A/N: Note that this ending was conceived before the release of Mass Effect 3, before there was any talk of destroy/control/synthesis, and the reaper war in this universe was fought and won without the catalyst or crucible.

"Well viewers, the more things change the more they stay the same. In only one week, the first anniversary of our victory over the reapers is coming up. A year is a long time, though, right? I mean do you remember what you had for breakfast a year ago? What you were wearing? Let's try something a little more significant. Do you remember who saved every living soul in this galaxy?

"You and I may remember, but the Citadel sure doesn't. And it looks like the Council has been doing its usual best to forget with the travesty of a monument they plan to unveil in the Presidium next week. Conceptual drawings of the near-finished memorial reveal a design embodying a complete lack of respect for the role humanity played in repelling the reapers. It's been trumpeted as a symbol of galactic harmony by the 'forward thinkers' on the Citadel, but some are already calling it revisionist because of the way it depreciates the contributions of humanity when we were in fact the deciding factor in victory.

"It's a disgrace. A monument is supposed to evoke memories, isn't it? To encourage people to remember. To remember the challenges we overcame, and more importantly remember sacrifices we made in repelling the greatest attack galactic civilization has ever seen.

"And what do we get to commemorate this victory? A giant stone pinwheel. That's right, this abstract work of 'art' is intended to represent the entire galaxy as a whole, with no markers denoting the location where Doctor Amanda Kenson discovered the invasion points of the reapers, where Commander Shepard discovered Tartarus installation at the center of the galaxy, or the battlegrounds throughout the galaxy where Admiral Hackett used that technology to lead the fleets to victory. It's as if they are deliberately trying to diminish the role humanity had in saving the galaxy.

"And the worst part? This affront will still be standing long after we are gone. Future generations are going to look at this monument and turn to grandma or grandpa and ask, 'if you fought in the war, how come there's nothing here that says that?' According to the pinwheel, everybody won the war.'

"But, you say, this isn't possible, not with a human sitting on the Council. I'm sad to report that not only is it possible, but it has already happened. Councilor David Anderson, humanity's representative on the Citadel, personally endorsed the memorial, calling it 'a shrine to galactic unity.' This once-proud defender of humanity is now a shadow of his former self. Whereas Admiral Anderson never shied away from telling the Council where to shove their sanctimonious, hypocritical proclamations and decrees, Councilor Anderson can't seem to make a move without asking permission. How did such a warrior turn into such a weakling?

"I'll tell you how it happened. I'll tell you exactly when. Eighteen months ago, right after the geth failed in their attempt to wipe out the Vagrant Fleet, the Alliance officially announced it had eradicated Cerberus. Clandestine forces, no doubt at the behest of the Council, executed untold thousands of humans without charges or trial by tossing an entire space station into the star of Anadius. And did the Alliance, the mighty power that was once defended all of humanity amongst the stars, retaliate? No! They actually called this mass murder a victory for the galaxy. And ever since those fateful days, the Alliance hasn't been the same. Defanged and declawed, the lion has laid down with the lambs. And it scares me. It should scare you, too.

"Now you know I don't support extremism - that's the Council's specialty - but humanity lost something that day. Lost its edge. Lost its way. Lost its soul, even. But worse than that, we lost our greatest champion. Only days before Cerberus was taken down, Commander Shepard vanished, just as he did after the Battle of the Citadel, once again rumored to have been killed by the geth. Coincidence? I wonder. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall. Maybe he didn't want to be swept up in a galactic dragnet to be charged by the Council for defending his species. I wonder, because the last time Shepard disappeared, it was to break free from the incompetent meddling of the Council. He retreated when he saw the Alliance give away the power we rightfully earned after he stopped the reaper Sovereign and the traitor Saren. He only came back when he knew there would be men and women with the courage to stand with him, like the ones he found when he joined Cerberus.

"I wonder. Are you out there now, Commander? Watching? Biding your time like you did after the first Normandy was destroyed, waiting for a sign? What will it take to make you come back again? Who will step up and be that that someone who inspires you to make another heroic return? What will be the beacon that brings you back? Or have you forever lost faith in mankind for turning our backs on ourselves again as we so obviously have? For all of our sakes, I pray that that's not the case. We need you, Commander, now more than ever. We have to take a break. We'll be right back..."

