Shepard fell into the soft bed of his room. The pillows felt like heaven on his face, and the mattress felt like a pool of ecstasy. Shepard smiled as he hugged the pillow tightly. He closed his eyes and felt the stiffness of his body begin to melt away.
"I knew you could do it Shepard… I just knew it…" Tali said sitting on the bed next to him though she knew she wouldn't be able to touch him how she wanted to touch him. "They tried to dissuade me, but I fought through the despair. I couldn't believe what the Admiralty Board did to you… I mean they didn't need to do that! You've served the Flotilla more admirably than most quarians yet they still force you to go through that stupid test! Can you believe that Shepard?" Tali spouted.
Shepard snored in response. Tali looked over at Shepard's face.
"Shepard?…" Tali asked staring into the closed eyes of Shepard.
She almost laughed when she saw the edge of the pillow moisten from Shepard drooling. She stood up and pranced to the door. She turned around to regard Shepard again as he slept.
"Good night Shepard…" Tali whispered as she left the room.
She didn't even make it four feet down the hallway when a small group of quarians walked around the corner. They all pointed excitedly at her and started running towards her.
"Tali'Zorah? Tali! Hey Tali!" The lead quarian yelled. The others added in harmoniously to his words.
"Yes? What is it?" Tali asked as they almost knocked her over.
"Is Commander Shepard in there?" The young quarian asked.
Tali looked at the door and back to the, best described as, teenage quarians.
"Yes…" She said painfully trying to force herself to create a lie instead.
"Can we talk to him?" The boy asked.
"He's extremely tired. He needs to sleep." Tali said staring at the spunky young quarian.
"Well, can you tell me when he is awake?" The boy asked sadly.
"I will try to-" Tali started.
"Great!" The boy yelled as he scampered down the hall with the rest of his excited friends.
"Shepard's gaining quite a fan base…" Tali said feeling a bit odd about her words. It just felt like something was amiss in the universe, but she shrugged it off and walked back to the Common room.
Garrus and Miranda were sitting in the corner of the room. Miranda's lips were almost touching Garrus's mouth. He leaned in and closed the gap and they made the best kiss that a human and turian could share. Tali smiled at their blossoming relationship. She walked over to one of the tables and sat down to think. Mordin sat down beside her.
"Tali'Zorah. Pleasure. Finished experiments on strange substance found on Pragia. Mysterious. Took some time… but. Found something interesting. Messes with proteins. Very unique. Brings into a harmonious balance of levin- and dextro-proteins." Mordin said.
Tali leaned in closer to the news. "So what your saying is-" Tali started.
"Yes. Your hypothesis would be correct. It would allow a flowering relationship between levin-protein and dextro-protein species in the galaxy. You and Shepard. Miranda and Garrus. All with fruitful relationships." Miranda said with a smile and a stare that indicated that he was waiting for Tali to catch on.
"Fruitful?" Tali asked staring Mordin more.
"You know what I mean…" Mordin said.
"But I thought you said it was possible for it to work… before the water?" Tali whispered.
"Work? Yes. But serious health risks in those weeks of pregnancy. Very dangerous to your health. Most likely die from infection, or severe reaction. Of sorts." Mordin trailed off in his thoughts.
"So this child… What will it?…" Tali started to ask.
"Be? No idea. Some hybrid species I would assume. Humans-quarians share same number of chromosomes. With genetic therapy, the baby should also transgressed sterility." Mordin stated.
"Will it… have my immune system?" Tali asked weakly.
"Doubtful. Quarian gene for immune deficiency is less dominant than human gene for survivability. You yourself will have a boost of your own immune system from holding such a child with you." Mordin answered.
Tali stared at him only briefly before her eyes looked nervously around the top of the table. She started breathing harder as her lungs demanded more air for her. Then curiosity drove her to ask another question.
"How about Miranda's and Garrus's kid?" Tali asked.
Mordin stared at her. The smile twitched on his face for just a moment. "It should be fine for Garrus…" Mordin said.
"What about Miranda?" Tali asked.
"She will have an interesting time. More interesting than most women of her caliber." Mordin said.
"Caliber?" Tali asked.
"Turians are scaled. Sharp. Very painful against the skin. Birthing process…" Mordin cringed. "Very unpleasant."
Tali looked over at the happy couple who were now rubbing their noses together. She felt a small amount of pity for Miranda. She was nice enough and had her qualities. She never disrespected Tali even though she was part of Cerberus. She would probably have to be there when she would give birth, that is, if they even thought about having a kid. She watched as Mordin made his way over to Garrus and Miranda's table. She looked through the crowds of quarians to find her other crew mates.
She saw Jacob sitting with a group of young quarians. He was showing him his gun and telling them how it worked. Tali shook her head at the scene. Kal'Reegar and Zaeed walked past talking about their military exploits. Tali smiled as they talked happily amongst themselves. Kasumi was sitting at a table with Thane. Tali couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she assumed that it had to do some stealth techniques or something along those lines.
Jack was lounging on one of the tables, lounging in the artificial sunlight. Joker was actually out and about, too. Tali watched as he played 'starship' with some of the kids. He still moved stiffly with his weak bones, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. Samara was meditating with a few other quarian males who were looking more at her chest than her actions. Tali laughed at the spectacle. She bet that none of them had even guessed that that was what they looked like. She reclined back and felt the warmth of the artificial sun on her suit. The overall harmony of the room was so soothing that Tali could have fallen asleep then and there, but the harmony equally brought her back. She leaned back forwards again, but nearly jumped out of her suit when she saw Legion standing in front of her.
