"…So," Clyde said, breaking the silence of the company's run to the armory, "Shepard, you never told us why you signed up."

"You're bringing this up now?" Shepard replied. "Is it really that important?"

"I just thought I'd make some conversation."

Shepard sighed. "If you really have to know…" He slowed to a walking pace, despite the urgency of the geth attack. "There's this girl... She's not from the same place I am. Anyway, she kind of crashed into the middle of my hometown on Mindoir; leveled a good three or four shops and the town hall."

"Damn…" D'mones whispered.

"…She, I, and about a hundred or so civilians were hospitalized. I woke up before her; got out lucky with just some scrapes and bruises. She was still unconscious for some time after I got better, so I volunteered to work part-time there to aide in the whole thing. I was on-duty when she woke up, and we kind of hit it off."

"You sly bastard," Clyde interrupted.

"…After a while, we started going out." Shepard heaved another sigh. "She was so innocent. I never thought anyone could make me ever feel the way she made me. When she was with me, I felt like she was the only person there was. She was intelligent, sexy, and…Hm…" He satisfied an itch on his head. "Anyway, when it came time for her to go, I felt like someone ripped my heart out and ground it under their heel."

D'mones furrowed her eyebrows in suspicion.

"…I wanted desperately for her to stay, but everyone-my friends, coworkers, even she herself-insisted. So, that day I wanted to make special. We had breakfast at a diner on the far side of town; she brought her own food since she can't…ah…" He cleared his throat. "Then we walked through town square. It was in the middle of reconstruction, but the city had said it was safe to walk through. After that…" He frowned, though he was having a pleasant memory. "After that, we climbed a hill overlooking the town. As the sun dipped under the horizon, the city lights glowing softly below, the time had come for her to leave. We trudged to a repair shop on the edge of town, where my coworkers had been fixing the ship she came in. She was just as sad as I was, but it had to be done. We finally kissed, and I never saw her again…

"So that's the story." Shepard wiped a couple of tears from his eyes. "Now you know why I joined the Alliance. I figure if I stick around, I'm bound to find her again."

Clyde placed a hand on the de facto leader's shoulder. "I feel for you, man." He pulled a picture from his pocket: a little girl, and a young man kneeling next to her. "That's my little sister. Since our parents died, she's been staying with our granddad. I promised her I'd come back in one piece after my tour of duty; we're supposed to go to Earth." He stowed the photograph. "You and I are in the same boat, Shepard."

Shepard smiled. "I appreciate the sentiment, Jack."

D'mones sped up so she now was beside Shepard. "Something about your story doesn't quite fit together."

"What are you talking about?"

"The way you told it, there were parts where a detail seemed to be missing; almost like you purposely omitted those parts."

"I promise you, you're imagining things. C'mon," Shepard upped his pace, "we have to go help those soldiers."

"Hm…"

/-/

Note: One part filler, one part tear-jerker, and one part summary to those who got this far without reading the last story. I'll have the next chapter up soon.