A Date For Shore Leave

              Commander (y/n) Shepard was exhausted. The stress of fighting the Collectors was starting to show on her delicate features. Dark bags had started to show under her now tired looking (e/c) eyes, her (s/c) skin had started to pale, her (h/l), (h/t), (h/c) hair was becoming more and more unkept each day that went by……..she was running herself ragged, and this worried Thane greatly. Grunt has voiced his opinion that she’ll soon be in no position to fight very clear to the rest of the crew, but that was the least of Thane’s worries towards his dear Commander. Right now, he was more worried of her collapsing dead away after all the countless hours she’s put in to save countless people from the Collectors. He was becoming worried that she wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of it any more, to work herself to the point of illness or injury…….maybe even-

              “Thane?” A sweet, tired, familiar voice called out to the drell, snapping him out of his deep thoughts as he spun around in his chair to see his beloved commander standing there in the doorway, forcing a tired smile in his direction. “Mind if I sit with you for a while?” She asked sweetly, tilting her head slightly to one side, making herself appear even more attractive in the assassin’s eyes.

           “Of course not, siha. Come, sit.” Thane motioned her over to the chair in front of his….her chair. Thane watched her intently as she walked over, reaching for her delicate, slender hands as she sat in her usual spot, looking at him with those big (e/c) eyes of hers that were as deep as the sea. “Is everything alright, siha?” (y/n) smiled and shook her head at her boyfriend’s question, lightly squeezing his hands as she did so.

           “I’m not the one who’s sick, Thane. I’m alright, really. Besides, I’m more worried about you than I am of myself.” She said with eyes lowered to their intertwined hands, gently running her thumbs over the tops of his hands in a comforting manner. Thane could hear the sincerity in her voice….but he could tell she was lying about her well-being. As much as he appreciated the gesture of affection (y/n) showed him, Thane couldn’t help but frown, gently pulling one of his hands away from hers to place it against her cheek, bringing her eyes back up to meet his.

              “Siha…….please tell me the truth. Are you truly alright?” He asked again, a more serious tone in his voice this time. However, he could still see (y/n) forcing a smile for him, as if nothing was wrong as she placed a hand over the one on her cheek.

             “Really Thane, I’m fine, just a bit tired is all. It’s nothing to be worried about. I promise.” She assured him before closing her eyes, looking content just feeling Thane’s warm hands against her skin. Thane was silent for a long time, just staring at (y/n)’s content expression as she had begun to play with their intertwined fingers, focused on the slight flutter of her eyelashes and the feeling of her soft, slender, fingers running up and down his own rough, calloused ones. Eventually, he decided to give up attempting to get his strong willed commander to admit what he wanted to hear with a quiet sigh, lightly brushing his thumb against the skin of her cheek before slowly pulling it away to bring it back to place both hands on the table again.

             “Was there anything you needed, siha?” He asked his beloved commander, only to see her shake her head yet again.

             “No……I just wanted to come by and see you….to hear your voice, Thane.” She answered with a dreamy tone, as if she was starting to fall asleep. Thane smiled to himself as he leaned forward to place a single, chaste kiss on her forehead.

              “As much as it pleases me to see you, siha, you should go rest. Even restless angels such as yourself need to sleep every now and then.” He whispered softly against her warm skin. (y/n) chuckled quietly and nodded.

