A/N: I probably skimped out a bit on what should have been a longer conversation between Naylor and Tevos in this chapter. Nothing seemed to work any better than what I had originally written. That and I was too distracted watching (re-re-re-re-)re-runs of Man Versus Food on Dave...

Day Four, Citadel space station, Serpent Nebula

Tevos walked out towards the elevator, passing through the crowds of journalists, reporters and other politicians who all wanted audiences with one of the councillors. Morila and Irissa bundled their ways through the crowd, the young maiden creating a path through that Irissa followed before it closed. As they fell into step behind her, Irissa tried to get the attention of the councillor, but that was a task doomed to failure.

"Tevos." Irissa pulled on the councillor's shoulder when her calls failed to grab her attention. "Tevos, would you stop for a moment!" The councillor didn't pause as Irissa pulled her shoulder, carrying on relentlessly in her walk towards the elevator, the crowds parting in front of her out of respect. "Councillor!"

"What is it Irissa? Unless you have something that needs my immediate attention, I am trying to finalise possibly the most important negotiation in our species' recent history."

"Listen to yourself! You just went negotiated something that the matriarchs didn't give permission for, something that went against the line that the asari wish to take at this point. This could very well see the position that the asari hold within the galaxy being weakened, having to accept the assistance of others to survive."

"Can you stop looking at the long view for a few seconds? We won't have a position in the galaxy if we don't defeat the Reapers."

"You won't have a position if you don't respect the position that you have been given within the asari republics. The matriarchs are furious, Tevos, it's just they don't show it. You very nearly defied their order to remain quiet over the issue of the Reapers three years ago and now you are defying their orders again."

"Irissa."

"What?"

"Please be quiet and let me explain." Irissa very nearly exploded, only stopped by Tevos' quick thinking. For the ambassador to explode like Tevos knew Irissa would in the public space of the Citadel Tower would be a public disaster for the councillor. "The position the matriarchs wished to take was that we cannot afford to help humanity unless our space is secure and our fleets and commandos mobilised."

"So? That doesn't merit giving support to the Alliance like you did!"

"I have not given the Alliance the support of our military. Not yet. The Alliance will be helping us, in return for the repair facilities that they no longer have. The Alliance can help us with everything that the matriarchs want before they are ready to give support to humanity, securing our supply lines and the borders of asari space while our own fleets muster and our commandos are armed and deployed. We are not going against what the Matriarchs wish."

"I see your point." Irissa's tone was less hostile now, but she was still not supporting Tevos' decisions. "But what would you have me do when this is something you are doing behind the backs of the people you have to work with?"

"Start contacting the owners of our military shipyards and docks. Get them ready to receive the Alliance ships as soon as they are able to. You are the ambassador, responsible for liaising between the Citadel and the asari. I believe that is the role you were promoted to by Councillor Tani after your predecessor retired, yes?"

"And what will you be doing while I do that?" Irissa's voice had dropped several octaves, the ambassador growling in response to Tevos' goading. Her experiences with Irissa were why Tevos wanted to let Morila, barely older than Tevos had been when she had become an attendant to her predecessor, Councillor Jaral Tani, spend time developing her skills without having to compete with another attendant for attention. When it would become time for Tevos to retire, she wanted to make sure that the people that replaced her would have had the chance to develop their skills properly, whether under Tevos' guidance or the guidance of other political matriarchs around asari space.

"I will be in my office, drafting a formal treaty for the agreement that was made today. Then I may take lunch, though you are not free to join me." Tevos walked into the elevator, followed close behind by the ever-attentive Morila, leaving Irissa standing dumbfounded outside the entrance to the elevator. As the elevator sped down towards the bottom of the Citadel tower, towards the point where the ever gruelling change of gravity would be suffered by the occupants, Tevos and Morila stood, the latter looking incredibly confused at the way that the councillor had addressed the ambassador barely seconds before.

"Councillor, may I ask a question?"

"Of course, ask away."

