"Alliance Command, this is Lieutenant Cortez aboard shuttle E-01 requesting permission to dock at the Presidium."
Lieutenant Cortez had volunteered to pilot the shuttle as soon as Vega had told him that they were going in to retrieve Shepard. He'd been in the mess on deck 9 aboard the Everest during the meeting with Hackett and had wasted no time in making his way to the shuttle bay.
"Wait, you're serious, Vega? Of course I'll be right there!"
He had ferried over Liara, Garrus, Vega, Ashley, Doctor Chakwas with her small team of medics, and of course Tali. The admiral had elected to stay aboard the Everest – reminding them that he still had entire operations to oversee. Tali did not think that she was alone when she surmised that he thought it "right and proper" that the members of the commander's crew be the ones to handle the ground – and hopefully rescue - operation.
There was a palpable energy – nervous and anticipatory – inside the shuttle. Tali felt it the most, but she could tell that it was everywhere in the room – for once, she wasn't the only one fidgeting. She sat between Garrus and Liara, lost deep in her own thoughts and trying desperately to keep herself under control.
Keelah Tali, just breathe. They just got the signal, he's fine. He's waiting for me. He loves me.
He loves me.
Then those darker thoughts that she just couldn't seem to shake wormed their way in.
But what if he's…not the same man? What if whatever happened there changed him somehow? Ancestors know that he's been through so much, and I can't even imagine what he found there, what he had to overcome to finally defeat the Reapers. If…he is okay…I hope I make it worthwhile for him. I just hope that I'm worth him coming back to…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle nudge from Garrus, who turned to look at her.
"Penny for your thoughts, Tali?"
She chuckled softly at the subtle ways that working with Shepard had rubbed off on them. Tali herself had in general become more comfortable with herself – despite recent evidence to the contrary, she thought. Liara had grown out of her naïveté and had become a confident and competent person in her own right.
Despite her own bouts of…darkness.
Garrus?
Well, now he has jokes and uses human idioms all the time. What a time to be alive.
Tali smiled at her own use of another phrase that she'd picked up from the commander.
"I'm just nervous Garrus." She chuckled and produced a wry smile that only Shepard would have picked up on. "Big surprise, right?"
"Oh Tali, what are you nervous about? Shepard's fine. We're going to go get him, and you two get a well-deserved 'happily ever after'. I mean, he ended the message with 'keelah se'lai' for Spirits' sake. He's definitely 'all-in' on being with you."
"I suppose that you're right, Garrus. I'm just afraid that after…whatever he had to do, or what he saw, that he'll be different somehow, and maybe won't…want me any-"
Liara almost violently interjected then, going so far as to grab her arm as she spoke to her.
"Tali…please, listen to me. Stop. This." The asari's face was inches from Tali's visor. "You know that Shepard loves you, more than anything in the galaxy. Do you honestly think that he would have done all of this, sent the message that he sent," she nodded at Garrus to reaffirm what he'd already said, "if he didn't love you?"
Tali was quietly taken aback by her friend's words – Liara had said them with such…well, it almost bordered on 'venom'. Tali hadn't expected the sincerity and finality of the asari's words. They were spoken with obviousness, as if Tali was trying to make the case against the existence of gravity or of light.
She put her hand to her visor and shook her head.
"I don't know what's gotten into me-"
Garrus interrupted her. "Um, I'm pretty sure Shepard got into you. Or your suit at least."
Case in point: jokes.
They looked at Garrus, both of their faces expressionless.
After a brief pause, Tali punched him playfully on the shoulder while uttering a jovial "bosh'tet" for good measure. Liara only shook her head and laughed.
Ancestors, how blessed I am with friends such as these.
Cortez's voice rang out from the intercom.
"Okay everyone. It's probably going to be a little bumpy. There aren't many open spaces to land at since the search and rescue crews hadn't gotten to this part of the station yet."
At those words, Ashley and Vega both checked and prepped their rifles. Tali double-checked her shotgun as Liara prepped her heavy pistol. Garrus leaned back and closed his eyes. Tali was dumbstruck.
"Garrus, you're not going to, ya know, calibrate your weapons?" She had expected a chuckle, or at least a smile. She got neither.
His eyes remained closed as he answered. "Hmm? No Tali. I'm good. I did all my prep work before we boarded. Besides, with the four of you, I don't think that I've got much to worry about."
It was Chakwas' turn to chime in. "Garrus, please do me a favor and remind yourself that we are not armed. So if you should be checking and prepping your weapon, I would consider it a personal favor if you would please do so." For good measure, she added dryly, "besides, let's not forget who put your face back together, Mr. Vakarian."
Vega uttered a low-key "Oh shit" from his seat as Ashley simply shook her head.
Tali giggled to herself as she looked at Garrus' utterly shocked expression.
"Okay. Fine, fine. I'll check, doctor." He shook his head and sounded exasperated but was clearly enjoying the joviality. "No need to remind me of just how pretty I was."
Cortez came back over the intercom. "Okay people we're touching down in ten seconds."
"Oh Goddess…"
They had just stepped off the shuttle and into the disaster that constituted the remains of the presidium. The smoldering rubble, the acrid smoke, the stench of the dead, and the shock of the utter desolation gave them all pause.
