A/N: It's been a while! I have probably lost most, if not all, of my readers which is entirely my fault. Life has been one giant raft navigating life's river rapids. My deepest apologies for letting you all hang on for so long. Not sure how quickly these chapters will keep being delivered if I'm to be honest. Just know that I think of this story often and of all the people that support it by reading.
As usual, everything that is BioWare's belongs to them. What mine is mine (Riley and Kallah), though they wouldn't exist without the inspiration of the amazing writing that created Mass Effect in the first place.
Children played, running back and forth from one end of the park to the other. Unaware that they were being studied at great length.
Riley stared out the window at life on the Citadel unfolding around her, studying every person as they moved from place to place, each one on a mission to accomplish something or go somewhere. She never noticed how innocent people were, oblivious to the evil that surrounded them, and that in a single moment the reality that they live in day to day could come crashing down around them.
The constant hustle of Citidel life never ceased, day or night. Riley knew this because she rarely slept anymore. Every time she closed her eyes she felt the mercenaries grab her, saw Kallah's motionless body lying on the ground, witnessed her mother getting shot at not knowing at the time that Liara had never been hit, but she thought she lost her momma and it triggered a constant sense of terror.
Many times she woke in the dark and screamed until someone came to help her. Eventually, she wouldn't sleep at all and when her body would finally succumb to the exhaustion she would only close her eyes during the day or while the lights were still on, or if she was tucked safely in the arms of Liara or Jane.
She sighed and the air from her breath fogged up the glass. Slowly reaching up, she dragged the tip of her finger through the misty spot, staring at it until her eyes focused beyond the trail that her finger left behind, a perfect view of the park just outside the hospital offered a clear view of a seemingly normal life-something that she knew she may never feel again and made her angry because she had just started to feel normal.
Like clockwork, her heart began to pound in her chest and her hands began to shake. The anti-seizure meds had begun to wear off. She swallowed and braced herself against the window as her vision began to blur. She was starting to get used to the seizures like an arm or a leg that was part of her now; turning toward the door she tried to call for help but the most that left her mouth was a slurred moan. Before she could lose all control of her body, she pushed the alarm as the world began to spin, and she felt her stomach plummet.
When she opened her eyes she was safely tucked into her bed, her body ached and her head was pounding. She looked towards the side of the room where she knew someone would be sitting to greet her when she woke. It was usually momma or mommy but today was a good surprise. She smiled brightly at seeing Kallah looking on in anticipation and concern.
The Asari girl leaned forward and gently took Riley's hand, "Hey! How are you?"
Riley observed Kallah's lips moving but she couldn't hear anything. She shook her head at Kallah and pointed to her ears, "I can't hear you." Riley could feel the vibrations in her own head when she herself spoke, but she couldn't hear herself either.
Kallah frowned in sympathy but continued to speak, "I know. I'm sorry."
Riley looked away in frustration, tears welled in her eyes, then gently trickled down her flushed cheeks.
Kallah moved to the bed, sat down, and gently put her finger under Riley's chin and made her look at her. Kallah wiped the tiny trails of despair from Riley's cheeks and made Riley look at her by holding the soft human face between her palms. She clearly mouthed words as Riley watched patiently, "They will fix you soon."
Riley still looked at her friend in despair because even though Kallah was slowly speaking to help Riley understand, the words didn't match anything remotely human, and her mouth didn't make the same motion as though she was speaking any language that Riley could understand.
"Kallah! I can't understand you!" Riley couldn't hear herself so she didn't know how loud she was until Kallah shrunk back a bit. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to yell." Riley tried to scale her voice down a bit.
Kallah realized then that she was speaking a foreign language to Riley, and until her friend's implants were repaired, Riley couldn't understand a word, let alone her.
Kal looked at her with sad eyes and shoulders slumped. Riley patted her on the back, and then she sat up quickly as she remembered that she could still communicate by writing sentences on a datapad. Datapad's auto-interpreted any written language into galactic basic-and while she was the best at basic, it was better than complete silence.
Riley quickly typed.
Sorry, Kal. Let's try this instead. I'll have implants again soon.
Kallah took the datapad, smiled and nodded. She quickly typed.