"Do you think it was wise to agitate the ambassador as you did?"

"I am not sure, Morila. I fear whether I let my emotions get in the way of my better judgement today."

Two hours after the meeting, Tevos and Morila exited the asari embassy and walked out into the bustle of the lower levels of the Presidium Commons. Their destination lay ahead, a small restaurant run by an asari that Tevos trusted immensely. Two commandos hovered around the entrance to the restaurant, eating a meal while sharing the stories of two off-duty soldiers. Mallene and Serenya were the last two of her once comprehensive twelve-commando bodyguard, and she cared for them immensely. Staying in tune with their training, they barely offered a hint of a reaction at the arrival of the councillor, a choreographed routine that had been perfected over decades of experience. The commandos would not react when seeing the councillor as others would, stating to any onlookers that they were there to guard the councillor with their lives. Likewise, anyone that ignored the subtle reaction (or lack of it) from the commandos would find themselves on the receiving end of the biotics of two experienced and extremely well trained commandos that they didn't know were there.

Tevos was led by the owner to a secluded table at the back of the restaurant, where Morila, wanting to respect the space of the councillor, made for another table as soon as her boss was seated. Tevos had none of it, pulling her back to the table and telling Morila that as the only attendant under her guidance she was more than welcome to share a meal with her boss. Many asari matriarchs and influential leaders followed a practice of growing incredibly tight (and sometimes intimate) friendships with those that followed them, and though Tevos refused to go as far as some did, she professed that anyone that chose to follow or protect her could consider themselves to be an incredibly important person in the life of the councillor. It was how she came to care so much for Naylor, and how she had nearly lost it at the news of the destruction of his ship.

Her thoughts were pulled immediately to the person that had accompanied Shepard and Liara during the meeting in the Citadel Tower. The appearance of the third Alliance soldier was so much like how she remembered Naylor from their last meeting, and Tevos' mood suddenly dropped like a stone. It was something that Morila didn't fail to notice, suddenly concerned whether the councillor was lapsing back into the pain and suffering that she had been experiencing before the council meeting. She knew that, during the episode four days before when she delivered the news of the attack on Earth, she had panicked, and she had resolved during the meeting not to fail the councillor in the same way again. "Councillor? Councillor, are you alright?"

"Yes, Morila. Yes, I am fine. I just need a short while." Tevos' voice was faltering, and Morila took a gamble, calling over a waitress to get the councillor a large jug of water and a plate of small bites of food. The effect of the refreshments was immediate; the councillor calming down as she quickly sipped her way through a glass of water and took bites from the appetisers. Food, Morila noted, was a universal way of getting people to relax, a trait she knew would be useful to remember in later years. "Thank you."

"It is nothing, councillor."

"No, really, Morila. Thank you." Tevos offered the plate to Morila, who hesitated for a few seconds before accepting the offer and taking the smallest bite of food that she saw from the plate.

"If I may, councillor, could I ask a question?"

"Of course, ask away."

"You seemed fine during the meeting with Commander Shepard and the other councillors, but you seemed to undergo a sudden change as soon as the meeting ended. Why was that?"

"I suppose I should explain it, but please, Morila, say nothing more of this." Tevos took a sip of her drink, using the action to compose herself and place her emotions under control. "Commander Shepard was accompanied to the meeting by two others. I knew and recognised Doctor Liara T'Soni, but I didn't see the third person until the end, until I was leaving the chambers. He looked incredibly similar to kori, and I cracked slightly."

"I apologise for forgetting, Councillor, but this kori was a human lieutenant in the Alliance, right?"

"Yes. Staff Lieutenant Peter Naylor. Part of my brain wants me to rejoice that I have him back, but a far greater part says to me that he is just an officer who looks very similar to my Peter. I don't know what to feel, I don't know how to react." Tevos' confidence was wavering, and it was reflected in her voice as she explained the story to Morila. Thankful of the secluded nature of the table they were sitting at, Tevos was relieved when Morila's omni-tool began blinking on and off, signalling that a message was being received over the built-in messenger service on the machine. "You should answer that, Morila."