"Keelah, this is…"
Neither Liara nor Tali could finish their thoughts; it was too much to take in. They had seen the destruction of various worlds during the war, but this was different. It was too peaceful, there was no gunfire, no explosions and no shouting to accent the destruction. This was a wasteland, not a battlefield.
Ashley pulled them out of their shock. "Okay, people, let's focus. We're here to get the commander, not perform cleanup. We'll inform Admiral Hackett in our report and go from there. Let's fan out and keep your omnitools open on channel 109.12."
Tali had a feeling about where Sheppard might have sent his message from. She had used her omnitool to dig into the code of the message and had reasoned that it had come from an Avina interface.
I wonder if he used that little trick that me and Kasumi showed him. The signatures were very similar.
Delicately and with as much care as she could, she stepped over the charred remains of what she presumed to be three humans – two adults and one child, based on their respective sizes – and she wept openly. She looked around, seeking her friends, trying to gauge their own reactions in a vain attempt to see if she was alone in her reaction. The two Alliance soldiers were making their ways in forward through the carnage with faces hard and stoic. Garrus was much the same, but Liara had more than a few tears streaming down her face. Glancing behind her, Chakwas and her team were waiting by the shuttle, her face unable to hide her own dismay. Tali let out a long exhalation and started to make her way forward. After she gingerly stepped past the bodies, she stopped again in order to collect herself.
Okay, deep breaths, Tali. You can't do anything for these people. Tunnel vision; stay focused. That's what John would tell you, and he'd be right. Now where was that terminal? Keelah, this all looks so different now with all of this…destruction. How did John navigate through this?
It was at the thought of his name when she saw him. In truth, it was the flickering visage of Avina that she had noticed first. From there, her eyes trailed downward to see the slumping form of her serya. His chin was resting on his chest with his arms lying limply at his side, and she feared the worst.
But it was still him. She had found him.
She hoped with desperation that she had done so in time.
Thinking and reacting quickly, Tali immediately opened her omnitool and her comms.
"Keelah! I've found him! He's at the Avina terminal! Lock onto my omnitool's position!"
She immediately stretched her legs into a sprint, nearly tripping and falling herself along the way.
Oh John, please be alive. Please be alive…
She kept going, her heart pounding ferociously in her ears. Once, she did trip, her hands caught her weight as she fell forwards and her legs never stopped churning.
It didn't even slow her down.
In a few short seconds she was at his side, dropping to her knees as she held his face in her hands. Her fingers ran lovingly down his cheeks. She did not hear the others join her. She barely registered the sorry state that the commander was in, though she did notice the generally bad shape that his entire left side appeared to be in.
Oh John, what happened to you?
Desperately, she pleaded to him. The sobs and desperation were equally evident in the sound of her voice. "John, please. Wake up, serya. It's me, your Tali."
Please wake up. Please be alive. Please, John, come back to me…
With instinctive recognition, Shepard raised his right hand to cup hers and let out a soft groan. Coughing, his eyes fluttered open and those vibrant blue orbs sought out her bright, luminescent pearls. When they locked, the truth of what Shepard had been able to do finally registered.
Oh God…did that really work? Is that you, Tali? My angel? I'm not dead? This isn't a dream? Oh…oh…thank you.
His eyes widened with recognition that this was indeed Tali'zorah vas Normandy. Her hand was on his face, his hand was holding hers pressed against him. Indeed, he was joyously seeing his serya. His Tali.
His voice was raw and hoarse as he responded. "I see you got the invite, Miss vas Normandy. Thanks…for coming. I was worried you were gonna be…late." His voice trailed off, as Chakwas arrived with her team. Garrus softly voiced reassurances to his dear friend, gently pulling Tali away from Shepard so the doctor and her team could get to work. She did not take her eyes off of him as he was loaded onto the stretcher. Chakwas gave her a knowing smile and a nod as they lifted the commander past her.
He's really going to be okay. Oh Keelah…
They followed as Shepard was taken away to safety. Tali was engulfed in the arms of her friends. They wept openly, happily, and without reservation.
As for Tali? Well she finally thought that maybe everything would be all right, after all.
Eighteen months later – Rannoch
The orange light of the star Tikkun bathed the lone house on the edge of what had become known as "Shepard's Cliff". It had been constructed of native stone and built primarily by its occupants (with a little help from Garrus - but they would only admit this if pressed by their turian friend).
They had built themselves a home.
On the walls hung various items: a photo of a beautiful young quarian woman without her mask, her eyes glowing and full of love; a framed collection of various medals of valor and recognition from the Systems Alliance, the Quarian Republic, The Turian Hierarchy, and the Galactic Council among them; sets of letters honorably releasing a certain Commander John Shepard from service to both the Alliance and as a Council Spectre; a staged photo of a ragtag collection of crewmates and friends - "family" if any of them were asked - gathered around the couch in an apartment that had served to host their last hoorah and their great goodbye.
EDI, the AI that had just begun to understand what it was to be human and had fallen in love with a certain pilot; then fallen victim to the Reapers' fate. A crewmate and friend to whom Shepard would never be able to apologize.
