The stars were beginning to become visible in the evening sky as Garrus took Shepard's hand and with a cock of his head led her towards a set of stairs that went further down the hillside gardens. Shepard looked at the various armored turians attempting to climb to their feet. "Um, what about them? Shouldn't we help?"

"No." he said, pulling her towards him. "They'll be fine. I took the precaution of providing them with a medic and an open tab at the bar." Shepard saw Atala wave her forward as she spat out a mouthful of dirt.

She followed Garrus down a set of stairs to where the carefully manicured elegance of the gardens gave way to wild natural beauty and yet another stunning waterfall. "Why are there so many of these?" She whispered as they walked towards it.

"The winters on this continent are brutal and we get huge snowfalls that never fully melt. There are actually huge submerged lakes that never see the stars beneath some of the glaciers up there." He said, nodding to the white capped mountains that were beginning to gleam beneath the stars. "It's where we got the idea for the afterlife of our cursed and damned." Shepard looked to him in confusion. "Their spirits flow to a realm of dark and cold where you never see the light of the stars, moons or sun, completely cut off from all that is bright in the world." He shrugged. "But yeah, it's just because of gravity and a shit load of snow." He stopped her for a moment and then said "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"I said close your eyes. Trust me."

"I trusted you with dinner and ended up getting shot at."

"And you loved every minute of it." He said, his eyes gleaming. She couldn't actually argue with that. "Trust me, Moria." He said softly.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He took both of her hands and started leading her carefully across the grass. She could hear the rushing of the falls nearing them and felt the terrain under her boots change from soft turf to crunching sands and back again. They must be really close to the base of the falls because she could feel the kiss of spray on her cheeks. She was extremely aware of his hands as they gripped her own, and occasionally found her waist to guide her around some unseen obstacle. His breath tickled her ear and she felt the side of his scaled face whisper against her own.

Eventually he brought her to a stop and she felt him lift his visor from her face. She could tell he was standing close, his breath tickling her nose. She resisted the urge to reach out and grab him and pull him to her. "Open your eyes." He breathed.

They were surrounded by silver dancing light. Shepard's jaw fell open in wonder as she gazed around her. He had taken her behind the falls. They stood on a large relatively flat stone bearing a lush carpet of grass. A twisting willow-like tree with long trailing boughs had sprouted in the center, sustained by sunlight that must have fallen through the natural skylight above. Water cascaded down on all sides. The centuries of weathering from the water and the wind had hune the rock in such a way that curtains of water danced on all sides, leaving the beautiful space in the center. The velvety dark leaves of the tree shifted in a gentle breeze creating whips of dusky green against the purple blue spangled heavens. The radiance of the starlight reflected off the walls of water, casting ethereal silver light over everything around them. Shepard's eyes found Garrus' again and there was an ache in his eyes.

"Moria Dawn of clan Shepard," he said just loudly enough to hear the undertones of his voice over the song of the waters around them. "You are power and stealth and bear the kiss of the spirits of the dead at your fingertips. You give all of yourself for your clan upon the Normandy and have given all of yourself for those who sail between the stars." He took a deep breath. "You are maddening wit and unfaltering kindness. I have battled proudly at your side, owe you my life and my love. I seek to fight with you till the ends of time, till the fires of the forges in the stars grow cold." He stepped closer to her, placed a hand upon her face, running a thumb across her cheek, lost in her eyes. "And then I want to drink with you at that bar till there is nothing left of the world and never leave your side. Never." His eyes were shimmering with the silver filigree of the reflected starlight.. They seemed as infinite and full of gleaming stars as her galaxy map, or the systems out the window of her cabin; the possibilities in them infinite, too. "Will you stand with me?" He whispered softly, a question and hint of fear in his gaze.

She took his face in her hands, heart pounding. "Tell me how to answer," she murmured, "tell me what to say."

He looked uncertain. "You… you can just answer yes - or no." He added quickly, a hint of alarm in his voice. "I - I changed the phrasing so you could answer as humans do… I didn't want you to be confused and -"

She slid a thumb across his cheek, tenderly shushing him, the sound in harmony with the falls around them. "I'm not confused." She said gently. "I mean tell me how to answer 'yes' the turian way."

His eyes held something unreadable as he looked at her. He spoke and she echoed him.

"You ride at my side, my shield you shall wield, our blades shall not fade, though the starfires may die." He was breathing hard, gazing at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. She stepped even closer so there was barely an inch between them and whispered, "And I'll drink you under the table at that bar."

His eyes danced with the challenge and she pulled him towards her to seal the oath with body as well as soul.

/././././././././././././././././././

Their armor lay in gleaming piles in Venatrix's light, the moon having found the grass where the lovers had been hiding from the world. Shepard's hips pressed into the soft grass, her long legs pale against their deep green shade. Her head and arms rested on Garrus' chest, his arm around her, a single taloned finger making lazy circles on her lower back, leaving a sigil on her skin.

They had only just stopped breathing hard and now basked in the afterglow of each other. Shepard's fingers followed the moon's bright light across his carapace. "What do they mean?" She asked softly. "The words? Other than 'yes.'"

