The same day Garrus Vakarian anticipated special visitor, his sister Solana Vakarian. Lantar Sidonis in the meantime slept in his room so he could recover himself from the fever. Garrus was already preparing something for himself and his sister to eat because he received a message that she was already on the astro-port and was going to be soon at his house. Since Garrus found pitiful Lantar out on the street, he didn't stop with cooking meals. Also, he didn't have any presents for his sister or Lantar. Well, he was fine when he considered that he bought Lantar new clothes but he didn't have anything for his sister and that was bothering him.
Suddenly, as Garrus prepared the meals, he heard the doorbell ring and realized it was his sister. He hurried at the door and opened it, "Garrus!" Solana spread her arms and Garrus hugged her, "Sol! It's good to see you!" he said and let Solana enter, "Yeah. Missed you, bro. It's boring on Palaven so it was good to know I'm gonna visit you on Earth. Always wished to see it! A little cold and snow but I'm not made of sugar." Solana explained and Garrus chuckled, "Heh… wanna let me take care of your luggage?" Garrus offered himself to help Solana, "I'm fine, Garrus, but thanks for your help." She said, taking her luggage, "Eh, Solana?" Garrus stopped her and she looked at him, "Try to avoid the room right in front of the stairs." Garrus warned her, "Why…?" she wondered, "I've got an unexpected guest…" Garrus explained shortly but Solana understood, or at least Garrus thought she did. She headed upstairs, pulling her luggage with her and finally got up. She was turning right to another rooms, ignoring the door which was right in front of the stairs, but stopped before entering her room. She looked at the door, thinking who was Garrus' unexpected guest. Curiosity didn't leave her still. She left her luggage at the door to her room and went closer to the other door, silently opening them and peeking inside. The light inside was dim, but Solana saw the bed and somebody wrapped in it. She opened the door a little more to see who was it, "A turian…? Who is he?" she asked herself, seeing the peaceful, sleeping face. She closed the door again and went to her room, unpacking the stuff she had. Once she was done, Solana went downstairs to join Garrus at lunch.
"So, how is mom?" Garrus asked Solana during their lunch, "Mom's fine. She had some surgeries, but she's gonna be fine… I hope." Solana answered, looking at her meal, "You don't sound too enthusiastic about it. What's wrong?" Garrus asked, "It's complicated. The doctors say that she should be fine in her age but she keeps getting tumors after each surgery." Solana explained plainly, "Is there anything I could do? I can pay her treatment. You know salarians, thieves when it comes to medicine." Garrus said, "I think credits aren't gonna solve this, bro." Solana replied, taking sip of her tea, "What do you mean?" Garrus asked her, not understanding, "Medicaments, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and other chemical stuff just slows down the growth of disease but will never cure it completely. Do you know what would help her?" Solana asked but Garrus shook his head, "It would help her to see her son, my brother that is sitting right in front of me. She keeps asking me 'Where's Garrus? Is he ok? I didn't hear from him so long'." Solana said and Garrus sighed, "There's been a lot, Sol. I don't have much time now." Garrus explained and Solana stopped spoon right in front of her mouth, "Oh? From what I know, the Reapers are gone." Solana said, "You don't understand. There is still injustice and evil within Terminus. If I'm not gonna do a purge there, who else will?" Garrus argued, "You're not the only one who's part of this Alliance Navy, Garrus. Anyone else can do your job during your visit on Palaven! Garrus, she's dying! Can't you see it?" Solana said, Garrus looked elsewhere, "Don't look away! Why didn't you join the turian hierarchy after the war was over? Why the Alliance instead?" Solana asked, Garrus looked at his food, "I have my reasons…" he answered silently, "Then please, try not to act like you care when you don't." Solana said, sensing that Garrus was pushing something back. Solana realized she hit Garrus right in the feelings because his mandibles tightened around his mouth and he tried not to cry in front of her, "I… I didn't want to… Garrus…" she stood up from her meal and went over to Garrus, letting him to hug her. Garrus definitely cried, but didn't leave his eyes opened so the tears wouldn't fall, "I didn't want to be mean. I'm just worried about her because you haven't seen her for years. Garrus… don't be sad, bro." Solana rubbed Garrus' head, trying to comfort him.
