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Description
Title:  Remembering (A mass effect short story)
Characters:  Liara, Tiberius Shepard, Tali, Garrus, Ashley, Hackett, and many others
Universe:  Mass Effect
Author:  Moreeman06

"Shepard are you going to be ok?"

Liara looked at her love, Commander Tiberius Shepard, still sporting scrapes and bruises all over his face from the Battle for Earth that had ended just over two months ago.  There was something off about the way his face was set it was stony and cracked at the same time, like he was doing his best to put on a brave face but couldn't quite get the motion down.

"No Liara, not yet.  I won't be ok for a long time, but this…this will help."

"Ok, just remember I'll be there in front, just look at me ok?"

Tiberius answered with a nod and a quick kiss on Liara's forehead before turning to make his way towards the podium on the other side of the curtain.  He was still limping from the battle and Liara watched as he paused to collect himself.

Tiberius took several deep breaths; his eyes closed waiting right behind the curtain.  He felt along the neck of his dress blues for a cold metal chain and lifted it off his shoulders letting the chain fall into one of his outstretched hands.  He wrapped it methodically around his right hand making sure that the two dog tags on the end fit snuggly into his palm.  He kissed them softly and muttered "I'm sorry" under his breath before stepping out from behind the curtain.

Liara joined the rest of the gathered crowd, taking a spot in the front row besides Tali, who was cradling a cracked helmet in her arms, and Garrus, who was cradling her even more gently, and  Admiral Hackett who was standing there by himself a blood stained cap with the alliance sigil  and admirals bars folded in his left hand.

She surveyed the crowd and was amazed as much at the amount of gathered beings; there were thousands, as by the fact of how somber they were.  She felt out of place being here though everyone else was a soldier, someone who had lost something to the war.  She looked down her left and found Jack Barrowman, his leg in a splint being supported by two members of G.H.O.S.T. the Alliance spec ops unit he had left to work for Liara before rejoining them when the war broke out.  She saw Kahlee Sanders her blond hair straight and shoulder length and her eyes brimming with tears as she wavered back and forth besides Admiral Hackett.  To her right she saw Wrex and Grunt, their heads bowed and strangled growls emitting from their closed mouths.  She saw Major Kirahhe at the front of a column of members from the 3rd STG, a picture of a young Salarian dressed in doctor's whites and singing in his left hand.  She saw a Geth Prime holding a broken Light aperture and a young Drell in a leather half-jacket, clutching a faded photograph.

No, Dr. Liara T'soni didn't believe that she belonged here at all, she may have been here since the beginning but she wasn't a soldier, the only people she'd lost had already been mourned, or in one very miraculous case had returned.  She was only here because of Shepard…

"Hello everybody, thank you all for gathering here today…"  Tiberius Shepard began, he hadn't wanted to do this but the leaders of the combined fleets had asked him, we need someone to preside over the ceremonyy they had said. A symbol that no matter what happens we can't be broken, they said.  They didn't realize that he had been broken though, that his dreams these past months had been worse than nightmares.  They didn't realize that he could still here the screams piercing through his mind whenever a quiet moment befell him.  In their minds he was still the indomitable hero, they had pushed and pushed, eventually he went through with it.  Soldiering on, but there were conditions.   One:  No media whatsoever, this was a ceremony for soldiers and their families and no one else, and two:  he wasn't going to stand there and talk for hours.  They had thankfully agreed and now standing on the stage Tiberius couldn't help but let his thoughts drift for a moment.

Liara turned her attention forward when she heard Tiberius's voice echo over the crowd.  He had paused for a moment, his face screwed up and Liara could only think about how much pain he was going through.  She heard him continue "We've won a great battle but at a cost that none of us would ever wish upon another, but a cost that we've borne together all the same…"  His voice sounded choked and all Liara could think was Please just hold it together Love, I know what you've been going through just please hold it together.

Tiberius looked out over the crowd, he knew his face was scrounged into a grimace and he was happy that the cameras weren't here.  He couldn't quite break down but at least he wouldn't have to worry about showing a bit of emotion in front of the gathered.  A lot of them were soldiers, all of those soldiers had suffered as he had, they understood.  They were a fraternity a brotherhood, he looked out over the assembly.  He saw many familiar faces.  Admiral Hackett, the man who above everyone but Anderson was a father to him.  Jack Barrowman one of his best friends and part of the Three Musketeers, a group of troublemakers during N7 that included him, Jack, and James Long.  He saw his crew Edi supporting Joker whose Vrolik's Syndrome prevented him from being able to stand for long periods.  Garrus arms around Tali supporting her trembling body.  He saw James Vega looking somber and holding a folded banner, and Ashley holding a blackened gauntlet tears streaming gently down her face.  His eyes settled on a lone blue figure surrounded by all of them, and when she looked back at him he continued.

"…This service is to help us remember those that were sacrificed so that we could be here today, the men and women who stood tall, that stood strong so that we and others would survive…"  His voice fell off again and he took a deep breath before continuing.  "I am going to read off a list of the honored dead, those brave souls who deserve so much more than what we can give them today.  As I read each name I would like one spokesperson to come up and give a few words about each soldier…"  He paused again preparing himself for the first name.

"Kaidan Alenko."

As he said the name Liara saw Ash start forward, she quickly tried to compose herself as she reached the podium.

Ash and Liara hadn't gotten along but she felt for her still the same.  Kaidan was one of the first casualties in this war and had been one of the few people that Tiberius seemed to be truly close to.  She didn't mind when she saw Tiberius pull Ash into a hug before stepping away from the podium so she could speak.

