I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

22. What Comes After

Thank you all for your continued support through the story.

Guest reviewer Anon, thank you for your concern. Trust me when I say this, me and J know the risks of a burnout. But from my experience these past two years in particular, when a story is planned out with a focused timetable of events from start to finish I tend not to feel a burnout with more of a cooldown period away from a story in order to focus on new works and fresh ideas. That way, when I return to older stories, I come back with a more developed outlook then what I had last time.

Anyways, other than that, we are now at the start of our more original content within the gap of ME1 and ME2 and we have this gap planned out from start to finish.

Lots of crazy shit to come with twist and turns from all over. Hope you guys are ready for this.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 22: What Comes After.

Within the Room Where Nothing Gathers, Xemnas, Number I of the Organization sat within the highest chair.

Around him, the Numbers II, V, VI, VII and XI were seated in their own assigned chairs.

The Superior of the Organization had his eyes closed before slowly opening them to regard the assembled members he had called forth for this meeting.

Xigbar had on his usual laid-back facade whilst Lexaeus and Saix sat solemnly within their seats awaiting for the meeting to begin.

Zexion appeared deeply contemplative and Marluxia simply sat there with his usual devious smirk.

The rest of the Organization were conducting their own missions.

Right now, this was a more pressing matter.

"It appears that we have been able to locate our wayward traitors." Xemnas finally spoke aloud, the gathered members turning towards him.

Save for one.

No. VI was silent in his thought process until…

"Zexion."

Xemnas' deep baritone voice cut through the Cloaked Schemers thoughts, making him turn towards No. I.

"I am to understand that you were the one to locate our three deserters?" Xemnas asked slowly.

Zexion nodded a moment later.

"How'd you manage to pull that off?" Xigbar inquired in intrigue.

No. VI looked over to No. XI.

"Marluxia had a great deal in this endeavor."

The Graceful Assassin quirked his brow in confusion.

"I do not recall assisting you whatsoever in this matter." Marluxia stated.

"Did you now?" No. V said in his gruff voice. "What are the words of a traitor?"

"Attempted traitor." Marluxia swiftly corrected.

"A failed attempt makes you a traitor all the same." No. VII, Saix's cold voice made No. XI regard the Luna Diviner in disinterest.

"Enough." Xemnas intervened, ending the rising tension between them all. "Zexion. Elaborate on your earlier statement."

The silver haired Nobody nodded.

"I had spoken with Marluxia not too long ago within the laboratory here." Zexion began. "While he was there, he spoke of tracking down the Hearts that were being harvested and collected by Keyblade Wielders. We know of Sora and the King with their company now being active once more across the Worlds that we have unleashed the Heartless. That's where most of our influx of Hearts have been coming from."

"What of the Hearts prior to that?" Saix inquired.

"I was just about to get to that." No. VI said calmly. "While we are now receiving a greater supply of Hearts to our Kingdom Hearts, before that, there was a time that Hearts were coming in from an unknown source. We assumed it to be Roxas while he was away but we just didn't know where it was coming from."

The other members were silent, not interrupting the Cloaked Schemer as he went on.

"After the incident at Castle Oblivion, we had located a great number of individuals that are instrumental in our long term goals."

Xigbar then chortled aloud. "Yeah and look how that turned out. Three traitors and the Keyblade master with his group now aware of us sooner than later."

"Most unfortunate indeed." Marluxia remarked, getting looks of distrust from several of the others.

"But how did you track down Roxas?" Lexaeus inquired.

"In the aftermath of everything that had gone down in Castle Oblivion, our task was to bring in the traitors." Zexion said. "However, we soon discovered the difficulty in locating them at all with them seemingly dropping off our radar entirely. That was until I spoke to Marluxia about the Heartless that have been getting eliminated from locations that we couldn't quite discern."

Marluxia had now leaned forward, recalling a conversation he had with Zexion a short while ago.

"When Marluxia had returned from the vast expanse known as the Etherium, he had located that place by tracking the darkness of the Heartless coming from there with some having already been eliminated." Zexion stated. "He tracked Heartless that we had not sent out ourselves and rather Heartless that were still acting on their primal instincts to go to other Worlds and collect Hearts."

craned his head up to Xemnas. "It is from there that I managed to track down and deduce the location of our wayward traitors."

"And where is it that they are currently residing?"

Zexion frowned as he inclined his head down.

"A place quite different from anything that we have here." Zexion remarked. "A place where the Darkness and Light that we are familiar with has barely touched the surface of this galaxy."

"Whoa now, an entirely different Galaxy?" Xigbar's interest was piqued now.

"What is it like?" Marluxia inquired, equally as intrigued as the Freeshooter.

Rather than telling them, Zexion figured it would be better to show them.

With a flourish of his hand, the entire chamber was shrouded by his Illusions with the members finding themselves in an environment quite alien to them.

The six gathered members were now in an unfamiliar location with them being surrounded by humans and aliens alike.

"What are we looking at now?" Xemnas asked slowly, taking in this new "World".

"A space station, labeled as 'the center of galactic civilization'." Zexion scoffed. "Of course those who named it as such never really considered other places to-"

"Get to the point." Xigbar drawled out.

Releasing a sigh, Zexion resumed. "The Citadel, this is what you are looking at right now."

"Are you sure the traitors are there?"

"More or less. Their scent has been left behind with it leaving quite an imprint on this space station." Zexion stated. "They have been present on other worlds in that galaxy, but they've been congregating at this station -in particular- as of late."

"And how'd you figure that out?" Xigbar asked.

"The news." Zexion plainly stated. "It is rather forthcoming with their appearances."

"Ah, right."

"This place certainly does not operate on the rules of the Worlds we're familiar with." Zexion said. "Though it is not widespread, some are aware of the Heartless with it more than likely growing as time goes on."

"Have you spoken with anyone there?" Xemnas asked.

Zexion was about to answer yet…

Something made him pause as he momentarily considered this question.

"I have not as of yet."

'Why did I say that?' Zexion internally asked himself. He didn't have time to internally debate himself as the meeting went on.

While the others haven't really noticed, Xigbar narrowed his lone eye ever so slightly before having it back to normal.

"So… When are we gonna hop on by and give them a good 'hello'?" Questioned the Sharpshooter.

"This is a more… delicate manner." Saix admitted. "If we are to send more than one member over there, it may disrupt what we are doing right now."

"Sora and his companions are a more direct presence in comparison to those traitors." Lexaeus pointed out.

"But we can't just leave them out there, can we?" Marluxia inquired, already knowing the answer to this.

"No." Xemnas answered. "Their transgressions against the Organization is not to be disregarded. They shall face our judgement in due time. But right now, there is still work to be done."

"Like what, Superior?" Lexaeus inquired.

"The Keyblade Master has begun a new journey with his companions." Xemnas said. "Roxas, Axel and Xion unknowingly continue our work from afar and shall do so until we must bring them back."

"What of Axel and the Puppet?" Saix asked with a slight edge to his voice.

"You aren't thinking of revenge, are you?" Xigbar asked with a wide grin. "We don't understand the concept of anger, you know?"

"Yes, but betrayal?" Saix said, eyes momentarily shifting into a sinister yellow before reverting back to normal. "Betrayal is a concept not exclusively rooted in the Heart."

"Our concern first and foremost is bringing back our Keybearers." Xemnas said in finality. "But the lingering existence of Axel is not to be ignored. He will undoubtedly accumulate strength over time and will become a thorn in our side sooner rather than later. But for now, there are more pressing matters to attend to. You are all dismissed."

A moment later, five corridors engulfed five of the members with them teleporting out of the room.

Only Xemnas remained in deep thought on the constantly shifting board that no longer remained as projected as he had once believed.

-Scene Cut-

Sounds of construction and work equipment became rather prevalent in the Citadel this past few days. People working around the clock in fully cleaning up the space station after the failed invasion caused by Saren and the Reaper, Sovereign.

As this went on, people were being attended to from the traumatic event. Searches were still going on for those from the rubble, whether they were alive or not. A means of properly tallying and recording everything possible for those searching for their friends and loved ones.

Regardless, a memorial is planned to be held once the reconstruction of the Citadel is more or less near completion.

"How long you figure till it's all back to what it once was?" Axel asked, sitting on a bench with Xion and Roxas, the three of them eating the usual as they watched the rebuilding of the Citadel go about.

Both young Nobodies only shrugged, not really familiar or having any idea with the idea of construction and rebuilding.

"We did kinda fight all over the place." Xion said.

"And a lot of stuff got blown up inside and outside the Citadel." Roxas added, taking another chomp of his ice cream.

They continued to just sit on the bench and watch this all go by without them really moving or caring to.

Quite frankly, they felt like they really earned it after all the madness that had gone down after the battle for the Citadel.

From afar, they heard the telltale sounds of the Citadel news being broadcasted for all to hear.

It was pretty much what they had expected to hear.

The battle, the Geth, the Heartless, Sovereign, the spotting of strange silvery grey creatures assisting C-Sec, the heroic efforts of the Systems Alliance, the Normandy team bringing down Saren.

Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, stuff they've already heard for the past few days.

"Glad to hear that Humanity's finally got a seat on the Council." Xion muttered out, licking her lips of any stray ice cream.

The three had heard of what happened earlier that day from Shepard herself.

She was brought into a private meeting along with Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson in order to discuss a number of issues. One of them was the topic of granting the Humans a spot as a Counselor.

It was a big step as they'll be able to finally have their voices heard, one way or another.

Yet the fact remained on who would fill in this role as Humanity's representative.

And of course Shepard was placed in the spotlight in choosing such a person.

In the end, Jane requested them to figure it amongst themselves as she felt the politicians needed to figure it out. But she was at least thankful in the offer of giving her thoughts on any possible recommendations.

So the Systems Alliance would decide on who would represent humanity on the Council. That meant less of a headache for Shepard and more time to recuperate.

Just as soon as she's done with reports and paperwork.

Even after saving the whole damn Citadel and Council, still wasn't enough for her to get some Goddamn rest.

"There you guys are." Said a familiar vibrating voice. "Figured I'd find you three feeding your addictions."

The Nobodies looked over to see Garrus Vakarian walking over to them and he wasn't alone as Tali'Zorah and Ashley Williams were right behind him.

"Hey guys." Roxas greeted with a small smile. "Were you looking for us?"

"More or less." Ash admitted, taking a seat by Xion since there was an empty spot with Tali and Garrus opting to stand.

"How's your head, Ash?" No. XIV asked in concern, getting an appreciative ruffling of her hair in return.

"I'm all better now, squirt." Ash said with a fond smile. "Thank God for Mosh and his wares."

"So, what have you guys been up to? "Axel asked. "Or were you all just lookin' for us?"

"With there not being much to do, we had to at least do something." Garrus stated. "Shepard is still dealing with the usual bullcrap, Liara's back on the Normandy studying her Prothean stuff with Stitch keeping her company. Kaidan's been sleeping mostly and Wrex is… doing whatever it is he wants to keep himself entertained."

"What about Della?" Xion asked.

Roxas glanced around. "Is she somewhere nearby or-"

"She's getting her ship touched up." Ashley clarified. "Getting ready for her ride back home."

"Oh yeah… forgot she's heading back home soon." No. XIII murmured.

"She has been away from her friends and family there. Now that everything's settled she's ready to head back." Williams said with a shrug.

"Question: did she accept coming with us to see Ilos one last time?" Xion asked.

"She sure did. Said she'd squeeze it into her schedule before departing back to her galaxy." Tali confirmed. "Spoke with Liara earlier. The two looked pretty excited when I saw them going on about studying those ruins proper."

"Figured with her adventurous, archaeological lifestyle, exploring a place such as that is too good to pass up."

"How's Shepard? And Kaidan? Are they both feeling any better?" Roxas asked.

"Well Shepard is standing and all and can walk without falling to her knees." Garrus stated.

"That bad, huh?" Axel said expectantly.

"Kaidan's barely been out of bed." Ash said with a forlorn look. "He's experiencing more headaches. Until they stop being frequent, Chakwas is forbidding him from going out on missions."

This was quite a bitter subject somewhat between the group. Roxas and Xion had tried repeatedly with Potions, Ethers and Cures in an attempt to heal Kaidan up properly but it was just his L2 implants that were the main problem. They surgically placed within his body and even with magical spells and concoctions, it appeared this was something they would have to wait out.

"Hope he gets better soon." Xion said softly.

"Same here."

"Only time will tell if he'll recover from this." Axel remarked, already finished with his ice cream and the stick just dangling out of the corner of his mouth.

"So what now then?" Tali asked.

Axel shrugged. "I dunno. What's on your to-do list?"

Garrus hummed aloud, rubbing his chin in thought.

Ashley for the most part grunted as she recalled a particular annoyance that she had upon regaining consciousness after the whole ordeal. "Our armor is more or less fucked up from fighting Sovereign. Even after what patch jobs we performed, don't know if they'll need legit replacements."

"Doesn't that mean you should just get something new?" Axel pointed out. "I mean we have gotten a lot of munny recently."

Ashley was about to verbally dispute such a matter before clamping her mouth shut.

He wasn't wrong.

Ever since Roxas had joined the team since the start of their journey which came with the introduction of the Heartless, credits -or Munny as the trio of Nobodies called it- has become an almost non-existent problem once things were converted accordingly through the Munny pouches with their little magnetic function.

