Chapter 40

Garrus
July 1st, 2192

Rannoch was a gorgeous planet, an untouched paradise of natural beauty only occasionally punctured by signs of settlement. Crystal clear rivers cut through the red rock towards one of the few Quarian cities. Cactus-like trees stood tall over the water, providing shade for the small animals that roamed nearby.

Our ship roared overhead into the city proper, landing on a plateau overlooking the river valley, a spaceport sheltered by imposing mountains in the city's center. Tikal stood proud against the desert, a relic of quarian architecture lost to the galaxy for over three centuries. It was smaller than I expected, showing the quarians' nomadic tendencies didn't start after the flight from Rannoch.

Amelia and I walked down the ramp, carrying Alia and Serenity, while Gaius and Octavia trailed behind us. A white-haired quarian man stops us at the bottom of the ramp, his lavender lips parting in a familiar smile as he claps my wrist.

"Kal…," Amelia greets, accepting a wrist clap when he offers.

"Welcome to Rannoch, Garrus, Amelia. Glad to welcome you to the planet under good circumstances." He turned his attention to Gaius and Octavia, offering an open palm, which the kids quickly slapped.

I rubbed the back of my fringe, "Sorry it took us this long to make it out."

Kal smiled, "We understand; we haven't made it to Palaven either. Anyway, Tali got called away to handle some issues, but she wanted to make sure one of us was here to welcome you." He waved us ahead, and we piled into a shuttle, making our way to their home.

Amelia

I'm sitting on the couch in Tali's home, talking with Cal while feeding Serenity and Alia and watching Garrus play some kind of game with a plastic disc toy of Zael's, throwing it between Gaius, Octavia, Zael, and Senn, Tali's younger son.

Tali walks through the door, dropping something in a heap near the door and quickly coming to hug me, collapsing into me when she does. "Amelia, why didn't you tell me making people listen was such hard work!"

"I wouldn't know," I reply, deadpan, earning myself a smack on the shoulder.

"If she's acting up, just smack her on the butt," Garrus says from right behind me, demonstrating his technique and almost making me jump out of my skin. Somehow he convinced four little kids to be quiet enough to scare me.

Garrus…," Tali says, moving to hug him now.

"Hey, little sister. How've you been?"

"Tired," Tali says, the energy depleted from her normal, bubbly personality. "We have a whole planet for thirty million people, and they still get into land disputes…."

"Any problems with the Geth?" I ask.

"No, the Geth have been amazing. They try to help sort out the disputes, but that just makes the people angrier," Tali sighs, sinking onto Kal and melting into her husband's chest. "Life was easier when I could stare at an engine and shoot Cerberus bosh'tets with my shotgun."

Kal strokes his hand through her long hair, visibly relaxing her as she snuggles into his body. "I'm sorry, you're here on vacation. I shouldn't be pawning my problems off on you."

"Don't worry about it. We know what it feels like." I smile at her, "Let me make dinner tonight, take a load off of you." Kal and Tali both move to protest, but I hold my hand up. "It'll be my treat. I want to."

"You're the best, Ame."

Using what I could find in Tali's kitchen, I closely approximated pulmenta, a turian stew that Garrus had always loved. I used him as a guinea pig since most dextro foods tasted weird to me, and I didn't want to poison our hosts.

"Mmmm, that's delicious," Garrus proclaimed, trying to stick his finger in the dish to get more before I swat it away. "Try it; you'll like it."

"Mmm, that is good," I say, sucking on his finger far longer than necessary and earning a quiet growl. "Tastes like chicken."

"What doesn't taste like chicken?" He questions with a laugh, grabbing some bowls out of the cabinet and spooning some of the stew into them.

Tali set us up in her two guest bedrooms. We didn't plan on staying here tonight, but Tali was insistent, and we both knew she wouldn't take no for an answer, so we gave in without much of a fight.

After the kids were all asleep, the four of us sat on the balcony, enjoying the cool, dry night air, sipping on glasses of quarian rum, distilled here in Tikal only months after the Reaper War.

"Dinner was excellent, Ame-hic," Tali says, hiccuping at giving us all a small laugh at her expense.

"It was," Kal agrees, patting his wife on the back while she holds her breath to stave off the hiccups. "I didn't peg you for a cook."

"I didn't do it much until after the War, but I used to do it with my mom every night on Mindoir. I loved it." Garrus wraps his arm around me, squeezing me ever so slightly. I nod, letting him know I'm not upset.

I move to lean over the balcony, looking at the river slowly trickling through, the crystal water glinting in the moonlight. In the distance, waves crashed on the shore of the beach, lulling me with the methodical sound. "It's beautiful here, Tali. You picked a perfect spot for your house."

"The whole planet is, and we're only here because of you." She joins me, leaning over the railing, "Thank you."

"It wasn't just me, Tali. It was all of us, the whole Normandy crew…and a few others who didn't get to see the result." Her sad smile tells me she knows I'm talking about Legion, just another senseless death forced on us by the Reapers. A good friend died for what he believed in, peace between the geth and the quarians.

"But you're the only reason we made it this far. Every quarian would've been dead, and then the homeworld wouldn't matter anymore." I shake my head, trying my best not to sob as a silent tear sneaks out of my eye and down the painted blue line on my cheek, looking down and away from her.

Garrus, ever able to read me perfectly, wraps me in one arm and raises his glass, "To the friends who aren't with us anymore, may they kick ass in the next life."

Garrus
August 3rd, 2192

It would be an understatement to say Gaius and Octavia are upset when we tell them it's time to leave Rannoch. They'd really bonded with Zael and Senn over the month we were here and didn't want to leave their friends.

It was a slog getting them onto the ship, each of them hugging the little quarians before marching up the ramp. It tugged at my heartstrings to see the kids in any mood other than their usual happy-go-lucky selves, but their newfound bond would be a good excuse to visit Rannoch often.

I look over to my wife, who is hugging Tali tightly. Since they met - in that seedy alley on the Citadel nearly a decade ago - they'd been like sisters to each other, and it had been far too long since they got to see each other.

I approach as they separate, "So, are you coming to Palaven soon? Come and see our new house?" Tali grabs me and pulls me into a hug as well. Like Amelia. Tali was also a little sister to me, and following Ame's example, I always tried to mentor Tali but ended up getting taught more often than not.

The quarian breaks the hug, backing up and staring at me with a smile, "I'm sure I can find a trade deal to renegotiate or something… Maybe I can drag out the process and have a mini-vacation."

Amelia shakes Kal's hand and looks at Tali with a playful smirk teasing her lips, "You're always welcome, Tali. I'd hate for those negotiations to take a long time." She winks.

"Oh, I'm sure Sentia would resolve any issues you have quickly and efficiently… unless you asked her not to."

Amelia hugs Tali again, squeezing the quarian nearly as tight as Wrex squeezed her, "Don't be strangers."