Palaven… Home. It seemed to be busier than usual as Garrus got off of the shuttle onto his homeland.
Looking around, he made his way to his father's house. He was almost there when he was interrupted by his little sister.
"Garrus!" Solana yelled with glee as she jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. Garrus returned the hug, though there was barely any enthusiasm to it.
"Hey, Solana." Garrus replied dryly. Solana looked as if she were about to say something, but she stopped. She picked up Garrus' bags instead.
"C'mon, dad's waiting for us at home."
Garrus followed slowly, looking around Palaven. The last time he'd seen it, it was nothing but a giant burning pile of rubble. Now, everything was fixed, except for a few buildings and houses.
As he gazed around, he'd bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry…" He apologized.
The person he's bumped into was a female Turian. She turned around slowly. Her green eyes glowed apologetically.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been in the way." Her voice was as beautiful as her face. Garrus couldn't stop himself from staring. Her beautiful green eyes reflected the sunset's dimming light.
"Uh… I…" Garrus' words felt dry on his tongue. He cleared his throat. "Sorry again." He straightened himself out and extended a hand. "Garrus." He introduced himself. "Garrus Vakarian."
The woman shook his hand. "Vacanah Liran." She introduced herself.
"Vacanah…" Garrus tested the name. "I've never seen you around here before." He pointed out. Vacanah shrugged.
"I wasn't born here. I moved here with my husband." She said.
Damn!
"Who is your husband?" Garrus asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"Was" Vacanah corrected him. "My husband died during the Reaper war."
Yes!
"Oh, I'm sorry." Garrus looked down at the ground. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love." He said, painfully remembering Shepard. He was slightly taken by surprise when Vacanah touched his arm.
"I'm sorry. It's hurts, doesn't it?" She sighed. Garrus nodded slowly, not looking away from her marvelous green eyes.
"Y-yeah…" He whispered. Her touch made his skin crawl, in a good way. Garrus noticed his mouth was opened slightly. He looked away and pretended to cough to cover it up.
Vacanah stepped away a little. "Well, I've got to go now." She said as she turned around to walk away. "Bye, Garrus!" She called over her shoulder.
Garrus waved after her. "Bye… Vacanah…"