They've been fighting and defeating large swaths of these creatures of Darkness across the galaxy and every time they had, Munny and other items constantly appeared.

Some of these items were the varied Potions and Ethers that were a great help in keeping themselves stocked up when they needed it. Helped save the Normandy's costs on Medi-gel while out on the field.

Others were synthesis materials that they would collect and drop off for Mosh to work his magic and create items that have proven to be a great boon to the entire team for the duration of their hunt for Saren.

Wrex can certainly attest to this matter, having nearly cried tears of joy when he first got his gravity hammer and fully tested it out on Noveria. He of course would vehemently deny such a notion but the rest of the Normandy would know otherwise.

Now while Mosh had done improvements on their respective armors since his arrival, the extensive damage done to them days ago might as well have canceled things out. This would soon cost them massive repairs under an unknown amount of time.

It would either be that or take the lesser evil and properly procure new replacements.

"So where should we go then?" Xion asked the group.

"Well I figure that's an easy answer on that matter." Ashley said, thinking over her clothing and armor situation for a brief moment whilst looking at Roxas.

"Edna Mode?"

"Edna Mode."

"That tiny kook?" Axel snorted in amusement. "You sure you wanna go there? You may not leave for a few hours from what Roxas's has told me."

"Well it'll kill some time." Ash said with a shrug. "Till then, what else is there to do for us?"

"Good point." Garrus agreed and with that being said, the group left to go to Edna Mode's shop.

All but Roxas, who appeared lost in thought.

"Roxas?" Xion called out to him.

"Hmmm? What?" Roxas shook his head, looking over to them.

"You alright there?" Garrus asked. "Looked like something was on your mind."

"... Sorta." Roxas said, unsure about what he was saying.

"What about?" Ash asked.

Roxas frowned, mulling it over in his head. "I'm… not really sure myself."

The Gunnery Chief rose a brow before shaking her head and dragged the young Nobody along.

All the while, a familiar voice was ringing in his head that was more of a message then a dream that he had the night before.

"Roxas… I don't know what's going on but… I get the feeling you might be going through the same thing. I don't know what I'll accomplish by doing this but… if you do hear these words, then please come meet with us and maybe you can help us figure out what's going on."

"Sora." Roxas muttered beneath his breath, all the while being pulled along by Ashley who didn't appear to catch wind of him uttering this name. "I heard you… I do want to meet again."

-Scene Cut-

"Darlings!"

Edna's voice was quite distinct and pronounced amongst all the hustle and bustle of her busy store.

The stout woman rushed over to the group, jumping up in surprising ease and pulling Roxas down to her level.

"Oh, if it isn't my star model!" Edna said, pecking him on both cheeks before letting go with the boy collapsing onto the ground with his face flat on the ground.

"And you brought more of your friends along with you." Edna declared. "Ashley my dear, what are you doing in such plain clothing?"

"That's a good question, Edna." Ash said good naturedly, giving Roxas an amused look who got back up to his feet with a frazzled look. "One I'm hoping you can rectify."

"Of course, of course, my dear." Edna said excitedly. "I had just finished helping out another one of your friends."

"Another one of our friends?" Xion asked curiously.

They heard some heavy footsteps coming up from the side and…

"The hell are you guys doing here?" Asked a confused, familiar gruff voice.

The group turned to see none other than Urdnot Wrex walking over to them with him wearing a completely different set of armor then his usual red.

This one was identical to his usual armor for the most part but it appeared streamlined around his shoulder arms and torso whilst his hump now had several decorative crests one it that looked old as they did new, if that was how best to describe it.

"Wrex?" Garrus tilted his head. "We should be asking you the same thing."

"What're ya doing here yourself?" Ash inquired. "And what's with the new getup?"

"It's nothing, it's-"

Garrus then interrupted once taking a better look at Wrex's present look. "Wait a second… isn't that-"

"Yeah, it is." Axel said in recognition. "That's your old family armor. Ah man, it's not pink anymore."

Wrex let out an annoyed growl, his right eye twitching up a storm.

"I must admit, this was quite the restorative project." Edna stated as her lips released a couple of "tsks". "Whatever his father used back then was an utter nightmare to remove, especially with the improper handling when it kept changing hands. But now that it's back into its sandy white glory, I must say I might've restored his family line's old glory; along with any additions to Mr. Urdnot's specifications."

Wrex gave the short, bisected woman a firm nod. "Which I'm grateful for."

"Yeah, lotta pink, right Wrex?" Axel cheekily asked with a wide shit eating grin with Wrex now having his eye and lip begin to twitch in synch.

"I think you look great." Tali said earnestly.

"Yeah, can't deny that with that black and white with red highlights, hammer and… whatever those symbols are, you look real fierce." Garrus admitted with him nodding approvingly.

After a few moments, Wrex let out a sigh, finally quelling the need to punch something or rather someone with red hair in particular.

"Yes… thanks." Wrex said awkwardly, coughing into his hands.

"So you wanted to wear it now?"

The Krogan nodded.

"Getting a good feel of it with the adjustments done to it. A little stiff, but I'll break it in eventually."

"By just stretching it out or…"

"You already know the answer to that one." Wrex remarked.

"Of course." Tali said with a small smirk beneath her helmet's faceplate.

"Oh my darlings, you wound me so." Edna said, regarding the three Nobodies. "What happened to all the hard work and dedication that I put in for you three?"

"Hey, if it ain't broke, no need to fix it." Axel said, patting his chest.

Roxas only shrugged with Xion doing the same.

"We haven't really… had the time to wear what you made for us." Roxas admitted.

Now that he thought about it, he was feeling a slight bit guilty with him not being able to wear what Edna had made for him.

She put a lot of time and work into basically recreating the clothes that he had first been essentially born with. The only thing that made him comfortable outside this cloak.

Then again… that favor he did for her quelled that guilt a moment later.

Weren't they even for the most part?

"Well I'm here for just that, Edna." Ash declared. "My last uniform got trashed and I'm in serious need of a new one."

"Wonderful!" Pulling up her Omni-tool, Edna pulled up Ashley's file. "I do have your measurements and specifications here, Miss Williams. We can go elsewhere in my establishment to grab what you need. And about your status with your preorder clothing line-"

As they stepped into the store proper, from above, two compartments on the ceiling opened up and out came a pair of rotating guns that were pointed right at the group.

"Oops." Edna raised her Omni-tool up and said, "Edna-Mode and customers."

The guns immediately retracted back into the ceiling, leaving a bewildered group around her.

"Keelah, what was that supposed to be?"

"My security system." Edna said casually, gesturing for them to follow her. "Had it up ever since the Geth attacked the station. Activates once I leave my establishment. And it operates on its own power grid and operating system not connected to the Citadel. Put said properties together myself"

"Where the hell did you get all that?" Garrus took a better look of the present armaments and reeled back a little. "It looks like they can mow down a small army."

"I've had quite the string of new connections since I had opened up my shop." Edna declared. "With my darling pupil here and Commander Shepard's promotion of my store, I have afforded myself greater resources for my establishment."

"You aren't like… starting an underground criminal empire, are you?" The C-sec detective asked warily.

"Bah!" Edna scoffed derisively. "Why work in a field where that would be easy?"

Axel snorted at the proclamation with Wrex joining in whilst Garrus gave the fashionista a flat look.

"Having that up the entire time is no doubt gonna push away potential customers." Ash pointed out.

"Or entices them with the danger." Edna said with a beaming grin as she walked through the multiple isles of her stores nudging her head to the side. "Take these two for example."

The group looked over and saw a pair of humans from Asian descent.

They both wore skintight outfits and hoodies that shadowed the upper portions of their faces.

Actually, now that Roxas and Tali took a moment to gaze upon them… they looked… familiar…

Where had they seen these two before?

And why were they thinking of Ramen?

As they gazed upon them, one of them looked over and blinked at the two that were gazing at her and her companion.

Squinting at them for a second, her eyes widened underneath her hood in recognition.

"Oh hello, fellow hoodie wearers." she said cheerfully.

Roxas blinked when he now remembered. "It's you."

The man next to her took a bit longer until he to recognized who he was looking at.

"Well, well, if it isn't our fellow hooded ramen lovers." The man said with a grin.

The group that was out of the loop soon realized that these two individuals were speaking to Roxas and Tali directly.

"You guys know each other?" Axel asked, looking back and forth between the four.

"Sort of." Roxas admitted. "We met a while back when I first got here."

"Fancy running into you two after so long." the lady said. "You know we've seen you and all your friends all over the news these last few days."

"Yeah, very impressive." The man said with a grin of approval before putting on a dramatic voice. "Normandy teams dashing heroism saves the Citadel. Bit of a mouthful but it gets the point across."

"So you know Roxas and Tali, then?" Xion asked.

"We had ramen with them at Stand once. Haven't seen them since." Roxas stated.

"Quite a good memory on such a brief encounter." the lady said with a coy smile.

Wrex, having grown uninterested in this conversation, moved to the back of the store in order to change back into his normal armor.

"I don't think we ever even exchanged names." The lady said. "I'm Kasumi."

"Kenji."

"And you must be the astonishing and heroic crew of the Normandy." Kasumi said with over exaggerated gravitas. "We've seen most of your names being flung around all over the news as of late."

"Yeah, we are pretty awesome." Axel stated, casually resting one arm atop Xion's head whilst he checked over his gloved nails.

Xion pouted, shaking her head about to get Axel's arm off her to no avail.

"Well, I'm Roxas." No. XIII, feeling he should introduce himself properly.

The rest of the group gave their own names save for their Krogan comrade, realizing he had left them all.

"We would like to personally thank you all for saving the Citadel." Kenji said with him and Kasumi bowing towards them. "If it weren't for all of your efforts, we would have lost one of our primary means of making ends meet."

"And what do you do?" Tali asked inquisitively.

Kasumi raised a finger to her lips with a sly smile. "Secret."

The hooded woman then turned to Roxas.

"But I must admit, I applaud you for what you were able to pull off with me." Kasumi praised. "Not many could pull off such a trick."

Roxas only gazed upon her in confusion. "What?"

Kasumi's grin only grew, as if she understood an unspoken joke between the two.

"Very impressive." Kasumi said, patting him on the shoulder as she and Kenji moved to depart from the store. "Hope to see you all again on the news again sometime. Would be a wonderful change of pace over the usual drab that goes on."

"Have a nice day." Kenji said, the duo leaving the group with some confusion.

"Those two were weird." Ashley commented.

"Roxas." the sandy-blond haired teen looked over to Garrus. "What was she talking about?"

Roxas only shrugged. "I dunno. I've only met her and her friend once before."

"What was that about a trick?" Tali asked.

"Beats me." Roxas said truthfully.

The Turian detective regarded the young teen before looking ahead and spotting the two exiting the store and when he blinked…

They were gone!

Rather than visibly react, Garrus's eyes narrowed with his visor beginning to work its magic in trying to locate the two that had seemingly vanished only for him to get nothing.

"Kasumi." Garrus muttered under his breath.

"What's the matter, Garrus?" Axel asked with a sly grin. "Something catch your attention about them?"

"Or more like her?" Ash said with a knowing smile that she shared with the fiery Nobody.

Garrus looked at them and saw their expressions. "What?"

"Saw something you liked?" Even Tali now asked with her arms crossed in amusement.

It took the Turian a few moments to realize what the trio was insinuating.

"Hey, no, no." Garrus quickly stated. "It's not like that. This is just my Detective intuition kicking in."

"Yes, detective intuition, of course." Ashley said with her finger quotation marks. "Was this detective intuition pointing to a certain hooded femme fatale?"

"Shut up."

Roxas and Xion all the while looked on in slight confusion.

"What are they talking about?" Xion asked Roxas who only shook his head.

"No clue…" Roxas said. "Maybe it has something to do with Kasumi."

And speaking of the two…

"Kami, again!" Kasumi said aloud in disbelief. "I know I snatched that pouch off of him for sure!"

"Maybe he has faster hands than you." Kenji remarked.

Rather than rebuke him, Kasumi only crossed her arms in thought. "No, no, I didn't see him move at all. It's something else."

"Whatever it is, that's twice now." Kenji said, holding up two fingers for emphasis.

The hooded woman only huffed with her mischievous smirk returning to her face a moment later.

"Alright then, Roxas. If it's a challenge you're giving me then I accept." The Master Thief declared aloud, Kenji laughing all the while.

Back with the aforementioned Nobody…

The group was now being pulled along by Edna once more as she had Ashley standing atop a small, elevated platform with the cloth designer holding measuring tape up to the Alliances Marines leg.

"Mmm, very impressive my dear." Edna complimented. "It appears you've slimmed down while becoming more fit at the same time."

"Running around the galaxy in constant firefights can do that to ya." Ash wryly commented with several of her friends chuckling at that comment.

"But with all of this running about my dear, you will never be able to find your special someone." Edna chided softly.

"I- What?!" Ash went bug eyed upon hearing that with Axel choking on a laugh that had Garrus joining in a moment later.

"Hmm, she's got a good point." Wrex chimed in with a wide grin present. "Unlike you humans, Krogan got all the time in the galaxy to find themselves a mate."