              “Fine. I’ll head up to my cabin for some shut eye….but only because it’s you who asked.” And with that, (y/n) stood up, sent a simple “good night” to Thane, then slowly walked out of the room, leaving thane alone to his thoughts. He couldn’t help but frown as he watched his Commander’s figure disappear behind the door, relieved that he had at least managed to get her to agree to some sleep, but he felt as if that wasn’t enough to truly help her. He wanted to lift all the worried she felt as if she needed to bare from her shoulders….to make her truly happy for at least one day. However, seeing as how he was still new to the whole, human relationship thing and had pretty much no clue what would truly help (y/n)....so it was needless to say that Thane was at a loss of what to do. It didn’t seem this hard when he was with Irikah, they had more time to spend together, under less stressful and dire circumstances, and with no missions to get in the way of their relationship, not to mention that they haven’t been together that long either. It didn’t help that (y/n) was very reclusive about her past, rarely talking about it to others than the already known fact that she was a spacer kid, but that wasn’t going to help Thane with this problem that he faced. Thane did his best to think up of something that didn’t involve the Collectors, Cerberus, or shooting…..but even after hours of thinking, nothing came to mind. Finally, Thane had to admit defeat, and do the one thing he never thought he would do once aboard the Normandy…………………………..ask Joker for advice. The drell assassin hesitantly stood up, and walked towards the terminal on the far wall of his room, dreading the thought of actually going through with this. Still, if it would help (y/n), he would do anything….even ask the Normandy’s single, comedian, pilot for dating advice.

              “Hey Thane! Never thought you’d call!” Joker answered quickly in that same care-free, joking tone that Thane always thought was unprofessional. “So, do you need something?”

              “Y-yes, I am in need of some…….advice.” Thane said uneasily, almost unable to believe that he was actually doing this.

              “Advice? No one ever asks me for advice.” Joker said, sounding both somewhat shocked and happily surprised.

              “You were the only suitable option. If there were another person to ask, I would’ve asked them.”

              “Ouch. Well anyways, what kind of advice do you need?”

              “..............I need some advice regarding the Commander.”

              “What about Shepard?”

              “She seems to be overworking herself and I wish to help her relax…...however, I don’t know what exactly to do.”

              “Aww, you care about her.”

              “Joker.”

              “Right. Sorry. Well, Shepard always seemed excited when we stop by the Citadel for shore leave. You know how she always brings back something from the shops there, mostly fish and model ships. Remember when she brought a hamster back to the Normandy?

              “Yes, she fawned over it for days, but what does that have to do with this?”

              “What I’m saying is, why not go out on a date the next time we’re at the Citadel?”

              “A date?”

              “Yeah. I mean, you two are together now, why not spend a little time together? You know, holding hands, cuddling, all that kind of couple stuff.”

              “..............”

              “Thane?”

              “.....Joker, would you be so kind as to set a course to the Citadel? I think it’s past time the crew had some shore leave.”

