A/N: Happy N7 Day everyone. My final gift to you all to mark this special day was inspired by the now confirmed Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. We are finally getting the remaster they we've wanted. With this news, I've decided to do a sort of remaster of my own. Mass Effect: After the War has been without a doubt, my most successful story that I've shared on this site. It took two years to write and is long enough that I would call it the only novel I've ever written. However, there was one small thing wrong with it. To get the full experience of the story, readers had to turn to the events of my story Mass Effect: The Extended Extended Cut. Originally written as my way of handling the disappointment that was Mass Effect 3's ending, it unintentionally led to me finding inspiration to write After the War and use its chapters as a prologue and epilogue for that story. So when readers want to get the full story, they have the read the first four chapters of the Extended Extended Cut, then read After the War and finally read the final chapter of the Extended Extended Cut. Now I wrote these stories and even I think that sounds complicated.

Which brings us to my decision to remaster the story. For the most part, the story has not been changed. Instead I have combined After the War with my Extended Extended Cut story to give you all a chance to enjoy in one complete package. Now you don't have to go back and forth between stories anymore. I will keep the original versions available for two reasons. First is because the original run of After the War was one of the best times of my life and I want to always be able to look back on it and the followers who have enjoyed that story and were my support system throughout the process. The second reason is because I want to keep the option open for readers who love one stories events but not the other to be able to enjoy just the story they like. Mass Effect is a series about choice impacting the story and I feel this gives my readers the chance to have that experience with my stories.

Now before we get started, I feel I should give those of you who are discovering my story for the first time the same disclaimer i gave in the original. This story follows a few adventures I thought Shepard could have after the events of the games. Before I begin I want to warn you all of one thing. There WILL BE deaths in this story, including some beloved characters from the games. I'm sorry if some of you might not approve of my choices. I don't like the idea of doing it but I feel it is going to be necessary to the story. But that's the beauty of the Mass Effect series. No one has to have the same head-canon of how the series plays out. This story is just going to be one of potentially infinite ways the series could go after the last game. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this series as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also my Shepard is an Earthborn paragon soldier with the War Hero background.

Special thanks to Berserker79 for allowing me the use of his artwork for the cover image. The original artwork can be found on his deviantart account. Just search for the piece "Mass Effect - Marriage"

Okay enough of the formalities. Whether you are reading this story for the first time or hundredth time, I hope you enjoy Mass Effect: After the War (Remastered).

"Gasp"

Shepard took a deep breath as he began to wake up. His head was throbbing due to whatever it was that knocked him out. How long he had been out was up in the air. The first thing he noticed when he had fully woken up was that the lower half of his body was pinned under rubble. It didn't take long for him to figure out that there was no way he could get the rubble off by himself. With nothing else he could do, he took a look around and saw that the room he was in looked like a bomb had gone off. Shepard barely recognized it as the room on the Citadel where he had activated the Crucible. In fact, activating the Crucible was the last thing he remembered before being knocked unconscious.

When he first arrived in the room, he met the Catalyst. The Catalyst, the critical piece needed for the Crucible to work and originally thought by Shepard to be the Citadel, turned out to be an artificial intelligence that was revealed to be the source of the Reapers, the living dreadnoughts Shepard and the rest of the galaxy were currently at war with. After explaining a little more about itself, the Reapers and the Crucible, the Catalyst gave Shepard a choice. Shepard could use the Crucible either to destroy the Reapers, control them or use it to merge organic and synthetic life. The Catalyst then went on to say that of those choices, synthesis was the best choice for the galaxy. Shepard however had to disagree. Forcing that big of a change on the galaxy was not his choice to make. As for controlling the Reapers, Shepard felt that there would be no guarantee that somewhere down the line, he wouldn't become corrupt and use the Reapers for evil. In Shepard's mind, the only option that had a chance at lasting peace was to destroy the Reapers. Unfortunately the Catalyst had warned him that the destroy option would not limit its effects to just the Reapers and would destroy all synthetic life. This meant the geth race and Shepard's A.I. friend EDI would be killed as well. Sadly Shepard felt there was no other choice.

