The first things I see when my eyes open are beautiful lines of raven black hair. My heart heats up to a million degrees. I must have been smiling in my sleep because my cheeks hurt. Evidently, I slept in as Tali wakes up and asks "am I dreaming? This feels like a dream."

I free my arm from her grasp, reaching around, comfortably allowing me to gently spin her hair like string "I know what you mean. This is real and I can hardly believe it."

Tali says "I would have never imagined I would ever have this."

I reply "I was afraid I'd never have this."

Tali says "you don't have to fear anymore. Enjoy what we have."

I reply "Even if we lived in a studio, I'd be happy if I had you."

Tali says "if we lived in a studio, we wouldn't have all these bedrooms we need to fill."

I joke "6 other bedrooms and three kids a room, do you think you can pop 18 at once? I can be patient and wait for 9 twice."

Tali chuckles "no that is way to many. I love you but that is too much."

I reply "I love you enough to have 18 kids."

Tali blushes "I love you enough to have 18 kids, but I don't think we'll need to have that many to get a boy and a girl."

I ask "you mentioned you want to live a few years first before trying, but have you thought of names?"

Tali says "I never thought of it. Until I met you, I didn't want kids because I thought they deserve better than living destitute on a ship their whole lives. I don't have to worry about that now."

I ask her "if we have a girl, can we please name her Aelita?" It means angel."

Tali says "Aelita Zorah. That sounds good. I like it. What about our future son?"

I answer "I thought you should have the honors."

Tali jokes "We could name him after you. ********* the second."

I laugh "No. Let him be his own person. We'll find a good quarian name for him. It will come to us."

Tali says "we have a long time to think about it. Should we get up?"

I cry "why?"

Tali says "because I need to scrub the mess you made off me and learn how to wash the sheets. Will it be hard?"

I tell her "No, washing machines are easy but you should shower first in case the house runs out of water. Then I'll show you how to wash fabrics."

Tali says "don't we have unlimited hot water?"

I explain "Most houses have a hot water tank that keeps an amount hot, which mixes with the cool water in the pipes, but it isn't unlimited, unless we have a tankless water heater but those have problems with sediment build up or at least where I lived did."

Tali says "It is no big deal. I want to take a bath anyways. See what all the fuss is about."

I offer "I can get it running and light some candles."

Tali asks "why would I want candles near water? Seems redundant."

I remind her "Candles makes the air smell good.

Tali says "right. I keep forgetting I can smell things without a suit filter. I'll try it."

I ask "speaking of which, how do you feel? Did walking around town make your immune system flare up?"

Tali says "I'm not sure. I do feel funny but my body is likely adjusting. If it gets worse tomorrow, I'll take antibiotics. Now stop procrasinating and get the tub ready."

I ask "can we have a little fun first?"

Tali asks "aren't you tired?"

Sadly "yeah. I need to recharge. Fine I'm getting up."

It hurts to leave the love cloud, but Tali is right. The dried substance is pulling my legs hair off and my wife needs to have her first bath. I'd love to join her, but sadly I already know the answer, though last night I got to see what I'm in for and it is chef kiss perfection.

I get up and walk my naked butt to the bathroom. Tali orders me to stop. I ask why? Tali answers "just wanted to enjoy the sights."

I responded "if you like it so much, maybe we can install a mirror on the ceiling?"

Tali says "As much as I like that idea, what if someone walks in and sees it. They'll get ideas."

I sarcastically ask "that a husband and wife do husband and wife stuff in their bedroom?"

Tali says "I know what you mean but it still feels funny."

I let it go. Learn to pick and choose your battles "alright. I'm going to draw your bath. Since your skin is sensitive I'll make the water lukewarm. Do you remember how to add hot water?"

Tali says "I twist the left handle right?"

I'm trying to remember "Is that the one with a red ring?"

Tali says "yes."

I tell her she is right. The bathtub is nice. I like these jets, although I personally prefer to save that sensation for the hot tub which reminds me I have to put one in. I'm not an electrician so I can't install it, but I do have a saved copy of a cedar tub that is heated by a wood stove. It's rustic vibes for out here but I doubt Tali will complain. When the bath is ready, my naked ass comes out to tell Tali "It's ready."