"Hardy har, are you trying to tell us something old man?" Ash shot back with Wrex huffing though he was still grinning all the same.

"Your next suit will be bold!" Edna proclaimed, wrapping her tape around Ashley's upper arm. "Distinguished! Powerful! Not at all like the usually drab garbage the Alliance unfortunately outfits their best with."

"N7 is pretty good." Ash said defensively.

"Maybe, but it still lacks the force to convey that you stand before some of the best of humanity." Edna stated. "Battlemaster, Commando, Spectre. All names that hold weight and strength across the galaxy."

"So what would we call those designed by Edna Mode?" Garrus asked.

"Mode is a bit too on the nose." Tali stated.

"But it works." Axel said with a shrug.

"Talk only achieves so much." Edna said. "Gobblegobblegobblegobble. Just words that will not achieve anything. Actions will."

"Yeah, clearly."

As their banter went on, Roxas found himself zoning out with his mind going back to the "dream" he had.

He was able to hear from Sora, somehow, and it left him wondering what to do. He was filled with a number of inquiries which needed to be solved. And they all, more or less, revolved around the brown haired Keybearer.

Soon enough, Roxas will need to seek him out and resolve these self-issues.

Coming out of his thoughts, he saw Edna address Tali on a certain issue, meant to be genuinely well.

"-One day Miss Zorah, I assure you, I shall find a way to get you much more refreshing garments."

Tali looked down at herself. "What's wrong with what I have?"

"You can't always rely on one look, darling, you need to expand." Edna proclaimed. "You, along with your friends, are on track to being some of the most famous figures across the galaxy. You must be bold."

Tali chuckled at Edna's determination.

"If only." Tali said. "Unless you have the outlines of my peoples old clothing from three hundred years ago."

"Never give up hope, Miss Zorah." Edna said kindly.

From the side, Roxas found himself frowning at the downtrodden mood he saw Tali was in now. His blue eyes gazing at his Quarian friend and not exactly knowing how to cheer her up from her present disposition.

Though she quickly broke the somber air by making a quippy remark about Ashley perhaps not losing as much weight as she assumed. The rest of the group chuckled slightly at the Gunnery Chiefs defensive reaction, but Roxas…

He knew that while she did her best to hide it, he had learned a great deal about visual cues with her since she herself taught him all about Quarian body language in the time they had spent together.

Though it was subtle, almost undetectable, No. XIII managed to see it.

His frown deepened as he wondered what could he possibly do to assuage this.

Briefly going down memory lane, Roxas recalled his confrontation with Tali after his return with Axel and Xion; which resulted in his promise to her in finding a truly memorable gift.

He'd need to make sure it was amazing because his friend Axel had already set a standard earlier.

A portrait of the setting sun of Rannoch captured centuries ago.

Tali truly loved the gift Axel brought back from this "guys night" he had with the other men on the ground team. It truly brought her to tears as it was something that was literally from her ancestral homeworld.

The Quarian could only imagine the reaction her people would have upon her bringing back such a priceless artifact.

He thought of the other things presently in her possession that can more or less be used for her Pilgrimage gift. The Geth data package, the Etherium Solar tech, the varied Potions and Ethers, and the Gummi-tech with their respective components and parts.

Tali was essentially bringing back revolutionary technology that would be a great boon to her people. Calling it beneficial to the Flotilla would be putting it mildly.

Right now however, Roxas' mind drifted over to his promise to Tali. About her wanting for him to get her something that would make up for him leaving her and the Normandy when he returned from his time away.

With their hunt for Saren over, there's a lot of time to focus on other things on what to do in the meantime. And with that time, he could figure out what he could get her.

And yet he doesn't want to keep delaying getting Tali her perfect gift.

Determination now filled his eyes as he will make sure that he delivers on his promise.

He would not fail.

Time passed inside of the clothing establishment with Wrex having left earlier, not wanting to stick around with his business already taken care of.

Walking out of Edna's place of business, Ashley and Garrus walked out with a case respectively which contained their new armor sets. Even some other bags of new civilian clothing for their downtime.

The three Nobodies, however, didn't walk out of the store empty handed. They too had to purchase several more articles of clothing as per Edna's hardened persistence to expand their wardrobe.

Tali, in the meantime, helped Xion out in carrying some of her bags as she didn't want to be left out.

Heading back to the Normandy to drop off their purchases, a conversation took place.

"So now what?" Ashley asked the group.

"Now what, what?" Roxas quizzically said.

Ashley began to clarify. "What do we do now? We came together cause all of us recognized the threat that Saren held. Now that he's gone, what do we do next?"

Roxas was more or less silent, pondering on a number of things.

"Did you really have to drop that kind of question on us now?" Garrus pointed out.

"Sorry, but it had to be addressed sooner or later."

"There's still the threat with the Reapers." Roxas said finally in a grim manner. "We know they're still out there and preparing for their time to strike on the galaxy."

"We did delay their arrival, but for how long?" Said Xion.

"Who's to say." Spoke Axel. "Could be months or years. Sooner or later those shmucks will be persistent in coming here. They did it before after all and they just can't wait to do it again."

"Real peachy, Axel." Garrus deadpanned. "Real peachy."

"You know it's the truth." Axel said, throwing his arms behind his head. "Why deny the inevitable?"

"There's no denial on the subject." Tali muttered out. "It all depends on how the rest of the galaxy will be prepared."

"And we also have problems of our own back where we come from." Roxas reminded, with Axel looking away while Xion's expression became grim.

"Oh yeah, those Organization XIII guys you ran from." Garrus said. "What was that pink weirdo's name again? Marluxia, was it?"

"Yeah, flower peddler."

"And… these other eleven members… they're just as strong as you guys?" Tali asked nervously.

"If not stronger." Axel stated. "Especially Xemnas."

"The leader, right?" Ash asked for confirmation with the Nobody trio nodding.

"How strong is he?" Tali couldn't help but ask.

"Don't know." Axel admitted. "And that's the scary part. Not knowing how powerful someone is."

"He would definitely be a lot more of a challenge than what we had with Saren and Sovereign, that's for sure." Roxas said without hesitation.

"Well when you say it like that…" Ashley said, a bead of nervous sweat trailing down her forehead.

This feeling was shared with Tali and Garrus, the two also finding the thought of facing someone who was even more powerful than their last two adversaries…

The trio of individuals natives to this galaxy recently thought about these past few weeks for a brief moment.

They were exposed to not a vastly different galaxy but essentially the universe being busted open for them all to see.

Roxas, Axel and Xion came from a place where the planets were called "Worlds" and on said "Worlds" were beings of extraordinary power. They had already seen just what these three were capable of by themselves, both when taking on the Heartless and when fighting those of this galaxy.

To think that there were people out there that were equal to their strength and possibly even more so…

They couldn't lie that a pit of dread was now planted within them at the thought of facing such enemies one day. It made them consider how lucky they were that the first of these powerful beings became their close friends and allies.

But now, to think that-

"We'll just have to get stronger in the meantime." Roxas declared with conviction, surprising the others.

"What now?" Garrus said. "Don't make it sound so easy as you say, Roxas. Not all of us are like the three of you with your crazy powers and abilities."

"Hey now, don't go selling yourselves short." Axel said. "You guys have been handling yourselves against the Heartless a decent amount before we," pointing to himself and Xion, "came along."

"Yeah, you've all gotten stronger just like us." Xion said happily. "We should all be proud that we've gotten this far."

"And that means we can go farther." Roxas stated without hesitation. "We will get stronger. And we will beat both the Reapers and the Organization. I know it."

Roxas was promptly pulled into Ashley's grasp via his head and was given a noogie yet it was much softer and didn't even last long.

"Look at you." Ash said cheerfully. "Being the little optimist now, aren't ya?"

"Not a zombie anymore, huh?" Axel added in, poking the side of Roxas' forehead with the teen laughing, the others joining in a moment later.

With the mood being alleviated, they kept on walking towards the Normandy.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Xion asked aloud.

Nobody answered straight away, with some genuinely thinking on this.

"Continue on with our lives, I guess." Garrus said with a shrug. "I honestly don't wanna go back to C-Sec, considering all the good we've done together."

"And sooner or later, I need to return to the Migrant Fleet to complete my Pilgrimage." Tali added in.

"I'm gonna miss seeing you around on the ship." Said Roxas with a small frown.

"Same here." Agreed Ashley.

"Don't know about the others, but I think they have the same answer as everyone else here." Axel pointed out. "Even Wrexy, who will more or less deny it."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from him." Tali giggled out.

"What about you Ashley?" Xion asked, looking to the Gunnery Chief who hummed aloud.

"I might get cycled back somewhere in the military. If I'm lucky, I will be able to stick aboard the Normandy as an official member of the crew."

"I thought you were one after what happened on Eden Prime." Said Xion.

"Perhaps you can ask Anderson when you get the chance for clarification." Roxas stated.

"You did get conscripted under certain circumstances." Garrus added in.

The Gunnery Chief nodded. "I probably will need to do that."

"What of you three?" Garrus said to the Nobodies.

"Still getting away from the Organization and doing whatever we can to survive." Axel said rather plainly.

"So what, you three will become a little band of mercs?" Asked Ashley.

"They are more or less a small army." Said Tali. "Well… smaller."

"We'll be the best ones at that." Axel said with a cocky smirk. "But I do gotta ask, how many of us really are gonna break off?"

"Huh?" was the collective response.

"I mean… I get it with Tali and Wrex a bit and even you Garry." Axel listed off. "But the rest of us I figure will still stay with Shepard for the most part."

"That feels a bit like wishful thinking." Ash remarked.

"Is it?" Axel quirked a brow. "Shep's a Spectre still, right? Spectres who get to do anything they want unless the Council says otherwise? So doesn't that mean she's got more leeway than most? Some of us can still stick with her for the most part without most people complaining about it since Spectres only answer to those annoying politicians."

"Hmmm, true." Garrus conceded. "They do get more than just simple leeway considering they're really given complete free reign by the Council in order to conduct their missions completely unimpeded by usual standards. The only limitations they have are the ones that are either imposed upon them by the Council or on themselves. Whatever else is all on them."

"And Saren was employing mercs way before us." Ash added in with a nod. "Don't think Skipper's someone who would leave her team by the wayside."

"And I don't want to leave Shepard yet anyway." Roxas admitted. "Feels like even after everything we've done, things are just getting started."

"You're not wrong about that." Garrus agreed aloud.

"Then we got nothing to worry about for now." Tali said cheerfully. "We'll stay together until the time comes where… where, well some of us will have to leave."

"But we'll come back together when the time comes, right?" Xion asked in a hopeful tone with Tali leaning on her slightly happily.

"Exactly."

Tali then halted when a very considerably large grumble was heard from her stomach causing her to fidget slightly in embarrassment.

"A-heh." Tali said. "Guess I got hungry."

"Let's at least drop off our stuff back at the Normandy before getting ourselves a bite to eat." Axel suggested. "Don't wanna lug all this stuff around all over the place."

Hearing this, Garrus voiced a thought. "Wouldn't it be easier to use your Corridor to drop them off?"

"It would, but do you remember the last time I used it with Wrexy's family armor?"

The Turian laughed at the first part of the memory, Wrex chasing Axel all over the ship and wanting to tear him a new one on how the one Nobody mishandled the aforementioned armor.

But then Garrus realized that a bit of his little argument can be argued if it would really accept it or not.

"And I kinda want some ramen." Tali sheepishly admitted. "Seeing those two at Edna's store from so long ago is giving me cravings."

"Give your stuff here." Garrus said, holding out one of his hands since he was carrying all that much. "I'll drop it off at the Normandy."

Tali let out a small 'yay' of appreciation, handing her items over to the Turian before grabbing Roxas' arm and pulling him away with the Nobody caught off guard by the motion.

Axel chortled at the bewildered expression Roxas shot him with Williams humming aloud beside him.

"Ramen sounds good as well." Ashley said suddenly, handing Axel her purchased goods. "Be a good boy and take care of these will ya."

"Hey, what the-?"

"Thanks!"

In an instant, the Gunnery Chief deposited her stuff onto the redhead before running off to join Tali and Roxas.

"...SINCE WHEN AM I A DAMN PACK MULE!?"

"Since now!" Ash said, waving back at him without turning around.

Axel felt his eye twitch and small flames come off of his body.

"You better not be giving any more stuff, Xion." He said, glaring at the youngest among them.

Xion only giggled, taking a bag out of his hands.

"I'm good at carrying my own stuff, you know." She said innocently. "Besides, I'm not quite hungry just yet."

"Come on, let's not stand around here." Garrus said. "We're not far from the ship."

With no objection being voiced, Xion and Axel followed in Garrus' step towards the port where the SR1 was docked.

Nearing their destination, they saw some people barricading the area.

"Where'd this come from?" Xion asked aloud, looking around at the large contingent of C-sec officers.

"Nothing to see here." Said one of them. "Please move along-"

"I'm sorry, but we need to head towards the Normandy." Axel struggled out a little. "So if you could let us pass-"

"Sorry, but we can't do that… just yet."

"Guys?"

The trio turned to see Commander Shepard approaching them.

"What are you all doing here?" She asked.

"We're on our way back to the ship." Garrus answered.