In few minutes, they returned back to eating and acted like nothing happened. Because Garrus was still wordless, Solana changed the subject herself, "When I was upstairs, I just peeked inside that room you said I should avoid. There was a turian, but I don't know him… who is he?" Solana asked, Garrus took a deep breath, "His name is Lantar Sidonis. He is my… my former colleague." Garrus explained, "You never told me about him before. Who is he?" Solana said, "I met him on Omega in Terminus systems and there weren't any options to send messages to you. That's why you don't know." Garrus replied, "Can understand that. What's your story with him?" she asked, "It's a long story. We fought on Omega against crime with other people in our group. He betrayed me, my men died because of him and I wished to kill him but I didn't. He's trying to redeem himself because he promised it." Garrus said, his voice finally stable, "I see… what is with him that he's here?" Solana asked, "That was actually a coincidence. I was on my way from astro-port as my shore leave started. I found him in the street. He was begging for food, having tattered cloth on himself, he was delirious because he got fever." Garrus explained, "Spirits, poor guy! So you decided to take care of him, right?" Solana said and Garrus nodded. Solana smiled at that, "It's nice to know that you care for him even that he betrayed you." She said, "He's doing his best. I saw no reason not to help him. If I let Lantar freeze to death out there, I wouldn't be better." Garrus explained and Solana nodded in reply, "Sol, he's with us on Christmas so I hope it's fine with you." Garrus said "Sure! At least we're not gonna be only two!" she smiled, finishing her meal, "The food was great, Garrus. At least something from our mom never changes." She made Garrus compliment, bringing a weak smile on his face.
Garrus cleaned the table and Solana decided to take shower. Her plans for the rest of the day were unknown, but now that she knew who Lantar was, she thought it would be good to get to know him better. After the shower, Solana dressed up in her room and headed to Lantar. The door opened, Lantar was still sleeping and the room was darkened. She switched on the light which flickered few times before turning on and pulled chair to Lantar's bed. Solana sat there, watching Lantar's sleeping face being so peaceful, "How come someone like you ended up like that?" She thought and placed her talon on Sidonis' forehead. It was warmer, but he wasn't burning. The feeling of colder hand and Lantar's hot forehead connected, causing Lantar to open his eyes. First, he didn't know what was happening, but looked at the turian woman sitting next to him, "You're awake, Sidonis?" Solana asked, smiling down at him. Lantar was still thinking who she was, "You… you're Garrus' sister?" he asked and pushed himself up against the pillow so he could talk to her. Solana nodded, "My name is Solana, but others call me Sol for short. You know about me?" she asked, "Garrus said you were visiting. I'm… Lantar Sidonis. I guess Garrus has already told you about me." Lantar said and she nodded with smile. He shook his head, "Shit… then you must know about what I've done to him." He said, looking to his knees, "I know. He also said you're trying to make it up to him and how you ended up." Solana said and Lantar nodded to it, "Why didn't you try to find job here?" she asked, "Who said I didn't try? I tried to find job once I landed here. Everywhere I came, they said 'Sorry, no job' or 'Only humans' and turian district didn't want me, they said they were full on capacity." Lantar said and sighed only thinking of that. Solana took his warm talon and grasped it, "And Garrus helped you. You seem to be a nice guy, honestly." She said, Lantar looked at her holding his talon, "Do you think so?" Lantar asked when he watched as her talon rested on his faceplates, then looked at her, "I think you deserve better. If you did all you could, maybe you should find a way to be happy." She said, rubbing him on plates. Lantar was sensing she was hitting up on him, but not like Alice. Alice was only longing for sex, but Solana's smile and eyes were asking for something else, "Sol… I… I don't think this could work." Lantar said, taking off her talon, "Why not?" Solana wondered and Lantar looked behind her, leaning over to her, "Can you close the door? I think Garrus shouldn't hear this…" he whispered and Solana nodded, pushing the door behind her. She paid attention Lantar, "I am gay… besides, I don't think Garrus wouldn't let me date you." Lantar said and Solana seemed to be amused, "I'm sorry if I broke your chances. It's not that you wouldn't be attractive, you are, but I'm simply not into girls…" Lantar said and Solana nodded, still smiling, "You don't look much gay to me, Lantar." Solana chuckled, "Probably because I spent some time of my life in military." He explained and Solana was about to interrogate him, "So, you like boys? I guess it's not big difference from loving girl." She smiled, "Is there somebody special for you?" she asked and Lantar nodded, "Oh, who is it?" she asked curious, but Lantar couldn't push it out of himself. He merely smiled and looked to the side. Significant blush in his face appeared but he couldn't answer. From his expression and the fact that the door had to be closed, she found out herself, "No way! Garrus?!" she said aloud and the door opened, with Garrus inside.
"Did you call me? Oh, Sol! I didn't know you'd be talking to Lantar." Garrus said, looking at Lantar, "How are you feeling?" he asked, "I-I-I… good! I think I could be fine tomorrow!" Lantar stuttered and Garrus walked closer, resting his palm against Lantar's plates, checking his temperature, "Well, definitely you're not burning, but you should stay in bed and we'll see tomorrow." Garrus said and Lantar gave him nod, "You're strangely red in face, Lantar. Do you need water?" Garrus asked, "It's ok, Garrus! Solana will be here when I need something!" Lantar notified and Garrus looked at her, "Will you?" Garrus asked and his broadly smiling sister agreed, "Alright, when you need assistance, I'll be down in the living room." He said and immediately left, closing door behind himself.