Tali pressed stop and the human commentator in his perfectly tailored suit and expression of concern faded into nothing. It was her own fault for watching. Her extranet feed had triggers to route any story or segment that was tagged Normandy or Commander Shepard to her inbox and she watched every one, good or bad, just to know what was being said, and it never failed to surprise her how many variations of the truth there could be.

She had only been back on the Citadel for two days and she was already surrounded by it, drowning in it. Conflicting voices shouted from every comm speaker, embassy, and barstool but it always seemed the people who shouted the loudest knew the least. None of them had been there, and they certainly weren't interested in finding out the truth, especially if it interfered with their own personal narrative. The few who tried to get it right were lost in the noise of those who didn't bother. As had always been the case, agenda was the one true religion of the Citadel.

She dragged the clip across her desk's holo connection and added it to her collection. It was a habit she had picked up from the geth. All data was valuable, regardless of whether or not she agreed with it. It was always good to know what potential opponents thought.

With a sigh, she re-activated her datapad. It was her second official day on the job at the quarian embassy, full of meetings and introductions, and she still had a year's worth of reports to reconcile. Her eyes burned, her head hurt, and her backside ached from another long day behind the desk. This is how your life ends, she thought. Shuffling paper on the Citadel.

It didn't help that her circadian rhythm was still locked firmly in step with Rannoch time. Sleep was hard enough as it was without her own body turning against her. Maybe she could take the reports back to her hotel room and finish there. With any luck, her lost baggage would be waiting for her, and maybe with the right nervestim routine she might get some sleep.

She glanced over at the empty chair at the other desk in the small shared office. Even though they had a secretary, it would be best to wait until her counterpart came back or she could find herself in an even deeper mess the next morning. She set her datapad on her desk between two active holos and forced herself to read yet another dismal accounting of what had transpired at the embassy before her arrival.

A pleasant tone chimed from her door. A quarian who looked young enough to be straight out of pilgrimage stepped through the doorway in a maroon environment suit with a matching formal cowl and robe. "I'm sorry to interrupt, ma'am..."

"What is it?"

Jala rubbed his hands nervously in front of his waist. He was a nice enough kid, but had a real problem talking with anyone in authority, which was exactly why Tali couldn't leave him by himself. "There's a Spectre in the lobby. He says he needs to talk to you. It's urgent."

Tali pulled up the lobby camera on a holo, then closed it before going back to work to her datapad. "Tell him to take a seat. I'll be with him in a few minutes."

Jala blinked, his mouth agape. "Um, you... you want me to tell a Council Spectre to wait?"

"Yes." Tali opened another document on her datapad. "Especially that one."

The young man looked over his shoulder, then back to his superior, who continued to read from her datapad upon hearing that one of the Council's most elite agents needed to see her. "Yes ma'am." The door closed behind him.

Tali shook her head. It was almost cruel to send the boy back out there alone but he needed to grow a spine if he was going to succeed here. Jala's was a mission destined to fail as there was no way a Spectre would accept no for an answer. Besides, she couldn't wait to see the look on the Council agent's face. She put the datapad down on the surface of her desk so she could stare at it instead of the door. It opened again a few seconds later.

Though Spectre's tone expressed annoyance, his voice was smooth and calm as all turians tended to be. "You're going to make me wait?"

As stoic and casual as Tali wanted to play it, she couldn't stop a huge smile erupting on her face. She jumped from her chair and ran to the door with her arms outstretched, laughing the entire way.

Garrus crossed his arms across his polished blue battle armor. "Oh, so now you think you're getting a hug?

"Well you're getting one whether you like it or not!" Tali did her best to reach around the turian's bulky chest. Unable to play hard-to-get either, Garrus relented and squeezed her back, laughing as well.

Tali took a step back. Garrus had always worn the same scarred, worn armor since she joined him on the SR-2 up until the end of the reaper war. The difference in the Spectre-issued gear was astounding. "Keelah! You look fantastic!"

