Shepard was currently on shore leave. He was at the citadel, the only remaining galactic hub left in the entire galaxy. The Reapers had come; they had taken Earth and were currently on the move in the galaxy. Shepard was trying to unite the galaxy, an uneasy feat. He managed to cure the genophage, granting Wrex, Eve, and all the other Krogan a new life. He also managed to get The Turian fleets on his side. Cerberus was trying to stop him, but he knew they were wearing thin. Overall, things were getting better, including his relationship with Ashley Williams.
The two had gotten together during the fight against Saren, realizing they both loved poetry and shooting things. They had become physically intimate the night before Ilos. After Shepard's death; they had become distant, feeling a sense of betrayal by the other. However, after Ashley's injury on Mars, they rekindled that bond. Ashley asked to meet Shepard on The Citadel, wanting to relax with her.
Shepard walked towards the café she was at; The Presidium still fresh with debris from the coup attempt. He entered the main area of The Presidium, the air smelling of freshly planet flowers and trees. He looked down at the Café, seeing the woman that he loved. He went down the stairs to The Café. Her hair slightly moving with the breeze, looking at the landscape of The Citadel. Shepard was slightly nervous to talk to her, not knowing what the future held for them. He walked up next to her.
"This is a nice place Ash," said Shepard as he looked at Ashley.
"Thanks; I figured that we both could use the peaceful atmosphere, especially with everything that had happened," said Ashley.
"Yeah," said Shepard as he sat down next to her. "You should bring her up here sometime."
"I will," said Ashley as she looked at Shepard, "She's not quite the loud Tomboy I was, she just needs a little time."
Ashley looked of at a passing ship. She smiled, "Every time an Alliance ship passes; I have to resist waiting. Brings me back to when my dad used to ship out."
"Really," said Shepard, "That must have been very common, with your dad in The Alliance and all."
"I remember when he used to ship out," said Ashley, "Mom would bundle us all up and buy use Ice Cream." "I used to get a chocolate Ice Cream cone, Lynn would want a bite, and I also gave her one."
"That's nice," said Shepard.
"Dad would always give each of us a big hug and kiss before he left," said Ash, "We waved until the ship was out of sight, wanting to make sure he knew how much we missed him."
"I know it was tough with your dad gone," said Shepard, "Especially now."
"Yeah; I remember when he died," said Ashley.
"If you don't mind me asking; how did he die?" asked Shepard.
"I never told you," said Ashley, "I thought that I told you back on The Normandy?"
"No, but I wanted to respect your feelings," said Shepard, "I knew you'd tell me eventually."
"Thanks," said Ashley, "It's… a tough memory." "He went out to a ball game with his friends; he talked about it for a week." "He came back, really tired and went straight to bed." "I came home the next day after a tour of duty a couple dozen light years from Earth; I asked him how the game was." "He said that he didn't go to a game, he couldn't remember it." "He couldn't recall a single detail about the game, and he wasn't drunk or anything."
"Why not," asked Shepard.
"We went to the doctor, they suggested he get a full CAT scan and see if anything was wrong," Ashley said as her breath got heavier. She had started to choke on her words.
"Ashley," said Shepard as he took her hand, "It's okay."
Ashley looked at Shepard, her eyes starting to get watery. "We got the results….. He had….. A Brain Tumor." They said that it was the size of a golf ball, something that a lot of people didn't survive." "They said they could perform surgery, but it would only slightly increase his survival rate."
"So… it didn't work." said Shepard.
"It gave him a couple more days at most…" said Ashley who had a couple of tears flowing down her face. "We had the funeral on a Wednesday morning, all of his army buddies showing up and the rest of our family." Ashley looked at Shepard, staring into his dark brown eyes, "I've never really told anyone all that." "Thanks."
"No problem," Shepard said as he let go of her hand, "I wish I would've gotten to meet him."
Ashley laughed a little, "He would've loved you." She stood up and walked over to the waist high wall putting her hands on it and leaning forward. "He would've cooked you up something on the grill and talked your ear off, wanting to know all about being an N7 and stuff."
"Well there's not much to tell," said Shepard as he approached Ashley, "just all the training stuff, a couple of missions, and all this Reaper stuff."
"Well… at least he'd know you'd be good enough for me," said Ashley, "He never really liked any of my other boyfriends." "But I'd always rebel, like a normal teenager does."
"Rebel?" asked Shepard.
"Yeah, you know like 'I love him dad' or 'God, you never understand me!" said Ashley in a mock teenage voice. "But he knew that the family was important to me and that I'd never abandon it." "He even used to say 'Good! I'll pack your damn bags myself'… that'd make me shut my mouth really quick."
Shepard laughed, "Your dad sounds like he was a great guy." Shepard took Ashley's hands, "And I think the best of him ran off onto his daughters."
Ashley blushed, "Shepard…."
"Shhh," said Ashley, "You know… I can't stop thinking of you lately."
"Really, I hope I won't keep you from stopping The Reapers," said Ashley.
Shepard looked into her eyes, leaning ever so closer to each other's lips. They kissed, letting almost 3 years of repressed love vent in that kiss. Shepard grabbed her waist, kissing her harder than ever before. The two had finally found their source of refuge within the war.
The two stopped kissing, their saliva still glistening on each other's lips. "Wow… that was good Shepard," said Ashley
"Ash, I want to spend the rest of my life with you," said Shepard. "But for now, the rest day."
"So what do you want to do now?" asked Ashley as she crossed her arms.
Shepard looked around; he looked at all the shops, the restaurants, and the shows they could go to. However, Shepard had a different idea in mind.
