To anyone who might get an update email about me updating chapters, I'm doing little to nothing. My new spellchecker caught some errors I missed when I initially posted these chapters, and I wanted to fix them real quick. No new material: just a slightly cleaner version. FYI. ~MGA

The elevator's door opens to the loft with the usual soft hiss and beep. Tali steps out first, gently pulling me along by our interwoven fingers. I follow her through that door and the next until we get close to my desk. "Hang on a second," I say with a light tug on her hand. "Let me double check our ETA."

She nods and lets go of my hand. "Ok. I'll get us something to drink. What do you want?"

The computer glows to life when I run my fingers across the keyboard. The galaxy map appears, with the Normandy a red dot towards the left. "Would you mind seeing if we have any cherry Pepsi left?"

She steps over to the bedside table directly in front of the computer. "Umm..." she grumbles while bending over and digging through drink bottles. On a slightly selfish impulse, I let my gaze wander over her way. Hey, it's a nice view, and it's not like I've made it a habit. Just a... an occasional splurge.

She stands again with two bottles in hand. My eyes dart back to the monitor before she can realize where they were. "You have three bottles left after this. And there's still six bottles of wine. You didn't have to buy all those for me."

I shrug innocently. "A guy can't pamper his girlfriend a little?"

She just shakes her head when the Normandy's course statistics appear on my console. ETA to Illium: six hours. "Perfect. We'll get shore leave after breakfast tomorrow."

Tali sets our bottles and glasses on the table. "Finally. It will be nice to have some time off."

"I know. I'm sorry for working you guys so hard this week." I close the interface and follow her down to the drinks.

She's waiting by the table when I get there. Her hands immediately grab mine and hold them just above her waist. "You've got nothing to apologize for," she says softly, rubbing my hands like she always loves to do. "Everyone knows we needed to do this."

We've been back from the Omega-4 a week now. In that time, I've had the crew working almost non-stop. The Illusive Man wants my head over the destroyed Collector base, but we're making him work for it. EDI's masking our location and disabling the bugs that were installed. Tali, Legion, Mordin, and Garrus have all been doing extra scans and smashing them to be sure. Anyone else who can swing a hammer has been trying to rebuild the hull and cargo bay. Rupert and I had the most interesting job: removing the Cerberus insignias from the ship. He jury-rigged some kind of acid that made short work of the ones on metal, so that's been our week. All of the crew except me cut the logos off the uniforms. I just burned all of mine. Wasn't a bad idea, except I only had two ratty t-shirts and a pair of cargo pants after the viking funeral. Thank goodness for fuel-depot-orbiting convenience stores.

I grip her hands a little tighter and kiss the top of her mask. "I still feel bad for making you guys work after all that."

"Well, my job is easier than Rupert's. At least I don't have to clean Grunt's toilet," she jokes with a laugh.

We sit down alongside the table and pour our drinks. The last bit of thievery I used the Cerberus funding for was a combination bedside table/refrigerator, keeping our sodas and wine chilled. Tali uses a little white straw to sip her wine while I less-than-subtly knock back the cola. That stuff was a bitch to find: only one store on the Citadel still makes it with real sugar. I bought fifty bottles three months ago and have been slowly working through them.

"So how's the engine holding up?" I ask, taking a swig of cola.

Tali rotates and stretches her legs across the couch while laying against my other shoulder. "Surprisingly well," she explains after another wine sip. "The stress of the Reaper IFF and the crash didn't cause as much damage as I thought. Most of the circuit boards and fuses were overloaded, so we've had to replace those, but nothing too severe. There's still a few parts we'll need to get while we're on Illium, though. We should have it back to a hundred percent in... three days."

I give a small whistle. "That's a pleasant surprise. I figured it'd be another month, given the hell we put her through."

"It might take that long if Gabby and Ken don't quit bickering."

"Good luck stopping them. Kasumi's right: they'd be a cute couple if they ever realized it."

Tali looks up at me like there's an eyebrow raised under the mask. "Did you just call them a cute couple?" she asks, barely containing her humor.

I chuckle a little. "I think you're rubbing off on me, Tali. But keep in mind you're the only person I'll ever call cute."