"I thought you'd be back already yourself." Axel commented.

"I was just running a few personal errands." Said the Commander.

"Same on our end." Xion informed her. "When we were coming back, we saw… this."

Jane soon questioned one of the guards. "Is there something wrong here?"

"Commander Shepard, sir." A human quickly saluted her. "I'm Lieutenant Girard. We… we have a bit of a situation on our hands."

"I can see that." Shepard said. "What's going on here?"

Another human cleared his throat.

"We have… someone causing a little fuss."

"A fuss that you guys have a barricade?" Axel pointed out questioningly.

Girard let out a small sigh. "She has a pistol on her and is attempting to commit suicide. I believe that is enough for an argument." The others before him said nothing as he continued. "She's behind those shipping containers. I've got a sniper positioned, but I don't think we'll need him. She's only a danger to herself."

"Is there a means in not using that option?" Garrus asked, feeling that to be a bit extreme. "She hasn't done anything has she?"

"No, no, none of that sort." Girard quickly said worriedly. "We've got a sedative to calm her down, but we can't get close to her without doing something drastic. Every step we take gets her more wound up."

"You seem awfully worried about her."

"I- I'm just doing my job. Public safety and all. After what happened recently with the attack on the Citadel…" Girard gave a forlorn look. "Commander… she was abducted from Mindoir."

The Spectre tensed at the mention of her home colony with her eyes holding a gazing of steel yet a calm demeanor as well.

"Say no more." Jane said quickly with her hand stretched out. "If you'd mind…"

"Of course." Girard responded, handing over the sedative.

"Just have your men on standby in case of anything." Jane stated.

"Don't push her too hard." Girard warned her. "If she seems liable to pull the trigger, back off. Or walk away. I'm willing to wait her out."

After getting a small salute from the man, Shepard broke away and turned her attention towards the others.

"I'm assuming you want to help me." She said rather obviously. "As much as I want to, this is extremely delicate."

Axel shrugged. "Honestly, I think this could be a nice change of pace over the usual crazy crap we deal with. Why wouldn't we by this point."

"In case you didn't get the situation, this person is rather off right now."

"Is she gonna be ok?" Xion asked in concern.

Shepard looked down at the young girl with a sad frown.

"I need to do this alone."

"We'll be here to back you up in case of anything." Garrus said.

Jane simply nodded and walked over to the stack of crates with Axel, Xion and Garrus staying out of the girl's sight that was hidden behind them.

Slowly walking towards the crates, Jane moved away from them so the person on the other side wouldn't get truly startled.

Upon seeing the distressed person, Shepard saw the person was heavily scared with signs of abuse and torture on what exposed skin there was. The hair on her head was nearly shaved down as she could see some faint scaring there as well. And in her trembling hands was a pistol.

To think she would find another person from her home planet, especially after what occurred all those years ago. Taking a better look at this frail, malnourished woman now, Jane theorized on how old she must've been when that event happened before she was stolen as a child thirteen years ago.

"Stop, Stop!" The girl cried out, raising her pistol up at Jane who didn't even flinch at the action. "Who… what are you?"

"My name is Shepard." Jane introduced herself in a soothing calm voice. "Lieutenant Girard sent me to talk to you. What's your name?"

The girl appeared to only tremble upon hearing such a question.

"Animals don't get names. The masters put their symbols on her. Hot metal all over her back. She screams when they do it."

Upon hearing this, Shepard instinctively stepped back from surprise.

'Oh god…' She thought in realization.

This woman before her was indeed a former slave, an escaped one at that from the Batarian slavers.

"You're not an animal." Jane argued gently once overcoming her shock. "Your parents? What did they call you? Do you remember them?"

"She remembers a lot of things." the woman whispered aloud in fright. "... Talitha. They call her that… she doesn't remember the rest."

Hearing all this on the other side of the crate out of view, Xion gazed upon Shepard with her eyes growing wide before looking up to Axel who held a stony visage.

"L-Leave her alone."

Jane, however, pressed on. "What happened to your parents?"

"There's- She sees them." Talitha recollects with hollowed, distressed eyes. "They're yelling. Run. Hide. They hit the masters. But the masters, they have lights and hoses. Daddy's- He's melting!" The scared woman then shushed herself as she brought her hands up to her head, even with her drawn pistol. "-Sh-She doesn't want to see that! Don't make her look. Don't look! Stupid, stupid!"

"I know it hurts, Talitha. I'm sorry. But you need to deal with this. What happened to your parents? Think." Jane said, attempting to keep her on track.

"When she thinks, water comes out of her eyes. The masters beat her when she wastes water. So she doesn't think anymore. She sees them. Mommy and Daddy. Burning in white light. Melting. Going to pieces. They can't even say anything to her. They're dead, Shepard. They try to save her, and the masters burn them. Can she stop remembering now? Please?" Talitha now had tears streaming down her eyes.

"I was on Mindoir. My father and brother died in the raid-" Jane began.

"Lying! You get hit for lying!" The scared girl interrupted. "Get the buzz or the burning. Can't be here." Talitha then snapped at her. "Why are you alive?! Why are you- Why aren't you like her? Broken. Only fit to dig and carry."

Shepard gave her an understanding look.

"For a while I was broken. I nearly lost my whole family, Talitha. My friends. My childhood. I had to pull myself up and keep going with what I had left." Jane said softly.

It was truly a hard time in her life. Jane didn't know what would've happened if she didn't have her mother and Anderson around to help pick her back up. But she did know what happened afterwards, like her resentful problems with her mother for one.

"You lost your brother and daddy. But you don't dig. You don't carry. You stand up... She wishes she could stand up." Talitha said, breathing becoming erratic.

"I'm going to take a step towards you now. Okay?" Shepard put one foot forward but Talitha went rigid, holding her pistol up again.

"No! She's no good! Don't want to be handled again!" Her tone was frantic.

"What's the last thing you remember from Mindoir?" Jane asked conversationally.

Talitha's lower lip quivered, with more tears falling from her cheeks. "Fires. Smells of smoke and burning meat. Animals screaming as the master's cage them. As they put the metal to their backs. Put wires in their brains. She pretends to be dead. If she's dead, she can't work. But they know. She hopes they'll leave. But they put her in the pen. She didn't fight. She was already broken when they put the wires in."

"Talitha, you were what? Six years old? No one blames you for staying quiet and hoping they'd go away. The only person blaming you is you." Jane pointed out.

"She wants to believe that. She wants to believe nothing would change. She doesn't want to be there anymore. In the pen. In the cages. Lying quiet while they do things to her." Talitha's voice was broken.

"I'm going to take another step towards you now. Okay?" Jane said, inching forward very slowly.

"She doesn't want- Don't touch her!" Talitha snapped frightfully.

"How did you get here? Did you escape?"

"She can't escape. They have chains. Wires. Needles. You go too far; they take your brains away." Talitha said, the tone sending a shiver down Xion's spine.

The young girl began to tremble profusely as she heard about all this and for a brief moment, her vision flashed over to a room of pure white.

Xion suddenly felt a pair of firm hands upon her shoulders and she looked up to see Axel giving her a comforting look. She scrunched her face up to regain a modicum of control of herself, conveying appreciation for her friend before returning her attention to Talitha's frightened ramblings.

"Animals like her come. Animals with guns. They make the masters explode. She tries to fix the masters. So they won't be mad at her. She puts all the reds and purples back in, but they don't move. The other animals take her."

Jane soon pieced things together on how Talitha escaped. She was being transferred to her new "owner" or something when some people stumbled upon the transport she was on. Talitha's liberators stumbled upon her after taking care of the slavers and had to get her to safer space. But some stuff occurred since then, having Talitha escaping from said liberators and ending up here of all places.

Shepard then tried to reason with her. "You were afraid. All you'd known for thirteen years was the "masters" abuse. So you tried to heal them."

"She doesn't want to see other animals. They're not real. They can't be real. They can't see her. If the animals can see her, then this is real. But it can't be. The wires. The chains. The hitting. This doesn't happen to her. It's another girl. A dirty girl. A stupid girl. She deserves it! It- It happens to her. Doesn't it? They see her, so it's real. She doesn't want it to be real." Talitha sobbed.

"I'm gonna take another step towards you now. Okay?"

When drawing in closer, Talitha reeled back as her body utterly trembled.

"Please don't touch her. She's dirty. You'll catch it!" the former slave girl wrapped her arms around her protectively both for herself and the Spectre.

Shepard pulls out the sedative and presents it to her. "Talitha, this will make you sleep. If you fall asleep, some people will take you to a place where you can get better."

Hesitantly, Talitha takes the sedative from Shepard's hand and administers it onto herself.

"Will… Will she have bad dreams?" Talitha asked fearfully.

Shepard soon closed in and wrapped her into a comforting hug. Talitha stiffened from the contact, not knowing what to do. All she could really do was listen.

"I'll be honest with you; they will be there but will lessen over time. For now, you'll dream of a warm place. And when you wake up, you'll be in it."

Slowly, just before the sedatives kick in, Talitha reaches up to hug Shepard back in a tight embrace.

"She'd like that. It hurts when she- when I remember me. But she wants to remember."

A few moments later, she goes limp in Shepard's arms with Jane holding up the young girl as she gets down to one knee, holding her head up gently.

"It's alright Talitha." Jane said softly. "It'll be alright."

"Talitha!" Lieutenant Girard was immediately by their side and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God she's alright. Thank you Shepard, I can't thank you enough for this."

Shepard shook her head. "You don't have to thank me at all. Just take care of her."

"Absolutely, Commander." Girard promised, carefully sliding his arms beneath Talitha's body and lifting her up bridal style. "She's already been through enough after what those Batarian bastards did to her."

"I want to hear a report of her process." Shepard ordered straight away. "And if anything happens…"

"Of course, Shepard." the LT said straight away. "Come on Talitha, let's get you someplace comfortable."

As she watched the man walk away, she let out a shaky sigh she had been holding.

Feeling a friendly pat on her back, she looked over to see Garrus standing by her with Jane only nodding at him.

She then turned back to Axel and...

"Xion?" Shepard said in worry. "You're crying. Are you alright?"

Axel, having had his eyes on Shepard, had not realized the state in which his own friend was in.

"Xion?" Axel made her turn to him. "What's wrong?"

The young girl herself had not realized her own state of mind or predicament as she reached up to her face and felt moisture seep in through her glove.

"I-I… I'm crying." Xion said in disbelief, looking up at Axel. "H-How? Aren't I a Nobody?"

Axel didn't have an answer to that as Shepard and Garrus were now by her side.

"Xion, what happened?" Shepard asked with worry written all over her face.

"I… I-I don't know." Xion said with tears streaming down her face. "Seeing that girl… seeing what happened to Saren…"

"What happened to Saren?" Shepard repeated in bewilderment with the others looking on in the same manner. "Why bring him up?"

Xion shook her head, beginning to cry more profusely. It took her a moment to form her thoughts properly and from the looks of it, it looked as though it was giving her great internal strife.

"I… was created to be a puppet. To be used and disposed of. That's what you heard when Roxas played that recording he got from Xemnas and Xigbar."

No. XIV staggered and promptly fell to her knees with Axel instantly going down to her with Shepard doing the same. Garrus would've done so as well, but the others beat him to it. All he could do now was look on in worry.

"I… I've been trying to ignore it." Xion admitted openly, her tears falling to the floor. "But after Virmire, what we saw became of Saren and… and that poor girl Talitha. It just made me realize that… that I'm just a false existence. A puppet made to be used and thrown away. I don't even know why I should bother existing at all if I was just made to be a tool."

She wept there, shaking uncontrollably as everything she had been containing just came pouring out.

"Why?" She asked softly with her voice conveying hurt. "I just… I don't know what's the point of my existence. Why do I exist if I was just made to be a tool?"

Shepard instantly pulled Xion in for a hug with the young teen sobbing as she finally let go of it all.

"It's alright, Xion. It's alright." Jane said softly. "Things will get better now."

Axel reached out and placed a gentle hand atop her head.

"You've got us, in case you forgot." No. VIII said with a voice tinged with kindness.

"Whether you like it or not." Garrus said

Xion nodded, whipping away what tears were present on her face.

Axel soon addressed the N7 marine.

"So about what happened… your family…"

Shepard released a small sigh. "Right, figured you guys overheard that part."

"After remembering what we talked back on the Legacy, I started piecing things together now."

"Me too." Garrus added in.

Granted, he might not have the fullest picture unlike Axel, but he has the rough depiction at it.

"It's something I don't enjoy bringing up at all."

"And no one's blaming you, Commander. Something like that is a really delicate subject." Said the Turian detective.

"Yeah, and don't expect me to bring it up anytime soon."

"Are we… family?" Xion asked in a voice that was barely heard.

Shepard looked down at the young Keybearer who was still hugging her tightly with a warm smile appearing on her face a moment later.

"Yeah." She gently stroked Xion's hair, hugging her back. "We are."

-Scene Cut-

The Normandy team was now back on the ship, the entire crew having all finally returned to what was essentially their mobile home as Axel called it.

Currently, whilst the ship was departing from the Citadel, the group was assembled at the cafeteria, enjoying some lunch together.

"Hey Shepard, what happened down near the docks nearby?" Ash asked, having returned with steaming hot bowls of ramen that she had given out to the others with Roxas and Tali.

