Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Tonbay, Private Office

"Nothing particularly new with the Heavy Fleet," Han'Gerrel said, as he looked over his datapad. "Standard things. Requesting additional funds for arming and upgrading, as normal. Oh...and I have received word that one of the survey teams has come across a derelict ship of unknown make. It is large, a bit over standard cruiser size. No active drive or life signs from passive scans. I request teams for examination and possible retrieval for use in the Heavy Fleet."

"What?" Shala blinked, looking up to the conference vid. "Really, Han? You don't start with the random massive potential resource?"

"Seriously, it's like you expected to drone on forever and slip it past us when you nearly bore us to death," Daro'Xen snorted.

"Agreed," Zal'Korris sighed. "I actually move that Daro sets up an exploration team, backed with marines."

Shala blinked again. "Wait, you actually want to let Daro go first? I'm...I'm actually impressed!"

"As am I," Daro's eyes narrowed. "I almost feel like it's some sort of trap."

"Oh, come on," Zal sighed. "I'm not saying she gets the ship for her Fleet. She doesn't have the crew resources to crew a ship that big anyway. I'm saying she sends the exploration team!"

"Annoying to admit, but it is logical," Han sat back with a shake of his head. "We can discuss what Fleet it ends up in once we have some sort of idea what we are dealing with."

"Done," Shala noted in the Admiral Logs. "Daro sets up a team backed by Fleet marines. And if Han is done, it moves to myself?"

"I am," Han nodded, setting down his pad.

"Very well, then, before I go into official Patrol Fleet business, I am taking my personal issues first. Objections?"

After a chorus of nos, Shala nodded again. "Thank you. As can be assumed, this is going to be about Shepard."

"Which one," Daro chuckled.

"The one with my massan's daughter," Shala growled. "I received word from Xera'Raan. Captain Shepard, of the Normandy, is bringing her to the Fleet personally…."

"We aren't arresting him," Han said, with an amused tilt to his head. "Just saying that now."

"Keelah, Han, I was upset and emotional. It was a stressful situation," Shala dropped a hand over her visor for a moment.

"Just thought I would say it," he fully chuckled.

"We have all read the reports that Tali and Kal'Reeger submitted, and we read the one that Xera submitted when she was healthy enough to send it," Shala sniffed, ignoring the male's provocations. "I would have been happier with an earlier report, but I will take what I can get, at this point."

"Shala, it's fine," Zal held up a hand. "Xera is your Jam'ma. Continue."

Nodding to Zal, in appreciation, Shala continued. "I received another report that, on the way here, the Normandy picked up a quarian distress signal and stopped to follow up on it. It turns out to be the Cynaid."

"Keelah, is that ship cursed or something?" Daro snorted, crossing her arms.

"There was a single survivor. Keup'Sora, the ship's junior engineer. It was her first mission after returning from her Pilgrimage," Shala read off the datapad. "Apparently the Normandy's ground crew had to fight off a massive wave of wild varren just to rescue her, the rest of the surviving crew having been taken by the varren."

"That...is disturbing," Han ran a hand over his visor. "She is going to need some time to recover from that. Was she wounded?"

"Suit breech, and minor injuries from the varren. The Normandy medical took care of them right away," Shala read again. "Xera has glowing things to say about the medical staff as well as the equipment on board."

"I'm going to cut in for a moment," Zal said, with another hand raise. "I was going to wait until the Civilian Fleet report, but it is relevant now. I received a report that a returning Pilgrim was assisted by Commander Shepard while stranded on Omega. Not to the point that it would be considered interference, but considering the location, I would accept anything short of handing the kid a brand new ship acceptable, if it got him off Omega."

"Agreed," Han nodded, with a laugh. "This is getting out of hand. He's doing more for the Fleet than most of us. And then there was his performance at the trial. Personally, I almost think that he could stage a full bloodless coup on us."

"Adding in the fact that he seems to have an actual Bond with Tali?" Zal chuckled as well. "It's almost like we should just accept him into the Fleet and be done with it."

"Why don't we?"

The entire Admiralty Board went silent as they stared at the speaker.