"Of course." Garrus did a turn, posing as if wearing the finest of evening wear. He turned to stand in profile and put a hand under his chin. "Notice anything else?"

"Aww," Tali's smile widened. Though she felt genuinely happy for him, she couldn't feed his ego too much. "You finally fixed your face! Any chance they can fix the rest of you?"

Garrus gave Tali a dull stare, then looked down and patted the quarian's belly. "Looks like there's plenty to eat on Rannoch these days. Did you have to let your suit out, or can it expand on its own?"

Tali gasped and grabbed for Garrus's hand, but he was too quick and pulled it back. She pounded on his chest with her fists, screaming a steady stream of Khelish epithets. "You calling me fat?"

"That's what a desk job does to you," Garrus retreated out the door, his hands in front of his face just in case any of Tali's swings went high. "That's right, keep punching the armor. That's effective." He backed into the lobby where Jala watched in astonishment from the receptionist desk as the new quarian ambassador to the Citadel pounded on a Council representative right in front of his desk.

Tali stopped and looked around the reception area. Her embassy office shared space with those of the other minor factions and species. A scattered crowd of visitors and officials all stopped and stared, and her receptionist actually looked like he might have stopped breathing. Tali pointed to her door. "Get back in there. NOW."

The Spectre lowered his head and walked back into her office without a word. Tali looked around at the alien faces staring silently back at her. "Hold my calls," she told Jala, then stomped through the door, sealing it behind her.

The Normandy crewmates collapsed into one another in laughter on the other side of the closed door. "That'll give them something to talk about," Garrus said as he caught his breath.

"Oh, gods," Tali put her hands over her mask. "As if they didn't have enough already. You wouldn't believe how popular I am here."

"Well if you let your friends know you were coming, you might have had some backup. Seriously, you relocate to the Citadel and I have to find out through official channels? How long have you been here?"

Tali gave Garrus a guilty look as she walked back to her desk. "Just two days."

"Two days? And you couldn't even call? Or let me know you were coming at all? Seriously, you're about to hurt my feelings, here."

"It's a long story. Can I get you something to drink? How about some onzea tea? Straight from Rannoch."

"I'll take anything I can get from you at this point," Garrus said and followed her into the office. Artifacts and pictures from the quarian homeworld lined the shelves with colorful weaves draped between them. Behind a pair of desks, a giant framed photo hung on the wall. It showed a crescent of a planet, backlit by a star in the black of space. On its dark side near the bottom, a small, isolated spiderweb of yellow dots glowed in the night.

Tali filled a mug from an unsealed drink dispenser on a nearby shelf, meant for guests of the embassy and not the staff itself. Quarians still drank from sterile containers. "A little taste of the homeworld," she said as she offered the cup.

Garrus took the cup and held it to his nose. The aroma was spicy, and flecks of green leaves swirled on the surface. He took a small sip. "Mmm, thank you."

Tali gestured to the chair in front of her desk and settled in her own chair behind it. "I'm sorry for not calling you. It's really good to see you."

"It was, eventually." Garrus sipped loudly from his cup.

Tali buried her face in her arms on her desk. "Please don't start. I'm taking enough crap here as it is, and it's only my second day."

"Some people might say you deserve it."

"Look," Tali raised her head and hoped he could see the exhaustion in her eyes. "I didn't know I was going to be here either, all right?"

Garrus put his cup down on the desk. "That sounds like the start of a story. I suppose I can reserve judgement until I hear the end."

"Ugh," Tali waved him off. "I don't even know where to start. How's your new job going?"

Garrus scowled at the pathetic attempt to change the subject. "Well, you know how it goes. Save the day, spend the next five explaining yourself to the Council. The usual."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?" Tali said before realizing she was parroting the human commentator she'd heard before Garrus came in.

"That they do. It's not all bad, though. I love the actual work, making a difference, regardless if anyone appreciates it. And no matter what, Anderson has my back. As long as I have him in my corner, the other Councilors are no problem. But if he ever resigns, I'm walking out the door right behind him."

"I can't believe he stayed on in the first place. How's he doing?"

"So you haven't talked to him either? Good to know I'm not the only one you've been shutting out."

Tali slumped. "Dammit, Garrus..."