"Good, sweet talker," she giggles. She leans her head in my shoulder with a content sigh.

"So what do you want to do with the rest of our evening?" I ask, wrapping my left arm around her stomach.

"Mmm..." Her head rocks this way and that as she ponders. "How about another lesson?"

Every night since we got together, we've been teaching each other about our respective cultures. There's actually more similarities than differences in most aspects, but the little things show how much our race influenced our personalities. I'm starting understand their ancestor reverence, and she's warming up to the idea of God and the Bible. The conversations end up coming around to ourselves more often than not, but that's always welcome. I never realized how little I knew about her: I still have no idea what her favorite song is. Hmm... Speaking of which...

"How does music sound? Pun unintended, by the way."

"That would be nice." She sets her 3/4ths empty cup on the table. "Will you go first, please?"

"Alright. Fair warning, though: I'm not a good representative for humanity's taste in music. I have my dad's ear."

"What does that mean?"

"The ear or my taste in music?"

"Both. Cerberus didn't take your father's ear and attach it to you, did they?"

The genuine concern in her voice makes me laugh a little. "I hope not. No, it's an old human joke. Having someone's ear means that you like the same kind of music they do. And taste in music just means preference. Anyway, most of the songs I like are really old. Like before 2020, before we could reach Mars old. All human music, but it hasn't been popular in a very long time."

She shrugs a little. "I don't mind. As long as I get to talk to you."

"I think I can live with that," I chuckle, tightening the hug around her stomach. "Alright, where to start... I guess I alternate a little between two genres. There's rock and classical, though I listen to a little of everything from back then. Let's just start with rock. It's usually a four or five piece band: one guy on drums, a singer, one or two acoustic-slash-electric guitarists, and a bass guitarist. Most of the songs are three to five minutes, divided into a handful of sections. There's the intro, the first thirty seconds or so, which is just the instruments playing and building up. Then the verse, where the singer joins in. The chorus is next, which is basically the main theme of the song where the singer and the instruments work together. Then there's another, slightly different verse, and the chorus again. The second verse has different words than the first, but the instrumental is about the same. The second chorus is about opposite: the words are usually pretty much identical, but the instrumental part has some kind of building to it, kind of like a story's plot building towards the climax. Then there's the bridge. It's a section very different from the chorus and the verse, usually big and dramatic. There's sometimes a solo, a guitar or the drums take center stage for a bit. The chorus plays one last time, the song winds down, and it's over. Do you want me to find an example?"

She nods. "Please."

I scroll through my songs and finally settle on Ticket to Heaven. As it plays over the speakers, Tali closes her eyes, slowly bouncing her head to the beat. This song's one of my favorites. The guitar part in it is awesome, and the slightly poetic lyrics are nice. I keep the urge to sing content by tapping my foot with the drums. After four minutes, the song comes to an end and Tali looks back to me.

"I could feel those different sections you were talking about," she says. "They're fairly distinct."

I shrug a little. "Usually. Each song and band has their own little things they change from the tried-and-true formula."

"Like more than one person singing the chorus?"

"Yep. 3 Doors Down did that with a lot of their songs, which is a bit of a shame with Brad's voice. But there's a million things they change from song to song and band to band."

"Like what?" she asks curiously.

"Sometimes they add different instruments. Pianos and violins are fairly common, though they're predominantly classical instruments."

"Ah. Does it change the songs much?"

"Usually. Something either really sad or really romantic tends to use completely different instrumentation. Love songs either use a lot or almost nothing. Like you remember that song I played for you and Garrus on the SSV, Here By Me? All they use for that is an acoustic guitar like mine, a bass, and just a bit of drums. Then there's Here Without You that has the entire band playing full blast with a small army of violins helping. Just a different way of doing things."

She nods. "That's interesting. I imagine it makes for a lot of possibilities."

"More than I care to count. Most songs have their own theme. Missing someone, loving someone, hating something, fighting for something. If you can think it, there's a song for it. And the extranet has all of them at our fingertips."

"The same is true for Quarian music, though most of our songs revolve around Rannoch and being trapped in our suits. Our music tends to be more focused on the singer, with much less instruments behind it. That may be why I like the percussion of human songs so much."