Lantar sighed long and Solana had to hold her belly while laughing. Once she stopped laughing, she looked at Lantar, "Sometimes it's hard to talk to him when I get this… nervousness!" Lantar explained, "When did you start to feel you liked him?" Solana asked, "It was after few weeks of our work on Omega. He was there for me and I was covering his back. He saved me like million times and I started to feel that…" Lantar said, "Did you ever tell him? Does he know about what you feel?" she asked but Lantar shook his head, "No and I don't think I'll ever have the chance without hurting him." He said, "Why would you hurt him?" she asked, "In the first moments I was planning to tell him, but conditions were harsh on Omega, we couldn't get ourselves distracted when there were mercs waiting for us so I thought I would wait for some other opportunity. Then, Garrus told me that he loved a human woman called Jane Shepard. I was like 'Ok, he's straight. Not gonna succeed.' so I stopped trying and concentrated on our missions." Lantar explained, "But you still feel for him. How?" Solana asked, "It didn't let go. I was still possessed by the mind of telling Garrus that I like him, but I was afraid of his reaction. Later I was captured by Blue Suns. They let me go but I had to make sure Garrus wouldn't get in their way so I got him somewhere else while the gangs would kill our men. I hated myself for that but I ran from Omega and flew to the Citadel. I was thinking: yeah, I can start new life here. I can find somebody else and thinking about Garrus shouldn't bother me." Lantar said, "But none of it was happening, right?" she asked and Lantar shook his head, "Everything I did was for my own survival. Like I said, I hated myself, but Garrus was also alive and he was thirsty for revenge. I knew he would come for me. I felt like shit, nothing gave me pleasure and I was only expecting when would Garrus come to end it. He came and Jane Shepard came too. She warned me about Garrus. I so didn't want to die. I tried so much to show him my regret, but he was possessed with revenge. Only Jane changed his mind and Garrus let me go. I promised to make things better and my life was a little bit brighter with knowledge that Garrus forgave me." Lantar said, "He loved Jane, right? She was strong woman who defeated Reapers." Solana remarked, "Jane was everything for him. When she died, I think it left a lot on him. Each time I try to talk to him about this, he is upset. That wound is still fresh." Lantar said and Solana placed her hand on Lantar's leg, "I understand how bad you must feel. That you love him but cannot say anything because he is still mourning Jane's death… Should I talk to him? He might listen to me." Solana said but Lantar looked at her seriously, "Just, do me a favor… try not to talk about Jane in front of him… he would find out I told you and… I don't need him to hate me again. Not now when we are relatively ok with each other…" Lantar said but wasn't sure that Solana would listen, "Please, don't do it! I… I think I'll try talking to him before I leave. He can hate me later but now I don't want to mess up his shore leave." Lantar pleaded and for one moment, Solana thought how to decide. However, she understood Lantar was right so she promised not to talk about Jane.
Next few days were spent were spent in relaxed atmosphere. Lantar was finally feeling healthy, the world was more stable under his feet. Both, Solana and Lantar were helping Garrus with cooking and other things in his house. Lantar and Solana kept their conversation for themselves, but even so, Solana couldn't resist to make a joke about Lantar's sexuality and said about him that he and Garrus would make a great couple. Naturally, Lantar laughed and had to hide his face as he was blushing. He was so easily put out of balance when somebody would say something about him and Garrus together. Garrus laughed back, saying that his heart belongs only to one person who is dead. Right after that, Lantar and Solana looked at each other, realizing what was happening. They could clearly see that Garrus was desperately obsessed by Jane and was blaming himself for her death. His love towards her didn't allow him to continue in his life and finding someone else. Lantar had such a big compulsion to talk some sense to Garrus, expressing him his love. As the time was progressing and official part of Christmas was over, Lantar had to prepare that once Solana was leaving, he was about to be alone with Garrus and it would be the right time to talk. That day came, and on December 29, Solana was finally leaving.
"I hope you'll find some courage and come to see our mom on Palaven, bro." Solana said, hugging Garrus, "I'll do my best." Garrus answered. They let go of each other and Solana reached out her hand for Lantar so they shook their hands, "Good luck with your life, Lantar and good luck also with… you know what." She winked at him, "Take care of yourself. Bye, Solana. It was good to meet you." Lantar said and Solana waved them as she left. Garrus closed the door, looking at Lantar, "So, I guess you will leave soon as well." He said but Lantar gave him unexpected answer, "I was thinking… how about if we went to Omega? For the sake of good old times to remember and honor our fallen friends?" Lantar suggested, a faint smile appeared on Garrus' face, "You know… I think that they deserve it. Alright, we will go tomorrow! Get ready for it, I'll make sure the Alliance officers will give you some armor!" Garrus said and Lantar gave him nod. It almost seemed like they were good with each other again. But that was just the lull before the storm.