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.

39. A Date

First of all, something that needed to be addressed in the last chapter that I did not.

This story now has a Tropes page which is fucking AWESOME.

Thank you to one HelenTheMoon for creating that for this story, it's really an amazing feeling to know this story has fans like yourself that makes something so awesome as a tropes page.

Second… I don't know who here is new and who here is old, but when this story began, the first dozen+ chapters, there was a poll for this story. And there were a lot of choices. And what wound up happening was one choice got the overwhelming majority vote.

So… when what comes to pass happens… just know, out of the six choices I had listed up, this one got the majority. Fifty four percent, the lions share of all those who participated. If ya have any future grievances, just know the readers made their choice. Gurarararararara.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 39: An Eventful Date

Getting to the Lost Boys hideout wasn't all that bad as the Nobodies could've believed.

They would've thought it was located in some secluded area where it'll be difficult to get to, like a cliffside where flying was the only means of easily entering. Or perhaps a spot where the defenses would've been surprisingly difficult when least expecting it. All in order to prevent Captain Hook and his pirate crew from getting to.

In truth, however, neither of that applied to what the real hideout was.

In actuality, it was located underneath a very large dead tree in the middle of a large open space.

Somewhat reminded the former Organization members of B.E.N.'s home back on Treasure Planet as one had a vantage point in overseeing much of the land. Yet in the present case, it was rather limited with the flat area where the dense forestation soon met.

Getting to the underground hideout, the Nobody trio saw the space was rather large and homey; despite the occasional root sticking out and curling all over.

"Nice place you got here."

"Thanks." Said Peter. "Spruced up and expanded the place for as long as I could remember."

There was a fluttering of small wings, the group looking upwards to see Tinkerbell flying off out of the base.

"Where's she off to?" Xion inquisitively asked.

"Who knows. She does her own thing and we find out about it later." Said the forest green flier. "Now with y'all comfortable, I'd like to ask you something."

"Being what, exactly?" Axel asked, sitting himself on a comfortable root and leaning back against the wall.

Peter focused a bit more of his attention to the blonde Keybearer.

"Took me a bit of time but after Tink mentioned it, yeah, she's right." Peter then grinned widely. "It's good to see ya again Ven. How long's it been now?"

This earned a number of reactions from those present.

The Lost Boys all squinted at the blond teen, scrutinizing his facial features until they all brightened up upon "recognizing" who it was.

"Oh yeah, it is Ven." Said Cubby.

"It's been forever!" Yelled Slightly.

The other Lost Boys clamored in similar responses as they partially restrained themselves from dive bombing at Roxas. Something which they learned from their time with Wendy Darling.

"Hey, I admit my memory occasionally gets fuzzy from time to time, but it was rather sad I couldn't remember you right then and there earlier."

Hearing this from Peter had Roxas decide to end whatever pleasantries they had towards him.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm not this Ventus person." Roxas said, a bit unsure of how to really respond to this.

The Lost Boys and their green themed leader all tilted their heads to the side at the same time. "You're not?"

"How can you be so sure?" Nibs, the one in the rabbit costume asked. "You look just like him."

"Sounds similar to." Tootles "said", holding up a piece of paper with the sentence written on it.

"Exactly the same, really." The racoon twins remarked.

As this went on, Xion only looked on in confusion, eyes darting back and forth between them all whilst Axel hung back with a more unreadable expression. His eyes held a far off look to them as he briefly felt himself reliving a memory of a time past. A time when he still had a Heart and when he still had his original best friend by his side.

He exhaled quietly, turning to No. XIII who was awkwardly scratching the side of his head, clearly uncomfortable with this misidentification.

"You're not the only people who confused me as him." Roxas said, recalling the first moments when interacting with Della and Stitch respectively.

"You sure you're not Ven?" Pan inquired, narrowing his eyes at the teen, putting on a suspicious look.

"He isn't." Axel abruptly spoke up, making everyone turn to him. "Trust me, he'd be an adult by now."

"You sure on that?"

"Clearly." Said the red haired Nobody. "Ask me this, how long has it been since you've seen him?"

Peter and the Lost Boys scratched their heads while pondering for an answer.

"A few years… maybe."

Others shrugged.

"Time flies by here in Neverland."

"And how old were all of you when you met him?"

"We don't age here." Pan pointed out.

This earned surprised looks from the Nobodies.

"You… don't age here?"

Peter shook his head. "Nope. No siree. In Neverland, you can be a kid for as long as you want so long as you stick around here. Same with Hook and his pirate crew off the coast as they've been the same for who knows how long."

The trio of black cloaked beings shared a look between each other, shrugging and returned back to the conversation at hand.

"So… you guys don't age." The Lost Boys and Pan all nodded. "And Ventus left afterwards, yeah?"

Peter gave a nod. "He left to search for his two friends, Terra and Aqua." He soon exhaled a sigh. "Though if he came here sooner than he did, he'd run into Terra. Stayed far later, he'd get Aqua instead."

"Well if Roxas was Ventus, after leaving Neverland, wouldn't he have aged?"

The Lost Boys and Peter Pan all got into thinking positions and thought about it…

And thought about it…

And thought about it some more…

And quite frankly were dragging it out a bit too long for their tastes until…

"You're right!" Peter exclaimed, realization dawning on his face.

"Man you boys are slow." Xion couldn't help but point out.

"Being here must've stunted their brain development." Axel said under his breath.

"You sound a lot like Wendy and Tink."

"Who's Wendy?"

"I think they're referring to who Hook kidnapped a while back." Said Roxas, one of Sora's memories rushing in suddenly. "Him believing Wendy was a Princess of Heart when he was a part of Maleficent's cabal."

"Huh?" Peter tilted his head. "How'd you know about Wendy getting kidnapped?"

"Sora." Roxas answered. "He's a friend of ours."

"Oh, so he's doing alright then?" Peter asked with a hopeful tone with the trio nodding. "Ha, great to hear that. He promised he'd come back with that girl Wendy was with when Hook had them."

Once again, a flash of No. XIII's Somebody flashed from his point of view. "Right, Kairi…"

Peter did a quick flick-point gesture at Roxas. "That's the name."

"...We'll be sure to relay the message to him."

The Nobodies didn't know if Sora would live up to the promise right away, given what's happening as of late. And there's no certainty of Kairi coming with.

Maybe afterwards…

That's a big maybe but hey, if Sora's Nobody can bring his friends here, so can he.

It was at this point did Tinkerbell come fluttering in, bouncing around in the air excitedly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there Tink." Peter said in bewilderment. "What's gotcha all riled up?"

Tinkerbell flew around the Lost Boys hideout, rapidly pointing outwards.

"Has she found something?" The Fox garbed Lost Boy inquired.

Tink flew by Peter Pan then the other Lost Boys and lastly at Roxas, zipping around his head and pushing up against him. His head barely moved, instead turning to look at an impatient pixie with one hand on her hip and the other pointing to the window she just flew in from.

"What does she even want right now?" Roxas asked, looking to the only person who understands her.

"Alright Tink, what's got your gander up this time?" Peter became somewhat serious. "Is it ol' Hook up to his no good tricks again?"

Tinkerbell shook her head, instead gesturing back to Roxas, Pan and the Lost Boys. She then paused to look around the room until spotting what she was hoping to find. The tiny fairy zipped on by and fluttered around an opened chest nearby, pointing down to it.

"Wha-?" Peter quirked a curious brow. "You found buried treasure?"

Axel gave a face that said 'wait, what?'. "I don't know if you were literally understanding her or just very good at pantomiming."

"Both." Pan declared. "It's usually both."

Roxas glanced over at Tink, catching the Fairy's eye and saw her give him a roll of the eyes as her response to Peters' comments.

It appeared that the green clothed pixie-girl saw this and scoffed.

"I'm gonna ignore that, Tink." Peter said, floating up off the ground. "So where is this treasure chest you found?"

Tinkerbell gestured for them to follow and flew out of the base with the rest of them following after her.

The Nobody's took to the skies, trailing behind Peter while looking down at the Lost Boys who followed below on the ground.

Xion wanted to ask why they couldn't fly when Tinkerbell zipped down to the ground, preventing her from asking.

They arrived at their destination with the small fairy flying around a specific spot on the ground, rapidly gesturing down to it.

"So this is where the buried treasure is?" Cubby asked, looking down at the ground intently.

"Well then we better get to shoveling boys." Peter declared.

Axel however had other plans. "Hold up. I've got this."

"Huh?" Was the collective response as he ushered them all to take a few steps back.

"What are you doing?" Slightly asked curiously.

"Improvising and lessening the workload." No. VIII remarked, concentrating hard on the spot that Tinkerbell had pointed out.

The rest watched in rapt silence which turned into a measure of confusion given the redhead's sudden stillness until he raised his hand and-

*SNAP*

*FFFTHOOOOOM*

The whole group jumped back in shock and fright at the small but intense pillar of fire that appeared in front of them.

It receded just as quickly as it appeared, revealing a sizable crater of blackened earth.

"Jeez, what was that supposed to be?" Peter asked irritably, flicking his hat repeatedly to get some soot off of it.

"Just speeding up the digging process, Peter."

"You could've destroyed the treasure."

"But~ I didn't." Axel stated cockily, pointing at the crater.

Everyone looked to see that there was a chest in the center of the indented ground that had a slightly burnt lid.

"Ya still singed it." The twins grumped.

"It's still standing." Axel said with a shrug, going down to the chest first. "You want something really sturdy or not?"

"Axel." No. XIV admonished.

"Xion~~~" He shot back, a teasing grin sent her way.

"Ah, enough chit chat." Peter proclaimed, floating down to the unearthed treasure chest. "Let's see what we found guys."

Without needing any further prompt, the Lost Boys dashed forward, brushing aside the soot on the chest and swung the lid wide open.

Upon seeing the contents within the chest, the reaction was almost instant from the Neverland natives.

"Hey!" The Fox themed Lost boy exclaimed. "I remember this!"

He grasped onto one of the items inside the chest and pulled it out to reveal a wooden sword. . Yet instead of a typical one commonly seen in the chest, this one was rather unique.

It was a wooden sword yet held many characteristics of a Keyblade.

The teeth are made of two pick-like points, with two hammer-like protrusions on the opposite side. The guard seems to be crafted from two Omega insignias (Ω). Holding much of the pieces together was rope, more so on the center. And on the guard was the name "Terra" carved into it.

"It's broken." Xion noted with a small frown.

Peter Pan squinted his eyes at the broken wooden Keyblade when recognition dawned on him.

"Oh yeah." Pan 'hmphed' as he recalled just how this toy broke. "This jerk masked kid showed up and broke it, just to provoke Aqua. After she left, we did our best to keep it together."

"But we ran out of tree sap." Cubby dejectedly said.

"You ran out of tree sap?" Axel asked in slight disbelief, glancing over at a nearby, rather healthy looking tree… and the vast forest behind it.

"We got lazy." The Twins clarified, the Lost Boys all jolting at being called out like this.

Peter only laughed at his group's admittance of their lack of motivation to repair the broken Keyblade.

Roxas, all the while, walked over to the half of the Keyblade Slightly had placed down and took it into his own hands.

His perspective shifted again, and he was standing here with what felt like such a long time ago and he himself stood with the wooden blade intact. He was dressed in a similar manner to the clothes he had when he first awoke in Twilight Town though with some distinct differences.

It wasn't just that, but his surrounding environment was different.

Instead of being in a forest, he was in some sort of courtyard.

There were two people in front of him that were close to around Axel's age.

One with dark brown hair and the other being deep blue.

Why…

Why did they feel so familiar to him?

Their names… What were their names? He knows what they were. They were on the tip of his tongue…

They felt like home.

He had to know who they were. He had to.

A moment or two later, everything around him went back to normal when someone briefly touched him.

"You okay there?" Asked Peter.

"This… this is…" No. XIII whispered, holding up the wooden Keyblade. His gloved fingers then trailed over the name scratched onto the guard. "Terra…"

Most of the Lost Boys didn't pay much attention to the name being said, given they've seen it on the wooden Keyblade. Peter, however, seemed to have noticed how it was said.

"Huh?" Peter peaked over the blond's shoulder, looking down at the Keyblade. "Did ya know him?"

"I… no." Roxas soon frowned. "Yet there's something about the name…"

What many failed to notice was Axel's own glazed expression upon seeing the wooden Keyblade. Though his face was stoic and expressionless, his eyes conveyed an entirely different story.

If one were to describe the state that they were in, it was as if he wasn't with the present group at this time. Again he found himself back to his younger days, ten years ago to be exact. Ten years ago when he saw the exact same Keyblade being wielded by a boy who was a literal spitting image of Roxas.