"Why don't we?" Daro repeated. "He has demonstrated nothing but compassion and caring for our people. He has gone on record, multiple times in our favor, even against the Council. He goes out of his way to assist stranded Pilgrims, and rescues downed quarian ships. Keelah, he performed some sort of miracle with saving Xera'Raan's life. Why not accept him?"

"He's not quarian," Zal started before stopping and shaking his own head. "No, that isn't fair. We have, and do accept asari that mate with quarians, even if they cannot live on the Fleet easily, or at all. We accept the asari children of quarians, even if they cannot live on the Fleet at all. I can't see any reasons to deny it."

"Tali claims to have a Bond," Daro spoke up again. "Xera and Kal'Reeger both support the claim. Personally, I listen more to Xera, as she is a medical professional, but Kal'Reeger is a level headed marine. But more importantly, Jazra'Xen believes it."

"I can't think of a down side," Han rubbed at his vocator light as he thought. "It will make us look accepting, seeing as how he took us to task defending Tali. I'm not sure how the Council would take it, with his status as a Spectre, but it might make them feel like they have some sort of 'inside man' with the Fleet, and we know that Shepard is more on our side than theirs. I just don't know how we would do it."

"Bonding ceremony," Shala said quietly, before speaking up. "We give them a Bonding Ceremony. A public one. Maybe dust off a few of the traditions we have been forced to set aside. The use of resources would be worth it as this is a unique situation."

The Admirals were all quiet for a moment before Daro nodded. "Agreed. I am a bit surprised you are as accepting."

"I...do not hate him," Shala twisted her hands together, in her lap. "When I snapped before….I regret much of that time. I was convinced that Tali was having a childhood crush. Then I convinced myself that Shepard was using her. Because I just didn't want to see her grow up. But...if it means she is happy? That is all that matters to me."

"Alright," Zal said into the silence that followed Shala's words. "Now, it is a fair assumption that Tali will think that there is no way she could have a real Ceremony. That leaves the question as to if he knows about it, and if he does, how much. He might need more information. This is a complex situation…"

"We have Xera talk to him," Han shrugged. "Seems pretty simple. She's there, and can give him the information he needs. We could go through Jane Shepard, but I'd rather keep this as quarian as possible."

"Very well," Shala nodded. "I will draft a message to Xera. And that ends my personal matters. I will move on to official issues with the Patrol Fleet."

Xera, SR-2 Normandy, Medical Bay

Xera leaned back in her chair. She had her feet propped up on the table in front of her as she typed and logged information into her datapad. She was also drinking a mild, sweet drink. It was bubbly with carbonation. Something the humans referred to as 'cola'. She kinda liked it.

Once she found that John's implants seemed to have adapted his system to handle dextro, as well as levo based foods, she looked into her own, because there was no way in hell that she would give up the opportunity to try new foods.

"Is...is it okay to have your feet on the table?" Keup'Sora said quietly. "It seems unsanitary."

"Hmm?" Xera looked over and blinked. She kept forgetting about the girl, the way she was curled up in the corner and was always so quiet. "Eh, it's fine. We are in FTL, and baring some sort of altercation, there shouldn't be any serious injuries. And besides, humans have way more powerful immune systems than any race short of krogan. It's why they are able to eat up so many colony worlds so quickly. Hell, if it wasn't for the krogan regeneration factor, I'd say that humans might actually be better."

"Amazing," Keup said quietly.

"Are...you okay?" Xera frowned as she spun her chair around to face the girl. "You've been in a huddle for the past two days. I've been checking in with your suit, to make sure there are no physical problems, but you are allowed to leave the med bay. I mean, the sleeper pods are more comfortable than in here."

"I...no," Keup said even quieter. "I don't like...aliens."

"Ah...you had a bad Pilgrimage, didn't you?" Xera gave the girls a sympathetic look.

"Ye...yes," Keup nodded, hiding her visor. "I had to...do..things. I'm...I broke rules. There are images...and some vid of me doing…"

The girl broke into sobs as Xera stood and walked quickly to her, wrapping her in a hug. "No one will blame you," she said quietly. "Everybody does it wrong. There isn't a single quarian that went out on their Pilgrimage and did it 'right'. There is no right. You survive. You survive and you return to the Fleet. What you did was survive and come home. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But...the images...the vid…" Keup coughed as she tried to speak.

