Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. This fictional story is not making me any money (unless BioWare takes note and decides to pay me).

A Hundred Memories for the Journey Home

Day Four

It was only mid-morning, and Tali felt like the mountain of datapads and paperwork spread out in the conference room were already up to her helmet. She sighed and wished for the thirty-second time that she was in a clean room so she could take off her faceplate and rub her eyes.

With the help of Kaidan, James, and Liara, the Normandy crew had been dispersed among the Aysith Enterprises fleet to strengthen the workforce. The ship herself had one more days before it departed to Gotha as the D Team in ore retrieval, so that meant Tali had to decide to go aboard the Northern Star as a temporary passenger in order to better oversee operations, or stay on the Normandy.

She'd already packed a bag and gotten extra dextro rations together, but she still wasn't sure she wanted to leave the ship-her ship-even for a little while. For one thing, it would take too much to try and correct her name.

Oh, who am I kidding? Tali thought with an unseen eyeroll. I just don't want to leave what's familiar...now that I have it back. It had been hard enough standing trial when it seemed as if the quarian people as a whole were turning their backs on her (the exceptions being Veetor and Kal'Reegar). Life just seemed simpler on the Normandy, but Tali couldn't fool herself that it would last. She held a high position among her people, and with all the rebuilding on Rannoch...she needed to get home, now that there was one just for her.

Was this what that scared quarian kid had wanted back on 2183 when she had been ambushed in that alley in the lower wards of the Citadel? Had she wanted to get dragged into the middle of a multi-species confrontation; be made into the vid-screen model of hope for the quarian people because of achievements she'd made?

Tali sighed, and the filters in her suit whisked the carbon dioxide away with the vague hum they'd always had. They were all achievements made by Commander Shepard, she reminded herself. Your people just wanted a quarian to get some credit.

"That's not true," she could almost hear Shepard say. "You knew what to look for. I'm only an infiltrator-turned-combat engineer; what do I know about rewriting code, patching a mass relay, or reprogramming deactivated geth?"

"Nothing," Tali answered aloud. "But you could have figured it out." She'd already requested and received status reports from the two closest relays: the Pylos Nebula and the Shadow Sea. Traynor had said the Pylos relay would need some major work; even more than the Far Rim relay, and she'd been right. Thankfully, there was much more relay traffic in that area due to being a pathway to Omega that at least laborers weren't in such short supply. The Shadow Sea relay had been all but spared most of the destruction; getting the relay field rekindled and the rings moving was basically the only problem. It would be a faster way out of the Far Rim region, but in the end it would only lead them in a circle through the Nubian Expanse back to the heavily-damaged Caleston Rift relay.

Thankfully, however, the engineers in charge had been able to give her their best scans and information on how a fully-repaired and operational relay should be, and taken a lot of guesswork out of everything. It would hopefully also quicken the repair process now that Brayden and his people weren't working with an incomplete set of data.

Of course, what would make the repairs the fastest would be to fix all the geth, a little voice in her head told her. Tali tried unsuccessfully to shake it away. Nobody knew the geth quite like the quarians, and even then...she knew from Legion just how little the quarians had truly understood their creations.

In any case, she wasn't going to have time to analyze what exactly had caused the geth's demise, the same way she hadn't had a chance to really look into EDI's code. EDI had safeguarded her programming very closely, and Tali doubted that with the AI's ability to upgrade and alter her own code at will that there was any official record of the last 'operating system' EDI had had. It was probably a conglomeration of the original VI, the Cerberus programming, and that Reaper code, Tali thought, then shook her head.

"Tali'Zorah, you do not have time to go off on tangents," she told herself sternly. "You need to get home." She finished scrolling through the datapad she'd been holding for the last ten minutes and set it aside in the stack of information she was gathering for Donnelly. She'd assigned him and Gabby Daniels to begin the most crucial work of all: restarting the mass effect field. Between the two of them, and with the other engineers triple-checking all the calculations, Tali had confidence that the job would be done far more efficiently than if she were to try and spearhead the project all by herself.