"Oh yes, of course!" Tevos turned her attention back to the food as Morila studied the message being received. From what Tevos could read of the asari's expression, it was not a personal message, but strictly business. "Councillor, that was a priority message received via the embassy's high-security connection, requesting a meeting with you as soon as is possible. It contains a code being flagged by the automated systems as being top priority, but there is no name attached."

"Let me see the code." Morila angled her omni-tool towards where the councillor could see the message on the screen. "That is a top priority code, but I can't recall who that belongs to. Have Mallene and Serenya notified, and tell the person to meet me here at the restaurant." Tevos' wasn't lying. While she knew everyone that had one of the codes that she had read, the list was huge, including many of the members of the matriarchal council, a number of commando leaders and several other people. She racked her brain relentlessly for the matching name to the code, but she failed to match it to any of the codes she had authorised.

"Here, in a restaurant? Should I have C-Sec move officers close to the establishment?"

"No, I am sure that my commandos can perform their job well." Morila turned her attention back to the omni-tool, organising the meeting as Tevos finished off the last of the food that Morila had had placed on the table. The attendant notified that the anonymous person the councillor was due to meet would arrive within a few minutes, and so the councillor took the time to take a bathroom break and order a fresh plate of food and glass of elasa from the waitress. Before she had left her table, Tevos had told Morila to join Mallene and Serenya at their table when the person scheduled for the meeting arrived, and walking back to her table Tevos saw the attendant with the two commandos. Knowing that the person she was due to meet had arrived, Tevos walked around and into view of the private table where she had been sitting a short few moments ago. When she saw who was there, she dropped the elasa, glass shattering on the floor and spinning out across the room.

Naylor's end to the meeting was rather less emotional than what the councillor felt, feeling happy at seeing her after a long period of time but not noticing the emotion. Before heading over to Udina's office, Shepard immediately began calling in favours from friends and colleagues she knew across the Citadel, both through official Alliance channels and through contacts she knew from being a Spectre. Supplies and fuel would be delivered to the Normandy over the course of the next few hours, allowing the crew a chance to relax while letting the Citadel's dock workers organise the refuelling and resupplying of the ship. At the time when Tevos was drafting the treaty for Ambassador Dominic Osoba to sign on behalf of the Alliance, Naylor had volunteered to contact some of Shepard's people and get the supplies they needed, meaning that the Normandy could redeploy to the front lines within a few day/night cycles on the Presidium. He had also met with Admiral Hackett during the past two hours, starting with the Admiral's staff the important process of transferring out the crew members that the Normandy had picked up that qualified to serve on cruisers and dreadnoughts to the rest of the Alliance Navy, while simultaneously getting a crew of those qualified to serve on frigates assigned to the Normandy. In the process, he had brought the Normandy's marine detail up to its supposed strength of twelve, making one in five of the Normandy's new crew under his command.

The crew was that the Normandy would ship out with was assembling at Docking Bay D24, and would be spending the next cycle acclimatising to their new posts and preparing the Normandy for take-off. With the jobs he had undertaken completed, Naylor found himself afterwards with a small amount of time on his hands, enough time to pay a visit to the embassy district and hopefully catch up with old friends, some dearer than others.

The elevator Naylor was taking finished its ascent from the docks to the floor of the Presidium, the lieutenant exiting into the financial district on the opposite side of the massive artificial lake to where the Alliance had its embassy, an elegant section of the Presidium rising from Ambassador Osoba's office just above the Presidium floor to Councillor Udina's office, towering mid-way up the side of the presidium ring. Naylor had never been to a Councillor's office before, and he had no plans to go to Udina's office any time soon, but his destination, the asari embassy, was located a fair way down the embassy district, and were he pressed for time, Naylor would more than likely take a skycar taxi to outside the entrance and skip the long walk to the offices. However, he had time to kill and there were plenty of restaurants that he could have a short lunch in and shops selling military hardware that his limited funds could make use of.

