After Effect

    Garrus sat high on a ledge watching the bustling commotion far below him, his sniper rifle cradled casually in his arm. Officially, he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for trouble, or at least that is what he had told Alenko before climbing up here, but the truth was that Garrus just needed to get away from everyone for a little while, some time to be alone with his thoughts. He had reluctantly allowed Tali'Zorah to drag him back to London and he did have to admit that, for a time at least, it had been good to be surrounded by friends and comrades, people genuinely happy to see him and speak to him. Eventually, however, he could no longer avoid thinking about her, so he had used the events today as an excuse to get some time away.

    A large group of humans was leaving today to go return to their homes here on Earth and see their families, so there was a big production in seeing them off. While no one could begrudge them wanting to return home after everything they had been through, it had led to some bad feelings among many of the alien races that were still stranded here.  The mass relays had been destroyed and despite having a huge fleet of starships still available, hyperspace travel was still impossible until the scientists could come up with some alternative means to reach the other galaxies. That was going to be even harder now, with all the AIs and VIs shut down, and that meant a lot of alien races remained stuck here on Earth indefinitely with no way to get home to their own families. The krogan and the quarians especially were taking this hard. With the genophage so recently cured, the krogan were eager to return home and start rebuilding their population and society, and the quarians had finally, after three centuries of exile, reclaimed their home world from the geth. Still, it did not make sense to strain resources in London if the humans could spread out again, now that Earth was safe.

    Garrus sighed as he watched the smiling happy faces down below that were soon to return to their homes and loved ones. He knew that his father and sister were safe and that he technically had a family to return to, but no one knew how long it would be before the turians could return to Palaven, and if he had to be entirely honest with himself, there was really only one face he longed to see. His heart clenched in pain and he exhaled heavily, trying to dispel the image of tousled short red hair and laughing grey eyes. Those beautiful eyes, so large and open compared to a turian's, had not been laughing, the last time he had seen them. They had been lined with more worry than should ever rest on a single individual's shoulders.

    Lifting his head toward the sky, his gaze turned once more to where the Citadel had exploded.  He knew that if there was a heaven, it would not likely be located at the scene of one's fiery death, but he could not help looking in that direction whenever he thought of her. He tried to console himself with the thought that at least she had finally found peace, no longer spending every spare moment of her life single handedly trying to hold the galaxy together. She had more than earned her rest, but it was a shame that she was not here to share in the victory of everything they had fought to achieve.

    Something blue moved down below and he glanced back down to see Liara waving her hands, trying to get his attention. When she saw he was looking, she motioned for him to come join her, pointing over toward something out of sight, and Garrus sighed again. Likely something had come up with the turians and they needed him to sort it out. Shouldering his rifle, he reluctantly got to his feet and began climbing down to see what the trouble was about.

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    "Grandpapa! Grandpapa!" Melanie's voice was shrill with excitement and it immediately turned the head of every adult in the vicinity, each person clenching whatever they held in their hands as a makeshift weapon, if need be. There had been no hostilities in some time, but old habits were hard to break, especially when they had saved the life of this small town several times over since the Reapers had first attacked Earth.  They only relaxed their grip and returned to their tasks when they saw the child smiling, which surely meant no danger.

    The small, golden-haired five year old came streaking down the street, her twin braids flowing out behind her as she sped up to grasp the gnarled hand of her grandfather. "Come quickly, grandpapa! It's Commander Shepard!"

    Warren blinked at his granddaughter bemusedly, and then he offered her a benign smile and patted her hand softly. Likely, the child was playing make-believe again, thinking she was on some adventure with the brave crew of the Normandy to save the universe. He was not about to correct the girl and remind her that Commander Shepard was dead, since Melanie smiled so rarely these days. Most of the children possessed the large, haunted eyes of young ones who had seen more horrors than any person should ever know, and certainly no child ever should have. She had seen Commander Shepard on the vids a few times and Warren was uncertain if the woman had a bigger fan than his granddaughter.

    The small hand was tugging at his adamantly, insistent that he follow her. "All right, Melanie, all right," he laughed, setting aside the datapad he had been trying to repair. His eyesight was not what it used to be, and he would not admit that he was grateful for an excuse to put off fumbling with the thing for a bit longer. Stalling just a moment longer to grab the gnarled stick he had picked up in place of a walking cane, he stiffly rose to his feet and began following after the child.

    Upon seeing that her grandfather intended to follow her, Melanie released his hand and darted on ahead, then stopped and waited impatiently for him to catch up. "Come on, grandpapa! Hurry!"