"That's a bit… complicated to explain." Shepard said, slurping up her noodles with the rest doing the same.

"Goddess the taste of these noodles are exquisite." Liara remarked, greatly enjoying her bowl.

"Aren't they?" Tali said, eating hers out of a stra- *BONK*- Ow, ok, Induction Port. "I didn't realize how much I had missed this."

"Mmmm, I needed this." Roxas openly stated, working on his fourth bowl.

"Spirits Roxas, how much of those can you eat?" Garrus asked in grossed out amusement.

"Runt needs his energy." Wrex said, on his sixth bowl. "Him and the kid need it to grow eventually you know."

Roxas and Xion exchanged glances with one another, giving a once over.

"We're not… that short… are we?" Xion asked.

"For one, you two are kids, teenagers really. And two, compared to Wrex, you basically are."

"Actually, by technicality, Roxas and Xion have only existed officially for about… five months really." Axel pointed out. "Give or take some weeks."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You guys are weird." Garrus said after a few moments.

The table laughed aloud at that statement with the weirdos in question not bothering to deny that statement.

It was at that moment that the group spotted Kaidan walk past them as he headed towards the Med-bay.

"Hey, Kaidan." Ash called out to him. "You doing alright today?"

"I am. Thanks for asking." Kaidan turned to the three Nobodies. "Oh yeah and thank you for the gift."

"Glad you like it, man." Axel chuckled out.

"Hope you'll like it." Said Roxas.

Xion merely nodded as she kept slurping her noodles.

"Gift, what gift?" Shepard asked in confusion.

"Got a message from these three earlier who chipped in together in getting me an armor voucher from Edna." He revealed to them. "The full nine yards from what I got in the details. Armor designed in my specifications and all of the added quirks once I chat with the store owner and all that jazz."

"That's rather nice of them." Tali said.

"It clearly is. I do plan on cashing it in when possible."

"And where are you heading off to now? Another checkup with Chakwas?" Shepard asked.

Kaidan nodded.

"Then don't let us keep her waiting." the Spectre said in a shooing motion.

Departing from the group, the Adapt Biotic soon entered the Med-bay. He expected to just see Chakwas, but he didn't expect to see Della there as well.

"-I do say your job on your left leg was done well, despite the circumstances." Said the Normandy's medical doctor.

"Yeah." Della sighed out, patting her amputated leg. "It was not pretty when I had to free myself from the crash."

"And how'd you get free?" Kaidan asked aloud, signifying his presence in the room.

"Oh, hey Kaidan." Said Della.

"Lieutenant Alenko." Karen greeted him kindly.

"Don't stop on my account." He requested. "I was actually wondering how you lost your leg and been wanting to ask about the specifics for a while. But I didn't want to push it."

Della merely shrugged. "A lot of people have."

Kaidan nodded and sat down on the nearby bed. "So repeating my question again: how'd you get free?"

Della scratched her head as she lamented the situation. "There was a tower of debris hanging over me for starters. Every effort I tried in pushing and banging away to free my leg made it shake, making it inch closer to falling on top of me and killing me as a result. I soon had to take a drastic step in cutting myself loose. Luckily for me, my leg was already broken and already numb by that point…"

"We can already imagine what went on from there." Spoke Karen with Kaidan nodding in turn.

"Must not have been an easy situation to go through."

"It wasn't." Della admitted. "Then again, it was either try to keep the leg and further risk getting killed or suck it up and do whatever it took to get back to my family." She released a small, bitter chuckle. "And you can clearly see which option I took."

"Determination can drive a person one way or another." Said the lieutenant.

"Many people can ignore it or accept it in a given situation." Chakwas added in.

"It sure does."

Kaidan eyed the robotic leg and saw how mismatched it was when he got a better look of it.

"What is your prosthetic made of anyways?"

Della quickly pried her synthetic leg off with quickened ease to give the two humans a better look of it.

"Composed of rocket parts."

"And did you, perchance, make any adjustments to it?" He asked. "I mean, after you got back to your family, you must've had to."

"Not really." Della spoke out. "According to the Junior Woodchuck handbook, rule 42 states: build things right the first time and they won't need any modifications."

'Sounds like the Boy and Girl scouts back on Earth.' Kaidan thought to himself before speaking to Chakwas. "So, doc, I'm ready to get checked up again."

"About that, Della has something to say to you."

Kaidan turned to the duck woman with a curious look. "You do?"

Della nodded as her expression became a little more serious. "I do and it pertains to your L2 amp."

"Pardon?"

"When I heard of what happened back on the Citadel from Xion, in passing, I talked to Chakwas on more of the details."

"Della was rather curious and went to look into what scans I made on you after your return from your battle against Saren." Karen informed him. "After some discussions, I let her see them."

"Isn't it a little breach of doctor/patient confidentiality?"

"Normally yes, but certain circumstances would require reporting to commanding officers and consultants."

Della quickly jumped in. "I am sorry about the breach of trust there, Kaidan, but I was concerned and wanted to see if I could help."

Kaidan scratched his dark locks, exhaling a small sigh. "I'm fine, honestly, just a little surprised is all." He looked back at Della. "Did you find something about my L2 amp?"

"I did, but I needed a second set of eyes. So I forwarded the scans to Gyro back in my galaxy."

"Gyro? The same Gyro who made the Oxy-chew and that stupid Gold-tech?"

"Same guy."

"Why him of all people if you have so much beef on him?"

During her stay on the Normandy, Kaidan and the others heard about Gyro Gear loose, an accomplished inventor in Scrooge McDuck's company. He's considered one of the greatest minds of his time by a number of individuals as his technological genius surpasses many in the Ōkoku galaxy.

Yet despite his reported eccentric and good-nature, Gyro is extremely short-tempered, impatient, sassy, arrogant and lacks a lot of social skills. He releases a lot of his frustration on his former intern, Fenton, as he didn't give him a lot of respect until some point. Even others who don't share his same level of intellect.

Della said Gyro is getting a little better in interacting with everyone else, but it's a long road ahead of him to make it better.

"As much as I wanted to ask anyone else, Gyro is far better in knowing what is wrong with your implant."

"What did he say then?"

Della let loose a deep sigh. "He said that your amp is pretty much killing you."

Kaidan's face paled with Chakwas gaping.

"How did- when did you?"

"Not too long ago." Della admitted, bringing out her Omni-Tool. "After the Citadel, I had sent out a few messages to Gyro, forwarding everything I had gathered about Biotics and he quickly figured out what was wrong with you. You're lucky you've lasted this long, but now it's finally kicking in."

"Wha- What should I do?" Kaidan asked with his face paling slightly.

Della only grinned. "Don't worry, Gyro got a few schematics sent to me and he figures with what I'll give to Chakwas, you'll be fine after a surgery to help you with that Biotic Amp. I even went to Mosh and he added in a few details of his own to give you a nice boost in your Biotics."

Typing into her Omni-Tool, she sent the files and schematics over to Chakwas, the doctor opening up her own Omni-Tool straight away.

"What do you think, doc?" Kaidan asked. "Will it work?"

"Hmmm." Chakwas hummed aloud. "Yes, everything I need is here. I just need to put in the request for you to undergo surgery for your new implants."

"Won't that take a while?" Della asked.

"I do believe Kaidan here is owed at least that much of an immediate favor after everything he and the rest of the team has done for the Citadel." Chakwas pointed out. "If anything, I shall simply forward the request directly to Captain Anderson or Admiral Hackett. They can get that mess sorted out in an instant."

-Ilos-

It was a rather strange experience for the team to be back on a planet from a prior mission wherein they returned there voluntarily without expecting a fight.

Now why have that mentality?

Well when ya spend the past number of weeks hopping from planet to planet, averting one catastrophe after another, it was refreshing to go somewhere without the mentality of "get ready for shit to go and stuff to blow up".

Currently, they were driving through the large expansive halls of the Prothean bunker with the Nobody trio, Liara and Della sitting atop the newly rebuilt Mako from the Normandy.

"Goddess." Liara said aloud in awe of all it all. "I can't believe we found something like this! I could be left here all alone and possibly not come out for years."

"With you being able to live to a thousand, that doesn't seem like it would affect you all that much." Axel pointed out.

Liara giggled at the comment, her Omni-Tool out with her having a small camera on the side of her head from a headband she had placed on.

"Hey Liara, I know you wanted and Della wanted to explore all this but ya gotta pick a place to at least start you know." Ashley spoke up from inside the Mako.

"Oh, yes of course." Liara said apologetically with a sheepish smile.

"Why not that place where you guys found Vigil." Della suggested. "That seems like a good place to start."

"Good idea. Don't know if Vigil is still there or not, given how fractured it seemed to be."

"Hopefully if we can retrieve the Prothean VI, a lot of insight can be given to the galaxy. Confirmation on various aspects on the Protheans as a whole." Liara said with a smile.

"Especially some more proof that the Reapers do in fact exist." Ashley added in.

"That is if the guy can be repaired, let alone salvageable." Axel said bluntly.

Della looked up and gazed at the cryo-pods hanging off the walls. "Do you think any of the Protheans are alive?"

"We can only hope 'cause so far, to our knowledge, they're dead because of Vigil."

"Do you have to be such a downer?"

"I'm just saying…"

Eventually coming to a stop, the Mako soon parked near where the elevator leading to Vigil's chamber was located.

Once everyone got out and off the vehicle, Shepard gave out some simple orders.

"Alright, like what we went over before, I'll say it again. As much as you all want to enjoy yourselves and go sightseeing, we can't lollygag. There may or may not be some Geth and Heartless still on this planet, so keep your senses sharp. I don't want any of you off guard with their possible presence."

Shepard got various nods and acknowledgments on understanding the given order.

"With that out of the way, we're also here to find any possible means of staying ahead of the Reaper threat. Any and all information we can acquire is highly valuable. What we can't find, we can only trust whoever the Council sends over here will pick up the rest of the search."

Once things were said and done, the assembly of people went into their roughly assigned groups to carry on with their tasks.

As everyone was dispersing across the bunker to explore for themselves, two people hung back aboard the Mako.

Axel remained sitting atop the vehicle, reclining to lay down with his hands behind his head. He kicked his legs up, one resting upon the other as he closed his eyes to relax.

He then felt the Mako shift slightly, craning one eye open to see Shepard having joined him atop the driving tank.

"Not gonna join 'em?" He asked, closing his eyes again as he felt himself go lax.

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." Shepard said, propping one knee up for her to rest her arm. "I think for the time being I've had my fill of Prothean tech and ruins. What would their demise being shoved in my head and all these past few months? Massive headaches don't exactly make for enthusiasm to go back to the sources that gave them to ya."

Axel snorted aloud.

"Hard to disagree on that." he stated.

She soon released a small chuckle. "Besides, someone's gonna need to stay behind to keep watch of the Mako."

The two remained there, the echoing sounds of their friends exploring the bunker echoing all around them. Some splashing was heard and Shepard believes she heard the telltale sounds of Keyblades unlocking inaccessible areas with large *CLICKS* that reverberated across the walls.

"You seem comfortable." Shepard noted.

"Gotta make the most of it." Axel pointed out. "You know how quickly shit goes sideways for us."

The Spectre huffed in amusement. "Don't have to tell me that."

Axel only hummed in response.

They both lapsed into a comfortable silence, with neither having anything to say at the moment.

This went on until...

"So… what was it like?"

"Huh?"

Shepard didn't respond with Axel opening his eyes and glancing towards her.

"What was "what" like?" He asked for clarity.

At first, Jane maintained her silence with Axel becoming even more confused as he slightly propped himself up to slightly raise himself with his elbows.

"Oi Shepard, what is it?"

The Spectre turned her head away for a moment, internally feeling a bit embarrassed at speaking without provocation or reason.

At least from Axel's point of view.

For Shepard, she realized this might come out of left field but… this question she's had, this thought…

It's been dwelling on her mind ever since she had met Roxas, Axel and Xion and learned of their origins.

Letting out a sigh, Shepard figured she may as well go through with it.

"It's just… I can't help but wonder…"

Axel now sat up, looking towards her expectantly as he awaited her question.

"What…" Shepard bit the inside of her cheek. "What was it like… losing your Heart? Becoming a Nobody?"

The Flurry of Dancing Flames had his eyes widen at her asking this.

Of all the questions that Axel considered, these two were certainly not one of them.

"Why do you wanna know?" Axel counter-asked, looking away dismissively.

Shepard couldn't help but scoff aloud, lightly nudging her fellow redhead.

"Well, I don't know about you Axel, but in this here neck of the woods the concept of what comes after when someone dies is an often heated debated topic." Shepard remarked. "What you told us about how you all became Nobodies is basically reincarnation after death to some. But you retained who and what you were in your previous life. If everyone in this galaxy knew that was common knowledge, pretty sure everything would be flipped upside the head. Doesn't help that it already has with the Heartless and all."

Axel chortled. "Alright, yeah, ya got a point there."

Shepard laughed along with him, subconsciously scooting closer.

"Hmph." Axel rubbed his chin. "Well since you asked… and talked about your own past and all. Guess it wouldn't hurt to share. And no need to worry about it hurting at all since I don't have a heart and all."