'Ventus.'

This had already gone past the point of coincidences. He had spoken to Yen Sid and King Mickey about their connections with Ventus but… Axel has an uncanny ability to read people better than most.

It was a skill he had picked up since becoming a Nobody. When becoming devoid of emotions, an unusual sense of clarity seemingly came with it coupled with the overwhelming emptiness within.

There's a lot that he wanted to ask of Yen Sid and Mickey but he needed to bide his time, pick the right moment to do so.

Axel turned his head to Xion and Roxas who were now waving other wooden swords around, playing with the Lost Boys, using their powers of flight over them to gain the advantage. Though he didn't have a heart, No. VIII was unable to anticipate the clenching feeling he got in his chest.

He remembered this old feeling. This wasn't real but the memory of it was.

The fear of loss.

So many people he cared for had all come and gone by this point in his life, both of them technically.

He would not lose them.

Roxas and Xion… they were his best friends.

… And of course the Normandy crew.

Axel would be lying to himself if he denied having grown fond of them, calling them friends as well.

The redhead was broken out of his thoughts when he felt his hood get flicked over his head.

He blinked upon seeing Xion floating in front of him upside down.

"Come on Axel." She egged on, righting herself in the air. "We're playing sky pirates."

No. VIII looked ahead of the ravenette to see the rest of the gang had apparently been blessed by Tinkerbell's fairy dust and were all zipping around in the sky, clashing their toy swords and weapons together.

It may not be his cup of tea, given the childish nature happening now, but the Nobody knew by now when he needs to lose some sense of responsibility, be free and have fun.

A mischievous grin soon broke out and he quickly snatched the wooden sword Xion was holding out of her hand and flew ahead of her.

"HEY!" She playfully called out to him in false annoyance, zipping after him while snagging another toy sword.

"The skies are my domain!" Axel exclaimed, his fast fly by making everyone fumble in the air. "BWAHAHAHAHA!"

"After him!" Xion yelled out, flying after the fiery Nobody.

"You heard the lady, men!" Peter said aloud, his knife raised. "After the sky pirate!"

"YAA!"

-Scene Cut-

Roxas and the gang were back on Disna, taking a moment's respite to themselves after their adventure in Wonderland and brief stop at Neverland.

It was quite the little experience for the trio with both Xion and Axel now capable of pseudo flight, courtesy of Tinkerbelle. The amusing sight of the two Nobody's, particularly Xion gliding around, was entertaining to see due to her childish squealing in doing so the entire time.

As for Axel, it'll be something for him to get used to when he's not using his chakrams for assistance. He did manage to make himself glide upside down, arms behind his head and legs crossed while in Neverland. Outside of that world, however, such a thing is harder to accomplish.

That was cool… Then it became funny when he crashed headfirst into a shrubbery in Disna. He was kinda grumpy but at the very least, he could glide now. So that was a plus.

It was like back in Barsoom, where certain abilities reach their peak in certain worlds while becoming downgraded outside of them.

Presently, the trio were off doing their own thing respectively. There were no immediate dangers on this world, as far as they knew, so they could relax as much as possible.

No. XIII didn't know what his two friends were doing at this time, but he'll find out later on when they meet back up again.

Walking through some street he was on, he browsed around and occasionally saw some couples out and doing things together. He soon guessed they may be on dates or something close.

This made him think back to his previous conversation with Alice pertaining to the topic.

Though she admitted having never gone on a courtship evening or "date", as Axel simplified it for him, she did lay out a few important matters in that regard.

Number one is going to a place or locations that both participants would enjoy. Something along the lines of common ground if one could call it that.

Seems simple enough. He and Tali like a lot of similar things.

'Do we?' Was Roxas momentary thought before shaking his head, clearing his thoughts as he recalled Alice and Axels' advice.

Alice also mentioned the method in which one would need when taking someone for a courtship/date. Axel clarified that he'd need a sweet ride.

Now where was he supposed to get a ride?

The Normandy was out of the question for obvious reasons. He didn't want to risk taking Tali through a Corridor without a coat.

She mentioned how suffocating it felt when Xion took her and Garrus into the arena to help him against Sephiroth.

Maybe… maybe a Gummi ship?

But where could he get one on short notice?

He didn't know if Sora and the others would let him use theirs. Not that they wouldn't but… he felt a bit selfish in asking them to use their transport just to take Tali out on a date. Just felt strangely wrong in a…. Bro code sort of way as Joker once described it.

Was that the proper use of the phrase? He wasn't entirely sure.

Still, a Gummi ship appeared to be the most appropriate means of getting to Tali and taking her out for a date.

But again, where would he get one in a short amount of time?

…Well…

"Bless my feathers, this is a surprise, Roxas."

The Nobody turned, blinked at not seeing anyone in front of him until he realized the one who greeted him was shorter than him. Looking down, a pleasant grin broke out on his face.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Mr. Scrooge." Roxas gave the elderly duck a friendly smile. "How are ya?"

"Well enough laddy, well enough." Scrooge McDuck said, grinning up at the teen. "How are ya laddy? I understand you've been keeping yourself busy since I've seen you last."

"Yeah, we just came back from a mission in another World." No. XIII stated. "Just taking a moment to ourselves before something crazy happens… again."

Scrooge chuckled at the last part of his statement, going over to pat the boy on the back.

"Chin up there, Roxas." He encouraged the boy. "Young lads like yourself still have your youth so take everything coming your way head on. How else do ya think I garnered my fortunes?"

'He does have a big house.' Was Roxas' immediate thoughts on the matter. 'Multiple ones at that.'

"But Roxas," Scrooge's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Since you have a bit of time, do ya mind comin' with me for a tick? I got somethin' to show ya that I think ya just might like."

"What is it?" Roxas asked though he was already walking after the former adventurer turned business tycoon.

"A little special something that was inspired by you and the others in their foray in that other galaxy." Scrooge said with a giddy gleam in his eyes. "You've inspired me laddy and should see the fruits of this inspiration.

Well now Roxas was thoroughly interested in what the old duck had to show him.

Despite taking Scrooge's limo, it took them a while to wind up at what appeared to be an airfield at the outskirts of the present town. From there, they eventually entered one of several warehouses in which Scrooge owned for his business.

Getting past security, Scrooge finally showed Roxas what lied inside.

"Your Gummi ships?"

"Yes. This is where we build a number of them and test them out." Scrooge informed the Nobody. "Been somewhat working with this Mass Effect technology from the Milky Way and it's had mixed results, given we don't have this Eezo property here."

They passed by one Gummi Ship in particular. Or what was left of it as it appeared to be in shambles. "Thought as much."

"Clearly. After all, some of the Alliance has been wanting some of this for a while now and it's rather difficult as we haven't set up trade quite yet. But right now, we're merely giving them an early taste."

"Early taste?"

"Samples, Roxas. Samples for when the time comes. And not just the Alliance but the other governments over there."

The Keybearer nodded as they passed by more and more Gummi ships being operated and maintained.

"I don't mean to pry, Mr. Scrooge, but why exactly have you brought me here. I doubt it's just to show me all this."

"We're almost there, my boy."

This merely confused Roxas even further as they walked deeper into the warehouse.

Before long, Scrooge came to a stop in front of a particular ship.

"Wow." Roxas murmured, gazing up at the impressive Gummi Ship with clear astonishment.

It was an interesting ship in terms of model and make. It was somewhat larger than a combat support craft, making it appear more than one person can be situated inside at a time. Now thinking about it, it was roughly the same size as the Spear of Selene SR2.

In terms of actual design, his mind somewhat went towards what he'd seen with Tali back on the Citadel before joining up with the Normandy. Trying to make out the model of what species made it, yet Roxas had to remind himself it wasn't any of those of Citadel space or perhaps the Traverse.

It wasn't blocky like most Gummi ships for this was more smoothed out. The ship in general was symmetrical in design, both in color, accents and wingspan. Each side of the ship mirrored in contrast with the other in terms of coloring. It was primarily black, white and silver with some shades of dark gray here and there.

"Our latest creation and top of the line too." Scrooge proclaimed with obvious pride in his work. "The first to really pull together everything we've had at our disposal, including all that Eezo stuff from the Milky Way as emergency reserves and for additional firepower."

"It's really cool." The teen sincerely said, going over to have his fingers trail across one of its wings.

"Why thank you, my boy." The elder Duck cockily boasted. "I knew you'd appreciate it."

"This is awesome."

"Much better designed than that gaudy ship you've seen the King and the others fly, yes?"

"It's definitely better looking, that's for sure." Roxas admitted with a laugh.

Scrooge gazed at the teen with a small smirk in place. "How would you like to fly it then?"

The blonde's neck seemed to snap, given how fast it turned over to the rich man beside him.

He looked back and forth between the duck and the ship several times as his mind processed what Scrooge had just said. "You're giving me this Gummi-ship, Mr. Scrooge?"

The cane holding duck chuckled. "More like taking it out for a whirl. A test drive if you will. For an extended period."

"But why?"

"As much as I'd like Della to test out more of the ships, among a number of others, I need her back home to watch over the youngsters."

"What about… well, anyone else?"

"I think it should be you, my boy." Scrooge said with a shake of his head. "If it was not for you, accidental or inadvertent as one may call it, I would never have been exposed to such new opportunities. I have plans in that galaxy and this little test drive is one of them."

"Huh…" Roxas leaned back slightly in his posture, craning his head up at the Gummi ship. "Ok then. I'll give this a fly."

Scrooge boisterously laughed. "Good to hear that, laddy. You excite this old soul's blood for the future."

Roxas simply grinned at the duck before looking back up at the ship. "So is there anything you perhaps need me to do with the ship?"

"Freshly register a number of locations for the system, harvest some asteroids and fight some enemy ships." Listed off the trillionaire. "I need more data to better work out the kinks in future crafts. There'll be more instructions on the ship, both in manuals and the system itself."

"Sounds reasonable enough, sir."

"You'll also have to go through some tutorial programs in order to properly fly it before leaving the present system."

Roxas scratched his blonde locks with a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Yeah… I'll definitely need the lessons." He remarked. "I'm not Della or Joker."

Scrooge waved off the comments. "Hopefully you'll do fine. If young ones like Sora and Riku can fly their ships, so can you. Just when you have more available time, get a proper instructor to help log in the flight hours."

The Nobody nodded and will either ask Joker or Della for some spare time. The former might be busy but maybe he can catch him at a good time. Riku and Sora are also an option whenever they have some free time. If not, then he'll perhaps ask Anderson or Hackett to pull some strings to get him into some flight classes. Stitch was an option, but it would be rather hard to understand him the majority of the time.

"What do you think, laddy?"

"When do we start?"

-Scene Cut-

The Rayya, from many first time onlookers, is so huge and gigantic in its spherical design. Many wonder how the Quarians manage it without suffering so many problems. And surrounding the mothership are a whole host of much smaller ships, all flanking around that is basically the heart of the Flotilla.

It can be considered majestic, floating through space in a grandiose way. Almost like a procession. All set against the dual sun of the present system they were in. Practically breathtaking.

Within the Flotilla, otherwise known as the Migrant Fleet, things have been rather interesting as of late.

Much of the norm of everyone's routine on these ships was often keeping them in working order. Aside from that were maintaining all supplies from the agricultural vessels which provide all of the Quarians food and nourishment they grow in their sterilized environments to recycling whatever liquids and nutrients they have in their possession.

Beyond that, things can be considered difficult on getting additional supplies through limited trade to pilgrimage gifts as some examples. And it's often a difficult task, depending on what's being sought.

That all may change due to recent events.

Fairly recently, one Quarian returned from her pilgrimage and suffice to say has left an impressionable and culture altering impact.

Tali'Zorah Vas Neema, daughter to Admiral Rael'Zorah, has become something of a… Well, no, she is a celebrity amongst her people by this point.

What she had done since her return from her pilgrimage aboard the Normandy has been nothing short of revolutionary.

To have gone where no Quarian has gone before. To have gone through and survived such experiences and ordeals, coming back stronger and wiser than ever.

It wasn't just that, but all the accumulated knowledge, data and wealth she brought back to the Flotilla has been making headways in improving her people in more ways than before. Granted it'll be a while to see this all bear fruit, but it'll be all worth it.

We'll come back to this later.

Now, however, we focus away from the Flotilla to a breach in space a good distance away.

In the open, emptiness of space, a crack appeared from seemingly nowhere before breaking entirely like shattered glass. From the shattered space, a white swirling hole contrasted the surrounding area. Moments later, a spacecraft flew out of it where the hole it left closed up soon after.

This space faring vessel was Roxas' Gummi ship and it flew right towards the Flotilla. From it, the only occupant viewed the Quarian fleet with wide eyed wonder.