"I… I don't really know where to start.  Lieutenant Alenko… Kaidan… well he… I'm sorry I can't do this right now… It's my fault he's dead.  On Virmire he died… he died in a holding action to keep me alive while I set a nuclear bomb to take out Saren's main base.  He… he was the bravest soldier I'd ever met and… and I'm sorry.  I wish he was still here… I would've liked to be able to hold him one more time… to tell him…"

At that moment Ashley broke down into tears and Liara saw Tiberius move in to hold her again.  Tears were streaming down his face and Liara saw him whisper something into her ear before guiding her towards a monument a few feet away.  She had no idea that Ash had still felt that way, and she found that tears were beginning to well in her eyes.  Liara braced herself for a day of such upsetting and heart-wrenching motions.

Tiberius held Ash deep in his arms, after all this time he had thought he had buried Kaidan, that he had mourned them and he found that with what Ash said his death was as raw as ever; and Ash oh how could he not have known that Ash was still carrying that with her, He didn't know if he could do this anymore as he led her towards the monument that they were using as a site for the memorial.  The monument was the memorial to Nelson at Trafalgar Square, it surprisingly wasn't damaged by the Reaper attacks and it had been one of Anderson's favorite places.

Ash left the stage still sobbing but in a more controlled manner before retaking her place besides James.  Liara saw James put an arm around Ash and try to console her as Tiberius continued.

"Legion."

The name echoed out in the crowd and Liara saw the Geth Prime walk towards the memorial.  She noticed that it had a N7 painted on its right shoulder.  As it left the light aperture beside the glove she saw its light dim.  Liara and everyone looked towards the Geth contingent and noticed that the lights in all of them had gone out before a squeal of unintelligible static emitted from them.  Liara heard a heavy sob from Tali and saw Edi lean her head on Joker.

Tiberius continued to list names each one that echoed out hammered on him, he just kept on looking at Liara hoping that his face hadn't become to screwed, that his mask hadn't broken completely.  He ran his thumb down the palm of his right hand feeling the letters etched in the warm metal he had been clutching for the last hour.

"Thane Krios."

Tiberius called his voice choking up at the end so it sounded like "Thane Krio" had been emitted.  Liara saw the young Drell from before raise towards the crowd.  Kolyat walked towards the podium and looked out into the crowd before turning towards Tiberius.  He said in a shallow voice "he would have wanted you to see this and shoved the picture under Tiberius's eyes.  It showed a young Drell boy, no older than 5 smiling bouncing on the shoulders of a fit young Drell on the beach in the waning sunset,  It was proof to Kolyat that Thane had cared for him, that he wasn't the monster he had believed he was 9 months ago when they had their reunion on the Citadel.

Tiberius didn't understand exactly if Thane would have wanted him to see it but he understood that Kolyat wanted him to, that he wanted him to understand that he was sorry for everything he ever thought about his dad and that he was glad for having been given the chance to reconnect with him.  "Kalahira has him know, Kolyat," Tiberius whispered so that only he and Kolyat could hear as he enveloped him in a hug.   Kolyat nodded, as he broke away from the hug.  Tiberius noticed a milky tear form in his eye as he turned towards the memorial clutching the photograph.  He removed the jacket from his back and draped it on the memorial. He stood there uttering a prayer

"Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness.  Kalahira, whose waves wear down stone and sand.  Kalahira, wash the sins from this one and set him on the distant shore of the infinite spirit.  Kalahira, this one's heart is pure but beset by wickedness and contention.  Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve.  Guide this one, Kalahira, and he will be a companion to you as he was to me."

Tiberius found himself repeating those lines as tears streamed freshly from his eyes.  Kolyat after offering his prayer walked slowly towards his spot milky tears staining his face and dripping onto the photograph he held in his hands.

"Kal'Reegar vas Neema."

Liara turned and saw Garrus lean in and plant a small kiss on the top of Tali's helmet before she removed herself from his grasp and walked up towards the podium.  Normally it was said that it was hard to tell where a Quarian was looking because of the helmets but there was no mistaking that Tali was focused solely on the bloodied and cracked helmet in her hands.

"I…Kal was one of the most special people to come into my life.  When I returned to the migrant fleet after the battle with Saren I was assigned a squad of Marines to help me on scientific expeditions.  Kal was the leader of that squad; he was a friend at first there for me when I cried, when I needed someone to hold me.  He was the funniest person I'd ever met, I remember one time on Q'uarrel we were looking for atmospheric fluctuations and we got pinned down by the local wildlife; he said 'come on Tali these things sound like pyjaks,' he lifted his head up and just as quickly brought it back down and said in a spooked voice 'yeah definitely pyyyjaks.'… Keelah, I wish you were still here I could really use you right now Kal…"  Tiberius found himself wrapping his arms around Tali trying to stop the trembling in her sobbing figure.

When Tali left the stage Liara wrapped her in a hug.  She didn't say anything, there wasn't anything to say.  When she let go of Tali she could have sworn she saw tears streaming behind that mask.   "Thanks Liara," she muttered tremulously before going back into Garrus's waiting arms…

The service was drawing to a close and Tiberius was thankful, he swept his eyes around the gathered mourners and was surprised to see that nobody had seen fit to use the chairs that had been set out to relieve their weary feet.  Even those like Joker and Jack who found their legs almost useless had refused to sit deciding that the dead deserved their full attention and respect over their own individual comfort.