I have a surprise for you, hand me my bag.
Riley took the pad, read, turned around and pulled the bag closer, handing it over to Kal.
Riley looked on curiously as Kal dug into the bag and pulled out a box wrapped in cloth and handed it to Riley. Riley slowly sat up straighter, her body aching all over, and her head aching the most. The pain didn't stop her as she looked up and smiled while gently pulling the package in her lap and started to unwrap it.
As she removed the cloth she immediately recognized the Captain Kallah doll. She pulled it from the package and hugged it to her heart as Kal watched her with a smile. Riley caught Kallah's eyes glance to the package again and she followed suit to see that there were two parcels, gently wrapped in cloth. Riley looked up at Kal with a puzzled smile.
"Open," Kallah whispered.
Riley looked back down and carefully unwrapped the gifts to see a pristine new Commander Shepard. Riley quickly looked up and shook her head, no, and pushed it back to Kallah. Kallah gently smiled while reaching into her book bag and pulled out the one that Riley gave her, reassuring her human friend that the Commander Shepard doll that she was holding was brand new, and was a gift.
Riley smiled brightly and placed the two figures side by side on the bed in front of her. She was lost in studying them when she felt Kallah tap her. Looking up looked up, she saw Kallah nod down to the last parcel, "This one's special."
Riley studied Kallah's lips as they moved. She nodded, feigning comprehension and pulled the ribbon off, gently unwrapping what she guessed was another doll. As she pulled the cloth aside her eyes widened in surprise. She gently and reverently pulled the doll from the packaging and held it in front of her. It was a beautiful Dr. T'soni doll, but instead of holding a datapad, Kallah had found a smaller doll that looked exactly like Riley.
Riley's hands shook as she looked up at Kallah, tears streaming down her cheeks. She reached up and put her arms around the girl and held her, and Kallah held on tight to Riley. She tried not to think about what could have happened to her best friend and instead was grateful to be holding her at this moment.
When they finished hugging, Riley gathered her dolls and sat back into her pillows. Kallah perked up and moved quickly to find the datapad that they'd been using to communicate with.
She began typing quickly, then handed it to Riley.
Do you like them? Mom and I looked everywhere for them. These are the last on the Citadel!
Riley smiled and started to type, then handed the pad back to Kal.
Kallah whispered the words as she read, "They are my favorite. So are you!" Smiling, she looked up and quickly spoke, "You're mine too!"
Riley pointed to the datapad, and Kallah remembered and then typed what she said, holding it up for Riley to see.
After Riley read it she met Kallah's eyes with a smile, and for the first time in weeks, Kallah saw her Riley back again. The sparkle in Riley's eyes when she smiled, the joy, even a bit of innocence.
Kallah put the pad back down and started to type again, and kept typing.
Riley tried to look over to see what the girl was writing since it was so long, but Kallah would hold the pad against her every time Riley tried to see.
After what seemed to be an eternity she then handed it back to Riley.
Riley's lips moved as she read it.
I miss you so much at school. It's not the same without you. When they took you, I didn't know what to do, and I'm really sorry I couldn't help save you. Your parents have been really worried, and my mom has been talking with them a lot. I don't get to hear much because I'm in my room but I think they're going to take you out of school and momma is going to take over your studies. Momma has been pushing to go with your mom on some expedition of the outer regions, which means that I probably won't see you for a while. I'm really sad, Riley. I don't want to lose you.
Riley breathed slowly as she read. She looked up, trying to hide her emotions and look brave but couldn't catch the solitary tear that escaped down her cheek and quickly wiped it. She didn't know what to say or write. In some ways, she never wanted to see that school again or even be on the Citadel anymore. In other ways, she was devastated that she wouldn't see her best friend. The cursor blinked, waiting for her.
She slowly began to type and then handed the pad to Kallah.
Kallah read it aloud, "We'll figure it out." Looking up she saw the same scared green eyes return that had disappeared moments earlier. In studying Riley she somehow knew that staying on the Citadel wasn't something that was good for her best friend, her sister. She scooted closer to Riley so that she was right in front of her and opened her arms. Riley leaned forward and allowed herself to fall into them. Kallah held onto her firmly and whispered, "We will."