This was the second time he's seeing it, yet still amazed at the sheer size of it all.

Senses of yearning grew ever more as he couldn't wait to reach Tali sooner.

*WHEEP* *WHEEP* *WHEEP*

Soon enough, sounds were flaring from the console, signaling he was being hailed; no doubt from the Flotilla. After a moment, Roxas answered.

"Unidentified spacecraft, you are entering restricted Quarian space." Spoke a slightly gruff male tone from the comms.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Roxas earnestly said. "I'm actually here to see someone."

He was met with a moment of silence.

"You're here to see someone?" The male said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm here to see Tali."

"Tali?" The Quarian repeated on the other end. "You're here to see the legendary Tali'Zorah Vas Neema?"

"Legendary?" He muttered in confusion. "Wait, Vas Neema? Wasn't it Nar Rayya?"

"Identification please or we will open fire." Interrupted the Quarian, no doubt wanting to get to the matter at hand of the Nobody's presence.

"Right… how did it go again?" He muttered aloud. "My body travels to distant stars, but my soul remains with the fleet."

"...And who might you be?" A hint of obvious trepidation and confusion in his tone now.

"Uh…. Can you tell Tali that her induction port is a straw?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Hello? Are you still there?"

"Are you serious right now? I honestly can't tell."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You honestly can't expect me to use that as your means of identifying who you are."

"Well how much better can I go on from that? I'm only coming by to visit a friend. Is that too much to ask?"

"We don't get many visitors to the Flotilla." The Quarian on the other end flatly said. "Much less "friends" outside the Flotilla."

Now the Nobody was getting impatient. "Look, can you just say Roxas is here to see her."

He was met with silence.

"Hello?"

"...Wait, what? Roxas? The Roxas? One of the humans who was a companion to her Pilgrimage? That Roxas?!"

"I wouldn't say human." Roxas muttered quietly.

"Keelah, why didn't you just start with that." The Quarian was now laughing. "Tali is gonna love this. We'll have the decontamination room ready for your arrival in exterior docking cradle thirteen."

'Thirteen?' Roxas couldn't help but mentally ask himself. 'That's way too coincidental.' He shook his head a little. "Alright, heading over now."

He flew over to the marked cradle that he would be used to dock with the Rayya.

Once properly attached to the larger ship, he slipped on the fiberglass breathing mask over his face, flipped his hood over before making his way to the dock door.

Stepping out of his ship, Roxas proceeded into a small corridor that sealed him up before he was doused in fumes. He knew he was being decontaminated in order to be cleared to proceed further.

It took less than a minute for him to finally step on through where he was soon greeted by a number of Quarians. Some had their weapons on hand in case anything was out of the ordinary or his presence was false. He can understand the precaution, given what he heard from Tali in past conversations.

"Hello there." Roxas greeted the welcoming party.

"A pleasure to meet you at long last, Roxas vas Normandy." The lead Quarian greeted excitedly. "We have heard much about you and the rest of the team Tali'Zorah was a part of. You have no idea how much you've changed things here."

"Nice to meet you too." Roxas said in a friendly manner, recalling proper manners and offering his hand to shake. "And uh… Vas Normandy?"

"The ship from which you hail from where you garnered your fame." The Quarian clarified.

"Oh, so it's like a cultural thing, right?"

"You would be correct."

"Cool. Well you can just call me Roxas then."

"Captain Kar'Danna Vas Rayya." The Male Quarian grasped the Nobody's hand tightly and shook it firmly. "Kar'Danna for short. I welcome you aboard the Rayya as an honored guest and friend of the Quarian people."

Roxas could only laugh at the guy's over-exuberant greetings.

"So far it's a pleasure being here."

"Come, come." Kar'Danna gestured for him to walk into the ship proper. "There are many who would like to thank you in person for the contributions you've done for us."

"Contributions?" No. XIII repeated in obvious bewilderment. "But Tali was the one who brought back everything we got from our journey together."

"Yes but who was it that helped save her life in the first place and allowed her to go on said journey?" Danna countered. "Tali is not one to take sole credit for anything. No, she made sure to shower both you and the rest of your crew with the praise she believes you all deserve. Rightfully so in my eyes."

"Hope she's not over exaggerating." Roxas said, now feeling a bit bashful upon hearing this.

"There were a few tales where we did call out on her."

"Like what?"

"About you all sailing on an open ship in the middle of space, getting nearly sucked into a black hole-"

"Oh, the Etherium?" He cut the older Quarian off. "Yeah, that place was insane. I can't believe we survived that."

"So it's true then?" Kar'Danna's question was asked in a low whisper. "You actually did go into a black hole and survived?"

"Partially. Had to use the last magilla to launch us out of it and to safer space." He soon rubbed his hood a little as if trying to scratch his head. "Still wonder how that was possible, despite how looney it all got."

"So it is true!" The Quarian guffawed, throwing an arm around the teen's shoulders. "I'm gonna take some immuno boosters and we're gonna have a drink. You have to tell me everything you've done before you go."

"Uh… Axel and Jane told me I'm too young to drink." The blond meekly said. "Well Axel really said so long that he was with him or-"

"Nonsense." Kar'Danna laughed boisterously, lightly slapping the teens back. "Every man must have at least one drink for war stories."

Roxas couldn't help but snort at that. "You sound like Wrex now."

"The Krogan, right?" Kar'Danna asked for confirmation with Roxas nodding at him. "Your crew is undoubtedly one of the craziest I think I've ever heard of."

The Nobody laughed at that. "You have no idea."

"Well come on then." Kar'Danna stated. "You've got to have some stories to tell."

"Yeah, we wanna know."

"Here, here."

Roxas blinked, having not realized that he was now surrounded by a dozen Quarians. Very eager Quarians who had no doubt had heard of him given Danna's own interactions with him.

As this went on, a former member of the Normandy was traversing through the ship's corridors, all the while focused on her Omni-tool.

She's been going over a number of design specs for a VI drone she's been working on for a while now. It's nearly complete, but she needs to finish up testing before properly using it out on the field.

It was at that moment did she get a notification for her to come near the Rayya's docking station number thirteen for some apparent reason. She didn't know the reason why, but she will surely find out very soon.

Along the way, she's been hearing odd whispers from a number of people whilst glancing her way.

Some of this, she'd grown used to with what happened since her return of her Pilgrimage.

And by this point, she's slowly growing tired of all of the attention and praise.

Yes she's greatly benefited her race by a large margin with what she brought back. Yet it slowly grated her nerves on some occasions. At least her fellow people were backing off now in that department.

This time, however, something was rather amiss with the hushed whispering.

Upon reaching her destination, she came across something that was rather surprising and didn't expect it to occur for perhaps a while.

At first it was hard to see given that there were a bunch of Quarians in a huddle but there was a moment where there was a brief break in between the cluster.

Tali instantly recognized the Organization coat with the person's hood pulled up to obscure most of their features. Yet she could see a certain shine of a dense fiberglass breathing mask. Quickening her step, Tali bobbed and weaved around all the other Quarians in the area, making a beeline for the cluster surrounding the one in the black hood.

When she got close, she saw the person catching sight of her and appeared curious for several moments before speaking out.

"Tali?" Said a voice all too familiar to the Quarian.

She instantly recognized who this person was now.

"R-Roxas?" Tali stammered out, almost not believing what she was looking at.

The Quarian felt an immediate swell of emotions rise within her chest, heart starting to beat rapidly as she practically ran towards her friend.

He mirrored her motion, running straight to her and the two met in a tight hug.

"Roxas!" She cried out with pure joy. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Tali." No. XIII said in equal happiness.

"I can't believe you're here!" The Quarian excitedly said as she pulled away from him. "I can show you everything that has been changing in the Flotilla. You have no idea how much has changed since I've come back."

"I can only imagine." Roxas said, smiling up at her with Tali smiling back.

For the briefest of moments, from the Quarians perspective, it shifted into that of the Normandy. Specifically the engine core room.

It was just the two of them, chatting about whatever the topic was for the day and eating sea-salt ice cream, her new addiction. It was a happy memory which soon made her snap back to the present.

Happy as she was to see her friend… possibly more by now, she was still curious as to why came out to the Flotilla.

"But Roxas, what are you even doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be-"

"I missed you. I just wanted to see you again." Roxas bluntly stated, causing his friend to freeze in place.

Hearing him saying that so freely and openly with no regard to the other Quarians around them certainly made Tali's entire body heat up. Granted, she had already confessed her love for him the last time they had seen each other just before she went back to the Flotilla.

But she was still a young girl that was still developing her own emotions and coming to terms with them. For the boy she had grown to love to just come all the way out here for her… well, many a fantasies was that shared amongst the ladies of the Flotilla.

At that moment, she could hear a number of people chatting amongst themselves at the small display.

"Did you hear that? Keelah, how sappy is that?"

"He came all this way for her?"

"Keelah, this is sooo~~~ romantic."

"He must've come all this way to proclaim his love for her!"

"This is better than Fleet and Flotilla!"

"Hehehehe, Wait till her father hears about this."

Hearing all this certainly didn't help Tali's situation and feelings as her entire mask had fogged up now, steam wafting out from under her hood. She practically wanted to crawl into the nearest abandoned room and die just to escape this embarrassment.

During this time, Roxas took note of Tali's present attire. One which almost made him think she was someone else, yet he could tell it was her. Perhaps it was due to him knowing her for so long that differentiated her from the rest.

For one, her hood was a bit bigger, which had it be a tad wider on the sides. There was also more coloring to the suit than the previous one with the bronze gold added to the neck regions and along the legs. Some purples were brighter than the last, especially the faceplate. Asides from that, it was a little hard to describe the other differences on the arm and leg sections.

"The suit's new." He commented.

Tali soon focused back and processed what Roxas just said.

Shaking her head, she used his observation of her new attire as her avenue to get out of her current embarrassment. "It is. Helps signify my status as an adult."

"Should've remembered that." He said, looking over at her again. "Gotta say, it'll take some getting used to, but I quite like it."

He could tell by the glow of eyes from the face plate and body language that she was pleased to hear this.

"C'mon. I need to show you around." Tali said, gesturing for him to follow her.

Roxas turned around to see some of the welcoming party and wanted to say something to them, but they quickly got the message. Once giving a small brief farewell, they left to resume their previous duties.

Tali led the Nobody all over the Rayya, pointing out left and right what each function of the ship does whilst also showing him the changes that were being made to it. The advent of Gummi technology on top of the solar sails from the Etherium was starting to be implemented more widely across the fleet. Even the technology from Barsoom was being adapted and will be implemented in due time.

The use of Eezo was still in effect but it was starting to noticeably lessen as time went on. Thus the resource will be greatly saved, but how much is uncertain monthly and yearly.

The main issue was that while solar sails were in abundance as they can be made thanks to the schematics Tali had brought back from the Etherium, Gummi tech was a bit trickier.

Gummi technology could be made as Roxas had told her at one point but it can also be acquired via taking out enemies like the Heartless.

However, the method in which it was made was a slight mystery due to its magical nature since it traverses worlds using magical roads back in the galaxy where it originated from.

Their people would have to go out and deliberately fight them more and more to get an abundance of material and supplies. It's quite the risk but will be truly worth it once a large amount is harvested and spread across the entire fleet.

At least for now, they have enough to satisfy their needs in offensive and defensive measures, especially what Prothean armaments Tali had included into her Pilgrimage gift from Ilos.

"Oh you should've seen their faces, Roxas." Tali giddily said. "It was like… what was that human expression Ashley used? A kid in a chocolate store?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded, remembering it being said that way too.

Tali giggled, holding up her Omni-Tool. "The admiralty couldn't even believe half the stuff I brought back. Can you believe they even offered for me to keep the painting from Rannoch?"

"Did you?"

Tali instantly shook her head. "No. That painting is culturally significant for my people. It's not meant to serve as my personal wall decoration."

"So where'd ya put it then?"

"It's aboard the flagship of the fleet." Tali answered. "If it should be hung anywhere, it should be there for all Quarians to see."

Roxas couldn't explain why but he found himself smiling at her which she took note of.

"What?" She curiously asked.

"Nothing, it's just," He shook his head, still smiling happily. "I'm just so happy to see you again. That… that you're still the same person who helped me when I first came to the Citadel."

Tali snorted. "Roxas, you do know you saved my life first, right?"

"Yeah but don't you remember how I acted? I was a zombie. You helped me get used to it all." Roxas' tone was far softer now. "Thank you Tali. I honestly can't thank you enough really."

'Dammit!' Tali internally yelled, feeling her cheeks heat up. 'Why'd you have to go and say that?'

"Finally found you two." Said an older, more wizened feminine voice.

