Chapter 6

Kasumi slid down a long curved stretch of rubble and leapt gracefully from it, landing on her feet without breaking stride. She held up her omni-tool, scanning the area around her where pieces of the Citadel lay burning.

"Anything?" Liara asked, using her biotics to float down to where Kasumi stood amidst the wreckage. Kasumi's omni-tool chirped and flashed.

"Nothing," Kasumi replied solemnly. "No signs of life in the vicinity. Just like all the rest of them."

"Do not give up hope," Liara encouraged, though her voice sounded strained. "We may find survivors yet."

Kasumi nodded, even though her resolve had begun to falter. She wanted to believe that they would find people alive (one person in particular, though that seemed like too much to ask for), but after combing over the wreckage for three days and finding nothing…Kasumi was no longer convinced that any hope actually remained.

They moved together, ducking under a jagged beam and moving into what seemed to once be a long hallway.

"I've been here before," Liara said in amazement. "This is part of the Presidium, near the embassies." She dragged her hand along the burned and crushed metal that was almost unrecognizable; Kasumi was unsure if she would honestly be able to tell if she had ever been to this part of the Citadel before, this wretched broken shell of what it used to be. Kasumi looked around, shaking her head.

"What happened up there, Liara?" Kasumi whispered, fighting to hold back tears. "What happened to Shepard on the Citadel? What caused this?"

"I don't know," Liara replied, moving next to her friend. "I fear that we may never know exactly what happened. Only that Shepard saved us all, as she always wanted to."

Kasumi scoffed slightly, moving over and sitting against the wall. Liara moved and sat beside her, pulling her knees to her chest. "Is there any chance," Kasumi began, swallowing hard. "Is there any chance that Shepard survived? I mean, she got blasted by the Collectors and came back…"

"That was different; Cerberus rebuilt her. Something tells me that isn't going to happen this time. I don't even think—" Liara was about to say, I don't even think there would be anything left of Shepard to find, but she stopped herself. The reality of it all hadn't really set in for Liara yet; she had been so focused on helping with all recovery and reconstruction efforts that she hadn't let her mind come to terms with the fact that her best friend in the galaxy was gone, never to return…

Stop it, she chastised herself, now is not the time for mourning. Shepard would never want her death to prevent us from doing our duty.

Liara stood, extending her hand toward Kasumi. "We cannot allow loss and death to hold us back, otherwise their sacrifices mean nothing. We must honor their memory, and seize the opportunity to live that they have afforded us; that Shepard has afforded us."

Kasumi nodded in understanding, and let Liara help her to her feet. Kasumi knew that what Liara said was true, even though it was incredibly hard for Kasumi to grasp now that the pain and loss was fresh in her mind. She would not allow it to hold her back though; she owed Shepard at least that much.

"Come on," Kasumi said, activating her omni-tool. "With any luck we can finish this sector before dark."

The next morning preparations were made for a funeral and tribute to Shepard and all those who gave their lives in the war against the Reapers. Admiral Hackett and the members of the Council all gave speeches, rifles were fired, and the plans for a statue were unveiled. The statue was a large rendering of Commander Shepard flanked by Krogan, Asari, Salarian, Turian, Quarian, and Geth soldiers. Upon completion it would be placed at the 'ground zero' of the Reaper conflict, at the base of the conduit that had taken Shepard to the Citadel. It was the hope of Hackett and the Council to eventually have similar statues placed on every homeworld in the galaxy, a statement of hope for the future and the ability for the stranded species to actually see their homeworlds again.

After the unveiling of the statue, anyone from Shepard's crew that wanted to speak was allowed to do so. Garrus Vakarian, a Turian that had stuck by Shepard since the very beginning was the first to say a few words in her honor.

"I like to think I knew the Commander well," he began, laying his hand on her empty coffin. "But how well can someone truly know a woman so complex and unwavering? I know that she pulled me from the darkness more than once; there was one time when I was bent on revenge, and she was the only one that was able to show me the way out…"

When Garrus finished, Liara stepped up.

"How do you mourn someone you mourned for before, and come out alright? I had come to terms with her death after the Collector attack, then to find out that she had been returned to us…only to have her taken away again? But then I remember that she was not taken. The first time, she sacrificed herself to save a member of her crew. This time, she sacrificed herself for all of us, and for everyone who will ever walk this world or any other. I loved Commander Shepard; she was my friend. I remember how we met; it seems like so long ago now, like a different life…"

Tali'Zorah was the next to speak. Kasumi caught Tadius looking at her from the corner of her eye, and she actively avoided eye contact. Surely he was wondering if she, as a former member of Shepard's crew, would speak. But what could she say? What insight could she give into the life of the most powerful and inspirational person she had ever met? No, she decided, there was nothing she could say that was worthy.

Tadius continued to watch Kasumi, even after she turned and bowed her head. He was drawn to her in an inexplicable way. Was it because she had saved his life? It seemed like more; he saw the sadness in her eyes and her desire to hide it from the world, and he wanted to save her from it, somehow…

Tadius sighed, standing with the rest of those paying tribute and saluting the fallen. When he looked back, Kasumi was nowhere to be seen. Tadius shook his head, walking with the Turians back to where they had all set up camp. Was he actually falling for a human? He told himself that it was just from the situation they were in, that it was because she had saved his life, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he cared for her on a deeper level.

He hoped the feeling would pass.