Just three names left was all Tiberius could think as his attention shifted onto Liara.

Liara looked up into Tiberius's eyes and she saw all the hurt plastered across his features. It's almost over Love, you've always been stronger than the rest of us and we just need you to be for a few moments longer she thought that message as hard as she could hoping that Tiberius would get the gist of it and was relieved when he removed his eyes from her to settle them on James.

"Bravo Squad, 22 SOG."

Two more Tiberius thought as James walked towards him one arm clutching the folded unit banner close to his chest.  "I never had any family growing up, my dad disappeared on me, mom died, my uncle was the closest thing I had to a father and I well you guys were the best thing that happened to me.  We were one Loco group gung-ho ready to save the day just like… like," the last part got caught in his throat and when James started again he gave up any pretense of finishing the thought.  "Anyways you guys were brothers for me, I loved each and every one of you and you'd be proud I know you would, I'm proud.  I love you guys…"  As he finished James hadn't quite broken down but Liara could see he was moments from.  He walked slowly towards the memorial and placed the banner on the pedestal of the statue of Nelson and took a photograph from his breast pocket and tucked it into the fold of the banner.  James struck a smart salute, before wiping away tears from his eyes.  Tiberius looked at him, knowing personally how hard it was to lose your squad, "James they're proud, I know they are."  "Thanks Loco," was all James could utter as he took Tiberius's outstretched hand and gave him a quick hug.

"Doctor Mordin Solus."

Liara had been there when Mordin had died; he had sacrificed himself to cure the genophage.  He had died a hero's death and for all of his intellect and grim focus she knew that Tiberius spoke very highly and kindly of him, using words like hilarious whenever the subject of Mordin came up.  She saw Major Kirahhe come to the podium and give Tiberius a handshake and salute before starting his speech.  "I've had the honor of serving with Commander Shepard and Dr. Solus on multiple occasions and I can say he was brilliant even by Salarian standards.  He was part of the 3rd STG when I joined as a young Lieutenant and the first words he spoke to me were a speech on Tuchanka instructing me and my squad to 'Hold the Line' while he gathered samples on the Genophage for study…" So that's where he got that line.  Damn, Mordin you may have given the galaxy it's best known battle speech too.Tiberius thought at the mention of that one famous phrase that Major Kirahhe had made a career of promoting. "… He was a great man, always doing what he thought best for the galaxy no matter what orders permitted.  Funny to and a great singer, I remember one season after he quit STG he was cast as Salarian Scientist Jaroth in the Salarian adaption of The Pirates of Penzance,  Whole unit came to see his performance, it was perfect, he was hilarious, so talented, amazing at everything he did…"  a tear fell down Kirahhe's cheek, "… In the end he sacrificed himself to undo a slow Genocide that we Salarians had inflicted upon the Krogan, he ended his life as it was lived, doing what needed to be done, knowing that somebody else would've gotten it wrong…"  A thunderous pounding and growl erupted from the Krogan startling most of the assembled; Liara knew it was their way of paying respect to Mordin.  She was surprised though when Wrex stepped forward and crossed both his arms over his chest, a salute signifying respect towards Kirahhe that was soon repeated by the rest of the Krogan.  Kirahhe took this in and with a nod saluted back in that way towards the Krogan, before turning towards the memorial to place the framed photograph of Mordin besides all the other relics that now filled the area.

Last one Tiberius thought and he knew that this one was going to be the hardest.

"Admiral David Anderson," there was no way Tiberius was going to get through this without breaking down.

He saw Admiral Hackett walk towards Jack Barrowman and latch onto him before the two of them hobbled towards the podium.  Anderson had been a part of the old guard, the first N7 graduate he was the closer to Hackett than any of his brothers had ever been.  For Tiberius and Jack Anderson had been much more, a father figure Anderson had put up with them during their performance reviews on Arcturus, had even allowed some of their less harmful antics to pass through.  He had always been there for both of them, and it was going to be difficult to go on without hearing that soothing deep voice on the other end of the extranet connection.

Hackett's speech was short, everyone knew who Admiral Anderson was, they knew his exploits, they knew his reputation, as for the real David Anderson that was not something you could talk about and expect people to understand.  Tiberius joined Jack by Hackett's side and walked with them to the memorial, their arms on each other's shoulders they reached the memorial and placed the blood stained cap on the highest most central point they could reach.  With the cap placed on its pedestal the three of them saluted the memorial before falling into each other's arms.  At any other time this lack of decorum would be frowned upon but to the three of them it was a sign of camaraderie, as they cried silently and made promises to not let David Anderson's memory fade, to not let his sacrifice be in vain.  Eventually after several long and tense minutes Hackett and Jack removed themselves from the podium and ambled back into the crowd.

Liara took all of this in and tears were staining her cheeks, she hadn't known the Admiral as well as Tiberius, or Jack, or Hackett but he had always been kind to her and she knew how much Tiberius revered him.  She heard open sobbing coming from her left and turned to see Kahlee Sanders crying furiously, her uniform stained with the tears that were overflowing form her eyes.  Her knees were weak and it looked like she might collapse at any second.  Liara quietly moved towards her and took her into her arms.  She'd only met Kahlee once but she knew of her and Anderson's relationship and knew how it felt to lose someone that important.

