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My Siha is known by many names. Which is befitting of my warrior angel. As her story grows, as does her name, it was typical of a legend such as her. In a thousand years, she might not be remembered as Shepard at all. She might just be remembered for the things she did for the galaxy, for her kindness and her fury. Shepard as a name, would at the end of things- just be a name. She is Commander Shepard to most, Siha to me, and… more recently she is Lola to her Lieutenant James Vega.
I spoke to Shepard over video chat a few nights ago, she mentioned that her Lieutenant was driving her up the wall with this “ Lola crap”.
After hearing it for the first time, I instinctually wondered if I had somehow mistaken my Siha’s first name. I was sure her name was Jane, but still.. I was curious about this new name added to her list of others. While missing her in the year of her confinement, I thought I had learned every bit of information there was to learn about Shepard. With my body often too weak to do anything other than sit, I often spent my days looking her name up and seeing if there was anything new to learn about her.
For a while, the extranet was the only way to see her face without pain. My memory serves me well, but sometimes relieving things as perfectly as they were only brought a painful emptiness in my chest that already ached from the Kepral’s syndrome destroying my body. I knew her birthday, I knew her favorite food (as was noted in a magazine interview), but there was nothing on the extranet explaining this Lola, nothing connected to her name as I knew it at least. Was it a human thing perhaps? As my name for her was Drell?
Another extranet search quickly extinguished my confusion. I typed in “Lola. Human.” and then everything made perfect sense. Lola was a human proverb put into song. An ancient proverb as well, the song was created on Earth in 1970, over two hundred years ago.
Though I took interest in many species' religions and philosophies, it was an embarrassment to admit that I did not know very much about human philosophy or mythology. Lieutenant Vega was very wise to attribute my Siha to this Lola of legend. It's a blessed thing for someone so young to come to wisdom so early on in his life. If I had listened to the goddess’s teachings more deeply than I had in my youth, perhaps my life would’ve been different.
I read over the song once more,
Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Human proverbs were.. violent, but it made sense given their history. This was completely befitting of my Siha, this song spoke of a temptress with the strength of a warrior. Was that not just like her? My beautiful human with her boundless strength.. It made me feel uncharacteristically warm to ponder that Lieutenant Vega saw her as I did. I hoped that all of her squad aboard the Normandy felt the same admiration for her as the name Lola would befit. I hoped that his usage of this Lola of legend would inspire the galaxy to see her as I did.
The song spoke of a woman who's embrace broke spines, I had no doubt that Siha could break any spine she wished to. Her passion was strong, just as her warrior’s spirit, it is what made her Siha to me. She was just as the song described, her love was enough to break bones. It was a perfect comparison to her.
I got down on my knees
Then I looked at her and she at me
Well, that's the way that I want it to stay
And I always want it to be that way for my Lola
My fingers traced over my screen, I wanted to remember reading this human legend with the sensation of touch. The proverb spoke of the warrior temptress bringing the world to its knees, but the triumph was desired from those that fell. This song displayed such a deep understanding of Shepard that I wondered if James had fallen for her as well. Was it love that came before this understanding of her soul? Or was it her soul itself that commanded such an understanding?
James understood her just as I understood her, she was a legend made flesh, a gift from Arashu bestowed on this galaxy, she was this Lola of the ancient human legend.
My screen suddenly alerted me to an incoming call, I realized that I’d spent far too long staring at the song. I accepted the call and sat back in my chair.
My Siha’s face suddenly took up the display. My beautiful human smiled down at me with her warmth given to her by Arashu herself. Just her smile eased my pain away and left my breath feeling light.
“Hello my Siha, my Lola .” I spoke with a smile, I hoped she’d be impressed with my recent dip into human mythos.
Shepard’s smile dropped, she cocked her head to the side. “Uh.. Hey tall green and handsome? Is this what we’re doing? Stupid nicknames?”