Briana Shepard looked at her children, smiling slightly. She held out her arms to them, and grabbed them into a hug. "I'm so proud of the two of you. You've both grown into amazing adults. Now go and enjoy your party."

Sam and Tyler walked out of the house, and immediately were bombared with what seemed like the entire colony singing Happy Birthday. When they finished, everyone broke off into groups, eating, drinking, and laughing. Tyler walked off to join some of his friends. Samantha sighed, and walked toward the artificial lake by the houses. It was her favorite spot in all of Mindoir. She hadn't noticed that someone followed her down there.

Logan cleared his throat, which made Sam nearly jump out of her skin. "Sorry, Samantha. I didn't mean to scare you." He stepped next to her. "Why aren't you up there?" He gestured behind him, at the party.

She shrugged. i'm not my brother. I'm not that good with people. Like you... "I just wanted to be by myself for a bit. Especially after earlier. You just let me win, didn't you?"

Logan looked at her. "No. I tried. You're better then Tyler, I think. Have you been sneaking it?" She shook her head. He smiled. "You're just a natural then. Why don't we sit down? It's nice here." He sat first, patting the grass next to him. She sat down next to him, trying not to touch him.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you do this? You're so nice to me when we're alone, but anyone else is around, and you change. Why? Are you ashamed of me?"

Logan thought before answering. "No. But I'm not sure how you feel. And I don't want your brother to kill me for doing something you don't want me to. He may be younger than me, but he still scares me." He smiled at her and put a tentative arm around her shoulders. She tensed slightly, before relaxing into him. She put her head on his shoulder. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels this way." She looked up at him, before sitting up straight. She leaned toward him, and kissed him. It was a short kiss, more of a peck, but it set her heart racing. He stared down at her, clearly not expecting her to kiss him.

"I-I'm..."

"Shhh. I liked that, I just wasn't expecting it from you, that's all. Maybe you are a Shepard after all, Sam." She looked at him, confusion in her eyes. He chuckled softly before explaining. "Compared to your brother and parents, you're quiet, reserved. But that's what I like about you. That, and you're not a bad shot." He kissed her before she could say anything. A deeper kiss than before. They broke it off, breathless. "Do you want to go back to the party?"

"Not yet." She settled back next to him. "I just want to stay with you for a bit longer." He nodded and they just enjoyed each others company.

xXXx

That night she went to bed, dreams of Logan accompanied her. But her sleep wasn't as restful as it should have been. A loud bang went off outside her window. She awoke with a start, only to be greeted by flames flickering in her room. She climbed out of bed, and went to the window. Screams pierced her ears. She couldn't really see what was going on. Gunshots, screams, fire. She backed away from the window, and scrambled to the door. Tyler and their dad armored up, pistols at their sides. "Sam, stay here with mom!" Tyler hissed, throwing a pistol to her. "Keep her safe, and keep your heads down!" They stormed out of the house, into the fray. She ran to her mom.

She was crying, frightened. "Mom, what's happening?"

"Ba-batarians. Oh, God, they're going to kill us all!" She was unbelievably frightened.

Batarians? Here? Gotta get her to calm down a bit. "Mom! It'll be ok! The Alliance will be here soon!" Her mother was shaking uncontrollably. Samantha hugged her mom, smoothed her hair back from her face. She could feel her mom shaking still, sobs racking her body. It seemed to be working, when the front door busted open. Samantha shoved her mom behind the bed, and crouched down, pistol pointing at the door. It was Tyler, covered in blood. Oh my God... What happened to him? It's hard to tell if any of that is his blood. "What happened?"

"Dad's... dad's dead..." He dropped to his knees, blood coming out of the side of his mouth. The sight of her son like this was enough to send Briana insane. She tried to push Samantha out of the way to him.

"Mom! Calm down, please!" Her voice was cracking with emotion. It hurt to see Tyler like this. She scurried over to him. "Are you hurt?"

He looked at her and grabbed her hand. Voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Sam, I know this is hard, but run. Go away, leave us. I can barely move and mom... well, look at her. She's breaking. Save yourself, sis. Dad got a call out to the Alliance, but God knows when they'll get here."

She was shocked. Is he telling me to leave? "No! I won't leave you!"

With the last of his strength, he pushed her out of the room, leaving blood on her shirt. "Go Samantha! Don't you argue with me! Now is not the time! Live for us! I love you sis." He slammed the door behind him, and fell against it, clutching his pistol.

Sam's eyes filled with tears as she stood back up. "I love you too..." She hung her head, and walked out of the front door. Smoke flooded the street, less screams than before. She didn't know which way to go, but she kept low. She stumbled over something, and looked to see what it was. A human arm attached to... Oh no... Logan! She looked at him, and saw the hole in the middle of his forehead. Oh God... I think I'm gonna be sick... She had to turn around, gagging on the smell of burning. She ran, ran toward the lake, and the forest beyond.

When she finally got there, she fell on the ground, heaving, tears streaming down her face. She pounded the ground, out of desperation, out of fear. Most of all because she felt helpless. I shouldn't have run! I should've stayed and fought! I can go back... She got up and turned around...

Only to see the colony burning. Thick, black smoke billowed up into the sky. She fell down and cried.

xXXx

That was a horrible nightmare. She stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. What is a tree doing in my room? Oh no... It wasn't a dream! She stood straight up and looked across the lake. Smoke was still rising, the smell bringing back the unpleasantness of the night before. She started to run back toward the colony, when she heard unfamiliar voices speaking to each other.

"Sir, the batarians are dug in pretty deep. I don't think we can launch a rescue."