Tali's body still needs to get used to heating itself up instead of relying on her environmental suit. She's like a lizard in that way. My wife is so funny, she wrapped herself up in the comforter like a burrito and waddles to the bathroom. As she slips by, I exit the bathroom. When my back is turned, Tali spanks me, I immediately turn around to see Tali let the comforter fall off, giving me a momentary glance of her bare backside when immediately the door closes. It feels like she is edging me.

She's going to be in there a while. I change into comfy pants and a soft t-shirt that I wouldn't wear in public. It was a gift. I take the comforter down to the laundry room and leave it there for later. I could make a copy of everything brand new so I wouldn't have to do chores, but some things are better broken in to and besides, apart from folding, it doesn't take very long.

I forgot the food is made from dextro chemistry and the fruit tastes very very weird. A quick transformation into my quarian meatsuit and the flavor is way better. I wonder if this is organic, and that by actually organic, no pesticides, not companies slapping organic on the box and charging extra. Whatever I'm eating is really cool, imagine a blackberry, but the little sphere is the size of grapes and you can eat it like an apple, but tastes like strawberries. It's pretty good.

To kill some time, I browse conspiracy theory websites. My omnitool can get a signal from the extranet here. Let's see what is recent. Stuff about Reaper theory being right, what other information are the asari hiding from the rest of the galaxy, oh this is good. "Residents in California report seeing the mythical thunderbird. A creature with a wingspan of over 100 meters."

Ah the vibrations must be overlapping permitting the minority whose molecular motion allows them to see the light crossing over from one of the ecosystems behind the veil, or as they would put it "the stars must be aligned. Oh look at me I am a capricorn. We don't need to be responsible. Let's destroy our state for social clout and move somewhere else. Haha I'm so random!" Oh Source I accidentally channeled something I shouldn't have.

Knock Knock Knock.

"What the? Who the hell is here?" I pull my relaxed butt of the couch, head over to the front door, realize I need to install a peep hole, press my ear against the cool wood and say "I have a gun who's there?"

No response. Repeat in quarian.

A familiar voice says "Oh I'm sorry we must have the wrong address."

Wait… "Kara?"

She says "Yes. Is a young woman named Tali here?"

I open the door and find our old friends. Kara and her husband Roan. He looks uncomfortable, but doesn't recognize me. Makes sense. I had more fingers the last time we met. I welcome them into my home, after they clean their shoes. After that I pull them in for a big hug. Weird hugging a man and a woman taller than you at the same time but whatever. Kara and Roan pretend to act like they know me.

Kara asks "It is good to see you again (I know they have never seen this version of me). Tali invited us over and we thought we'd surprise you with a house opening present." Kara presents a shiny opal colored bag.

I shout "GOODIE!" My inner child wants to open it now, but Tali should be apart of this.

I ask Roan and Kara "is it just you two? Where are the little rascals?"

Roan says "we have sitters."

I order him "don't look so tense, it's ruining the vibes off the room. Come on it and sit down. Put your feet on something. Make yourself home." The present finds a new home on the island. I ask our guests to wait a minute so I can tell Tali you are here. I run upstairs and knock on the door, letting her know who made a surprise visit. I can hear through the door Tali stood up so fast, water splashed onto the floor. Tali says "oops." I instruct her to lay towels down to soak the water up and I'll instant dry them later. Tali asks me to hand her some clothes and I give her the cute pajamas she likes. As she gets dressed, I return to the living room and plop down in my giant faux fur beanbag. I love this sack.

I apologize "sorry about that. She's getting used to living in a house. Isn't this place beautiful? Legion surprised us by asking the geth to build this place for us. We didn't even know about it until one of them came to where we were staying, which was creepy, and told us about this place. I nearly had a heart attack."

Kara agrees "this has a beautiful home."

Raon nods his head "by the way, has Tali told you about what happened to the geth? They've been acting strangely."

I ask "what do you mean?"

Roan says "The geth told everyone about Legion's death and the result. Some kind of upgrade but it's been making them act different. It's like they came out of hiding in those space stations and want to do stuff."

