Author's Note: This was originally written on tumblr for someone who was upset with the lack of a, shall we say, more formal commitment to Shepard, from Kaidan. So naturally, I had to compensate. This took me at least a week to bust out with many interruptions and walls being hit in the process. Regardless, I am proud of this, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy!

"Come on, we're not actually going to buy anything here. I think we're just aggravating the shopkeeper." Kaidan said quietly in her ear, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to pull her out. With a sigh, Kristen shrunk beneath the weight of his arm. She'd been trying to pick out another fish for her aquarium, now that she had a VI to keep them alive. But she'd apparently taken too much time, and now they were leaving. She just wanted a fish.

"We'll come back when it's not busy." she mumbled, looking around. Kaidan gave a soft chuckle and his hand fell from her shoulder to settle at her waist. The gentle brush of his fingers sent a shock through her system, and for a moment she questioned if he'd just used his biotics. After a moment of thinking on it, she sighed and pushed it out of her mind, trying to enjoy their afternoon.

"You're being very quiet today." he said as they continued their walk along the shops in the wards. They were taking a day off from fighting reapers to make sure they had their heads on straight, and so far it was nice to relax. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, mom." Kristen smirked, teasing him with a faked glare that broke into a smile moments later. He rolled his eyes with a similar smile, and steered them over to a lower deck along the lake to enjoy it, ignoring her comment for now. It wasn't unusual for either of them to reply with that level of snark. It was just who they were. It worked.

"Alright, but really." he said as they began walking down the stairs.

"Everything's fine, Kaidan." she smiled, giving him a soft nudge, looking for a spot along the lake for them to stop at.

They finally found a spot after a few minutes, and stood along the edge of the lake, leaning over the railing provided to ensure that it was at least an effort to try and jump into said lake. Kristen wondered if anyone had ever seriously attempted to swim in the lake while she stood shoulder to shoulder with Kaidan. Well, maybe more like shoulder to head. Glancing down at his hands as they hung over the edge, she calmly reached over to take one of them in her grasp. He gave a gentle squeeze, looking down at her.

She loved that she was so short compared to him, or maybe it just felt that way. She could be wrapped up entirely in his embrace, head snug against his chest and listening to his heartbeat without straining herself. That had been one thing she'd missed the most about him. Sure, he teased her about being short plenty, but there were things she could do that he couldn't because of his height, and in that way she could get back at him. Not to mention she absolutely loved it when he would pick her up and carry her around like she weighed nothing.

He turned to face her, and broke his hand from her grasp to reach up and cup her cheek, the tips of his fingers brushing along her hair, which she had let down today. She closed her light blue eyes with a content hum of approval, and she turned to face him, as well. Kristen felt his other hand secure her waist, and she waited for his breath to wash over her face. It came moments later as she leaned forward just a bit, smiling when her lips brushed over his, not quite kissing but close enough that it would be inevitable. Kristen giggled softly at him. His hand slid further along so his fingers could now tangle themselves in her light brown locks, holding her head so that he could initiate the kiss himself. Kristen knew how much he hated her teasing.

His lips seemed to grow softer every time she could feel them on her own. It was a simple, chaste kiss, and they both pulled away after a moment, eyes opening and smiling at one another, standing very close. He brushed the tip of his nose against hers, and got another giggle out of her, making him grin at the noise that used to seem so unlike her. Kristen let her hand brush against the soft fabric of his t-shirt, up his chest so that she could grip his shoulder gently, and stare into his perfect brown eyes while her other hand snaked around his waist.

She'd teased him earlier about getting ideas from James, noting that the shirt in question seemed a little tight in all the right places. Kaidan then commented with a grin that he'd been working out again, with James, and that the attention was appreciated. She hated how good he looked all the time, whether it be in his uniform, normal clothes, and especially without clothes. Then again, she didn't hate it at all. She loved him with everything she had, and was glad to receive that same amount of affection.