As he walked past an outlet for the Armali Council, the adverts for the consortium's new line of omni-tool, the Phoenix, reminded Naylor of his own equipment needs, having been running around making sure that the others in his marine team had the necessary equipment for when the Normandy was going to leave the Citadel. His armour, an N7-modified variant of the Inferno Armour, was working properly and the Normandy had copious stocks of spare parts for the armour's servos and helmet HUD, and while his weaponry was less of a concern, the only limit being how much time he, or whoever was on armoury duty at the time, had to clean the weapons after use. It was his omni-tool that was the greatest problem he had at that moment – the myriad of programs needed for his first generation omni-shield to function as designed restricted the usage of the device, a Savant Mark Eight from the Serrice Council consortium, to not much else, and the need to preserve hacking, bypass and communication functions meant that he lacked many of the offensive tech powers that other Paladins with their far more streamlined second generation omni-shields relied on.

Ignoring the flashing adverts for the Armali products, Naylor spied what he was looking for and quickly made a beeline towards it – an outlet selling Serrice Council goods. While the Armali Council restricted their products to those on their incredibly exclusive list of clients, goods manufactured by the Serrice Council were available to anyone, although they were at extremely high prices and required a very comprehensive and rigorous screening process before any potential customer could buy. Naylor, however, had been through that screening process, and presenting his purchasing license to the manager of the store he was granted access to buy the omni-tool he needed, a second Savant Mark Eight setting him back a fairly substantial forty thousand credits. Quickly slipping the device onto his right wrist, the Lieutenant pulled the small control wires along the top of his hand and fingers and clipped them onto his fingertips, the wires invisible unless someone was looking very, very hard. Turning on the omni-tool, Naylor braced himself for the small neural shock that followed its activation, a small node barely wider than one of the hairs on his arm linking into the nervous system in his wrist and quickly setting up the basic neural commands that would deal with activating and deactivating the holographic interface. Naylor planned to use the second omni-tool to run more combat functions, completing the full set of tech powers and abilities that later members of the Paladin stream had access to on a single omni-tool.

Finally making his way to the asari embassy after wasting time buying a second omni-tool, Naylor realised that, after checking the time on his omni-tool against the Citadel's official timing network, Tevos would be taking lunch, either in her office, thus slaving away at something and unable to take time out, or out in one of the restaurants close to the embassy district, most likely in a meeting with somebody. Such things were not out of the ordinary for a councillor, always having to work through the entire fourteen hour long day cycle on the Presidium to even stay on top of the workload they had, meetings, debates and other such jobs taking up valuable time throughout the day. Gambling on the latter, Naylor fired up his omni-tool and sent a request to Tevos' office to meet with the councillor, sending it anonymously and with the top level clearance code that Tevos had given him for moments like this. The reply was quick, telling Naylor to head to a restaurant he knew that Tevos considered a favourite, and made his way through the lunchtime crowds towards the establishment. Inside he saw and nodded to Tevos' two commando bodyguards, a pair he had known well for the best part of the previous two and a half years, and he instead made his way to the secluded part of the restaurant where he knew that the councillor could be found.

As he made his way to the table where he would find the councillor, he turned a corner and saw that the area was empty. Confused as to what was happening he suddenly heard the catching of breath behind him and the shattering of glass. "Councillor." Naylor turned at the sound of the glass shattering, suddenly being enveloped in a hug as Tevos clung onto him for dear life.

"You're alive. Oh Goddess, you really are alive!" The Lieutenant returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around the councillor as she tried to bury her head into his shoulder, tears flowing freely. "When I heard the news of the attack on Earth, I thought you had died with the Everest."

"I made it off of the Everest on the last surviving escape pod. I was lucky to be picked up by the Normandy before we ran out of air."