Tiberius saw Liara move over to Kahlee and tried to compose himself enough to finish the service before he lost it again.  Deep breaths and we can get through this he thought and after several long seconds he spoke.  "We've lost more in the past few months…" the strength in his voice surprised him and it gave him purpose to continue, "… than many of us ever thought we could lose.  The sheer amount of lost lives is more than I can comprehend, yet they all sacrificed themselves so that we could be here today.  That we've been able to come here today Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, Krogan, Quarian, Geth, Batarian, Drell, Hanar, Elcor, and Volus; to stand at attention for so long and mourn the deaths of soldiers who many of us did not know, to be able to bury the hatchet and come together like this.  That is what these men and women would have wanted, for all of us to be able to co-exist and live peacefully, it's a sad fact that so many had to die for us to achieve that but let us not make their sacrifice in vain.  I'm going to leave you know to dwell on your other losses, to rebuild, and to hopefully make tomorrow a much brighter day."  With that Tiberius stepped away from the podium and back behind the curtain.

Later that night Tiberius found himself staring at the now candle lit memorial looking over the memory's of all those he had lost.  The dog tags were still wrapped around his hand, they had stayed that way all day and he wasn't sure when he was going to remove them I'm proud of you those were Anderson's last words to him and they stung more now than they had then.   He stood there alone and in silence his head staring at the blood stained cap.  "We did it, Anderson, we finally did it," he mumbled into the cool night air.  He looked up into the face of the statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the man was one of Anderson's hero's, "I'm sure you and Nelson are up there swapping war stories right now sir."  Tiberius felt a tear stream down his cheek and he knew he couldn't stop himself this time.  He felt himself sink onto the ground crying into the night, letting the pain and the sorrow from the past 3 and a half years pour over him.

Liara had felt herself wandering towards the memorial.  She didn't want to admit it, she still wanted to say that she was angry, and she knew what she had to do couldn't be done in public.  She was carrying a black headdress in her arms, the tips of it stained with a dark blue blood.  It had belonged to her mother Matriarch Benezia.  Benezia had been loved by the Asari before her name was sullied due to her siding with Saren in his war against the council.  Most believed still that Benezia had acted that way out of her own free will, and for awhile Liara had accepted that.  It had been easier to believe that her mother was evil than to believe that her hero and best friend growing up had been duped so easily, so simply.  But she couldn't deny it now; Her Mother had broken free of that influence in the end and had helped them against Saren that was some small consolation but not much.  Liara heard somebody crying near the memorial but the shadows of the night obscured their identity and she ignored the figure.  She placed the headdress near the bottom of the monument and felt tears stinging her cheeks as she spoke.

"I'm Proud of you," the voice more than the words woke Tiberius from his reverie and he looked up towards their source.  After a moment he asked of the blue form a few feet from him, "Liara?"

"Shepard," Liara jumped a bit after realizing who the figure on the ground was.

"Hey what are you doing here?"  Tiberius asked before looking down towards the black headdress.  He realized what it was and found himself walking towards the trembling blue figure.

"Nothing just thinking, remembering…"  Liara's voice dropped off as she felt Tiberius's arms wrap around her.

They didn't say anything for the longest time the two of them just stood there sobbing into each other's arms.  After what seemed like forever Liara looked up into Tiberius's eyes.  She didn't know why but she felt she had to defend why she was here.  "Look I know it sounds stupid and my mom was a…"

"No," Tiberius cut her off, "you're mom wasn't a traitor.  Benezia was a lot of things but she wasn't anything close to a traitor."  Tiberius knew that Benezia had fought against Reaper control, that in the end she had broken free and that it had been worse on Liara then even Anderson's death had been on him.  "Hey," he took her into his arms again, "she did all of it to try and protect you."

"I know... it's what makes it even harder."    After another long moment of silence where Liara sunk into Tiberius's arms she asked "Why were you here?"

"Just thinking, remembering," he said echoing her words.  "I just wish there was more I could have done, I mean I owed him so much more than I was able to give back.  He was the only reason I didn't get kicked out of the N7 program.  He saved my life on Akuze, I never told anybody but his ship was the one that picked me up from there.  On the way back to Arcturus he didn't even try to debrief me he just spent the days sitting with me in silence giving me cups of caf and…"

Tiberius looked down at the dog tags in his hand.  For the first time Liara saw them clearly, they were the same ones Hackett had given her and that she had given back to Tiberius 9 months ago.  She looked down on them scrutinizing them for a sign at what had caused Tiberius to fall into silence.  She found that she had to ask, "What's so important about those?  I saw you take them off before the memorial."

"He gave them to me after Akuze, they were his first set of tags after he graduated N7, said they were a good luck charm."  He flipped one of the tags over and ran his thumb across three small markings along the bottom of the tag, there was just enough light for Liara to make out the letters A.D.J. below the N7 designation.

"I didn't realize…" Liara couldn't get another word out and she just wrapped Tiberius in her arms.

"I know the only people that know are Me, Jack, and Hackett."  Tiberius detached himself from Liara's arms and leaned over to grab Benezia's headdress.  "I think this belongs up here," he said placing the headdress next to Anderson's cap.  "And…" he looked down at the dog tags "… I think it's time you got these back David."  Tiberius slowly unwrapped the dog tags from his hand, stopping to run his fingers across the lettering again and lifting them to his mouth to give it a quick kiss goodbye,  before hanging them on a jutting piece of stone directly underneath Anderson's cap.  "Rest well old friend," he whispered before taking Liara back into his arms.

The two of them stood there for what seemed like hours alternating between crying and standing strong for the other.  Realizing the future they had gained and remembering all that it had cost to achieve it.

