Zhar walked around the destroyed briefing room, the blackened parts of the room where the Oculi's laser had cut into the ship crumbled at his touch. He broke off a charred piece of wood, letting it slip through his fingers as it turned to ash. It was over. It really was over.

"Hey," Tali said from the door. "How are you?"

"Beaten, bruised," Zhar shrugged. "Nothing new. What about you?"

"Aside from getting set on fire," Tali tilted her head in thought. "No, I'm fine."

"Good to hear," Zhar broke off another piece of charred wood and began to break it down.

"Zhar, what you asked me before," Tali started, watching his hand close around the piece of wood and crush it into ash. "I can't tell you how much it means to me."

"Every word of it is true," Zhar dusted off his hands and went over to her. "If you'll have me."

"Of course I will," Tali embraced him. For a while they held each other, enjoying the moment. For the first time in what seemed an age, Zhar felt at peace. "Come on, let's go. We'll be through the relay soon."

"You go ahead," Zhar tapped a few commands into the console. Tali watched the table descend into the floor, then left. The scanner moved over his body, and he appeared in the Illusive Man's office. The red glow of the sun behind him made him appear as a nothing more than a black shadow.

"Lieutenant," a hand moved to the Illusive Man's lips, and his cigarette glowed fiercely for a moment. "I was expecting Shepard."

"I'm here to give you a message," Zhar squared his shoulders.

"And what message is that?"

"I'm going to tear Cerberus down. You, your organisation, even your damn chair," Zhar spat at him. "By the time I'm finished with you, everything will be rubble."

"I admire your drive Lieutenant," the Illusive Man grinned, his teeth burning white against the darkness of his shadow. "But you can't touch me here."

"I'll find a way," Zhar vowed. "And I'll be the one that snaps your neck myself."

"Is that everything? I'm a busy man, Lieutenant."

"We're done."

Zhar strode out of the briefing room and into the elevator. Tali was waiting for him at the door to the lounge, and Zhar had a strange suspicion that she was smiling under her mask. He frowned at her. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing," Tali held back a laugh and opened the door to the lounge.

It was buzzing with activity. The majority of the crew was there, bar those who were needed to plot a course through the relay. At the bar, Mess Sergeant Gardner was displaying some impressive skills mixing drinks, while Jack was dealing out a hand of poker.

Garrus left Thane and Samara to speak to the two quarians. "Thought you might be here at some point, EDI mentioned you'd probably want some space though."

"Why did she say that?" Zhar asked. Garrus led them over to the bar.

"Well, you know," Garrus shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at the quarians. "You and Tali…"

"Yes?" Tali pressed him innocently. "Me and Zhar..?"

"I mean, it's not like everyone knows," if Garrus could blush, Zhar figured he would have been bright red by now. "Just some of us."

"Come on Garrus, spit it out," Zhar grinned at the turian's awkwardness. "No secrets between crewmates."

"Tell us," Tali laughed. They both knew exactly what he was talking about, but watching the usually calm and collected turian squirm was still enjoyable. "Don't be so coy."

"You and Zhar getting married," Garrus finally said, a little too loudly. The room fell silent.

"Well…" Zhar looked around at all the faces staring at him. "This is awkward."

"I blame you," Garrus muttered. "You made me say it."

"Oh please, I was just messing with you," Zhar took a cocktail and straw from the bar. The room was still completely silent. "Can somebody else say something now?"

"It is getting a little weird," Tali agreed.

The room stayed silent. Then, somewhere near the back, Samara began to clap. Soon the entire room was applauding them, and the room went back to normal. Several of the squad came to congratulate the pair of them, and Zhar was speaking to Thane when he spotted Shepard walk into the lounge. He looked over at the quarian and smiled, then went to join him.

"I heard about you and Tali, congratulations," Shepard nodded to him. Thane excused himself to speak with Garrus, leaving Zhar alone with Shepard. "When is the ceremony?"