So, here they stood in the middle of the wards, with a breathtaking view of the lake behind them, holding each other close and regarding each other as if nothing else in the galaxy mattered more at that moment than the other.

In her dreams, now would be the time where he would drop down on one knee, and propose. She hated the idea of all the attention they would get, but the timing could not have been better on a day like today. It was the only thing left that she could think of to ask from him. She wanted to be with him forever.

But this was reality, so she was prepared to be disappointed. Though, would she really be disappointed if she was expecting him to go on with their day as if this wasn't the perfect moment for them to promise to have a life together after this war?

Her thoughts were cut off by Kaidan murmuring something as he leaned in close, again, pushing her against the railing a bit. He wasn't forceful about it, but the pressure was a very clear signal to her brain. With a soft sigh, she melted back into his embrace and let her eyes shut, letting her tongue brush along the top of that small scar below his lip. She felt the soft groan, glad he'd decided to open his mouth to her.

Kristen hummed happily when she felt his tongue brush against the side of hers, exploring her mouth while she tried to wrestle it still. A nice little game while they both struggled to remember to inhale through the nose, so not to break the kiss. His grip on her hair tightened a bit.

Eventually, he pulled away, and she could feel the wetness of his mouth threatening to leave her own. Kaidan pressed his forehead against hers, and gave a soft sigh before licking his lips a bit.

"Ready to keep walking?" he asked in a low tone that sent shivers down her spine. She nodded and discreetly wiped the corner of her mouth as her other hand took his in a firm grasp, continuing down the long strip of stores. Part of her wanted to turn them around and go to her apartment for the rest of the shore leave. But this walk was more relaxing than she'd initially thought, so continuing was likely in her best interest.

Besides, there was always later that night.

"You're still being quiet."

"I'm thinking, Kaidan." she said, swinging their hands a bit as she looked up at him. He opened his mouth, "No, it's not about anything related to the war. I'm just thinking about what we could do later when we're alone again." she looked straight ahead again.

"Should I ask for details, or would that ruin it?" he smirked.

"I think you already know what's on my mind, Kaidan."

They continued on for a while longer, going into a store every now and then to check it out, before she began to feel tired. She mentioned it briefly and they found a cab a few minutes later to take them back to the pet store they had gone into. Kristen had all but forgotten about that fish, and she was glad that Kaidan seemed to think that was of the highest importance.

"Which one should I get?" she asked, browsing through the catalog, not minding that he stood behind her with his hands on her hips.

"Let's figure out which ones you do have, and work from there."

That took a long time. Kristen wanted one that would stand out from the others - colorful and maybe more lively. Narrowing down the search, she began to feel closer to finding the perfect fish. Kaidan suggested one, and she had to look over it some. A Dekunnian striped cichlid was not one that she would have looked at. But the bright green and blue colors were definitely striking, and different. She decided that 1000 credits was worth it, and waited for the fish to be delivered from the back room.

"Thanks for remembering." she said quietly to Kaidan, taking his hands and lacing her fingers through them. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he leaned over to kiss her cheek affectionately. She nestled back against his chest.

A minute or so later, they were walking out, and Kaidan was laughing as Kristen was talking to the colorful fish in a plastic jar, waiting to be added to her collection.

"You're going to be so happy to have some friends!"

"Kristen," he chuckled, reaching over to put an arm around her again.

"What?" she looked over and lowered the fish some, noting that his face was a little more serious than before.

"Nevermind," he sighed with a shake of his head, "I was just thinking that it's about the time we usually eat dinner. Why don't we stop by the Normandy and put that little guy in his new home, and then stop by some place for dinner?" his grip tightened on her waist a little, and she gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow.

"Sounds like you've had this whole day planned out." she chuckled, relaxing against him a bit, making sure to keep her new pet level, and relatively stable.