"Come on, spill it." Garrus leaned forward with his elbows on Tali's desk. "I'll use every tool at my disposal to get you to talk, if I have to. Wine, dinner, soft music. Maybe dancing, afterwards?"

"Oh... that sounds pretty nice, actually. But I've got an awful lot to do here. I may not even go back to my room tonight. And I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in days."

"Well then give me the short version. The last time we talked, you were restoring the power grid of the city. Making good progress, as I recall."

Tali's tired eyes showed new signs of life. "Oh, it's been an amazing. The geth have been a tremendous help. They just can't seem to stop fixing things. I tell you, seeing the lights come on in each new block, it's like we're bringing the whole world back to life. I mean, right now, the we're still pretty much concentrated in the one city but we're already scoping out new locations. It's going to be quite an adventure, exploring our own planet."

Garrus smiled, enjoying Tali's rambling as she always did when she got excited about something. She pulled up a picture on her holo display and rotated it so he could see it. A topographical map of Rannoch appeared with a lone, labeled dot appeared in one corner, in the same location as the illuminated city in the photo behind Tali's desk. Garrus smiled at its familiar name. "The city of Normandy."

"I wish I could say it was my idea," Tali said, "but it was the Conclave's. Since our ancestors all came from different countries on Rannoch, no one could agree on what to call our first city. They argured about it for almost a year. Then, Captain Wylo suggested it be named in honor of the ship that made our return possible. For once, no one objected."

Garrus looked up at the solitary dot of light in the photo of Rannoch's night side. "Now that's what I call a proper monument."

"I know." Tali's throat constricted. "You remember the pictures I showed you right after the fleet landed? All those vacant buildings? This is what it looks like now." She touched a button and a live camera feed appeared in place of the map. A bustling city skyline filled the screen, with streams of air cars weaving through gleaming towers that stretched into a clear blue sky. "I tell you, if you got off a shuttle there now you wouldn't know we ever left. And you know the best part?"

"What's that?" Garrus settled in his chair, thoroughly enjoying his friend's enthusiasm.

"Everyone who lives there calls themselves vas Normandy."

"As they should! Well, except the ones who have been born there, of course, who are nar Normandy."

Tali tilted her head to one side. "You remember."

"Of course I do. It's wonderful, Tali. Absolutely wonderful. So just how many are there in the Normandy clan now?"

Tali beamed, her eyes scrunched from the huge smile on her face. "We just hit eighteen million."

"Wow. That's incredible. And... not unexpected. After all, your people have probably been doing a lot of, ahem, celebrating since they got back."

"Oh yes," Tali said. "A lot. Especially since the 'one child' policy was revoked. It seems like everybody wants a big family now. It's strange to think how now our kids will actually have brothers and sisters."

"Congratulations. To all of you."

"Thank you. Quite a change for us, going up instead down. I still can't believe it."

"So," Garrus gave her a sly grin. "Have you done your part to repopulate the planet?"

Tali felt herself blush behind her mask and looked away. "No. I- um... There hasn't been anyone- I mean... There hasn't been enough time. Too much to do."

"Right." Garrus cleared his throat. "So... You packed in the repair job of a lifetime on your homeworld for a desk job on the Citadel. I didn't realize you missed me that much."

"I wish you were the reason I was here."

"Ah, the truth finally comes out."

"That's not how I meant it, bosh'tet."

"But that's how I'm going to remember it. It's nothing to be ashamed of, Tali. A lot of people feel that way about me."

Tali rapped her fingers on top of her desk. "You know, there's a whole station full of morons I have to see over the next few days. Who let you at the front of the line?"

"Again, an indirect admission that I'm first in your heart."

"Can I finish?"

"I yield the floor to the quarian ambassador."

"Thank you... So, yes, while everything's been going great back home, It turns out my predecessor here wasn't having as much luck."

For the first time, Garrus sounded serious. "I heard about that. Dropped by a few times to see how things were going. Ambassador Konna did seem to be in over his head. Didn't want to say anything, but he seemed a little timid to me."