"Then the Goddess smiles upon you, kori. I don't think that I could have bared the pain of losing you." Naylor wormed his way out of the councillor's grasp, following her back to the table where they sat down on the same side, the councillor staying close out of the fear of losing Naylor again. But she could tell that something was different, off with the Lieutenant. "Kori, you seem distant. What is it?"

"Tevos, what is going on? You're unflappable when it comes to political negotiations."

"I'm not sure what you are talking about."

"All the emotion. You're a councillor, responsible for the wellbeing of billions, so why are you getting emotional over the slight mishap of a single human?"

"A slight mishap?" Tevos' eyes narrowed, her brow markings creasing into frown as anger welled up inside her. "Your ship was destroyed! You were almost killed!"

"I wasn't. I survived." Naylor stepped away from the councillor, pacing back around the other side of the table. "Damn it all. I'm sorry about all this."

"Do not be. I was the one who overstepped the line in all of this, not you."

"Huh?"

"I took this all too far. I thought like you were literally a part of my family, actually my son instead of just being family on a piece of paper as I suggested when this all began."

"I don't know how to react to that. You mean to say that you actually care about me as if I were your own child?"

"Yes. I'm a five hundred year old asari that has never taken a lover and has been in her matron stage for over two hundred years. I have never cared for someone like this before, like a mother would. That is how I feel about you, kori. I should have mentioned it the last time we spoke, but there wasn't time." An uncomfortable silence descended between the pair, Naylor subconsciously scratching the back of his head as it wore on. Tevos broke the monotony first, hurriedly asking a question to break the awkwardness between them. "So you are now on the Normandy?"

"Yeah. I suppose that could change so that I get deployed to the front line, given that to have two N7s on a single vessel is comparatively unheard of. But the Normandy isn't exactly the most normal vessel in the galaxy." Tevos smiled, a small chuckle escaping before she replied to the comment.

"Staying on the Normandy would be at lot safer, kori. Your safety is all that matters to me right now."

"I wouldn't call the Normandy safe. She spent the past four days hiding in the Sol system before nearly being attacked when the Reapers hit Mars, so it's not as if Shepard will keep us out of harm's way. That said in my experience with the commander, Shepard is the sort of person will put you into the fight but will make sure that everyone comes out of it alive."

"I pray that your judgement isn't misplaced." Naylor nodded in response, quickly asking an approaching waitress for a glass of water and a small sandwich from the lunch menu. "I must ask though, how do you think the issue around the agreement between Shepard and myself will work?"

"I'm not sure. I expect Councillor Udina will raise hell with Shepard about usurping him like that, but the Alliance will probably take it on the chin and start deploying forces into asari space as soon as they get told where to go. Of course, we really need access to orbital and ground drydocks for any damaged ships to get repairs, otherwise a good portion of the Alliance fleet will simply have to be written off as floating junk."

"I think that's entirely reasonable. We have the Protheans to thank that all of our drive core designs are very similar, and the Alliance has a reputation amongst the asari for an excellent ability to work extremely well when under pressure. I am sure that between the asari and the Alliance, we can restore the strength of the Alliance fleets soon enough."

"Definitely. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would suggest that Matriarch Lidanya talk with Admiral Hackett, try and see whether they can't work on prioritising what the Alliance can do for the asari as quickly as they can. Having two dedicated military types speaking together is far better than having an admiral talk to an office bureaucrat. No offence."

Tevos nodded at the suggestion, storing it away in her mind for when she would talk to the matriarch later on the subject, before understanding why sending Admiral Hackett straight to the highest ranked and most respected asari military officer in the galaxy would be better than routing it through her or, Goddess forbid, Irissa. While Lidanya would be able to get things done solely within the military, to route it through the Councillor or Ambassador's office would put the offers of Alliance help into the e-democracy to be put to use after many wasted days of debating and uninformed amendments on the forums.