              “Haha. Sure thing Thane. Setting course now…….oh, and try not to get into too much trouble while you’re there.”

~~~~~~ * Time skip to the Citadel * Brought to you by cookies and sunshine! *~~~~~~

              (y/n) hadn’t realized how exhausted she really was until she got into bed. Sleep was almost instantaneous from the moment her head hit the pillow, dead to the world…...again. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep for-minutes? Hours? Days? Who knew?-but when she did wake up, all she knew was that it was strangely quiet aboard the Normandy. No alarms, no message alerts or transmission of distress calls from EDI, no subtle sound of arguing coming from Jack and Miranda or of destruction coming from Zaeed or Grunt, no quiet clang from Tali’s tinkering….not even the quiet hum of the engines or a single word from Joker, much less one of his signature quirks the Commander has usually found herself waking up to now. Something strange was going on. (y/n) sprang up and looked at her surroundings. Good, still in her cabin. So what was going on then? (y/n) jumped out of bed and pulled on her clothes as quickly as she could before scanning the messages on her personal terminal with a similar speed. Two new messages caught the Commanders eye; one from Joker, the other from Thane. Curious, (y/n) opened the one from Joker first, her (e/c) eyes breezing over the words.

Hey Commander! We arrived at the Citadel last night while you were asleep. Everyone thought the crew could do good with a little shore leave. You were still sleeping when we docked so we decided to let you sleep and go ahead without you. Thane’s stayed behind too, incase you were wondering. Have fun!

-Joker

              (y/n) sighed and placed a hand on her hip. So Joker decided to head to the Citadel without telling her. Well…...it actually didn’t surprise her now that she thought about it. He would be the kind of person to do something like this if he thought it was something someone really needed. Commander then closed Joker’s message and opened the one from Thane.

Good morning, Siha. I’m not sure if Joker told you yet or not but we arrived at the Citadel last night….my personal request. I know you’re probably angry at me but you’ve been straining yourself to near beyond your abilities. I was worried that you’d end up hurting yourself, or collapsing from exhaustion. So, Siha, would you be kind enough to spend the day with me? I want to see that you’re relaxing while we’re here. Maybe even do something special while we’re there. I hope to hear from you, siha.

-Thane

              (y/n) smiled softly at the message, practically overjoyed that Thane cared enough about her to ask Joker to do something like this. It sent her heart fluttering around her chest and brought a bright, happy smile on her face as she quickly typed in a reply, agreeing to go with him once she was done getting ready. Relaxed now, (y/n) peeled herself away from the terminal’s screen and walked back to her closet, at a much slower pace now. If she was going to spend the day alone with Thane, better to look cute for him. It was a rare opportunity for her to get dolled up for someone….if fact, this might actually be the first time she voluntarily decided to do this….for anyone! It was kind of exciting if the Commander actually thought about it now, and it only caused the smile on her face to grow until she was practically grinning from ear to ear. It took roughly an hour for (y/n) to get ready. She had picked out a semi-tight, (f/c), mid-thigh length dress with a swooping, low cut neckline, three light weight silver chains hung from her neck with matching silver studded earrings that hid under the (h/l), (h/c) locks that were now (straightened/curled) to perfection. (y/n) outlined her (e/c) eyes in (dark/light) makeup, her lips were outlined and colored with (f/c) lipstick, and cheeks dusted with a light red. When she was done, she stared at her reformed self in the mirror, happy with her change in appearance. For once in her life, the Commander felt…..beautiful. Finally, (y/n) stepped away from the mirror and looked up at the ceiling.

              “Hey, EDI? can you tell Thane that I’m ready and am heading down to the CIC now?” She asked sweetly. A second later, EDI’s now familiar mechanical voice resounded throughout the spacious room.

              “Right away, Commander.” she replied curtly, yet politely. (y/n) nodded at the AI’s confirmation then headed straight to the elevator that would take her to the drell assassin who had stolen her heart. Shepard restrained the urge to run as best she could as she briskly walked towards the airlock, barely able to contain her excitement and content. As she rounded the last corner, she could see Thane already there, patiently waiting for her like the true gentleman he was.

              “Ready to go, Thane?” she asked, calling his attention over to her. The moment Thane’s eyes landed on the Commander’s figure, he froze, the only thing moving were his eyes as they scanned her body, taking in her appearance, burning the image into his mind. However, after a few moments of silence, (y/n) started to become a bit self-conscious as she started to idly play with a single lock of her hair. “I-is it too much? If so, I can go back and change into something more casual.” Thane blinked a few times, the soft, meek sound of (y/n)’s voice bringing him back into reality, only to quickly shake his head and lightly place a hand on her bare arm.

              “There is no need. You look beautiful, siha.” He said earnestly, sending Shepard a comforting and loving smile that brought a blush to her (s/c) cheeks.

              “Beautiful, huh?”

              “Beautiful enough to put all other angels to shame. However, I may need to keep you close, or someone might just steal you away from me.” (y/n) felt as if she had to look away, embarrassed from the attention of her doting boyfriend. She managed to squeak out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck.

              “I don’t think so. Most guys go for the sweet quiet type of girls. I’m sure they wouldn’t want a soldier girl like me.”

              “We shall see.”

              “So Thane, what are we going to do today?”

              “Whatever you want to do.”

              “Really? You’re ok with that? What if I want to go clothes shopping?”

              “So long as it doesn’t involve violence, I wouldn’t mind…..so long as it’s you who stays by my side.” (y/n)’s cheeks flushed again at his comment, but managed to smile at him still.

              “And here I was, hoping to spend the day at the shooting range.”

              “Sorry to disappoint you, but I think that, at least for today, fighting should be the last thing on your mind.”

              “Fine. I’ll think of something else. Hmmm…………..do you think that they finished rebuilding the presidium gardens?”

              “I would assume so.”

              “Then let’s go there first! I would love to see the gardens again.” With that said, (y/n) excitedly took Thane’s hand and practically skipped away, nearly dragging him with her.

