A/N: I suddenly realised that the Citadel has begun moving around the planet in my story instead of the more logical approach where it stayed over London. Let's just pretend it was the Crucible firing that triggered this change ;) (now where's that Artistic Integrity shield those Canadian guys borrowed? Did I ever get it back..?)

Also, since it might be too subtle a joke: yes, the born-in-London part is meant to be a humourous nudge :)


"So what've you been up to?"
The question took her by surprise, but it was only fair; after all Liara had just spent the last couple of hours explaining in detail what the Normandy had been through. There had been quite a few moments of bravery, even more moments of sheer dumb luck, the honour of telling a turian colony left in the dark that the Reapers were gone, and a particularly bad one when Adams finally succumbed. He'd been buried outside the colony; a grave beneath the stars he had travelled among for so long seemed fitting. Shepard had agreed.
It had been a long trip from the Citadel down to Earth and saying goodbye to the others had introduced a certain fatigue before they had even left for the surface. With the Normandy crew officially debriefed and then disbanded, Garrus and Tali were going home, while the rest had their assignments in Vancouver and elsewhere. It hadn't been easy, turning away from the life she'd known for what seemed her entire existence. Shepard was a spacer; living on Earth was as strange and unknown to her as training a varren. Of course, it didn't help that their auto-piloted sky car was only a few feet above the ground; proper traffic had yet to be reinstated with the more pressing issues at hand. Besides, there were few civilians to clog up the streets anyway.
"I was in bed for a while. Still going through physical therapy, but I think I'll be able to start running soon. I hope."
Liara squeezed her hand and Shepard understood. Even after being apart for half a year, communication between them came naturally.
The asari spent most of trip looking out of the window. The streets of London passed them by, most buildings misshapen and broken. The sky was grey, threatening rain.
"And after that? You stayed in London, found a place, settled down?" She hadn't taken her eyes off the streets.
"Didn't know what else to do," Shepard replied. "I couldn't fight- could barely walk. Besides, they say there's nothing left to fight. At least until things are back to normal and pirates start raiding our colonies again." She let out an audible sigh. "Everything's changed."
Liara turned to face her and smiled.
"Not everything." She leaned slightly and kissed Shepard on the cheek. The Commander couldn't help but smile, but only for a moment. Liara noticed the look in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Liara, I'm… different. Somehow. I feel different. The last couple of months without you, without any of you… I felt this huge hole inside. And I thought it would be gone when you and the others were here. But it's not. I still feel… different."
Liara gave her hand another squeeze before adding: "Give it time. We'll get there."