They reached the elevator that would take them to the docks, and it looked like they were going to have company on the way. They stuck to the side, admiring the fish in silence on the ride up, talking quietly to one another so not to disturb the others. Though the others kept glancing over at the pair, surprised to see them being so intimate in public, and - in Kristen's case - so well-mannered. She tried not to pay any attention to the others in the elevator, and to her delight they were left alone in the elevator for a few minutes until it reached the appropriate level.

The second the doors shut, she could feel Kaidan shift behind her. Moments later, she felt his warm lips against her jaw, and his arms snaked around her waist to pull her against him. If there had been anyone in the elevator, she might have said he was showing possession. But they both already knew that they belonged to one another, so what was this for? She gave a soft hum, regardless of the intent, and let her eyes shut for a minute while he laid a gentle path of equally warm kissing down her neck to her shirt collar. The stubble around his mouth tickled her a bit, but she suppressed giggling.

A soft chime broke them from their embrace, and they parted the elevator hand-in-hand, glad that there wasn't a crowd when they exited. Kristen gave Kaidan a sideways glance as they walked, and she could see that he was smiling a little more than before.

"What was that all for?" she gave in and asked as they passed through the doors of the Normandy.

"I felt like it. Is that a problem?"

She could tell he was struggling to remind himself that he didn't have to break his hold on her hand. His grip had faltered for a minute, and then he gave her hand a tight squeeze. Though, his whole arm looked tense. It was endearing to her, that Kaidan still cared so much about maintaining a professional appearance, but that he was trying to relax despite the environment they were so used to.

"It's not a problem at all." she smiled back, letting go of his hand as they reached the elevator to call it, and when they stepped inside, to push the button to her cabin. For once, he wasn't touching her, but she didn't mind it. Nor did she mind the silence between them as they rode up to her cabin. Glancing down to her fish once more, and grinning, she was practically skipping out of the elevator to get her new fish in its home.

It took a bit for Kristen to shoo the other fish away some - they thought they were getting food - before the fish was lowered into the tank, and able to swim around more freely. Kaidan had been holding her up to reach the top of the tank during this, and she set the plastic bowl down on the top, he loosened his hold so she could slide down. Though her feet didn't hit the floor, seeing as he tightened his grip the moment she was eye-level with him.

"Kaidan." she said, sounding a tad annoyed, though her grin gave away the fact that she was enjoying this.

"Kristen." he replied, voice quiet.

"Can you please put me down?"

"Not until I get a kiss." he smirked. She let her head roll back as she laughed, and it quieted to a soft chuckle as her lips pressed against his tenderly, just like earlier by the lake. And just when she parted from him, he gently set her down.

"I love spending time with you like this." she sighed softly, hugging him tightly with her cheek pressed to his chest, so she could listen to his heartbeat. She felt him press his lips to the top of her head as he wrapped his arms just as tight around her.

"I'm sure we'll get much more of it in the future, once we're finished showing everyone why it's the worst idea to get on your bad side."

She gave a light, cheerful laugh at his comment, and then proceeded to give him a firm push towards the door.

"That's right. And you promised me food, so you'd better be careful not to go back on that."

"Never." he put his arm around her, once again, and they entered the elevator. "So, what sounds good to you?"

"Just about anything I can think of. At least anything that doesn't require a wardrobe change." she chuckled, leaning her head against his shoulder for a moment until they began walking rather slowly back towards the dock entrance. He gave a soft chuckle.

"I really wouldn't want to deal with that tonight, no."

"Hey, you two." a familiar voice called out behind them. They both calmly paused and turned to find Garrus and Liara stepping off the elevator. Kristen's face spread into an eased smile at Garrus' greeting.

"Hey yourself. What are you two still doing here, I thought I told you to enjoy shore leave."

"We could be asking you the same thing." Liara smiled. Kristen felt Kaidan's arm drop from her shoulders once their friends caught up to them.

"For your information, I just added a new fish to my aquarium."

"Oh no, not another." Garrus practically groaned, but the tone in his voice was very clearly teasing, and he got a laugh from everyone but Kristen.

