Ally climbed quickly into the sleeping bag, offering only a quick good-night to Morlia, who simply turned and looked to me for an explanation. We sat on a nearby bench and I told her what happened as I understood it. When I finished she nodded, "It's hard to lose a parent so young. Goddess knows I refused to believe that my dad kicked the bucket for days after my mom told me. You think it's worse, not knowing?"

"I don't know. How old were you when your dad passed?"

She looked surprised by my curiosity. So was I. "Thirty-two."

I had to ask, "So, was he a baratarian, or a krogan, or something?"

She laughed, "Nope. A hanar diplomat. Met my mom while she was working as a waitress on Thessia. I've got a soul name and everything. Surprised?"

"Yeah. A little," I said.

"What about you, then? It seems like I've seen markings like yours all over C-SEC. They recruit you all from the same part of Palaven?"

"Actually, they're Citadel markings. Turians that lived here during the Unification War decided to form a clan together."

"So watching Palaven... it hurts, but it's not personal? You don't know anyone down there?"

It was my turn to be surprised, "No. I mean, my mom's captaining a supply ship bringing stuff in, but that's about it. I've never been there; my training was on a nearby colony world and none of the ships I served on afterwords landed there. What makes you ask?"

Morlia sighed, watching the brightly colored women settle in for the night around us, before flickering her eyes to Ally. She closed them. "Ally's not exactly the brightest eezo in the docking bay; she's way more sheltered then she should be at her age.

That night I saw her wandering around was supposed to be my last night on the Citadel. The next morning I planned to go sign up for the next ship to Thessia. I was gonna go blast the Reapers all the way back to dark space. Then I saw this kid, jumping at shadows, lost, and way too young to be alone."

"You offered her a place to sleep," I guessed, already knowing the answer.

"She said yes. Who does that? I couldn't leave her alone to follow the next person that said 'come on over!' The next morning she said her parents were on their way, so I was like, cool, they can teach her basic safety while I go kill stuff. Then they didn't come."

"I did instead."

"I thought you were a human," she said, "when she mentioned you. I was glad she could at least be with her people... Then I met you."

"And we both know the rest," I said, mandibles flaring in a grin that died down as I realized what she was getting at, "Thessia's personal."

"I still need to go. You'll take care of her?"

"Of course," I said, already thinking of the necessary paperwork to become her temporary guardian, "I'll need a couple days to get some things together and explain the situation to Ally."


Some brief notes from the author: My traffic stats are working again. Yay!

Also, Ally will be moving in with Dellix; that'll be fun.

I'm sad to see Morlia leave, but she's doing what she must. Also, there are enough clues about her identity that you could guess who she is, but if you do, please don't say anything. You'll get your confirmation later.