"I will see how quickly I can have Lidanya meet Fleet Admiral Hackett, to get the proverbial ball rolling as the human saying goes. I don't see, however, what the Alliance gets out of this at the moment. There will be considerable resentment that humanity's fleets are flying away from Earth to resolve the problems of the asari."

"Good point. At the moment, all we are getting out of this are promises of future support as a return for having an even greater region of space to cover with patrols and forces ready to counter attack." Naylor ran some mental calculations, considering from his experience the possible ways that the asari could help the Alliance out in the immediate future. "Perhaps we could send asari commando groups to some of the more remote human colonies, such as Tiptree and Feros, to facilitate evacuations of civilians? They can go to places where the deploying of larger Alliance formations would be unsustainable over the long period of time needed for full evacuations, as well as being able to slip in behind Reaper lines to pull civilians back to safety. That is at least better than nothing."

"Yes, I see your thinking. Providing indirect support, out of combat and focusing on aiding civilians, will be received better by High Command, as we are not risking asari lives, and will be easier to implement. I will suggest that to Lidanya as soon as I can, and have her pass on the plans she can make to the matriarchy for review as well, not that Lidanya will allow them to change anything of course. The next time you're on the Citadel, I'd would love it if you could just pop your head in and make sure that I'm still coping. I may very well need someone just to talk to, to act as a ground against the chaos that the Reapers are causing. Of course, that would be if you're not inundated with jobs on your shore leave." Tevos added the final line as a precaution, still sensitive over what had happened in the last three days. What she didn't need was for Naylor to be dragged into a conversation by a councillor against his wishes while he was wanting to spend the few spare moments he had relaxing.

"I'd love to, but I have no idea when I'll be able to any form of-"

"Oh, Councillor! I didn't see that you had a guest at the moment." Naylor's head snapped up, looking towards the natural approach to the table. There stood an asari, the famous Consort Sha'ira, dressed in an elegant gown and accompanied by one of her acolytes, another asari.

"Consort, what an unexpected pleasure to see you."

"Thank you councillor. I had hoped that I could have had a word with you, but I can see that you're busy right now. I will not disturb you." Sha'ira had recently returned from a brief absence from the Citadel, retiring for a few months the year before to the colony of Nevos before returning just before the Reaper invasion of Batarian space, citing to the massed press reporters that "one does not forsake the heart of the galaxy in desperate times". The rumours surrounding her departure returned, but the consort, skilled with many centuries of experience in her line of work, was able to divert attention from the subject, working closely with charities when the first Batarian refugees began arriving in Citadel space.

"Its fine, Consort. I can leave and let you speak to the Councillor. I'll get out of your way." Naylor rose from where he had been sitting, moving to leave the restaurant and let the meeting between councillor and consort take place. However, a hand wound itself around his right wrist and gently guided him down to where he had been sitting. Tevos' purple fingers were wrapped around where the new omni-tool was lying on his wrist, and Naylor didn't resist the pulling force she was exerting.

"Sha'ira, if you wish to have a meeting, then please join us. Having company is always preferable." Sha'ira mulled over the suggestion, before sitting herself down in one of the free seats around the table. Her acolyte remained standing, but took a chair at the table after Tevos began politely staring at her, using her facial expression to suggest to the acolyte that standing was not an option that the councillor liked. "Now, what did you wish to discuss?"

"I suppose it may border on being personal, but in the past few days I have been hearing a good number of comments and rumours concerning you."

"What rumours?"

"The rumours are varied, as always. Many are simply conspiracies, but there are a few which concern your personal life and family."

"Oh, please explain."

"Some are simply continuations of the old rumour that Aria T'Loak has been intimately involved, to say, with yourself, while others suggest that you have secretly taken a lover. However, there are rumours, however few, that say that you have used the old adoption custom of yiothesia."

"Sha'ira, what I will say will not extend beyond this room. Could you ask your acolyte to leave please?" Sha'ira nodded at her companion; the asari leaving and making her way back out into the main section of the restaurant. However, the consort was now looking at Naylor in the same way, expecting him to leave, but Tevos' hand was still keeping him in his seat.