"A fondness for something new?"

"I suppose."

I shrug. "Who knows. There's one guy I need to mention while I'm thinking about it: Matt Nathanson."

"Who's that?"

I raise a hand up, grasping at the words that elude me. "He's a weird, old singer. The guy was good, but his music never quite fit into a genre for me. It's kinda rock, but at the same time, not really. I'll have to show you. Up for another demonstration?"

"Sure," she says and leans more into my shoulder. "I like listening to this."

"I'm enjoying the company as much as the music."

"Me too."

I find the semi-weird hit Come On Get Higher on my tool and get the speakers to listen up. The drums and guitar follow soon after. It's still a good song, but I'm never quite sure how to feel about it. It almost sounds like it's about sex and the "higher" part refers to a position. The same could be said for almost all of his songs. Tali certainly seems to enjoy it, though. Her fingertips rasp the table top in perfect sync with the song, and by the second chorus, I can see the very edges of her lips mouthing with Matt's. Not laughing at that requires a lot of will power.

"Hmm..." she mutters when the song ends. "I kind of see why you say it's strange."

"His songs are all over the place. That's one of his really good ones."

"It is. What was the other genre you mentioned? Classical?"

"Yeah. There's not really a set structure to it. Songs range from a minute and a half to half an hour. There's no chorus or verses. But there's usually a handful of common characteristics. Almost all of them have a building through the song, like the rock songs do, and there's a theme that repeats itself, played over and over with slight variations. The instrumentation is all over the place: some bands play with two or three instruments, some do it with two or three dozen. Singers get involved sometimes, though most of the time they're just vocalizing nonsense for effect. But for every rule I set, there's a thousand songs that shatter it. You just have to go through and get a feel for it. Want another example?"

"If you don't mind."

"Alright. I'll do three of them, just to show how different they can be."

The first one up is False King, just to prove how short they can be. It's always been a good one, and for some reason, I always associate it with Tali. It fits her: starts slow and quiet, a calm beauty that hides its strength, but reveals it in the end when it's called for. Although, Tali's beauty is a little more hidden. She spends the song bobbing her head again, keeping a perfect beat with the violins. But when Fantasia on the Dargason comes up, it becomes quite a sight. Her head sways side to side with the melody as she figures it out. When she gets it, she starts laughing and rocking like a little kid listening to kindergarten rhymes. I finally give in and start swaying right along with her. This was a fun song to play in high school, even if it did take me three months to get it out of my head. Still, being a goofy four year old again is nice, especially with my favorite little Quarian.

After we calm back down, I decide on A Song for Lindsay for the last one, just to show how romantic classical can be. She's quiet for the first few seconds, more curious than anything else. But as the song builds, she starts leaning more and more against my chest. She hums along with the melody, staying in quiet sync with this... hushed beauty that I can't quite describe. I look in her mask and see the very edge of a smile on her face. Her eyes close as she sighs and wraps me in a hug.

"I like this one," she whispers.

I decide to speak in the same volume, sliding a hug around her small frame. "So do I. It was written by a horn player. His wife was a flute. The song was supposed to be them playing back and forth to each other."

"A cross-section romance? Is that as nice as a cross-species one?" she teases softly.

"Depends on which particular romance. I can't think of one that could beat ours."

"Neither can I."

When the song's over, I stretch my ribs a bit, though Tali refuses to let go. "Not wanting to move over there?" I ask with a chuckle.

She tightens the hug. "No. I'm comfortable."

"Figured as much." I lay my arm more around the small of her back. "You realize it's your turn now."

"Hmm... Do we have to sit here?"

"Depends on what your other plan is."

She lifts her head up at me. "I doubt you'd complain about more cuddling on the bed."

I smile at her. "Nope, not at all. But only as long as it's you I'm cuddling with."

"Well, I don't think Miranda's the type. That, and you'd probably kill her after ten minutes."

"More than likely. Want a hand up?"

"Please."

She slowly releases the hug and I help her over to the bed. I try to lower her down first, but she has a different idea. She yanks me onto the mattress, slamming me down on my back. Her legs straddle mine, and my hips become pinned under hers. A quiet laugh escapes from her mouth when her mask presses against my forehead.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind," I tease, sliding a hug around her chest.