-o-

"I like the place you've got here."
Kaidan strode around the living room, taking his time. He picked up a rock crystal and eyed it curiously. "I mean, it's small compared to how I thought the Saviour of the Galaxy would be living. But it's nice."
Shepard smiled. "Thank you, Kaidan, I'll be sure to tell Liara; she's the one responsible for most of the stuff here."
"I can't say I'm surprised." They shared a brief, but genuine, laugh.
Summer had finally found its way to the British Isles. The door to the veranda was opened to let in fresh air, and it brought the sound of bird song with it. Their home had two storeys, but it contained no more than four rooms at ground level and only three above. Around it was a fairly large garden, including an expanse of mainly birch trees not far away.
Shepard went to the kitchen and brought back two cups of coffee while her former Lieutenant finished inspecting the room.
"I was confused by the address at first, though. I thought you lived in the city?"
"We did, at first. But it wasn't long before we decided to move outside instead. It's been almost a year now, I think, but we like it here. It's quiet. Peaceful."
"Well, I won't argue with that. To be honest, I'm surprised you even chose London in the first place. It was a pile of rubble back then, much more than any other place you could live."
"Yeah… I'm not sure, either. I just… I thought I had to see it rebuild itself. Rise from the ashes or whatever. I figured it would do me good."
"It didn't?"
"Don't know. Probably not. Most of the time, it only reminded me of the day we landed there. The people we lost. God, so many people died."
"Yeah. It was brutal. But somehow, we survived."
"Anderson didn't," she replied in a lowered voice, as if talking to herself, before taking the first sip of the cup.
"No. He didn't. We, uh, never talked about that part. I mean, we all read it in the reports before we even saw you, but… I mean, those were just words on a datapad. Doesn't tell you how it felt."
Shepard looked out the window. The birds continued their carefree song. "Anderson shouldn't have died like that."
"Hey, look, you can't blame yourself for that. The Illusive Man made you pull the trigger, everyone knows that. I mean, sure, a lot of things could've gone better. A lot of good people died that day, and the days before. But it happened. What matters is that we're here today. Because of you, Shepard. You did what no one could've done."
"It was dumb luck. Anyone could've survived Harbinger's attack, it just happened to be Anderson and me."
"I don't believe that. And neither should you, Commander."
Shepard looked at him. He'd either forgotten she was retired or used the title to remind her of the old days. Sometimes she suspected he was more cunning than he let on.
"He was born in London. Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't. But I was only getting to know him when he gave you the Normandy back in '83, and after that I never really spoke with him more than briefly. You were always his favourite." Kaidan gave her a teasing smile at the last sentence.
"Heh. Well, he was one hell of a man."
"One of the best."
They both took a careful gulp in the silence, before Shepard eventually changed the subject.
"But enough about the dead. Have you talked with any of the others recently?"
"I sometimes get messages from Garrus. He seems to be doing well, although I think he's bored most of the time."
"Bored? He left the military?"
"No, that's the problem. He's one of the people in charge of keeping an eye on the krogan. They're still rebuilding, but they're also making a whole lot of babies and some of the higher-ups have concerns now that the Reapers are gone."
She fell silent.
"Shepard? Anything wrong?"
"I just… What if there are still some of them out there? What if the Crucible didn't get them all? Do you ever think about that?"
He didn't reply at first.
"I suppose the thought has crossed my mind, but… there's no reason to believe so. I mean, they found them everywhere, lying dead on the ground, or even floating in the middle of space. And I mean everywhere, even the farthest colonies."
"But what about dark space? What if they didn't send everything they had? There could be more waiting and there's no way we can find out! We can't just build another Crucible!" She felt her heartbeat racing, little drops of sweat on her forehead. Kaidan just made it worse by simply watching her with narrowed brows.
"You're right, Shepard. We don't know. But there's nothing indicating that there are more of them, uh, 'lurking'. I think it's safe to assume we're in the clear. And then, if more of them appear, we'll defeat them, without the Crucible this time. We'll stuff our krogan hordes in space suits and fire them at the bastards." He smiled, hoping she would too, but she just breathed out heavily.
"Sometimes I just get the feeling they're coming. Creeping up on me – on all of us."
She raised her head, shot him a slightly awkward smile and asked him to come outside.
"I think it's almost time."

They had been talking for half an hour when the humming of a sky car could be heard approaching the other side of the house. Its engines were soon silenced and moments later, the front door opened and closed.
"We're out here! You're just in time!" Shepard called from the shadowed veranda.
Dr. T'Soni soon appeared, wearing her usual plain, white dress.
"Hello, Kaidan. It's good to see you again." He returned the compliment before they hugged briefly. Shepard noted with a smile that her bond-mate seemed increasingly less uncomfortable embracing him.
"And hello, you. I came home as soon as I could." Liara moved in for a kiss and Shepard felt the last remnants of unease from earlier dissipate in seconds. Afterwards, the asari remained in her embrace and looked up before speaking again.
"I was watching it from the car whenever I could. I think I only came close to hitting a tree twice." Liara only replied with a smile when Shepard shot her a concerned look. The asari had recently learned how to fool Shepard by taking advantage of the serious tone of her voice. Then she looked back up to the sky, where a huge object was blocking the sun. The Citadel. Its partially opened arms allowed the sun to shine through one moment, then be blocked the next. But most of all, it was an incredible sight simply to gaze upon a structure more than 40 kilometres long, suspended in the air seemingly just above them, yet still so far away. It was an oval silver comet, frozen in place, perfect in its symmetry.
The three friends stood in silence for a minute. Then Shepard asked out loud to no one in particular:
"I wonder if they'll ever move it?"
"Heh, I bet they will. They just need to figure out how to do it, first," Kaidan replied, neither of them taking their eyes off the ancient construction.
"It surprises me every time just how far it stretches across the sky. Sometimes I forget how massive it is."
"Yeah," Shepard said. "And sometimes I forget who built it."