Description
Title:  Remembering (A mass effect short story)
Characters:  Liara, Tiberius Shepard, Tali, Garrus, Ashley, Hackett, and many others
Universe:  Mass Effect
Author:  Moreeman06

"Shepard are you going to be ok?"

Liara looked at her love, Commander Tiberius Shepard, still sporting scrapes and bruises all over his face from the Battle for Earth that had ended just over two months ago.  There was something off about the way his face was set it was stony and cracked at the same time, like he was doing his best to put on a brave face but couldn't quite get the motion down.

"No Liara, not yet.  I won't be ok for a long time, but this…this will help."

"Ok, just remember I'll be there in front, just look at me ok?"

Tiberius answered with a nod and a quick kiss on Liara's forehead before turning to make his way towards the podium on the other side of the curtain.  He was still limping from the battle and Liara watched as he paused to collect himself.

Tiberius took several deep breaths; his eyes closed waiting right behind the curtain.  He felt along the neck of his dress blues for a cold metal chain and lifted it off his shoulders letting the chain fall into one of his outstretched hands.  He wrapped it methodically around his right hand making sure that the two dog tags on the end fit snuggly into his palm.  He kissed them softly and muttered "I'm sorry" under his breath before stepping out from behind the curtain.

Liara joined the rest of the gathered crowd, taking a spot in the front row besides Tali, who was cradling a cracked helmet in her arms, and Garrus, who was cradling her even more gently, and  Admiral Hackett who was standing there by himself a blood stained cap with the alliance sigil  and admirals bars folded in his left hand.

She surveyed the crowd and was amazed as much at the amount of gathered beings; there were thousands, as by the fact of how somber they were.  She felt out of place being here though everyone else was a soldier, someone who had lost something to the war.  She looked down her left and found Jack Barrowman, his leg in a splint being supported by two members of G.H.O.S.T. the Alliance spec ops unit he had left to work for Liara before rejoining them when the war broke out.  She saw Kahlee Sanders her blond hair straight and shoulder length and her eyes brimming with tears as she wavered back and forth besides Admiral Hackett.  To her right she saw Wrex and Grunt, their heads bowed and strangled growls emitting from their closed mouths.  She saw Major Kirahhe at the front of a column of members from the 3rd STG, a picture of a young Salarian dressed in doctor's whites and singing in his left hand.  She saw a Geth Prime holding a broken Light aperture and a young Drell in a leather half-jacket, clutching a faded photograph.

No, Dr. Liara T'soni didn't believe that she belonged here at all, she may have been here since the beginning but she wasn't a soldier, the only people she'd lost had already been mourned, or in one very miraculous case had returned.  She was only here because of Shepard…

"Hello everybody, thank you all for gathering here today…"  Tiberius Shepard began, he hadn't wanted to do this but the leaders of the combined fleets had asked him, we need someone to preside over the ceremonyy they had said. A symbol that no matter what happens we can't be broken, they said.  They didn't realize that he had been broken though, that his dreams these past months had been worse than nightmares.  They didn't realize that he could still here the screams piercing through his mind whenever a quiet moment befell him.  In their minds he was still the indomitable hero, they had pushed and pushed, eventually he went through with it.  Soldiering on, but there were conditions.   One:  No media whatsoever, this was a ceremony for soldiers and their families and no one else, and two:  he wasn't going to stand there and talk for hours.  They had thankfully agreed and now standing on the stage Tiberius couldn't help but let his thoughts drift for a moment.

Liara turned her attention forward when she heard Tiberius's voice echo over the crowd.  He had paused for a moment, his face screwed up and Liara could only think about how much pain he was going through.  She heard him continue "We've won a great battle but at a cost that none of us would ever wish upon another, but a cost that we've borne together all the same…"  His voice sounded choked and all Liara could think was Please just hold it together Love, I know what you've been going through just please hold it together.

Tiberius looked out over the crowd, he knew his face was scrounged into a grimace and he was happy that the cameras weren't here.  He couldn't quite break down but at least he wouldn't have to worry about showing a bit of emotion in front of the gathered.  A lot of them were soldiers, all of those soldiers had suffered as he had, they understood.  They were a fraternity a brotherhood, he looked out over the assembly.  He saw many familiar faces.  Admiral Hackett, the man who above everyone but Anderson was a father to him.  Jack Barrowman one of his best friends and part of the Three Musketeers, a group of troublemakers during N7 that included him, Jack, and James Long.  He saw his crew Edi supporting Joker whose Vrolik's Syndrome prevented him from being able to stand for long periods.  Garrus arms around Tali supporting her trembling body.  He saw James Vega looking somber and holding a folded banner, and Ashley holding a blackened gauntlet tears streaming gently down her face.  His eyes settled on a lone blue figure surrounded by all of them, and when she looked back at him he continued.

"…This service is to help us remember those that were sacrificed so that we could be here today, the men and women who stood tall, that stood strong so that we and others would survive…"  His voice fell off again and he took a deep breath before continuing.  "I am going to read off a list of the honored dead, those brave souls who deserve so much more than what we can give them today.  As I read each name I would like one spokesperson to come up and give a few words about each soldier…"  He paused again preparing himself for the first name.

"Kaidan Alenko."

As he said the name Liara saw Ash start forward, she quickly tried to compose herself as she reached the podium.

Ash and Liara hadn't gotten along but she felt for her still the same.  Kaidan was one of the first casualties in this war and had been one of the few people that Tiberius seemed to be truly close to.  She didn't mind when she saw Tiberius pull Ash into a hug before stepping away from the podium so she could speak.