"So the other day I spent some time with Garrus and something has been lingering in my mind," said Shepard.
"And that would be…" asked Ashley.
"Let's go swimming!" said Shepard as he pointed at the lake.
"Shepard…. I'm not sure that's legal," said Ashley as she stared a Shepard.
"We're both Spectres and I've save the galaxy twice!" said Shepard, "I think they can make an exception this one time.
Ashley thought about it for a little bit, "We don't even have swimsuits! And there are a ton of people around here."
"Well, we really don't need swimsuits," said Shepard. Ashley's eyes widened at the suggestion. "No! I meant we have our underwear! Although… if you really wanted," said Shepard as he raised an eyebrow.
Ashley punched Shepards arm, "In your dreams commander!" "But… you do make a convincing argument." "Alright Shepard, we can go swimming." Ashley jumped over the barrier, landing a couple feet down on the artificial grass. "You coming or not?"
Shepard leaped down next to her, the two running down to the water. The two reached the water, both still fully clothed. The two looked at each other, both still in awe at what they were doing. Ashley zipped down her jacket, throwing it into the grass. She was wearing a black bra, tightly gripping her chest. She began to unbuckle her pants, kicking her boots off as well. Shepard threw his shirt of along with his boots. He managed to get his pants and socks off before Ashley had gotten hers off. Shepard stood there in his pair of black boxer briefs in front of Ashley who was standing in her black bra and panties.
Ashley looked down, "Getting a little excited Shepard?"
Shepard was slightly embarrassed, but got his revenge on Ashley by pushing her into the lake. She screamed by the sudden temperature change. "Arghh! That's cold," she said. Shepard jumped into the water next to her, also gasping at the coldness of the water.
"God dammit that's cold," said Shepard. Ashley swam over to him, kissing him on the lips and grazing him with her leg. Shepard looked at her, and then looked up to see about a dozen tourists recording and taking pictures of them. "You know only a couple of 'blocks' from The Conduit," said Shepard.
"Is that a challenge Shepard?" asked Ashley.
"Maybe it is," said Shepard.
"Fine…. Challenge accepted!" said Ashley as she swam off ahead of him.
"You cheater!" said Shepard as he took off.
The two began swimming quickly down the lake, trying to reach The Conduit before the other. Shepard and Ashley had been interchanging the lead with one another, showing each their true strength with one another. A crowd had started to watch them from The Presidium, people yelling thins out to them.
"GO! You can beat her!" yelled one man
"Come on, don't lose to a girl!" said another man.
"100 credits on the girl," said a woman to another woman.
The race had been brutal for the two, exhausting them to the brink of confusion. The Conduit was in sight as they passed under the bridge next to the former human embassy. Ashley had a slight lead, but Shepard had kicked in his adrenaline, allowing him to pass her and win the race. He touched The Conduit seconds before Ashley did.
"I win," gasped Shepard as he tried to get his bearings.
"I want… a rematch," said Ashley who too was gasping for air.
Suddenly a couple of cars hovered down to their position, hovering just above the water. A Turian along with an Asari stepped out of one, another Turian and female human in the other. They were on the bridge with a couple of long poles, each with a hook to grab the two.
One of The Turians spoke, "I hate to break up this little love affair, but you two just violated a ton of sanitary and civil rules for The Presidium. They put the hooks into the water, big enough to help Ashley and Shepard onto the bridge. "You two just need to come with us to, how you humans say, 'down town'," said The Turian as he made a quotation sign with his fingers. The two were soaking wet, they also were cold from the water.
"Can we have a couple of towels?" asked Shepard.
"We didn't bring any," said The Asari, "This wasn't a simple swim you two could waltz out of."
"Great," said Shepard, "We don't have our clothes with us, so the seats are gonna get wet."
"Fine," sternly said The Asari.
Suddenly, Shepard and Ashley were greeted by a familiar voice. "Hey Commander, I didn't know that these Alliance clothes doubled as a swim suit!"
The two turned around to see Joker, who was holding EDI's hand as they were watching the whole scene. Worse, the entire squad of The Normandy, including Traynor, was watching them as well. Joker was recording on his Omni-tool and taking pictures with EDI's Omni-tool.
"Oh dear god…" said Ashley as she put her face into her hands.
"Also the water a little bit cold Shepard?" asked Joker, "Wait… JAMES James get out here now!"
Vega walked out from a shop, a map he was looking at in his hands. "Okay, this apparently is The Conduit, so this is where Shepard…" Vega looked up, "… And Ashley stood soaked half naked in their underwear with some cops?" Vega had a look of amazement on his face, and then started to laugh.
"Holy Shit Loco… you really do know how to party," he said to Shepard.
EDI then spoke up, "Ashley, it might be beneficial to your knowledge to know that your nipples are poking through your top." Ashley quickly covered her breasts, already red from embarrassment. The crew began laugh out loud at EDI's comment.
"All right enough of these games," said the female human, "Take these two down to processing."
The two Turians and Asari led them back to their car. The crew wolf whistled as they walked away. "Nice Ass LC and you two Commander," said Joker as he waved to them.
"Glad I didn't go for that swim with Shepard," said Garrus, "Turians aren't the most physically attractive people in the galaxy."
Shepard and Ashley were put into the car; the doors slammed shut on them. "Well, this has been interesting," said Ashley.
Shepard was looking out as Joker and the rest of the crew were laughing and taking pictures. "We are never gonna live this down." Shepard placed his hand on Ashley's knee, looking at her beautiful form. "But hey… memories," he said as the two kissed again.