It'd been a month. One month had passed since the battle against the Reapers had come to an end, and Commander Shepard's body had been recovered amongst a pile of rubble back on Earth.
At least, everyone expected to find a body. No one could believe it when they'd found her beaten and bloody but miraculously still alive. Though none were more surprised than Garrus. Sure, he'd imagined hundreds of scenarios in which Shepard had come back to him alive and well, but he'd pushed them all aside as they were little more than childish dreams. Or so he thought. Of course, that was what drew him to her in the first place; no one in the galaxy could manage to defy all measurable odds except for her.
She lay next to him, her breath falling through parted lips as she slept. A long scar ran down the length of her arm and he ran his hand over it absentmindedly. So many scars, so many bruises reminding him of just how close Garrus had been to losing her. He sometimes found himself believing that it was a dream, expecting to wake up to an empty bed with Shepard's name mounted on the Memorial Wall.
She stirred under his touch, her eyelids fluttering open as a lazy smile worked its way onto her face. Damn, he didn't know what he would do if he never saw that smile again. She glanced at him with amusement, placing a hand softly over the nearly faded scars on his mandible.
"You shouldn't watch someone while they're sleeping," she said, obviously trying to hold back a laugh. "Most species would consider that a bit on the creepy side."
Garrus laughed, pulling her closer and grasping her bare waist. He'd long since memorized the curve of her hips, the softness against his. She sighs in his embrace, her arms reaching up to wrap around his neck, her head finding the space where it meets his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'll make sure to remember that for future reference," he replied.
"You'd better."
She had to be his guardian angel. The way she'd come into his life, lighting his way when everything around him seemed to be going dark… It was the only explanation, the only thing about any of this that made any sense.
She pressed her mouth firmly against his, tightening her grip around him. He responds eagerly, flipping them over so that she rested on her back, being careful not to hurt her. She stares up at him with equal parts lust and adoration and her grin widens.
"What happened to sleeping?" He silently cursed the breath that got caught in his throat as Shepard's fingers left a trail of fire as they traveled down his torso.
Her tone was absolute. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
Normally he would reprimand her on saying things like that, considering she'd just barely escaped that exact scenario. Tonight, though, he was too focused on losing himself in the woman that was so beautifully and wonderfully and impossibly his.
He'd never be able to say it out loud, but what she'd said before went both ways. There may not be any Shepard without Vakarian, but he sure as hell wouldn't be the same without her.