The two looked over to see a much older Quarian female walking towards them.

No. XIII tilted his head slightly to figure out just who she was whilst Tali silently thanked her ancestors for this well timed distraction. She really didn't want to look Roxas in the eyes right now lest she get sucked in like she used to aboard the Normandy.

Seeing the one Quarian, Roxas was able to soon recognize her from what photos Tali showed him. She wore an environmental suit which was primarily gray and black with a purple face plate. And this person was considered Tali's surrogate aunt.

"Welcome to Rayya, Roxas." Spoke the older Quarian. "I have heard much about you."

"Likewise, Admiral Shala'Raan. It's good to meet you."

"Indeed and it appears Tali's words held true about her telling you of me." Shala said kindly. "Let me be one of the first to thank you in treating Tali well on her time away from us."

Roxas only grinned cheerfully. "You're welcome, ma'am. I owe her a lot myself."

Shala gave a brief nod. "I admit your arrival was… unexpected."

"I know it was." Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Just some recent things made me want to come on over and see Tali again."

There was a noticeable glint in the shining eyes of the older Quarian. Her posture became more coy, so to speak and her voice had a teasing edge to it now.

"Oh~~ for what purpose?" Her niece became rigid, instantly recognizing just what her aunt was about to do.

"I missed her." He answered in complete honesty. "I just wanted to see her again and talk with her in person."

"Did you now~?" Raan inquired, her tone becoming far more mischievous. "So you really care for my dear, sweet niece?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" Roxas asked, confused by such a question.

'Auntie Raan~~~' Tali mentally cried comically. 'Why now~~~?'

"Do you care for her as a friend?" The older Quarian asked. "Or…?"

Roxas opened his mouth only to clamp it shut and became intensely contemplative, his gaze directed towards the ground now.

He didn't respond for a number of seconds, thinking long and hard about his answer until…

"I don't fully know what this is…" The blond spoke slowly, carefully, making sure to measure his words. "But being with Tali… I feel… I don't know how to describe it. It's a new feeling and I wanna see where it goes. I do care for Tali more than a friend. That's why I wanted to see her again."

Tali felt like she was burning up with mortifying awkwardness and pure adulation at hearing the boy of her affections basically admitting that he likes her back. That damned look her Auntie Raan shot in her direction didn't help all that much either.

'Keelah, this really is better than Fleet and Flotilla.' Tali begrudgingly thought to herself. 'And I'm the main character.'

"Uh, Tali? Everything alright?"

The young Quarian soon snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the others. "Huh, what?"

"You were a little out of it there." Raan said in clear amusement.

"Did I miss something?"

"Oh nothing, just a proclamation of undying love from Roxas here." Raan cheekily said.

"Auntie!" Tali whined.

"What? No, I didn't say that." Roxas said soon after.

"Oh, but you did, dear boy." The older Quarian said, patting the top of his head. "You just didn't say it yet. But you'll get there. I have faith in you both."

Tali now groaned, wishing for this conversation to stop right about now. "Auntie Raan."

Her aunt only chuckled, now thoroughly satisfied with her entertainment.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop now." She acquiesced to her niece's demands.

Shala had to hold herself back from laughing further due to the grumpy glare that was directed at her from Tali.

"So Roxas," Raan began conversationally. "I have heard much from Tali about your exploits and adventures together during her time on her pilgrimage and word had gotten back to us about all the… well, the lunacy that the Normandy had been a part of. It's one thing to hear it from news and tabloids but I wish to hear it from you as well. Tali is never known to lie but even I admit finding myself difficult in believing such astonishing tales."

"Which one's are you talking about?" He asked.

"Frankly, the whole notion of traveling to another galaxy-"

"It was two." Roxas quickly interrupted. "The Etherium and my home galaxy of Ōkoku."

Raan found herself gaping slightly underneath her helmet, something that Tali was quick to pick up on, now smugly crossing her arms next to her aunt.

"And… and what about this whole business with magic?"

"Didn't you show her your Omni-Bolts?" Roxas questioned.

"They think it was science which it kind of was but they're denying the whole magic bit." Tali said in amusement.

Roxas pondered a little and gave an understanding nod. "Yeah they would be more of an armament detail than an actual ability."

"See." Raan said.

He then shrugged. "Still magic though."

Tali giggled now with Raan crossing her arms.

"It's not that I don't believe you both but… magic?"

Roxas tilted his head in her direction until he conjured forth the Corridor of Darkness. Shala'Raan jumped back in surprise and she wasn't the only one as other nearby Quarians all saw what happened and were equally as stunned.

A moment later, the corridor opened up right behind Raan and receded to reveal Roxas standing there.

"Ta-dah." He said somewhat smugly, enjoying the astonished and amazed looks he was receiving. "Magic."

Bewildered, surprised and shocked looks were shared amongst many onlookers.

"That-that was- Keelah Se'lai." Raan barely managed out.

"Seems she needs other demonstrations." Tali cheekily suggested.

Shrugging, Roxas conjured a ball of Fire before deciding to do a little juggling trick with more and more. If that wasn't enough, he summoned the Pirate's Dream Keyblade before having it go into a Form Change.

"It's kinda like with your own weaponry." Roxas said, holding up his engine covered arm. "Just, you know… magic." It soon disappeared in a cluster of lights.

"Unbelievable." The older Quarian muttered, stepping forward in complete awe of what she had seen. "Tali has shown her displays with her bolts but this is…"

"Technically Tali can use magic too, you know. She just needs to practice or something."

"Which I haven't had much time to do." Tali admitted in a slightly dejected manner. "I've been so busy with everything else-"

"At your own risk, my dear." Raan cut her, momentarily breaking out of her stunned stupor. "Don't listen to a word she says about not having free time, Roxas. Tali here has been working herself to the bone to get all the technology that she has brought back with her so it can be properly integrated into the fleet."

The blonde Nobody gave a small nod of understanding. Such a task will take time and much effort. It was from this did a peculiar detail come to mind and sought to be voiced.

"I know this is out of the blue but I gotta ask, given you're one of the admirals; but have you been able to get people to research at the Spire of Mars yet?"

The Quarian admiral noted the change of topics and gave Roxas a response.

"We have. It's been an interesting turn of events for a number of our own to take part in exploring and researching much of this RemTech."

"Another set of technologies for your people to explore under a short span of time." Roxas said with Raan smirking at the boy.

"Clearly. Feels like we've been spoiled with such a wide selection after all these years."

"Any progress from Mars?"

Shala sighed slightly at that question. "Rather difficult, I admit from what reports we've received. Yet it's a large group effort with other species having to reluctantly work with us."

Roxas frowned a little on the implication. "Hopefully there are those present there who aren't biased."

"It takes a bit to know which ones are which." Raan said since she knew it to be true. "But the humans known as Anderson and Hackett have put in good words for our representatives given that Tali helped in selecting them. Her actions aboard the Normandy earned some good will amongst the Humans System Alliance."

"Shouldn't be all that surprising. Tali was the one who brought the evidence of Saren being a traitor straight to Anderson and Udina." Roxas pointed out. "If it wasn't for her, Shepard never would have become a Spectre."

Raan only hummed a pleasant tone. "It appears the moniker of Gift Giver is befitting of you, my dear."

Tali groaned aloud. "Keelah, not that name again."

"Gift Giver?" Roxas repeated in confusion.

"Something the fleet has taken to calling my dear Tali." Raan said, going over to the young Quarian, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "What this young one has done and brought back from her Pilgrimage will be a tale to tell until the day our people will meet their ends. Tali'Zorah's name has already been immortalized in our texts now and forever."

"I really wish they didn't call me that." Tali bashfully said, looking down and away from the two while nervously rubbing her arm.

The Nobody didn't know what other titles she'd have if other certain truths came out, such as her being on their homeworld after three centuries. Though when thinking about it, it'll raise way too many questions and become extremely problematic.

Before they were able to speak any further, a distinctively male voice cleared his throat to make himself known to them.

"I had heard rumors but I didn't think it would be true."

Looking over, the little group saw another Quarian standing some feet away.

The man's suit was mostly white with some pink touches here and there, perhaps due to the red coloring fading over time. And it could be part of the present lighting but the faceplate appeared to be pinkish in color. Asides from that, there was the occasional black on the suit's deeper decal design.

For Roxas, it was rather easy to discern just who this was. The way Tali reacted was a big indicator.

"Rael'Zorah, right?"

"And you would be Roxas." Rael stated evenly.

Tali immediately found herself fidgeting at hearing her father's greeting towards Roxas. And Shala could see the little tense atmosphere which had seemed to spring up instantly. It may not be intentional but it was there now and even she could feel a sense of anxiousness welling up within her.

Rael was a stubborn man, bullheaded and hard to dissuade whenever an idea is set in motion within his head.

So whatever he was here for, both women prayed it wouldn't end confrontationally.

Tali's father walked right up to the blond human and held out his hand.

"I would like to formally welcome you aboard the Flotilla."

Roxas nodded as he smiled at Rael. "And so far it's been a pleasant experience."

"I'm very sure." Spoke Rael.

'Father.' Tali miserably thought.

"Tali spoke often of you." Roxas casually said. "She said you did a lot for your people."

"And yet, it all pales in comparison to what she has done for us." Rael said, a clear tone of pride being directed at his daughter. "I don't know if I should be outright jealous because of it."

"Heh." Roxas only laughed slightly. "Would you be if she brought back more?"

Rael snorted. "I just might."

Raan huffed, shaking her head. "Always the same with you, Rael."

The Admiral eyed his longtime friend for a moment before turning back to the Nobody.

"You know, out of all of her fellow crew members on the Normandy, she never stopped talking about you the most." He told the blonde Nobody, a small light dancing in his eyes from behind his faceplate. "She would always talk about you when not realizing it after her return."

"And?"

"I didn't know what to think about it." Was Rael's response. "At first, I figured your friendship was distracting her duties from the Fleet. That proved wrong, as far as I know, but I was still suspicious. Seeing you here, now… I believe her faith in your relationship is well-placed."

Roxas smiled brightly at that. "Thanks. Glad to hear it."

"There's still much I wish to know, however."

"Like what, sir?"

Rael didn't respond at first, instead looking at the two girls. "Would you mind?"

Tali was clearly hesitant, eyes darting back and forth between the two when her aunt looped her arm with hers.

"Come along Tali." Raan said, lightly tugging on the younger Quarians arm. "I wish to speak with you in private as well."

Roxas saw her internally debate this for a few seconds before caving in and going along with Shala, leaving him with Tali's father.

"There's much that I have long wanted to speak about with you, Roxas." Rael said straight away. "I just never knew such a chance would come so suddenly. What prompted this abrupt visit?"

Roxas silently pondered on this question for a few seconds, arms crossed and head inclined downward.

"It's sorta… complicated to explain." He admitted when he thought about it.

Raan simply nodded patiently. "We've got time, young man. No need to rush."

Roxas nodded back appreciatively.

The pair soon traversed through the Rayya with the Nobody explaining some recent circumstances which led to his decision to come here today. The admiral was mostly quiet, listening on and speaking little in order to clarify some questions floating in his head.

Eventually topics changed with Rael speaking of a number of concerns he had with his daughter being on the Normandy. Peculiar field missions Tali had undergone where her life almost came to an end.

Virmire was one of them, which brought a bleak reminder to Roxas. Another was their first assignment together with others in their crew.

"-Almost had a heart attack when hearing what occurred to her on Therum."

"About the Krogan mercenary?"

Roxas received a nod in response. "I'm honestly glad she had her mother's knife on her to deal with that."

No. XIII briefly thought about all the conversations he had with Tali. "She didn't really talk about her that much. Or practically at all, really. Just you and her aunty Raan."

"It's rather understandable. We lost her when Tali was rather young. Only had some memories of her to what she recalls. Some of us occasionally bring the subject up to keep her mother alive…"

"I… wish I could say I understood what you're both going through." Roxas earnestly said.

This certainly confused the Admiral, turning to look down at the teen for clarification.

"I don't have any parents of my own."

The Admiral blinked upon hearing that.

"No parents?" He asked just to be sure. "None at all?"

Roxas only shrugged, his expression becoming somewhat void of emotion yet somehow remained conflicted.

"I never had any or…" The blue eyed teen was unclear as to how he should explain his situation as it pertained to what he was. "I don't know if Tali ever spoke about it but I'm a strange case, so to speak."

Rael frowned beneath his helmet and thought back to some of the messages he had first gotten from his daughter during her voyage aboard the Normandy. When he heard about the more fantastical side of her adventure, he brushed it off as his daughter maybe being a tad bit over exaggerative.

But then came the vids, the recordings, the rumors and stories flooding in across all forms of media.