"Well, It wasn't his fault. He was an excellent negotiator when he served in the Conclave, but this isn't the fleet. Here is different." Tali glanced toward the door leading to the embassy hall. "A lot of them still think of us the same way as before. We're either going to steal from you, or show up on your planet and never leave. Some of them think we shouldn't have an embassy to begin with because there are so few of us. Then there are others who refuse to recognize us at all. They shut us out of votes, undercut our bids... I can't tell you how many offers the geth have had to relocate to other systems. And Konna wasn't strong enough to stop it. They ran right over him."

"Someone tried to steal the geth away from you? That doesn't sound likely."

"Oh that's never going to happen. The geth refuse to deal with anyone else. It's strange. They're just so passive when it comes to dealing with other species. They don't want to incite, they always say. They come to us any time anyone approaches them, and ask what they should do. They defer to us for everything... even when we don't even know what we're doing. Which seems like most of the time lately."

"Well, that just means you fit right in. Nobody here knows what they're doing."

Tali laughed at the backhanded assurance. "Gee, thanks. So anyway... The geth recognized the weakness in our staffing here at the Citadel and came to the consensus that the quarians needed someone who wasn't afraid to deal with aliens. The Conclave agreed." Tali gestured to the office around them. "And here I am."

"Quite honestly, I can't think of a better choice."

"Thanks. Though in all honesty, this is the last place I wanted to go."

"You'll get back into the swing of things before you know it. Just like old times."

"No." Tali stared at Garrus with dead eyes. The love, the joy, the energy she exuded before was gone. "It won't be. I hate this fucking place. They destroyed us, Garrus. We started the war with the geth. We paid for it. We've been paying for it ever since. But the Citadel let it happen. Then tried to finish us. Not out in the open, of course. They could have helped with the evacuation. They could have given us safe harbor, allowed us to re-colonize somewhere else, but they blocked that too. It was easier to let us die off in space then to admit what they had done."

Tali swallowed to keep her throat from closing up. "Then he tried to fix their mistake. When he tried to open a dialogue the geth, they wanted him dead, too, to cover the same lies. They finally got their wish."

"But the truth did come out," Garrus said. The tone of Tali's voice sent a shiver down his spine. "The galaxy finally knows the truth behind what the Council did. You have peace, and the geth let you come home. It wasn't for nothing."

"No. Not for nothing. But the dead are still dead and no one's been held accountable. No one ever will be. That's how this place works, doesn't it? The more things change, the more they stay the same. And I'm here, alive, still fighting the same battles. But he's not. And everything, everyone here, is a reminder of that. Even you... Especially you."

Tali stood and turned her back to him. "You know, after we found the asari prototypes on Rannoch, I actually fantasized about sending the geth here to make the Council pay. To give them a little taste of what we went through. Do you know how easy it would have been for me to do that?"

She stared at the photo of Rannoch on the wall. "You know what happened at Anadius, right? It wasn't the Alliance that destroyed Cerberus. It wasn't the Citadel. All I did was ask, and the geth killed them all. It didn't even take a virus, or any kind of reprogramming on my part. The collective wanted to see Cerberus destroyed as much as I did, for what they had done. For making them kill Shepard-Commander."

Garrus froze, unable to speak. In the entire time since the destruction of the Normandy and the death of Commander Shepard, Tali had never said anything like this. In her communiques, she was her boisterous, energetic self, sending constant updates about the next great feat she was tackling to restore life on her new, old world. It got to the point where she stopped taking his calls altogether because he was always trying to "depress" her. He had no idea what that meant until now.

Tali looked back over her shoulder. Her voice was as cold as Garrus had ever heard. "The geth could clean this place out in a day. You don't know how much I wanted them to do it."

Garrus stared in horror. Had anyone else said such a thing he would have passed it off as empty, vengeful fantasy. But Tali was the one person in the entire galaxy that had direct access to the entire geth collective, with proven influence over them. As a Spectre, Garrus had to take such a threat at face value. Even unarmed he was capable of doing what was necessary. But he wasn't listening to some crazed, evil mastermind. He moved behind her. "What stopped you?"

"Something Shepard told me. For every Udina there's a... an Anderson. For every Tevos, a Liara. For every Valern, a Mordin." Tali faced Garrus with tears in her eyes. "For every Sparatus, a Vakarian."

