered, trying to keep his cool, but Tali saw through his soldier's demeanor.
"Uh... Sure. Just give me a sec, okay?" Tali shrugged, seeing him walk through the door again, sliding open to let him out.
The engineering core was now empty, with Donnely and Daniels sleeping for the night at Tali's request. She repeated to herself to get back on track, "Just give me a sec..."
After a while, Tali had finally gained the motivation to go to Shepard's quarters. Just like mere months ago, when everyone thought they'd die taking out the Collectors. She took a deep breath, and opened the door to Shepard's room. Still opulent, as always. A small office and shower overlooks a bedroom-like room, decked with multitudes of items and furniture. A black-leather couch, a queen-sized bed, a radio, aquarium, and digital wardrobe functionality on the wall. He sat there, looking serious. A tell-tale sign of him thinking about something important.
"Shepard."
Her calling his name made him look, obviously taken off guard, but not scared or breathing from rushed adrenaline. But, he relaxed, happy to see Tali standing by the aqarium.
"There you are. I was just wondering where you were."
"I'm sorry. The events on Rannoch were a bit... stunning." She lied, her feet shuffling at her comment.
"Don't worry about it." Shepard didn't notice, or seem to notice, and took a deep breath. Is he just as nervous as she was?
"Look, it's all almost over, I know that. I just want to know one thing from you."
"I'm listening, Shepard."
"I don't want you to call me Shepard, Tali. We talked about this." He smiled, non-aggressive with the tone of this statement.
"Okay. Augustine. I'm sorry."
He shrugged, and something caught her eye on Shepard's person. He was cupping something in his hands.
"Tali. I love you. My heart feels completes me when I'm with you. I saw so many die coming up to this moment. My friends, my family... Myself."
That caught the Quarian girl off guard. He told her about what happened on Mindoir, when he was young, but never on his own feelings about it. Always kept that silent.
"I felt vulnerable, a giant target." She noticed that he was crying. He continued, "Though, I always felt unimportant and powerless, I vowed to save everyone I could. Now... I don't know how I should save those I love. Including you."
"August... Where is this heading?" She didn't want to hear anymore. She felt bad that he forcefully remembered the Batarian attacks on his home, remembered just to tell something to her.
He sighed, looking into the fish tank, as if studying the reflections of Tali and himself on the glass, "I'm saying you brought something to me that I don't think I felt up until I first met you. I finally have a companion, a friend, and..."
He knelt on one knee, and revealed what he held in his hands. A small black square box made of cotton felt. Opening it, was the most beautiful ring Tali had ever seen, a crystal shimmering in the calm lights of the room, as if it absorbed the light and is letting it flow through like water in a river.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy... Will you marry me?"
She was speechless. She understood that this was a gift, but...
"What is this, August?"
He smiled, "I'm asking you to marry me?"
"I don't think marriage wasn't really a thing on the Flotilla." Tali laughed.
"Right. Look, I want to be with you for the rest of my days. I love you, Tali. I'm giving you a part of my soul, and I'm just asking for a part of your soul in return."
She almost tackled her Commander with a hug, the voice modulator almost pulsing in his ear when saying, "I... Yes, August. I will marry you."
"I'm glad to hear you say that."
Times passed, and missions done, the wedding was being prepared fast on the Normandy. It was almost time to fight the Reapers on Earth, but as Augustine explained to the crew, this was the one thing on his bucket list he wanted to do, if the Reapers ended his life then and there.
"Thanks for being my Best Man, Garrus."
"Anytime, August. I'm just glad you could cross this off of things to die before getting disintegrated."
"What did you want to do before you died?"
"I... I made amends with my father. He understood me, and gave his blessings to 'finish what I started', to paraphrase the conversation."
Both friends laughed, noticing that the shuttle bay was filling up with people who wanted to see the wedding of a Quarian and a Human. Specifically, Commander Shepard and Tali'Zorah.
Joker and EDI sat in the front row, trying to tell the AI about what was happening and why. Grunt and Wrex wore custom-made tuxedos to the event, standing out in the crowd as always. Everyone was here. At least, all those that survived at least.
The music started, synthesized keyboard tunes provided by EDI. And finally, the main event, Admiral Raan leading Tali to the "altar" alongside Augustine, and her suit took his breath away. The new suit worn seemed more like a dress, with every part being white in appearance, except for her distinct helmet visor, still glowing purple. Her fiance's jaw dropped, as did everyone looking at her. Beautiful, with even a transparent cowl over her "face".
"Damn. You got lucky, Shepard."
"I know Garrus. Isn't she beautiful?"
He nodded in response to the whispering confirmation, an obvious Turian smile drawn across his face.
And then the ceremony began.
"And the spouses brought their own vows." Chakwas said, obviously happy for the two, as they stood in front of her and held hands.
"You first, Commander?"
He took a deep breath, and exhaled just as much before saying his vows to Tali, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. We have come a long way, seeing new sights, and learning about each other in the process of the three years since I first saw you. We fought Saren, the Collectors, the Illusive Man, and now, we fight our final stand against the Reapers. But, despite that, I have always felt
something different about you, something I was missing in my life since I survived Mindoir in my youth. While I had love for others, I felt that none of that love was returned as I grew older, and before my time against Saren."
Another deep breath, and he continued, "And then I met you, a member of a different species, but a person nonetheless. I was interested in you, and then that grew into love as we traveled together. When I was resurrected by the Illusive Man, I missed you. I realized the reasons why I loved you from then on out. I love your intellect, I love your personality, I love your body, I love your voice..."
He sniffled, a few tears running down his left cheek as he finished, "I love YOU, Tali. You complete myself more so than what I could ever put into words. I want to be with you until the rest of my days."
Everyone was silent, but it was a respectful silence, allowing themselves to signal the others of their positive reactions to the speech. Doctor Chakwas smiled, and regarded the bride, "And Tali? You wrote your own vows?"
She nodded, and then began her vows, "I... When we were fighting Shepard, I always saw you as perfect, an enigma of Humanity itself when you did the impossible. My... My feelings began to grow as you began to... show character, vulnerabilities... even love towards your fellow beings, Geth or otherwise. When I... I saw you dealing with a multitude of races."
Her sniffling and stammering made it obvious that she was crying, trying to tell her vows to everyone, especially August. She continued, "When I saw that you died, I... Lost something... Something that was found when I encountered you... you again. You wouldn't believe how happy that was to me. In other words, I followed the same growth you did. I learned about you... I saw you in my dreams... Now... We'll be together until we die."
"You may now kiss the bride."
Both spouses looked at each other, the human asking the Quarian girl, "May I remove your helmet, Tali?"
"Yes... Yes, you can."
And he did, pressing the buttons beside her visor to remove it from the helmet itself. Her face, thin black tendrils resembling human hair trailing behind three equally spaced crests on her head, her purple cheeks stained with tears of joy.
"You're so beautiful."
"Just kiss me, you fool."
And they did, locking lips, with the sound of applause ringing in their ears in this moment of immortality. Time had stopped, because two lovers declared their souls to the universe, a moment frozen as both spouses' happiest memories of their lives.
"And we now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. vas Normandy." Dr. Chakwas chuckled, as she opened the case of alien-brewed champagne for the reception. The last moments of the galaxy were still young, but for now, it was lost within the wedding of all galactic time.