Joker, the wisecracking smartass who was the best damn pilot in the galaxy. A man who had not yet been able to bestow forgiveness upon the commander for EDI's loss.
"Look Joker, I'm sorry…about everything."
"Fuck you, commander. And with all due respect, keep your apology. Because I can't forgive you. I can't. Not yet."
Miranda, an ex-Cerberus agent that had finally come to grips with her own humanity.
Jack, the "psychotic biotic" that had been irrevocably changed into a strong and caring (albeit profane) young woman.
"Don't worry Tali, the fucker is only temporary. Besides, Shepard will think it's hot."
Wrex and Grunt, the fiercest warriors that Shepard had ever met. If Grunt was the future of the krogan, then Wrex was its shaper.
"The future is in good hands with you two."
Ashley, who had been everything to Shepard - lover, betrayer, and finally a loyal friend. As a Spectre, she had become a testament to humanity.
"Skipper, thank you…for sticking by me. Even though I…"
"Ash, it's all right. You've made all of us, especially me, proud."
It was a reminder of the bonds that they had shared; of friends lost and lives gained.
The purple and gold emblem of Clan Zorah hung with pride along the wall by the stairs leading to the second level.
Hanging next to it was the emblem of the human "N7" designation, with its red and white coloring, which had come to represent what they jokingly referred to as "Clan Shepard".
The sounds of gently splashing water and the occasional giggle could be heard from the second level.
Tali'Shepard vas Rannoch was enjoying herself immensely. Thanks to last-minute uploads by the Geth, the entirety of their research (which had been far more extensive than any quarian would have guessed) regarding improvements to, and adaptations of, the quarian immune system had been saved on every database and downloaded into every individual quarian's suit on the entire planet. Piecing together what had happened, quarian researchers – primarily led by Tali herself – had determined that the Geth in the Sol System had ascertained what the energy wave from the Crucible was doing. As a result, they broadcast a signal ahead of the wave back to the Geth on Rannoch. In their final moments, the created had granted to the creators the culmination of their work.
"Yes, Auntie Rahn – they had souls."
The data had allowed the quarians to make adaptations much more quickly.
They allowed Tali to take a bath. Naked. With her bondmate.
Ergo, she was enjoying herself.
Immensely.
Presently, she was laying her head back on John's chest, with his legs wrapped around her waist and his arms around her breasts as he held her close. Occasionally, Tali would kick her feet, giggling at the sheer pleasure of being completely free. Her suit was folded on the floor next to John's oak cane as it leaned against the wall.
"Oh John, I've dreamed about doing this since I was a little girl!" She giggled again.
John chuckled slightly, himself filled with her energy and joy.
As he ran his eyes across the shape of her body, he - not for the first nor last time - marveled at the soft and mesmerizing lavender of her skin. He was entranced. She was intoxicating. Cocking an eyebrow, he asked her coyly, "You really dreamed of being naked, wet, and between my legs for the last twenty years?"
She stopped moving and turned her head to face him.
"The 'naked and wet'? Yes. The 'between your legs'? That came later." She leaned up and kissed him.
"Bosh'tet." She giggled again.
After a few more moments of wet mirth, Tali sighed contentedly while running her fingers along her lover's forearms. She would occasionally stop to inspect one of the many scars that his skin had come to bear; frowning at the physical reminders of the hell that he – that they both – had gone through to reach this moment. He wheezed slightly on occasion now, she noticed. Along with the necessity for his cane, it was just another reminder of what he had lost, never to return. But so much more had been gained.
Shepard was not going to complain about that particular trade.
"Serya?" she asked.
He moved his hand to stroke the beautiful black hair that he was now privy to seeing and touching. He lightly ran his fingers through it as he made sure to gently press his fingers to her scalp as his fingers made their way back to her neck.
She cooed contentedly.
"Yes, love?"
"Thank you for coming back to me." She sounded distant as she said this, as she remembered the horror of that moment. She shuddered slightly as Shepard tightened his arms around her protectively.
He kissed the top of her head. "Well, with motivation like this, how could I not?"
Tali didn't respond to his question; she didn't have to.
Without warning, Tali released herself from his grasp. Turning quickly but carefully, she straddled him to face him, smiling brightly as she gazed with absolute love into his bright blue eyes.
Shepard looked directly into her own glowing eyes in reciprocation of her love.
They both moaned softly as she kissed him deeply.
When she pulled her lips away from his, John spoke.
"You know, it's been quite a ride, Miss vas Normandy." The old pet name that he had given her would never be dropped.
She gazed at him with a face full of love; it reflected the contents of her heart.
"That's 'Miss vas Rannoch' now, thanks to you."
He closed his eyes, reflecting on the last four years in a matter of seconds. He sighed contentedly as he covered her hands with his.
"Maybe, but I get to be 'Shepard vas Rannoch' thanks to you."
Tali looked away, still not convinced that she should be given as much credit as he had given her.
Gently, he turned her face to him once more.
In his eyes, she saw that maybe, this one time, she did deserve the credit.
He wrapped his arms around her back as their lips met again.
It was a good end to a good day.
It had been a long time coming.