Garrus's heart ceased its palpitations. He was talking to Tali again.

Tali's voice faltered. "Isn't that funny? Shepard saved the Citadel one last time, and he wasn't even alive to do it." She broke into tears, and garrus pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around her. Tali returned his embrace, and the two held onto each other, rocking slowly back and forth as she pressed close and cried. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

Garrus could feel her tremble through his armor. That the galaxy had almost succeeded in turning one of the kindest souls he'd ever met into a genocidal maniac made his own hate for the Citadel grow.

But slowly, steadily, the sobs stopped, replaced with a loud sniff. Tali pulled away. "I guess I should be happy this little freakout happened here in front of you and not anybody important. You can't show weakness around here."

"Are you kidding?" Garrus looked her in the eye. "You're the strongest person I know. I pity the first bosh'tet that comes in here and tries to push you around."

Tali's voice grew stronger, steadier. "I can't wait actually. Things are going to change around here. Mark my words. If I accomplish one thing while I'm at this post, it's that people will start showing us respect. And if they don't... I still have my shotgun."

Garrus laughed and gave Tali another squeeze. He pondered his next words, wondering if they'd give her strength, or push her back over the edge. "He'd be proud of you, Tali."

Fresh tears spilled down Tali's cheeks. If anyone else had said it, she'd have taken it as a hollow platitude. She patted the winged Spectre emblem on Garrus's chest plate and somehow managed a smile. "He'd be proud of you, too."

They hugged again, which lasted until the office door whooshed open a few seconds later. Tali and Garrus pulled apart and looked over to see a shiny blue geth platform halted in the doorway holding a stack of small parcels in its arms.

"Oh," the geth said in a cheerful, female quarian voice. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Hi, Blue!" Tali said with false enthusiasm in her voice as she activated her helmet fans to dry her face. "I was wondering when you'd come back."

Garrus bowed and spread his arms. "Hello, Ambassador. Keelah se'lai."

"Keelah se'lai, Garrus," Blue said and walked towards the desk with its cargo. As it drew closer to them, it halted, its main lens zooming in on the quarian's face. It dumped the parcels on its desk and hurried to stand in front of her. "Tali? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Tali laughed and gave Garrus's armored chest a playful slap. "I just haven't seen this idiot in forever and he comes walking in unannounced."

"Well," Blue said. "Not completely unannounced. He's been trying to reach you for weeks. You really should have returned his calls."

"Yes, she should have." Garrus looked down at the quarian with disdain. Tali was obviously trying to play it off like nothing happened. He had to act the part. "Hear that? Even the geth think you were being rude."

"Ugh, here we go." Tali looked over the packages the geth had brought in. "So, what have we got here?"

Blue gave a mechanical shrug. "Unfortunately, there has been no progress in locating your lost luggage. So, I gathered a few resources for you." It pointed to each box in turn. "Biofilters for your suit, a spare thermal regulator, cleaning swabs and sterilization equipment, a box of protein pouches with the variety menu, and a pack of sterile, filtered induction ports - assorted colors."

Tali sighed. "You're a lifesaver. I haven't had a chance to do any kind of shopping since I got here. I've been on the verge of recycling since I left Rannoch. Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Tali. Anything I can do to assist, let me know. I can't tell you how happy I am to have you here."

For the briefest of moments, Tali's eyes locked with Garrus. Whatever happened, the geth were never to know about what she had said earlier. She relaxed when he gave her the slightest of nods. Her secret was safe. She managed a half smile beneath her mask. "Me, too. So, um... Garrus?"

The turian stood at attention. "Yes ma'am?"

Tali hoped the geth couldn't detect the nervousness in her voice and posture. She needed to get out of the room, quickly. "You mentioned something about dinner?"

Garrus bowed. "It would be my honor to escort you, madam Ambassador, for a night on the town on your first- I mean second night here."

"Don't push it, Garrus."

"You're going out?" Blue asked.

"You don't mind do you?" Tali wished she could rub her throbbing forehead. "I think it would be good for me to get out of the office for a little while."