Shepard couldn't help but frown at his casual dismissal of his "heart" but she remained silent as his face became more solemn and somber.

It took him a few moments before he let out a haggard sigh.

"When my world was taken over by the Heartless and I lost my Heart to Darkness, the feeling of losing…" Axel held a conflicted look for a brief moment. "You ever felt that everything that made you, you, suddenly get pulled right out from you?"

Shepard wasn't quite sure what he really meant there but the means in which he delivered that statement in such a cold and dead tone…

A stark contrast to the fiery and bombastic affinity he is most familiar with.

She barely fought off the squirm that she felt coming up yet could do nothing as a chill went down her spine as her imagination started to go wild.

"When you lose your Heart, you lose everything that you once were." Axel said in a calm and cold tone. "You sink further and further into darkness with it consuming everything that makes up the individual that is you. No concept of time or distance. Just an eternal plunge into the endless abyss."

Shepard only stared as Axel went on.

"Memories, aspirations, goals and emotions? All stripped away as you lose your humanity and individuality to the Darkness." Axel said with him clenching his fist tightly.

"But… you came back as you were." Shepard said.

"Yeah, but incomplete." Axel said with a dark laugh, a hand over his chest. "I… don't feel anything here. It's just this… hollowness that makes me wonder why I came back at all."

"You must be something special then." Jane said, placing her hand on his arm. "You've told us about Organization XIII. It tells us how powerful you must have been as a person to have still retained who you once were."

"And what does that tell you?" Axel asked, looking to the Commander who frowned as she thought about it for a moment.

It was strange that the answer had come to her so quickly and suddenly yet felt completely natural.

"It meant… that who you were before is someone who had a strong will… or rather Heart." Shepard said, moving her arm up to Axel's shoulder with the man not responding at first before chortling lightly.

"Maybe." he said. "I'd like to think I was a good guy before I became a Nobody, you know?"

"Could've fooled me." Shepard said with a smile, pulling her hand away only to nudge her shoulder up against his.

"Hurtful, Shepard. Hurtful." Axel stated, shaking his head with amusement.

Shepard only laughed lightly, No. VIII joining in with the two growing silent once again with a comfortable air being shared between them both.

Coming out from the elevator leading to where Vigil was being kept, the one team composed of Liara and Della came back with some mixed looks of disappointment and bitter satisfaction.

"You guys alright? Did something happen?"

"Please tell us something good, 'cause I'm not liking the looks you're giving."

Della gave out the response. "We got some good news and bad news."

Releasing a sigh, Shepard decided to rip the bandage off and get it over with. "What's the bad news?"

"Vigil's too degraded to be transferred, more to the fact that the VI's basically on its last moments in its digitized life. After we chatted with him, it finally passed on into the digitized afterlife." Answered the adventurer.

Shepard released a sigh. "Figured as much."

"Nothing lasts forever." Axel added in.

"What of the Protheans in cryo?"

"Gone by now, Shepard." Della bluntly said. "Seems Vigil failed on his one task in saving the rest of the species."

"It did what it could." Liara said defensively.

"...Boy, the researchers that will come on by later are gonna have an interesting time going through their corpses. Don't know if they're basically skeletons or just fleshy mush by this point." Axel earned some looks from the others. "What? I'm stating one thing that quickly came across my mind. They've been dead for over 50,000 years, give me some slack on my honest opinion."

"Did you at least get some stuff from the VI?" Shepard said hopefully.

"We did get a data packet on everything that Vigil could give us, a means of halting the Reaper Invasion as we've only delayed it." Liara said, much to Jane's relief.

Della began listing off the gist of it. "What the Protheans had in their research on indoctrination, their notes on the Conduit project and a number of other things."

Liara soon pulled up her Omni-tool as a hologram appeared before them. "One of which was this." She said.

From what Shepard and Axel could see, the hologram showed something akin to a space probe. Asides from a large sphere, there was a set of four "legs" put off to the diagram's side. And along the parts were an array of Prothean script that were heavily broken up.

"Any idea what it is?"

"No clue. A lot of the specifics written down in the data file were too degraded to work with. Even its name is gone. All there is are blueprints and schematics." Spoke the Prothean expert.

"From what I'm able to read off here, this thing is massive." Said the one adventurer.

"Any thoughts, Liara?" Axel asked.

"I wish I knew, but I'll look into everything I can to figure out the purpose of this… thing. It looked rather important in the data package."

"More than the other stuff in the data package?"

"It took up the most space. So Liara and I assume it had to be." Della revealed in their joint theory.

Shepard nodded. "Then do what you can in your research, Liara, no rushes needed."

"Of course, Shepard."

"And I can help out from my end when I'm back home." Della offered. "Since we have some good connections with our two galaxies so far, communications and data sharing can help speed things out a lot."

"Was there anything else, guys?" Asked the Nobody.

"Oh yeah, there was." Della pulled up a map from her Omni-tool and presented it to Shepard and Axel.

"What am I looking at here?"

"Locations of Prothean caches on this planet. What tech, weapons and gear they stored away for a possible final push against the Reapers if they came here. Even some little plans they had in hopes of possible rebuilding on their civilization if there were survivors."

"Are there any towards other planets?"

"If there were, they would be too degraded to get accurate reads. It would take a long time to find them, even if the data was cleaned up. All there is -as of right now- is towards this planet." Liara stated.

Della picked up from there. "If we didn't have this, then searching for the caches would've been more difficult, not to mention getting access to them."

Shepard nodded and understood the situation quite well.

Throughout the many known Prothean ruins across the galaxy, there've been little to no success in fully accessing them. One detail is due to not finding any ways of accessing any possible hidden bunkers and caches. Some attempts involved some very long and strenuous means which are too long for comfort. And for the too rash methods risk in destroying them and ruining any means of acquiring the caches.

But at least now what they have here can at least speed things up along, even if it was just on this planet alone.

"Anyone up for a little treasure hunt?" Della asked with contained fits of giddiness.

Shepard and Axel released some chuckles from their lips.

"Coordinate with the others, Della. They'll no doubt wanna know about this."

Della smirked as she was already typing away on her Omni-tool. "Already on it."

Soon enough, the rest of the team was gathered back together with Della and Liara explaining there could be some useful items down here to be found and that they have an idea as to where it was hidden here in the bunker.

Guiding the team forward, Liara and Della followed the instructions they had been able to decipher on their Omni-Tools before coming across what appeared to be a large vault of some kind.

Without waiting to be prompted, Roxas held his Keyblade up and sent a beam of light at the gated doors with the large slabs parting ways moments later.

Walking inside, several members of the group gasped aloud upon realizing just where they were standing.

This place… it was an armory!

There were weapons of all kinds here that were in sealed off compartments within the walls or on display for them all to see.

Needless to say, they had hit what was essentially a jackpot of a find with the group being divided up to take what they can and more and bring it back to the Normandy and in turn, the rest of the galaxy.

Their trip to Ilos had ended on quite the high note.

If only it had stayed that way afterwards.

-Scene Cut-

The team was assembled at the cargo bay, the group watching as Della was making the last preparations for her departure.

She had packed up her supplies and food for her journey back home and now…

"So, this is it huh?"

"Jeez Axel, don't make it sound like she's leaving forever." Tali complained with Della chuckling aloud.

"Of course not." The adventurous duck proclaimed. "I'll see you guys again soon enough. That's a promise."

"But how soon are we talking?" Ash questioned. "Who knows what we'll be up to the next time we see you again."

"Ah that's easy." Della said. "I'll just follow the chaos on mayhem and go from there."

Several members of the team laughed aloud at that comment.

"Hell, you do know we're gonna be all over the place pretty soon right?" Wrex said, making some look to him.

"Wrex?" Shepard said in confusion.

"I'll tell you guys later." Wrex waved off.

"What're you gonna do, Della?" Liara inquired.

"First of all, I'm gonna go see my boys and Uncle Scrooge as soon as I get home." Della said, reaching into her pocket. "Which reminds me. Wanna leave you guys a little something."

From her pocket, Della pulled out a few Gummi blocks of similar shapes and sizes and held them out to the others.

"What are these for?" Shepard asked, looking down at them.

"These are specially made Gummi Blocks that come directly from my World." Della said. "Doesn't matter what ship you install them on, initiating their function will take you directly to Disney Castle on Disna."

"Whoa really?" Roxas said, taking one out of her hands to inspect it.

"Yup." She nodded. "These were specially made under the request for King Mickey for all his subjects, friends and any friend of theirs that would always take them to a safe place and sanctuary aside from Traverse Town. Uncle Scrooge made them himself after a lot of trial and error."

"Nifty." Tali said, taking one for herself.

Stitch ran by and swiped one out, inspecting it closely like a jeweler would to a diamond and nodded in satisfaction.

"I don't got a ship-"

"Yet." Della corrected the Krogan Battlemaster. "Just hold on to it if anything. My old travelling buddy Balthier always told me to have multiple backups in case of anything going wrong."

"Like with you on your many escapades?" Shepard dryly asked, privy now to Della's somewhat planned, somewhat wing it style of adventuring and exploring after hearing about her stories of adventure.

"Well when ya put it like that." Della said sheepishly, rubbing the back of head with her free hand as the rest of the Normandy squad each took a block for themselves.

"When do you think we'll see you again?" Xion asked.

"I'm not sure." Della admitted. "I'm probably gonna get chewed out by my Uncle and haven't spent time with my boys in a while. I also hope to find Donald and see how he's doing with Goofy and meet this Sora fella they've been travelling with."

"If anything, you've got friends here Della." Shepard said.

Della beamed happily. "You betcha."

Soon enough, Della said her goodbyes to each of them, sharing hugs with every last one save for Axel who simply held her back by her head whilst he looked at his gloved nails and Wrex who told her not to even try it.

She did.

And he didn't do anything in response.

Climbing into her ship, she gave them all one last look, waving at them as they waved back and a moment later, the Spear of Seline was dropped out from the Normandy and her ship flew out into the vacuum of space.

The team made it back up to the cockpit in time to see her ship flying further and further away before she disappeared into her Gummi-Lane that would take her straight home.

It was a bittersweet moment in seeing a friend they made depart. It reminded several of them all to real possibility and even eventuality of the group splitting off from one another.

They knew that they would see her again yet still…

"Alright guys." Shepard said. "Take us back to the Citadel, Joker."

"Aye aye, Captain." Joker said, starting to punch in the Normandy's commands with the Gummi components initiating its jump back to the Citadel.

Several moments later, sparks appeared around the SR1 before it was sucked into a Gummi Warp-portal that took them directly back to the Citadel.

-Scene Cut-

A couple of days had passed since the Normandy and Spear of Seline parted ways on the greatest of terms.

Not much had really happened since then, outside of the occasional Heartless skirmish and little missions assigned here and there.

Yet today was different when the Alliance ship and her crew was sent over to the Arcturus Station.

Reason why was rather simple…

In a private room of the Alliance station, a ceremony is being held for two Alliance soldiers who served onboard with Commander Jane Shepard and her ragtag crew that helped stop Saren and Sovereign.

Jane stood back with Liara, Garrus, Wrex, Tali, Joker, Stitch, Roxas, Xion and Axel as they watched their two comrades and friends receive their rewards and commendations for bravery and actions beyond their call of duty. And Captain Anderson was present for the ceremony.

Even Stitch was here, dressed in his uniform that he had dyed blue with the team unaware he even did such a thing.

Axel and Jane -presently in her dress blues- stood closely together with Xion and Tali doing the same with Roxas. They smiled alongside each other when they watched the events proceed as Jane had her Omni-tool out to record the event so Della and Chakwas wouldn't really miss it.

"Kaidan Alenko, please step forward." Admiral Hackett said as the Staff Lieutenant stepped up to stand before the man while Ashely remained at attention with a wheelchair situated not far away from her.

Presently, Kaidan was in his dress blues and the only thing that was off about his appearance was the bandages wrapped around his head.

Recently, the Adept marine had gone under surgery in replacing his L2 amp with the one designed by Gyro Gear loose and created by Mosh the Moogle. The surgery was a success with Kaidan feeling a whole lot better as he was recovering. Though he still has to go around in a wheelchair for a little while longer, due to the extensive issue the L2 amp left on him.

Hackett held out a medal as well as two pins.

"Your actions in aiding Commander Shepard, from stopping Saren, the Heartless and the Geth showed the exemplary meaning of an Alliance soldier. Willing to make the bigger sacrifice for the sake of saving the galaxy from Sovereign." Kaidan raised his chin slightly with his face completely serious. "I hereby promote you to Lieutenant-Commander."

The aged admiral placed the medallion as well as the pins of the newly earned rank upon Kaidan with him saluting Hackett before stepping back.

Hackett then turned to the next soldier. "Ashley Williams, please step forward."

The Gunnery Chief now took Kaidan's spot before Hackett, who gave her a solemn look.

"You've endured a great ordeal then most prior to taking part of this mission by being the sole survivor of the 212th on Eden Prime. From there, you took part in aiding Commander Shepard in stopping Saren, the Heartless and the Geth helped show our relentless determination of the Alliance as a whole." Hackett patted her shoulder with a small praising smile. "Your grandfather would be proud of how far the Williams has come. I promote you to Operations Chief."