"It doesn't mean you aren't enjoying yourself," she whispers with a coy smile outlined in the purple haze.

I shrug a little. "No. But since we both know you haven't taken your medicine, let's keep the thoughts PG, Miss vas Normandy."

"I know," she sighs. "I have wait another day or two for my immune system to recover. I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Let me put it this way: the only thing keeping me from ripping your mask off and kissing you is the fear of getting you sick."

I see her smile grow just a bit. "Good answer."

"Thought you'd like it. Now would you mind letting me up so we can actually cuddle?"

"Fine..."

She rotates onto her side, letting me slide out from under her and back towards the headboard. I lay my back against it, and she joins me a moment later. Her shoulder lays into my chest while the side of her head finds my cheek. I hug her stomach and help her into my lap. "Your turn," I mutter in her ear.

She works her arms up and over, so she can gently grip my hands. "Ok... I guess Quarian music is a lot like your classical music. There's lots of instrument variation from song to song, and they tend to be very long. But there's a lot more attention on the singer than in your music, and the words are different. In my music, every word is understandable, but none of them repeat. The artists write a poem without thinking of the music, and then they create the instruments around it. There's not a set structure like your music, no verses or chorus. But there is a building to the climax. And there is a lot of variety between songs, but not really genres to organize any of them into. Do you want an example?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

She raises her hands and brings up her omni-tool. A blister of words run across the small screen until stopping on one. It lights up a brighter orange, then the song creeps out of the speakers. There's something that sounds a lot like a violin, but almost a cello at the same time. The notes and chords are too in sync to be different instruments. It's a lot like Garrus' voice: there's a high and low tone that play in harmony. It's a nice sound. The strange little instrument continues for another minute or so in a strange solo before some kind of guitar joins the mix. Again, it's a combination. Every few strums and picks, a hollow beat echoes in it. It sounds like a drum, but without the hard impact. That one I really like.

The two instruments sing back and forth to each other for a while, almost like the horn and flute from A Song for Lindsay. But finally, a female voice works her way in. "Less than a day's time separates us, but for me, it's been longer than life itself." The vocalist is absolutely phenomenal. Like take Amy Lee from Evanescence on and it actually be a close competition. She's got great range, and any note she holds is spot on with amazing tone. Seriously one of the best singers I've heard in a long time. "I know that your reasons are for the best, and that you are needed away. Yet my heart does not care of the reasons. All it knows is that what it cannot beat without is no longer by my side. I would give anything to have you in my arms again, to hear your heartbeat in my chest, and your skin against mine. Until you return, all I will do is dream of our past and our future together."

The song keeps going like that for another five minutes, keeping me surprisingly enchanted in its beauty. Singers tend to have this... arrogance to them. "Look at me: I can sing better than you. Watch me, watch me!" You can almost hear it in their voices. Most trumpets have the same issue. But the Quarian doesn't have that at all. The words are selfish, but she's pleading. There's no pride or spoiled bratty-ness in her voice. Just a longing love... It's rare. And it's beautiful.

When the final chord dies, Tali yawns and shakes her head. I feel my own drowsiness working its way into my brain. She stretches her arms above her head, leaning on me more. "Is that enough for tonight?"

I rub my hand across her stomach, loving the feeling of her muscles moving beneath the suit. "Tired already?" I chuckle and nuzzle the side of her mask. "Alright, time for bed. Let me just brush my teeth first."

"Ok..." she grumbles.

She scoots to the side, letting me up and off the bed. My feet slowly cooperate as I stumble over to the bathroom. Guess the drowsiness is a little thicker than I expected. I close the door behind me to shield Tali from the unattractive sight of me using the toilet and blue toothpaste foam oozing from my mouth.

After that's accomplished, I open the door back up and use the mirror. I examine my face in the glass as I wash that and my hands. "What do you think about my goatee?" I ask Tali through the now-open door.

"What about it?" she semi-shouts back.

"Think I should get rid of it?"

"Why are you asking me?"

The curiosity in her voice makes me chuckle. "You are my girlfriend, meaning you have the final vote in everything I or we do. When and where we eat, when and where we sleep, and how much hair I keep."