After remembering everything that had happened before, Shepard began to assess his current situation. He should've been dead. He may have survived many things in the past but this if anything should have been what finally did him in. It had to be a miracle. That was the only thing that could explain it. But even if he did survive the Crucible being fired, the real question now was how to get out from underneath the rubble. He had been severely injured when he raced to the beam that took him from London to the Citadel. He had used every bit of strength he had getting to the Citadel arm controls, taking down the Illusive Man, and apparently surviving the activation of the Crucible. Shepard sighed in frustration. Even though he had survived one hopeless situation, he only ended up finding himself in another one. Before he had the chance to think about the problem more, he began to drift back to unconsciousness.

"SHEPARD!"

A voice calling his name snapped Shepard awake.

"SHEPARD!"

Another voice different from the first one was heard next. Shepard couldn't help but notice that there was something familiar about each of them. Suddenly he heard a large group of voices calling him at once.

"SHEPARD! SHEPARD! COME ON COMMANDER WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Finally Shepard figured out where he had heard the voices before. It was his crew from his ship the Normandy. He tried once more to get the rubble off of him but it was no use. The rubble was too heavy and he just didn't have the strength to move it on his own. He then tried to call out to the crew but he didn't even have the strength to get any words out. The crew was now beginning to move on to another location.

"Come on Shepard," he thought to himself, "you've gotten yourself out of tougher spots before. This is nothing compared to Elysium."

Then he looked to his right and found his pistol lying next to him. He had almost forgotten he still had it after using it to help activate the Crucible. To his relief it still had its thermal clip inside. Deciding that the gun was his best and last chance to get himself out of this mess, he reached for it. It took a little effort but his hand was able to reach just far enough to grab it. The gun had saved his life many times in the past so Shepard had no doubt that it would work this time. He fired one shot into the air. The sound of the shot caused the crew to freeze where they were.

"What was that?" somebody called.

"Get down! Somebody's firing at us!"

Shepard proceeded to fire a couple more shots into the air.

"Something's not right. I'm hearing the shots but I haven't felt any bullets fly by us. Do you think it's….?"

"SHEPARD!"

The last voice that Shepard heard speak was female and it was a voice that he would know anywhere. Suddenly he saw the source of the voice running up to him. He was right. It was Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams; Alliance soldier, the second human Spectre and most importantly his girlfriend.

"Shepard!" she exclaimed upon finding him. "Thank God you're alive! Medic! We need a medic over here! Shepard can you hear me?"

"Ash," was the only thing Shepard managed to say before he passed out again.

"Shepard? Shepard! WE NEED A MEDIC NOW!"

Shepard's eyes opened to the sight of Normandy's Medical Bay. The doctor was nowhere to be seen but he did notice Ashley sleeping in a chair next to his bed. The sight made him think back to when he first came into contact with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. He was knocked out and later woke up to see Ashley next to him then too. Shortly after the Reaper War began, a Cerberus synthetic wounded Ashley and Shepard found himself sitting by her side at Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Citadel. Shepard thought to himself that what was going on between him and Ashley was definitely love. Anytime one of them was wounded, the other would come to their side. Seeing that she was within arm's reach, Shepard reached over and gently shook her. This caused Ashley to slowly wake up.

"Hey there beautiful," Shepard said, "oh wait that's what you're supposed to say to me isn't it?"

"Shepard," Ashley said as she got up and gave Shepard a hug, "you feeling okay?"

"I think so but I'll leave that for Dr. Chakwas to decide," Shepard said, "can you call her in here please?"

"You got it skipper."

A little later, Ashley returned with Dr. Karin Chakwas, medical officer of the Normandy. After giving him a quick check-up, she determined that he was going to be fine despite the wounds he received and having been unconscious for two days. Just like Shepard, she believed that his recovery was nothing short of a miracle. While the two ladies were happy with Shepard's recovery, they couldn't help but notice Shepard's face started to show signs of sadness.

"Is something wrong Shepard?" Chakwas asked.

"Anderson…," was all Shepard could say.

Ashley and Chakwas' faces fell. While Shepard was able to stop the Illusive Man, he was unable to do it before the Illusive Man used his abilities that the Reapers gave him to make Shepard fatally shoot his mentor and friend Admiral David Anderson.