Personally, she was going to be working with Rhiannon, the Aysith engineer, on restoring the structure and functionality of the relay proper. The best way to do that was going to be to stay on the Northern Star, and Tali muttered a little under her breath at the realization. First, however, she had to finish parceling out all these other tasks and then have James get the shuttle ready for her. Oh, and she wanted to send a message to Shepard, because she wouldn't have the chance for a few days.

She'd checked her recipe files carefully and chosen an easy one: peia fruit served on a thin, crispy pastry. It was a quarian dessert, so Tali had no idea if Garrus had ever tried it, but he was usually game for anything once. She was also reasonably sure that even Shepard could cut a piece of fruit up properly, sprinkle it with the appropriate spices, and then toast the rolled-out pastry dough until it was done. Assemble, and finished. It couldn't be that hard.

At least, I hope not, Tali thought with a wince. With another sigh, she got back into her work.

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

"Liara T'Soni, I need some work to do."

Liara looked up quickly from the War Room display. "Javik? I didn't hear you come in."

Javik paced around the circumference of the room. "My warrior stealth is as honed as ever. Also, you were distracted." The prothean rested his hands on the railing, overlooking the lower level near the holographic display. "It seems all the engineers and crewman have their duties, but I do not. I wish for a task."

The asari blinked at him. "I...well, Javik you're a soldier."

"I know, and that is what makes this hard. There is no war here, no strife. What am I to fight as the avatar of vengeance?" Javik's four-eyed gaze regarded her seriously.

Liara considered. "I suppose fighting against our eventual starvation by helping repair the relay is a little too mundane for you."

The prothean pushed away from the railing and began pacing again. "Tell me where to go and how to help, and I will, no matter how primitive."

Liara nodded, and couldn't help but smile. "I guess we'll make a peaceful helper out of you yet, Javik. I'll contact James and see if he'll put you in a duty rotation."

"Thank you, Dr. T'Soni." Javik turned for the door.

"Oh, and Javik?" Liara called after him.

He turned back. "Yes?"

"You might see the quartermaster for some work clothes. Just so...you don't dent your armor." Liara suggested helpfully.

She saw his shoulders heave with a sigh. And then there was a grumble that sounded something like: "I'm going soft." The doors swished closed behind him.

Once she was sure he was gone, Liara permitted herself a self-satisfied snicker. Pictures were going to be taken and sent to Shepard, on general principle. Also, for gratuitous laughter.

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

Garrus put the finishing touches on his proposal to supply rations, medical supplies, and support personnel to the Hercules system, just as he'd promised Captain Naevius he would do when Kaidan had come by yesterday. It involved some rerouting through a couple of the further relays, and the realization that it would (in the short term) be a one-way trip until the Attican Beta relay was back online. However, since that relay sourced four other locations that had no other way of getting reinforcements or supplies, it was key that the Attican Beta relay get restored as quickly as possible so anyone stranded further out could get help.

With some relief, and no small sense of grim satisfaction, Garrus typed out an email to Naevius, attached the proposal, and copied General Septimus on it. He was about to turn his omnitool off, when he noticed a message from Kaidan.

Didn't know how long we'd need, so I reserved the drone for a couple hours tomorrow night, the text read. Unless you've changed your mind.

Garrus was quick to reply. If you're getting cold feet, Alenko, just say so. I'm still in.

By the time he finished that message, his omnitool had taken it upon itself to update his inbox. He had no less than fourteen new messages in the last five minutes. Garrus sighed through his teeth; he needed a break before he threw himself full-tilt back into these problems. He glanced through the senders' names to make sure Victus or some of the other admirals weren't among them...and his gaze lit on one in particular that made his double-heartbeat patter to a stop.

Shepard, H. R. Adm., Alliance.