    "I'm coming, child. Patience is a virtue." He hid a smile as she huffed and rolled her eyes. She led him to the edge of town, where the cornfields beyond hid much from sight, the tall stalks waving lazily in the soft breeze as if they had not a care in the world. Briefly, he envied those stalks of corn their freedom from concerns but he quickly dismissed the foolish notion. He had always prided himself on being a very grounded individual, realistic and down to earth, not given to flights of fancy. That is why he had remained here on Earth even when so many humans had gone on to colonize other planets. No, for him, the home of his ancestors was good enough.

    Warren realized he had stopped moving when he felt another insistent tug on his hand and looked down into a very irritated upturned freckle face as Melanie frowned at him. "All right, I'm coming," he quickly reassured her, starting to wonder what had made the child so agitated. Usually her make-believe fantasies were not so demanding. She started off again, this time not releasing his hand so they would not get separated in the cornfield.

    She led him so far that Warren was just opening his mouth to chastize her for straying so far from the town when they came to an abrupt stop at the edge of a large crater. Warren stared around in amazement at the wreckage strewn about. This must have been the source of that loud crash a few nights ago. Everyone had started up out of their beds in a panic, thinking the attacks had started again, but they soon realized it was simply shrapnel descending to Earth from the battle, and had done their best to avoid being struck, paying it no further mind. There were more important things to attend to for the moment that mattered to their survival; clearing up wreckage and debris could wait, where it was not immediately in their way or dangerous.

    "She's down here, grandpapa!" Melanie said, her piping voice eager now that they were getting close.

    "Melanie, be careful!" he hissed as she easily clambered down the side and darted off among the wreckage. Warren began seeking an easy path to work his way down, but he glanced up at the sky for a moment, uncertainly.

    "No one could have survived this," he muttered to himself. "At least we can give the bodies a proper burial." He doubted that his granddaughter had found Commander Shepard, it was more likely this was the remains of one of the starships that had been lost in the firefight. Upon reaching the bottom with some difficulty, he turned his head and looked around, feeling a moment of panic when he could not see her hear the child anywhere. "Melanie!" he called out, his tone tense with fear.

    "Over here, grandpapa!" the girl called, appearing up ahead. "Hurry, she's hurt!"

    Frowning in disbelief, Warren made his way over to Melanie as quickly as he could. Huffing and wheezing, he bent to put his hands on his knees, starting to get a sense of urgency all his own. "Wh-where-?" he tried to ask the child.

    "She's down there, grandpapa!" He turned and looked to see where the child was pointing and felt his breath catch as he noticed a pair of armored legs protruding from the rubble. Though hardened from months of seeing a great many dead soldiers in this war, he still could not help but feel some pang of grief. The face of this body could not be seen, but he realized why Melanie had thought this was Commander Shepard; the body below wore dark green armor, the same as they had seen Shepard wearing many times in the vids.

    "Melanie... Melanie, listen to me. I want you to go back to the town and get help. I'll need help." He grasped the child gently by the shoulders and peered into her eyes to make sure she understood. She nodded fervently, proud to be entrusted with such an important task.

    "Yes, grandpapa. Just hurry! She's hurt!"

    Warren nodded patiently and waited until the child had reached the stalks of corn again before turning back to look at the body down below. It lay too still, though the slight cavity in which it rested likely explained how it had survived re-entry without getting burned up. He had not wanted Melanie to be present when he reached the body, in case it was badly mangled. The old man tried to carefully make his way down without disturbing too much of the debris. His footing was precarious and he did not want to risk accidentally burying the body, or worse, himself, from a careless motion.

    "I'm getting too old for this stuff," he muttered to himself, panting heavily as he finally reached the fallen soldier. He felt a constriction in his chest again as he now saw the body was indeed that of a woman. He knelt beside her and spared a moment to lift his head toward the heavens and whisper softly, "May your efforts bring lasting peace, may your sacrifice be always appreciated by those you served, and may God embrace you and find for you a place in His Kingdom. Go now to your final rest in peace." In a time when the heavens were readily accessible on graceful starships, some thought him foolish for still believing in some metaphysical realm in the clouds that was home to the dead, but he had clung to his beliefs tenaciously and he saw no reason not to offer a prayer for the departed now.

    A bit apprehensive at what he might find, Warren very gently started to turn the body over. He suddenly felt all the breath rush out of his lungs at once as he stared down at the soldier. Even with her face a mass of bruises and covered in blood, there was no mistaking the face of Commander Shepard.

    "Melanie was right," he muttered in disbelief. Feeling suddenly weak beyond even his advanced years, he sat down hard, tears prickling his eyes as he looked on the face of their savior, quite literally the savior of every sentient being in the universe.