"They will have been destroyed by now," Xera gently rubbed the girl's back. "That's why we have VI scrubbers in the extranet."

"I...forgot about those," Keup sniffled. "The humans here...they've been nice to me. It feels wrong. I don't trust them."

"Well, this is Commander Shepard's ship," Xera laughed. "You've seen him with Tali. He worships at the hem of her realk. You think he would allow anybody on this ship that would treat quarians poorly?"

"No," Keup's eyes were downcast. " I saw the Trial video. The rumors were all over that they are Bonded somehow."

"Ah, yes," Xera chuckled. "That is because it's true. I've looked into it, trust me. It's a real Bond."

"Then...they aren't as different?" Keup looked up. "They seem so...similar."

"They are similar. If I was into weird conspiracy theories, I'd buy into the Prothean common ancestor theory," Xera laughed.

"Well...they did uplift the Hanar…." Keup's voice was a little firmer now. "In fact, there has been speculation that they may have had an influence on how the Rachni evolved. Maybe even the Asari!"

"Oh, I see we have an ameture scholar?" Xera grinned.

"It's...just a hobby," Keup giggled quietly as she looked down embarrassed.

Xera's omnitool pinged, breaking the conversation for a moment as she glanced at the sender. "Hmm, message from the Fleet...Let's see...they got the report about you. Sending a heavily armed recovery team for the Cynaid. Personal...personal...wait...what the…?"

Xera read the message again. Then again. Then her eyes snapped up to Keup. "Well...things are getting weirder. I need to go talk to Shepard. In the meantime, try going out to the mess table? You can see when there are people from the window here. If you get uncomfortable, you can always retreat here and take a breather."

"I..I'll try," Keup nodded, glancing out the window. "Thank you. For listening. All the rumors said that you were terrible at talking to people, but I think you are great."

"Well, thank you! I-" Then Xera's brain caught up to what Keup had just said. "Wait. Who said I was bad at talking to people! I'll rip their balls off and shove them in their fucking induction port!"

"Ha, ha!" Keup laughed, leaning back. "That's more like what I was told about!"

John, SR-2 Normandy, The Loft

"Tali….you can bring your things here," John repeated himself.

"I heard you," Tali frowned. He was pretty sure it was a frown. She was down at the deck near the bed, working a the terminal there, while John was up at the larger desk near the main door. "I've just already told you that I don't need to. It's fine in my locker."

"No, it isn't," John was beginning to get a bit annoyed. "I don't know why everything about our relationship needs to be a struggle. Getting you to sleep here was a battle to end all battles. Now you don't want your things here. It's...illogical."

"Keelah," Tali growled quietly as she placed her visor in her hand. "This is difficult, John. Everybody on the ship knows about us. They have to at this point. I don't want them causing you issues."

John stopped and looked over at the woman he loved. "Has somebody said something to you? Honestly, Tali, anybody with that kind of attitude shouldn't be on this ship. I'd like to know if anybody is like that so I can show them to the airlock. I might even wait until we stop someplace with an atmosphere."

"This is part of what I mean," Tali leaned back in her chair and looked over at him. "You are getting aggressive about it. We aren't on a quarian ship. This is not the Flotilla. I can't be as free as...it...just-"

Tali's words were cut off as the door chime rang, drawing a dark look from John. "If it's not important, go the fuck away," he half yelled.

"John!" Tali gasped as she stood, irritated, as the doors opened to reveal Xera.

"Okay Tali, out," Xera jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Need some alone time with your mate."

For a moment, John could feel a flash of jealousy through the Bond, but is disappeared almost as fast as it came as she nodded moving to the door. "Alright. I should check in with engineering anway. We can talk about this later," she added as she walked past John, not looking at him.

As the door closed, Xera turned to regard John with a raised eyebrow. "She's pissy. What did you do?"