"Shut up, I have a VI to take care of them, this time." Kristen mumbled, shrinking into herself a bit as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Is that true?" Garrus asked, aiming the question at Kaidan.

"Absolutely. But, she has been doing a good job at remembering to feed them herself. I hear that was a bit of an issue before." his arm was on her shoulders again, and the four began to walk together.

"That's good to hear. So what are you two heading out to do, now?" Liara asked. For once she wasn't buried in her omni-tool, or a data pad. To Kristen, she looked like she was managing to get some time for herself.

"Dinner." they both answered.

"Do you want to tag along?" Kaidan asked, and before Kristen could respond saying that she wanted them to have an evening to themselves, both of her friends agreed.

"I hear Wrex is visiting the Citadel. We should invite him." Liara mentioned.

"Might as well call up Tali, Joker, and Chakwas, while we're at it." Garrus said with a flare of his mandibles, "Get the original crew back together."

The second sentence was said with a bit of sadness, if she was hearing him correctly, and Kaidan squeezed her shoulder so gently she almost didn't feel it. It had never been the same after Virmire, but Kristen had long ago learned to accept that there wasn't much else she could have done. At the time she'd been following protocol, saving a higher ranking soldier. Looking back, she honestly didn't know what she would have done without Kaidan. Surely, Kristen had told herself, Ashley wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

"The Williams women are a decisive bunch, Commander. We do things when we're ready. Not before. Not after."

Yes, she had been ready.

"You know what, let's get everyone in on this. I don't want anyone jealous." Kristen finally spoke up, smiling. They were in the elevator, heading to the wards, now. "Besides, we don't get enough time to all relax together."

"Where are we going to have this family gathering, then?" Kaidan spoke up, smiling.

"Good question." Liara said, looking over from her omni-tool that was no doubt ready to send out a message to the whole crew, complete with details.

"Better make sure our waiter gets a good tip with this bunch." Kaidan whispered softly as they sat near the middle of the set of tables that had been pushed together. She smiled and nodded in agreement, going back to observing her surroundings.

Apollo's seemed like the best place for the crew - it had a mix of everything for everyone, and was generally well-liked among the crew. Not to mention it had a great view, and was now seen as being very accommodating.

Kristen couldn't have been happier with the way this evening was turning out. It was oddly relaxing to have the series of equally loud conversations going on around her, none of which she was paying particular attention to. Though with Wrex and Grunt sitting close to her, she was becoming very enthralled in their stories about fighting the reapers. They were definitely masters of storytelling. And right across from those two were James, Joker, and EDI. Of course Joker had to match each tale with a bigger and more impressive one. EDI kept messing with Joker, by correcting his modest exaggerations, causing the two krogan to bark with laughter - the staff of the establishment seemed to grow nervous each time this happened. James just seemed impressed with them, and was surprisingly quiet.

At the other end of the table sat Liara, Tali, Garrus, Kasumi, and Chakwas. That conversation was, as expected, very technical, with the occasional bad joke from Garrus and a teasing remark from Kasumi to Tali. Kaidan threw in a few words every now and then, intrigued by it all. Kristen could only shake her head, trying to remind herself to tease him about it later. Of course he was going to be a huge nerd, and get excited about upgrades for things.

The two of these groups merged on either side of her, and met before her, with Chakwas and Joker making up the two sitting directly across from Kristen and Kaidan. It felt like home, having everyone here. This was her family, and she was going to do everything to make sure that everyone was here. Zaeed, Samara, Jacob, Miranda, Jack, and Cortez all had commitments elsewhere. Everyone else was on shore leave, or happened to be on the Citadel, and willing to take some time to see Shepard, along with everyone else.

Some day, Kristen thought, she would get them all in one room together where they could be as loud as they wanted, and not make anyone nervous. They might even manage to get along.

