Author Note: My femshep is a colonist and sole survivor of Akuze. I have no Beta and my mistakes are entirely my own. I do not own any of the characters, sadly, Bioware owns the amazing Mass Effect story. This game has seriously taken over my life. Please review, feel free to favorite and maybe follow the story if you like it!
"Daddy!" Isabella screamed as she ran towards Kaidan.
"Hey there sweetie, what are you still doing up? It's nearly 10 pm!" Kaidan replied as he scooped up his four-year old daughter into his arms. Kaidan looked at how much his daughter had changed since he had left for duty. He could see so much of his wife, Adele Shepard, in Izzy's face. Izzy shared her mother's long, dark brown curly hair and also shared her mother's smile.
"The thunder and lightening kept me up, and then I heard the door open and came to see who was here."
"Let's get you back to bed, but where's mommy Izzy?" Kaidan asked. He had hoped to surprise her with his early homecoming.
"Mommy went to bed too." Isabella replied.
Kaidan carried Isabella up the stairs to her room, and tucked her into bed. But when Kaidan turned to leave, Izzy clutched onto his dress blues with a fist so tight, that her knuckles were turning white.
"I'm so scared of the storm Daddy…" Izzy whispered quietly. Like her mother, Kaidan noticed Isabella also seemed to hate admitting her fears and weaknesses. Looking at the panic in his daughter's golden-brown eyes nearly broke Kaidan's heart.
"Thunder is nothing but heated air that's expanding. As long as you have a thunder buddy, there is no reason to be afraid." Kaidan dashed downstairs to retrieve his duffle bag. When he returned to Isabella's room, he reached into his duffle bag to grab a bear dressed in Alliance blues.
"This is a reminder that mommy and I will always fight away everything that scares you, and that you are braver than you think." Kaidan kissed his daughter's head goodnight, and quietly shut the door.
Kaidan walked down the hall to the bedroom he shared with his wife and slowly opened the door. Adele wasn't in bed, but was instead sitting with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders on a chair that looked outside to their balcony. Kaidan knew his wife was a survivor. A survivor of the massacre of her family on Mindoir and the slaughter of her unit on Akuze, but even after all that Adele has overcome, thunder still kept her up at night. Kaidan walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around his wife. Adele whipped her head around, startled, and abruptly stood up.
"Sorry, sorry, I guess I should know better than to sneak up on a beautiful N7 soldier," Kaidan said with a lopsided grin.
"Kaidan! What the hell! I almost had a heart attack!" Shepard said as she jumped, and wrapped her legs around Kaidan's waist embracing him as tightly as possible. The sheer force of their momentum caused Kaidan to stumble backwards and tumble onto the bed. Kaidan took the opportunity to grab Adele and take her hostage under the covers.
"I see that the thunder still has you awake," Kaidan murmured as he slowly kissed Adele's lips before she could answer. Kaidan saw a flash of sorrow that crossed her eyes as he mentioned her fear.
"The thunder reminds me of the war and all of the people we lost. These storms constantly throw me back to Mindoir when I was running for my life through a raging storm trying to find relief from the bartarians after watching them slaughter my family." Adele fought back tears in her eyes and went to turn away from Kaidan. Kaidan cupped her face and forced her to look at him.
"It's the duty of the strong to protect the weak, and that is exactly what you have done. You neglect to take care of yourself, but instead take care of everyone else around you. When I look at you, something so beautiful, it reminds me what I fought for to save. I fought for you and every insecurity, fear, and imperfection that comes along with you." Kaidan said with a fire in his eyes. How can a woman that is so determined, strong, and confident not see how much I love her no matter what has happened or will happen in the future, Kaidan thought. When Kaidan finished speaking Adele just stared at him. Kaidan was about to ask what was wrong before Adele flipped him over and straddled his waist. Adele kissed Kaidan so fiercely that Kaidan was sure his lips would be bruised in the morning. Neither of the two cared.
When Adele finally came up for air she said, " I will love you till the end of time."
"And I will love you even beyond that," Kaidan replied. Kaidan pulled Adele into his side and the two fell asleep as a mess of tangled limbs side by side.