"I'm sorry Shepard," Ashley said, "Anderson was a great man. A lot of the crew here knew him well. I didn't see a single face without tears when we told them. We did find him and brought him back with us. We will make sure that he gets a proper funeral."

Shepard smiled and nodded to show his appreciation for what Ashley said. It was then he remembered something else. He somberly looked up towards the intercom.

"EDI?" he said softly.

The only response he got from the intercom was silence. He bowed his head and silently cursed to himself. He wanted to believe that the Catalyst was bluffing and that it was only going to be the Reapers the Crucible destroyed. The fact that EDI didn't answer his call confirmed that the Catalyst was indeed telling the truth.

Shepard then noticed that Ashley and Chakwas were looking at him with confusion. He quickly realized why. While Ashley and Chakwas had been on the Normandy when EDI died, Shepard wasn't so they had every reason to be confused as to how he knew what happened to her.

"Yes I know EDI's dead," he said, "it's a long story and I promise I'll tell it later. First tell me how Joker's doing."

Shepard was referring to the Normandy's pilot Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau. Joker and EDI had begun a romantic relationship during the Reaper War. Part of it was thanks to a little encouragement from Shepard. That made it all the more difficult when Shepard thought about how he was now partially responsible for her death and how Joker was taking it.

Chakwas sighed, "Jeff hasn't been taking her death well. He's been angrily crying out for an explanation for how come no one knew the Crucible would affect all synthetics. Garrus is with him right now."

"Okay. I'll talk to him when I'm a little better."

"Shepard," Chakwas continued, "I realize that this might not be the best time but Admiral Hackett is waiting outside to speak with you."

"Hackett?!" Shepard said surprised. "What's he doing on the Normandy?"

"He said he wanted to give the war debrief to you in person when you woke up," Ashley answered, "no matter how long it took. He's been coordinating rescue and reconstruction efforts from here while he waited."

"All right, send him in Doctor."

Admiral Steven Hackett, commanding officer of the Alliance Navy, entered as soon as Chakwas called for him. Chakwas and Ashley left the med bay so Shepard and Hackett could talk alone. Shepard greeted him with a salute to which Hackett saluted back. After a quick handshake, Hackett took a seat across from Shepard.

"Well you may not look like you're in the best of shape but it is damn good to see you alive and well son," Hackett said, "you'll be happy to know that the Crucible worked. There is not one Reaper still alive out there. The war is over."

"That's good to hear sir," Shepard said though there was still some sadness in his voice, "we still suffered a lot of losses though."

"That we did. Hammer team was nearly decimated trying to get to the Citadel beam. You and Anderson were the only ones who made it before it got so bad we had to pull the rest of the team out. We also discovered after you fired the Crucible that it didn't just affect the Reapers."

"I know sir. It wiped out all synthetic life."

Shepard's response surprised Hackett, "how do you know that? Did the doctor or Commander Williams tell you?"

Shepard then explained to Hackett everything that happened while he was on the Citadel in the moments before the Crucible was fired. As he went on, Hackett just sat and listened with a look of deep thought. When Shepard had finished, Hackett quietly sat for a minute pondering everything he had heard before finally speaking.

"Shepard I don't know how you managed to make a choice like that."

"It wasn't easy for me to make sir but I just couldn't force synthesis on the galaxy nor did I trust myself to control the Reapers."

Hackett held up his hand, "You don't have to defend your choice to me Shepard. I have the upmost confidence that you made the right one."

"Believe me sir I'm glad that the war is over but between being responsible for the death of all synthetics and losing Anderson, it's hard to feel happy about it."

"I understand Shepard. No war was ever won without sacrifices. I know this might not make you feel better but you can't blame yourself for what happened to the geth…and EDI. You had a tough choice to make but you did what you believed to be right. Unfortunately the right choice isn't always the easiest one."

"Yes sir."

"Well," Hackett said getting up from his chair, "that's all I needed to talk to you about. You just concentrate on getting well Captain."

"Thank you sir," Shepard said, "I'll try my best to….wait. Did you say captain sir?"

"Yes I did. I guess I forgot to tell you. You've been promoted. You've been regarded as the Normandy's captain for some time now. I decided it was time to make it official. Congratulations Captain Shepard."