"Of course not," Blue said. "It's well past your regular shift as it is. Please enjoy yourself."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. I look forward to hearing about it in the morning."

Tali gathered up the supplies the geth brought her and placed them into a gleaming black bag that matched her suit. She held up the pack of induction ports to Garrus, who nodded approvingly, and stuffed them in her purse. If she had any say, they were going to see heavy use. "Okay, Blue, I leave it in your capable hands. And, uh, if you wouldn't mind, have a hangover remedy ready in the morning. Just in case."

"I will. Have fun, Tali. Good night."

"Good night, Blue." Tali slung her purse over her shoulder and prepared to leave, but suddenly froze with a scowl in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Garrus asked.

Tali turned to the geth. "Is that the same voice Legion picked for you back on the Normandy?"

"Yes it is," Blue said with synthetic excitement, "I didn't think you'd noticed!"

"I forgot all about that." Tali beamed at Garrus, who clamped his eyes shut. "Have you been using it the entire time you've been here?"

"Yes. From the first day. It's very popular with the younger demographic."

"I know it is!" Tali clapped her hands and doubled over with a fit of laughter. "For some old people, too!"

"It's not funny anymore." Garrus glared at the geth. "As a matter of fact, it stopped being funny a year ago."

"Oh, I disagree," Tali said between breaths. "It's still very funny."

"Maybe funnier," Blue said.

"Definitely funnier." Tali stepped up to the sullen turian and caressed his newly restored cheek. "Oh, keelah... I'm going to love working here. So, are we ready?"

Garrus sighed and waved her to the door.

"You know, you and me, going out? This is right out of Fleet and Flotilla..."

Garrus stopped in his tracks. "Could I have a moment with the geth ambassador in private? Just a moment. I promise not to break anything."

Tali looked between the turian and geth. Garrus seemed calm, but his disposition never changed even when looking through the scope of a sniper rifle. Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I just need to clarify something. In private."

"Blue? You okay with that?"

"Of course," the geth said. "We're all friends here."

"Hmm," Tali said, her eyes narrowed at Garrus. She poked his armored carapace. "I'll be right outside. Don't do anything stupid. I mean it. I'm very protective of my staff, you know."

"I won't even raise my voice," Garrus said.

Tali gave them both a parting glance and disappeared through the door.

When the door shut, Garrus turned back to the geth. "Thanks for coming to find me, Blue. I had no idea she was even coming here."

The geth dropped its diplomatic protocol and spoke in its metallic, synthesized voice. "Creator-Tali'Zorah has terminated contact with all prior off-world associates in spite of multiple connection attempts. Given the social nature of quarians, we judged this isolation to be harmful and symptomatic of deeper emotional issues, but we lacked the experience to formulate an effective solution."

"Getting here was the best thing you could have done," Garrus said. "You gave her something to fight for. Do that, and she'll never quit."

"We also judged having you in close proximity was vital to provide emotional support. Given Creator-Tali'Zorah's close personal connection with you, we were deeply concerned when she did not notify you of her return. We determined that initiating contact with you to be the best course of action."

"I'm glad you did."

The geth's flaps expanded and contracted. It buzzed and clicked, then switched back to it's synthesized quarian voice. "Will Tali be okay?"

"I think so. We'll want to keep an eye on her for a while, but I think she's going to be all right." Garrus looked thoughtful. "Listen, I get called away on a regular basis, but I'll drop in whenever I can. This was good timing, actually. With the anniversary celebrations coming up, I'll be here for a few weeks assisting with security. And there'll also be a lot of other friendly faces around, too. Mordin, Liara, and Wrex are coming, Greg Adams, Doctor Michel, Captain Bailey... a lot of old friends that will do her a world of good to see. And Anderson's always here. You can always go to him if you have any concerns if I'm not around. I'll let them all know she's here. They don't even need to know why. In fact, it might be better to keep it quiet, so we don't overwhelm her."

Blue bowed its head. "Thank you, Garrus."

"You're welcome. You have all my contact information. Don't hesitate to call me about situations like this, no matter where I am."

"I won't." The geth buzzed and clicked again, and reverted to its mechanical voice. "Creator-Tali'Zorah is of extreme importance to us."