Ashley held her head high with a slight glaze in her eyes upon hearing the Admiral speak highly of her grandfather on top of her promotion to a new rank. She fought back the tears from spilling while saluting the admiral with a silent 'thank you'.

Jane couldn't help but grin at the sight of her two teammates and friends that received such promotions and commendations. They truly earned it.

Everyone clapped in appreciation for their friends getting this achievement. And Anderson wore a proud smile in seeing these two Alliance soldiers get their just rewards.

Hackett looked to the entire Normandy crew with stony eyes.

"The galaxy owes all of you an immeasurable debt that can't be repaid." Hackett began, tone holding nothing but honesty with his words. "Undoubtedly, that debt will stack upon itself as future events where your assistance and direct partaking will make others look to you as beacons of hope for the coming dark times. If you were all in the Alliance, I'd have promoted each and every one of you here and now. Unfortunately, I can't. But know that you all have an ally and friend with me and Captain Anderson."

The team stood more at attention as the Admiral continued to speak.

"The Reapers are coming." Hackett said. "Of that, I have no doubt. Anybody denying such a notion is either or a fool or delusional."

"The Heartless are also a present danger that we must begin training Alliance personnel in fighting whenever and wherever they appear." Captain Anderson stepped in. "Thanks to what you've showed us and several recordings of your encounters with these enemies, we will begin showing this to any and all willing to learn."

"The galaxy is in a state of momentary peace." Hackett went on. "But it's brief at best."

"Thanks to what Della has given us and what you've brought back from the… Etherium." David was still wrapping his mind around the fact that the Normandy had gone to an entirely different galaxy and that in the future, they will be able to do the same eventually. "We will begin incorporating their technology into our own."

"With that, we can't thank you enough." Hackett said firmly. "Sovereign left the fleets in shambles. Because of this, many people out in the galaxy will take advantage of this issue. We will take no more chances with the threats at large."

"We hope that others will step up when the time comes." David said, briefly glancing over to Tali and Wrex in particular. "And those that do will be some of the individuals needed in the coming conflicts."

"All of you have done a great deal." Hackett said. "And with your actions, it will undoubtedly inspire others to take action. We'll be ready for the Reapers when they come. Normandy, dismissed."

Shepard, Kaidan, Joker, Ashley and Garrus saluted the Admiral and Captain whilst Roxas and Xion did a more comedic version of a salute.

Those who saw this chuckled respectively.

"Whew." The newly promoted Lieutenant Commander exhaled.

Feeling exhausted now, Kaidan soon sat down onto his wheelchair with Xion soon pushing him along. He looked back at her with appreciation as the Normandy team left the room in much more higher spirits.

It felt good knowing that individuals like Anderson and Hackett backed them up after everything they had gone through over the course of these months.

-Scene Cut-

The team, for the most part, were back aboard the Normandy with them simply spending time together.

Xion sat with Stitch who had given her his guitar and was jabbering away as to how to play on the instrument. It was quite the amusing sight to see Stitch behave like a high strung teacher who gasped and moaned in overexaggerated pain at every wrong chord Xion played.

To add to the funny situation, Xion visibly winced upon every screw up which was often with her crumbling under Stitch's "scathing" criticism. Ash watched all this, laughing all the while, only adding to Xion's flustered state at even more screw ups.

Wrex was currently seated at one of the tables in the cafeteria with Kaidan, Garrus, Liara and Axel with the aged Battlemaster regaling them with tales of his time as a mercenary.

In between all this, Liara was studying the Prothean ruins that she had recorded from Ilos whilst Garrus was fiddling with his sniper rifle.

Axel and Kaidan both had Sea-salt ice creams in hand, the two occasionally sharing stories of their own. The former being his time spent with the Organization and some of the missions he went on and the latter during his rookie years in the Alliance.

Shepard had joined the group a few minutes later, seating herself next to Axel and taking note of his attire.

Instead of his typical appearance of his Organization ensemble, it was one of the outfits he got from Edna Mode's clothing establishment. Black plaid shirt and pants and with combat boots and a black short-sleeve hoodie.

"Whoa, this is a first." Shepard stated, looking him over. "Where'd your cloak go?"

Axel shrugged. "Wasn't feeling it today."

"That is the biggest load of bull I've heard all day." Garrus said aloud. "You're always in that cloak."

"Aren't you the same guy who said if it ain't broke don't fix it?" Kaidan tacked on.

"What's with this inquisition?" Axel asked defensively. "Am I on trial for what I'm wearing?"

Jane laughed at his predicament, patting him on his back. "Nothing, it was just easy to jump on to."

"You guys enjoy this too much, you know?" Axel said sarcastically.

"Yeah, we do." Wrex said without hesitation.

"It has become quite an entertaining thing to do." Liara admitted, not looking up from her Omni-Tool.

Axel gave the Asari a flat look before noticing what she was actually reading on her Omni-Tool.

"Still don't know how to talk like a regular person, huh, dirt digger?" Axel rhetorically asked, making Liara flush in embarrassment at being caught with her switching back to her Prothean files.

"But seriously, where is your cloak?" Kaidan asked with a curious look. He internally admitted to himself that seeing Axel out of the black coat is quite the unusual sight.

Axel shrugged.

"You'll find out if he decides to tell you about it later." Axel said in a vague manner.

"What?" Jane said. "He? You mean Roxas?"

Axel only gave her a sly smirk, turning away as he took another bite of his ice cream.

The others could only look at each other in bewilderment, the main thought being that Axel had loaned Roxas his coat for a reason that didn't disclose.

So…

What did Roxas need Axel's coat for?

Speaking of which…

Roxas was walking towards the engine core room of the Normandy, his friend's black cloak draped over his shoulder.

Entering the engine room, it took less than a second for the young Nobody to spot whom he was here to see.

Walking over, Roxas saw Tali was on her Omni-tool as she was typing away.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked, making his presence known to the Quarian.

The Quarian looked back before gazing back at her present task.

"I'm sending my father an early draft of my Pilgrimage gift."

"Wouldn't you normally do it to the one captain of the ship you wish to join? The Neema, was it? And why a draft?"

"I still wish to serve in the Neema, but the circumstances with everything I plan on bringing back is beyond what anyone of my people has ever achieved."

"Figured as much, with the Gummi and Etherium tech on top of the Geth data."

"Don't forget the painting from Rannoch." Tali exhaled a pleasant sigh. "My people will be happy to have something from the homeworld after our exile."

"It'll be a good boost of morale overall."

"That's putting mildly." Tali said, a slightly giddy feeling coming over her.

Tali then took note of the spare Organization coat in his arms.

"...Where'd you get that?"

"Axel lent it to me." Roxas said, holding it out to her.

"Why?"

Roxas scratched his cheek a little as he was a little bashful. "I wanna show you something."

Blinking in confusion, she slowly looked back at the spare coat in his possession.

Wearing the coat can protect the wearer from traversing through a Dark Corridor, a means in-

"You wanna-" Tali reeled back a little with a gasp escaping her lips. "You want to take me to another World?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Roxas confirmed with a smile.

"...And what is this place you're taking me?"

Roxas had a mischievous smile now. "Secret. You'll have to keep your eyes closed until I say otherwise."

Tali puffed her cheeks up and crossed her arms in a false huff with her head turned away.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me."

Roxas simply sighed in an overdramatic fashion, turning to leave.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to-"

"Oh stop it." Tali giggled, grabbing the cloak over his shoulder and gently pulling him back.

Slipping on the coat, Tali gave herself a little self-inspection once she zipped it up near her neckline.

It was a little snug in a couple of places but couldn't argue on it as this is Axel's coat that she was borrowing for this surprise trip.

Overall, it did look good on her. If only if she got one that actually fit to her measurements.

"So, where are we going?"

"Still not telling you." Roxas said as he opened a corridor of Darkness. "Now close your eyes. And I'll know if you're speaking."

Tali stood there and didn't do anything. "Alright, they're closed."

…

"...You're not closing them." Roxas's voice was flat.

"And how could you tell?"

"Cause I can still see your bright eyes shining through your face plate."

"Oh… uh, right, I forgot about that." Tali said a bit sheepish at forgetting about that little detail.

Once seeing that her eyes were closed proper, Roxas smiled and took her hand into his own.

The Quarian tensed up a bit with her blushing underneath her helmet as Roxas pulled her through the Corridor of Darkness.

In all honesty, it felt rather odd walking through this Corridor. Despite the worn protection, she could feel this coldness creeping up on her. Like everything bright was trying to vacate her very being.

She could only imagine what would happen if she traversed through this Dark Corridor without the coat on.

"Alright, open them." Roxas instructed.

Carefully, she cracked one of her eyes open and closed it momentarily as the rays of sunlight hit her.

Upon opening them entirely, Tali was met with the breathtaking sight of a sun setting upon a slightly mountainous region with fauna around her.

'Strange.' Tali internally thought to herself. There was something… weirdly familiar about this place.

Which was odd cause she certainly had never been here before.

Wind brushed over the two, the rustling the plants and a couple of flowers close by to them.

The flower field nearby was rather large. Kneeling down, she inspected the flowers as she tilted her head as if utterly curious about them.

Some part of her told her that these flowers were familiar somehow but couldn't place it where.

Breaking away from the beautiful flower field, she looked to the side and saw a major city of some kind far off in the distance with some areas that seemed deteriorated while the rest was intact. The bright orange sun reflected off the windows and the sun lit up the land with a bright orange hue.

If Tali were truly honest with herself, this was a truly beautiful sight to witness.

Then why was this place bugging her so much?

"Where are we Roxas?" She asked.

The young teen smiled slightly and held out his hand for her to take which she did.

Guiding her up what was a hill, Roxas positioned Tali in front of him and made her face the setting sun.

"Take a moment and really think, Tali." Roxas said in a soft voice. "You've already seen this place. This is just your first time being here."

Looking over at him, he nodded encouragingly with Tali looking forward once more.

She gazed intently at the beautiful scenery before her and focused on it.

What was so familiar about-

Wait?

This field…

She had seen it before.

A few times already!

And that mountain range in the distance...

Tali's heart skipped a beat as all the pieces began coming together.

Her breathing started to become shallow as her eyes slowly widened. Her eyes stung as she momentarily lost her balance. Roxas quickly caught her, but she still fell onto the ground all the same.

With her hand meeting the earth, her appendage grasped onto the dirt as it momentarily fell from her clasped hand.

"Ke-Keelah." Tali whispered shakily, her voice cracking. "Keelah Se'lai."

Without hesitating, Tali reached up and gently took her mask off and pulled her hood down.

Roxas saw her long, jet black hair was tied into a neat bun and that her facial hue was gaining a more healthier purple. In fact, he noticed she only had one tube on the corner of her mouth.

Her bright yellow eyes with black sclera were brightened even further due to the glowing sun. They glistened with the tears freshly spilling and rolling down her cheeks.

Tears began to freely fall from her eyes, a hand over her mouth as she wept on her knees whilst leaning into Roxas who placed a comforting hand around her shoulder while she held his free hand.

"R-Roxas *hiccup* is- is this re-really-" She couldn't even finish her statement as she broke into another fit of joyful and stunned tears.

"It is." Roxas said, voice very tender as she clung to him tightly as if hoping this wasn't some kind of dream. "Welcome home, Tali."

Tali cried aloud in complete and utter adulation, throwing her arms around Roxas who was caught a bit off guard and fell on his bum with his friend hugging him with all her might.

There the two stayed for a minute or so as she wept onto his shoulder with her holding him with every ounce of her strength.

Before long, her weeps became little fits of laughter with the tears still flowing ever so freely. And soon her laughter became louder and louder as a breeze swept throughout the flower field. The petals swished through the air as Tali gazed upon the land.

"To… To think… I'm the first Quarian to set foot here… after three hundred years, let alone breath." Her speech was broken up in a few sniffles. "Roxas, you have no idea how I feel right now. I… I don't know what to say."

Roxas only gave her a bright smile.

"Then don't say anything… just… feel."

She let out a shaky laugh, pulling back slightly from him yet remained in their small embrace as she looked back out at the sight before her.

"Rannoch." She whispered to herself.

She was here.

She was home.

Her homeworld, the homeworld that her people were driven off of and her father had promised to her when she was younger that he would one day take her to.

This boy…

The first friend she had ever made outside the Flotilla…

By this point, he was her best friend in the entire galaxy.

Him and the Normandy crew.

Gazing back to him, she saw Roxas was gazing at Rannoch's orange sun as his appearance brightened up considerably. His sandy blonde hair looked lighter with his blue eyes holding much life in them now.

So much has changed since they first met as he was becoming, in her opinion, more than a simple Nobody.

"Oh right." Roxas said and from out of nowhere, he pulled out two sea-salt ice cream bars. "Never a complete sunset without them."

"What the- Keelah Roxas, where do you keep those?" Tali asked, unable to contain her giggle as Roxas placed one in her hand.

"Always have them on hand." Roxas declared with a wide grin, biting into his ice cream.

Tali only smiled brightly at him before she began eating her own.

"Hang on a second." Tali said, confusing Roxas for a moment as she stood up and had changed his position before seating herself in between his legs with her leaning her back against his and letting out a content sigh.

She rested her head on his shoulder

"Roxas…"

"Yeah?"

