Hello all :) My name is Sara and I am a long Mass Effect fanfic reader who finally decided to try my hand at it. This is my first attempt so I hope you guys like it. I'm going to try to keep this fic up with weekly updates but I wanted to put this first chapter out early to see if there was even any interest in it. Let me know what you all think! :) Also, I love writing prompts so if anyone has any prompts for me I would love to do some one shots of them or something!


Chapter 1

Love. It's what everyone searches for, what everyone yearns for in the depths of their souls, whether they realize it or not. It is known in the Milky Way Galaxy that everyone has a soul mate out there somewhere in the universe. Someone that holds the other half of their soul. Someone that it is perfect match for them. Someone they can truly trust their heart with.

Not everyone finds their soul mate however. There can only be an uncountable number of beings out there, all searching for the love of their lives. But truly, what are the chances of finding them at all? Many people live their whole lives without ever meeting their soul mates. Choosing instead of live and love with another rather than waste their lives on chasing a dream, many have found happiness this way. Many people live and die without love, believing that there is only one out there for them and if they can't find them why take someone else's chance to find their soul mate away? I can't imagine many find happiness this way.

But many out there do find their other halfs. It is not impossible. After all each race is born with their own instincts to draw them towards their soul mate. Their own...hints to help lead the way. Humans for example develop their soul mate's names on their arms. Drell often have dreams of their soul mate's memories. Turians feel a vague pull in the general direction of their soul mate. Every species from the well known Asari to the lesser known Raloi each have their own unique ability to help bring two halfs together to make a whole.

Whether you live with the mate you are destined or the mate of your choosing you can find true love. But sometimes when true love is farther away than you can fathom, you must work a little harder to find your happiness. Trust me. It's always worth it in the end.


When Sara and Scott Ryder turned 10 they were the most excited they had ever been in their short lives. At age 10 is when humans got their soul marks. As soon as they awoke they threw off their blankets and looked at their arms. On the inner part of their right arms starting under their wrists and spanning down the length of their arm, where once was blank, now bore the names of the people meant to be their soul mate. Running across the hall to each other's rooms, Scott got the jump on her and thrust his arm out first.

"Look Sara look!" he said "I've finally got my soul mark!"

Sara looked down and saw running about a third of the way down her brother's arm written was the name. "Suvi Anwar?" she asked, staring into her brothers smiling face. Scott had always been a bit more tan than Sara. His dirty blonde hair curled slightly as it reached his ears and he had a handful of light freckles dotted across the middle of his face which complimented his light bronze skin nicely.

Scott was practically bouncing up and down. "Yup!" he said "Suvi. Such a pretty name. I've never met a Suvi before have you?" Sara shook her head. "Well I guess I will someday. Suvi...my soul mate" He said as he affectionately rubbed the name along his arm. Seeing that made Sara smile, she had done the same thing upon seeing her own soul mark and had a feeling they would probably do it a lot in the future."Lets see yours Sara!" Scott said, excited to hear who his twin sister would end up with. He looked up at his sister's face with obvious childlike impatience.

Where Scott tanned in the sun, Sara burned. Her strait dark brown hair reached just below her shoulders, which after having proclaimed months ago that she wanted to see how long she could grow it, hadn't been trimmed in awhile. Whereas he had probably two dozen or so freckles on his entire body she had close to a hundred dotted all across her face, with hundreds more cascading down her shoulders and arms. Freckle splashes along her chest and legs as well. They once tried to count them all but to quickly gave up. With pale skin more than a few shades lighter than his, you would never know that they were twins unless told. Siblings yes, but maybe not twins.

Sara frowned "I can't read mine" she said almost disappointingly, showing him her arm. It was a name that ran about half way down her arm and looked like it was written in cursive. Like the kind of cursive that looks so fancy you can't even read it, the ends of a few of the letters striking up as if it was written with a calligraphy brush. She did know one thing tho. "They definitely aren't human letters." she mused "I kinda like it tho, I think it looks cool the way the letters are shaped. Do you know which language this is?" she asked her brother.

"I have no idea" he said shaking his head. His own mark was written in English so he knew she at least was human. "You sound kinda bummed, are you disappointed that your soul mate might be an alien?" It wasn't unheard of for a human, or any race really, to have a soul mate outside of their species. Uncommon yes, but not unheard of.

