A/N: So I'm leaving for a weekend trip - the first ever while living in NYC - tomorrow with my wife. Meaning very little writing time. And I didn't wanna leave you all without the very ending.

But here's the thing. I had two endings that I wrote, one before the alternate endings came out, and one after. And I like them equally well for different reasons. So I'm posting them both, and you all can just decide which one is the ending to this story. Think of it like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel.

I would be interested in seeing which people like better, which you've decided is the ending in your head, and what you liked/didn't like about each.

So. Just to be clear. TWO DIFFERENT ENDING OPTIONS. THEY ARE NOT RELATED NOR DO THEY LEAD INTO EACH OTHER. And this, obviously, is the end of this tale. Hope you enjoyed it!

Epilogue

ENDING OPTION 1:

Twenty-five Years Later

The young woman woke with the sun. She roused her mother, who slept beside her, and went to bathe and bring water back for the day's use. When she'd returned, her mother was nowhere to be found. She went about preparing the morning's meal, and by the time it was laid out on the table, her mother had returned, freshly washed.

"Excellent. Go get your father. I will finish."

The young woman hurried off to do as she was bid.

Half a mile away, a middle-aged man and woman lay in their bed, having just made love. Their children were grown, married to other settlers of their growing village, and they reveled in this newfound freedom, which they'd gotten so little of before the children came to them. As they lay panting, the sweat cooling on their exposed skin, they began discussing their daughter's pregnancy.

"The thing is, I really don't know how much help I can be to her during all this…"

"Nonsense! You're her father! Jana loves you! Of course you're gonna find a way to help her through this. It'll just be different from the way I can." She smirked. "You'll especially be able to help him through it. You did it twice with me, remember, big guy?"

He smiled. "You're right." He thought for a minute. "I wonder how Miri will take all of this, though. They grew up together, but Miri is asari – in some ways, she's so much younger than just the number of years after Jana she was born."

"She has her own mother to help her sort that out. But you're right – in a lot of ways she's still a kid, like a young teenager. Though life here has to have grown her up quicker than if she'd been raised on Thessia."

They continued talking for a while, eventually getting up, breaking their fast, and washing at the river before joining the rest of the village in starting the day. Life in the village took on its usual rhythm. Those who fished went fishing, those who hunted went hunting, and those who farmed the land went out to the fields. It was a community that functioned well together. But life would change dramatically, very soon.

The young asari, Miri, and her parents entered the crashed vessel in the middle of the village, as they did most days, to continue the young woman's education. They were accompanied by her father's dear friend, Auntie Sam, who had helped raise the girl. The instruments still functioned, thanks to the continued repairs the woman's parents, aunt, and another friend who was like an aunt made daily. They met this friend, Auntie Tali, already at work, on their way to the mother's office, and they discussed an idea that had occurred to the aunt early that morning. As they spoke, Miri wandered into the old cockpit, where she noticed something strange.

"Mother," she called, looking at a display screen she'd never noticed activated before. "Mother, I think you may want to see this."

"What is it, Miri," asked her mother as she walked into the room.

"I don't know," she answered, pointing at the display.

"Goddess… EDI…"

"EDI?" Her Auntie Tali walked in after her. "But she went offline years ago."

"Apparently not," her Auntie Sam breathed, pulling up panel after panel. "Tali, help me, please." Her Auntie Tali took a station next to the pilot's seat, followed shortly by the girl's father.

"Jesus," her father whispered, swinging through display after display, eyes following lines of code the young asari was only beginning to be able to interpret. "It looks like she's been unable to speak for years, but she's been running. Look at this – she made contact with a vessel five years ago!"

"Keelah… The ship is here! It has contacted us!" She entered a command, and they heard something no one imagined they would hear ever again.

"SSV Normandy, this is the Asari vessel Gonja. We're getting your distress signal. Come in. Repeat, we're getting your distress signal, and are prepared to send a rescue party. Please respond."

"Christ." Miri looked over to see her aunt very pale, looking into the young asari's father's eyes. "That's… that's Shepard's voice…"

ENDING OPTION 2:

Five Years Later

The little boy ran up to his mother. His curly hair waved in the breeze his running caused. Today was his fourth birthday, and he was letting no one forget it. She hoisted him to her hip when he threatened to crash into her, using his momentum to accomplish the task. He was getting too big for this, given her small frame – sturdy, but small nonetheless. She walked him inside and deposited him on the counter next to his cake. She continued frosting it, slapping his hand away with a laugh when he went to sample the tasty concoction.

"There you are." Liara walked into the room, her hand resting unconsciously on her swollen belly. Her other arm pulled her son into a hug as she kissed the top of his head, repeating the move with her wife. They'd tried to figure out what to call themselves – her people said bondmate, while Denna's used wife. Since they actually did end up getting married, not long after getting Denna pregnant (with James' help in the form of a donation) while repairing the Normandy – they thought they might be stranded forever, and decided they wanted a family – they settled on "wives." Liara now loved the term, having instilled in it the same kind of meaning bondmate had to her.

"When are the guests getting here?"

"In about twenty minutes. But, if I know Diego-" She was cut off by their VI letting them know that a shuttle was landing outside. Liara laughed, taking her son by the hand to go meet James and Ashley outside. He was absolutely thrilled to see his tío Diego, quite possibly his favorite person in the whole world. And his aunt Ashley, too! The two of them were soldiers, and they were just so cool!

"Hey! Is that… well, Ash, I don't think we can call him a little squirt anymore." A small hand hit James in the thigh. It was rewarded by being grabbed at, and the little boy found himself hanging by the ankles very quickly. He giggled, then laughed out loud as Ashley tickled his exposed belly. "C'mon, squirt, let's make sure your madre isn't poisoning all of us with her cooking."