Just in time for Kristen to start feeling bored, the food arrived, and it grew a little quieter while everyone ate. At least until Wrex threw out a comment about Garrus' food from across the table. Then there began a war of words, each trying to come up with a better insult - all in good fun. That was the point of this dinner, after all.

"How's your food?" Kristen grinned, looking over at Kaidan.

"It's great. Yours?"

"Better than rations, and enough to keep me satisfied for a while." she hummed.

Conversations went on, plates were slowly taken away, and Kristen felt herself settling in against Kaidan as he stretched his arm out along the back of her chair. Some of the others had stood up to talk, taking advantage of the fact that it was rather empty in the area, while others stayed seated. She'd been thinking about stretching her legs - they were feeling restless. Then Kaidan reached over to pull some hair from her face, and she looked up to see he had a smile plastered on his face. No one seemed to notice the two of them having a moment, and that was okay with her.

"I know you wanted a quiet evening, but I know how much you've needed to see all your friends." he said. She was staring into his eyes, watching them soften and warm up as he spoke.

"I didn't even know that, how did you?" Kristen sat up a little.

"Let's just call it instinct. You've been stressed out, and I think you could use a nice little reminder of why we're fighting."

"Thank you, Kaidan." she hummed again, pushing her chair out some.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to stand up, my legs are feeling a little stiff. And I wanted to look at the lake some more, we didn't get enough time earlier." she smirked.

"Alright. I'm going to get the check squared away, and then I'll come join you." Kaidan said, standing up to head over to the counter. Kristen nodded, and walked alone to a spot along the railing, not willing to fight about it - she had more money to burn on things like this. She let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes. This was better than spending an evening alone with him, she had to admit. This whole day had been wonderful.

And if she really wanted to, she could pretend they were alone when he came back. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes, she could do it. Maybe she would. Kristen opened her eyes and let her head dip, her hair falling from her shoulder and making a curtain around her face. She hated the way her hair would curl softly, when she was younger, but now that she was older, it was more of a gentle wave than curls, and she loved that she had kept it long, for days like this. That, and Kaidan had mentioned he loved seeing her with her hair down - she suspected it had something to do with making her look strikingly more feminine, and that was absolutely okay with her. She never felt like more of a woman than when she was with Kaidan.

"Kaidan's taking care of the check, huh?" Joker said from beside her, suddenly. She straightened up a little more and lifted her head, smiling.

"Yeah, he is. I figured fighting with him over it would cause too much of a scene." she chuckled.

"He's always been a perfect gentleman." Joker teased, then softening his face a little. "How are you doing, though?"

"I'm doing really great right now. I really needed a day to just be normal, and relax. It's nice seeing everyone together, too. We'll have to do this again once everyone can get together." Kristen said, glad she wasn't lying through her teeth for once.

"Yeah, that'd be a hell of a party." he laughed, glancing over. "I just wanted to say thanks, on behalf of everyone."

"Well, then you can tell them all that they're welcome," she smiled, glancing past his shoulder, "because I'm going to spend some time with Kaidan, now, if you don't mind."

"Have fun, then." Joker smiled, pushing from the railing and walking carefully back to his seat next to EDI. And not a moment too soon was the spot previously vacated replaced with Kaidan's presence.

"What did he want?" he smiled, putting an arm around Kristen's waist.

"Just to say thank you for everyone." she shrugged, stepping into his embrace, "He should really be thanking you for even bothering to invite Garrus and Liara in the first place."

"I'll let you take the credit on this one." he chuckled, turning to look out at the lake, going quiet. Kristen joined his gaze, her arms slowly snaking around him as she leaned against him.

She noticed how quiet it was now, and remembered that it was probably much later than it felt. The lights were beginning to dim, indicating that it was probably late enough that stores would be starting to close up for the night cycle. She could hear the water gently lapping against the edges of its confinement in a comforting manner, along with the murmur of the conversations behind her. They stood like this for a few minutes, before she decided she'd had enough, and glanced up to Kaidan.