"So you're my slave? I'll have to remember that," she giggles seductively.

"PG thoughts, Miss vas Normandy. I don't need another lecture from Mordin. So what's the verdict?"

"Hmm... I think you would look different without it. But you wouldn't look bad."

"Alright, how's this sound? I shave it off tomorrow, just to test how it is. If you don't like it or it bothers me too much, I'll let it grow back."

"I wouldn't mind."

"Got it. Morning objective: vanquish the black creature on my lip."

When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Tali's covered only her feet with the sheets. She strikes a pin-up pose, laying on her side with her hand running down her amazing curves. "See something you like?" she teases.

"'Like' doesn't even begin to describe it." I toss my t-shirt into the small hamper by the closet, take two big steps, and jump over the bottom of the bed, landing less than an inch behind her.

She bursts into laughter as I hug her tight. "What happened to PG?"

"You put the idea in my head."

I let her fidget her way over so that she's facing me. I roll back and we find our usual positions. Her shoulder lays into mine while her arms close around my torso. She lays her head into my cheek while I hug her as tight as I can. Her comfortable sigh vibrates in my chest, our muscles relaxing into each other.

"Enjoying your stay at the Commander Resort?" I ask with a smile.

"Very much," she half-yawns. "Before I forget, would you mind sending me a few of your songs tomorrow so I could listen to them?"

I kiss the top edge of her visor. "Not a problem. I'll make a quick playlist of a hundred or so and send them to you after breakfast. Could you do the same for me?"

She nods just a hair. "Yes. I have to warn you, though: the ones I like all sound like the one I played you."

"Doesn't bother me. It'll still be nice to hear. Sleep tight, Tali."

"Good night, Aaron."

It doesn't take her long to fall asleep, only a minute or two. It's always nice to watch that subtle transformation, the individual things that change as she gives in to the drowsiness. The way her hands go from rubbing my shoulder to hanging limply. How the little glows of her eyes blink out to the deep purple of her visor... It's become my personal addiction to watch. Falling asleep before her just doesn't seem right anymore.

It occurs to me that I forgot to tell Tali about another human tendency with music. Using the softer songs to fall asleep. Here Without You, Right Here Waiting, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing... If there was ever a perfect song for this moment, that's it.

I open my omni-tool, careful not to disturb her, turn the music speakers to the lowest volume, and tell them to start playing. The violins come in, slowly building like the smile on my face. Oh, I love this song... Few songs quite like it...

"I could stay awake just to hear you breathing... Watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you're far away dreaming. I could spend my life in this sweet surrender. I could stay lost in this moment forever... Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure. I don't want to close my eyes. I don't want to fall asleep, cause I'd miss you baby. And I don't want to miss a thing. Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream would never do, cause I'd miss you babe. And I don't want to miss a thing..."

I'm not sure when I fall asleep exactly, but it's one of the most peaceful times in my life... Every night with her has been like this...

Something hard hits me in the ribs, launching my eyes open. I'm halfway to my feet and Predator before I realize it was only Tali's elbow. She's twitching in her sleep, slightly punching and muttering. Her dreams must be active tonight. It's about the... fourth time she's done that. She's never hit me quite that hard, but a gentle kick to the shins is fairly common. She'll do it for ten minutes before settling back down. Wonder if I do that in my sleep?

With the toilet now beckoning, I stumble out of bed and back into the bathroom. The Pepsi exits my system quickly before I wash my hands in the sink. My limbs don't particularly want to work for me in their semi-inebriated state, but I don't hurt myself on any of the fixtures. There's no point in using the mirror this late, so I work my way back into the bedroom. Hopefully, the rest of the night will go off without a hitch.

Tali's twitches have gotten worse on the bed, and her mutters are almost loud enough for me to understand now. Hmm... A twinge of worry starts to eat at me. She does this all the time, but it's never been this bad. I'll watch her for a few minutes, make sure she's alright. I walk over and take a seat on the bottom corner of the bed. The words are almost audible now, but still a giant mess of unconscious flailing. I stay out of reach of her legs and wait for any kind of change.