"What was it like, seeing the Major again?" Liara asked. They'd cleared the table and were now sitting on the garden bench with the trees behind them. T'Soni was resting her head on Shepard's shoulder while the sun completed its slow dive beneath the horizon.
"It was nice. Feels like a lot more than two months since last time."
Liara tilted her head slightly to face her.
"That's not surprising; you humans have the oddest perception of time."
Shepard only responded by smiling widely, and she didn't need to take her eyes off the sunset to know Liara had done the same.
"Well, he's a good listener. Almost as good as you."
"Well, you two always seemed to get along well. That time he thought you were the enemy's puppet notwithstanding." A comfortable silence rested between them for a while.
"What did you talk about? Did he have any interesting news from the big world?"
"Mm, he had a bit of news. Nothing much. We just talked about our friends. Apparently he called Tali to ask if he should bring some beer for the visit next month, and she went into a panic about how much work she still needed to do."
"I hope he told her that we're not coming all the way to Rannoch just because of her house!"
"Heh, yeah, I think he managed to calm her down. A bit, anyway."
"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing her new home, no matter the state of electrical installations. Was there any other news?"
"Dr. T'Soni, it seems to me you miss being the galaxy's leading information gatherer!"
"Oh, not at all. Well, maybe some of the time, but right now I'm just curious. I always was, ever since we met. I just preferred to hide it back then."
"Well, don't worry, you didn't miss anything. We mostly talked about old times… You know, I hadn't thought of David for a while."
"Your old Captain, you mean?"
Shepard answered with a nod.
"Well… I'm sure he would say he had a good life."
"He deserved to have it end better, though. Not shot down by a friend."
Shepard turned inwards for a second, wondering why she felt the need to bring it up again. Why couldn't she let it go? Then she was taken aback when Liara sat up and responded: "He wasn't. The Illusive Man killed him. Admiral Anderson knew that."
She looked at Shepard with uncondensed seriousness. Then her face softened and she leaned back, once again resting her head close to Shepard's.
"He was lucky to have you next to him in his final moments. If he had to die that day anyway, I mean."
Shepard was quiet for a time.
"He told me… He said he thought I'd make a great mum. 'Think about how proud your kids will be.'"
"I agree with him," Liara stated matter-of-factly, turning her head towards Shepard. "You're gentle and caring. And unselfish. You don't do anything without thinking it through, and you always try and solve things with diplomacy first. Much like an asari. And if it's not enough, you fight. You fight like no other. I have never met a stronger person in my life."
The last sentence hit something in Shepard, pierced a small hole in her inner armour. Her eyes started to water, but she was relieved to see the asari break eye contact before she could notice.
"I'm sure anyone would agree with me that raising a child with you, Kaely Shepard, would be the greatest of honours."
Shepard had still not gained absolute control of her body, and instead chose to kiss Liara's forehead in reply.
"How are the nightmares coming along?" she asked after a long silence. Shepard hesitated.
"Not so bad anymore. Getting better."
"You said something like that the last time. And the time before that. It must mean they're all but gone, then."
"Soon, yeah."
"Odd, though. The feeling of them seems to linger as strongly as ever when we join."
She didn't reply at once.
"There's nothing to worry about, Liara."
The asari simply sighed, like a mother yielding to a stubborn child, but Shepard knew it wasn't over that easily.
"Well, I had a long day and have to get up early." She rose from the bench and looked around at the garden. It was considerably darker now. Then she looked upwards and caught the last sight of the Citadel, now much nearer the western horizon.
"I'll be up soon," Shepard replied, then watched Liara as she strode off to the house, a sliver of white in the darkness.
'I'll just be a minute', she thought as the darkness slowly crept into her mind.

Dr. T'Soni watched her from the bedroom window on the first floor. Once again she was torn between remaining here, and going back down. It was so dark now that Shepard was merely a dark blur on a piece of white furniture, but Liara thought that she could see her red-haired head throwing sideway glances, abruptly and repeatedly, as if looking for something moving among the trees. But most of the time, she seemed to simply lean forward with her head buried in her hands.
Once again she was torn. Once again she would remain.