"No. I'm just a little sad that I can't read it is all. I know I'll love whoever it is I just wish I knew their name." Sara said a little frustrated but soon perked up. It didn't really matter right now anyway. They will get to see what all the other writing systems of the alien races looked like in school so she will find out eventually. Smiling down at her arm she traced the strange script, wondering how many years it would take for them to meet each other. She doubted it would happen here on Earth. Maybe someday on the Citadel? "Come on, lets go show mom and dad!"

Following the human tradition, they did not have a party or see any of their friends on their 10th birthday, but they did get a very important gift. Alec and Ellen Ryder presented them each with their birthday presents.

"Now remember" their mother said, going down to her knees to join her children on the floor "These are very important and you must treat them with care."

"Yes" their father added, kneeling down as well to hand them each a small box. "These are very special. You must follow the rules and wear them always."

The twins nodded their heads. They both knew the rules, every human child did. When your soul mark appears you are never to show it to anyone except those you'd trust with your life, at least until you've actually found your soul mate. It's for your own protection. There are people out there who wouldn't think twice about scamming or harming you, using such sensitive information as the name on your arm. Pretending to be your soul mate to get close to you. Bad things aside it also gives it an air of secrecy. Like it's a special little secret to share with just you and those closest to you. You know you have a friend for life if they show you their soul mark. After two soul mates meet and fall in love however, they are free to show their marks to the world.

That's why the they knew exactly what was inside the boxes, after all it was the same thing every 10 year old gets for their birthday. It's the same thing that they've seen everyday pinned in a glass box hanging on their parent's bedroom wall, their parent's having removed theirs and framed them after they got married. But that didn't make it any less exciting. Ripping away the wrapping paper they held up their new treasures and grinned. Finally their very own soul guards. Arm bracers made to go around the entire circumference of the forearm and about a little over 3/4s the length. They slipped them on and tested the feeling, they were soft and light. Almost like a second skin.

Scott's was a deep red, almost maroon color while Sara's was a deep purple. Scott and Sara's names were both etched into their respective guards, light enough to not be obvious, along the inside right above their soul mark. Almost like they are touching their soul mate already. Their mother smiled as she watched her children admire what would become part of their identity for many years to come as their father explained the guards. Being a high ranking officer in the Alliance had it's advantages because Alec had the best made he could find both on and off world. They were made of a mix of both human and alien materials, very small and tight fibers so they would never shred or tear unless you REALLY tried. Strong enough that it could take a beating if it needed to. They were also slightly stretchy so they would grow with you. Soft and breathable so they wouldn't irritate the skin so they could be worn literally 24/7 and it basically feel like a part of your body. Stain resistant and scratch proof these were meant to last them their whole lives. In the past people had to make do with normal cloth or leather bracers that had to be replaced as they were worn down or were taken off regularly to bathe and let the skin breathe. Alec didn't want that for his kids. Both Alec and Ellen had saved for many years to be able to afford top of the line soul guards for their children.

Sara and Scott loved them and quickly proclaimed that they would never take them off. They couldn't wait to wear them to school and show all their friends. Sara went to bed that night tracing her soul mate's name, of course having already memorized it, over hers on her guard.

Finally. she thought as she drifted off to sleep Her life was truly starting.


The next few years passed the for the Ryder twins the same as any other child. They went to school, they came home, they played and then they did it all over again. Although having a father in the Alliance did make things a LITTLE different. When other children went outside and played baseball with their dads, Sara and Scott trained with theirs.

"You must always be ready to defend yourselves" he said "Even if you never have to fight in your life, even in times of peace, everyone needs to know how to defend themselves." With Alec the twins learned hand-to-hand combat and how to shoot a gun. Sara was always better at this than Scott was.

When other kids played games or had tea parties with their moms, Sara and Scott trained with theirs.

"It's always a good idea to know how things work" she said "Even if you don't make this your career, having the basic knowledge will undoubtedly help you someday." With Ellen the twins learned how to program and hack things. Scott was always better at this than Sara was.

They had also moved around quite a bit as their father got re-assigned to new stations, seemingly never staying in the same place for more than 6 months or so. It wasn't all bad, after all they did get to travel and see new places and experience new things. And with every new city or new country they visited, just like any other child, they kept their eyes and ears open for their soul mates.

At 14 their father told them that he was getting a permanent assignment at the Citadel so they would be living there for the foreseeable future. Sara was ecstatic. Scott...not so much.

"Why do we have to move to the Citadel?" Scott complained for probably the tenth time since they started packing. "What's wrong with staying here on Earth?"