He'd known all along, if somewhat intellectually, that Shepard's mom was out there somewhere. Shepard's outlook during the final war preparations had gotten slightly brighter once she'd finally received confirmation that her mother was alive and safe, helping to work on the Crucible project. Garrus momentarily felt guilty; in Shepard's absence, was he expected to check in with the rear admiral? She must have heard about her daughter's condition, but was she also trapped in a faraway system, only able to hear reports and wish that there was some way she could be with her only child?

The message from H. Shepard was a video message, and he stared at the blinking indicator in uncertainty. At least she wasn't requesting a vidcom call, which were reserved only for Admiral Hackett and the Council at the moment. That would have really put him on the spot, and Garrus didn't think he knew enough about human customs to safely undertake speaking to Shepard's mother in real time. What was expected of him? Would she demand to know his intentions, or make threats, or demand an entire background search?

Garrus tried to recall the speech his own dad had made to that young turian Solana had seen a few times, but he got the feeling that Marius Vakarian was intimidating enough without needing to show any potential beau of his daughter's his rifle collection. Plus, humans did not have that strict, military upbringing and discipline native to turians-at least, most of them didn't. A sudden thought occurred to him, however: Shepard had told him that both of her parents served in the Alliance since before she was born. Perhaps the rear admiral would be more like a turian than he thought.

Not that it made it any less intimidating when Garrus finally nerved up enough to open the message.

An eerily-familiar face materialized; it was clear that Shepard got her eyes and smooth complexion from her mother. There were wrinkles around the edges of the rear admiral's mouth, and her eyes had that shadowed, tired look that he had seen on his girlfriend's face so many times before the end of the war.

"Garrus Vakarian, my name is Hannah Shepard. You may already know, though I highly doubt it since she hardly remembers to mention these things, that I am Commander Shepard's mother."

Garrus' mandibles twitched outward in a brief expression of amusement at the admiral's wry tone. Shepard was pretty bad about correspondence. She never deleted or sorted her emails; just let them sit all jumbled together in her inbox, primarily unanswered. Maybe that was the reason why Admiral Hackett made sure he was so often available on vidcom; he knew that his leading commander would never find time to communicate with him otherwise.

"I feel it's only fair I let you know that I've been the one receiving and playing the video messages for my daughter. After the one you just sent, I thought ..." Hannah Shepard's pixelated face relaxed slightly as she glanced away from the camera and smiled as if to herself. Garrus blinked rapidly as his left mandible twitched in embarrassment.

Well, he tried to tell himself, at least Shepard's with her mother and not alone in all this. And at least it's not the nursing staff who are secretly going to be laughing whenever they see me and Kaidan. Then he nearly groaned aloud. She's never going to want me to date Shepard after the bar story comes out! Was it too late to message Kaidan back and call it off?

Suck it up, Vakarian, he told himself sternly. You're not doing this for you, you're doing it for Shepard. That story could probably make even the salarian dalatrass at least smile. He forced himself to direct his attention back to Hannah Shepard's message.

"I know a mother's intuition isn't much to go on, particularly when said mother isn't a doctor or anything, but...I know she's improved since the messages started coming. And...maybe it's cliched to think, but...she might even respond to your messages the best. I haven't found out that much about you, Garrus-"

The turian braced himself; here came the threat.

"-but I'd like to know the man who loves my daughter for more than just his service record, which seems to be mainly watching her backside...in more ways than one."

A surprised chuckle escaped Garrus before he even realized it; there was no mistaking the salacious tone in Hannah Shepard's voice. I see where you get your secret naughty streak from, Shepard, he thought.

"So here's a story from the Shepard family archives, Garrus. I'm right here with our girl, so you'll both get to hear it."

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

"What's camping?" the littlest Shepard asked curiously from where she was sitting between her Mima and Hannah.

"Camping is when you go out into the forest, away from all the cities and lights, and spend time exploring," her father, Jonathan Shepard explained. "I used to do it all the time with my brothers."

"So...an adventure," his daughter said slowly, concentrating on her 'r' sound. "Will we find pi-rates or r-rescue hostages?"