Shepard saluted, "Thank you sir."

After saluting back, Hackett walked out of the med bay. Shepard fell back into his bed. For the first time since the final battle against the Reapers began, he was actually starting to feel happy and relieved. He was now a captain. True it meant that he was more than likely not going to be in the field much anymore. However the more he thought about it, it might have been for the best. He had saved the galaxy three times now and died once during the process. If it wasn't for the Lazarus Project Cerberus conducted he wouldn't have been alive now. This might be the best time for him to get out of the game. Besides he could still be a great leader even if he wasn't in the field. And if he ever missed the action, his Spectre status meant he would still be able to go on missions for the Council. As long as he could continue to be the captain of the Normandy that would be all he needed.

Or was it?

Shepard looked up to the intercom, "Traynor?"

"Glad to hear your voice again…Captain," said the voice of Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor, emphasizing Shepard's new rank. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine thanks. I was wondering if you could patch a call through to Ashley's mother and then forward it to my omni-tool."

"Right away Captain. Should I patch Commander Williams in as well?"

"No, I don't want her to know I'm making this call."

"Why not? Shouldn't we let her talk to her mother and see that she's alright?"

"We will Traynor. I just need to talk to Mrs. Williams about something in private. Once we're done you can patch Ashley in. Just don't tell her that I was the one who made the call."

"As you wish Captain."

After Shepard finished his call to Ashley's mother, he reached over to push the call button. Dr. Chakwas entered immediately afterward.

"You called Captain?" she asked. "Wow. I guess I need to get used to how that sounds."

"It's all right Doctor," Shepard replied, "I have to get used to responding when people call me that. I need you to do me a favor and I need you to do it without anyone else on the crew seeing you."

"Of course but may I ask why?"

"You'll understand why when I tell you what it is. I need you to go up to my cabin and get a package that I recently ordered from the Citadel. Then after you bring it to me, I want you to tell Ashley that I would like to see her."

"Yes Captain."

Dr. Chakwas was about to leave the med bay when she stopped suddenly.

"Captain," she said, "you wouldn't be thinking about asking Commander Williams a certain question would you?"

Shepard chuckled, "I knew you would figure it out. Yes I am but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about this. I don't want to risk anyone in the crew finding out and accidentally telling Ashley before I see her."

"My lips are sealed Captain."

A little bit after Chakwas had dropped off the package Shepard wanted and left, Ashley entered the med bay. Shepard was about to greet her when she snapped to attention and saluted him.

"Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams reporting as ordered Captain," she said with a smile.

This got Shepard to laugh but due to his injuries it hurt a little.

"At ease LC," Shepard said.

"Congratulations on the promotion sir."

"Thanks Ash."

"Dr. Chakwas said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Shepard replied while gesturing to the chair next his bed, "have a seat."

Ashley moved towards the chair when she noticed that Shepard was beginning to rise up from his bed. Due to his injuries, it was slightly painful for him to stand. As a result he groaned. The sound caused Ashley to move towards Shepard and try to sit him back down.

"What you are doing sir?" she said. "I don't think you're supposed to be out of bed."

"It's okay Ash." Shepard groaned, "Dr. Chakwas said that I could get up as long as I don't overdo it. Besides, what I have to say is too important to be said lying down."

Deciding that Shepard knew what he was doing, Ashley let him go and sat in the chair. She watched as Shepard rose to his feet and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm some nerves he seemed to be feeling. Before she could ask if everything was okay, Shepard spoke first.

"Ashley, with the war against the Reapers finally over and me being confined to this bed, I've had the chance to think about some things. Specifically I've been thinking about us. You said it yourself back on the Citadel that we've been through a lot together. Since you've said that, we've been through even more. We went searching for the Leviathan together. You were with me when we investigated Sanctuary. You were the first one to come to my aid when mercenaries came after me at that sushi place and then you helped me take down my clone. We worked together to take down Cerberus. Finally we fought together in the final battle on Earth."

Tears were starting to form in Ashley's eyes. She was beginning to sense where this was going.

"Ash the stuff we've been through would probably drive apart any other couple. But in spite of everything we keep coming back to each other. I told you on the Citadel that I couldn't see myself with anyone else but you. So before I called you in here, I made a call to your mother. I called her because I had an important question to ask her and now I have one for you."