"To me, too."

"That is why we came to you."

Garrus nodded, awed that he was speaking to trillions of separate, sentient intelligences. "Well, I shouldn't keep the ambassador waiting."

The geth extended its arms. "Keelah se'lai."

"Keelah sel'lai, Blue. We'll be in touch."

Tali hunched over Jala's workstation, watching him audit the day's contact log when her office door slid open and Garrus walked out. She gave him a suspicious glance and pushed past him to the door. It slid open again and she leaned in to see Blue sitting peacefully behind its desk. The geth waved at her. "Just checking," Tali said and pulled away from the door. It closed behind her.

Garrus crossed his arms. "You know, you're the only one with a history of assault in this wing. Jala saw the whole thing. He'll back me up, won't you, Jala?"

"Uh," the young quarian said, wishing he were somewhere else. "I don't think I... um, ma'am?"

Tali ignored her stuttering, flustered underling and grabbed Garrus by the wrist to pull him to the embassy block's exit. "Wine. Dinner. Dancing. You promised. Let's go."

"Yes ma'am." Garrus gave Jala a helpless shrug as Tali dragged him away from the desk. "Whatever you do, kid, don't ever give her any backtalk."

Jala felt perspiration dribble down his forehead in spite of his suit's air conditioning. "Yes sir. Goodnight, ma'am."

Tali stopped suddenly. Her gaze followed the armored arm up to the shoulder. The battle armor, immaculate as it may have been, might send the wrong message. "Wait a minute. Are you going like that?"

"Well you're dressed all formal."

Tali looked down at herself. In her black and gold ensemble, she did look like she was headed to a boardroom instead of a nightclub, but the metallic highlights would shine on the dance floor. "This is all I've got until my luggage finds me."

"Well, for the record I don't just lounge around in my dress gear waiting to take long-lost friends out to dinner."

"Really? I figured you probably sleep in it."

"Contrary to some very unfair, skewed views some people have of my vanity, I do not."

"You saying you wore that just for me?"

Garrus bowed slightly.

"Uh huh." Tali narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap. "Isn't that against regulations or something?"

Garrus pretended to rub a smudge from the Spectre emblem on his armor. "Not for me, it isn't. I just figured the new quarian ambassador deserved an appropriate escort." He held his arm out for her. "For everyone to see."

Tali looked into the eyes of the turian. She saw not a trace of sarcasm, judgement or pity; only the most sincere look of warmth and pride she'd ever seen from him. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the tears from welling up again. She took his arm and walked side by side with him through the embassy halls.

They continued toward the Presidium Commons where they could hail a taxi to the wards. Aliens of all species, from the minor ones like Elcor and the Hanar, to humans, asari and turians all took note as the elegantly dressed quarian passed by, escorted not in restraints as they might have expected, but proudly on the arm of a Spectre as if she were a member of the Council itself. A few of the onlookers even pulled out their datapads for the rare sight of a Spectre in uniform, in the hopes of learning the identity of the woman deserving of such attention.

"You bosh'tet," Tali whispered, keeping perfect stride. The vents in her helmet blew at full speed again. "I'd finally gotten my face dry."

"Ah, who can tell under there anyway?"

Tali was thankful that no one could see the smile behind her mask because it would ruin the perfect image they were projecting. They cleared the embassy wing and entered the Presidium proper. The white paneled ceiling disappeared, replaced with simulated blue sky above and green and blue park features below with horizons that curved upward in both directions. Aircars buzzed over thousands of citizens of the Citadel scattered throughout the split levels below. They walked together to the edge of the balcony overlooking it all.

Tali thought back to the first time Shepard brought her to this place, standing in awe of the Presidium's wide open spaces after a lifetime spent in the cramped compartments of the Rayya. Both the ship and the man were no more, but before her mind could slide down that path, Garrus moved next to her and placed his arm comfortingly around her shoulder. She'd only thought she'd lost everything.

Garrus gave her a gentle squeeze. "Welcome to the Citadel, Ambassador Zorah."

The End

(The story resets in the next chapter for the alternate ending, aka "For Tomorrow We Live")