"I… I don't really know where to start.  Lieutenant Alenko… Kaidan… well he… I'm sorry I can't do this right now… It's my fault he's dead.  On Virmire he died… he died in a holding action to keep me alive while I set a nuclear bomb to take out Saren's main base.  He… he was the bravest soldier I'd ever met and… and I'm sorry.  I wish he was still here… I would've liked to be able to hold him one more time… to tell him…"

At that moment Ashley broke down into tears and Liara saw Tiberius move in to hold her again.  Tears were streaming down his face and Liara saw him whisper something into her ear before guiding her towards a monument a few feet away.  She had no idea that Ash had still felt that way, and she found that tears were beginning to well in her eyes.  Liara braced herself for a day of such upsetting and heart-wrenching motions.

Tiberius held Ash deep in his arms, after all this time he had thought he had buried Kaidan, that he had mourned them and he found that with what Ash said his death was as raw as ever; and Ash oh how could he not have known that Ash was still carrying that with her, He didn't know if he could do this anymore as he led her towards the monument that they were using as a site for the memorial.  The monument was the memorial to Nelson at Trafalgar Square, it surprisingly wasn't damaged by the Reaper attacks and it had been one of Anderson's favorite places.

Ash left the stage still sobbing but in a more controlled manner before retaking her place besides James.  Liara saw James put an arm around Ash and try to console her as Tiberius continued.

"Legion."

The name echoed out in the crowd and Liara saw the Geth Prime walk towards the memorial.  She noticed that it had a N7 painted on its right shoulder.  As it left the light aperture beside the glove she saw its light dim.  Liara and everyone looked towards the Geth contingent and noticed that the lights in all of them had gone out before a squeal of unintelligible static emitted from them.  Liara heard a heavy sob from Tali and saw Edi lean her head on Joker.

Tiberius continued to list names each one that echoed out hammered on him, he just kept on looking at Liara hoping that his face hadn't become to screwed, that his mask hadn't broken completely.  He ran his thumb down the palm of his right hand feeling the letters etched in the warm metal he had been clutching for the last hour.

"Thane Krios."

Tiberius called his voice choking up at the end so it sounded like "Thane Krio" had been emitted.  Liara saw the young Drell from before raise towards the crowd.  Kolyat walked towards the podium and looked out into the crowd before turning towards Tiberius.  He said in a shallow voice "he would have wanted you to see this and shoved the picture under Tiberius's eyes.  It showed a young Drell boy, no older than 5 smiling bouncing on the shoulders of a fit young Drell on the beach in the waning sunset,  It was proof to Kolyat that Thane had cared for him, that he wasn't the monster he had believed he was 9 months ago when they had their reunion on the Citadel.

Tiberius didn't understand exactly if Thane would have wanted him to see it but he understood that Kolyat wanted him to, that he wanted him to understand that he was sorry for everything he ever thought about his dad and that he was glad for having been given the chance to reconnect with him.  "Kalahira has him know, Kolyat," Tiberius whispered so that only he and Kolyat could hear as he enveloped him in a hug.   Kolyat nodded, as he broke away from the hug.  Tiberius noticed a milky tear form in his eye as he turned towards the memorial clutching the photograph.  He removed the jacket from his back and draped it on the memorial. He stood there uttering a prayer

"Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness.  Kalahira, whose waves wear down stone and sand.  Kalahira, wash the sins from this one and set him on the distant shore of the infinite spirit.  Kalahira, this one's heart is pure but beset by wickedness and contention.  Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve.  Guide this one, Kalahira, and he will be a companion to you as he was to me."

Tiberius found himself repeating those lines as tears streamed freshly from his eyes.  Kolyat after offering his prayer walked slowly towards his spot milky tears staining his face and dripping onto the photograph he held in his hands.

"Kal'Reegar vas Neema."

Liara turned and saw Garrus lean in and plant a small kiss on the top of Tali's helmet before she removed herself from his grasp and walked up towards the podium.  Normally it was said that it was hard to tell where a Quarian was looking because of the helmets but there was no mistaking that Tali was focused solely on the bloodied and cracked helmet in her hands.

"I…Kal was one of the most special people to come into my life.  When I returned to the migrant fleet after the battle with Saren I was assigned a squad of Marines to help me on scientific expeditions.  Kal was the leader of that squad; he was a friend at first there for me when I cried, when I needed someone to hold me.  He was the funniest person I'd ever met, I remember one time on Q'uarrel we were looking for atmospheric fluctuations and we got pinned down by the local wildlife; he said 'come on Tali these things sound like pyjaks,' he lifted his head up and just as quickly brought it back down and said in a spooked voice 'yeah definitely pyyyjaks.'… Keelah, I wish you were still here I could really use you right now Kal…"  Tiberius found himself wrapping his arms around Tali trying to stop the trembling in her sobbing figure.

When Tali left the stage Liara wrapped her in a hug.  She didn't say anything, there wasn't anything to say.  When she let go of Tali she could have sworn she saw tears streaming behind that mask.   "Thanks Liara," she muttered tremulously before going back into Garrus's waiting arms…

The service was drawing to a close and Tiberius was thankful, he swept his eyes around the gathered mourners and was surprised to see that nobody had seen fit to use the chairs that had been set out to relieve their weary feet.  Even those like Joker and Jack who found their legs almost useless had refused to sit deciding that the dead deserved their full attention and respect over their own individual comfort.