"I've been arguing with her about bringing her things up here, seeing as I have been able to get her to sleep here," John grunted before frowning. "Well, little more than half the week anyway."

"Ah," Xera nodded. "Makes sense. You being an ass explains a lot."

"Me?" John asked indignantly. "All I want to do is be with her!"

"Yes, I know," Xera sighed as she waved him up. "To the couch my asshole. We have some Fleet politics to go over and, apparently, I have some quarian culture to explain to you."

"Figures there is more politics. Can't ever get away from it," John shook his head as he followed Xera to the couch, sitting across the 'L' from her.

"It is an issue when you are important," Xera shrugged. "And this issue with Tali is actually more her fault than yours, as much as I like being bitchy at you. She should have explained things before it got to this point. She is probably looking at human media and making assumptions as to how your culture works."

John paused to look at the small female and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"For being as uptight as your people are about talking about sex, you seem to do a lot of it," Xera snickered. "It doesn't work that way for quarians. Being in the suits makes real skin on skin mating difficult at best, and mildly dangerous at worst. Adding the privacy issues, and it becomes a thing."

"A thing?" John gave Xera a look.

"Keelah…" Xera rolled her eyes as she draped herself back over the couch. "Once quarians are Bonded, they can't even really conceive of the idea of being with somebody else. They belong to their mate, and vice versa. Humans, however, mate all the time, with whomever. It can damage relationships, you have divorces."

"And you can't divorce somebody you are Bonded to," John sighed. "So she is worried I might stray because I am human, and not quarian?"

"Probably part of it," Xera half shrugged. "You saw the effect that kiss from Liara had on her. And she flipped out once when Jack kissed you. It is a weird position for her. And it isn't all."

"Of course it isn't," john sighed dropping his head back over the couch.

"Asking another to live with you isn't a light thing. There is a great deal of social implications. It falls into the privacy bit," Xera waved her hand casually. "Sharing resources and living space. Your privacy? That is incredibly intimate and has social ramifications. It's improper."

"But we are Bonded," John looked at the doctor again. "Isn't that what bonded couples do?"

"Sure they do," Xera nodded. "After the Bonding Ceremony. Right now Tali is struggling with the cultural taboo about living 'out of wedlock' I think it's called for you. I did some research so I could explain this properly. This is another problem forced on us by living on the Fleet."

"So my asking her to marry me didn't help?" John sighed, disappointed.

"Oh, no, that probably helped a lot," Xera looked at him with a smirk. "If you had the human ceremony done, it would probably satisfy that social issue for her. But, that's actually part of why I'm here."

"You want to get married too?" John smirked.

"Ass," Xera snorted with a roll of her eyes before becoming dead serious. "You are being offered the chance of a real bonding ceremony. It's for clear political reasons, but it's still a chance to give Tali what she has wanted since being a little girl. I'm supposed to make you the offer and explain what you need to do, and gather."

John looked at her silently for a moment. "I see," he said at last, looking down at the floor. "I assume the Admirals are going to make a big show of it?"

"That's the idea," Xera nodded. "But I was also sent a private message from Shala. She regrets her actions and wishes to make amends. Tali is important to her, and she wants Tali to be happy. Plus I think she has given up on me ever Bonding, so she is going to live her dream through Tali."

"What would that do to our status?" John leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as he clasped his chin in thought.

"It makes you quarian, for all legal purposes," Xera explained. "You get a vote in matters that come up. You will be expected to defend the Fleet. You're coming in as Captain of your own ship, which has its own prestige, and you won't have to bring a Pilgrimage gift. Oh, I'm also to mention that you will be given special status, in that you will be outside the standard Fleet order, and not forced to give up your ship or do any weird things. As for your status with the Alliance and Council? No idea. Quarians pulled out of the Council three hundred years ago. The fact that you are a Spectre would be the first major tie we will have had in a very long time."

"According to the Alliance, I am still officially dead," John chuckled. "And I'll deal with the Council. Tali is more important to me than they are anyway."

"Saying it like that, I am going to assume you intend to accept the Ceremony?" Xera tilted her head to the side in a smile.

