Author's note: This chapter has FINALLY received an update as well. YAY! I also officially do not support the death chapter anymore. I will be deleting it. If anyone is curious about said death chapter, visit my DA gallery. It will still be there.

Shepard didn't really enjoy parties that much; the main reason being that he couldn't dance. Shepard also knew that if he got drunk he would do rather embarrassing things. So it was best not to get involved too much.

But something about the party and defeating the reapers drew him in anyway. All of his crew had disappeared when he had delivered his speech. Aimlessly Shepard began to walk.

Each race had set up their own camps to give specialized care for each of their own kind. More or less all the soldiers grouped together near their camps. Groups gathered around fires and music was played by those who could.

Shepard kept walking, coming up to the main Quarian campsite. It was plausible that since Tali was an admiral, she would have been called to duty to her campsite for a while. Shepard walked into the medical tent, and viewed all the sterilization pods all over the place.

"Commander Shepard! It is an honor that you grace us with your presence." Admiral Raan greeted the war hero from behind. "What can we help you with?"

"I'm just looking for my crew. Have you seen Tali?"

"She is not here. I have no idea where she could have gone."

A geth unit came up to the Admiral. "Creator Raan, sterilization tank 3 is ready for operation."

Raan quickly diverted her attention to the geth unit. "Good. Any complications?"

"None were observed in the scans."

"Good. Then proceed with the operation."

Shepard beheld in wonder the geth and Quarians working together again. "You are going to let that geth do the operation?"

Raan chuckled. "You see Shepard, for smaller things that are routine, the geth excel. They still held onto all their data on Quarian physiology in their consensus. We haven't had access to some of that information since we fled Rannoch. We couldn't just ignore that, and it helps smooth some of the more suspicious quarian's perspectives."

This time Shepard laughed. "Who would have thought that the geth would have brought along a lot of good?"

"We are indebted to you Shepard. Thank you."

Shepard nodded and both went their separate ways. Again, Shepard randomly chose a direction and stuck with it. He passed by camps and fires, taking some time to listen to the songs being sung and the camaraderie of the Allied forces. Everyone was ecstatic; there was finally a future to look forward to.

A rough hand grabbed Shepard's arm as he passed another camp.

"Awww, look at Shepard taking a nice little glory walk to fill his ego." The voice of none other than Balak, leader of the batarians, reached his ears. "I just want you to know that I haven't forgotten our little issue about the people of mine you slaughtered. I will avenge the millions of my people that you killed with that asteroid."

Shepard got angry at the sound of those words. "I should have left that station to get destroyed by the Reapers and let them turn your people into those terrible abominations. I should have left you alone to fight your own battles and lose, but instead I invited you into our ranks with open arms. You could have denied the gesture, and yet you still took it." Shepard threw the leader's hand off his arm. Putting his finger in the batarian's face he continued. "By destroying that Mass Relay and letting you in, I saved your people from becoming abominations. Millions died to save Billions upon Billions. The destruction of that relay gave us all precious time before the reapers came. So don't you dare talk about avenging those people. I spared them a fate worse than death." With that, he spit into Balak's face and turned to walk away.

But Balak wouldn't let it go. With an angry cry he lunged at Shepard. But Shepard saw it coming and countered with a punch that connected with Balak's face. Balak went down immediately. Some of the other batarians viewed the brawl.

One walked up to Shepard. "Shepard, our allegiance lies with you." He stated, with the rest of the batarians present nodding in agreement.

That small fight with Balak took Shepard out of his good mood. Lonely and annoyed, Shepard exiled himself to a destroyed building a little ways from other people. He climbed the building and perched himself on top.

The building provided a quite spectacular vantage point of the camps and fires. In the horizon small streaks of light were the only things left of the once mighty sun. The only other sources of light were the many dots of light that marked the party and civilization. The natural fires flickered and danced in their spots, and from his vantage point, Shepard could see many figures around the fires, like bugs to a light. Even though the city was destroy, people were still present. Shepard smiled to himself. It was a strong testament to the adaptability and strength that life provided. Just like his squad.

Shepard let out a sigh as he thought of where his friends could be.

"'The shadow broker wishes to see you."

Shepard looked to the voice and recognized who it was. "Thanks Feron. But Liara can wait a moment." He patted a spot on the ground next to him for the drell. "Come sit. Enjoy the view."

Feron complied and sat next to the commander. He remained silent. Obviously the shadow broker had done a lot to him. As if he was expected to say something, the drell spoke almost mechanically. "I really don't know what is going to happen now with the reapers gone."

"There will always be some evil to fight." Shepard replied casually, his focus back on the view. "I can imagine that all of us will be pretty busy soon."

Feron nodded, his gaze also on the view. "All those drug lords and criminals will come out of the wreckage now… I guess you're right, the work will never finish."

"At least we can look forward to it."

That statement threw Feron off, and he gave Shepard a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, now we finally have a future to look forward to, even if it is full of fighting."

Feron nodded. "When you and Liara had rescued me, I didn't think like that. I kept dwelling on the torture… the past means everything to a drell."