Just three names left was all Tiberius could think as his attention shifted onto Liara.

Liara looked up into Tiberius's eyes and she saw all the hurt plastered across his features. It's almost over Love, you've always been stronger than the rest of us and we just need you to be for a few moments longer she thought that message as hard as she could hoping that Tiberius would get the gist of it and was relieved when he removed his eyes from her to settle them on James.

"Bravo Squad, 22 SOG."

Two more Tiberius thought as James walked towards him one arm clutching the folded unit banner close to his chest.  "I never had any family growing up, my dad disappeared on me, mom died, my uncle was the closest thing I had to a father and I well you guys were the best thing that happened to me.  We were one Loco group gung-ho ready to save the day just like… like," the last part got caught in his throat and when James started again he gave up any pretense of finishing the thought.  "Anyways you guys were brothers for me, I loved each and every one of you and you'd be proud I know you would, I'm proud.  I love you guys…"  As he finished James hadn't quite broken down but Liara could see he was moments from.  He walked slowly towards the memorial and placed the banner on the pedestal of the statue of Nelson and took a photograph from his breast pocket and tucked it into the fold of the banner.  James struck a smart salute, before wiping away tears from his eyes.  Tiberius looked at him, knowing personally how hard it was to lose your squad, "James they're proud, I know they are."  "Thanks Loco," was all James could utter as he took Tiberius's outstretched hand and gave him a quick hug.

"Doctor Mordin Solus."

Liara had been there when Mordin had died; he had sacrificed himself to cure the genophage.  He had died a hero's death and for all of his intellect and grim focus she knew that Tiberius spoke very highly and kindly of him, using words like hilarious whenever the subject of Mordin came up.  She saw Major Kirahhe come to the podium and give Tiberius a handshake and salute before starting his speech.  "I've had the honor of serving with Commander Shepard and Dr. Solus on multiple occasions and I can say he was brilliant even by Salarian standards.  He was part of the 3rd STG when I joined as a young Lieutenant and the first words he spoke to me were a speech on Tuchanka instructing me and my squad to 'Hold the Line' while he gathered samples on the Genophage for study…" So that's where he got that line.  Damn, Mordin you may have given the galaxy it's best known battle speech too.Tiberius thought at the mention of that one famous phrase that Major Kirahhe had made a career of promoting. "… He was a great man, always doing what he thought best for the galaxy no matter what orders permitted.  Funny to and a great singer, I remember one season after he quit STG he was cast as Salarian Scientist Jaroth in the Salarian adaption of The Pirates of Penzance,  Whole unit came to see his performance, it was perfect, he was hilarious, so talented, amazing at everything he did…"  a tear fell down Kirahhe's cheek, "… In the end he sacrificed himself to undo a slow Genocide that we Salarians had inflicted upon the Krogan, he ended his life as it was lived, doing what needed to be done, knowing that somebody else would've gotten it wrong…"  A thunderous pounding and growl erupted from the Krogan startling most of the assembled; Liara knew it was their way of paying respect to Mordin.  She was surprised though when Wrex stepped forward and crossed both his arms over his chest, a salute signifying respect towards Kirahhe that was soon repeated by the rest of the Krogan.  Kirahhe took this in and with a nod saluted back in that way towards the Krogan, before turning towards the memorial to place the framed photograph of Mordin besides all the other relics that now filled the area.

Last one Tiberius thought and he knew that this one was going to be the hardest.

"Admiral David Anderson," there was no way Tiberius was going to get through this without breaking down.

He saw Admiral Hackett walk towards Jack Barrowman and latch onto him before the two of them hobbled towards the podium.  Anderson had been a part of the old guard, the first N7 graduate he was the closer to Hackett than any of his brothers had ever been.  For Tiberius and Jack Anderson had been much more, a father figure Anderson had put up with them during their performance reviews on Arcturus, had even allowed some of their less harmful antics to pass through.  He had always been there for both of them, and it was going to be difficult to go on without hearing that soothing deep voice on the other end of the extranet connection.

Hackett's speech was short, everyone knew who Admiral Anderson was, they knew his exploits, they knew his reputation, as for the real David Anderson that was not something you could talk about and expect people to understand.  Tiberius joined Jack by Hackett's side and walked with them to the memorial, their arms on each other's shoulders they reached the memorial and placed the blood stained cap on the highest most central point they could reach.  With the cap placed on its pedestal the three of them saluted the memorial before falling into each other's arms.  At any other time this lack of decorum would be frowned upon but to the three of them it was a sign of camaraderie, as they cried silently and made promises to not let David Anderson's memory fade, to not let his sacrifice be in vain.  Eventually after several long and tense minutes Hackett and Jack removed themselves from the podium and ambled back into the crowd.

Liara took all of this in and tears were staining her cheeks, she hadn't known the Admiral as well as Tiberius, or Jack, or Hackett but he had always been kind to her and she knew how much Tiberius revered him.  She heard open sobbing coming from her left and turned to see Kahlee Sanders crying furiously, her uniform stained with the tears that were overflowing form her eyes.  Her knees were weak and it looked like she might collapse at any second.  Liara quietly moved towards her and took her into her arms.  She'd only met Kahlee once but she knew of her and Anderson's relationship and knew how it felt to lose someone that important.