My right shoulder starts to ache a bit. I rotate it back and forth, working a kink out of the joint. A Collector got me Horizon with a good burst. Didn't get through the armor, but melted the pad into skin and cartilage. Chakwas patched me up pretty good, but it'd take some cybernetics to fix completely. I'm fine with it aching during in rain if it means no more tech in me. Damn Widow doesn't do it a whole lot of favors, though.

A kick lands in my thigh, bringing my thoughts right back to the present. Tali's not so much twitching now as full-out flailing. Her arms are punching at air, striking invisible enemies before going in another direction. "No, no, no..." she mutters. "Not. Too-too... too hot. Hot..."

I lay my hand on the small of her back. "Tali," I say with a gentle shove.

She swings a wild elbow at me, then goes back to the front targets. "Too hot. Can't breathe. A-Aaron, please." Her arms and legs are going full speed now, desperately trying to take out something.

"Tali," I half-shout.

"I-I-I can't breathe! Aaron! Aaron, help me!"

"Tali!"

She finally shoots straight up, gasping for air. A fist almost hits me, but I lean back under it. She wraps her arms around herself a second later while she shakes like mad. "Keelah..." she whispers through tears.

I drag myself across the bed and almost into her lap. My arms grip her in a death hug, pulling her into my chest. "Shh... Shh..." I mutter in her ear. "You're ok, you're ok. It was just a nightmare. You're ok..."

I feel her body shiver against my chest and her teeth chatter. She keeps the hug around herself, but leans her head into my shoulder and the rest of herself into my chest. "Keelah..." she sobs. "I-I-I thought it was real... I thought I was there again..."

"You're here, Tali. There's nothing to worry about."

She sniffles under the mask. "... I thought it was real. I-I thought I was in the vents again. I c-could see y-you trying to get to the panels to let me out... But they stopped you. You were dying on the ground while they kept coming... I could feel my suit starting to melt into my skin..."

And with that, she starts sobbing again with renewed strength. All I can do is hug her tighter and keep shushing in her ear. "Shh... It's alright. It's alright. You got through just fine. Everyone did. It's alright, I'm right here... You're ok..." None of it seems to slow her wailing down at all.

An idea forms in my head. Not much of one, but it's worth a shot. I lean in closer to her ear and hold her tight. "This world asks for so much. Despite what you give it's just never enough..." I sing in a whisper. "And you're left cold, tired, and alone, searching for something that's already gone. You try not to be afraid, bound down by all of these things that they say. And you feel like you're all by yourself, but I'll be right here when there's nothing else. Lay down. Rest here in peace in my arms now, knowing you're safe from the storms and the rain and from all of your pain. And I'll be here when only the silence remains."

Her sobs start to mellow out, slowly going down in volume and intensity. "Your fears, they know that you're scared. Wherever you go, they seem to meet you there. And you face them all on your own. Never the weak; always the strong. And you win most of the time, never once claiming that 'victory's mine.' And you carry this burden alone, but this candle's burned at both ends for so long. Lay down. Rest here in peace in my arms now, knowing you're safe from the storms and the rain and from all of your pain. And I'll be here when only the silence remains."

Now, she's down to quiet snifflings and sobs. She's still shaking badly, but she's finally starting to regain some control. "Lay down. Rest here in peace in my arms now, knowing you're safe from the storms and the rain and from all of your pain. And I'll be here when only the silence remains. Rest here in peace in my arms now, knowing you're safe from the storms and the rain and from all of your pain. And I'll be here when only the silence remains."

When I finish the song, she stays quiet. Her body still shivers occasionally, and I can hear her nose running still, but it sounds like she's through the worst of it. She keeps her head buried in the top of my chest, never looking up at me. "Thank you..." she whispers with a voice still broken by tears.

I lay a small kiss on her. "It's ok, Tali."

She finally slides her arms around my sides. "Thank you... It's all I can say."

"It's all you need to... Would it help you back to sleep if I keep singing?"

"Please," she mutters with a nod.

"Ok. Come here."

I lay back down like usual. She makes her hug a little tighter and leaves her head on my chest, clinging to me like I'm life itself. I hug her around her back and pull her into me. She rotates a little, making herself somewhat comfortable.

I sigh and lean to her ear. "This world asks for so much..."