"Well just remember that the past is done with. You should look to the future and do what you want with your life."

Feron kept nodding as he took in what Shepard was saying. He thought for a while before speaking. "What is your future filled with Shepard?"

Shepard smiled at the thought of it. "Well, I'd give up all this fighting and commanding and just settle down with Liara. We'll have many kids and just be happy together. And you?"

"I don't know just yet." Feron replied.

"Well you've got plenty of time." Shepard laughed. He stood up. "Let's get to the shadow broker, she's probably in her room back on the Normandy."

Both left the wreckage, and went to find a shuttle that could take them to Shepard's ship.

Despite what he had told Feron, Shepard couldn't help but be in the past when he came onto the Normandy. If the past was any indicator, his squad will leave and Shepard will be on the ship with Liara, possibly never seeing his friends again.

Passing by Vega's area, Shepard saw all the workout equipment and living essentials. Shepard smiled, Vega would make an incredible N7 soldier. It would only be a short matter of time before Vega packed up all his things and left for the academy.

On his way to the elevator, Shepard looked to Cortez's empty console and workbench. He could still vividly remember Cortez calling out on the comms moments before he was killed.

Feron viewed Shepard standing at Cortez's console with interest. "I thought you told me not to dwell in the past."

Shepard laughed at the irony. "Well when there are things that force you to remember the past, it's much harder."

Before getting caught up in another memory Shepard hurried to the elevator and punched the button for the engineering deck.

"Isn't the Shadow Broker's room on the crew floor?"

"Yes it is." The doors opened and Shepard stepped out of the elevator. "But did I mention how hard it is not to dwell on the past?"

Walking into the engine room Shepard could still remember the banter between Engineers Donnelly and Daniels. He would never forget Tali's rants about the engine core, or chief engineer Adams' praise for the quarian.

The core had a dull pulsating hum. Shepard closed his eyes and just listened for a little while, letting the hum sooth him.

However he was back in the elevator for the crew level rather soon. The doors opened, immediately showing the War Memorial. All those names and memories called for him to come closer. So many names were on it, the most important being those of Thane, Mordin, Legion, Kelly Chambers, and Kaidan. Shepard put his hand to the memorial and shook his head in mourning. There were several names that needed to get added as well. Miranda, Jack, Admiral Anderson, and many others needed to get added to the wall. He knew that it would be tough when the time came to do it. He made a mental note to start mentally preparing for that.

He quickly checked Liara's office, a red squad on the door signified that it was locked. The med bay on the opposing side was also dark, and Shepard did not try to venture inside.

Where he stood, there was enough to reminisce about. The kitchen and dining table were the social hub of the whole ship. Here people took off their fancy titles and ate together as equals. Because of that, some rather funny and serious things have happened at that table. Shepard could remember them all.

"Shepard, may I ask what you are doing?" EDI's voice came over the speaker, her curiosity apparent.

"I'm just remembering old times EDI and I'm teaching Feron how not to do it."

"You have been up for 25 hours straight. You have almost died and had countless adrenaline rushes then. I suggest sleep be your only option at the moment. I've heated your bed for you to make the option more enticing."

"EDI, you know my bed doesn't have warmers." Shepard answered her. Immediately he was suspicious of why she wanted him in his bed.

"That was a joke." The AI replied in her usual dry tone. "I had assumed that going to bed was your main intention for coming aboard the ship, was it not?"

Shepard shook his head. "Nope that wasn't why EDI. In fact, I actually don't know why."

"You look exhausted Shepard, maybe you should just go to bed." Feron added, seemingly fully in agreement with the AI.

"There's one more thing that I want to see." Shepard protested, heading for the port observation room. Since the Normandy was in combat, the window shutters were closed. With a mere press of a button the shutters opened and Shepard beheld space right around Earth.

Shepard saw reaper forms floating in Earth's gravitational pull, floating next to destroyed SWORD fleet ships. The citadel, being slowly tore apart by structural failure, stood in stark contrast to the wreckage. Parts of the crucible floated right where the crucible had been when it was docked to the citadel. Such an expensive and powerful device was now cast aside.

"You got your look Shepard. Time for bed." Feron put a hand on Shepard's shoulder and led him to the elevator. He hit the button for the captain's quarters and Shepard watched the doors shut on his view of the memorial wall.

When the elevator doors opened to the captain's quarters, Shepard didn't need any more coaxing into bed. Blindly he walked through his messy room straight for his bed. The sheets were disheveled from his and Liara's night together before Cronos station, and he made no attempt to make them. He merely flopped right onto the mattress.

Shepard could hear a laugh behind him. At first he thought that it was Feron, but the laugh sounded too feminine. Then another chuckle, unique enough to be someone else's laugh.

*POP*

The unmistakable sound of the opening of a champagne bottle sounded at the foot of his bed. Shepard felt the cork land on his body. He smiled, suddenly knowing why EDI wanted him up here.

"To Shepard, the best friend any life-form could ever have."