"Creator Tali'Zorah… May we sit?" Legion said looking at the spot beside her.
Tali still didn't trust the robot, but her respect for him had grown considerably through the time that she had been stuck with him. Tali slid over and Legion took his seat though he looked a bit perplexed at the idea of sitting.
"Are you enjoying yourself Legion?" Tali asked.
"Yes." Legion answered.
Tali looked at him, confused. How did a machine enjoy itself?
"How have you enjoyed yourself?" Tali asked, feigning disinterest.
"I modified thirty-one of your vessel's shields and hull plating. I calibrated forty-seven of your fleets engines. I have improved the efficiency of the fleets performance by fifteen percent. And…" Legion stopped.
"And?" Tali asked failing to feign disinterest.
"I made what you organics would call friends…" Legion said with a few twists of his central eye followed by a pulse from his outside face panels.
"How many did you make? Three? Four?" Tali asked.
"I counted around nearly three hundred Creator mechanics have referred to me as their friend." Legion said.
"Three Hundred!?" Tali almost yelled, but managed to keep it quiet.
"Yes." Legion answered.
"I'm glad to see you getting along with everyone…" Tali said looking back up to the bright artificial sun. Legion looked up too.
"Your planet is 99 percent complete…" Legion said quietly.
Tali looked back at him with those seeking eyes. Legion knew more than he was letting everyone believe. She just knew it, but before she could question the geth sniper, he had made his way over to some mechanics who were waving him over. She watched him leave, but she couldn't help but smile at how the mood against the geth had changed so drastically in these couple of days. Shala walked into the room.
Shala sat where Legion had just rose and sat by Tali. She stared at her for some time before she too raised her head to take in the warm rays through her visor.
"I can't even tell you how proud I am for you Tali. Your father would be so proud of you if he could see you now…" Shala said.
The words hit Tali like a wall. Her mind fell back to that fateful day on the Alerei.
Shepard stopped in front of her and didn't move. She moved to the side to see what he was looking at, but that made her life take a turn for the worse. She couldn't believe what she saw. On the floor was her father. There was no way that he was dead. She ran past Shepard to her father's body.
"Father!" Tali barely managed to say.
Shepard could only watch her as she struggled to cope with the discovery.
"No, no, no! You always had a plan. Masked life signs or-or an on-board medical stasis program, maybe. You! You wouldn't…" Tali struggled for words as her sorrow became a desperate anger. "They're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't leave me to clean up your mess! You can't…" Tali cried out.
Shepard couldn't take seeing her like this. He grabbed her shoulder.
"Hey. Hey, come here." Shepard tried to say as soothing as he could.
Tali turned and with a grief stricken conscious she hugged Shepard without thinking about it. All she had now was her love for Shepard. Her hidden love for him. She wished she could tell him now, then maybe…maybe he just might… She shrugged it off during the hug. The hat tears began to fall down her face. A sensation that had only plagued her when the first Normandy had exploded. When Shepard had… died… She was right back where she was two years ago at that moment. They embraced each other for the longest time.
"Damn it! Damn it! I'm sorry" Tali cried out through her sobs. She was acting selfish with that act, yet she didn't even connect that Shepard had hugged her back with the same passion as she had.
"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Shepard said.
"Maybe… He would have known I would come. Maybe he left a message." Tali managed to say through the sadness that still crept through her.
"Tali. If you are listening to this then I am dead…" were the final words that she remembered before the memory began to fade.
She fell from her memory when Shala touched her shoulder. She was looking at her now.
"I'm sorry for bringing him up Tali. I shouldn't have spoiled your happiness." Shala said.
"I'm okay Shala. It's still a bit hard to accept it still." Tali said.
"I understand. The ceremony will start whenever you wish it to. We may have to find a bigger ship to hold all of Shepard's new fans." Shala laughed.
Tali laughed too. Shepard was quite a character, and it appeared that even though they were married it just felt like he was a new man everyday. He was always performing some miracle or some impossible feat with ease. He always seemed to understand and mold himself to every situation. She always thought to herself. 'Wow, Tali! How did you manage to fall in love with this amazing man?' She always asked this question to herself from the day that she fell in love with him.
Veetor walked into the room with Mordin right beside him. Tali didn't even notice that he had left. She looked over where Garrus and Miranda was sitting and saw only an empty table. Most of the people had left by this time. Tali looked down at her Omni-tool and found that she had been there for almost three hours. She stood up quickly and walked quickly back to Shepard's room.
He was still laying on the bed snoring loudly. Tali decided that she should take his armor off so he could sleep more comfortably. She peeled the armor pieces off of him delicately. The chest piece slid off easily revealing the bloody mess under his armor. Tali cringed at the sight. She continued to take the thick armor off while Shepard continued to snore. She completely stripped him down to his under clothes which were drenched with blood. She didn't even know a human could hold that much blood. She looked at Shepard for some time. She admired this man. No man would ever give this much blood for her. She took the last antibiotic-booster, and took off her mask. She kissed Shepard good night and left to go get some sleep in her own room. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.