She wished she could take a picture of him now. The way he was looking out at the water made him look… Perfect. The light was highlighting the sharpness of his nose, the strength of his jaw, the curve of his lips. But more than that, the look he had in his eyes almost mournful - beautifully so. Kristen just couldn't get over the light brown shade that was brought out, and how much she wanted those eyes to be fixed on her. Almost as if he could read her mind, his eyes did turn to her, and that mournful look was replaced by one of utter affection. It did things to her stomach and chest that she had never experienced before. She reached up and placed her hand on the side of his head, stroking her thumb over his cheekbone with a smile mirroring his.

"I'm so glad you gave me the time of day, a few years ago." Kaidan said just barely speaking above a whisper. Kristen wanted to make a snarky comment to him, but she couldn't find it in her heart to ruin this feeling she was having. "Because I don't know where I would be if you hadn't shown me that I could really trust someone again. Do you know how long I was stuck as Staff Lieutenant?"

"How long?" she said, smiling a little.

"Almost three years." he said, his lips cracking into a smile as well. "I was losing my mind, because I wanted to move up, but I couldn't while I was holding myself back. You showed me that I was capable of more than I had thought, and I still don't know how to thank you for that. Much less for… Everything you and I have."

"We don't exactly have a lot, right now." she smirked, hoping he would get that she was talking about physical possessions. He did and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Always making fun of what I say… Alright."

He leaned forward and gave her a solid kiss. Yes, he had come far from when she'd first met him. No longer reserved, or concerned about something going terribly wrong, he was a different man - but only in the way he carried himself, and saw himself. The rest of him hadn't changed too much, and she loved every single bit of him. Right now she was definitely appreciating the way he held her against him, though that grip around her waist was loosening and he took half a step back once he pulled back from the kiss.

"Do you want to go sit down, again?"

"Sure. I still have a drink to finish." she smiled, taking his hand and walking back to their chairs. She let go of his hand to reach for said drink as she sat down, suddenly feeling thirsty. She noticed everyone had suddenly stopped, and was smiling, looking towards her. What was Kaidan doing? She turned to face him.

Only he wasn't standing.

"Hey," he smiled, almost getting her to roll her eyes at him for his greeting, "this was the only thing I could think of that could possibly thank you properly for everything you've given me. I won't lie, I am terrified right now. But if I don't do this now, I'm going to regret it." He took a small breath as he reached into his pocket, and she instantly knew what was going on. Her hands flew over her mouth before he'd even said anything, the light catching the white jewel and shining brilliantly on its silver band. It was simple, classic, and more than perfect enough for her. "Kristen, will you marry me?"

Her eyes were already flooded with tears. She couldn't find it in her capacity to form any words as her cheeks began to wet, so she settled with nodding, letting him take her hand to slide the ring on it, then reaching up and pulling her into a tight hug. She'd never been one to cry, before, so this was a surprise to everyone. But they all began to clap, and cheer, coming over to congratulate the two once they pulled away from their hug.

And then something dawned on her, and she reached over, smacking Kaidan on the back of the head, hard enough to make her point, but soft enough that the pain would go away in a minute or two.

"Ow!" He hissed as his hand flew up to the spot she'd hit, everyone but Wrex and Grunt shocked at the reaction and suddenly silent and wide-eyed. Those two were laughing, instead, as if that were the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Honestly, it probably was. "What the hell was that?!"

"You set this whole day up, didn't you?" She said, angry, but her face cracked into a smile as he nodded slowly. Then she began to laugh, quietly at first, and reached over to give him a gentle kiss to apologize. "Damn you, for being such a romantic."

"You know me." he sighed, still a little tense.

"Don't worry," she said, smoothing her hand over his shoulder, glad to see him starting to smile again, "You know I couldn't stay mad at you if I tried."

"And I still love you." he put his arm around her.

"Oh good, I was worried you proposed under different pretenses." she smirked, leaning against him. Kaidan gave a soft chuckle, and she closed her eyes. "I love you, too."