Liara, Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Ashley, Grunt, Javik, Vega, Kasumi, Feron, and so many more behind them stood with glasses raised around him on the bed. They all smiled down on him.

With a cry of agreement, everyone proceeded to down their drink immediately.

"How did you guys this off?" Everything seemed surreal to Shepard. Everyone was here; he couldn't have been in better company.

Kasumi smirked. "We all hid in your bathroom Shep when EDI told us you were coming up."

"And boy, you have a nice bathroom compared to ours down below…"

"Regardless of its size, the bathroom still did not have the capacity to hold all of us comfortably."

"The things we do for you Shepard!" Ashley raised her glass again.

Everyone laughed. Liara sat on the bed next to Shepard and gave him a glass and a peck on the cheek. Shepard put an arm around her waist and in response Liara rested her head on his shoulder.

"I can go all night!" Vega proclaimed. It was likely he was already drunk.

"We are going to have some fun with this. Break out the Ryncol Grunt." Wrex laughed as he looked to a disapproving Ashley. "What? It's not a celebration until someone falls from Ryncol… might as well make it quick."

"It's against regulation to have those within even 100 feet of an alliance ship." Ashley crossed her arms and tried to stare down the krogan.

"Well it's not an alliance ship anymore. They gave me the Normandy!" Shepard shouted.

Everyone cheered and raised their glasses again. Bottles were passed around so people could refill their drinks.

Shepard had nice chats with everyone on what they were going to do next. For instance Tali was probably going back to Rannoch, Garrus had no idea where he was going to go, Ashley and Vega were serving more time with the Alliance. But soon it started to get late and Shepard's body fought to keep it together. Most of the other people were feeling weariness, and soon many left. Eventually Shepard and Liara were all alone.

They lay down together on the bed, snuggling together until they found the perfect spot.

"Sweet dreams." Liara whispered into his ear, kissing him lightly on the lips.

Shepard was going to answer, but sleep claimed him before he could.

The sleep felt good, but like anytime one gets the first good sleep in a while, he woke up groggy and even more sleepy. He got up and went into the bathroom to wash up.

The heavy stench of krogan hit his nose, which served to help Shepard wake up. After a quick shower he was all set.

Liara was still asleep in the bed, and Shepard smiled. It looked like he wasn't the only one that needed sleep. Shepard calmly sat on the foot of the bed and watched his bondmate sleep. One of her feet poked out from the covers, and Shepard couldn't help but play with the toes. Slowly Liara woke up. She reached over to Shepard's side of the bed, and when she realized that he wasn't there she sat up abruptly. When she saw him at the edge of the bed she gave him a tired smile.

"I hope I didn't wake you."

Liara answered with a tired moan as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Why do we need to sleep? Why can't we just be like Salarians?"

"Salarians only live to be 40."

"I wonder which is the lesser of two evils."

Shepard laughed at that comment. After Liara had taken a shower, both got dressed into casual clothes. Arm in arm, they headed down to the kitchen for breakfast.

The kitchen table had everyone around it. It was bittersweet because this was probably the last time that everyone would be together.

"Now Shepard, there is something I think a bunch of us want to tell you."

Shepard raised his brow. "What exactly do you want to tell me?"

"It's something that we all decided together."

"Well?"

"Well you know how we all split up after we defeated Saren?" Ashley butt in.

"And then you died." Tali pointed out.

"And then we helped you pull off the impossible and defeat the collectors." Garrus finished.

"What's this got to do with anything?"

"We are getting there Shepard." Garrus answered. "Then after all that you got contained on Earth and we all split up again. And then what?"

"The reapers came." Shepard stated. He wasn't sure where they were all going with this.

"The point is, every time we split up, something bad happens. Heck- we even left you to go alone on a mission to free the Alliance scientist, and you got captured by reapers and were forced to blow up a system!"

"So we are not going to leave you Shepard. We are all going to stick together this time." Ashley finished the statement this time.

"If you'll have us of course. The Normandy is your ship now."

Shepard smiled. It seemed as though this moment wouldn't be so bittersweet after all. Shepard had planned to leave all these stupid politics behind and just live. He wanted to explore the galaxy without any reason other than for the sake of exploration. Now that he was able to do that with those he was close to, it was going to make his future even better. Together, they would become that little ship lost in space that he so wanted.

After breakfast everyone split up to their parts of the ship. People had duties to fulfill, and due to their extended stay others were going to be moving into better suited rooms. All that had to be done now was that the new long range FTL drives had to be fitted in order for the Normandy to get anywhere since the mass relays were currently disabled.

Shepard stood at the galaxy map looking over all the planets that he could go. In his honest opinion, all he cared was to get away from the council and their stupid politics. It was their stupidity and actions that had caused more deaths than there should have been. It was all their dirty secrets that they kept instead of sharing them with everyone. Suddenly Shepard felt an anger rise up within him. It was their fault. Somehow he felt compelled to make them pay. It was them who should have died.

Shepard shook the thought from his head. It wasn't like him to plot revenge. Silently he went back to plotting courses and imagining what planets he might run into. He had a future ahead of him, and it was a future on his terms. Finally.