Holos, notes from her family, a few simple prints of what must have been her favorite poems. Tennyson, Shepard thought. She knew he had been one of Ash's favorites. Bits and pieces of the soldier's life, now part of the legacy she had left behind.
Shepard pulled down the physical pictures, careful not to bend or tear them as she detached them from the walls. They went into a box with the holos and other knickknacks in the locker, things that would go back to Ashley's family when the mission was over. It was the least they could do for them. Shepard wished they could do more. But it only would have been right if she had been able to bring Ash back alive and well. Anything less was just not acceptable.
It wasn't that she'd never lost people under her command before. Military service as active as hers always involved loss. Some of them, like on Elysium, had even been civilians, not soldiers. Nor was Ash the first on this mission - Jenkins had gone before her. But Williams had been different. Something about the fight against Saren had made them all pull together. They were teammates, comrades in arms, friends. Ashley had been the heart of the Normandy, and now she was gone.
Shepard paused in the act of removing the last photo. One more and the locker would be empty, cold and impersonal, lacking any remnant of the vibrant woman who had been there before. One last photo and it would be final. Ashley would really be gone.
"Commander?"
She didn't answer him at first, a sudden wave of grief making it hard to speak for a moment even though she wasn't given to crying.
She heard him step closer, felt his presence at her back. "Shepard, you okay?"
"I'm fine, Kaidan," she answered finally. "Just putting away Ashley's things."
Kaidan reached around her to take up the last holo, one of Ashley and her sisters. "It's still hard to believe she's gone," he said softly. "I keep coming down here, expecting to see her with a shotgun in hand or something."
"I know, me too," Shepard replied. She reached out to take the holo, her hand resting on his. "When this is all over, I'm going to visit Ashley's family in person, let them know what a brave soldier she was."
"I think Ash would appreciate that, commander," Kaidan said with a smile. "I think her family will too."
"Would you come with me when I do?" she asked.
"I'd be honored, ma'am," he answered after a brief pause of surprise. "But why me? You were her commanding officer."
Shepard smiled, one of the first she could say was even remotely genuine since Virmire. "I came down here once to chat with Ash, when she was talking to her sisters. About you."
"About me?" Kaidan asked, his brow wrinkling in confusion.
"Mmhmm." She shot a mischievous look at her lieutenant. "They think you're cute."
On cue, the lieutenant started blushing. Ashley would have thought it was hilarious.
Here's to you, Ash, she thought. Wherever you are.