"Councillor, what about the human here? Should he not be leaving as well?"

"The rumours you have mentioned concern Lieutenant Naylor here. And yes, I did use the custom of yiothesia."

"Wait, the human lieutenant here is-? No, that cannot be right."

"It is, Sha'ira."

"You adopted him?"

"Yes." Sitting on the side of the conversation between the two asari, Naylor resisted the urge to interject with something like "I'm right here!" or similar. Instead, he simply let the conversation run on until he was either forced into the conversation or found the chance to join it himself.

"What were you thinking? You have made an incredible target of yourself by doing this, not to mention him!" Sha'ira was rightly concerned – anyone could get at the councillor through the lieutenant, and if anyone was able to get at the councillor it would quickly become a threat to galactic security. "Why did you need to adopt a human, councillor?"

"Lieutenant Naylor here has no recorded family, no parents, and no relatives. I asked him to take part in a project on Thessia, but was stymied by the immigration." Compared to her earlier explanation to Lidanya, Tevos was as composed as someone of her occupation and status could be, emotion replaced in her expression by an ingrained lack of it. It never failed to amaze Naylor at how much innate control the councillor had over her own expression. "Naylor had served as a bodyguard for me for a small period of time, but when I found out through Lidanya that he had no family, I felt sorry, as if I needed to do something. Adopting him under yiothesia was the best that I could do, giving him a chance to be a part of the project. It was all I could do, short of circumventing the rules."

"I see. And did the Lieutenant know of this?"

"I did, Consort. I was initially against it for similar reasons, that anyone could compromise Tevos' integrity as a politician by targeting me, and that it was breaking the rules that are in place for good reasons. But I have faith that things will work out well, and it's not as if Alliance N7 operatives are easy targets." Sha'ira smiled at Naylor's remark, remembering back a time in 2183 when Shepard had helped her out with a series of problems. The commander had impressed her hugely, and while she was certain that Naylor was yet to reach a similar level as the Spectre, the consort was in no doubt that the young lieutenant could handle the risks that the position

"Thank you for helping explain it, Lieutenant. It has helped a lot with understanding the situation, and I am confident you will be fine."

Naylor responded with a half bow of his head. "You honour me with the kind words, Consort."

"You are more than likely deserving of them, Lieutenant. Councillor, if you are able, I would like to speak with you more often, as friends rather than as a politician and consort." Tevos nodded in response, smiling honestly. It was no secret to Sha'ira that Tevos enjoyed the consort's company as a friend – Tevos had said often that talking to her was always brightened the days when they could speak with each other, and the consort knew from the way that Tevos acted around her that that was true. "I will be in touch, councillor. However, if there is nothing more, I would like to give the lieutenant a gift of words, in passing."

Flabbergasted, Naylor only nodded as the Consort rose from her seat, moving closer to the lieutenant and taking his hands in hers. Closing her eyes, Sha'ira centred herself, taking slow, deep breaths and mentally canting the rituals she practised in this facet of her daily job. "Lieutenant, I see in you a man who is not afraid to put the needs others in front of his own. It is a quality that defines who you are as a person behind the image of a soldier. Yet the discipline of your job runs through you, and it gives you a certain strength, allowing you to do what you must to fulfil the goals you have been set. This is a strength people will rely on in time. Do not forsake this strength or your own values, but there will come a time when you will be forced to choose between one and the other. Remember this, Lieutenant, and I wish you well."

A/N: I get rather surprised at how long chapters can actually get. I was writing these chapters to a plan of 4,000 words each, but some of them end up being much, much longer. It's strange, frankly. Where do these words come from?

The gift of words may have not been great, and was quite a bit different from the original idea that I had when writing this part of the story, but like Sha'ira's two small bits during Mass Effects 1 and 2, it provides a nice bit of foreshadowing for the story ahead. And I had to find a way of putting in flabbergasted...