~~~~ *Time skip to the Gardens*La~ La~ La~ Dancing through the flowers La~ La~ La!*~~~~

              It took a few minutes for the couple to reach the Presidium Commons where you could look over most of the gardens that laid three stories below them. (y/n) wasted no time running to the railing the moment she could see the deep green shade of the grass, the scattered yellow, blue, and red smudges of the flowers, and the sparkling blue tint of the water below from the edge of the balcony to lean over the edge of the railing much like a child. She smiled brightly as she looked down at the grass and scattered flowers below, practically glowing with joy as she studied the newly rebuilt lawn below with large, bright, (e/c) eyes.

              “It’s finally reconstructed! Isn’t it gorgeous, Thane?” (y/n) asked, turning to look at Thane with a radiant smile that made his heart skip a beat. Thane walked up to look over the balcony next to her, looking down at the landscape below with a content smile.

              “It is rather beautiful….a truly tranquil and serene view. It was a wise choice to come he-Shepard? What are you doing?” Thane rarely called (y/n) Shepard, he only used her last name when he was being stern or talking with someone else, but when (y/n) suddenly started to climb over the railing, he wasn’t sure exactly what else to do. (y/n) had settled herself on the 3 inch ledge on the other side of the railing, now the only thing that kept her from falling as she rested her hands on it, giving her boyfriend a mischievous smile.

              “I’m gonna go down for a better look. See you down there!” The moment those simple words left her mouth, (y/n) let go of the railing…….slipping out of Thane’s line of sight in an instant. He could feel his heart stop dead, fear overtaking his body. He felt his body lurch forward to look over the railing, fearing the absolute worst…….only to see a light blue glow envelop her body as her biotics allowed her to gently land on the grass. Thane felt the tight grip over his heart immediately released and his knees nearly collapse under his weight as (y/n) looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear, waving for him to join her on the lush lawn.

              “Come on Thane! What are you waiting for?” she called up to him. It wasn’t for a few moments before Thane could regain his composure and follow his girlfriend’s lead, joining her once again. (y/n) briefly threw her arms around his neck in a quick hug before letting go and twirling around in a circle with her arm outspread..

              “Did I scare you?” She asked, barely able to contain her giggles of happiness for much longer as a few slipped out from her lips. Thane, however, was much less enthusiastic about the situation.

              “Siha.”

              “Yes?”

              “Never do that again.” The words from Thane’s lips were stern and flat, preparing a lecture regarding her rash behavior, but found himself unable to continue as (y/n) suddenly walked up to him and kissed his nose, giggling as she then sat down on the grass.”

              “Admit it, it was at fun~! Now come sit with me. We only have about ten minutes before C-Sec comes by and forces us to leave.” She said nonchalantly, looking up at him with those innocent (e/c) orbs Thane couldn’t stop himself from falling in love with. He felt all previous irritation he once had drain out of him at the sight of those eyes, a warm, comforting feeling taking it’s place as he complied to his Commander’s odd request. He watched her intently as she laid back against the grass, her (h/c) hair fanning out in all directions as her eyes closed and a content sigh slipped past her full lips.

              “You know…...I’ve always wanted to do something like this….” (y/n) said somewhat absent-mindedly with nostalgia deeply imbedded into her voice, she sounded as if she was in a far away place to Thane’s ears.

              “Do you mean sneaking into a restricted area of the Citadel, knowing that C-Sec would come by at any moment?” He asked curiously, his eyes never leaving her figure as (y/n) laughed yet again.

