The Earth hung like jewel, a mosaic of grey and blue against the midnight scars of the conflict were visible, even from up here: Blackened tracts of land across Africa and Eurasia; craters where cities used to be; new bays where the very ground had been atomised, letting the seas flow in to create new coastlines. Black-grey clouds still drifted in the upper atmosphere: smog, soot, ashes, who knew. But the atmosphere scrubbers were hard at work; terraforming crews and entire fleets of construction vehicles trying to rebuild already.

Three weeks since the London March. It had flashed by; Liara and Kaidan had dropped by for a brief visit; quite the tearful reunion all told. She had never known either of them that well, but it still felt like seeing old family again: normal, natural, comforting.

Which was why the current conversation felt so wrong.

The masked face, with those glowing violet eyes, stared back at her, through a grainy display. The transmission wasn't brilliant: the comm buoys were being maintained and the laser transmission via the Mass Relay wasn't operating very efficiently. Kasumi rubbed her arm briefly and then gestured at the screen.

"You're sure? I mean… I understand why…"

"Do you?" The voice was the same, but sharper, colder. Even her robes had darkened.

"Yeah. You got your homeworld back. You want some sta-"

"You know what I want?" The voice was low, monotone, "What I want is to forget, Goto. My people have a future. I need to focus on that."

"Tali, I can't… I wish I'd been able to find you. And now that all this is over, I was hoping to just sit, talk."

"About what? Your marriage?" The figure on the other end of the channel squirmed slightly, then seemed to sag a little, "I am… happy… for you Kasumi. But I cannot be there. We are moving, fixing as we go. I cannot abandon my duty."

Kasumi bit back the words, nodding sadly instead, "I understand. I do. I wish you were here. A friendly face. But... it was selfish of me to ask, I know. I just wish I could've seen you off, y'know?"

"It is not a chance we always get, Kasumi. I wish you and Garrus the best. Have… have a lovely day, ok?"

"We were… going to hold a service, beforehand. Our own, y'know? For everyone. I know that you all had the memorial whilst you were…"

She knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words were out.

"No. No. We are past that. I will not rake over those memories again. No."

Kasumi decided to plough on, "Tali, it's still raw, I know but…"

"I have moved on. He is… a memory. I am grateful for all he did. But it is done. I must look to the future. To my own life. Just as you look to yours. I suppose… I suppose now is a good a time as any. I am getting married."

Kasumi's train of thought derailed. She blinked and frowned.

"Oh, um. Ok. News, good I suppose? I'm… I'm glad you are moving forward." What had she expected? For the girl to pine for Shepard? Yes, it'd have been like one of her novels, but still. Stupid romanticism. This was good, surely? "He's a nice guy?"

"He is more appropriate. He is… a good man. It wil be good for the Quarians. For us, I mean."

"It's good you're back on your feet. We all have to move onwards."

Tali seemed nonplussed, as far as you could tell looking at those eyes.

"Yes… yes it is good. I mean, we must all…"

The woman was wringing her hands, Kasumi could tell, out of view of the camera.

"Tali. It's fine. I don't judge, you know that. I just wish you were here, so we could talk. Properly."

"I still miss him. But that Bosh'tet… he… he ran away. And now. Now I need to be strong." Those violet eyes shot up and locked with Kasumi's. A defiant stare, as if challenging her, "I have to move on."

"I know hun. We all are. But I don't want to forget wha-"

"I. Do."

The force of the statement was like a gut punch. It was like a switch had been flicked. Where Tali had been nervy and quiet, she was now like steel. Kasumi could feel it, across the void of space, like a door had been slammed.

"Ok. Ok. Well, I'd like to hear about your fiance. Y'know, make sure he measures up."

"I think you can trust me to make the right choice, Kasumi."

"Well, there was that time with the Turian brandy…" she smiled, hopefully. The Quarian seemed to relax, then glanced to one side.