"No, but we'll probably toast marshmallows and catch glow-flies," her father said. "Have you ever seen a glow butterfly?" He knew she hadn't, but he waited for the negative shake of her head before saying, "Well, if you catch a bunch and put them in a jar, then keep them until just before you go to bed, you can make a wish. Then you let them all go and the butterflies take that wish up to the stars and ask them to make it come true."

"But...aren't there twees-tr-rees in the forest?" his daughter asked, eyes wide. "Will they eat me?"

"No, baby," Hannah said, cringing a little. She hadn't taken time to explain to her parents that their granddaughter had a fear of the outdoors. It seldom had reason to manifest itself aboard an Alliance ship. "You'll see, it will be okay."

It wasn't until they had arrived at her parents' house and Hannah had gotten her little girl settled for a nap after the long ride that she had a chance to speak with her parents, Rex and Shae, about this 'camping trip'.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, we thought it would be all right," her mother apologized. "It's only for two nights, and we're not even technically leaving the new, expanded colony limits. It's a natural park, recently increased in size thanks to a generous gift to the park preservation association. I know that Jonathan used to enjoy camping, and thought he might want to share a memory with his daughter. You didn't mind it either when you were a child," she reminded.

"I know Mom, it's just...she's afraid of the strangest things right now, and Jon and I think it's partially because she's never spent any time on a planet."

"Well, this is in a nice, controlled environment," Shae insisted. "It's a cabin and a tent, with real beds and a cook stove and everything. Less than a mile from the hiking trails and a little river, so not a lot of travel. It's light camping, if that."

Hannah had sighed. "I guess...that would be okay."

Famous last words, she found herself thinking the next morning as the five of them departed the skycar. Her daughter was practically glued to her right leg, her eyes wide as she looked around at all the large scary trees and other green foliage around her. "Okay, baby, I need you to be brave, all right?" Hannah said, kneeling down to talk to the little girl. "We're adventurers on a mission now, and we're going to get to our base camp. I have a very important job for you."

"What's my r-rank?" the littlest Shepard asked, letting go long enough to stand up straight in her best soldier fashion.

"What rank do all soldiers start at?" Hannah asked.

"Cadet," her daughter replied, proud she'd remembered.

"All right, so you're Cadet Shepard. And right now your mission is to take this bag," and Hannah handed her the small travel bag packed with her stuffed toy and books, "and help us find the base camp."

Her daughter had heard enough stories about daddy's away missions that she was familiar with the idea of moving through various terrain in search of outposts, base camps, and even beacons. She took the bag eagerly and slung it on her back. The four adults distributed the rest of the gear and groceries between them. Hannah's father, Rex checked in with the campground owners and took the electronic key they gave him.

"All right troops, let's go," Rex said. "Cadet, why don't you walk up front-er, take point-with Poppa?" He smiled as his granddaughter skipped up and took his hand, pleased that he was part of her adventure.

The central pathway leading into the forested area was well clear of any plants or fauna, and the sunlight filtering down through the leaves made a dancing, dappled pattern on the ground that seemed to mesmerize the little girl at the head of the party. Hannah found herself enjoying the entirely wonderful smell that was real atmosphere, and she realized how much she had missed her home.

A half mile walk brought them to a comfortable little cabin, and Rex opened the door with his key. It was all classic hardwood, furnished sparsely with cushioned benches, a quilt or two, and woven rugs. There was a small sitting room, and attached was a tiny kitchenette, a single bathroom, and a bedroom with a double bed.

'Cadet' Shepard looked around the small dwelling eagerly; it was larger than most of the ship cabins she'd lived in, and the furniture was completely new to her. She carefully put her assigned bag on a nearby chair and went to look at some manner of toy bin in the sitting area.

"So, do we get the tent outside?" Jonathan asked his in-laws with an innocent grin.

"We thought that would be all right; there's a full-cushion in the base, so...we'll keep the little angel in here with us at night." Rex trailed off suggestively and waggled his gray eyebrows at his daughter. Hannah swatted her father's arm.