I ask "what kind of stuff?"

Kara answers "everything. Whatever you can imagine, a geth unit wants to do it. Some came by asking to use my hubby's forge. Some want to garden. Build stuff. Whatever you can think of. It's as if the upgrade forced them all to find a hobby or something."

I think back, Legion's sacrifice made it so all geth units can possess a soul. They must want something to do. I'm willing to bet the Source wants to experience building civilization, but as robots this time. After existing for trillions to squared to trillions of years and some change, it must be desperate for new experiences. I wonder if the Source really is that old. I'd like to go back and tell it how grateful I am for being here right now. That can wait.

I say "that's weird."

Tali peeks her head around the corner, my wife smiles better than Anne Hathaway's when she finds our old friends in our living room. I'm going to have to tell her a joke every day to see that. Tali is shy about showing herself in comfy pants and a casual short sleeve white shirt. Kara demands Tali to come over and give her a hug.

After that, Roan shakes Tali's hand, and points out they left a gift for her. She asks "can I open it now?"

Kara says "of course. It's no fun sitting in a bag."

Tali grabs the present, sits down with me in the love sack, and opens the present. In it is a variety of vials with different items in it. Looks like seasoning. At the bottom is a small wooden box, in it contains notecards.

Tali asks "what is this?"

Kara says "a mix and match of spices and ingredients with our family recipes. Keep these to yourself. Even our kids don't have these yet."

Tali asks "why don't they?"

Roan says "we need something to bring them back home. How long have you been on Rannoch?"

Tali says "It's already gone by so fast. I think 8 days."

I say "best 8 days ever and counting."

Tali return everything into it's box and hands it to me "you'll be making good use out of these." Yes I will.

Kara says "I'm so happy to see you again deary. I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again or your… friend. What happened to the human you were with at our house?"

I say "nice way to put it."

Tali says "uhhh…"

Roan removes his hat, holding it over his heart "I am so-" Tali interrupts him.

Tali says "he's not dead."

Kara says "Thank goodness. Are you two no longer together?"

Tali says "in my culture we bonded permanently, like you and Roan."

Roan swallows his words, then proceeds to say "our… culture only permits bonding to one other person."

Tali says "No. This is going to be hard to explain. It's him."

Kara asks "pardon?"

I sheepishly break the ice "Hi guys. I was taller and had straighter legs the last time we saw each other. Kara thank you again for putting the blanket over Tali and I when we fell asleep by the fire."

Roan turns white as a ghost.

Kara asks "wait.. Are you telling me you're *********? That can't be."

Tali confirms it's me. I stand up and very slowly transform from the bottom up into a human. Kara is loss for words. Roan is frozen.

Kara asks "how is this possible."

I take a seat back on the coach then explain I am going to tell them the story of my life, start to finish, how I got here, and what happened. It took me a long time, through a lot of tears, blowing my nose, going through half a box of tissues. Tali would rub my back, hold my hand when I arrived it to the really hard parts. As I go deeper and deeper into my life, Kara's and Roan's fearful expressions turn into ones of heartache. When I am finished, I beg with my whole heart in soul not to tell anyone and how I just want to have the promised life which was taken away from me, the one I fought through so much pain, heartache, and years for.

Roan and Kara are at a loss for words.

I promise "Tali and I won't cause any problems. We'll learn your ways and assimilate. We only want to live our lives. We'll contribute. We just want to be happy."

Kara and Roan look at each other, then back at our desperate faces with puppy dog eyes. Kara and Roan show they have a heart. "Of course. We promise not to tell anyone. Whatever you need, we'll help in anyway we can."

I collapse into my knees "thank you. Thank you both. You don't know how immensely grateful I am."

Roan asks "do you need a few?"

Yeah, I do. I tell them I am going to take a walk or two around the house. I take my time. It helps me to ground. I take off my socks and connect the soles of my feet to my new home world. The cold morning dew still present on the grass draws my attention away from my hurting eyes. The morning sun recharges my face. The sound of windchimes becomes less and less, then stronger and stronger as I complete the loop. I ended up walking around my home three times before coming back in. Tali comes to the door, pulling me into a hug, whispering "it's ok. We are home." we are home.