Garrus' hand drifted up her back to twine itself in her hair, his lip twitching. He spoke and she could feel the rumble of his voice in his chest. "They mean that I go to battle with you, that you defend me from harm, that we fight as one, and we will keep this promise to each other till the world ends and the skies go dark. And then apparently you drink me under the table." He added, chuckling. "Thank you for reminding me about that very ancient and sacred aspect of the vows."

She grinned into the burning warmth of his chest. "It's my job to keep you in line."

Still lying on his back, he saluted her. His body was burning and she was covered in sweat from their fight across the gardens and their exertions in the grass. Shepard pushed herself to her feet, Garrus' hands purposefully trailing everywhere they could as she did, and walked to the edge of the grass covered outcropping they had been lounging on. She stared into the deep clear depths of the pool below the falls. She backed up a couple steps and then dashed forward, leaping impossibly high into the air and tucking herself to plunge into the water with a graceful dive. Garrus came to the edge of the shore, watching her milky skin under the rippling surface as she glided through the waters. With the way the moons and stars were so perfectly reflected above he thought it looked like she was soaring through the stars, a being so powerful she needed neither ship nor suit; a creature so beyond this world her arms and legs could find purchase enough to propel her through the void. Her hair billowed in the waters behind her, a darker undulating cloud of red. Her head broke the surface and she gasped. "Fuck, it's freezing."

"Mountains, Moria." He called.

He began wading towards her, the steep drop bringing the water to his chest in two strides. She swam towards him and coiled herself weightless and shining in his arms, her legs wrapping around him.

She tilted her head, water running down her nose. "Can you really not swim?"

"Basically." He admitted. "But I'm going to have to learn if it means I get to see you like this."

She laughed.

"What the hell did she say?!" Atala's familiar voice rang through the air, startling Shepard and Garrus who almost lost his footing on the slick stones and tumbled further into the pool. He looked around and craned his neck to find Atala peering down at them from where she perched on a rock at the edge of the natural skylight. "Oh, was it a very physical and sensual, 'no, sorry.?'"

"ATALA!" Garrus roared but Shepard just laughed.

"I obviously agreed." Shepard called up to her.

"Good. Now get your clothes on you horny pyjacks and get up here. Everyone's waiting."

Shepard gave Garrus a confused look but he merely carried her out of the water, continuing to keep her in the dark. Once they had managed to get back into the undersuits for their amor, Garrus sent the rest of the heavy armor plates up to Atala with a drone that the spy just happened to have on her (Shepard found this level of preparation to be very suspicious.) Garrus led her along the stone ledge they had used to access the starlit cave and then walked barefoot across the grass to the stairs. He stopped her and said, "You have to come up on my signal."

Normally she would have protested, or teased, or fought or - something, but her heart was lighter than she could remember it being so she merely said. "Alright."

He squeezed her hand and then dashed up the stairs, disappearing out of view as they curved up to the next level of the gardens. She waited a minute, listening to the wind in the trees that stirred the tips of her slowly drying hair. Then she heard Garrus call softly, "Moria." And she began to ascend.

A few long strides carried her to the curve in the staircase and Garrus and the others came into view. He and Atala stood upon the landing above her. Beneath them, the twelve turians that she and Garrus had been fighting stood split down either side of the stairs. Shepard slowly climbed up, each turian nodding and sinking to a knee as she passed. Most bore tattoos of the same blue as Garrus and Atala, though there were a few exceptions including Zyan. Their eyes were bright as she passed and they remained kneeling in her wake. She reached the landing and Atala grinned at her. "Welcome to the family, Shepard."

/./././././././././././././././././././././

The bar was full of very loud and drunk Vakarians. Garrus, Shepard and their thirteen heavily bruised assailants had ended the night at Atala's favorite bar in Venatura. Atala explained that in turian culture there was a very uptight joining request ceremony that required the presence of a certain number of clan members to grant permission for the new member of the clan, so she had enlisted a battalion of her and Garrus' favorite cousins. Garrus had apparently been agonizing how to make the rather uptight ceremony more palatable to a human and had been sent several ridiculously cheesy romance vids by Joker.

"So you got your cousins to let us shoot them?" She asked incredulously.

Garrus shrugged and took another hearty swig of his drink. The carapace beneath his tattoo was nearly the same blue as the ink, a sign she was learning meant he had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and it was affecting him.

"How did you get them and the whole damn valley to be ok with this charade, exactly?"

"Well… I had another cousin give me a munitions waiver for "training exercises," the garden we used is actually going to be renovated for an event at the end of the summit, and oh - now all my cousins will have an Alliance tactical workshop on their service resumes. So if someone asks you about that down the road, say that yes, it is a thing."

Shepard punched his arm. "But I'm family now?"

"You've always been family." He said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You have to - hey!" Atala literally covered Zyan's mouth so she could be heard across the table. Zyan, it turned out, was Vakarian through his father. "You have to actually answer her, Garrus." Atala chided. She looked to Shepard. "There is still a lengthy joining ceremony and preparations for that because we are the stuffiest species in the galaxy, but the two of you are officially betrothed."

