I own nothing of Mass Effect; I just play in Bioware's playground.

Festivities and Revelations

Fireworks. A distinctly human display of pyrotechnics. Tali had heard of them before, but had never seen them up close. The night sky over Terra Nova exploded with color as the fireworks started.

Keelah, this is amazing! She thought to herself as the sky was filled with color and light. So entranced was she by the fireworks, she did not notice her captain approach until his arms wrapped around her from behind. She placed an arm over the ones encircling her middriff.

"Enjoying the show?" Shepard asked as he hugged her from behind.

"Oh yes," she said before a particularly bright flare went off. "Keelah!"

Her commander chuckled as he held her. Though he could not see her face, the wonder in her voice told him volumes all the same. He glanced away from the fireworks to look at her visored face.

"It's beautiful," Tali said, unaware Shepard's focus had shifted from the pyrotechnics above to her.

"Yes you are," he murmured to her, hugging her tighter.

Tali blushed and glanced at her captain. "Shepard...."

The quarian turned in his arms to hug him to her as fireworks of purple and gold showered light down on them. She pulled away slightly before cupping her face with a three fingered hand.

With a smile, Shepard brought a hand to his lips, kissing two fingers before placing them against the voicelight of her helmet. Tali softly did the same before hugging him tightly.

"Thank you for bringing me with you," she said softly. Shepard was about to reply when he was interrupted.

"Dinner and a show? You shouldn't have," Garrus said as his mandible flared in amusement. He stood a few feet away, arms crossed as he looked at his two best friends.

Tali sprang away from Shepard in embarrassment. "Oh Keelah," she said as she brought her hands to her faceplate. Shepard just shook his head and smiled.

"Enjoying yourself, ugly?" He said with a smile.

Garrus nodded. "Indeed." He gestured towards the people down the hill. "The crew was starting to wonder where you two snuck off too. I, er, volunteered to go find you." He shrugged.

Finally recovered from her embarrassment, Tali was distracted as her suit filtered the sound of music from the base of the hill. It sounded pleasant, reminder her faintly of the music from Flux. She looked over at her captain and her friend.

"Let's go join them," she said excitedly. She was not aware she was bouncing on her toes with nervous energy.

Shepard smiled. "Sure, let's go let them know we didn't go anywhere," he said as he held a hand out to Tali.

She took his hand, and the pair, Garrus in tow, headed to the celebration at the base of the hill. The fireworks reached a crescendo, lighting the darkness and the path they trod.

The trio arrived at the edge of the gathering. Tables were set out, and it was to no surprise that the crew of the Normandy had commandeered a small grouping of the tables. Shepard noted that Joker and Kelly were sitting together, talking and laughing at a table near the former Cerberus crew. He noted that his team was seated at two tables; some of his crew was not at the table.

He looked around. On the edge of an impromptu dance 'floor', the commander was unsurprised to see Kasumi dancing to the beat. With a smile, he saw that Mordin was also cutting loose. Scientific interest only, eh? He thought to himself.

Tali and Shepard grabbed seats at one of the shore team's tables, as they joined the party. They were seated next to Samara, who was conversing with Zaeed, of all people. He was regaling her with a story of some mission on a similar colony.

"So then these sorry sons a'****es come screaming around the corner, giddy as hell from having blown the bank. Jesse and I put a stop to their good day, let me tell you!"

"While I agree that was the correct action, why would you intervene?" Samara asked levelly.

Zaeed grunted and lit a cigar. "Bastards blew the bank my crew's pay was stored in."

Samara frowned, as his reasoning clearly conflicts with her Code. Jacob, seated next to Miranda, merely nodded as he drank from his bottle of spirits. Miranda simply shook her head.

"While his reasons were not pure, his actions did have the correct outcome," Thane said levelly from his corner of the table. Samara looked to him then nodded, content to let the matter drop.

Jacob finished his drink. Motioning to the group, he said, "Anyone else want one?" He nodded to Zaeed when the mercenary raised his empty glass. "Miri?" he said to the former Cerberus operative.

