I've been gone a while. Sorry! I took a break to go on vacation and settle back into university life. Now I'm back and refreshed, ready to write!

kill-phil: You, my friend, are the shit. :)

subsider34: Haha, quite the opposite. I was going to write that scene in Tali's POV initially, but it would've sounded weird. Maybe I'll edit it later.

shipwreck321: Thanks for the review!

Facemelter: I'm so glad someone asked this question. I appreciate the review! I thought Calinstel's idea of quarian bonding was great, but it was overly dramatic and romanticized. Quarian monogamy is an awesome concept, but it doesn't need any of the superfluous stuff. It's like bonding completely dictates their society. That being said, "To Survive" is a great, original story! It's what really got me into fanfiction. And plus, bonding will play a huge role in this story's sequel :)

Enjoy! Please review/follow/fav! Thanks for all of the support!

"Wakey wakey…"

Tali groaned and stirred in annoyance. A pointed finger poked her shoulder, and she shifted her weight to her other shoulder. Whatever the disturbance was, it was persistent.

Hands gripped her shoulders and shook, jarring her into full wakefulness. She stood up suddenly and turned in anger, bumping straight into a smug Garrus. "You bosh'tet!"

"Don't be like that. I even let you sleep for an extra three hours!"

"I… what?"

"It was Shepard, actually. He said you needed some rest. Even delayed the mission for you! He's so nice, isn't he?"

Tali looked away, blushing. Though his relentless teasing was annoying, it had some truth to it.

"Oh, and don't worry! We took some nice holos. Maybe even a vid or two."

"Garrus…" she growled warningly.

"And Shepard wants us to meet in the cargo bay in five minutes."

Tali instantly dropped the conversation and sprinted for the elevator, trying her best to ignore the chuckles coming from the turian. She would get him back later, but Shepard always came first.

Tali worked quickly, overriding the heavy doors within a few seconds. As they slid open, the team burst into the large room, firing upon the entrenched geth before dropping into cover themselves. She quickly set down her shotgun and began working on her omni-tool.

The sheer amount of suppressive forced them to stay in cover for the majority of the firefight, only popping out to take potshots. The base contained an enormous amount of geth, ranging from troopers to a massive juggernaut unit. Clearly, this wasn't a battle that would be easily won.

"Tali, anything?"

"The neural link is too strong!" she called back. "We need to thin them out before I can break through the firewall! The largest units contain the most geth!"

"Alright everyone, new plan! Wrex, Williams, I want you on the big one like glue! Garrus and I," Shepard yelled, motioning to the turian, "Will cover you! Liara and Kaidan, try to take out the small fry as soon as possible!"

"What about me?"

"Keep trying to get through their security!"

"You always have me taking all the bullets," Wrex grumbled, before charging into the fray.

Ashley, however, looked lost and indecisive. She glanced quickly at Garrus, who was working hard to eliminate the geth concentrating on Wrex. She clearly didn't trust the turian yet. "I don't know if…"

"Ash, go!" Kaidan yelled.

"But-"

"Williams!" Garrus barked. "Wrex is going to DIE if you don't get out there. I got your back!"

"Fuck." Ashley unclipped her shotgun and ran off after Wrex, putting blast after blast into the massive geth unit. The battle ended quickly after the unlikely duo took down the juggernaut, allowing Tali to access the geth's defenses and wreak havoc amongst their ranks. As the last geth fell, she quickly crossed the room and began examining one of the terminals.

Suddenly, a large hologram appeared before her and she jumped back in surprise. What she saw was strange and... disturbing. It was a female quarian garbed in a simple dress which flowed about her like water, not unlike the dream that Tali had nights before. She was singing a mournful, melodic song in an ancient dialect, one of lost worlds and dying children.

"Goddess…" Liara breathed. "What is she? She's beautiful…"

"It's a quarian." The whole team turned to Wrex in surprise. He usually kept to himself, but only spoke to interject bits of knowledge and strategy pertinent to the mission. "The recording is three hundred years old."

Tali stepped forward and began typing. "It's code… They're transmitting the song through the Perseus Veil." She quickly terminated the connection and dismantled the neural lace, rendering all of the geth within the system inert. She dug deep into their databases, mining any information she could find. And what she found was incredible.

"Keelah… Data on the geth… History, evolution, combat patterns… Terabytes of it…"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head. It was Shepard. He tilted his head towards Ashley, who was awkwardly checking her weapons. "May I?" he asked quietly.

Tali stepped aside without a word; Shepard obviously didn't want any issues with the Alliance regarding important data. He turned around after a few minutes of typing, moving forward and taking her hand. She stiffened with surprise, but didn't resist as he gently lifted it and pressed a small object into her palm. She uncurled her long fingers after he released her hand to find an OSD. Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed at the piece of technology, which, despite its diminutive size, held the information that could change the fate of her people. Did he just…?

