AN: Hey, another short for you guys. I don't actually know if I'm happy with this one but whatever. I'm too tired and I don't think it's terrible.
Anyway, next short will be going back to Kara and Lona. Don't forget to shout out if you have ideas for the blank space I've got.
Hope you enjoy! ^^
2254 - 58 Years After the End of the Reaper War
Riina had, in all honesty, tried to get out of this. She had told Pol that she was just too busy with work for any kind of big thing.
He had, of course, made everything difficult by being reasonable. "I'm sure your uncle would let you out of work for a weekend, Riina," he had said. "But that's not the real issue, is it?"
And, of course, he had been right. "I just… Look, my family is far from… normal."
He had just smiled, shaking his head. "Really? I never imagined."
"Pol…"
"Riina, this is going to happen sooner or later. It might as well be for this."
So now Riina was pacing the living room agitatedly as she waited for everyone to arrive. Her family would meet Pol's and, ideally, everyone would get to know each other before she and Pol officially became lifemates tomorrow.
The whole thing had, from Riina's point of view, just turned into a stressful debacle. First there was the fact that she still hadn't really spoken to her sister in years, despite her promising her aunt that she would do exactly that, and then there had been her distinct lack of friends to invite. By that point she had gotten so worked up about the whole thing, especially since she didn't know the first thing about quarian traditions, that Pol had suggested that they hire someone else to organise it all. Which had been a good idea and had helped to give everything a lot more structure. She'd even had some good ideas. Since turians didn't really have much ceremony around bondmates, the event planner suggested that they try to take in some human traditions. But, of course, in the end, Riina's unique circumstances just got in the way.
"Since you don't have a proper envirosuit, why don't you have a white one made, just like a human wedding dress?" Great idea, except for the part where all of the designs reminded her of the outfit her mother had been wearing when she put a gun to her head on Omega.
"Now, it's not a part of quarian tradition, but how about we have your father walk you down the aisle?" Again, great idea, if he wasn't dead.
In the end, she just stopped trying. Riina knew that this was an essential part of the quarian bonding process, and she knew that Pol's family would be expecting it, but it still seemed like a lot of effort and fanfare over something that should be simple.
Riina was pulled out of her thoughts by Pol wrapping his arms around her from behind.
"I'm sorry," he told her softly as he gently kissed her neck. "I know that you didn't want to do this. Thank you."
She smiled a little as her subharmonics trilled with reassuring tones. "No, Pol, you were right. This would have to happen sooner or later. And I want to do this. I know how much it means to you."
"I love you," he told her as she spun around so that she could press her browplates to his forehead.
"I love you too."
They were interrupted by the sound of someone at the door.
"Yours or mine?" Riina asked.
"Only one way to find out," he told her, making his way over to the door.
"Mom! Dad!" he cried, as soon as the door opened to reveal two elder quarians.
"Pol, we haven't seen you in so long!" his mother cried, pulling him for a hug before immediately moving away to where Riina was standing. "And this must be your girlfriend."
"Yes, Mom. This is Riina. Riina, these are my parents."
Riina smiled at them as best she could, hoping that they couldn't tell how nervous she was. Pol could tell. He could always tell. But he just gave her a reassuring smile as his mother pulled her in for a bone-crushing hug. She gritted her teeth and made the effort to just get through it.
"Welcome to the family," his mother told her as she finally pulled away. "Speaking of family, when will yours be arriving?"
"They should be here any moment," Riina told her.
"There is one thing we need to tell you," Pol told them. "Riina's family is… Well, her grandparents…"
Riina rolled her eyes a little, realising that he hadn't told them. "What Pol is trying to say is that my mother's maiden name is Shepard-Vakarian."
Pol's parents simply gaped for a moment as they realised what she meant but, thankfully, the door rang once more, before they could say anything, allowing Riina to politely excuse herself.
She opened the door to see her twin sister, for the first time in years, which would have been awkward and jarring, if her attention hadn't instead been drawn to the adorable little boy on her hip.
"Hey," she greeted, unable to help a smile as she saw her nephew for real for the first time. The next thing she knew, her sister was hugging her. Riina just remained still as usual, waiting for her sister to pull away.
"Sorry," Vi said as she pulled away, adjusting her son on her hip. "I just feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
Riina gave her a weak smile. "Same. I guess we've both been just a little too busy." She stepped aside, allowing Vi to enter. As she did, the figure that had been just out of her view came forward. Evan. Of course he was there. Why wouldn't he be? She'd invited him. He didn't remember.
"Hey," she managed to greet, though she couldn't quite make eye contact. Not unusual for her, of course, but he seemed to make it worse.
"Hey. Congrats for tomorrow."
She just nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I've got some things to take care of," she said, not sure who to since her eyes were locked across the room. She tucked her hair behind her plates, an old nervous habit, before heading into the kitchen.
She made her way over to the bottle of prosecco Pol had picked up and tried to open it, her hands fumbling. She had never been very co-ordinated. Hacking and slashing, her instructors had described her combat style. Not that it mattered. That was why she was a vanguard. She managed to open the bottle eventually, pouring herself a glass.