"Hey Cadet Shepard!" Jonathan called to his daughter. She jumped to her feet and stood at her best imitation of 'attention'. "Good job finding our base camp, but now we have to set it up. Can you help Mima with putting away the groceries?"

By the afternoon, Hannah had seen fit to promote Cadet Shepard to Lieutenant Shepard, "for her ability to follow orders, explore the campsite, and guard Poppa and Mima on their 'scouting expedition' (otherwise known as a 'hike')". In place of a rank badge, Hannah had pinned a paper star cut out from a cracker box to the sleeve of 'Lieutenant Shepard's' shirt. She'd never seen her daughter grin so proudly.

That night, Jonathan helped his newly-promoted daughter to toast her very first marshmallow over their campfire, and Hannah relished the expression on the little girl's face as she tried to eat the melty, sticky confection. After that, the three of them spent an hour collecting glow-flies until it was too dark to safely move around in the woods. Then Rex treated them all to a couple of silly ghost stories until bedtime.

Before they went their separate ways, Hannah watched Jonathan take their little lieutenant out to the edge of the campfire's light and release her butterflies. The nearly-translucent insects beat their greenish-blue wings madly as they were set free from their prison, straining to reach the stars, just like Jonathan had said. They spiraled away through the trees, and then her husband scooped up their little girl and took her in for bed.

"What wish did she make?" Hannah asked later as she snuggled next to Jon.

"Well, I was hoping for something sweet and profound, like us always being together, but she wished that none of the trees would eat us," he replied with a laugh. He ruffled Hannah's hair. "We have one dedicated kid."

"Mm, yes." And Hannah silenced him with a kiss.

Morning came, brightly sunny and far too soon after staying up late. A yummy smell wafted through the air, reminding Hannah of harvest apples and cinnamon pastry. When she stuck her head out of the tent, it was to see Lieutenant Shepard and her Mima picking wildflowers together. Well, in reality Hannah's mother was pointing to each flower and then her granddaughter would very carefully pinch it off at the stem. There were slight moments of hesitation, but as Hannah watched, her daughter got more confident with each plant that didn't bite her.

She dressed in the tent, and emerged just in time for her father to poke his head out of the nearest cabin window. "Hey, flapjacks are ready!" At that, Jonathan stirred behind her, and Hannah poked him.

"Come on sleepyhead. Our daughter's done more things than we have today."

"You know..." he said slowly, propping himself up on his elbows and gazing at his wife's face with a cheeky grin. "I am okay with that."

An hour later, Hannah and Jonathan finally got their breakfast of apple cinnamon pancakes. There was a note on the table from Rex and Shae-there was a large creek a mile and a half into the deep forest interior, with large natural clay deposits, some small, native fish, and plenty of calm water for wading. They had taken the 'lieutenant' on an unspecified mission, which amused Hannah. She was going to end up promoting her daughter to lieutenant commander before lunchtime, at this rate.

A post script at the bottom of the note mentioned that her parents had packed a picnic lunch for everyone, and when she and Jon were available, they could meet by the creek. After they set out, it occurred to Hannah that they might have a bit of a problem locating the rest of the family if the creek was too long, but when the scream of a little girl echoed through the trees, that mystery was abruptly solved.

She and Jonathan came charging through the underbrush, just in time to see Rex toss a lizard of some kind back into the water. The little lieutenant was hiding behind her Mima, and her face was white as a sheet.

"What happened?" Hannah asked breathlessly. "Is everyone okay?"

"The lieutenant found a green-backed salamander when she was looking for..." Rex consulted the list he'd made, "...a white ore deposit." He pointed to the collection of smooth, colored stones that had obviously been fished from the river. "We were doing some prospecting to help supply our ship."

Jonathan went over to his daughter and crouched down to hug her. "You know what? Daddy runs into strange creatures all the time when he's out on missions. You did the right thing by being careful. That's how a soldier stays safe."