"I'm fine Jacob," she said with a nod. The soldier shrugged and stood. Patting her on the shoulder, he left to the table where the rest of the shore party was located.

"It's Miri now?" Garrus asked after he sat down.

Miranda straightened. "Jacob may be able to call me that, Archangel, but I don't recall giving you that privilege," she responded archly. "Tali, Commander."

She rose and followed Jacob. The two shared a few words. The group at the table tensed, expecting a reprimand. They were surprised to as Jacob laughed, grabbed her hand, and waded into the people that were dancing.

"Huh," Zaeed said with a snort. "Looks like I gotta get my drink myself." He rose and headed to the table with liberal quantities of alcohol.

"So Shepard, how were the fireworks?" Samara asked after the mercenary had left the table.

"Yeah, how was the show?" Garrus added with the turian approximation of a smirk.

Tali scowled beneath her visor. "I have a shotgun." After a moment, everyone laughed.

At the other table, Grunt let out a roar. He was seated across from Jack. Their right hands were clasped near the edge of the table, as each was attempting to overpower the other. Grunt's arm was strained while Jack's was glowing blue from her biotics.

With a smirk, she slowly pushed the krogan's arm down. Eventually, she slammed it to the table. "That's what you get big boy! Pay up!"

"Hah!" Grunt snorted. "You had to cheat human."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack replied, chugging from a bottle. "You didn't say I couldn't."

The krogan slammed a bottle of Rincol. "Next time I'll have to actually try." Laughing, he tossed her a credit chit. Jack merely grinned.

Meanwhile, Tali watched the dancers as the tempo of the music changed. Not particularly interested in the conversationat the table, she stood, and grabbed the commander's hand. She bounced a few times on her toes.

"Let's go dance Shepard!"

"Shepard looked panicked for a moment. "You really don't want me to go dance Tali like that," he said with a nervous smile.

She merely shook her head and tugged on his hand. Laughing, Shepard stood and followed Tali out onto the dance floor.

"Young Love," the justicar said with a sad smile.

The assassin nodded. "Love, no matter how unexpectedly it is found, is a matter to rejoice."

Samara nodded, as her gaze followed her comrades into the throng of people. Garrus just smiled. He stood and approached the human controlling the music. He whispered a request, and the human smiled and nodded.

The former vigilante turned and leaned against the musician's stage, waiting for his surprise to start. Here's to you, commander.

What am I doing? Shepard thought to himself as he tried to keep up with the graceful quarian that danced with him. The beat was fast and steady; but truthfully, he was more interested in watching her than dancing. Still, he tried his best to follow her movements.

Tali flowed through different maneuvers, lost to the music. It's been so long since I could do this, she thought to herself. She was swept away by the music, caught in its rythm. She flowed like water; all style and grace as the music continued.

Shepard, unfortunately, could not claim the same. Compared to Tali, it looked like he had two left feet, one of them lame. Still, he did his best as the song faded away.

"We're going to change it up a bit," the DJ said as he spun up the next track. "Everyone, grab a partner and enjoy!"

Shepard grinned as a slow, familiar song began to play. Bowing, he held a hand to Tali.

"May I have this dance?"

Thrilled, Tali took her captain's hand. He lead her into the beginings of a smooth waltz. Not wholly familiar with the style, the quarian quickly caught on, her natural grace compensating for her inexperience.

"You can dance," she said softly, as Shepard lead her through the steps.

The commander smiled. "Formal dancing like this?" He said with a laugh. "I can do this. Faster music though, I didn't have a lot of time for though."

Tali nodded and clung a little tighter to him. As they flowed around the dance floor, she caught sight of Miranda and Jacob dancing in much the same way. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw that Ken and Gabby were also out on the dance floor. She alerted her captain to the engineers.

"'Bout time," he said after he caught sight of them. Tali only nodded.

The pair danced the entire song, as well as the following song. Shepard smoothly changed the dance to a tango as the rythm changed to a more energetic beat. They failed to notice that those around them slowly moved aside and gave them room.