"I have to go, Kasumi. I… I hope you and Garrus have a good time. Maybe we will talk again."

"Yeah, that. that'd be good."

"Goodbye."

The comm flicked off. It felt like a finality. Kasumi blinked, feeling her eyes moisten. She inhaled, sniffling slightly, then moved away from her terminal, glancing once out of the porthole at the ravaged planet below. The door to her quarters hissed open and she headed off into the corridors.

Garrus was sat in the galley, reading through another report, cup of Kava in one talon, halfway to his lips. Opposite him sat the Primarch, lost in another pile of datapads. It was an odd sight: two of the most influential and powerful Turians in what seemed a practically domestic setting. Kasumi smiled to herself and approached. Garrus glanced up, his features twitching into the Turian equivalent of a frown.

"Something up?"

"Oh, just… catching up. Spoke to Tali. She won't be coming."

"She tell you about the fiance?"

Kasumi blinked and locked a death glare at her soon-to-be-husband. Across the table the Primarch made a noncommittal noise, similar to a chuckle. She fixed him with the same glare, albeit tempered due to his station as de-facto authority on whether she could marry the other Turian.

"You knew?"

"No. I suspected. We have been getting reports on the Quarians. Lots of social movements. There were… rumours. And with them demanding to move out of Sol, we decided to do some digging." Garrus shrugged. Victus looked up and nodded. Kasumi frowned again.

"You spied on them?"

Garrus sighed, "Coming from a former thief, I find that rich. No, we listened. They weren't hiding it. But there's some shifts internally. Tali is something of… of a figurehead. For the Geth as is politically important. Open to manipulation. So, it wasn't surprising. Sad. But not surprising."

"You know the guy?"

"Know of him. Slick. Strategic. Not a brilliant guy, but… well connected. It makes sense," garrus put the pad down and held up a hand placatingly, "It does! But it's still sad. She isn't operating on all drives, remember."

Kasumi deflated a little, then slid into a seat next to Garrus, "Yeah. She's still grieving."

"You didn't ask her to be a bridesmaid did you?"

"I'm not that tactless. I did ask if she was able to join us… but with the relays as they are and the fleet on it's way to Rannoch, she can't. And the whole "duty" thing."

"Yeah, the Normandy is running recon for them, at least for the first jump, then they're heading back here.. She won't talk to Liara though. Barely speaks to Kaidan. Mainly just to EDI. Or the rest of the Admirals have to talk to them."

"What about you guys?"

Victus looked up now, "Most of the troops are aboard the fleet. The Alliance has loaned us some replacement transports. Got a few Krogan volunteers as well. Should be loaded by the end of the week, ready to depart. Plenty of time for your get together."

"And there's no objections?"

"No. We've had Asari integrating with us for generations. It's quirky, but no real controversy. There's always conservatives, but it's hard to hold that worldview after a war like this. And especially with society as it is. To be honest, now is probably the best time. Now, I have to go and talk to some Matriarchs who're planning on convincing me to support a civil war on Thessia."

Garrus sighed, "Not quite that bad, Victus."

"Well, ok. But the way they talk, it certainly doesn't sound like any form of "state building" I've heard of. You'd think people enjoyed fighting."

The Primarch stood and bowed to the pair, then strode away, leaving them in the empty galley. Kasumi leaned forwards and pressed her forehead against Garrus'.

"So, you're sure you want to go through with this?"

"What, the requisition forms? Hell no."

She thumped his arm, wincing slightly at the hardness. He winced in a good natured way, even though it was unlikely he felt anything.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, I can't promise I'll look the dashing… groom was it? Plus me in a "tux"... not necessarily my style. You sure I can't wear my combat armour?"

"No. We're doing this properly. Your style. With a bit of mine."

"We're screwed then."

"Maybe… if you play your cards right…"

"Huh? Oh… uhhh, right. Good."

"How have you ever gotten laid, Vakarian?"

