After finishing my first fan fic (No Shepard Without Vakarian) with the Synthesis ending, I decided to write a sequel to it, to show how would the galaxy look like 22 years after the war. Of course, Synthesis is the "sunshine and rainbows" ending, and we can't expect any problems whatsoever, can we?

I can't get enough of Garrus, so he'll be the main character. There'll be OCs too eventually (wish me luck with that).

Lastly, forgive the very "original" title, I hate thinking them up.

Chapter 1: Memories

Garrus sat in his garden, enjoying the beautiful morning on Palaven. He watched the hypnotically shifting glow of the circuits on the colorful flowers around him, just letting the time pass. For the first time in a long while, he was able to enjoy loitering around in peace.

There was a danger to all this peace and quiet, though. If he wasn't careful, the memories might resurface, and that he wouldn't allow. He was doing fine lately. Still, he couldn't help but ask himself: Did I do the right thing? What would she say if she knew about it?

He shook his head. She hasn't been around to say anything for the last 22 years. He made his own decisions now and stood by them. He tried his best to follow the legacy she left them, to enjoy the time of peace, knowledge and prosperity. Sometimes, though, he wished she had simply blown the Reapers out of the sky when she had the chance. Many things would have been easier then.

Also, he sometimes wished he had a chance to show her these flowers, before they got the circuits. They were native to Palaven and his favorite, even after the change. He was sure she would have liked them, too.

Garrus sighed, and then forced himself to stop thinking about that. If he was in this mood today, what will happen in two days? He'll need a lot of brandy, he could already tell. At least he'll be able to excuse himself from one of those goddamn anniversary celebrations now, when every respectable turian and his brother were trying to-

His omni-tool beeped and displayed a blinking message: Incoming video transmission from: unknown sender. Garrus groaned as he brought his arm in front of his face and accepted it. Of course the official statement won't be enough, he thought, I'll get bugged like this for a while.

Liara's face appeared, and she was scowling. "What were you thinking, Garrus?" She asked, without a greeting, her shadowynature in full swing.

"Uh, nice to see you too, Liara." Garrus responded, buying some time. He didn't expect she'd be pissed off at his decision, in fact he hoped she would be one of the few people to understand.

Her expression melted a little, but the scowl remained. "You were the best person for that job. Why step down?"

"I wasn't the best person for that job." He retorted. "I'm not good at making decisions that affect millions or billions."

"What about honor?" Liara tried a different approach. "What would the Hierarchy think about a Primarch who stepped down?"

"It's not the same Hierarchy anymore. Everything changed, everywhere. You know that. It doesn't matter as much as it used to. I wasn't even next in the line of succession when I got asked to be Primarch."

"Then why did you accept, if you thought you aren't good for it?" Liara asked the logical question.

Garrus hesitated with the answer, rubbing his forehead: "Because… at the time… it seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't know it would be like this. Now I just want some peace and quiet." The image of Liara wavered as he spoke, meaning his arm was trembling.

The true answer, and he knew it well, was that he accepted it because he thought that's what she would have wanted him to do. When he thought about it now, it wasn't a very good reason.

He took a deep breath and continued: "Listen, Liara, I couldn't do it anymore. If I had to make another speech which included the line 'The marauders are our friends now', I think I would've spontaneously combusted. Teresa was good at speeches, not me."

Liara winced visibly when Teresa's name was mentioned, and her expression changed into something he couldn't quite identify. She said: "Stop doing this to yourself, Garrus. Stop comparing your leadership skills to Teresa's. You're a fine leader on your ow- ugh, never mind."

Garrus watched Liara cast her green eyes down (it would still catch his attention sometimes, although he got used to how everyone looked over time) and seemingly bite on her tongue. It looked like she said too much, or spoke about a difficult topic. It wasn't something he wanted to dwell on either. He used to love Commander Teresa Shepard with his mind, body and soul 22 years ago (and a part of him still did), but the commander-subordinate part of their relationship wasn't his favorite memory about her. He spoke reluctantly: "Maybe I'm a good leader in war, but in peace? Nah, I don't-."

Liara recovered in a few moments and cut in, not allowing him to continue. "Listen… I didn't call to scold you. I'm sorry, my temper got the better of me. I wanted to invite you to spend the upcoming anniversary with us… the old gang. You always excused yourself with your 'precious primarch duties' for the past 22 years. Now you have no choice but to accept."

"The old gang?" Garrus replied with a question, feeling like Liara was trying very hard to avoid the topic of leadership. It happened several times already since the change, but he never felt the need to pursue it, least of all now. He continued: "You, me, Tali… anyone else?"