Eventually, the song wound down and ended. As Tali and Shepard stopped, clapping began around them. They looked around quickly to notice they had the attention of most of the dancers around them.

Shepard just grinned and waived. Never comfortable as the center of attention, Tali buried her faceplate in Shepard's shoulder. Once the music started back up, she looked up at Shepard's face. She smiled as he looked down at her adoringly. With a shared glance, they left the dance floor and returned to their friends.

The Normandy's captain saw Garrus walk over and join them in the quick jaunt to their table. He nodded his thanks. The turian widened his mandibles in a grin and motioned them along. The trio rejoined the table, to a small round of clapping from their friends for the two that had just finished dancing.

"Settle down," Shepard called out with a laugh. He guided Tali to a seat, then took the one next to her as his own.

"Well Shep," Kasumi chirped from her seat next to Tali, "It's good to see that you aren't just graceful on the battlefield." Thane nodded, as did Samara.

Garrus took a drink from his glass, then said, "Well damn. You keep this up, and I might not be the best catch on the Normandy."

"You bosh'tet," Tali said with a laugh, joined by the rest of the table.

Shepard chuckled. "So Tali, where did you learn to dance like that?"

She ran a hand over her hood. "Back in the Flotilla, dance is very important. It is one of the best modes of expression that we can have without talking."

Samara nodded. "That is understandable." She gestured to the dance floor. "You are quite skilled."

Tali stammered a thanks as Garrus chuckled at her reaction to the justicar's praise.

"Is this how you humans celebrate all the time?" The turian asked.

As she rejoined the table with Jacob, Miranda said, "This has been an exceptional celebration, by colony standards." When the group looked over at her, she continued, "On Earth itself it would likely be more extravagant, but it would be on a similar vein."

Shepard shook his head. "Maybe, but I am fine with this amount." He shrugged. "I'm not one for this sort of display usually. I'd prefer something smaller."

Tali looked at her captain and asked, "Then why bring us here?"

"Well, it seemed like a good idea," he said with a grin. "Besides, this wasn't just for me or I probably would have avoided it. This is also about you and Garrus."

"Besides," he continued after a moment, "This is likely the closest we will get as a group to recognition for everything we've done."

The table quieted with his last statement. Each looked to the others, realizing how much they have collectively accomplished; little of it would be known by the galaxy at large. Shepard shook his head with a sigh.

"Let's not worry about that," he said with a grin. "We know what we've done. That's more than good enough in my books." He raised his glass. The rest joined him.

"To Victory!"

"Keelah I'm tired," Tali said as she sat and removed the outer boots from her suit . "I can't remember when I've been so tired without having fired my gun."

"Agreed," Shepard said as he removed his coat and set it in the clothing unit. "It's a good feeling though." Tali nodded from her seat on the bed.

With a grin, Shepard held a hand out to her, like he had earlier in the evening. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Think you have one more in you?"

The quarian giggled and stood with his assistance. He held her like he had previously. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"EDI, play something soft, then close all connections to the floor until 0800."

"Acknowledged Shepard. Logging you out."

A soft song began to play. Shepard guided Tali along, the rythm soft and soothing. The two held each other and danced along. She could not remember when she had last felt this content. Slowly the lyrics filtered in. The singer spoke of forgiveness, and the chance for a better tomorrow.

Oh, father, she thought as she remembered the man that she had tried for so long to make proud. She started to cry softly as the song continued about places to live, and the one child who would save everything.

Towards the end of the song, she glanced up through her tears to see the commander mouthing along to the lyrics. She could only smile and let the song carry away in her captain's arms.

Finally the song was over. The pair slowly stopped dancing. Tali looked up at Shepard's face. His gaze was soft, warming her heart and drying her tears. He smiled softly to her. He rested his head on her visor and spoke softly to her.

"We'll get to our better days Tali. Just you wait."

She shuddered and tightened her grip. She wanted so badly to be out of her suit and kissing him. Tonight, she would have to settle for clutching him to her, her unmovable rock in the storm of her life.