With that said Shepard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He then slowly got down on one knee and opened the box. Inside the box was a diamond engagement ring.

"Ashley Madeline Williams, will you marry me?"

Ashley gasped. The ring was beautiful. She didn't take long to give her answer.

"Sir, yes sir."

She got up and gave Shepard a big hug. She was barely able to stop herself from hugging him hard enough to cause pain. Then she kissed him. Suddenly a loud cheer erupted outside the med bay. Afterward the entire crew of the Normandy came in applauding and cheering.

"CONGRATULATIONS CAPTAIN! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH! YOU CAN GET MARRIED ON THE NORMANDY!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Shepard yelled silencing everyone in the room. "Were you all out there listening the whole time?"

"Of course Shepard," said Shepard's turian friend Garrus Vakarian, "you didn't think we would miss the chance to watch you propose to Ashley."

"But how could you have known I was going to propose? The only person I told was Dr. Chakwas and I told her not to tell any…one….wait a minute.

As a thought dawned on him, Shepard scanned the crowd looking for Traynor. He quickly found her standing near the back. When he made eye contact with her, she began to nervously bite her lip.

"Did you have something to do with this Specialist Traynor?" Shepard asked while giving her a mean glare.

"I'm sorry Captain," said Traynor, "while I was patching your call to Mrs. Williams, I began to wonder why you wanted to call her. After thinking about it for a bit I began to get a strong hunch that it was to ask for her permission to marry Commander Williams. Garrus asked me about it and, well, I may have told him and he told the rest of the crew.."

"Of course he did," Shepard said, "I guess I should be grateful that he didn't tell Ashley and spoil the surprise."

"Come on Shepard," Garrus said, "I would never ruin this moment for you by telling Ashley. Besides I know that one or both of you would have killed me if I did."

"Well I'm glad you all enjoyed the show. Now if you all don't mind, my fiancé and I would like to be alone."

The crew let out a collective groan before they slowly made their way out of the med bay. As they left, they said some final congratulations to the couple. When the last crewmember left the med bay, Shepard climbed back into his bed and offered Ashley a spot next to him.

"Well Ash," Shepard said once they were settled, "when I first woke up in here I was feeling terrible but I think the future is starting to look a little brighter."

"I think so too, Shepard."

"Come on Ash you don't have to call me Shepard anymore. We've known each other a long time and I call you by your first name. If we're going to be married I think you can start calling me by mine. I love you Ash."

"I love you too….Mark."

In spite of all the happiness that had happened in the med bay a few hours earlier, there were still two sad tasks Shepard needed to do. The first was having a heart to heart talk with Joker about what happened to EDI. Shepard knew going in that it was going to be difficult and he was right.

Despite being strong enough that he could have gone up to the bridge on his own, Shepard knew he needed to save his strength for later when he would have to do the second sad task. So he had Dr. Chakwas place him in a wheelchair and then take him up the elevator to the CIC deck. From there she wheeled him to the bridge where Joker was seated in his pilot's chair. The first thing Shepard noticed was the empty co-pilots seat next to Joker. His heart sank as he thought about all the times he would come up the bridge and see EDI sitting in that chair and find himself answering one of her many questions about human behavior. How he wished he could be doing that right now.

Dr. Chakwas positioned Shepard's wheelchair so that Joker could see Shepard at least through his peripheral vision. Shepard thanked her and asked for her to give him and Joker a minute. Chakwas nodded and closed the door behind her as she left the bridge. The little of Joker's face Shepard could see told him that even though Joker was piloting the ship, his focus was elsewhere. Shepard said Joker's name but he didn't get a reaction. Joker eyes were still focused on the controls. Shepard sighed. He knew that even if Joker wasn't talking to him, he could still hear him. So he explained everything that happened on the Citadel from when he met the Catalyst onward. When he got to the part where the Catalyst gave him the choice of how to use the Crucible, Joker finally turned towards Shepard.

"So," he said as a tear began to fall down his face, "you knew what the Crucible would do to EDI….but you fired it anyway?"