Samantha walked slowly to where she heard the voices. Two Alliance marines speaking to each other, a man and a woman.

The man grumbled. "We can't just leave these people here!"

"I don't see any other option. They've killed almost everyone. And the ones they haven't..." Samantha took in a shocked breath at this. The female marine heard this. "Who's there?" She started toward Sam, who ducked instinctively. The marine found her. "Sir! I think we have a survivor here!" She turned back to Sam, with a warm and inviting look on her face. "It's ok, sweetie. We won't hurt you. I'm Corporal Harris and this is Lieutenant Zabaleta. We're Alliance." Sam slowly stood up. "That's a good girl. Can you tell me your name?"

"S-Samantha."

"Nice to meet you, Samantha. We're going to get you to safety, don't you worry. Lieutenant, do you see any other survivors?"

He just stared at the remains of the colony, and slowly shook his head. "No, Corporal, I don't. Let's get back to the shuttle."

Harris nodded, and went to grab Sam's hand. She backed away, looking back at her home, smoldering in the morning sun. "There's nothing... nothing you can do for them. I know it's hard, but you have to come with us. You can't stay here." Sam turned around and looked at Harris, tears welling up in her eyes. I can't leave them! Tyler... he wouldn't leave me alone like this! Mom and dad and everyone, it's just... She let her shoulders sag, knowing that there was no one left, and let Harris take her hand. "We'll get you some help, I promise. But we have to get out of here, first."

xXXx

Sam hadn't been on a spaceship since she was a baby. When her parents had decided to move to Mindoir from Earth. She was taking in all the sights, staring out of the window as much as possible. The crew tried approaching her on a number of occassions, but she kept to herself. She didn't want to talk about it. Nothing can bring them back. I miss them. I want to go back home!

They arrived at Earth, at an Alliance school. She got off the ship, and looked around. The sights and sounds were almost too much to take in. Harris walked out behind Sam. They were greeted by a woman, and a girl who looked a little younger than Sam.

"Dr. Phillips, how nice of you to meet us. This is Samantha. We rescued her from Mindoir. We haven't been able to get anything else out of her."

The woman, Dr. Phillips, frowned slightly. Sam wasn't paying much attention to them, she was more interested in the girl. When she saw Sam looking at her, she smiled and extended her hand. "Hi there! I'm Kayla. What's your name?"

Sam looked at her a bit more before answering. Light brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, and crystal blue eyes, shining at her. "I-I'm Samantha," she stuttered. She reached her hand out to Kayla.

Kayla's smile grew even bigger. "Nice to meet you, Samantha! You're gonna like it here. My mom will take good care of you, don't you worry. Right mom?" She looked up at the doctor.

"That's right, sweetheart." Dr. Phillips smiled, and bent down to face Sam better. "I'm Dr. Emily Phillips. I'm a psychiatrist, and I'm going to do my best to help you, ok?" Sam nodded slowly.

"Later! Come on, Sam! I wanna show you everything!" Kayla took Sam's hand and practically dragged her toward the buildings. "We're gonna have a lot of fun!"

Emily just shook her head at them, before turning back to the Corporal. "How was she during the flight?"

"Reserved, ma'am. I think your daughter might be able to get more out her than anyone."

"I think you may be right. I have to get prepared, thank you."

"Of course, ma'am. Take care of her. She needs a lot of patience."

Emily nodded. "That's why she's my only patient at the moment." Emily turned and walked toward the building.

xXXx

Sam sighed. She liked Emily and Kayla well enough, but... I wish they would just leave me alone. There was a slight knock on the door. Sam got up, and looked around the room. Nothing impressive, just a bed, a desk, a chair, and a closet. It was spacious enough, but it wasn't home. Two weeks had passed since she had come to New York. And she hated almost every minute of it.

She got to the door, not surprised to see Emily there. "Sam, I know this is hard for you." Emily walked in the room, and closed the door behind her. "But I have an idea. What if you kept a journal? Instead of talking about things, you could write them down. How does that sound?" Write... I... Sam nodded slowly. "Good! I brought some pencils and a pad. Whenever you want to, wherever you are, just write. Whatever you want, ok?" Sam nodded. "Here, I'll leave them on the desk then. I'll see you later." Emily left Sam alone.

Sam walked to the desk, and looked at the pad. She sat at the desk and breathed in deeply. She grabbed a pencil, and tapped the eraser on the desk for a bit. What should I put down? Dear Diary? That sounds dumb.

April 25, 2170

This place is strange. There's barely any trees. Everyone's all serious. Except Kayla. I like her. She makes this place bearable. I wish I had a sister. I miss my brother, my parents, Logan... I hate this. I hate it so much. I hate being here. Why did dad make me learn to shoot? I couldn't do anything. I hate feeling helpless. I hate that I DIDN'T do anything. I hate that I ran. I should have stayed. I should be dead too.

Sam stopped writing, tears filling her eyes. She didn't like to think about it. Should I crumble this up? Pretend it never happened? The thought was tempting, but she knew Emily was trying to help her. She shook her head, and got up from the desk. Crossing the room to window, she just looked out. People going about their business, not knowing what happened, not caring. She sighed, when there was another knock at the door. She walked to the door, and opened it.

"Hey Sam! Let's go play!" It was Kayla, with her ever present smile. Sam found it hard not to smile back. She nodded and followed Kayla. She didn't even notice Emily go in her room behind her.

Emily walked to the desk, to see if Sam had written anything. She read the small journal entry with a heavy heart. "Oh you poor dear. I'm sorry." She hung her head down, and walked out of the door.