"I thought you weren't drinking tonight."
She didn't so much as jump at Pol's voice, opting instead for finishing the glass before responding. "I said I didn't want to already be drunk when I met your parents. That was a poor strategy on my part."
"You know, tomorrow will suck if you're hungover."
She shrugged. "But not if I'm still drunk."
Pol simply raised an eyebrow, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sound of the door. "I'll get it," he assured her.
She nodded but followed him out just the same. She saw that Evan was dealing with the baby, leaving Vi talking to Pol's parents on her own. Riina made her way over to them.
"Hey, Riina," Vi greeted.
"Your sister was just telling us about the members of your family who would be coming," Pol's mother explained.
Riina nodded. "Cool," was the only word she could manage to get out of her mouth.
Pol's mother frowned a little. "Though, I can't help but notice, she hasn't mentioned your parents. Can they not make it?"
Riina froze, realising Pol really hadn't told them much about her past. Vi noticed the freeze, as she always did, and so spoke up to cover it, as she always did. "Our parents-"
Riina cut her off, sick of her sister covering for her. She didn't need it. She'd never needed it but her sister just couldn't help herself. "Our father died before we were born. Our mother…" She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. She'd always been able to lie, to evade and manipulate. It was the one way she had to deal with people. But this time was different. The words stuck in her throat as she found herself unable to settle on a lie.
"Our mother is busy," Vi said for her. "She has so much important work to do, we really can't pull her away. But we know she's thinking about us and that's enough."
There was a sharp cracking sound and everyone turned to see that the glass pane of the large window had started to splinter. Pol, Vi and her grandparents - when had they gotten there? - all reached for guns that weren't there but Riina knew better. She took a moment to regain her composure, before facing the room.
"Sorry, we've been meaning to get that fixed for weeks now. It's the wrong type of glass and it's just been an accident waiting to happen. I'll go and call someone now."
She left to go out onto the balcony before she could feel any after effects of using her biotics so suddenly after so little practice recently. She heard someone follow her out but she wasn't surprised. She knew that Pol would see through her lie.
But it wasn't Pol who spoke. "Was it something I said?"
Riina just turned to give her sister an incredulous look, too tired to try for pleasantries or evasion. "Was it…?" she scoffed, folding her arms. "What is wrong with you, Vi? Did you take a blow to the head at some point that I didn't notice or something?"
"What are you talking about, Riina?"
Riina turned away, gripping the edge of the balcony so that her knuckles paled. "The sad part is that you really don't know. That you truly believe everything you said in there. Violet, our mother abandoned us! And yet you cling to this belief that she's some kind of saint, on an important mission and, as soon as she's done, she'll come back for us. Wake the fuck up, Vi. She's over twenty years too late…"
Her sister shook her head, as if to shake off the words. "Mum is a hero! She defeated Cerberus and paved the way for all future hybrids."
Riina turned back to her, softening a little at the pain in her sister's subharmonics. "I'm not denying that, Vi. But she was still a shitty mother."
This time it was Vi who turned away. "What the hell do you know, Riina? You only see in black and white. You know, sometimes there are exceptions to your damned rules!"
Riina sighed, realising that it was time for the truth. "Vi, I know a lot more than you. Like where Sarah is. And why she left us."
Violet turned back to her sister, her mandibles slack with shock. "Wha… What are you talking about, Ri?"
"Vi… I didn't just leave the Spectres because I got sick of it. I bent the rules one too many times. They saw in me either a liability or, potentially, a powerful ally. Someone they could use to deal with the greatest threat to their power. A certain outspoken ex-Spectre."
"Gran? But… you would never… They knew that you couldn't…"
"Of course I wouldn't. She was the only one who had ever shown any faith in me. But if that faith could be broken… I would have been broken. Ready for them to pick up the pieces and turn me against my family."
"Gran would never turn away from you, Ri."
"Even if I killed her daughter? They sent me after Sarah and warned me that, if they saw my loyalty waiver, they would kill me. They made pretend like they didn't know the truth and kept it from Pol, using him to deliver the message because they knew that he would make sure that I knew just how high the stakes were. I might not have even realised if Uncle Philip hadn't helped to set me on the right path. It was her or me and I wasn't going to lay down my life for her, Violet. She wasn't worth it."
Violet looked shocked, her eyes beginning to glisten with unshed tears. "You didn't…" Her tone was pleading, desperate to believe it wasn't true, even though part of her suspected it might be.
Riina wanted to hit her for that. For thinking her capable of such a thing. However, that anger quickly turned inward. Vi wouldn't think it without reason. She saw the monster. Only it wasn't a monster. It was a scared little girl in a Halloween mask. "No," Riina confirmed. "I found her to make sure there were no holes in my story and then I told them that she had died when she left. Because she did, Violet. Our mother died that day and Angel took her place."
Violet finally let one of the tears fall but quickly swiped it away. She seemed lost, unsure of how to respond.
