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PE

"The Stars are Brightly Shining"

It had been a long time since Shepard had looked at the stars. When she was a little girl, she use to sit on the observation deck of one of her parents' assigned ships and just watch the tiny little pinpoints of light flicker by. But nothing was like seeing the silver specks from Earth. For whatever reason when she looked up at the sky from the solid ground they seemed friendlier. Traveling on ships through the black silver speckled sea was nice, but when she looked out the window of her small apartment in Vancouver she felt lonely. Where before standing on Earth's solid ground she might have felt the vastness of possibilities looking up at the stars, now she felt lost and trapped. She might be trapped by political BS and watched by the Defense Council day in and day out, but at least at night she could stare up at the sky and think of better times. The stars still held that for her...they still held hope. Hope that one day she would be out there among them again.

The stars twinkled back, even in the city they shined so brightly. She looked down at the computer console on her desk. Nothing. No one at bothered to contact her. Anderson was busy. Her mother was occupied. Her friends were spread across those silvery dots up above her. Scattered for their own safety. And somewhere up there the Reapers were waiting. And down here no one believed her, or if they did they were keeping quiet about it.

To say that she was frustrated would be an understatement. She had tried to warn them. But no one had listened. Now she was shut away serving her time for crimes that she was lucky she hadn't been court marshaled and sent to a high security prison for committing. Her fingers gripped the edge of the desk until her knuckles turned white. It had only been two weeks since her 'imprisonment' had started and she was already feeling the effects of becoming stir crazy. Her eyes drifted back to the window and upward to the black vast horizon. Her green eyes reflected that beautiful spotted sky. Tears welled up, but she refused to let them fall.

Yeah, the stars were shining brightly tonight.


Kaidan's hand lingered over the computer's keyboard. A million times he had started this email and every time he had hit the backspace button. Deleting all the words that seemed inadequate and stupid. What was he going to say? "Sorry, Shepard, that you were placed on house arrest for working with a known terrorist organization?" Or "Sorry, you're serving time for killing thousands of Batarians with an asteroid?"

He shook his head. No, he wasn't trying to be mean and he wasn't angry. Not anymore. She had tried to save the colonist on Horizon and he believed that she had tried to warn the batarians as well. That was just the person Shepard was. She didn't like innocent people getting hurt. The Reapers were coming. He knew that, but the Defense Council didn't. They just thought it was Shepard's cover story.

Sitting back in his chair he stared at the blank document. There were no words. He hoped that Shepard understood. She would be getting stir crazy. That much he knew too. She wouldn't want to sit still doing nothing for that long.

Movement outside his office window drew his eye. Standing he went to the glass and looked out across the training grounds. Students were lined up on the lawn. Some with telescopes, some with omni-tools open inputting calculations and plot points; he looked up to the night sky. The stars were bright and the sky crisp and clear. It was a good night for the cadets to learn star charting and navigation. It seemed odd that they didn't rely on VI programs to chart maps and destinations, but the students were still required to understand basic astronomy and know their stars so they could chart faster courses. And the teacher for the astronomy instructor was a little old fashion and outdated, but the students seemed to love the projects he handed them.

Kaidan's eyes drifted up to the silver and faint golden lights twinkling in the dark sky. He was still impressed he could see them clearly with all the lighting, but he could make out the constellation that his father had once shown him. He crossed his arms and wondered if Shepard was doing the same thing looking up at the stars and wishing she was among them again. Flying from galaxy to galaxy or if she was wondering if he could contact her. Would she want to hear from him? He wasn't certain. He wanted to believe she did…but it was Shepard. Who knew what she thought or wanted?

Only the stars knew.


Tali hadn't meant to find her way to the observation deck of the ship, but she had. She had just been wondering. Lost in thoughts about the war with the Reapers, geth, her people, her father, her people again, the geth again and finally back to the Reapers. She really wanted to help Shepard, but she couldn't do that until her people were safe. And she couldn't do that until the geth were taken care of. She hadn't meant to walk into the room and startle Kaidan. Biotics weren't the best people to be surprising. Especially Kaidan. It wasn't that he was jumpy or easily lost control, but he was controlled. That and biotics and computers didn't always get along. Their constant release of dark energy tended to shock and depending on the size of the release could fry certain hardware in her enviro-suit. She wasn't certain she wanted to replace any equipment today.

"Oh, sorry, I thought it was empty." Tali raised her hands and started to back away. She liked Kaidan well enough. He was smart and could keep up with most of her rambling about ships and machines.

Kaidan canted his head and looked at her in that particular human fashion she was still getting used to. She thought it meant curiosity or understanding. Curious understanding? Maybe, if there was such a thing. "If you need to be alone, I can leave." He started to stand up.

Tali shook her head. "No, no, it's all right. I can come back later." The doors opened behind her. She started to turn away. Not really wanting to talk to him. He was a good guy, and she could see why Shepard was attracted to him. But after Shepard had punched Admiral Grail for firing on them and then explaining Legion…she didn't want to see him. He was part of the old Normandy. A part of the crew that had followed Shepard without hesitation in the beginning, but then Shepard had told her he had walked away from them on Horizon. He hadn't wanted to help. Seeing him on Shepard's team again was slightly surprising and upsetting. They had joked in the hanger about omni-tools and she had thought bygones were bygones, especially when he had watched Shepard walk out across docking tube. He had stood rigid and waiting. He had been holding his breath until he heard Shepard's voice again. Then why didn't he join us? It wasn't her place to ask. If Shepard was glad to have him around then she would be glad too. Yet, that didn't mean she was going to be unloading all her problems on him either.

"Tali, wait." Kaidan's voice wasn't sharp, but it was commanding like an officer who was used to having his orders obeyed. Tali stopped. Why couldn't she seen to find that voice? Maybe the Admiralty Board would listen to her more?

"What's wrong?" Kaidan asked nicely. He placed the datapad he had been holding on the seat beside him.

And that was the problem. She wanted to talk, but then she didn't at the same time. She sighed and went to stand by the window looking out on to space.

The little white dots were so impersonal and distance, but they were also close friends. Friends far away that you could only think about seeing up close. A reunion that was always better in fantasies and dreams.