So I know in a previous chapter she died, but I just couldn't resist writing this. Plus I'm a sap for happy endings. This chapter is set post ME3.
33%
She's happy, really she is. 100% happy…well maybe 67% happy and the other 33% of that happiness is tinged with nervousness. So alright it's not nerves its terror. The great Commander Shepard is absolutely terrified right now. She paces and fidgets, all the while taking deep breaths. She misses the familiar and comforting feel of her pistol at her hip. Liara had taken it from her, almost forcefully, and hidden it.
"Shepard calm down. Goddess you weren't even this nervous when we were going after the Reapers. You do want this, right?" Liara asks with a smile, already knowing the answer.
"How could you even ask that? Of course I want this. I love him. I just…" She gives a small frown, causing her nose to wrinkle. She gestures towards her dress, her white lacy wedding dress. "Why do I have to wear this? Why is this such a big deal for everybody else? I mean they wanted to televise the wedding for Christ's sake. It's bad enough there are reporters here. This is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. Not media, death threats… If they try anything I won't be responsible for what I do." Her eyes get a dangerous glint. Then she shakes her head and continues her rant, plucking at her dress. "And itchy lace. Plus you took my gun." She crosses her arms and glares at Liara.
Liara bites her lip to keep from laughing at her indignant expression. "You're Commander Shepard, savior of the galaxy, of course they want to see the wedding. Plus with everything that happened people want to see there's still good in the world, they want to celebrate. And what better way than the wedding of their hero." She crosses the room and wraps an arm around Shepard's shoulders. "There is security at all the entrances and mingling with the guests. There are some of the toughest people in the galaxy here today and they're all your friends. Trust me if anyone is stupid enough to try anything you'll be lucky to even get a piece of them. Besides you're a biotic, that should be all the protection you'll need." She laughs, but stops when she sees the other woman's expression. "What's really bothering you?"
Shepard shrugs and starts pacing again. "After everything is it too much to ask to just be me. For one day I just want to be Alyssa and him to be Garrus. I want us to be two ordinary people who happen to be in love and this just happens to be their wedding day. I want the pressure to go away and for us to have that old cliché of saving the day and then heading off into the sunset. Then I feel guilty for wanting to run away, but I never wanted to be in the limelight like this. I never asked for it, but I never really did anything to dissuade it either." She sighs and looks at Liara and in this moment she's not Commander Shepard. She's Alyssa with a frightened look on her face. "I'm scared alright. It's always Garrus and Shepard. What if Alyssa isn't enough? What if after everything dies down and things are…normal, what if he's not happy? What if he regrets being with a human. What if he's in love with Commander Shepard, I don't want to be her anymore. I can't be her anymore."
"Well anyone who sees how he looks at you would never doubt that he loved you."
She jumps and whirls around to face him, her face turning blood red. He nods his thanks to Liara as she quietly exits the room. He slowly walks across the room and she stands there frozen like a deer in the headlights.
"You look beautiful." He says, cupping her cheek. Her blush deepens and the corner of her lip turns up in a small smile.
"You don't really think that do you? That I only love a part of you? The idea that I'd ever regret being with you…I can't even fathom. The only thing I regret is not telling you how I felt sooner. The day I met you my life changed, for the better. I love you Alyssa. Not some piece of you, but everything you are. And what you are is the most amazing person I've ever met and spending the rest of my life with you…" He kisses her and pulls away resting his forehead against hers. "Well that's something I'm looking forward to."
"Really? You won't wake up one day and look at your life and realize you could have had it different. You could have had a wife that wouldn't cause an incident because you married her. You could have had kids. You could have-"
He kisses her again. "Will you regret being with me?"
"No," she says emphatically. "We're the only I've ever been completely sure of."
And of that she's 100% sure.