              “Well, yes I guess, but I meant this…..just laying here, under the sun and sky with a soft patch of grass below me.”

              “May I ask why?” (y/n)’s eyes slowly opened and the smile on her face lessened as she stared up at the painted blue sky above, her expression now somewhat somber and sentimental.

              “I guess it’s only fair if I share some of my past with you, since you’ve told me your fair share.” There was brief pause as Shepard took in a breath and delved into the memories of her childhood. “Well, I was a spacer kid. Both my parents were Alliance soldiers, so I spent a lot of time on space stations from places like Omega to Grissom Academy for as long as I can remember.No Earth. No lush colonies. No habitats. It’s not common for space stations like those to have habitats like these so I never really got to enjoy that kind of things too often.”

              “That sounds like a difficult childhood.” Thane said simply, trying not to interrupt her story too much.

              “At the time, I thought it was normal. There are a lot of kids like that out there, but growing up looking at pictures and watching vids of people from couples to children something like this…..looking as if they owned the galaxy …...I always thought I was missing out on something but then again, so were a lot of other kids. So I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but now I see the appeal. It’s so serene….just watching the clouds roll across the sky.”

              “The clouds up there aren’t real though.” Thane pointed out, following (y/n)’s gaze at the phony clear blue sky.

              “Don’t ruin it for me, Krios. This is the best I can get and I want to at least pretend that the sky is real.” (y/n)’s tone was irritable but Thane could detect the humor underlining it. He smiled to himself and allowed a comfortable silence to settle in over them as they stared upwards in content. After a few minutes, (y/n) sighed and sat up with a slight frown on her face.

              “C-Sec will be here soon. We should leave now.” She said, a sad, disappointed tone coloring her voice, but that quickly changed as she sent one last, fleeting look to the sky. “We should do this again….but maybe next time, we can go somewhere with a real sky, real clouds…….real air for once would be nice too.” There was a brief moment where no one spoke and no one moved. Thane looked towards (y/n), who was still looking far off, a soft, sad smile graced her lips.

              “What about Earth?” He suggested. (y/n) turned to look at him in surprise at first but then quickly transformed into yet another dazzling smile.

              “That’s perfect! We can even go to the desert while we’re there, if you want.” she added as she looked up at Thane with eyes filled with admiration and leaned in closer. With their lips only a few inches apart, the couple stared at each other, both afraid to close the final distance between them as their breath mixed and brushed over their lips. Thane brought a hand to (y/n)’s cheek, gently stroking his thumb against her soft skin, then slowly closed the distance between them in a long, sweet, kiss.

              “Nothing would make me happier, siha, so long as I can see it with you by my side.”

Extended Ending!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*not far away, to turian C-Sec officers find the couple*

              “Looks like we got another couple in the gardens.”

              “Should we break it up?”

              “I suppose we should. *sigh* why do we have to do these kind of things?”

              “No! Leave them alone! You’ll ruin it for everyone!”

              “.......................um…..Ma’am?”

              “Yes?”

              “Two questions: where did you come from and how’d you get on the roof of our shuttle without us hearing you?”

              “And why do you have a cat?”

              “ *sigh* I’m an author and I can bend the fabric of space of time by writing whatever the hell I want in my journal, and right now, I have a story to do involving that couple down there so no messing this up for me…...But honestly, you people should know who I am by now.”

              “................Sure ma’am.”

              “We got another crazy….”

              “Crazy am I? Watch this: HEY! FANGIRLS!! TWO HOT, SINGLE, TURIAN C-SEC GUYS HERE!! COME AND GET ‘EM WHILE YOU CAN!!!”

              “Who’s she calling?

rumble rumble rumble rumble

              “What’s going on n-HOLLY HELL!!”

              “WHAT THE F-WHERE’D ALL THESE GIRLS COME FROM?!?!”

              “Um…...there may or may not be a hole through dimensions in the girls bathroom that I may or may not have made…………………...heeheehee.”