Before he could really register it, he felt something against his cheek. It was warm and soft to the touch with a waft of air caressing his skin. After a second or two, it left.

Looking over, he saw Tali bearing a purple blush on her cheeks as she bashfully looked away.

Bringing a hand to his cheek, he blinked in confusion as his mind slowly raced.

A kiss?

*Badump*

'What was that?'

Slowly, a red hue formed on his cheek as a tiny smile wormed its way onto his face. Adding to this feeling, Tali reached up with her free hand and took his own and interlaced her fingers with his own.

He subconsciously squeezed her hand back, the two becoming more comfortable as the minutes ticked on by.

"Tali?" he said softly.

"Hmmm?"

"Your mask… are you sure that-"

"I know the risks Roxas." Tali said kindly. "But for right now… what you've given me is worth it beyond anything I had ever experienced. I just want to feel this moment. Here, right now… with you."

Roxas only nodded with Tali snuggling back into a more comfortable position, taking both of his hands and placing them around her waist.

She blushed profusely at this action but smiled all the same, exhaling softly as a serene feeling washed over her.

It was still surreal and honestly, it felt too much like a dream.

A perfect dream.

Sitting on one of the hills of Rannoch within the arms of a… well, maybe not that.

Not yet.

Still… there was one thing that had crossed her mind.

"Roxas."

"Hmmm?"

"How did you know to come here? Through the painting?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I figured that painting must have been based on a real place. I tested it out at one point just to be sure."

"But… why?" Tali couldn't help but ask. "Why here?"

Roxas had a bashful look on his face, reaching up to scratch his cheek as he smiled brightly.

"It's just… well, I made you a promise, didn't I?" Roxas stated. "About getting you something after leaving you like that when I went back to the Organization for that time."

Tali openly gaped, blushing furiously and giggling giddily.

"R-Roxas." She stammered.

'Keelah Se'lai.' Tali mentally said to herself. 'Could that be any more of a romantic line? I feel like I'm in Fleet and Flotilla right now.'

"You- Roxas I-" Tali's mind soon became a jumbled mess as she felt her heart hammering against her chest.

She bit her lower lip, turning away from him as her entire face felt like it was burning.

"Tali?" Roxas looked down at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"Keelah, Roxas." Tali's voice was barely above a whisper.

Turning up to him, she leaned forward and gently kissed the corner of his lip with her lingering on it this time before pulling away and letting out a content sigh as she leaned back against him with her arms over his own.

The blush on Roxas's cheeks were far more pronounced.

*BA-DUMP BA-DUMP*

That was…

Was it…?

No…

It couldn't have been.

Right?

Unbeknownst to either of them, they were being watched from afar.

From a rocky ridge, a unique Geth mobile platform gazed at the pair who was relaxing in the flower field. A gaping hole was present in his side, exposing a number of wiring to the warm Rannoch air. And from its right shoulder laid a black and red armor pauldron with white stripes running down it as it was used for some field repair.

It's optic sensor had to momentarily reset once or twice in order to confirm what it was seeing wasn't an error. Yet what it was witnessing was indeed the truth.

One was what was a human teenage boy while the other-

"Creator has returned to the homeworld." the Geth spoke aloud, the collective of consciousness within the platform all unanimously agreeing upon what they were looking at.

Combing through its systems and the main server collective, it pulled up a series of images of the boy in question along with several others. From the initial Normandy team to the two individuals who wore similar garments the boy and the Quarian -who the Geth guessed was Tali'Zorah- presently wore.

"Roxas... Anomaly…"

From a high rise cliff, another individual gazed at the scene with a smile hidden underneath his hood.

Things have been going quite well since he last saw them back on the Citadel all those months ago. They were once weak but were now strong after what struggles they went through together with their band of friends.

"Well now, this is certainly a surprise." The man spoke aloud with a pleased tone. "I knew I was right in keeping an eye on him."

Eccentric and weird as he may be, he was also a bit of a sap.

"Ah~ nothing like young love, blossoming in the hilly fields of flowers and affection."

Gazing at them for a few seconds, he smirked beneath his hood.

"May your Heart be your guiding Key."

-Scene Cut-

Sitting in a comfortable chair, a man gazed at the dying star that gradually transitioned between hues of blue and red every so often.

The spectacle has been a form of entertainment of his for years since the station of his was set up. It helped him relax and think clearly in a whole number of ways.

It also didn't hurt as he drank his bourbon and inhaled his freshly lit cigarette to enhance the experience.

Through the hard light screens around him, the seated man looked through the various reports he received from his operatives for quite a while now. Processing every new bit of information as it may or may not prove beneficial to humanity in the long run.

Just as he was about to continue more on his task, the door to his office slid open. And he didn't have to look back to know who it was, given the certain clacking of the heels being made on the metal flooring.

"Operative Lawson."

"Illusive Man." Said Miranda as she strode inside her superior's office for their in-person meeting.

"I take it you were able to retrieve what was needed."

"In all honesty, it was a little hard with how damaged the servers were, but I was able to retrieve what was needed while patching and organizing it all accordingly."

The leader of Cerberus nodded as Miranda sent the data file to him. In mere moments, a large video file began playing.

The feed was taken from what the Citadel security systems were able to pick up during Sovereign's invasion last week with the Geth and Heartless forces. But it was mainly focused on the Normandy ground team in particular.

As TIM was watching the feed, he spoke to his catsuit wearing operative. "So I've been told you were able to retrieve some of this Gummi-tech from the Alliance, am I correct?"

"I have, sir."

"Good." The Illusive Man took a drag of his cigarette as he watched the Normandy team walk alongside the Citadel Tower and fight against enemy forces…

With no helmets on!

"Interesting…" He muttered, rewinding the clip to the elevator scene and seeing Roxas handing out some particular gum to the group that apparently allowed them to live and breathe in the vacuum of space.

Another thing he'll have to look into in the future.

"Still a shame that you weren't able to acquire the Spear of Seline." TIM said to his operative. "Having it in our possession would've helped speed our studies considerably."

"I know, but the ship's owner was able to retrieve it before my team and I had the chance to take it."

TIM took another swig of his cigarette, letting the taste linger before exhaling. "Granted I can let it slide, given Miss Duck helped defeat Sovereign alongside the Normandy and their little companion."

"Still, to think that little furball is also a sentient alien." Miranda said as she berated herself in not realizing that upon her first encounter back at the Arsenal Arena.

"And where is the ship with its owner?"

"Last seen leaving with the Normandy."

"See what you can do to get more information on its whereabouts."

"Of course sir."

The Illusive Man leaned into his chair, getting comfortable as his mind began to wander as it tended to do so.

Since he was a child, he knew there was life out there in the universe -let alone the galaxy- outside of the known human territories.

It was confirmed years later when he was an adult, serving as a mercenary who soon served under General Williams when the First Contact War commenced.

Parts of his childhood wonder died during the encounters of that time of his life with what pain and suffering he experienced. From the Battle of Shanxi to what he and his friends went through on Illium and Palaven. He had to face the utter reality with what went on.

It was those moments in particular that did conceive the Illusive Man.

Yet, years later, that childhood wonder awoke and rose again when he saw the footage Miranda sent of him from what she recorded from the Citadel Council chambers.

Upon seeing the new alien species conversing with the Council after the attack on Virmire made him really attentive. More than after hearing that this Della Duck came from the galaxy neighboring Andromeda!

An entirely new galaxy with intelligent life.

And from what he was able to learn from some planted bugs here and there, TIM was able to learn that humanity did in fact live in the other galaxies… somehow.

That part did honestly keep him up at night as he grew a migraine trying to figure how that was possible.

Yet it did give him comfort in knowing that humanity has a great part in the universe as a whole.

Soon enough TIM's attention came to attention when he continued to watch the feed of Shepard's team combating against the horrific monstrosity that was the Heartless-Reaper with Sovereign holding the reins.

The fight truly showed the team's fighting prowess ever since their journey began but were still overwhelmed with how powerful the enhanced Reaper was.

Yet the tides turned when Roxas was able to surprisingly take over and beat up the dark synthetic over and over with new features the Keyblade bore that even its wielder didn't even know.

In the end, they were able to prevail as Sovereign was defeated in the two front assault from both inside and outside of the Citadel Tower.

As of right now, the Systems Alliance and the Council were studying some of the Reaper's corpse pieces that had been recovered after the battle. Some of his many planted agents were giving constant reports and updates on what was uncovered and found in studying the Reaper Corpse.

It was all extremely fascinating to say the least.

Who knows; perhaps they can find the means in which they could use the Reapers own technology against them. Even more so with this new Gummi-tech that's slowly being figured out as they speak.

TIM had learned from what some of his top researchers and scientists had been able to deduce was the process would be incredibly slow at first.

They were tackling a type of technology that was very alien to them, even more so than what the Protheans had.

But The Illusive Man was anything if not patient.

He knew in time that they would get results.

As Miranda stood off to the side, given the fact that she wasn't told to leave, she soon heard the office doors slide open with another man strolling in.

"Mr. Harper."

"That's Illusive Man to you, Professor." Miranda stated in a sharp tone.

"Ah, Miss Lawson, as graciously elegant as ever." The Professor said with an extravagant bow.

He was a gauntly man with a pair of round spectacles placed above his sharp, crooked nose. His long, oily black hair was tied back into a ponytail that freely bounced on his upper back. His clean white coat was left open to show off his grey button up shirt with black pants and slick boots to finish off his appearance.

"Hojo." The Illusive Man greeted, not bothering to turn his gaze towards one of Cerberus's top scientists and engineers. "I take it you have news?"

"I do indeed sir." Hojo stated with a bow directed at his benefactor. "I do believe you will find this most pleasing. We have made great strides and advancements in Project: Adobansu."

"Have you now?" Illusive Man now turned to speak with Hojo directly. "What kind of advancements?"

"Two of our best field agents have shown great promise in accepting their new enhancements. They will prove to be valuable assets on field missions once they have properly adjusted to their enhancements." Hojo stated.

"Very good." Illusive Man said with a nod of approval. "How long until you believe them both to be ready?"

"Perhaps within a week or so." Hojo answered. "They just need some rest and time for their bodies to accept their new anatomy's lest they tear themselves apart."

"Could more be added to them?" TIM inquired.

"Over time, yes. But immediately, no; unless you want them to die all too soon." Hojo said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And there would be a limit to them overall as too many changes may lead to a collapse of their bodies overall."

"You surprise me, Professor Hojo." TIM stated, tapping his cigarette to get the ashes off. "I would have thought you would be unimpeded by such notions."

"I am a scientist, Mr. Harper." Hojo said with a devious grin forming. "I would be a fool in wasting such valuable tools so hastily. They will serve as excellent blueprints for future tests to come."

"I shall hold you to that, Professor." TIM said, turning back to the red sun outside their base. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss?"

Hojo merely shook his head and bowed before departing from the room a moment later, leaving TIM and Miranda alone.

"Ms. Lawson." TIM spoke up after a number of seconds.

"Yes sir?"

Her Omni-Tool made a ping with her bringing it up.

"Your next assignment." TIM declared. "Prep yourself and leave as soon as you can."

"Yes Illusive Man." Miranda said, immediately turning and walking away with her heels clacking against the floor.

There, the Illusive Man sat, mind deep in thought as he smoked and drank his liquor.

Everything across the galaxy was in motion.

The universe was changing. One way or another, the coming conflicts will be needed to change everything.

Heartless, Reapers, individuals of extraordinary powers, everything had changed in these last few months.

Humanity had gained a seat upon the Council with a human Spectre being the savior of the galaxy.

Much as the news propped it up that this was a united effort of Shepard and her team, the man formerly known as Jack Harper openly scoffed at the notion.

This was a task given to a human and it was a human that succeeded.

Even if she was assisted by many varying individuals, the majority of them were still human. Those aliens that were part of her squad were just there to fill up space, useful as they may be.

Being honest with himself, after reviewing everything that had transpired, the galaxy would've fallen if it weren't for that boy.

The coming of that young man in the black coat with the sandy-blond hair and crystal blue eyes was one of the many catalysts that would spark changes across the galaxy.

And with those changes came chaotic conflicts and turmoil.

Using all that madness, The Illusive Man and Cerberus would take advantage of any and all opportunities that would present themselves in order to get humanity on top of the food chain.

In the end, this galaxy would submit to the superiority of the human race once all is said and done.

It just didn't know it yet.

AN

And boom, there's another one for the record book folks.

Though it was a slow chapter, this had many scenes we had planned out and was the start of the setup of many plot threads that will be prominent in many arcs to come in this story.

And after such an action packed set of chapters back-to-back, I figured this one would serve as a nice slow down for the Normandy crew. Cause soon enough, things are gonna ramp back up again into pure insanity. We're still dealing with Kingdom Hearts after all.

Anywho, looks like the Normandy team has said goodbye to Della. Yeah, she was only a temporary stay as it was planned from the start. You guys probably already knew it was going to happen considering how blatantly we spelled it out for ya guys.

So anyways, in other news, MY GOD, did you guys see that new episode of the Mandalorian? They seamlessly transferred Bo-Katan from animation into live-action. It was just incredible. Holy fuck, this season just reached a new level for me.

Other than that…

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.