"Oh Keelah, Shepard..."

Nearing the midday meal, Shepard found himself wandering the lower floor. As he moved into Engineering, he could hear voices, slightly raised.

"I can't believe you waited this long to say something Ken," Gabby said in a huff. "Years! A girl can grow old waiting on you."

Ken raised his hands in defense. "Now wait a bloody minute! I thought ya knew already?"

"How was I supposed to know?" she nearly screeched at him.

Lowering his hands, he held them out. "Oh, c'mon! After all this time, why else would I still want to be around a woman that busts my chops as much as you?"

Shepard glanced over at Tali, who was trying to pay attention to her terminal as the two argued in the middle of engineering. Gabby poked her finger at Ken.

"Well, why didn't you say it then?" she demanded.

"I'm a man," he said, as if that explained everything. "We don't talk about this love-dovey tripe, or say 'I love you' first."

At this point, even Tali looked over at the engineers. She did not notice the commander behind her. Gabby was red in the face - but from embarrassment or rage it was impossible to tell.

"A real man would have said something!" She shouted as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Bollux," Ken said in frustration. "Even the commander wouldn't say it first." He waived at Tali. "Isn't that right?"

Tali stood ram-rod straight. "That's not any of your..."

"Of course I love Tali."

"...your...busine.....What?"

Everyone stopped and looked behind Tali. The commander was standing just behind the quarian, looking over at her fondly. Gabby grabbed Ken, and pulled him out of engineering. She could see what was about to unfold, and wanted her overly gossipy partner out of earshot.

Tali simply kept staring. It started to make Shepard nervous.

"Tali?"

She shook her head rapidly. Tali walked up, grabbed his arm and dragged him to the elevator, punching the button for floor one viciously. Shepard looked over at her, concerned.

"Tali?" He tried again.

She held up a finger to his lips to shush him. She then stared impatiently at the elevator status as it ticked past floor 3 and on to floor 2. She bounced on her toes, once, twice, and finally three times.

Shepard just leaned against the wall. "At least tell me what's up with the bouncing," he said in an attempt to lighten the tenseness in the elevator.

"It's instinctive; when we're nervous, or angry, or excited, it's an easy way to expel some nervous energy," she replied distractedly. "It's a holdover from when our people were predators on our planet thousands of years ago." Shepard blinked in surprise, not expecting her to answer.

She then brought up her omni tool and typed in some commands as the elevator started to stop at the CIC. "Come on you bosh'tet!" she grumbled. There was a 'ding', and the elevator suddenly shot upwards; the inertial dampeners not completely able to compensate.

As the door opened, Tali grabbed Shepard again and pulled him toward the loft. Shepard was not certain what to make of this behavior; it was certainly not what he expected from Tali.

"Decontamination Complete."

Still with a firm hold, Tali marched them both into the room and to the foot of the bed. Finally, she let go of Shepard's hand and turned to face him. As Shepard looked over at her and began to speak, she held up a hand.

He stopped. With a snap and a hiss, Tali removed her visor and tossed it on the couch. Tears were still flowing freely out of her eyes. Now Shepard was more than concerned. He tried again to speak but was interrupted with an outstretched hand.

"Say it again."

Blinking his eyes, Shepard stared. Then he smiled softly before he took her hand even as it reached for him. He held her hand gently, then looked her directly in the eyes.

"I love you, Tali," were his heartfelt words.

Tali started to sob, but she forced herself to remain standing. After a moment, she found her voice.

Slowly, she stammered out, " D-do you kn-know, d-do you have any idea, how long I have waited," and here her breath hitched and she choked back a sob. "For someone I love to say that to me?" She started to move forward, then stopped.

"Please. Please Shepard," she said finally, her sobs tapering off, "Say it again."

He had no hesitation, especially now that he knew how important this was to her.

"I love you Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya."

In retrospect, I should have expected this, he thought as Tali pounced on him, knocking him on to the bed. Then her lips met his, and the only thought he had was how much he loved the woman in his arms. Soon after that thought, instincts took over them both and no more words were spoken.