There was the fourth person "in the gang", of course, but she wasn't available anymore.

"Joker and EDI too. They are as much a part of the old gang as we are. Plus, they came up with a little ritual we hold every year. We enter the Normandy and snoop around it before the regular visitors arrive. The museum staff lets us - we're the heroes, after all." Liara's face displayed a big mocking grin at the last part.

Garrus found himself flexing his mandibles at her as a reply: "I'd be glad to. I miss the old girl. And the old gang. And I wasn't making excuses - do you know what an outrage would it be if the Primarch didn't show up for the anniversary celebration on Palaven? Now I finally have some time for myself." He truly meant every single word he said, and he hoped it showed in his voice.

Liara was still grinning. "Agreed, then. Shepard Memorial Museum, London, Earth, the day after tomorrow, 7 AM local time - two hours before the visitors arrive. Don't be late." With that, her face disappeared.

Garrus switched the omni-tool off, his mandibles still flexed in a turian grin. It seemed like he wouldn't need an outrageous amount of brandy to go through the anniversary.

The main battery chamber looked the same as it did when he returned the Normandy to the Alliance after the war. He stood in the doorway and stared at the gun's console. Did really so many years pass since he optimized the Normandy's firing algorithms last? He could recall the exact process without effort. Carried away by a sudden impulse, he approached the console and touched it, waiting for the familiar orange interface to show up…

Nothing happened. The console and the gun were put offline, the Normandy's fighting days being in the past, along with the need for his calibrations. He sighed and backed away from the console, giving the familiar chamber one last look.

How many times was he here, seemingly absorbed by calibrating, but with his sharp senses turned towards the door actually, waiting for the familiar footsteps and scent to walk through it? Too many, he decided. Every single day, ever since he joined for the Collector mission, he would wait for her endless rounds to bring her to him, keeping his admiration to himself, never actually thinking he could win her over…

Garrus shook his head and turned away from the gun. He did win her over in the end, and that's all that mattered. He continued with his own round of the ship.

His footsteps carried him to the memorial wall. The plate he placed was still there, the white letters stinging his eyes as he passed by it. He didn't want to stop, there was no need to, but he found his feet glued to the floor when he reached the wall.

Garrus realized his arm was moving on its own, rising towards the plate. He gently ran his talons over it, just once. No need for more. He moved on. As he left the wall and entered the elevator, he whispered her full name and rank, almost like a prayer.

Again moving on its own, his hand pressed the button for Deck 1. Well, he thought, this has to be done. If I can look at the cabin, then I have really moved on.

The elevator arrived. Garrus moved without hesitation, to find the door to the cabin locked. In a way, he was glad. He didn't want any stranger to poke around what was his home for several months.

The lock proved no match for him, however. It was an old, pre-change design, and he kept his skills up with the times as a hobby, whenever the "precious primarch duties" would allow. He was inside in seconds.

The lights were out, so Garrus switched his omni-tool to flashlight mode. It provided enough light to look at the cabin's interior.

It was easier than he imagined. There was almost nothing in there to remind him of their life there. The fish tank was dark and empty. There were no ships in the glass display. The bed was without cove-

The bed.

Garrus' mind was flooded with memories of what used to happen in that bed, and his pulse raced and breathing became uneven.

Fighting for self-control, he stared at an empty spot on the wall.

The wall. The wall was empty.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture he drew for them so long ago. 22 years hadn't been kind to a piece of paper, but he kept it carefully sealed. It was still in good condition.

He stared at it for a while, remembering the promise he made in this cabin, on the day he placed her name plate on the memorial wall. He took the picture off the wall and would always carry it with him, so he'll never be alone.

"I'll be looking down. You'll never be alone."

"…Never."

Their parting words echoed in his mind as he put the picture back into his pocket. If only he would believe they were true. There were many moments, especially long nights, when he felt very much alone. He tried to write it off to his own inability to let go, but couldn't help but wonder if she was indeed waiting for him in that bar as promised. When you turn your entire being into energy to change the known galaxy, does your soul survi-

His thoughts were interrupted by a tingling feeling in the back of his skull, followed by a single word, seemingly coming from his own mind: "Garrus."

"Aieee!" He yelped, clutching the plate on the back of his head, breathing fast. He got used to a lot of things that came with the change but still couldn't handle telepathic communication very well.

"Sorry." The sound of a real, but metallic voice spoke behind him. "I'm practicing my telepathy skills, and forgot turians aren't very good at it yet."

"This turian especially, EDI. You gave me a good start." Garrus relaxed and turned to look at her.

"I thought you might be sulking up here, so I came to check up on you."