"So I'm not a bad lieutenant?" the little girl asked, some color returning to her face.

"No," he assured her. "In fact, I don't think you're a lieutenant anymore. An act of common sense like that deserves a promotion." Jon glanced over his shoulder at Hannah.

"Right. Um...for collecting valuable flowers and other resources, as well as keeping your squad mates Poppa and Mima safe on this mission, I hereby promote you to...lieutenant commander," Hannah said, adopting her best nose-in-the-air at-attention pose. She glanced down and saw that her daughter was mimicking her, and couldn't help but laugh. "We'll put another star on your sleeve when we get back to the cabin."

The five of them spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon doing activities around the creek; wading up and down, skipping rocks, molding shapes and figures out of the natural clay that could be collected from the far bank. Jonathan even tried spearfishing, just because he knew he was no good and it amused everyone else to watch.

"Did you complete all of Poppa's mission objectives?" Hannah asked her daughter as they headed back to the cabin.

"Mmhm," 'Commander' Shepard said, her tired face lighting up. "I collected five kinds of ore, identified three animals, and skipped a w-r-rock twice." It had been easy to put her to bed that night; Hannah couldn't help but be proud that her space-born-and-raised daughter was handling the outdoors so well.

She should have known that a thought process like that would only lead to trouble.

"Hannah! Hannah, wake up!" the voice calling her name was just above a whisper, but the urgent tone was unmistakable. Hannah shook Jonathan's shoulder as she moved to the tent flap.

"Mom?" she asked quietly, peeking out. And then she froze. There were three fox-sized, dangerous-looking furry creatures, probably native, standing on the far side of the fire pit. Their coats were a mottled brown and green, giving them perfect camouflage in the underbrush, and right now they were eyeing Shae and her granddaughter almost contemplatively as they paced back and forth, attempting to close the distance.

Hannah took stock of the situation in a glance; Rex framed in the doorway of the cabin about twenty feet away from the animals, armed with nothing more than a broom. Shae had apparently been cooking something that smelled like bacon over the firepit, which must have been what attracted the creatures in the first place. The animals were thin, scrappy-looking and radiated desperation.

"My pistol's at the bottom of my bag," Jonathan muttered in her ear, and wordlessly, Hannah passed him the duffel. The click-click-whine of the gun being turned on didn't seem to faze the animals, and Hannah moved out of the way so he could line up a shot.

"Mom, move back towards the cabin, slowly," Hannah said quietly. Wordlessly, Shae reached for her granddaughter's hand and began to obey.

With a rending snarl, the animal on the left began a charge, not bothering to go around the fire to get to the people. Two shots screamed through the air and the creature fell over, killed cleanly. The other two had begun to charge at the same time, but Jonathan hadn't been able to aim fast enough... Hannah couldn't look away.

With two hands, the littlest Shepard picked up the frying pan full of bacon and hot grease and lobbed it directly into center animal's path. The splash pattern was nothing short of miraculous; right in the creature's four eyes. With a snarl and no small amount of yowling, it beat a hasty retreat back into the woods, crashing blindly as it went. The third, seeing it was now outnumbered, turned tail and ran after its wounded pack mate.

There was a breathless moment before Jonathan rallied. "That's my girl!"

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

"And that's how my daughter got to be an admiral before she was ten," Hannah said, smiling a bit wistfully at the camera. "Well, I hope that wasn't too boring. I don't know precisely how turians take their vacations, but now you know why, if asked, she'll say she's always outranked me." And then the rear admiral straightened, all business-like once more. "And if I haven't scared you out of your mind, and you have better correspondence habits than my daughter...I hope to see a message from you sometime."

The video ended, and Garrus found he was leaning almost relaxedly against the console behind him. He could imagine everything that had happened to the Shepard family on that trip, and wondered if that was why the commander didn't particularly care for animals. He grinned suddenly, mandibles lifting. He had his own story to relate...

His omnitool alerted him that he had new messages. Garrus sighed; for now, however, it was back to work.