"I've been meaning to speak to you about that," Zhar glanced at Tali, who spotted the two of them and came over. "We'd like you to attend. It's traditional that the captains attend anyway in the event of cross-ship marriages, but given you're quite a busy person…"

"Zhar, I'd love to come," Shepard smiled again. "What do I have to do?"

"First, we need to go back to the Fleet," Tali told him, checking her omnitool. "I'll put in the coordinates."

"How do quarian weddings work?" Shepard asked Zhar while Tali was busy with her omnitool.

"It's a lot like a big family meeting," Zhar explained. "There are a lot of speeches, a lot of gifts, sometimes there's drinking. It's pretty informal for the most part, except for the actual marrying part."

"What happens then?"

"We exchange vows, then the clan representatives exchange personal gifts," Tali said, finishing with her omnitool. Seeing Shepard's confusion, she explained further. "Our vows are a little like yours I suppose, you'll see when you hear them."

"And the personal gifts?"

"Like your rings," Tali continued, accepting a cocktail from Gardner. "A lot of the time it's something that's been passed down through the family."

"So what are your gifts? Do you know?" Shepard asked, leaning on the bar.

"The Nara clan have always been warriors and gunsmiths, even since before the Flight," Zhar's eyes darted towards Legion, who was in conversation with Mordin Solus. "We don't have much in the way of jewellery, just weapons."

"And the Zorah? I'm sure being the Admiral's daughter had a few perks."

"A few," Tali shrugged. "Nothing special though. A few bracelets, maybe a necklace."

"I see, so what happens when the clans are brought together?" Shepard asked, sipping a cocktail.

"Usually there's an exchange of gifts between representatives," Zhar thought for a moment. "It gets very political. Clans that are joined together are expected to provide support in Conclave votes."

"And who are the representatives?"

"The eldest member of the family," Zhar said. "Mine is my grandfather, provided he survives that long."

Tali excused herself abruptly, and left the lounge. Shepard turned back to the bar to get another cocktail. Zhar watched the door for a moment, then followed, politely excusing himself from the party when Garrus saw him leaving. He saw the door opposite him close, and crossing over he found Tali sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. She didn't look up as he entered.

"What's wrong?" Zhar asked, sitting down next to her.

"Oh. Zhar, it's you," she said sadly. "I was just thinking about my father. He would have wanted to see us."

"Mine wouldn't," Zhar sighed. "He would have hated you."

"Why?"

"Probably because you make me happy," Zhar laughed. "He didn't care much for me, why would he care for you?"

"Zhar, you know he cared about you, in his own way," Tali pulled her mask off and rested her head on his shoulder. Zhar put his arm around her shoulder, feeling her rise and fall with each breath. "You know, I took that mask off for a reason."

"I was going to ask about that," Zhar disconnected his own. "You know, I never get enough of seeing your face."

"Shame about yours," Tali smiled at him and stroked his pale cheek with her thumb. "I wish I didn't have to wear this all the time."

"There's the clean-room," Zhar shrugged. Their quarters were thoroughly disinfected every day and had been fitted with air filters to allow them to remove their suits for a short while.

"No, I want to be able to touch things without a glove, smell a flower without a filter," she brought his hand up to her face. "I want to see your face, not just a mask."

"And you talk to me about sweet-talking," Zhar said, smiling a little. The corners of Tali's mouth twitched. "Why do you suddenly want this?"

"I don't know," Tali sighed, holding his hand tightly. "I want you, Zhar. But I hate having to boost my immune system every time I want to be with you, or plan everything out so we don't risk killing ourselves. I hate we can't just… be."

"Be?"

"It's a bad expression," Tali admitted, lowering her head a little. "But yes. Be."

"Hey," Zhar pulled her chin up and looked her in the eyes. "Don't be embarrassed in front of me, and never be embarrassed for something you said to me."

"Hm, thanks," she kissed him. "They're probably expecting us back soon."

"Probably," Zhar kissed her back. She pushed him onto his back and straddled him. "But tonight, let's just… be."