Chatter about strange, dark creatures that the crew of the Normandy fought off across multiple worlds. Videos of literal monsters appearing from seemingly nowhere and more than a number of times did he see his child rushing headfirst into the fight with that boy along with two others in matching cloaks. He saw them conjure weapons and command the elements in their displays of spectacular power.

It was truly an eye opening experience for him, the Flotilla and really the entire galaxy.

Sure there were some that would undoubtedly be skeptics no matter how much evidence would be presented to them. Nothing short of it happening right before their very eyes would convert them into believers.

But for Rael, it was almost instant when he first saw it all.

Seeing all that was… there are times where words aren't enough to describe what you're feeling when being met with something that was believed to have been only possible with one's imagination.

Yet standing before him is the catalyst to it all, as Tali had called him at one point.

The very same catalyst that his daughter had clearly grown to care for in a far more intimate fashion.

So naturally, fatherly instincts kicked in.

He may be strong enough to cut through buildings with ease but let's see if he can handle the rage and defensive prowess of a parent.

"I had heard much about you being an oddity." Rael said after a few moments of silence. "She described you as one of the most unique individuals she had ever met."

Roxas chuckled abashedly. "Well, she's not wrong on that part."

"Of you being unique?"

"I think weird is more like it." He then laughed. "She did call me that a few times honestly. Everyone's got their quirks."

"So it would seem." Rael hummed to himself. "Since you are here, is there anything else you plan on doing before leaving?"

"Yeah, I do. But first… can I ask you a question?" Roxas' expression then became very serious, garnering the Admirals full attention.

"Being what, exactly?"

"May I have your permission to take your daughter out on a date?"

The Quarians brain functions shutdown.

"...Mind repeating that?"

"A date." Roxas resolutely said. "I came to ask her on a date. Alice told me to do it like gentlemen."

"A… a… a da… pardon me a moment…" Rael stepped back, truly and utterly bewildered by what he had just heard.

This boy, this human who has become renowned across the galaxy as one of the heroes that came from the Normandy, a boy described to be a fierce warrior came all this way from another galaxy… just to take his daughter out on a date…

See, Rael'Zorah has lived a life unique to most in the galaxy. Born to a people struggling to get by while also being one of its leaders, there are many things one would come to expect in this type of life.

Daring attacks, obnoxious politics, shocking revelations, the lowest lows when trying to provide for the fleet, he has seen it all so to speak.

But this was personally a first.

For a father, it was rather easy to discern the more greater feelings his daughter had for this human given how her usual cheerful personality magnified tenfold. Of course he was a bit defensive in spite of not showing it.

This was his baby girl.

If anyone were to do anything remotely indecent to his daughter, they would have to go through the mother of all tests to meet his standards.

There have been many within the fleet, many sons from other admirals and captains that were offered as suitors at one point in his daughters' upbringing. Despite it being passe by this point, some still followed this old tradition whenever they held close relations and friendships with other families.

Rael rejected most of them, stating that Tali would be given a choice, someone who could match his and her standards for themselves and their people above all else. Not to mention she should at least have finished her Pilgrimage before seeking a significant other.

Never in his wildest dreams would he believe his daughter to fall for a human, the newest race to enter the galactic stage.

Was he not strict enough on his daughter? Or did he allow her too much freedom? Or was it the pilgrimage?

Maybe it was these blasted blue eyes she spoke of whenever she got swept up in them, like she said. They didn't look all that special.

Or was it one of those potions, elixirs or other healing items that she had brought back with her. Perhaps they actually had some sort of concoction that made her fall for him.

Mayhaps it was the others aboard the Normandy, coercing her into it.

Or maybe-

"Um… Mr. Zorah?"

Rael jolted out of his thoughts, having not realized that the boy was now looking up at him with slight worry.

He coughed into his filter, shaking his head to clear his mind though that did not do much in working. "Uh? Yes?"

"You alright there?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you ok? You seem kinda… out of it." The blond hesitantly said.

"I'm… fine."

"You sure? You started spacing out after I asked-"

"Right… Right… That request of yours… startled me."

"Oh? It did? Er… sorry?" Roxas said, unsure really if he should have said that.

Rael coughed into his hand, clearing his throat now and trying to regain some semblance of dignity. "No worries needed. I just never expected to hear it all of a sudden from someone such as yourself."

A blonde brow was raised, questioning a few things from this response.

"So… if I can reiterate," The Quarian spoke slowly. "You, a boy no older than fifteen-"

"I think I'm getting close to sixteen… I think." Roxas interrupted.

It was rather hard to really tell now that he thought about it based on his physical appearance.

He was derived from Sora, who is presently fourteen going on fifteen. Yet things didn't seem to really add up with how different he was from his Somebody. So shouldn't he be of similar physical age, along with actual appearance?

Rael's mouth was open though it wasn't seen by the teen so he went on.

"A boy no older than fifteen who can do some… spectacular displays of powers beyond imagination, traveled across the stars from another galaxy, if Tali's stories are to be believed, just to ask my daughter out on a date."

Roxas stared at him for a second and nodded. "Pretty much, yes."

Rael couldn't help but deflate slightly upon hearing that, followed by being unable to contain a wry chuckle that escaped his lips.

"You're a lot stranger than my daughter gave you credit for."

The Nobody stared blankly at him. "I'm not… I'm not too strange… am I?"

"You could use some more work."

Roxas slumped over in defeat. "I thought I was working on it."

Well now the boy was just amusing. Still, a small level of levity wasn't enough to detract Rael from laying down the law for his daughter.

"Just don't take her to places that are too dangerous." He stated, regaining the boys' attention.

No. XIII nodded. "Right."

"And no funny business." He sternly said, emphasizing this by pointing his finger at him.

The teen raised a confused brow. "Funny business?"

Before Rael could clarify what he meant-

"There you two are." Said the now familiar voice of Shala'Raan. "We were wondering where you both had wandered off to."

"We didn't go too far, did we?" Rael airily asked.

"We did have to look for you, father." Tali remarked, her dad clearing his throat again.

"Apologies then." He truthfully stated. "I was just getting to know your friend here, Tali. He is quite the character."

His daughter couldn't help but giggle at his assessment of her friend. "That's one way of putting it."

He received a flat look from the blond, only eliciting more laughter in his direction.

"But I hope you didn't make our guest uncomfortable, Rael." Shala said, her tone more stern this time.

The Admiral and father to Tali puffed his chest out slightly and held his head up with his hands behind his back.

"As if I would disgrace the fleet in such a manner." He stated with pride.

The older Quarian woman only huffed in amusement as she turned back to see Roxas speaking with Tali now.

"Do you have anything going on for the rest of the day?"

"Well," Tali wrung her wrist nervously, eyes momentarily flickering over in time to see her Aunt shaking her head. "No… Why?"

Roxas smiled at her. "Wanna go out?"

"Out where? With the others?" She asked, referring to perhaps the other Nobodies or those from the Normandy for a nice little reunion.

He shook his head. "No. Just you and me."

Tali felt her entire face begin to heat up upon hearing this. "Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, on a date."

And just like that, a metaphysical record player made a resounding screeching scratching sound inside of the young Quarian's head.

"A… date… with me?" She squeaked.

"Who else would I ask out?" Roxas asked as though the answer was obvious.

At that moment, Tali appeared normally calm. All nice and simple.

Yet on the inside, her mind suddenly crashed with the operators freaking the hell out.

Within her subconscious mind were the representation of five emotions all running about, screaming both with fear and with glee as to what was happening right now.

Things were so extreme, steam began emitting from beneath Tali's helmet again.

Reboot… Reboot… Tali .exe… Reboot… Reboot…

After what seemed like forever…

"That sounds wonderful." Raan jubilantly said, pushing Tali forward. "I believe this is the perfect opportunity for you to take some time to relax, my dear. Wouldn't you agree, Rael?"

"...Yes… I couldn't agree more…" The man said through gritted teeth.

He may have garnered a proper idea of the boy, seeing him to be of the honest sort like his daughter described him to be.

But…

DAMMIT, that's still his daughter!

"Go along now, Tali." Raan only egged on the two now. "You clearly need some time to yourself and this is the perfect opportunity to do so."

Tali was in a bit of a daze, not reacting to her aunt now pushing forward with Roxas gazing at the interaction weirdly.

Rael stood to the side until he sighed, acquiescing to the situation at hand. He walked up to the human and placed a hand upon his shoulder.

The teen looked up at the Admiral and both locked eyes for a moment.

It was brief, only a few seconds but in that short time, Roxas understood as clear as day the silent request the father was asking from him. With a slight incline of his head, that was enough of a satisfying answer for Rael who stepped back and watched as his child departed with this oddball of a human.

"She's in good hands you know." The man heard Shala beside her.

He only sighed aloud, crossing his arms with him turning away from her.

"She can't be your little girl forever." Raan softly said.

"I know."

"Never expected her to find someone special during her Pilgrimage, did you? One who'd want to take her out." Her tone was now mischievous.

Rael 'hmphed'. "I most certainly haven't."

"He seems like a nice young man."

"Maybe."

Raan rolled her eyes at the man's stubborn nature.

"Oh please, they aren't going to make you a grandfather all so very soon."

This resulted in him letting loose a growl from his throat.

"Raan."

"Then again, they are of a different species. So it's impossible." Shala swayed from side to side, pondering on the topic. "Actually… with magic, it may be possible to-"

"Don't!" Rael all but growled out, face twitching at hearing Shala laugh uproariously. "Far, Far too much of a reality now."

"Oh, so you accept it-"

"Keelah Se'lai!" Rael exclaimed. "I have… I have admiral things to do."

"Yes, go distract yourself so you won't imagine your daughter-"

"LEAVING NOW!"

Raan only laughed again, watching as Rael'Zorah stomped away, making quite a scene for the other Quarians to see.

She soon thought back to her old friend and mother to her surrogate niece.

"Oh if you were still here… You would enjoy this far more than I could."

-Scene Cut-

"Whoa~~~" Tali looked around the interior of Roxas' new ship in wonder.

No. XIII grinned at her reaction to seeing the Gummi Ship, feeling her excitement radiating off her.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it?"

Tali's only response was her nodding her head excitedly, eyes darting all over the place to take everything in. It was clearly bigger on the inside. Reminded Tali of what she'd seen on that old human show called Dr. Who.

"And this is yours?"

Roxas gave a "so-so" gesture with his hand as a response.

"You can call it a loan." He replied. "Della's Uncle Scrooge loaned this out to me as a test drive and doing some favors for him in return."

"So for how long is it yours then?"

"Um… he didn't actually say." Roxas admitted with a shrug. "Just for me to relay to him everything I was able to do with the ship."

"Well then let's get started." Tali giddily said, rubbing her hands together as she got into the copilot's seat. "This is already the best date ever!"

Roxas chuckled as he got onto the other seat and started up the controls.

Once the ship was all warmed up and ready, he detached from the connecting ship and slowly departed away from the Migrant Fleet.

"So~ Roxas." Tali's chair spun in his direction. She was glad that her helmet obscured her face as a healthy blush was very much present at this time. "For our little date here, where are you taking us?"

Roxas contemplated to himself before his stomach let out an audible plea for sustenance.

The two shared a look with each other and proceeded to break down into a small laughing fit.

"Guess it's been decided." He cheekily said. "First off, where'd you like to go for lunch?"

"Anywhere really." She said simply. "But I don't know if I'd like to go back to the Citadel and eat somewhere there."

"Why not?"

"I wanna have a change of pace. Try something new."

Roxas thought on that and was fine with that. This was their special time together so she should at least have the decision as to where they should eat.

Besides, he had already thought on what they should go to later in the day.

"That doesn't leave us with a lot of options, now that I think about it."

"That's true."

The two befell a brief moment of silence before Tali began giggling.

"What?" Roxas asked, confused by her sudden laugh.

"Nothing it's just," She looked ahead out the window as they continued flying around aimlessly. "I sometimes forget that, well, you've only really existed for less than a year by this point and you're only just getting the hang of being normal."

"You do know that normal is a loose term with people like us." He quickly pointed out.

"Yeah, so doing something like this is pretty funny all things considered." Tali remarked. "You being you and me being me."

"True enough." Roxas said, scrunching his face up in thought.

Where could he possibly take her to eat?

Maybe Twilight Town?

The sunsets are always nice. But… that feels like a place for friends honestly.

Disna? He could have her explore the World with him.

Then again, they may encounter their other friends and allies and it wouldn't really be a date by this point. He recalled Alice instructing him that these sort of courtships usually require the pair to be alone.

Not to mention them going to a place where Tali could actually eat.

The only other place he knew so far was during their time at-

It is then that an idea popped into his mind.