Shepard leaned in close and spoke softly so that only she could hear his words. "For your Pilgrimage."

As he moved away and gathered up the rest of the team for extraction, she stood still, clutching the OSD to her chest. She needed this data; it would be wrong not to bring it back to the Flotilla. And yet, she wished that he had never placed it in her hand in the first place.

Tali slowly twirled the thin OSD in her hands, her deft fingers gliding over its small form. She knew the odds of retaking Rannoch. It would be a massacre. The Flotilla of aged and outdated ships would be obliterated by the advanced and numerous geth, not to mention the limited population of quarians compared to the constantly multiplying geth. But the data she held in her palm contained terabytes of valuable information that could possibly turn the tide of the seemingly inevitable war. With it, military leaders and scientists could create new viruses, attack formations, or even handheld weapons designed for synthetic destruction. Though she had only glanced at the data, Tali could tell that the implications were enormous.

But the fact that it was in her possession meant that she had found a suitable Pilgrimage gift. It was her duty to now return back to the Flotilla and present her findings to a new Captain. It was a prospect many returning Pilgrims were excited for; mistreated in the outside world, quarians would look forward to a new ship and new life amongst their own kind.

But she didn't want that. Tali felt that she had a home on the Normandy; that she belonged. She had never felt this way about the Rayya, as her father was quick to alienate her from her peers. But here, she had a place on the ship. She had duties, friends… the place just felt right. Even though they were battling geth almost every other day, she never wanted this to end. She was having the time of her life.

A large part of her wanted to just deliver the OSD to the Flotilla and stay on the Normandy. Tali had never done anything for herself before, but this seemed like the correct decision. She could still give her people the data and stay, doing work far more important than running core diagnostics all day.

But still, she felt guilty thinking this way. She would be letting down her people, a dying race. She would be the first Pilgrim to desert in centuries. And what would her father think? She could only imagine his frustration and shame. An Admiral's daughter leaving her people? How disgraceful!

And so, she decided. She would have to leave the Normandy. It was the most difficult decision she had made in her life, but her people needed her. In the end, it didn't matter what she wanted. It never mattered before, why should it now? Leaving would go against the very fiber of quarian morality in her body. It simply couldn't be done.

But how would she tell Shepard?

Tali sighed and pocketed the OSD. There was no need to think about it now. At the moment, she needed a break. She strode through the Engineering doors and into the cargo bay, stopping suddenly at the peculiar sight before her. It was Ashley, walking out of the elevator with Wrex, Garrus, and Liara. In a group. As Tali stepped into the threshold, the four turned around.

"Ah, Tali. We were just going to get you," Liara said. "Chief Williams wanted to meet with us."

"Okay," she replied, walking out to join them. They settled onto the various crates and boxes scattered around the large room. It was quite odd that Ashley would call a meeting, with 'aliens' no less. Tali understood that Ash tried her best to be neutral when dealing with other species, but had difficulty overcoming her ingrained prejudices.

"What do you want, Williams?" Wrex seemed more grumpy than usual.

"I just wanted to say sorry. For being an asshole."

Garrus smirked. "Interesting."

"Garrus!" Liara admonished. "Please, continue."

"Thanks. I, uh, usually don't tell people about this so I don't know where to start… Have you heard of General Williams?"

"Oh, I know this one!" Garrus deadpanned. "Shanxi. The only human general to surrender to the turians. A relative of yours?"

"Um, yeah. Grandpa."

"Must've been a real kick in the quad."

"Right. Even though my family has a long history of service in the Alliance, we don't rise very far in the ranks. I always get posted at boring ground bases." She actually sounded quite bitter. "I grew up in a family that doesn't trust aliens. I'm not trying to be a racist, but that's how I was raised."

"I hope you realize," Tali said quietly. "That we aren't responsible for the actions of our ancestors." It was a fact that she knew all too well.

"Right," Garrus interjected. "Like Tali didn't create the geth. And I haven't killed any humans. And Wrex is actually smart!"

"Watch it, Vakarian."

"And Liara… Actually, asari haven't done anything." Liara just smiled sweetly.

"Now that I've told my story… I'll try my best to trust you all and work as a team. I'll have you guys' backs." Ashley shrugged nonchalantly. "And who knows? Maybe we can be friends." She stepped forward and extended a hand to Garrus, who took it and shook firmly.

"See? We aliens aren't so bad."

"Just don't pull another stunt like today," Wrex grumbled as he gripped Ash's hand.

Tali and Liara both gave her a hug. It took guts to tell her story before people she barely knew, barely trusted. Tali legitimately felt sorry for her. Ash was actually quite pleasant once she got past all of the prejudices. This team was finally coming together: stronger teamwork, tighter friendships… She could just feel it. They were becoming a family. Her family. Tali smiled brightly in the revelation of a new level of belonging, her worries of leaving the Normandy completely forgotten.