As she moved from the elevator door and closer to him, he thought how synthetics had much easier time adapting than organics. EDI had started using contractions a long time ago, even dabbled in telepathy as she had demonstrated now, and was generally accepting the merge much easier than most organics he knew.

"Thanks." He replied, trying to shake off his thoughts, but even her worrying about him was showing how much she had changed. "What's Joker up to?" He asked, trying to get the conversation into a more lighthearted area.

"He's up in the cockpit. The controls are offline but he keeps waving his fingers at them while making the whoosh and zwoooom noises." EDI chuckled lightly as she spoke.

"Ah." Garrus found himself chuckling, too. "Going through his second childhood, then?"

EDI outright laughed. "I think he's still in the first one. Never came out of it, actually."

Garrus laughed too. He was glad she came up here to lighten his mood. When he remembered how he distrusted her during the war- nah, actually, he didn't want to remember that.

He turned the flashlight off and said: "I'll go check on the other parts of the ship. There's nothing left for me here anymore."

She touched his arm for a moment and smiled. "Good. I wanted to do the same. Let's do it together."

Some time later, they were all gathered outside the ship, in the memorial center that was put up in Shepard's honor. Garrus was nearly embarrassed that he didn't see it until now except in vid reports.

He looked around. The area was dominated by a huge statue of Shepard. It was pretty lifelike, except for the fact that it towered above them all. It made her look powerful, even menacing. Despite the visual likeness, it didn't feel like her at all. To him, the true Shepard was the one on his picture.

Tali noticed his gaze and asked: "What would Teresa say if she could see the statue, what do you think?"

He looked her in the eyes - glowing green, like everyone else's. She still wore the suit, minus the face mask. He knew many of the younger quarians, those born after the change, didn't want to wear the suits at all, but nearly all of the older ones kept the tradition.

He said, shrugging: "Not sure. But if I have to answer, I think she'd knock it down with biotics, and then incinerate it. Maybe throw in a couple of rounds from her Mattock for good measure. She hated idolizing."

"Heh." Tali chuckled, but the corners of her lips were turned downwards. "That sounds like her. For all the fame and honor she received, she remained modest."

Garrus nodded, thinking of a witty reply, when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud "Awwwwww!" coming from Joker and EDI in unison. Turning around to look at them, he noticed Liara showing them vids of her daughter.

Daughter. That's something he'll most likely never have.

He looked at his old friends. They all settled down, except him. Liara bonded with Feron soon after the war, and their daughter turned 17 this year, if he recalled correctly. Tali got completely over her crush on him and bonded with a quarian he never met. They had a child too, a son, around five years old. Joker and EDI didn't bond officially, but they were an old couple by all means. They couldn't have a child - yet - but with the merge anything could happen. Tali told him once there were geth children appearing, although he couldn't quite grasp how that was possible.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized Tali just asked him something. He said: "Uhh, sorry, I was lost in thought. What did you say?"

She frowned slightly. It was still slightly unsettling for him to see her facial expressions. "I said, will we ever have the pleasure of seeing the vids of your children? Or at least the lovely bride?"

"Uhh... Well… I-I don't know." He stammered, rubbing his forehead, like he usually did when he felt uncomfortable talking about something. "When I attended the last year's anniversary celebration, I thought one of the women I was introduced to was cute. Ask me again in another 22 years and maybe I'll have something to show you."

That was the main reason why he hated those celebrations: every respectable family on Palaven was quite literally throwing their daughters, sisters, nieces and other single female relatives at him, trying to get him bonded. He didn't know what made him feel more upset, the fact that they all expected him to be a good turian and bond for the good of the species, or the fact that he barely felt attracted to his kind anymore.

"What was her name?" Tali asked, her frown increasing for some reason.

"Uhh, Ormelius? She's the daughter of Kalen Ormelius, who's primarch n-"

Tali cut him off, with a stern voice: "Her given name."

"I… I don't remember." His subharmonics were unusually timid as he spoke.

Tali scoffed. "You're hopeless. Make that 44 years and maybe we'll see you settled down."

Garrus could never imagine that Tali could talk him down like that. He was too embarrassed to reply for several moments, and then a voice in his head appeared, taking all of his attention. It was different than the telepathic communication most of them were capable of now. It was powerful and it demanded to be heard.

"Greetings, little ones." It said, booming. He knew it very well. He didn't even have to look outside the memorial center's window and see a huge shadow above it to know it belonged to a Reaper... and not just any Reaper either.

They all had an unsettled expression on their faces with just a hint of fear mixed in… all except EDI. She said cheerfully: "Harbinger. Here to pay respect?"

Oh well. The day suddenly went downhill.

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