"I've got it." Roxas said with a grin. "Hold on tight."

Using his Keyblade, he opened up a Lane for his ship to go through. Once appearing, the Gummi Ship traversed through with it closing up moments later.

-Scene Cut-

Montressor of the Etherium galaxy is primarily a mining planet. Helps a lot, given the Montressor Spaceport is orbiting it.

Not much can be said about the planet, except for a particular area in general.

A while back, the Benbow Inn, owned by the Hawkins family, had been burnt to the ground. Reports were on the local paper to blame it all on pirates, which left the owner devastated for quite some time.

Miraculously, it had been built back up and better than before. Larger and far more sturdier, given the amount of wealth one Jim Hawkins put into rebuilding the only home he had growing up. And since then, business has been booming from all of the travelers and locals passing by.

But enough about that, let's focus on the present.

The entrance to the popular establishment opened up with the attached bell ringing out.

"Welcome to the Benbow…" The woman who greeted them halted in her tracks and looked intently at the two who had just entered her establishment. "Wait a second…."

Roxas waved his hand at the woman, giving off a pleasant smile.

"Hi Ms. Hawkins."

"Roxas." Sarah Hawkins said with a beaming smile, walking over to the teen and scooping him up into a big hug. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you're doing well, Ms. Hawkins."

"Oh please, you can call me Sarah, young man." She stated, turning her head to the Quarian. "And Tali, was it? Welcome to the Benbow Inn."

The engineer nodded with a smile behind her helmet. She soon looked around a little, hoping to see a certain someone.

"Gotta ask, but where's Jim?"

"He's out." Sarah said, guiding the pair over to a rather lavish booth. "Well, not out but he's spending tonight at the academy."

"So he signed up like Captain Amelia wanted him to." Roxas murmured. "That's good to hear."

"Has he been doing well?" Asked Tali.

"Very." The mother said with clear pride though she sagged her shoulders slightly. "But unfortunately, some tendencies of his are hard to break."

"What happened?" Roxas curiously asked.

"Oh, just Jim being Jim." Sarah spoke in an exasperated fondness. "Even when he does good, he's a troublemaker."

"What's he been doing?" Tali asked, now interested in hearing about what their friend had been up to.

"Just being trouble for his instructors and fellow classmates." Sarah said. "Granted, he does have a greater degree of experience compared to them but it can get to his head sometimes."

"Is he in trouble?" Roxas worriedly asked.

"No, none of that sort." Sarah waved off the concern. "Having such a high recommendation from Captain Amelia and finding the lost treasure of Flint helps really. She told me that she was a lot like Jim in her younger days before she became a Captain herself, despite the discipline growing up. So I still have hope for him."

"Well, have faith in him." Roxas said. "He'll make you proud."

Sarah smiled lovingly at that. "He already has."

"Oh, what about Morph?" The Nobody abruptly asked. "Is he here?"

"With Jim." Said Sarah. "Now enough about all that, what can I get you two?"

"Come back in a few minutes and we'll look through the menu. It's honestly our first time here."

"Ah, right. Was just so caught up that I forgot about that." Sarah admonished herself, handing out menus for the both of them. "I'll get you some water and will be back with you afterwards."

The pair thanked the woman who walked off and they both opened their menus to look over the food selection that this place had.

"Rather strange selection here." Tali noted, trying to make sense of the appetizers at this moment.

"No kidding. Don't know half of the stuff here." No. XIII said, gazing at the main dishes with all of them being… well, it said it was food so…

"Half? Don't you mean all?"

He nodded as he looked through the menu items again. "Do you remember some of the food Silver made? Perhaps you can have one of those."

"I was able to eat the food aboard the Legacy." Tali recalled as she never had any reactions or issues when consuming the meals there. "So it's probably the same here."

Roxas squinted his eyes at the menu again. "We'll see."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally chatting about the Inn itself, what Jim and their friends may be up to now and what they had done since they last saw each other.

"It was creepy, honestly." The blue eyed teen said with a shiver. "Wonderland just became all sorts of weird."

"But didn't you say it was weird before?"

"Well, yeah, in a whimsical sort of way. Not gouge out your eyes, lop your head off, kind of weird."

Tali squirmed slightly in her seat. "I think that's one of the Worlds from your galaxy I wouldn't want to visit."

"Not yet at least." Roxas amended for her. "I want you and the others to see it once it's back to its more colorful self. It's weird but it can be fun."

The Quarian only nodded, mentally taking his word for it.

Eventually, Sarah made her return with the young couple finally deciding what to have.

After Ms. Hawkin's departure, Roxas and Tali conversed more on a number of things. They lost track of time, for before they knew it their meals arrived.

It was a pleasant experience for them both, talking with each other, catching up on anything they may have missed.

Ms. Hawkins stopped by several times, speaking with her as well on how Jim and the rest of their friends were doing.

Suffice to say, both Tali and Roxas were surprised to hear the feline vixen of Captain Amelia having married the bumbling scientist Dr. Doppler and already had kids.

Quadruplets.

That was certainly something they weren't expecting.

They didn't even realize that much time had passed. Or was it that the species Amelia originates from has children different to other species.

Not outside the realm of possibility.

Still, for her and Doppler of all people to wind up together…

The universe truly is a surprising place.

Eventually, their dinner date came to a close.

It was a lovely affair though Ms. Hawkins' insistence on having this be on the house for them really made Roxas feel incredibly guilty.

She kept harping on about how "Oh, if it wasn't for all of you, Jim going on that voyage, he wouldn't have changed etcetera, etcetera."

So as soon as she was out of sight and sound, Roxas dumped a large stack of Munny that converted itself into the currency of the Etherium galaxy and he and Tali made for a quick "escaped" from the Benbow Inn.

"That was wonderful." Tali said with a content sigh.

"It really was." Roxas hummed aloud, patting his full belly. "But I figure we still have a lot of time or really, as much time as we want to ourselves."

He looked up to her, nudging her slightly with his shoulder.

"What do you wanna do next?"

Tali crossed her arms, one hand reaching up to her faceplate and a finger tapping on the glass.

"Hmmm." She let out, swaying slightly from side to side. "Well… we can't get there the way we did before."

No. XIII tilted his head in confusion.

"But we do have a ship now." Tali said with a coy grin beneath her mask as she eyed the new Gummi ship docked at one of the now many ports of the Inn.

He soon let out a chuckle when he came upon the realization as to where she's hinting at.

"Find something funny?"

"Honestly, I was somewhat planning on taking us there. Just didn't expect you wanting to go there already."

She looped her arm with his, pulling him closer to her. "Keelah Roxas, of course I wanna go there again. I need to start planning where I would build my house there since we can go whenever we want now."

"Well… not whenever exactly-"

"Roxas."

"Hmm?"

"Don't ruin a girl's dreams."

The blue eyed Nobody only gave a small laugh in response as she began tugging him back towards their new Gummi Ship.

-Scene Cut-

Getting back to Rannoch was an interesting moment for the young couple.

Instead of coming here through a Dark Corridor, they had to come in with the Gummi Ship. On the previous method of transport, they were able to sneak past all of the Geth patrolling the system and remained undetected. This time, however, they had to be extra careful with the craft they were using.

Coming in, in such a way, is rather risky.

Roxas hoped for stealth systems and by the luck of Kingdom Hearts, Scrooge McDuck had the foresight of installing such a feature.

Maybe he got the idea from his niece Della since she was aboard a stealth ship during her time with them on the Normandy.

And for some added precaution, Tali had some programs running that her people have been beginning to use lately in hopes of remaining unnoticed by the Geth.

Afterall, their ships don't have windows to easily see any passing ship with a simple glance.

And when he thought about that one oversight, it was kind of funny.

No windows.

That one exemption from Geth design added to their stealth insertion into Rannoch.

All for a date.

Axel was right.

You really can do some crazy things for friends.

Or girls that like you.

Made him wonder what Xion would like to do.

He'll definitely have to ask… at some point.

Huh… strange…

Would Xion really…

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Roxas refocused on piloting the ship down to the surface.

While the Geth controlled the planet, with Tali's technical know-how, she was able to guide him to a particularly isolated part of the planet that had no Geth presence.

Somehow.

Even with this bit of assurance, Roxas wanted to be sure their ship wouldn't be easily found by any Geth patrolling the area.

Once they set foot back on Rannoch again, for Roxas, he was hit with a strange wave of nostalgia. It was bizarre but oddly comforting to be back here again considering the few times he had already been here before with Tali.

For the Quarian, it was still a surreal experience.

To be standing upon the ground where her ancestors once dwelled before they were driven off by their own creations.

This was the one thing that she had kept from the fleet.

The one secret she wanted to hold to herself for as long as she could. She knew it could be described as a selfish notion when stemming from a culture where few secrets weren't shared.

But being here with the boy she loved… it was something near and dear to her heart. And she wanted to keep it that way until the time came where she knew she'd have to tell the rest of the Flotilla about it.

So here they were, back on Rannoch.

"Well, this isn't the same place as last time." Roxas murmured, looking around the forest they had landed in.

It was lucky that Tali spotted it.

Another mystery, really, to be added to the ever growing question mark that was the Geth occupation of the Quarian homeworld and its system beyond the Veil.

Just… What were they doing here? What was their purpose for the upkeep of many of the planet's structures after all these centuries?

That alone just added a thousand questions or a million really.

They made sure to walk in places that the Geth would have less of a chance in spotting them. The forest they used to keep their ship was near another Quarian city.

The eerie silence around them was hard to deal with. The constant vigilance if a Geth were to pass by made them rather focused on everything else instead of each other.

They've grown used to it on their previous visits, yet this factor seemed to spoil their date as they sought to enjoy it.

Hopefully once they're in a safer spot, then they'll relax until their departure from this planet.

Throughout their quiet trek through the city, Roxas had a passing thought. One which made him frown a little, especially when he voiced it.

"I gotta ask you about this, but do you think we should tell the others of our time being here?"

Tali was silent upon hearing this.

"I don't mean to be a downer or anything, but they should know sooner than later."

"I know." She muttered. "Questions would be asked and I don't know if I could…" She exhaled a sigh. "Our friends from the Normandy would be more understanding. My people especially, however, would throw a fit."

"They won't."

"They would. You don't know the full scope of how my people have dreamed of retaking our home. The means of doing so." Tali then wrung one of her wrists, shoulders sagging slightly. "Yet what we've done…"

"I probably get it. But Tali, they would at least be happy to know one of their own had finally stepped foot here and lived to tell the tale. They would know they're one step closer in achieving their long sought goal with such a feat."

She let loose a small snort before turning her head slightly for Roxas to see her glowing eyes. By the looks of them, her spirits were lifted from the reassurance.

"Maybe." Tali shook her head. "But for now, let's just keep this between us. Until the time is right."

He reached out to her and took hold of her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Promise."

She let out a happy hum, reciprocating his gesture and the two resumed walking through this old shop in comfortable silence.

They walked by several old Quarian buildings that looked like they had seen better days but remained intact for the most part. A common yet mysterious factor they've seen at a litany of structures.

Roxas halted in his tracks upon hearing his date gasp in excitement.

He soon saw Tali break away from him and heading towards a clothing store they went to on a previous visit.

"Oh, we're here again." Roxas remarked. "What are you going in there for?"

"It's a surprise."

That merely confused the blonde at the time but didn't want to really question it as it'll be answered later.

He paused before entering, looking behind and around them.

His eyes darted about the area, checking every spot that may serve as a hiding place or somewhere where they could be watched by the Geth. Though he didn't see anything watching them, that didn't quell the sneaking suspicion that the Geth just might be. This planet was still occupied by them so who's to say if their arrival went unnoticed.

It sure seemed that way.

No Geth came after them.

Yet.

"Roxas."

The blonde looked back to Tali, seeing her waiting for him now.

"Is everything alright?" She asked with a hint of concern.

Taking one last look outside, Roxas affirmed to himself that they weren't being watched at this time.

"Nothin'." He softly responded. "Just making sure we don't get any unwelcome surprises."

"Did… did you see any Geth?" She quietly asked, hand instinctively reaching back for her gun.

Roxas shook his head, walking into the store proper. "No. If I did, would've told ya."

Tali appeared momentarily unsure before taking his word for it and nodding.

"Now, whaddya wanna come in here for?"

Like that, any nervousness the Quarian had washed away as she reached for his hand, taking it in both of hers and pulling him deeper into the store.

"Come on." She tugged on him, the boy following after her.

"Where are ya even taking us?" He asked.

"It's a surprise." She excitedly said in a quiet tone.

They soon arrived where Tali had been guiding him, an elevator which took them several floors above. After which, they came across a set of doors that opened up for them both after a quick wave of Tali's Omni-tool.