"Would you stop whining? You're going to love the Citadel and you know it." Sara replied as she went through her belongings, trying to decide what to bring with her and what to leave behind. Although their apartment on the Citadel will be spacious it was still going to be smaller than the house they had now. "Think of all the new species we'll get to meet. We hardly see any non-humans around here besides asari and the occasional turian. "

"Hmmm you're just saying that because you still haven't figured out what species your soul mate is."

Sara looked down at her arm, unbarred because she was just around family, and ran her fingers down the mark. It was true, she still hadn't figured out what language it was or even what species it came from. Years of research had turned up nothing, the closest thing she could find was some old Drell language from when they lived on Rakhana. Close but not close enough. It's been 4 years and she still didn't know what species her soul mate was and it was really starting to bum her out. Shaking her head she began packing.

"You're right. I don't know what species my soul mate is but the Citadel has all the collective knowledge of all the species in our galaxy, I'll figure it out there." She was certain. She would find her soul mate at the Citadel, or at the very least be able to translate their name.

"But what if Suvi is still here?" Scott mumbled quietly.

Sara looked up "Is that what you're so worried about?" The sheepish look he gave her told her everything she needed to know. Laughing she said "Really Scott? You know she's not here, we've been to 7 different countries and we still haven't found her. What makes you think she's not on the Citadel? There are plenty of humans there. Hell she could even be in the Alliance! You said yourself that you wanted to join, maybe you'll meet her there. Besides you know that most people don't meet their soul mates until they are adults anyway so what are you worried about? We still have plenty of time and it's not like we'll never come back to Earth again. Now shut up and start packing will ya? I'm not going to help you cram everything if you leave your packing till the last minute like last time."

Scott smiled and threw some dirty underwear at her, knowing it would make her squeal and run away, revenge for lecturing him but knowing she was right. What was he worried about? He still had his whole life to find his soul mate there was no reason to spend it searching the globe for someone who may not even be there. He'll find her eventually, and until then he'll live his life.


At 15 their mother fell ill. It was eventually diagnosed as AEND, a rare neuro-degenerative disorder. It was terminal and had no known cure but what made it worse was that there was no way of knowing when it would eventually take her. She could live another day or another 20 years. After her diagnoses their father secluded himself, working on some secret Alliance project or another. They began to see their father less and less so they clung to their mother more and more. One day Ellen had enough of it.

"I'm no invalid you know." Ellen said, waving off her son's attempt to get her in a wheelchair. "I can walk to the restaurant just as well as you two. Now come. We need to talk"

The Ryder family made their way to The Chat Noir, a restaurant nearby their apartment known for it's diverse food choices. There was no less than 3 different dishes from each race represented on the Citadel. After ordering their food Ellen looked at her children, both looking at her with something akin to dread, no doubt expecting her to have bad news.

Sighing she started "I want you two to get out of the house more." They started to open their mouths to protest but before they could she added "I'm fine. I don't want you two wasting your lives away taking care of me when I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. My disease is manageable and when it gets to the point that it isn't believe me I will ask for help. I want you to go out with friends and have fun and study for your careers like any teenager should."

"But mom what if something happens?"

Ellen smiled at her daughter. "Something could happen whether you're there or not. I have your father there to take care of me. And even when he's not home I have my omni-tool with me at all times. I can make a call to the Citadel's emergency line just as easily as you can. Besides I'm feeling fine and I plan to be around for a long while." Just then the food came which provided a perfect distraction to their current line of conversation. "Now!" their mother clapped "Tell me about what you two are wanting to do with your lives."

The family talked and ate and went home and talked some more, finally deciding that they can't just stay at home with their mother forever and instead have to make something of themselves. They are Ryders after all. Scott decided that he wanted to go into the Alliance when he turned 18 like his father. He will train and work hard and get into the N7 program and from there who knows where he will go. Sara decided that she will go to the Citadel University and become a multi-species Zoologist, maybe even someday visit other alien worlds and work with animals there?

So that's what they did. They went out and made friends and had fun and studied for their chosen careers. Of course they still kept up with the weekly training their parents instilled in them back on Earth. After all, you never knew when it would come in handy right?


Yes, yes I know that Suvi can only be romanced by females in the game but I just LOVE her and I'm not that big of a fan of Cora so I wanted my Scott to have some Suvi love this time :) So yes, again this is my first real try at a fic so let me know what you all think! Love you all!

P.S. Yes my real name IS Sara spelled the same Sara Ryder's was in the game. Made it a bit more fun and exciting playing the game because that's the first time that's ever happened to me lol I kinda wish they would have used her real name more instead of saying just Ryder (especially for the love interests) but I get why they couldn't. I'll just have to make up for it in this fic :D