A/N: I've decided to take a short break from the Borderlands setting to do a short one-shot fic on another one of my favorite game series to date: Mass Effect. This fic is based off of some of my choices I made in the series; Saved Kaiden, Paragon Shepard, war hero background, Romanced Liara, Wrex is alive and a few more..Enjoy!

Shepard threw his head from side to side on his pillow before his eyes shot open, he stood up in bed after another nightmare that seemed all too real, and even worse, all too possible. Shepard looked to his left side to see Liara sleeping peacefully next to him, he hadn't a clue how she slept so peacefully at night while she was a nervous wreck during the day, only through he friends and boyfriend was she able to keep her sanity in check.

He carefully got out of bed, not wanting to disturb the asari's slumber; he headed over towards the bathroom to splash some water on his face to wash away the cold sweat that was formed on his face. He looked into the mirror at himself, he ran a hand through his short brown hair before rubbing his eyes. He took a huge sigh before heading back over towards the bed, only to his surprise, Liara was awake.

"Can't sleep?" Shepard asked

"I should be asking you." she said in a soft voice "What's got you up so late?"

"I had another one..another one of those dreams." Shepard said before sitting down on the side of the bed

Liara came up behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder "Want to talk about it?"

"I saw all those that we lost, Gunnery Sgt. Williams, Thane, Mordin, Legion, and all the others. They stood there, asking me why I couldn't save them, asking me over and over why I let them die, I know it wasn't my fault but they were all under my command at one point, I felt like I could've-"

"Stop" Liara said in a stern but caring voice as she took her head off his shoulder to face him

"Their deaths weren't your fault in any way, this is war Shepard, and as painful as it is to say, sometimes good people are lost."

"This is war, and you're right; we can't save them all. " said Shepard

Liara took Shepard's hand as she intertwined her fingers with his, they both gave one another a brief but small smile.

"Their deaths weren't in vain, when the time comes, we'll fight and sacrifice and do absolutely everything we can to bring down the reapers." said Liara

"But are we ready? Are you sure we gathered enough strength?"

"Shepard, you've done in these past few weeks than any race could've dreamed to in a lifetime; you made peace with the geth and quarians, cured the genophage, saved the Turian home world, even taking down an exact clone of yourself."

"He really was no match for the original, huh?" Shepard said with a smile

"Never."Liara said as she smiled back

After a long pause Shepard finally spoke up "Maybe we really can do this, but regardless of whether we really did muster enough strength or not, we have to try."

"This is a troubling time for us all..but I'm glad that I've spent that time with you, you've always made it a bit easier for me." Liara said as Shepard gave her hand a gentle squeeze

"Me too" Shepard said softly

As they spoke their heads came closer and closer until their lips were finally upon one anothers, they shared a deep kiss for what felt like seconds before they pulled away to rest their foreheads together.

"Thanks, Liara"

"You're welcome, Michael."

It seemed like forever since Liara had called him by his first name, it sounded odd yet soothing to him, Shepard smiled at this.

"Come on, lets get some sleep, we've got another day ahead of us."

"Couldn't agree more."Liara said as she and Shepard laid down next to one another, only this time Shepard wrapped his arms around her from behind to cuddle in close, Liara returned the action as she moved in close aswell.

"Goodnight, Liara."

"Goodnight, Michael."

They soon drifted into a deep and peaceful sleep, comforted by each others warmth.

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Hope you all enjoyed, again I wanted to take a break from Borderlands for awhile to delve into the Mass Effect universe. Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought!

-UL