Kara asks "are you going to be ok?"

I tell her "yes. I'm sorry for my reaction. I thought I would handle it a lot better."

Roan says "with all that happened to you, I can't believe you are still standing."

"Me neither."

Tali says "we are so thankful. This doesn't have to be today, but we would like to know what we need to have our relationship recognized."

Kara ask "recognized?"

I explain "my people call it marriage. It's when two romantically involved people agree to stay with each other for the rest of their lives, supposedly. What paperwork do we need to fill out to be legally bonded."

Roan explains "there isn't one."

I ask "don't we need a license?"

Raon asks "you're asking strangers for permission?"

Kara scoffs "we don't need no damned politicians telling us if what two people in love have been real. That is for them and the lord to decide."

Tali asks "how do we get bonded then?"

Roan says "we had a small ceremony with family and friends, exchanged vows, and that was it."

Tali excitedly asks "so we could in theory get married or bonded tomorrow?"

Kara says "Sweetie this is a special day. This is a celebration of true love. Don't you have people in your life who'd want to be a part of this?"

Tali says "my dad, my aunt, Shepard, and everybody else."

I say "I'm surprised how fast this is all coming together."

Tali says "don't you want to be married to be as soon as possible?'

"Absolutely…. I'm done waiting. Let's get married. I'll tell Shepard to bring everyone on the Normandy and get here as soon as possible."

Tali says "I'll need a wedding dress."

Kara says "I'll take you to my seamstress. She's a cousin of mine. She can make anything you can imagine."

Tali covers her nose and mouth with her hands, her muffled voice says "I can't believe this is actually happening. I don't know what I want."

I tell her "whatever you are going to wear, once I see you walking down the aisle in that white dress, I'm going into shock."

Tali says "I can't wait to see you in a tuxedo."

"Raon, Kara, thank you again so much. We'd both love it if we could be a part of your lives. We have so much to learn about living in your world."

Roan says "we'll get around to that in time."

Kara says "I and my daughters would love to help plan your special day. Would you care if we told them?"

I ask "can they keep a secret?"

Roan and Kara say in unison "nope!"

Tali says "again I can't thank you enough."

Roan says "no need to thank us. You're both good people. Besides I owe you one for letting my boy get away."

"HE'S NOT INVITED!"

Kara asks "definitely not. Wait… you're the light man?"

I ask "he told you?"

Kara says "after I slapped his butt with a roller for hurting your deary, he told me about what happened. I thought he got hit too hard in the head."

Roan tells his bonded "I saw it too. It's why I didn't want to come over here."

Kara says "you know and didn't tell me?"

Roan says "I thought you would think I was crazy."

Kara says "I would have but it still hurts you didn't trust me enough to talk to me."

Roan says "I didn't want to make you upset."

Kara says "you know I can't stay mad at you for long."

Tali says "you two are so cute together."

I ask "what is it like being bonded together for so long?"

Roan says "better every day."

I say "I want that."

Kara says "you will. Now Tali, show me what a wedding dress looks like."

Tali pulls up her saved files on the omnitool. I tried to look, but Tali wants to keep the dress a survive. Roan and I give them the room and spend the afternoon outside. He brought meat to grill and asks where the grill is. I show off how I can make anything, and he's wowed. As the meat cooks, he fills me in a little bit about his culture and this place puts common in common sense.

Roan again apologies for the actions of his boy.

I tell him "I'm willing to forget that. But if he lays hands on my wife, I'll lay hands on his soul."

Roan says "it won't come to that."

I ask him "how are your people reacting to Tali's people coming back?"

Roan explains "to be honest, they are ready for another war, but the geth have begged us to let them settle as Legion requested it. I'm not going to be honest; things will be tense for a while and her people will have to prove they are no longer the monsters we banished."

I tell him "I'm on your side. I'll talk to her people's leaders and make them understand the situation. Once I'm done with them, they won't dare return to their old ways."

Roan says "glad to hear it. Do you drink? I have my homebrew in a cooler in the skycar." I'm horrified of the idea of drunk flying and need to kill that memory.

"I'll try a sip."