"I will take the offer," John nodded. "Tell me what I need to do."

"Alright," Xera rubbed her hands together as she sat up. "Interestingly, quarians accept asari mates and children all the time, legally. Even turians occasionally, and such, even if they can't live on the Fleet, so it's not quite as unusual as it sounds, but there are steps."

"But quarians can't Bond with non quarians," John frowned slightly.

"No, but we can still fall in love, John, don't be an ass," Xera gave John a dark look. "It isn't the same, of course. It doesn't have that soul wrenching completeness that a true Bond does. Others have been in love with other species and gone on to a true Bond. The difference is real."

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend," John held up his hands in defeat.

"Ah, no, sorry, that's on me," Xera sighed. "It's why Shala flipped out when Tali told her that she had Bonded. She assumed that Tali mistook romantic love for the Bond and was going to end up incomplete because of it."

"That explains her visceral reaction," John nodded. "Back to this Bond."

"Right," Xera pulled up her omnitool. "It's pretty simple. The Ceremony has been stripped down to the important parts. It's asking your mate. Getting a Captain to do it, and saying 'Do you? Yes. Do you? Yes.' and that's it."

"That...is pretty simple," John coughed quietly.

"It's what we are reduced to," Xera said bitterly. "However there is one thing. The giving of rings for humans is interesting, we do a necklace, more or less for the same purpose. Giving Tali's ring to her with a chain, so she could make it a necklace was a good touch."

"Coincidence," John shrugged. "Do you think I should give her a quarian version as well?"

"Definitely. When we were children we played the games where we pretend to get Bonded and such. The Pal'tec vis Surden is part of that dream," Xera half smiled. "When we were on the Homeworld, they were made of precious metals, had intricate carvings, things like that. Now they are usually made of scrap found any place they can be found. And instead of wearing them proudly in the open, now there is a special pocket on the inside of the suit, above the heart, that holds it."

"I...I have more resources at my disposal," John said carefully. "Can I make it the old way?"

"You can," Xera smiled fully. "The point of the Pal'tec vis Surden is to one's future. It is a crystallization of who you have become and who you intend to be. I can't give you advice beyond that. It has to come from here," Xera jabbed at his chest, where a quarian's heart would be, more under the breast bone. A little harder than she really needed to. "What I will do is give you some image examples, so you can get the idea."

His omnitool pinged as he brought up the images. The first few images were of medallions made from silver, gold, or other precious metals, though one seemed to have been carved out some large gemstone. The engravings seemed to consist of homes, vineyards, or even cities, with quotes or names around them.

The next set were much more humble, bits of steel or aluminum, the most intricate one involved copper wiring. The images on these tended to be cruder, though no less heartfelt. They were of ships, mostly. Probably birthships to home ships, one seemed to be of some space station.

"Ah...I've seen that look before," Xera growled quietly. "That is the look of pity."

"I'm sorry," John sighed, closing his omnitool. "That wasn't my intention."

"I know," Xera snorted as she stood. "Still is irritating. I'll leave you to your planning. I sent you a document about the words for the proposal. There is no set of specifics here either, but there is a theme. In the meantime, don't say anything to Tali until you are ready to ask her. And for this one? Do it in private."

Quarian Lexicon

Massan: Quarian equivalent to a best friend and confidant. As close as one can get without being on a life path. The paths of friendship can share similar paths as those of mating, and at times, they can blur or even switch, before the end.

Jam'ma: Child of a secondary mate. Ex- Xera'Raan is the child of Garu's secondary mate, and is thus, Jam'ma to Shala'Raan

Realk: Cloth covering used by the quarians. It is used to describe not just the hood seen on most but any material adornment.

Pal'tec vis surden: Medallion presented during the Ceremony of Bonding. Literal translation: Symbol of Souls United. Quarians followed a different path, where humans would place a ring upon their bride, a quarian male would present a medallion depicting the future life of the newly bonded pair. Worn on a chain around the neck before the war, they now are carried by every bonded female in a special pocket within their enviro-suits, just above their heart. Usually made from precious metals, the quarians in the fleet now use scrap metals to conserve resources.