Shepard awoke and stood over Haku, trying to remember why he was so interested in her. She was delicate, though her height suggested she had looked delicate before being enslaved, as she was no taller than 5'6. Shepard put leaned over her, seeing that her vitals were okay when he began pulling away. This was not, however, why he broke her out of the cage. Shepard didn't know why, making the act of saving her the first act he had done without reason in the past year or two.
Haku woke up suddenly, sitting up quickly and accidentally bashing her head against Shepard's.
"Ow." Haku said, rubbing her pained forehead. "Why are you standing over me?"
"I was looking over your vitals." Shepard said, ignoring the pain in his forehead, and pulled a chair beside the bed. Shepard left for a few moments to retrieve a small tube.
"What's that?" Haku asked, scratching her messy brown hair.
"A nutrient-rich paste." Shepard said. "You are suffering from malnutrition."
"How do you know?" Haku asked, then yawned. Shepard waited until she had finished stretching and rubbing the sleep from her eyes before talking.
"Your eyes are brighter than they should be, and you have a dull yellow complexion." Shepard said, remembering the lessons Doctor Chakwas gave him shortly after they both had retired.
"Oh well, look at you, Mr. Smarty-Pants." Haku said.
Shepard put the tube near her mouth, and when Haku put her small lips around the opening, Shepard gently squeezed. Shepard almost smiled, the act of feeding such a small female reminding him of his daughter, Rosaline. Due to Miranda's extensive network of connections, both legal and illegal, Shepard had not seen or conversed with his daughter in years. Shepard had almost completely convinced himself that, should he catch the Illusive Man, everything would be okay.
'It won't, and you know it.' Shepard had thought. But he would never extinguish the feeble light of hope his goal provided within the opaque darkness of his life.
Shepard finished feeding Haku, and she smiled. "Thanks."
Shepard nodded, and asked "Do you know what has happened in the past five years?"
"No idea. I remember partying, because we beat the Reapers. After that, I have no idea."
"You were with us?"
"Yeah. I'm a Soldier." Haku attempted to wipe dirt off of her arm, but failed. Shepard left, and came back with a damp cloth, and wiped the dirt off of her arm, revealing a Systems Alliance tattoo. "Mind wiping my, how did you put it, my 'dull yellow' face off?"
Shepard carefully wiped her cheeks, chin, and, finally, her miniscule nose that was dominated by her large, hazel eyes.
"Thanks." Haku smiled.
"No need to thank me." Shepard said. "I'm sorry I didn't save you sooner."
"Now you're just being ridiculous. You can't be expected to save everybody."
"You'd be surprised. Can you stand?"
Haku stood, and said, playfully hitting Shepard's shoulder "The Alliance builds their soldiers tough, huh?"
Shepard handed Haku clothes. "There's a shower in the back."
"Thanks."
"Once again, I deserve no thanks."
"The Savior of The Galaxy not deserving thanks? Either you destroyed the Galaxy or you hate yourself enough to not deserve thanks."
Shepard shrugged, leaving the room. "I'll be delivering this package to Aria. Don't leave the ship."
"That an order?" Haku asked.
"No. It's good advice." Shepard said, and the door hissed shut behind him with an air of finality.
Haku took a shower, washing five years' worth of grime, sweat, and dirt, and by the time she had left the shower she had trouble convincing herself that she wasn't in heaven and Shepard was her personal, albeit moody angel.
Haku looked at herself in the mirror, and whistled at her scruffy appearance. However, she smiled when she saw the familiar freckles on her nose. Haku put on the simple clothing, tan cargo pants a white shirt, and running shoes, and left the room, finding a small package for her. It wasn't addressed to her, but she was alone in the ship, so she opened the cardboard box, finding an omni-tool.
Immediately after scanning her face, a holographic video played.
"I hope you're feeling better." Shepard said. The video had been recorded recently, and from the copilot seat in the front of the ship, only a few feet from where Haku stood. "I realized you would want to go on the extranet and see what has happened in the past five years of your enslavement. It was not as eventful as the years preceding your enslavement, but that is my opinion."
"Just shut up and let me see what happened." Haku said, rolling her eyes. As if responding, the video shut off. Haku put the omni-tool on her hand, immediately realizing that the technology was several years past her experience. "Great. Now I gotta learn how to use this. Like learning how to use my first omni-tool was easy."
Haku had actually taken a few extracurricular classes during her college years to learn the ins and outs of an omni-tool. Fortunately, the new technology had easier access, and Haku quickly found the extranet account she had searched for.
"Hey sis." Haku smiled.
Shepard walked through the doors of Afterlife, acquiring the same reception as his previous visit.
"Man, everybody's afraid of you." Michael said.
Shepard ignored his companion, though he remembered his missions saving the galaxy because of the way Michael followed him to the left, much like...
Shepard felt his nails digging into his palms as he remembered his ex-wife.
'Are all divorcees this full of rage?' Shepard asked. 'Probably not. Saving the galaxy with your soon-to-be wife tends to bring you closer than the average couple.'
Shepard walked up to Aria, and tossed the small safe at her. She caught it, began opening it.
"Two men died for that, Aria." Shepard said.
Aria retrieved the item in the safe, smiling as she popped the wine bottle open. "Do you have any idea how expensive this wine is? It's older than many Asari. Not to mention the special safe so someone wouldn't break the bottle. It probably cost more than your life."
"I wouldn't doubt it." Shepard said. "Where is the Illusive Man?"
"I know where one of his safe houses could be. There's no guarantee he's there."
"You said you knew where he was!" Shepard said, taking a furious step forward. Immediately the guards pointed their pistols at him, all too glad to be the man to kill the invincible Shepard.
"I said I might know where he was. That means I might not know where he is."Aria said. "It's your language, human; you should know the definition of might. Asari is much more precise, in my opinion."
Shepard clenched his teeth, shrugging a few guards off. "Where the hell is the safe house?"
"Somewhere you probably want to forget." Aria said. "What was that place called...Dawn, was it?"
Shepard frowned. "Horizon. That bastard is toying with me."
"Yep." Aria said.
"So, am I staying with you?" Michael asked Aria.
"No. Go with Shepard. You'll either die or get some experience. Win-win." Aria said, sipping her ancient wine.
"For who?" Michael asked exasperatedly.
"Her, of course." Shepard said.
On the ship, however, things had taken a much more lighthearted tone. Haku was curled up as a contented cat would be, watching a movie she had wanted to see, though missed due to being kidnapped: Blasto.
Haku watched intently as Blasto shot through the last scene and, of course, got the asari girl. A few moments later, Haku left the ship, and bumped directly into the wrong people, putting herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Those people she had bumped into were a turian who was very anti-human and a violent krogan who was having a bad day.