"I thought you couldn't call me that anymore," said the boy seriously, looking up at James upside-down through his two feet. "I'm too big."

"I said I couldn't call you little squirt. You're too big to be little. But you aren't big enough yet for me not to call you squirt." James carried the laughing boy inside, leaving Liara and Ashley to gather the few things she and James had brought with them.

"I trust your journey here was uneventful," said Liara, taking the wrapped gift from Ashley, trying to take more, but having her hands swatted away.

"Yes, blessedly uneventful." Ash gathered hers and James' overnight bags and locked the shuttle with her omnitool. "Being a Spectre and the captain of an Alliance ship have their benefits. I just had the Normandy drop us off and commandeered a shuttle. Then the crew gets shore leave in that sad excuse for a metropolis. What's it called? New Los Angeles?" Liara nodded, walking back up to the house with Ash. "Well, they get shore leave while we're here. Traynor should be by soon – she had someone to pick up in town before she stops by."

"So she and Kelly are still seeing each other, then," said Liara. Ash nodded. "You know, for a while, I was certain Samantha had her eye on Denna."

"Well, I mean, probably she did," said Ash, heading to one of the guest rooms on the first floor and setting her two duffel bags down. "Denna's fun, and if you're into that kind of thing, pretty hot." Liara smirked. "Well, I mean… my point is," said Ash, recovering rather quickly, "Traynor's good enough not to go after someone who's taken. And you, uh, took her pretty quickly after you met her. And she was caught on your hook way before that. Traynor's not stupid."

"Yes, well. I'm glad she turned out to be such a good friend. I was surprised that she chose to continue to serve on the Normandy, rather than go back to her labs. Especially after…"

Ashley ducked her head for a moment, in remembrance of one of the best friends and COs she'd ever had. "And we were all surprised you continued your brokering over settling the fuck down already," said Ash, smiling. "No rest for the wicked, huh?"

"Indeed. Though having Feron take on more duties was certainly necessary when Kevin was born. And now, well. I may be finding someone else to take on the official mantle if we have more children." She patted her stomach for emphasis.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of more guests, Kevin running by the door, shouting to his mothers that he hoped it was Aethyta. Liara rolled her eyes and went to greet more guests with her son, leaving Ashley to greet Denna in the kitchen.

The party was over, the child was in bed, the food was put away, and the guests who would be staying with them were down for the evening. Aethyta had come, as well as Samantha, Kelly, Gabby and Kenneth, Steve and his boyfriend, and Tali, bringing her newborn daughter and her husband, Kal'Reegar, who had been the only one who had been able to help her truly move past the grief of both Shepard and Garrus's passing. Denna did not envy her the need.

Denna sat on the porch with a cup of tea, a second sitting on the porch railing next to her, awaiting Liara's arrival. This was their evening ritual – enjoy the night, sometimes the sunset, on the wrap-around porch Denna had rebuilt with her own hands once they'd reclaimed her family's land. Liara had overseen the installation of modern security measures – they needed it if the Shadow Broker was going to be living there – but let Denna oversee the actual rebuilding. Not much had been needed, but this, the porch – this was an absolute necessity.

"Hello, lover," she said, smiling into her tea as Liara walked up behind her, placing an arm around her waist. Denna couldn't wait until Liara could hold her properly again, but was delighted at the idea of a daughter; a Liara in miniature, no less.

"Mmmmm, I love it when you call me that," Liara breathed into her hair. "Makes me wish I wasn't so tired." Denna chuckled, then handed Liara her tea.

"Well, I'm also way too tired. Party for a bunch of little kids this morning, and then one for the family tonight. What the Hell was I thinking? I had to cook after supervising those kids on horses for how many hours? Remind me not to be so dumb, okay?" It was Liara's turn to chuckle. Denna was exhausted, yes, but she had enjoyed every second of it, even when she had to wash off the kid who had decided that horse dung was an appropriate place to sit. His mother had been surprised to pick up her son wrapped in a blanket and nothing else, but was understanding. Small children were dumb like that, as Denna had put it.

"Any kicking today?"

"No. But that does not usually begin to happen for another month."

"You're already so huge. Your pregnancy goes for another five months?"

"Yes, but as you already know, I will not grow much more. The asari fetus grows large early, leaving time for the brain to develop at the end of the pregnancy. They are born with the ability to meld with their mothers, something human children do not need to develop."

"Yes, yes, I know. It's just a little mind-boggling, that's all. Our pregnancies have just been so different. You didn't get sick or have swollen feet or anything. But you're pregnant for so much longer, so I guess it's good that it's not quite as uncomfortable."

Liara let go of her wife and took a sip of tea. "Well, not as uncomfortable but for a longer period of time is not necessarily better." She glanced at her wife, who scowled. "Oh, hush. You enjoyed every minute of carrying Kevin. You've been longing to start a family since your parents passed away. So do not tell me your 'woe is me' stories – I see into your mind, remember? I know what you think about all of this." She gestured around her, and then rested her hand on her belly with an eyebrow raised. "This dusty place, your children, your horses, your house, your farm – I don't think you could be happier anywhere else, doing anything else."

"Well," said Denna, pulling her wife to her and dancing her gently around on the porch. "First of all, they're ours, not just mine." Liara nodded, conceding the point with a smile. "And there's one thing that made it. The keystone, if you will, for the rest of it."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"You, silly." She kissed her wife on the lips, needing to stop dancing to the silent music and pull her head down to reach her over her swollen belly. "You have made me so happy. Thank you, dear." And with that, Liara disentangled herself from her wife, taking her hand and abandoning their tea in favor of their bedroom. She was no longer tired, and wished to show Denna that she made her just as happy.

EITHER WAY: THE END

... Which did you choose?