The Normandy is on course to the space station with the heretic's virus Legion told us about. Even with FTL it's going to take us a few days. Ken and Gabby installed the IFF component and that means invited guests are coming. I feel guilty I have to keep tight lipped about the collectors attacking while we are away. Even then would they believe me? No one ever does. This curse is horrible. I've had it all my life. Nothing ever works to fix it. Oh, what a relief it would be.
I'm paying a visit to Tali. If she would eat lunch, I would have brought her something special to eat. Legion mentioned previously there were culinary programs within his platform. I begged for recipes, but the ingredients were at Rannoch, and I can't go beause I'd be attacked by locals. Planetside quarians are incredibly xenophobic aside from the geth. When I go run my errand, I'll be sure to avoid them.
Ah my girlfriend is working hard again. She makes the money, and I am the affectionate trophy. Starting from Tali's shoulders, my fingers make a crawling motion down to her elbows then leap onto her wide hips, snaking my war forwards until my arms capture the best quarian girlfriend a man could ask for in my arms.
"Hey Tali. How's my love?" I asked.
"Fine." She said coldly.
"Just fine? Sweetie you've been acting distant. Is this about the heretic's virus?" I asked.
"Huh? No it's not that." She said.
"Then what? You're not pregnant are you?" I joked. Tali swiftly turns around and looks at me for a moment. My direction generator is firing to the max in a bad way.
"I'm sorry I can't" Tali breaks free from me and leaves the room. I'm dumbfounded. What the hell did I say?
Gabby yells at me "what did you do?"
"I don't know! I made an innocent joke and she ran off. Did something happen while I was away?" I asked.
Gabby says "you should go find her and have a talk."
I rush out of the room and search the ship from bottom to top. The tramples of my frantic steps down the stairs match the volume of my heart beat. The bald biotic woman whose hair is starting to return is laying on her cot reading and the book I gifted her.
"Jack have you seen Tali?" I asked.
"Why would she come here?"
I almost scream "JACK have you seen her?"
"No I haven't. What's the big fucking deal?" She gets off her bed.
"I think we're fighting, and I can't find her." I said.
"Hell yeah I need some drama." Jack follows behind me while I try to find Tali. On the second floor and ran into Rael.
"Have you seen Tali?" My nervous jitters bring forth protective father mode.
"No. What happened? Is my daughter alright?" He asked.
My impatience causes me to ignore him. I look everywhere. My room. Miranda's room. Joker's cockpit, the decontamination area, conference room, Mordin's and Jacob's space. I asked Shepard if she was up there and she wasn't.
"Where the hell is she?" I said to myself.
EDI's voice comes from the wall. "Miss Zorah is in the cargo bay."
I ask "We have one of those?"
Jack replies "yeah it's where the hammerhead is. I get high there. Haven't you been?"
"No I forgot." Oh yeah that's where we fight that robotic eye drone after we go through the collector relay.
"How do I get there?" The moment those words leave my mouth, a trail of LED arrows show my path. Immediately I sprint towards the end. I stop, knocking on the doorway and slowly entering. I peer into the room and try to find Tali. Heartbreaking sobs direct me to a stack of crates. She's sitting on the ground, crying into her knees. I run to her and lower myself to her.
"Tali what's wrong?"
"Go away."
"Sweetheart, what did I do to make you so upset? I promise it won't happen again, but you need to tell me what I did."
"You didn't do anything."
"Then why are you crying?"
"Hmph.. aaah. Because I can't make you happy."
"What?! Of course, you do. Why would you think that?"
"I can't make you happy in the way you deserve. I'm just a quarian. I can't give you what you need. This damn suit! I can't touch you, kiss you, or give you children."
Oh this is what this is about? She forgot hasn't she? Not the point. Tali deserves to know that even if she couldn't, I would never ever leave her because of that. We're bonded on so many levels, it would destroy me if something were to happen.
"Tali, my sweetheart. You do make me happy. Oh, you make me oh so very happy. In fact, I feel so happy around you it kind of hurts but in a good way. You are the most absolute amazing person I've ever met, or will meet, and you and only you have ever made me feel this way. I love you, Tali. I love what we have."
"But what if it isn't enough? You'll get bored. Maybe we should break up." Those words sent a frozen serrated spear through my heart.
"Ta-Tali… is that what you want? Please don't say that."
"No! I want to have a home on Rannoch with you and I want to give you everything you want, and I can never do that. You deserve the best and I can't…"
I hold Tali's helmet where her ears would be and force her to look at me. Those little white orbs block her actually wet and red eyes. Her crying subsides for the moment.
"Tali. You've already given me more than I could have imagined. I never felt this kind of connection to another person and I was about to lose hope I would ever have what I told myself I would have if I'd live. Honey when I'm with you, my entire focus is on you and when that happens, I feel at ease and joyful. You light up my entire world and make me happier than I ever thought possible. I'm never going to leave you."
"Honestly?"
"Honestly. Besides, you were wrong before."
"sniff About what?"
"Even with the suit I can kiss you." My lips press against the voice synthesizer of her mask. Tali froze for a minute then her thin arms rope my shoulders and pull me in tighter. I can just feel her lips pressing against the other side of this round piece of metal acting as our conductor. Time disappears for the both of us.
"I'm sorry. I just love you so much and I thought I couldn't be what you should have."
"I don't want anyone else. I want you. No one else makes me feel this way. Remember that."
"I will. Ancestors I feel like a bosh'tet. Ken and Gabby must be worried about me."
"I'll talk to them. Everyone has bad days."
"Don't go. Can you stay with me until I calm down? Please?"
"Whatever you need. We can stay here as long as you want. I love you."
"I love you."
Any father would have reservations about interspecies relationship, more so knowing how dangerous this man could be and there is not a thing I could do to protect my child. But now, when I look at those two... any concerns I've had are erased. That human really does love my daughter. My wife and I tried our closet to kiss like the humans did when the galaxy learned about them and their culture. We did that for a while before she… All this time I worked to make up for what Tali never had and here… that human… I've been such a fool.
The young tattooed angry lady gawks with me. She mumbles "it's actually fucking real." I don't know what she means by that. Whatever happened it freaked her out. She hesitates before leaving. I return my focus, looking back at my daughter with her bondmate hugging her pain away, I leave them to their moment.