"A suite?" No. XIII murmured.

Roxas stepped into the room, looking at Tali as she appraised the suite. It was rather large, perhaps half as big as Anderson's place back at the Citadel.

There was an abandoned fireplace by the edge of the space. Off to the side, a large sliding glass door looked out to a view of the city and the nature surrounding it. On another side, he saw several doors some distance off, separated by the spacious curvature of the room.

Tali sighed whilst inspecting the space. "So this is what it was like to live before the war." She said, stepping forward and touching a wall. "It seems so… extravagant. This place could've been used to fit so many of my people."

Roxas nodded as he walked through the suite to inspect more of it.

There were some pieces of art hanging on the walls, either actual paintings or photographs of landmarks and landscapes. Some sculptures were present as well, but he couldn't make heads or tails on the details. He did note, however, there were signs of decay and damage on all these works in varying degrees.

Aside from these decorative pieces, there wasn't much to actually consider. Yes, there were a good number of appliances and entertainment devices from what he could see during the tour throughout the suite were in working order. The furniture in the various rooms were furnished and seemed to show signs of repair underneath the layer of dust.

Checking out the kitchen, he looked through the cabinets and storage spaces. With this place being abandoned for centuries, he expected to find rotten and spoiled food which would smell horrible once released upon opening the cabinets and refrigerator.

To his surprise, he saw they were completely empty… and cleaned out.

'Curiouser and curiouser.' He thought with a small frown.

He soon walked out to the balcony, taking in the view alongside Tali. It was rather high, having them see the tops of a number of nearby buildings.

"Quite the view."

"Certainly is one."

Roxas paused in thought for a moment. "I think the one at Twilight Town is better."

Tali playfully giggled at the comment. "The one in the flower fields is more idyllic."

"But the sunset is prettier." Roxas countered, eliciting more laughter out of her.

"Can you wait out here for a bit, Roxas?" She asked after her laughter subsided. "I just need to do something real quick?"

Roxas looked a bit hesitant. "Are ya sure we should split up?"

"Oh don't worry about that." Tali quickly waved off his concern. "I'm just gonna check on something in that room there. No windows in there."

He only gave her a nod as she left him alone with his thoughts.

And boy there was a good amount of them. Questions which swiftly flooded his mind.

Upon seeing some city areas, he saw the buildings were either intact or perhaps showed some subtle signs of repairs. In a naive mindset, one could assume these locations were overlooked during the mourning war. Yet such a thing never occurred as all over the planet had battlegrounds.

So why were these places seemingly fine?

And if that wasn't enough, there was a question about the utilities.

'How is everything even working here?' Roxas questioned, looking at everything that was functioning at this time. 'Won't the Geth know about us being here?'

These questions were a constant since their first visit here.

The buildings and many structures having either been rebuilt or never having been destroyed have remained relatively untouched. If this suite is an oddly good focus, then would other places be cleaned out and furnished relatively well. Nature had taken dominion of the surrounding lands with the flora and fauna being heavily present. Yet Roxas and Tali haven't seen any animals appear in any of the abandoned towns and cities they've seen.

Just what have the Geth been doing here in these past centuries?

From what Tali had told him about the Geth, none of this correlates to what has been said about them.

"None of this makes any sense." He said to himself in a low voice.

He kept a wary eye outside of the balcony, trying to spot any potential Geth spies or even Heartless that might appear. Just cause they haven't seen them here doesn't mean they haven't passed through.

Then again, what would the Heartless gain out of trying to influence the Geth?

They don't have hearts, right?

…

Though the Reapers getting the power of Darkness were still a surprise to be sure.

"What a mess." Roxas remarked, voice a bit whiny as he ruffled his own hair and turned away from the Quarian cityscape.

Getting back inside, he soon picked up the sounds of running water from what he recalled being a closed up bathroom.

Roxas assumed Tali was merely using it and nothing more to relieve herself. Thus he waited for her on the couch.

Time passed, making him wonder what was taking her so long.

He opted to look around the suite a bit more, finding it smaller than the one Anderson has on the Citadel though still pretty spacious.

The Nobody wondered just why anyone would need such large and extravagant homes. Seemed like a bit of a waste of space and architecture.

Still… would be a nice place for himself and his friends.

Other than the Normandy, Roxas never really had a true place to call home.

When he thought about it, even staying at Master Yen Sid's tower feels like a temporary arrangement. He longs to return to Shepard and the rest of his friends in this galaxy and he knows Axel and Xion feel the same way.

In the midst of this session of deep contemplation, he failed to realize that the water had stopped running.

But he didn't fail to register what had happened next.

The bathroom door soon opened, causing Roxas to turn around and instantly have his jaw drop in shock and surprise.

Standing there was Tali without her environmental suit, only wearing a bathrobe with a towel around her head. And from behind her was the thick steam of hot water coming out from it.

"Don't know and don't care now, so glad the plumbing works cause that shower was fantastic." She said, sounding completely satisfied in taking a shower.

"T-Tali?" He croaked out, at a loss for words.

She quirked her head slightly, questioning his reaction. "What?"

He pointed at her entire body rapidly. "Y-your suit! Your helmet! Your hood! Your everything!"

Tali smiled at his clear concern for her health. "I'll be fine. I took a number of boosters and a potion. And I doubt I'll be bedridden from taking a very thorough cleansing on the homeworld."

"B-But-"

"Besides, I also have an Elixir on standby if it gets too bad for me." Tali said cheerfully.

"Tali… why?"

With a smile, she approached him and got in close. Before he knew it, she hugged him.

"Because I wanted to know how you feel outside of my suit sensors." She all but whispered, running her free hand through his hair and feeling her skin tingling from it.

It was intoxicating honestly.

"Uh…" He realized how much softer Tali was and…

Now he had steam rolling off of him due to now recognizing just where Tali hugged him to her body.

He may be a Nobody. Romance was still something that he had little understanding or experience in.

But he was still a young, "human" male teenager who was starting to understand just what hormones can do to you.

Tali was also feeling a bit bashful with how forward she was at this moment but was mentally cheering for the reaction she had gotten out of him.

Or lack thereof.

Still counted. She was able to see the tips of his ears were blisteringly red.

Pulling back, she placed a coy peck on his cheek, smiling mischievously at him.

"What?"

"I think you should try out the shower as well."

"B-But I don't-"

"I'll lay out some fresh clothes for you by the door."

"Huh?"

"Got 'em with the one's I'm gonna wear soon."

Before he knew it, she shoved him into the bathroom.

Standing in the moist room, Roxas' mind was rather blank as he tried processing several things.

By the time he began figuring things out, he soon pondered and came to a little realization. When was the last time he bathed?

Taking up on Tali's suggestion, he disrobed his clothes and folded it all into a nice pile underneath another shower robe before taking a shower.

By the time he was done, he stepped outside of the steaming bathroom and felt rather refreshed. He would've gone back into his Organization attire, yet he saw a set of clothing piled beside the door.

Going into the nearby bedroom, he changed into clothing which was rather odd for him to wear at first.

It wasn't the first attire he wore which didn't suit his personal taste, courtesy of Edna Mode. Yet he'll give this outfit a shot since Tali picked it out for him.

Turned out, it was quite alright as it was composed of loose shorts and a hoodie shirt in the Quarian summer fashion before their exile if he got it right.

Getting into the living room, Roxas was momentarily startled when hearing Tali speak.

"Looking good there, Roxas."

He turned around and was stunned upon seeing his date's present attire.

Instead of her environmental suit, it was something akin to a summer sun dress of the Quarian fashion before their exile. In the material, it showed off native floral designs which helped compliment her significantly.

"Well?" She coyly said, striking a pose that showed off her figure. "What do you think?"

It took a number of seconds for his brain to reboot and properly process who was standing before him and after a while…

"You're beautiful." He said in a quiet daze.

Although she had gotten a reaction out of him here and earlier when she hugged him, hearing the sincerity in his voice caused her to develop a bright blush with her head tilting downwards to hide it. The way he called her beautiful was… well, it really made her feel… honestly, the level of joy right now couldn't be put into words.

She had never done anything like this and for her to get a reaction like that from the boy she loved…

Calling the feeling good would be underselling it.

The Quarian quickly shook her head and walked over to him, taking his hand into hers.

"Come on, I have an idea on what we should do."

"Being…"

"Movies." She said, "Honestly don't know anything else to finish this date here of all places."

The Nobody nodded and went along with what she desired.

"Anything in particular you have in mind?"

She let loose a giggle. "I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."

"...Huh?"

"You remember that line from Fleet and the Flotilla? Shaeli and Bellicus on the balcony?" Tali said, her voice and posture wistful and whimsical.

'Fleet and Flotilla.' Roxas repeated the title in his head, thinking hard on where he heard her talk about it before. "Tali, you occasionally talked about it on the Normandy, yet I never saw it."

A soft gasp escaped her lips. "You haven't?"

The Nobody shook his head. "Nope. I've seen plenty of other films, on the others' insistence, yet never seen that one."

He was certainly surprised by the forceful way his hands were grabbed by Tali, with her pulling him right into her own bubble. "Well then, now I know what we're watching tonight."

Tali's Omni-tool flared to life as its owner's fingers flew across the screen. Moments later, it hooked up with the nearby flatscreen TV where a movie menu was now presented. Moments later, they were seated on a couch with Tali immediately cuddling up to Roxas.

"You were really prepared for all this." Roxas couldn't help but comment.

"I always have this movie on standby." Tali happily said, getting more comfortable as she laid herself on him by this point.

Roxas could only chuckle as the movie began.

The film soon began and the pair watched in silence.

…for a few minutes.

That was until Tali began reciting the lines in the same manner and tone as the Quarian actress in the film.

It was highly entertaining if Roxas was being honest with himself.

She knew every single line, matching the actress on screen though she did go a little overboard. Still, highly amusing and rather sweet.

It was one thing to hear her speak and from his time with her, Roxas had learned how to gauge her mood from her tone and posture.

But seeing expressions behind it all and how full of life it was without her faceplate? That was something truly special.

"But Shalei, we can never be together. I have my duty, and you have your people."

"Not tonight. Tonight, I'm as free as the dust in the solar wind."

Roxas couldn't help but snort at that line. "You've clearly seen this a lot."

Tali placed her hand on her hips, puffing her chest out proudly. "Obviously."

"I mean I can see you mouthing the lines beat by beat."

"...And why have you noticed that particular detail?"

Roxas soon flushed when seeing her coy grin.

"You're not entirely focused on the film, aren't you?"

"Sorry… it's just…"

"I'll forgive you this one time… for a price."

Before he could ask-

*Chu*

His lips were briefly met with hers. She pulled away just as quickly before leaning her head onto his shoulder. And her coy grin widened more as she could tell Roxas was flustered from the act.

More time passed as they kept watching through the film in relative silence.

They did get a little hungry at one point, wishing they had something nice to have for an early dinner. All they could work with were the meal bars they had on hand on top of the sea-salt ice cream pulled out of nowhere. Neither complained with this little bump in their date.

"The movie's really good." Roxas commented. "Two lovers from two different worlds and cultures."

"Kinda like us." Tali commented, lightly trailing her fingers up and down his chest.

Roxas angled his head to the side, briefly thinking about this comparison. "Maybe. I mean, both of us being from separate galaxies is a big difference."

Tali let loose a snort.

"Every time my friends and I had a sleepover when we were younger, we watched this. Keelah. So many feelings."

Feelings. That was something Roxas was very familiar with.

"Yeah, it's, uh… yeah. Definitely."

"We memorized the lyrics from the musical portions." At that moment, Tali had a metaphysical lightbulb flash above her head. "Oh, we can activate sing-along mode!"

Roxas let out a small smile. "Sure, why not. But gonna be honest with you, I have no experience with singing, like at all."

"Then let me do it for you. And you can owe me later."

He chuckled in response.

Some moments passed before some music began playing in the air with Tali's voice working alongside the tune.

"Let the moon's shining light hide the two lovers with its rays.

Though I know that dawn will set us on the course for separate ways.

I will hold this night in memory for all my living days.

Now unmasked, I feel your skin on mine~"

He smiled as he listened to her sing.

"You have a very lovely voice, Tali."

The Quarian's smile widened once hearing the compliment.

"Now I'm gonna try to find a song for you to sing."

He blanched when hearing this. "You don't have to-"

"I insist."

They playfully argued with each other at this point with some laughing in between. Eventually, the Nobody finally relented and let Tali choose a song for him from her music playlist.

Luckily for him, he was presented with the lyrics for him to work with in a karaoke style fashion.

Once the music filled the air with some electronic beat, he began to sing once the words were being highlighted on the TV screen.