Tiberius saw Liara move over to Kahlee and tried to compose himself enough to finish the service before he lost it again.  Deep breaths and we can get through this he thought and after several long seconds he spoke.  "We've lost more in the past few months…" the strength in his voice surprised him and it gave him purpose to continue, "… than many of us ever thought we could lose.  The sheer amount of lost lives is more than I can comprehend, yet they all sacrificed themselves so that we could be here today.  That we've been able to come here today Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, Krogan, Quarian, Geth, Batarian, Drell, Hanar, Elcor, and Volus; to stand at attention for so long and mourn the deaths of soldiers who many of us did not know, to be able to bury the hatchet and come together like this.  That is what these men and women would have wanted, for all of us to be able to co-exist and live peacefully, it's a sad fact that so many had to die for us to achieve that but let us not make their sacrifice in vain.  I'm going to leave you know to dwell on your other losses, to rebuild, and to hopefully make tomorrow a much brighter day."  With that Tiberius stepped away from the podium and back behind the curtain.

Later that night Tiberius found himself staring at the now candle lit memorial looking over the memory's of all those he had lost.  The dog tags were still wrapped around his hand, they had stayed that way all day and he wasn't sure when he was going to remove them I'm proud of you those were Anderson's last words to him and they stung more now than they had then.   He stood there alone and in silence his head staring at the blood stained cap.  "We did it, Anderson, we finally did it," he mumbled into the cool night air.  He looked up into the face of the statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the man was one of Anderson's hero's, "I'm sure you and Nelson are up there swapping war stories right now sir."  Tiberius felt a tear stream down his cheek and he knew he couldn't stop himself this time.  He felt himself sink onto the ground crying into the night, letting the pain and the sorrow from the past 3 and a half years pour over him.

Liara had felt herself wandering towards the memorial.  She didn't want to admit it, she still wanted to say that she was angry, and she knew what she had to do couldn't be done in public.  She was carrying a black headdress in her arms, the tips of it stained with a dark blue blood.  It had belonged to her mother Matriarch Benezia.  Benezia had been loved by the Asari before her name was sullied due to her siding with Saren in his war against the council.  Most believed still that Benezia had acted that way out of her own free will, and for awhile Liara had accepted that.  It had been easier to believe that her mother was evil than to believe that her hero and best friend growing up had been duped so easily, so simply.  But she couldn't deny it now; Her Mother had broken free of that influence in the end and had helped them against Saren that was some small consolation but not much.  Liara heard somebody crying near the memorial but the shadows of the night obscured their identity and she ignored the figure.  She placed the headdress near the bottom of the monument and felt tears stinging her cheeks as she spoke.

"I'm Proud of you," the voice more than the words woke Tiberius from his reverie and he looked up towards their source.  After a moment he asked of the blue form a few feet from him, "Liara?"

"Shepard," Liara jumped a bit after realizing who the figure on the ground was.

"Hey what are you doing here?"  Tiberius asked before looking down towards the black headdress.  He realized what it was and found himself walking towards the trembling blue figure.

"Nothing just thinking, remembering…"  Liara's voice dropped off as she felt Tiberius's arms wrap around her.

They didn't say anything for the longest time the two of them just stood there sobbing into each other's arms.  After what seemed like forever Liara looked up into Tiberius's eyes.  She didn't know why but she felt she had to defend why she was here.  "Look I know it sounds stupid and my mom was a…"

"No," Tiberius cut her off, "you're mom wasn't a traitor.  Benezia was a lot of things but she wasn't anything close to a traitor."  Tiberius knew that Benezia had fought against Reaper control, that in the end she had broken free and that it had been worse on Liara then even Anderson's death had been on him.  "Hey," he took her into his arms again, "she did all of it to try and protect you."

"I know... it's what makes it even harder."    After another long moment of silence where Liara sunk into Tiberius's arms she asked "Why were you here?"

"Just thinking, remembering," he said echoing her words.  "I just wish there was more I could have done, I mean I owed him so much more than I was able to give back.  He was the only reason I didn't get kicked out of the N7 program.  He saved my life on Akuze, I never told anybody but his ship was the one that picked me up from there.  On the way back to Arcturus he didn't even try to debrief me he just spent the days sitting with me in silence giving me cups of caf and…"

Tiberius looked down at the dog tags in his hand.  For the first time Liara saw them clearly, they were the same ones Hackett had given her and that she had given back to Tiberius 9 months ago.  She looked down on them scrutinizing them for a sign at what had caused Tiberius to fall into silence.  She found that she had to ask, "What's so important about those?  I saw you take them off before the memorial."

"He gave them to me after Akuze, they were his first set of tags after he graduated N7, said they were a good luck charm."  He flipped one of the tags over and ran his thumb across three small markings along the bottom of the tag, there was just enough light for Liara to make out the letters A.D.J. below the N7 designation.

"I didn't realize…" Liara couldn't get another word out and she just wrapped Tiberius in her arms.

"I know the only people that know are Me, Jack, and Hackett."  Tiberius detached himself from Liara's arms and leaned over to grab Benezia's headdress.  "I think this belongs up here," he said placing the headdress next to Anderson's cap.  "And…" he looked down at the dog tags "… I think it's time you got these back David."  Tiberius slowly unwrapped the dog tags from his hand, stopping to run his fingers across the lettering again and lifting them to his mouth to give it a quick kiss goodbye,  before hanging them on a jutting piece of stone directly underneath Anderson's cap.  "Rest well old friend," he whispered before taking Liara back into his arms.

The two of them stood there for what seemed like hours alternating between crying and standing strong for the other.  Realizing the future they had gained and remembering all that it had cost to achieve it.