Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 23: Fountains of Memories

Garrus knew exactly where Shepard had gone. There was a spot, if you followed the Presidium lake down just at eye line with the fountains. He had shown it to her. You had to take some back entrances and stairwells to get there, but it was out of view from any passers by. He had shown it to her once. There was a breezeway access that only C-sec and Spectres could get to, but it was rarely used.

He made his way down the stairways and corridors, pushed past some of the broken doorways, and just as he suspected she was sitting on a set of rocks just off the breezeway. The water was gently lapping up onto the rocks below her boots. Her knees were up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She wasn't tense. She wasn't anything really. She was just being quiet, lost in her own thoughts.

Garrus stopped for a moment at the entry from the door to the breezeway. He watched as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and let the wind catch it up. If there was no war going on, no conflict, it would have been a peaceful image. He reached up, as he had done many times without her knowing, and clicked a button on his visor. He let the image catch, save, and cycle into a folder before he began his walk up to her.

"I heard there was a good fishing spot here. Two krogan gave me the info. Know anything about it?" He moved in across from her and sat on the ledge of the breezeway, one leg stretched out, looking off into the same direction she was. He didn't want to crowd her. What she had just been through was pretty mind numbing. Hell, he hadn't even been that close to Kaidan and it shook him a bit.

A smile crossed Shepards face. She laughed that airy laugh she would give every now and then. "No, but maybe if we stay down here long enough we can find the spot."

There was a long pause. Garrus didn't know what to say or if he should say anything at all really. Shepard finally took a deep breath and began to speak.

"After Saren was dead and the council met with the Alliance, I was given back the Normandy. You had already gone back to complete spectre training. Tali was with the flotilla. Liara was off doing whatever it is Liara does. Kaidan and I were dating. Nothing terribly serious just dating. He was put on the Normandy along with Joker and most of the crew."

Garrus leaned back and just listened. He could tell from the tone in her voice this was something that she had never shared with anyone. She took a breath and continued.

"We kept bunking together on occasion. If we were able to have shore leave we took it and acted like the normal couple, only to get back to the ship and have regs take over. The thing was we had already been cleared by Anderson. If we wanted to make it official, it was fine with the Alliance. The only change would be that Kaidan or I would have to make some adjustments. We may have to have a few weeks apart, or a duty that lasted 6 months, but nothing major."
She shifted slightly and stretched her legs out over the rocks. "Even with approval he still kept things very formal. The only time it wasn't form was when the door was closed and even then, it was like he was always on his toes. Looking back on it, I'm not really sure why it didn't bother me."

There was a long pause and Garrus waited for her to speak. When she didn't, he decided to jump in.

"Haleyana and I knew each other from military training. It's a tradition, and in some clans of turians mandatory, to serve in the military. I met her during training. She wasn't particular good at any one thing because she was outstanding at everything. We got along well. After we were both done with our military tours we decided to make a go of it."

He chuckled and leaned back. "Our first apartment was...awful. Our command wasn't there and our parents weren't either so it was amazing. After a few months she started working as a nurse with the turian medic dispatch. They work with the military primarily, but as a civilian outpost unit. It started with subtle things at first. All new furniture to look good because someone may just stop by. Then it was hiding things we liked because "they weren't popular" or "well my friends don't really understand." I didn't think about it at the time because it was for her benefit and her career. It didn't bother me that the only time we were ourselves was when we were alone. It took a few years after we split up and she married a chancellor for me to realize that it damn sure should have bothered me but it didn't because deep down I knew she was the one at the time. Not the one of my life."

Shepard watched him as he talked. She took in what he said piece by piece. She had to admire that he had moved on from it enough that he could still look back on it with fondness of some kind. She sighed and leaned back.

"Garrus, I never expected Kaidan to be a facet in my life again. Especially after Horizon. I don't know what to do with this. I care about him, but romantic viewpoints aren't there anymore. That was a different Shepard, somewhat literally as the case may be. Lazarus changed me. Not just physically in some respects, but emotionally. I don't remember anything. I was choking to death in space one second and then coughing on a medical table in the next. I remember nothing in between. It was just black. Just...." She noticeably shivered.

Garrus stood up and began walking to her. She stood and turned her back to him and she looked out onto the fountains and water line. Garrus stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her to him. She could feel his warmth, his chest moving in and out as he breathed.

"He isn't a bad person Garrus."

He nodded. "I know, but Jane, he is going to try to win you back."

Jane leaned back and sighed as her eyes closed. "He is going to try to win Commander Shepard, defender of the Citadel, back. Not Jane."

Garrus nodded against her and sighed. It was funny to him how normal daily life still went on and even intruded even during a war. But this is what they were fighting for wasn't it? Love, life, friends, our past, our future. And he would fight, as much as he needed to on whatever battlefield it was.