"My boyish charm and amazing ability to lull people into a false sense of security."

"Because that doesn't sound creepy at all."

"True. I retract my former statement. C'mon, I'm done with all this reading. Up for a walk?"

"Sure you don't want to calibrate anything?"

"Oh I've got a lot of tweaking to do and performance to optimise… later."

"Smooth."

"I try."

Smiling, the couple left the galley, hand in talon.

The target was right there. Motionless. His crosshairs sighted on the point just below the chin, a throat shot would guarantee an impact of either the torso or head if there was any sudden movement.

"Ready as ever I see."

The shot slammed into the reinforced "bunkering" behind the holographic image. The target flashed read and a loud buzzer announced his failure. Garrus sighed and turned.

"Dammit Kaidan, I was on track to beat my record."

"Course you were. So, not getting ready?"

Garrus glanced down and then back up at the human, "What, I thought these'd suit?"

"We aren't doing your stag with you in combat armour," the Spectre grinned and leaned against the firing range entryway. He was dressed in a fairly laid-back outfit, non military for once, which made him look completely different, "So, get dressed. We're only planetside for a few hours."

"I'm not sure about this, Alenko. I've heard about your rituals: the groom always ends up tied to something, or naked or e-vidded doing something bad. And Kasumi will skin me alive…"

"Don't worry. You've got me there. I'll make sure Grunt and Zaeed go easy on you."

"Oh. Good."

A short walk and change later, Garrus stood uncomfortably in the Turian variant of "relax-wear" - a smart, suit-like outfit. Kaidan chuckled and shook his head, whilst behind them several passengers boarded shuttles headed to Earth, below.

"Still looks like a uniform."

"Turian fashion sense… what can I say. So, we going?"

"Trust me, G. This'll be fun."

"This… is not fun."

Garrus was leaning against a railing, the world spinning around him. Two huge arms hefted him up and he found the face of Wrex swimming, barely, into focus.

"Damn. I think we broke him."

Behind the towering Krogan, Kaidan, was being supported by A none-too-steady Zaeed and a swaying Jacob. Grunt was pacing off to one side whilst Vega tried to placate him.

"Look, my friend, he just said…"

"I heard what he said! I have a very hard crest! How dare he challenge me…"

"Yeah and… uh, well…"

Wrex turned and snorted.

"What the human is trying to say is that the other human was trying to flirt with you."

Grunt paused mid pace, then fixed Vega with a hard stare.

"But he was a male."

"Yeah…"

"There could be no viable offspring."

"Uh, well.. some guys.. y'know, that's their thing. And you are, y'know, pretty hardcore."

"I would break them."

"Yeah…. that's kinda… why."

Grunt blinked, "I do not get you. If he wished to be broken, he could have engaged me in a fight. Though he would have hardly been worthy…" There was a pause and Grunt shrugged, "Also, he wasn't my type."

The group stared first at Grunt, then exchanged glances, before bursting out laughing. Wrex snorted again and propped Garrus back against the rail.

"Ok, there's another bar, does mixed dextro drinks. Being run by some Alliance guys off the books. I say we go get some ryncol and get this guy ready for perpetual servitude and a lack of fun for the rest of his life."

Kaidan wagged a finger at Wrex.

"How can you… say that? You're a happily married… man. And getting it!"

"Yeah… and I need a pack of ice every two hours. Frankly, Garrus is one lucky bastard. Now. DRINK!"

"DRINK!"

"Oh spirits…"

So, thanks for bearing with me guys. Just a little bit of fluff and the next chapter should be the last one so we can class this as "Complete".

It's been a long way to get this segment done, as I wanted to do it all justice. Keep the characters tones as much theirs as possible, without slipping into caricature. I hope it's worked.

As ever, feedback is appreciated. Once this is done, I will be considering whether to attempt a third! Or whether to move to another Universe entirely.

Keep reading and I hope you enjoy!