"I'm sorry Joker," said Shepard, "I didn't have…"

Before Shepard could finish, Joker hit a button to put the ship on autopilot, stood up from his chair and punched Shepard. The punch took Shepard by surprise but fortunately all the other injuries he sustained during the final battle made him able to tolerate the pain a little bit.

"YOU BASTARD!" Joker shouted loud enough that it caused Dr. Chakwas to rush onto the bridge, "how could you do that?! Is it because you didn't want to die yourself? You've been willing to die for your crew before. Hell you saved me when the original Normandy was destroyed despite the fact that it killed you. Oh I know it's because she's not organic. You went through all the trouble of convincing her that she could be human like the rest of us but when it came down to it, she was just a synthetic and whatever happened to her didn't matter. You know what, I'm done. Next port we reach, I'm getting off this ship. I don't care if it's mutiny, whatever gets me away from you."

Joker started to walk off the bridge. Fortunately for Shepard, Joker's Vrolik syndrome made it so he couldn't storm out really fast. This gave Shepard more time to talk as he followed Joker using his wheelchair.

"I didn't want to do it Joker," Shepard called out causing Joker to stop walking, "when I was given my options for how to use the Crucible, I was more than willing to die to keep EDI and the geth alive. But synthesis was not my choice to make and control had too many risks of me using the Reapers for evil. I didn't have a choice. Now I'm not asking you to forgive me for what happened to EDI. You loved her and it's not fair that you had to lose her. All I want is for you to at least understand why I did it."

Joker remained still for a few seconds after Shepard finished. Dr. Chakwas and Shepard were each anxiously holding their breaths as they waited for Joker to speak. Finally Joker turned to face Shepard and sighed.

"You're right Captain," he said, "I'm not happy that EDI's gone. But you had to make a tough choice and I know you picked the choice that you felt was morally right. I also know EDI would have approved of your choice. She wanted the Reapers destroyed as much as we did. Me wishing she was still alive is just me being selfish."

Joker walked up to Shepard and put a hand on his shoulder, "I forgive you."

Shepard smiled as Joker walked back to his seat. Before sitting back down, Joker turned to face Shepard again.

"By the way, congratulations on your engagement Shepard," he said.

"Thanks Joker." Shepard replied.

Shepard called Dr. Chakwas to come and help him leave the bridge. Before she had a chance to move him, Shepard noticed Joker had now settled into his chair and was saluting him. He saluted back. When they both dropped their salutes, Dr. Chakwas began wheeling Shepard back to the med bay.

The second sad thing Shepard needed to do was another thing he wasn't looking forward to. Now moving using his own strength, he had left the med bay and had gone up to his cabin. Inside he looked through his closet and pulled out his Alliance dress uniform. He had worn it twice since he had been reinstated back when the Reapers first invaded Earth. The first was during the war summit he hosted between the turians, salarians and krogan on the Normandy. While the meeting itself didn't go too smoothly, it was the first step that led to peace between the turians and krogan. He then wore it when he accompanied Ashley and her sister Sarah to the Citadel Memorial wall to mourn the loss of Sarah's husband. Shepard also knew that he would eventually be wearing this uniform when he married Ashley. Right now though, as with the previous two times, the occasion that called for him to wear the uniform was not a happy one.

Once Shepard had put his uniform on, he took a moment to look at his reflection. It was then he noticed the one thing that was different from the last time he wore his uniform. The uniform now had the markings of his new rank of Captain. He figured that Hackett must have had someone put them on while he was unconscious. Along with getting used to hearing people address him as Captain Shepard, he was now going to have to get used to the sight of seeing him in a captain's uniform whenever he looked in a mirror. Shepard's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking.

"It's open," he called.

The door opened and Ashley walked into the cabin. She was wearing her dress uniform as well.

"I just wanted to let you know that everybody's gathered at the Memorial Wall," she said, "we're ready when you are."

"Thanks Ash. I'll be down in a bit."

Ashley turned and was about to walk out the door when Shepard stopped her.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"Why is everyone doing this? I know that you already had a memorial for Anderson and EDI before you came and got me from the Citadel. How else could you already have plaques with their names on them made? I'm the only one that still needs to mourn them."

"We're doing it because no one should grieve alone. We want to be there for you and offer our support."