"I have wondered about you

Where will you be

When this is through?

If all, if all goes as planned

Will you redeem

My life again?

My life again"

Roxas momentarily paused, wondering if he should stop here. Yet Tali smiled and silently encouraged him to keep on going.

"Fire the fields, the weed is sown

Water down your empty soul

Wake the sea of silent hope

Water down your empty soul

Fight your foes, you're not alone

Holy war is on the phone

Asking to please stay on hold

The bleeding loss of blood runs cold

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

I have wondered about you

Where will you be

When this is through?

If all, if all goes as planned

Will you redeem

My life again?

I have wondered about you

Where will you be

When this is through?

If all, if all goes as planned

Will you redeem

My life again?

My life again

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

On my own

On my own

I'm on my own."

Once the vocals for the song finally came to its end, given the electronic beat was still going on, Tali tackled Roxas from the side with a hug.

"You were fantastic, Roxas!" Tali exclaimed joyously.

"I was?" He asked in befuddled amusement.

She didn't say anything, only giggling as she rubbed her cheek against his.

"Come on, we're getting to the best part." She said, having them turn back to the movie.

The pair resumed watching the film as they eventually reached the final parts of it. Roxas' arm wrapped around Tali's form in hugging her close to his side. And Tali was mirroring it as best as she could in their present position with her head lying against his shoulder.

"I want you to see behind this mask. I want you to see who I truly am."

"I already have."

"She had an infection for three weeks after filming this scene." She commented offhandedly.

Blue eyes softened as he glanced away from the film and right towards her. "I bet. But totally worth it."

Tali nodded. "This vid FTL-jumped me into puberty. And who doesn't love a good-"

Roxas interrupted her when he leaned in close and captured her lips with his own.

There was a brief surprise, but Tali kissed him back. Her hands went to his face and everything else around them faded away. They began to ignore the film as they focused far more towards each other.

Deep was their lip lock as soon enough she got on top of him. The pair remained like that for nearly a minute before pulling away.

Once breathing for air, both their faces were flushed with Tali's heart racing. And with a hand placed onto his chest for some support, she could feel the strong heartbeat coming from her love.

"Wow…" She breathed out.

"Y-Yeah." His own breath was heavy.

She squirmed a bit, blushing at how close… well closer they were now.

"That was… surprising." Tali quietly said which in turn made Roxas worry.

"Did-did I do it wrong?" He stammered out nervously.

"Wh-What? No, no of course now. I just… *ahem* I just don't want you to stop." She timidly said.

Roxas blinked upon hearing this before he scrunched his face up with determination.

He soon surprised her by rolling themselves to switch positions. She yelped until letting out an excited giggle. With him now on top, he kissed her once more. She laughed again and mewled in between and during the kisses.

They honestly would've fallen off the couch and landed on the floor if it wasn't really big. Yet that wouldn't have stopped them by this point.

A strange but rather intense shiver and sensation shot through Roxas' body as he felt her legs hike up his sides slightly, the young Quarian holding him close as they continued their little session.

This went on until both needed to catch their breaths. The young lovebirds pulled away, panting a bit. Each boring into the other's eyes and Tali smiled lovingly up at the teen with him slowly returning it.

"Where'd this come from?" She abruptly asked, startling the boy for a moment.

"Huh?"

"This." She gestured with her head to indicate the position they were currently in. "I didn't think you had that in you?"

Roxas' face, which already had a healthy blush on, gained a darker hue of red.

"Uh… well…" He looked away slightly as he now felt a bit bashful and self-conscious as to the position he was in right now.

See, being a Nobody with absolutely no memory of a past life to go off of meant that there was a lot that he needed to learn about firsthand.

He wasn't the most socially apt individual in two galaxies so he had to experience a great deal of things directly in his blunt and straightforward manner. Now, as time went on, he started to get a grasp of how to conduct himself in a reasonable enough fashion without people looking at him like he was the strangest thing they had ever seen.

At least when he wasn't doing all the crazy moves that made him seem crazier than he already was.

But if there was one, just one caveat in being a Nobody born into the body of a fifteen year old is that…

One cannot hold back the eventuality that was interest in the opposite sex.

Especially coming after such a passionate and eye opening goodbye he had with Tali when she left the Normandy.

So, curious individual that he was, Roxas had to look things up on his own.

Axel, Shepard and the rest of the crew opted not to help him either by saying he wasn't ready for such things or in Liara's case, not being as overly familiar with such "concepts" herself. Thus resulting in him having to do his own research.

And…

You know what, let's just leave it at that.

It was bad enough that he looked at these things with Xion. The pair made a vow to never speak about this with anyone else lest they die of embarrassment.

Now that he thought about it, Roxas may need to hunt down and kill Sora. If he had already seen some of his more private moments with Tali before, after this one…

Yeah, killing him is the only solution. Consequences be damned.

Long story short, he did his own research on the topics of intimacy and was applying it here.

"I just… followed my instincts."

"Was that all?" He shook his head 'no', prompting her to ask further. "Then what?"

"I… wanted to further explore these feelings I have… for you."

Tali reached up and cupped his cheek with a soft smile and half-lidded eyes.

Without saying a thing any further, she came up slightly to kiss him once more; letting her own instincts more or less take the reins; as it were. Showing how much she loved him with her mouth upon his.

He held onto her, not resisting one bit.

Time passed between them as they kept kissing each other, clearly addicted to the action.

Breaking apart for an intake of air for the umpteenth time, Tali let loose a soft yawn.

"You okay, Tali?" He asked.

"Yeah... it's just late."

He looked over and saw it was already dark outside.

"Seems we won't be able to leave Rannoch until the morning." The Nobody commented, a bit unsure if they should leave or not.

Tali nodded with a small frown.

They should've left earlier, yet they've been caught up with their activity where they practically missed their window of safely leaving the Quarian homeworld.

"We should probably go to bed now and leave first thing." Tali suggested. "I have security measures put up so we should go undetected from the Geth."

"I'm honestly amazed we haven't been found yet." Roxas admitted. "How have they not found us?"

"I don't want to risk jinxing it." The Quarian said with a shudder. She stood up, hands holding Roxas'. "Come on. Let's get some shut eye."

Leaving the couch and turning off the TV, the pair went to find their own rooms to sleep in for the night. They would've gone through their little nightly rituals of getting ready for bed…

However...

Being dragged into the nearest bedroom, Roxas realized Tali that despite being tired, was rather impatient. For now they were once more embracing each other and were exchanging kisses.

"I know we're tired but... I can't help it." She whispered out loud.

"I forgive you."

Tali giggled, pulling him back for more.

Their embrace tightened as their bodies seemed to mesh with each other. One of Roxas' hands held onto the small of her back whilst the other was entangled in her hair. As for Tali, one hand was holding onto his upper back while the other was occasionally switching between his cheek and his hair.

She mewled and purred whilst he groaned and growled. Tossing and turning on the bed, they sought to see who would be dominant during this time. It seemed never ending with their tongues meeting each other on occasion whilst exploring each other's mouths before they broke away momentarily to gain more air. Gazing at each other's glazed eyes with healthy blushes on their faces all before diving back in as they resumed a seemingly never ending passionate cycle.

They kept kissing for what felt like hours and fell asleep in each other's arms with them tiring themselves out. Each bearing a smile as this was quite a way to finish off their date.

-Scene Cut-

He was… running…

And his breathing was… heavy…

What was going on?

Wait…

Where was he?

Why was everything… shaking?

It felt like an earthquake…

Everything around him was… it was breaking apart… shattering… exploding… coming apart by the seams.

There was screaming.

But then a sense of utter silence other than the sound of his heavy breathing.

He was beyond confused. Just using that word wouldn't be enough to describe how little sense the situation he was in made sense to him.

It was hard to tell what was happening, given the fiery chaos happening all around.

…..

…..

Wait a second… he knows this place…

This hallway…

That terminal…

The elevator behind him…

"Everyone, hold on!"

Wait a minute… Shepard?

That was Shepard just now. He knows her armor anywhere.

What is going on right now? Is Shepard alright?

He saw Stitch and Garrus briefly running along with Ashley and Kaidan. They were doing their best getting other people of the crew to the escape pods from explosions happening all over.

They were being attacked by… something.

It was from this attack the Normandy was breached. And from this breach caused the converted Stealth Gummi ship to be invaded by something overwhelming. One which they were quite unprepared for.

"Mayday, mayday. This is the SSV Normandy. We're suffering damage from an unknown enemy and-"

Joker… why is he still there?

Shepard made her way to the cockpit as quickly as possible.

He could see Joker trying to save the Normandy, yet he'd only risk his own life in doing so.

Ships can be replaced, lives can't.

As Shepard got Joker out of the cockpit, they saw who was attacking them.

The ship… it was massive. Larger than the Destiny Ascension by their guess.

By the looks of it, it was priming it's primary weapon once more with a menacing yellow light.

Instantly, it fired from the frontal cannon, piercing through the Normandy with a powerful beam. It knocked Shepard and Joker back from the force of it all.

Yet it got them closer to their present target.

They're right there, the escape pods. They can get out of here!

… but the Normandy…

A shake of the head.

No, so long as they're friends are safe, that's all that matters.

From amongst the chaos, a dark figure leapt through the fire. It caught the Spectre by surprise just when she was about to join Joker in the escape pod and…

Wait…

Shepard…

No… no, No, No, NO, NO!

She was in pain.

Everything around her was getting darker. She was running out of breath.

But why did everything feel so heavy?

There was this… this pressure around her.

It's like she was there and not at the same time. Like she was falling into an endless abyss.

What was this?

And… And how was Roxas feeling and knowing this?

That doesn't matter. What matters is getting to Shepard.

He was here so that must mean he can get to her.

He can save her!

'I know I can.' Was the thought from the Nobody.

So if can save her… why wasn't he moving?

Panic, fear and absolute terror began enveloping Roxas as he tried so desperately to get to her.

'Shepard! SHEPARD!' He screamed but his voice went unheard.

Didn't even know if he said anything for that matter.

'No, No! Shepard!' He called out in vain, his voice not even coming out, his body being locked in place.

Why was this happening?

This had to be a nightmare, right?

It just had to be. There was no way in hell that this was actually happening.

Please let this be a nightmare.

Please please please please please…

…

…

…

"SHEPARD!" Roxas shouted at the top of his lungs, shooting up out of the bed he was in at this moment, developing a cold sweat whilst his eyes were wide and he felt his chest was aching.

"Roxas?"

Turning over, he saw Tali bearing a concerned look.

She had woken up not long ago, due to her hearing Roxas' mutterings whilst tossing and turning. She thought it was nothing, at first, until seeing his present expression.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't know what to say to her. He sought to say it was just a nightmare, yet it felt much more than that.

Seeing him not answer, she brought him into a hug and softly spoke to him in hopes of calming him down. At that time, she could feel a wetness coming onto parts of her exposed flesh, making her realize Roxas was crying.

It was then that Tali herself felt something… very unusual. And very wrong.

The Quarian felt an overwhelming feeling of dread begin to encompass her.

What was this?

What was this feeling and…

Breaking the embrace, Tali saw Roxas becoming pale to a near ghastly degree.

She soon brought Roxas closer and tightened her hold on him, one which was reciprocated as they both soon wept together yet couldn't find the reason as to why.

This pain they shared was indescribable.

Elsewhere, throughout the Milky Way and Ōkoku Galaxy, several individuals felt a sudden shift.

Most were alone but for those that were together, they only shared a look of concern and trepidation.

Something had happened and they dreaded to figure out just what it was that had transpired.

This questioning feeling wouldn't be answered until later in the day.

One which would shake things up very considerably.

AN

Back at it again with this one and yeah, bet this was certainly a surprise for you all to be sure.

A "simple" date between Tali and Roxas, getting back into the Mass Effect elements of the Crossover after being away from it for so long. .

Jebest4781: At this point, we'll be trying to work as much ME content as we can with what we've planned out before hitting the changed events of both ME2 and KH2. More so now with how we wrapped up this chapter of that infamous moment at the start of ME2. Also if anyone was wondering, for Roxas' Gummi ship at this time, it's inspired from the Symmetry Flight from Destiny 2.

FMW: For those of you wondering, due to the fact that this is an AU, obviously things will be proceeding differently for both KH2 and ME2. However, timeline wise, I can say it's been close to about eight to nine months now since the story began. Roxas, Sora and Xion are close to hitting fifteen or sixteen and Riku is close to sixteen or seventeen. So other than that, we have hit the next phase in this crossover and hopefully can churn out more chapters since this was a part of the story we've been dying to get to.

Anywho, thanks again for being so patient and waiting on us.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.