CHAPTER 2

"You did WHAT?!"

"I sold Wakey Brews."

Rosemary stared at her father in horror. Her father hadn't bothered to look at her to deliver the news. He continued to eat his noodles, nonplussed.

"H-How? To who?!"

"The Alliance. Once the turians leave, they're turning Little Palaven into a low-income housing development. It's a noble cause."

She couldn't argue with that. But Wakey Brews... her Wakey Brews... her mother's Wakey Brews.

"You can go to college now. Rosamund would have liked that," her father added quietly.

Guilt stabbed at Rosemary's heart. They had never been a family with money. After high school, Rosemary had gone straight to work at Wakey Brews. Rosamund, however, had come from money. Education had been very important to her.

"I was thinking we could move to Philly. Apartments are going for real cheap..."

Rosemary didn't want to hear any more. Move to Philadelphia? It was more crime-ridden than ever. The War had made a lot of people angry and bitter ... and a lot of them had moved to Philadelphia. She didn't want to live there. She liked where she was at. She loved Little Palaven.

She looked up at the starry sky, her mind racing. They were eating dinner on their apartment's balcony. Next to her, Oliver picked at his food, his face sullen. Ever since their mother had died, their father's couldn't bear to eat at the family table. Their mother had loved that table. She had saved for it for a year. It was the fanciest piece of furniture in the apartment. Now it just stood in their dining room, bare and unused for two years.

The moon shone its soft white glow upon the family, lending the sense of peace Rosemary needed to just... think. Just behind the moon was the slight outline of the Citadel. Rosemary blinked. Wait a minute...

XOXOXOXO

It was Wakey Brew's last day of business. Many of the shop's regulars were most unhappy with the news, but they wished Rosemary and her family well. Distracted, the day's pastries were more burnt and rancid than usual, but the regulars still bought them. Touched, Rosemary tried not to broadcast her glum feelings. Instead, she greeted every customer warmly and bore a determinedly cheerful face all day.

An hour before closing, Tabitha's best friend ran in the store, looking frantic. Imitha was a young turian female, with medium-shaded plates and blue colony markings. Right now, her face plates were raw... from crying? Imitha ran and hugged Rosemary, her voice a ragged sob. Concerned, Rosemary returned the hug.

"Imitha...?"

Her friend could barely speak. After a minute, she rasped, "The Normandy's back, Rosemary! It's back... my brother's b-back!"

Rosemary gasped. That was amazing news! Imitha's brother was the famous Garrus Vakarian, comrade to the hero Emma Shepard. Rosemary had met Imitha and her father at Wakey Brews, when they had first arrived on Earth. Imitha had complained about her biscuits. When Rosemary admitted to her failing, readily agreeing that her biscuits did indeed taste like ass, she had made Imitha laugh. She had been friends with the Vakarians ever since. Imitha came to Wakey Brews every day, a huge fan of Rosemary's dextro-friendly frappuccinos.

There was going to be a big celebration in Philadelphia. Imitha insisted that Rosemary and Oliver join them. So it was with a conflicted heart that Rosemary closed the doors to the Wakey Brew, never to open again - she thought, most morosely.

XOXOXOXO

The celebration was a grand affair. Thousands of people were in the streets, laughing and shouting with excitement. Traffic had been a bitch. Luckily, the Vakarian name had gotten the party past several of the checkpoints with hardly any trouble.

The Convention Center was packed. In the main room, the crew of the Normandy stood on a hastily-assembled stage - all with stoic expressions, oblivious to the crowd cheering and shouting their names. Rosemary recognized several of them from the vids - Joker, EDI, Steven Cortez, Liara... and of course, Garrus Vakarian.

He wasn't a bad-looking turian, even with the scars all over the right side of his face. He had the same blue colony markings as his sister, and she couldn't see them from where she stood, but he probably had the same blue eyes as Imitha, too.

There were a lot of speeches, through all of which the crew just stood, unaffected. The only emotion they showed was varying degrees of grief and barely disguised anger when Commander Shepard's name was mentioned. Three politicians had droned on and on about her saintly character and accomplishments until the one she recognized as Kaiden Alenko took the microphone away from the last one.

Despite the crew's unenthusiastic response to the celebration, it continued, albeit less raucously than anticipated. The instant Garrus stepped off the stage, Imitha ran to him, weeping with joy.

"Dad will be SO happy! He said he'll be back by tomorrow, but I... I just can't believe you're alive! We worried you were dead...!"

Garrus' mandibles twitched. Rosemary sensed he didn't feel like answering any questions at the moment, so she offered her hand to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Rosemary. Rosemary Fletcher. I'm a... family friend."

Garrus shook her head, looking grateful. Imitha wiped away her tears and smiled. "She's my best friend, Garrus. Our family and hers... we've grown very close since the War."

Garrus was polite, but withdrawn. Imitha was hurt, and confused, and told Rosemary as much the next day, at Wakey Brews.

XOXOXOXO

Wakey Brews wasn't open to the public. Not anymore, anyway. Rosemary was just packing everything up, and sorting everything into appropriate crates.