"She's on Omega," Riina told her. "She's working as a vigilante. She doesn't want anyone following her so I kept her secret."
"How long?" Vi eventually asked. "How long have you known where she was?"
"Over a year."
"A year… And you never told me?"
Riina shrugged. "Was I just supposed to call you out of the blue? We hadn't spoken for months. You stopped calling pretty quick after you left. Hell, you didn't even call to tell me you were pregnant. You made it clear that your emotionless robot of a sister had no place in this new life you were building."
Violet shook her head. "Right. Because it's not as if you hadn't been shutting me out for years before that. Even when you were there you weren't…" She stopped herself, halting her angry subharmonics, as she took a deep breath before speaking once more. "What happened to us, Ri? We used to be so damn close."
Riina's folded arms became a little tighter around her chest. "You mean before you started trying to take care of me? Before you started pitying me? I'm not a child, Vi, and you treating me like one was a slap in the face I didn't need."
Violet sighed, moving a little closer to her sister. Riina didn't move away so she assumed it was okay. "You know," she eventually started, "when Mum left, you never cried. I always cried. I cried when she wasn't there to put me to sleep, I cried when I bumped myself, I cried when I couldn't find my toys… You never cried. Even when you cracked the plate on your forearm, you just gritted your teeth and got through it. And when I couldn't sleep, you let me climb in with you, and when I bumped myself, you got me a plaster, and when I couldn't find my toys, you let me play with yours… Do you remember that first year we spent at the beach house?"
Rinna nodded, a little surprised by the change of topic, wondering where her sister was going. "Sure. Why?"
"It was our first time off the Normandy for a long period of time and we were finally around kids our own age. You weren't interested in trying to make friends but I was. They convinced me to sneak into that old abandoned house. Our grandparents were out of town and Uncle Liam was looking after us."
"I remember. You were used to him being the laidback uncle who would let us get away with anything, since he'd never been the only one responsible for us before."
"You tried to convince me not to go, you said that it was dangerous and it wasn't worth it, but I wouldn't listen. So, you came with me, instead of telling on me. To make sure I'd be okay. Of course, he figured out where we'd gone and he was furious. I was ready to buckle right then and there and tell him the truth. But you… You just stared him down and, to this day, I don't know how you managed to lie your way out of trouble. But you did."
Riina remembered but it just made her sad. Where had that relationship gone? "Is there a point to this trip down memory lane?"
"My point is that, a couple of years later, we started school. That first day… I had never seen you cry before. It was just a little bit of teasing, not even really that vicious, and you just broke down. And you continued to break down every day we went back there. You spent more time on your hobbies… You would forget to eat or sleep if Gran and Grandad didn't remind you… I wanted to protect you from the hurt, just as you had done for me."
"Vi… I don't need your pity. I do just fine on my own."
"I know that now," Violet assured her. "Seeing you here… Seeing the life you've built for yourself... I don't worry anymore. I just wish you would talk to me."
"That's a two-way street, Vi."
"I know, I know. Ti should get to know his aunt as well as his new uncle. And maybe his future cousins…"
"Okay, one step at a time. Let me just get through tomorrow…"
"Okay, okay. Come on, we should probably return to the party."
Riina sighed. "There's no way Gran doesn't know that the window shattering was me, is there?"
Vi shrugged. "I think she understands. Plus, everyone else seems to have bought your story."
Riina nodded. "Alright then. Back in we go."
As soon as they entered the room, Pol's mother approached once more. "I'm sorry if I upset you before. I didn't realise about your parents."
Riina shrugged. "It's okay. No harm done, really. Plus, it's not so bad. Our grandparents raised us and they're good people."
She nodded. "I know. I was just speaking to them."
"Speaking of, I haven't actually said hello yet. If you'll excuse me."
"Of course."
As soon as she approached her grandmother, the elder woman pulled her into a hug. "Oh, Sweetheart, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."
Riina tried not to look guilty. Everything had pointed to her grandparents knowing the Council's plan but she still found herself avoiding them. It was one of the reasons Pol had been so eager for this.
"Hey, you shouldn't worry so much," her gran told her as she pulled away. "Trust me, if you had reason to, you'd know about it by now." Riina almost laughed at that. Of course she would.
"You know, this is why I'm the fun grandparent," Garrus told her, earning him a mock glare from his bonded. "Anyway… Jim was just telling us about the work you've been doing."
Riina nodded, figuring that her uncle must have arrived while she had been out with Vi. "Oh no, did he let slip about our evil plan to take over the galaxy?"
Jim rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Public backlash isn't that bad."
"We work with AI. It's pretty damn bad… But work is not why we're here so all of the work talk goes away."
Jim nodded. "Agreed."
Vi smiled. "See, now you've got people who actually understand your techobabble."
Riina grinned back. "I guess I do." She'd been so afraid of having to deal with everyone but now… Now she wanted nothing more than to have them there.
Maybe she was no longer as broken as she'd once thought...