"Thanks Ash. That means a lot to me."

"You know we almost put your name on the wall too."

"What?"

Ashley invited Shepard to sit on the couch. As they sat down, Shepard could see Ashley wringing her hands. Whatever she was going to tell him was important.

"After the Crucible was fired, the Normandy got caught in its blast and lost power. That was also when we lost EDI. We had to make a rough landing on an uncharted world. Fortunately the ship wasn't severely damaged but it was still going to take about an hour to get it up and running again. Once we got the comm. working, we started getting reports that the Citadel was damaged. Considering the amount of energy the Crucible released, we didn't think you or Anderson could have survived. We put Anderson and EDI's names on the wall and it was time for me to put your name up. I walked up to the wall and just looked at your plaque for a second. During that time, I told myself I couldn't do it. Not because it was hard to do but because I really felt that you were still alive. Some of the crew thought I was just in denial but I knew. I knew you were alive because I knew you. You found your way back to me once and I knew you would again. So I told them we were taking the ship back to the Citadel and we were going to rescue you."

Shepard didn't say anything right away. Instead, he gave Ashley a kiss and then hugged her.

"Thank you," he finally said, "shall we?"

Ashley nodded. On their way out, Shepard grabbed Anderson's plaque and they headed down to the crew deck.

When Shepard got off the elevator, the sight of his entire crew gathered around the Memorial Wall greeted him. The wall held the names of the 26 Normandy crewmembers that had died during the ship's service before and during the Reaper War. Today two more names would be added. Shepard looked down at Anderson's plaque. He was trying his hardest to hold back the tears but was having a hard time doing it. If you looked at the faces of the rest of the crew, you would almost find it hard to believe that only a few hours ago they were happily celebrating an engagement.

Joker was the first to step forward. He placed EDI's plaque on the wall in its alphabetical position among the other names. When he was finished, he turned to face the crew.

"When I first met EDI, I was less than kind to her. I didn't like the idea of an AI being a part of the Normandy. After she helped me save the ship from the Collectors, I stopped thinking of her as a machine and began thinking of her as a person. As I got to know her, I realized we were alike in several ways. (sob) It wasn't long before we eventually fell in love with each other. I'm really going to miss her voice and hearing her jokes but I believe that a part of her still exists in the Normandy. Wherever you are now EDI, I promise you that I will take good care of the Normandy. (sniff) I love you."

As Joker tearfully rejoined the crew gathered around the wall, Shepard stepped forward with Anderson's plaque in hand. After looking at it for one more second, he placed it in the center spot on the wall. He took a step back from the wall and saluted. The crew did the same. When the salutes were dropped, Shepard turned to face the group. He took a breath and began the eulogy.

"We all know what kind of a man Admiral Anderson was. He was a leader, a comrade in arms, a mentor and friend. Some of us were here when he was the captain of the Normandy. It was a short tenure but even when he was no longer in command, he was still fighting the battle with us. When he was on the Citadel Council, he fought different types of battles and most of them didn't end in victory. In spite of that, he kept trying to do what he could to protect and serve the galaxy. I think the moment that best defines Anderson was when the Reaper War began. He could have left Earth and accompanied us to gather the fleet we needed to win the war but he chose to stay and lead the resistance forces. He knew where he was needed, even though it meant constant danger to his life. Because of his efforts, we succeeded in saving Earth and the galaxy as a whole. He may not be here physically with us anymore but I know that somewhere he's watching us and is proud of all of us for what we accomplished with him. Rest in peace Anderson. The battle is finally over and the galaxy is safe because of what you've done."

After the eulogy was finished, Shepard dismissed the crew. While the rest of the crew went back to their posts, Shepard remained at the wall just staring at Anderson and EDI's names. Ashley, who had stayed behind when everyone left, came up behind Shepard and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That was a beautiful speech Mark," she said, "I know Anderson appreciates what you said about him."

Shepard turned around and hugged Ashley.

"There is one other great thing Anderson did you know." Ashley said.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"He was the one who got me assigned onto the Normandy after Eden Prime. If he hadn't, you and I might never have fallen in love."

Shepard smiled and Ashley smiled back. They kissed and then the couple entered the elevator to head up to Shepard's cabin.