Their bed was nice and warm. Shepard could hear Garrus' footsteps while he was getting ready for the day. He tried to move quietly to not wake her. He should have known by now that wouldn't work. It never did.

She tried getting back to sleep and imagining herself on the beach, on the warm sand that use to burn her feet as a kid. She thought about showing him the pier that she grew up around. If it was still even there. She hadn't been back yet. There was hardly any time for those kinds of breaks.

There had been the half a year of her rehabilitation, of learning to walk and move again with her new left leg and arm. But by the time she had mostly recovered, they were back on the Normandy, trying to keep the galaxy together by thin threads.

It had been almost four years, and smaller clusters and systems remained in the dark, the Citadel still hung over Earth, people were still fighting to stay alive, still dying. And there she was lying in bed, in their grand apartment, trying to imagine a stable galaxy again.

Those few short days of shore leave were the only breaks they had. Most times they didn't bother to take them. There was still so much work, to rebuild, to negotiate, to find homes and shelters for the billions of tattered families and war orphans. The logistics of what need to be done and what could be done were staggering.

There was a sense of uselessness staying in that hospital bed while others began to rebuild around her. Even now back on the Normandy that sense was still there. She rarely leads ground teams anymore other than on good days. But when she did it was tiring work. Sifting through ruins, allocating limited resources, fighting mercenaries, and duking it out with the council.

It was almost like old times without the constraint of galactic destruction weighing down on them. But that pit feeling of useless was still there when she had stay on the ship. The Galaxy didn't have billions of credits to spend on her for a rebuild again. She was stuck with aches and pains and slow movements that she still wasn't use to.

Shepard sighed and slowly rolled onto her stomach. She needed to be out there fighting, even if it meant figuring out those damn logistics. At least she got to keep command of her ship.

A lot of things were said about retirement and children between her and Garrus. She even said she was game, but the Galaxy was in it is own recovery. It was hard to imagine her life outside the Normandy. And an active warship wasn't appropriate for children, maybe hamsters and fish, but not children. They weren't in that place for that yet. Would they ever be?

Would she be? Sure kids were cute. And did she find herself instinctively cooing at babies, human or turian alike? Yeah, but she had no clue how to raise them. She wasn't exactly raised in a stable home herself. It was abusive even.

It pained her to watch them; her childhood may have been hell, but she couldn't imagine seeing the war through a child's eyes. To go through all the grief and horror, the Reapers had to offer.

She had to do more for them. What she knew is what she could do best; she could argue and fight on their behalf. Making sure that every child had housing or shelter of some kind. But she knew that system. Even with the best programs in place there were always going to be kids who slipped through the cracks. She had.

Shepard winced and buried her head in the pillow. They still haven't moved forward with it. She kept saying she needed more time before considering. He always understood when conversations of adoption came up, but there was always that look of pain from him when she stalled on the issue.

The warmth of the bed allowed her to slip into fantasy again. They were on the beach, walking where the water met the sand. Watching as the waves lapped and covered their footprints. She was jokily trying to get Garrus in the water. Shepard smiled at the thought.

Images of oceans, of sand, and of small little footprints next to theirs disappeared as her omni-tool pinged with a new message. Shepard lazily brought it to her view.

An automated message from Arena Messaging Service blinked in her inbox, probably trying to get her to do some more promotional event for opening up again a few months ago. She opened the message and read, one sentence jumping out at her.

You established high score has been beaten by James Vega.

Those words seared into her brain. That email was something Shepard dreaded that she would receive. But she knew this day would come. Of course it was him. Shepard smiled; this would be a nice distraction for the day.

Shepard had always been competitive, even as a child. Almost every arcade game on the pier had her name at the top. It was her way of leaving a mark on the world when she didn't have anyone but the Reds. Still even then that wasn't much.

Of course now there had been the constant recognition for the Skyllian Blitz, the Savior of the Citadel, and then the galaxy. But the sims were light and fun compared to that. It an easier way for the civilians to interact with her. She took on every ridiculous challenge they sent her because it gave her a sense of joy. It was a way to show them that there was going to get through this war.

And to think James' name was now above hers, after all that work. She was looking forward to taking on the challenge even if it was childish. But maybe every now then she needs to be.

The daydreams were shaken from her head as she threw off the covers. She got quickly as she could out of bed and to the bathroom mirror. She scrubbed at her face with water and whipped her hair into a loose bun. Her back and legs began to strain as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Muscles beat my high score," Shepard hissed as she moved to the closet towards Garrus.

Garrus laughed as he laid out his armor. "He's already back on the Citadel?"

"I guess, I don't know, maybe it's a glitch." Shepard hurried around him and began swiftly changing into hers sweats and sneakers.

"Sure, that's the only explanation that could knock the great Shepard's name from the top of scoreboards," Garrus said.

Shepard narrowed her eye at him and then grinned. "I'm going to go check it out, you coming with?"

"As much as I would love to watch you put Vega in his place, I've got a vid call meeting with Primarch Victus and few others from the Hierarchy," he said as he latched on his chest piece.

Shepard sighed. Her biggest plans for the day was to eat, sleep, and catch up on a hanar murder mystery series that Liara got her addicted to. After all today would be her only real break on the Citadel.

"You're almost suited up. It'll be quick! We can go in together and wipe his name from the list," Shepard said triumphantly.

Garrus laughed at her insistence. "Sorry, I guess this is what we get with being actually respectable."

Shepard groaned in response and playfully grabbed at his cowl to face her. "You know, you're supposed treat shore leave as an actual break right?"

"Funny, wasn't I saying the same thing to you, oh yesterday?" Garrus inquired as he lightly grabbed her around her waist.

Shepard narrowed her eyes at him again. She had spent half the day butting heads with merchants on getting deals on food supplies for the Normandy and new weapons mods. Then she spent the other half bickering with the Council. Waving around Spectre authority can only do so much.

"Well, I'm a hypocrite. Do as I say and not as I do and all that wonderful wisdom," Shepard said as stood up on her tiptoes and snaked her hands around his collar.

"Hmm, anything else on the 'Do as I say' order?" Garrus asked in that oh so low tone that she loved.

"After I'm done kicking Vega's ass, and you're done with your meetings…" Shepard trailed off, teasing him with small kisses down his neck.

Garrus lightly moaned. "Well, keep going."

Shepard held in a laugh and continued. "Since the casino is back up and running I was thinking meet me at the bar and pretend we just met. I always liked that one."

"I'd like that too," he said as he pressed his brow to hers.

"You better," she snickered and began to squirm with impatience to check out the scoreboard.

Garrus mandibles flared out into a smile as he looked down at her. "Go, have fun," he said as she pressed her lips against his mouth plates one last time.

"You too with your meetings," Shepard smirked as went down on her tippy toes and made her way out of the oversized closet.

"I'll try," Garrus called out and went back to getting ready.

"Good," Shepard shouted as she ran out of the room. She was then out of the apartment in a matter of seconds, high tailing it to the Armax Arsenal Arena.