"Betrothed?" Shepard said. "That sounds like some king and queen kind of shit that comes with a kingdom." She looked at Garrus. "Do I get a kingdom?"

He rolled his eyes. "You are the greediest creature I have ever come across. No. You don't get a kingdom. You get me."

She gave him a long look up and down. "I guess that'll do."

He squinted at her. "Come on Shepard! Show a little enthusiasm."

"I think she showed you plenty of enthusiasm in the cave." Atala said to roars of approval from the cousins. She yelped when Garrus kicked her under the table.

He looked back to Shepard. "You should know that the females of Palaven will be bereft at my loss." Atala mimed retching behind him. "You don't want to lose your opportunity for some interspecies liaisons."

Shepard grinned. "Last time I checked there were several breeding requests with my name on them on Tuchunka. And then I cured the genophage and saved them from a bomb. So I'm sure there are even more opportunities now."

He shook his head. "Does that ego of yours know no bounds?"

"Nope."

"You're impossible." He said, pulling her towards him for a kiss that caused another round of Vakarian cheers and retching noises from Atala. "And you're mine."

/././././././././././././././././././././././././

Shepard walked alone down the streets of Venatura. She knew the path down from the Vakarian household by heart now. As she wound her way towards the Vena Center, the building that was currently housing the Primarch's offices and where the summit was to take place, she received a friendly wave from a few of the shopkeepers and people in the streets. The festivities of the night before had stirred much of the small mountain settlement.

Shepard had found the extended Vakarian cousins to be a warm and rambunctious bunch. Atala had explained Castus' absence from the Asking ceremony by saying that it was generally an event enjoyed by the younger generation, like human bachelorette parties. But Shepard had a feeling that it was a cover for the fact that Castus was not going to make a clear move against Rafia. And that was fine by her. She was beginning to understand and begrudgingly respect Castus' practicality and adhesion to the right way of doing things. He certainly had helped the meeting with the Primach go better than she had expected. And last night in the presence of the teasing and bickering younger Vakarians she had felt relaxed and had more fun than she could remember having for a while: not since she threw the party for her crew on the Citadel.

She respected Castus, but she knew that his presence would have weighed on Garrus and watching him with old friends and family had been wonderful. She had never seen him so animated. He had bickered furiously with a cousin bearing tattoos like Garrus' with the addition of a long line down the center of his forehead, and engaged another in a tournament of darts, which he lost to her in spectacular fashion.

They had pestered Shepard with questions, but not the kind she was used to. They couldn't care less about if she had really trusted Cerberus or what she thought of her service in the war. They were dying to know what fighting thresher maws on Tuchunka had been like, if the Prothean was a better shot than Garrus and if she preferred fighting with krogan or turians. She had answered that she obviously preferred to fight alongside turians, with a long sip of her drink and a pointed look at Garrus. He had insisted that the only reason that was the case was because she was actually a tiny krogan herself and preferred the turians because the other krogans could pick on her.

Zyan had been deeply disappointed when she had confessed that she did not believe she would be able to teach him to tear through biotic shields as she had done to him earlier that evening, but made it up to him by sharing the location of the weak point in turian armor. She made him promise to spread the word before the next large-scale conflict but said that he could feel free to use the information to his advantage in his free time.

Their rowdy party had drawn the attention of many locals who had come by to see what all the fuss was about and then offered their congratulations to Garrus and Shepard. Enough turians here seemed to know her name, but their reactions suggested it had positive associations, which was a nice change from her reception in the Vakarian home for being human.

On her walk to the Vena Center she thought she recognized several of the waving turians and felt honored that they had remembered her, although she supposed that was likely an easy task at the moment as she had been the only human in the settlement until that morning. Castus had found her a few hours after she and Garrus finally woke from their very active and very taxing night, to tell her that the new human council member had requested a meeting with her.

One of the turian guards had guided Shepard to the office and suite of rooms that had been offered to the human representative. Two Alliance guards stood outside the doors and a small desk had been erected in the hallway. The officers had all sprung to attention as soon as she came in sight. She set them at ease and waited for one of them to see if the Councilor was ready for her.

She brushed a wrinkle out of the sleeve of her dress uniform. Since the days following her trial for war crimes on Earth, she hadn't spent much time around Alliance personnel that she did not know personally. The way her fellow humans watched her was so different now. When she'd been on Earth, eyes and rumors that she was a dangerous loose cannon had followed her everywhere, despite the fact that she had very politely turned herself in to stand trial. Navy personnel she had never met before had stared daggers at her or even given her a wide berth as she walked past, as if she was going to kill them; as if she was some system-snuffing psychopath rather than someone who had made a very tough call. Now there was reverence and fear in their eyes that almost made Shepard feel more uncomfortable.

The door opened. "Ma'am," the officer said. "The Counselor will see you now." Shepard stood and followed her through the door. A woman stood at the far end of the room and turned to face them as they entered, her silvering hair gleaming in the afternoon sun. The officer saluted and exited the room, saying, "Commander Shepard, Counselor Shepard, please let me know if you need anything."