Title: As She Lived
Fandom: Mass Effect
Rating: PG
Length: 401
Pairings:: Kaidan Alenko/male Shepard
Content notes: Character death. Set 18 years after the end of the Reaper War (Mass Effect 3, destroy ending)
Author notes:This takes place at Alliance Headquarters on Earth, 18 years after the end of the Reaper War. Dialogue only.
Summary: Proud to be her son

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"You doing okay, John?"

"Yeah. Just need a few minutes to pull myself together. I didn't expect to get this emotional."

"Shepard, it's your mother's memorial service. I think you're entitled to show some emotion."

"I guess. I'm still glad they kept the media out. I don't think the whole extranet needs the image."

"Can't argue with that. But it's over. Come here, let me offer a shoulder until you're ready to face the world."

"You're warm, Kaidan. i'm not sure why I'm shivering."

"It's okay... might not be just from cold."

"I guess I can't really believe she's gone. People who lived through the war... you know you think they'll live forever after that."

"She had an amazing career, John. Captaining a ship for years, finally accepting a promotion on her own terms once she knew you were back safe after Cerberus... refusing to retire..."

"I think her exact words were 'Screw retirement.' She died as she lived... as an Alliance soldier."

"Yeah. She did."

"Kaidan, do you remember when you first met my mother?"

"How could I forget? I didn't know whether to hug her or salute."

"You made the right choice. She hugged you right back."

"I remember her writing to me when you were in the London hospital... when she didn't know if you were going to live. She'd never met me, had somehow guessed we were together but wasn't quite sure... But she talked like I was already part of her family."

"She loved you, Kaidan. She told me that the first time she visited us in Vancouver... remember she wanted to walk with me down by the shore? She told me she never thought I'd find anyone who'd make me want to settle down on a planet by the sea. And that she thought I looked happier than she'd ever seen me... because of you."

"I'm not sure you ever told me all that. Now I'm the one getting teary-eyed."

"My shoulder is free... "

"I heard talk that they want to name a ship for her like they did with the Anderson... the Hannah Shepard."

"Yeah. I heard that too. I like the idea. It will keep her flying. She never lived planetside anywhere. I'm glad her life ended out where she wanted to be."

"That's all any of us could wish for, John. To be where you want to be..."

"I am, Kaidan."

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