Imitha sipped on the frappuccino Rosemary had whipped up for her. "I don't get it, Rosemary... Well, I do, but I don't."

Rosemary just listened as she wiped down the counter.

"Dad said he had been in a relationship with the Shepard woman, but I didn't know he had, you know... loved her. They loved each other, Rosemary. Honestly, I didn't think they would love each other like that... I thought is was, you know, regular interspecies sexual curiosity. Everyone goes through that."

Rosemary blushed.

"You know they renovated and built up what used to be the Crucible, right?"

"I think I read about that, yeah."

"Well, it's become this huge fancy park, with pricey condos and little stores all around it. Very scenic. Well, Dad messaged Garrus this morning, saying he bought him a condo right in front of the park. Garrus is not happy about that."

Rosemary winced. She could see why he wouldn't be. The park had been named Shepard Park, in honor of the Citadel's hero. Right in the middle of the giant park was a forty-foot statue of Commander Shepard herself. Thinking of Imitha's brother looking out at that statue everyday, a gigantic image of his lost love... That was just... Ouch.

Still... she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. From what Imitha was saying, the love between her brother and the hero, Shepard, had been the real thing. She'd never experienced it herself: love. She couldn't help but wonder what it was like.

She had never really put herself out there. She wasn't a virgin, but her first and last time hadn't been about love. It had just been sex. There was nothing wrong with just sex, but she wondered... What would it be like to have feelings involved?

These thoughts plagued her long after Imitha had left the shop. She thought about other things too - her future being at the forefront. Was she really going to go to college? What would she study? She had never had any grand ambition. The coffee shop had been her life. She had always pictured herself decades from now, a little old lady still running Wakey Brews, sharing her stories about "the good 'ol days'.

College. It just didn't feel right. She had never been great at athletics, or academics. She was the definition of average, of mediocrity. She had never in her life considered the idea of pursuing a higher education.

There was something admirable in wanting to educate oneself, but her real passion was people, and coffee. She liked bringing a little sunshine into her customers' day. She liked making small conversation, and making people feel more comfortable in general. It was what she loved.

She was on the last crate. A sudden, crazy thought entered her mind. What if... her family moved to the Citadel before it left? She'd be with Saeli and Imitha, and her brother had always wanted to see the Citadel in all its glory... But it was so expensive. They would have to live in one of the more unsavory Wards... whose crime rate had been equal to Philadelphia's own these days.

It could be exciting. There would be new opportunities for her family. The Citadel schools had had decent reputations before the War. What kind of job could she have? C-Sec? Nah. No. She wasn't in the least bit combat-inclined. She could always work retail.

She'd sealed the final crate when someone knocked on one of the windows. Looking up, she was struck with sudden panic and alarm. It was the turian sniper, Balint Fortem.

Wakey Brews was done, but she found herself letting him in. Her hand shook as she unlocked the door.

"I'm sorry," Rosemary said, twisting her hands. "We're closed."

Balint looked disappointed. "That's too bad. I was looking forward to trying one of your drinks. Saeli said they were good."

"You know Saeli?"

"We're friends," Balint confirmed.

For a minute, they just stood there awkwardly. Rosemary suddenly thought of something. "Hold on!" She quickly went behind the counter, looking for a specific crate. "I still have some leftovers from this morning... Where is it..."

The refrigerated crate was at the very bottom of a stack of other crates. She started moving the other crates. Balint shook his head.

"Do you need help? Those look kind of heavy."

"No, thanks," Rosemary said, smiling. "I wasn't given this sturdy build for nothing," she joked automatically, before she could stop herself.

Balint chuckled. Ignoring her protests, he started re-stacking the crates while she rummaged through the refrigerated one. That was nice of him, she thought, relaxing slightly.

She finally found what she was looking for. Hiding under a bag of straws were the leftover frappuccinos from that morning. After a few seconds' deliberation, she picked the last bottle of dextro mocha frappucino. He could be a mocha frappuccino guy, she thought with some amusement. She stood and handed him the bottle.

Balint took a sip, and trilled in surprise. His mandibles flared as he stared at the bottle. "It's amazing! What is this?"

"A dextro mocha frappuccino," Rosemary told him, relieved. "So you like it?"

"I can see why Saeli is obsessed with your drinks. The guys are always raving about them, too."

Rosemary was suddenly extremely shy. "It tasted better with whipped cream, but I already packed the dispenser."

"That's alright. This stuff is amazing, but I'd draw the line at whipped cream. Not exactly the manliest topping."

Rosemary grinned; she couldn't help it. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and sneaked a glance at her reflection in one of the windows. She didn't look too bad. Her hair was a mess, but not ridiculous. She caught sight of a coffepot under the counter, near the back. How had she missed that?

She took it out and grabbed a rag. She should clean the dust from it before packing it. Balint took another sip of his drink.

"So..."

"Hm?" She finished polishing the coffeepot and placed the rag back on the counter.

"My voice is pure sex, hm?"

CRASH! Rosemary froze in shocked embarrassment, the coffeepot in shattered pieces at her feet. Balint's golden eyes gleamed; his mouth slanted in a smirk.