Authors Note: This work was originally created for a close friend of mine, which has since blossomed into a story that I feel should be shared. As usual, all the game characters that are recognizable are owned by BioWare, and the others belong to myself, and my close friend. Please enjoy and let me know if there are any suggestions for the story, or errors within.

That night's rest had never come easier. After all the thinking, that was. A soft bed, firm surroundings, and no one to interrupt her in her apartment. The Citadel may have been destroyed, but thankfully, that was far away from her. Shepard had spent hours there during the day, both in armor and just surveying the damage. Her arm had been placed in a splint for a few days, but now she was able to take it off. However, she was still human, and needed rest. Being given a week of shore leave was hardly going to do the trick for her.

It was simply too much time to think about what might have happened if she had been able to save Saren. She had made the mistake of looking into his eyes when the bullet fired from his pistol, coming out bright blue with sparks from the other side of his grey skull. She had left Wrex and Garrus to finish him off, for good. But they were surprised to see that, once down there, the body was gone, with no trace of a trail of blood, or any sort of marks. And now, there was a rabid search for his person. 1,000 credits to anyone with good information. Emma particularly wanted to know who, or possibly what, had moved the body, and more importantly why. There wasn't anything to gain from a dead body but a space-filler in the ground. Or, as Wrex had so delicately put it, more wiring for the Citadel. It was a poor joke, to her; she knew Saren was only being manipulated against his will by the Reapers, and that otherwise, he was probably still a decent person. Emma believed that everyone had a good-heart when it came down to it.

Regardless of what had happened to Saren's body these thoughts and questions surged in her head like hornets. Though she slowly pushed them out, one by one, and drifted off into weightlessness, losing a battle to think as her body allowed her to sleep. She felt her spine stretching out the built up pressure, to the point where it was almost painful enough to stir her. But it also felt good. There was something to be said for a love of pain in this manner, and as she relaxed her muscles, focusing on her breathing, every minute began to slow down, and time might as well have stopped when she could no longer feel her toes, knowing they were wiggling, or her hands that were bunching up the sheets beneath her. She slept very well.

The past few nights alone were strange for her as she had begun having some rather questionable dreams. The most frequent one which often gave her chills, although she woke up in a sweat more often than not, was herself running off with some Drell named Thane. She had never met him before, although if she ever did, she knew she would take a liking to him right away. Regardless, as they neared the end of a long, winding path, which she now recognized as the path she took on Eden Prime to find Ashley and Nihlus, everything turned blood red. Alarms of all kinds were sounded, and there was a horrible, screeching noise, almost like nails on a chalk board, only amplified. The person in front of her varied, but every time they would begin to melt, with a sadistic smile on their face, while murmuring 'There is no choice' or sometimes 'You can't be saved'. It was then she would wake up and ponder on what her mind was trying to tell her. Tonight, however, was the most haunting thing she had seen. She was sure that if Saren was dead, he was doing this just for her, to please his own self with her torture. A black mist that went on for miles and was eerily warm to the touch, eventually gave way to ice cold water which, when Emma went down into it, deeper, revealed those beautiful blue eyes, and a menacingly calm voice repeating 'come find me'. And then his body, which was mangled up from all the bullets she'd no doubt fired at him, vanished with the warm mist as she came out of the water again.

"'Come find me'?" The male repeated the next morning.

"Yes. And then I'm just alone with this whispering. It pulsates some; it goes away for a bit when you get used to it, and then just when you think it's gone, it comes back. I.. I feel like I'm not really alive, but I'm not dead when I see this, almost like there's something keeping me between both worlds." Emma said as she paced the floor, sure that there was a path being carved into the metal flooring.

"Please sit, you're making me nervous." Garrus said, now. He was only there because she trusted him with things like this, as well as the fact he didn't have any particular mood or grudge against her at any time. He was just Garrus, and she needed an honest ear, that wouldn't make her pay by the hour. And it helped that he knew what she had gone through. Silence now passed for several minutes after she sat down.

"I've been having odd dreams too, you know." He offered to her.

"Really? Like what?" She asked hungrily.

"Just.. Those eyes, really." He muttered. "They pop up when you least expect it." Things went silent again, and the neighbors could be heard fighting.

"Do you think if he had a chance, he would do it over? I mean if nothing changed." Emma was trying to get something off her chest to ease the growing headache she had.

"I don't think he would have a chance to begin with."

"No, I mean if he could go back in time, and start over, do you think he would?"

"Would you?"

"From who's perspective are we talking?"

"Yours."

She paused.

"That's an entirely different question."

"But it gives you my answer."

No.

She found herself sighing, and leaning against Garrus some before he stood. He had always been a good friend to her, though Emma wouldn't deny that there was some growing tension between them. It made things interesting when they talked. But right now, all she needed was that friend.

"You need the time off, Emma. Try to take things easy for now, alright?" Garrus said, as he gave her a small hug. She returned it with a smile of her own.

"I'll try not to blow anything up." She sighed.

"And if you need anything else, please call me. Or someone, at least." He said, before leaving her alone to the room. Her smile faded a bit as he left, saddened now at the loss of company. But she did need to loosen up more, she thought. She might turn out like one of those mental patients if she didn't watch herself. She sighed and turned to a very messy bedroom. It was still half unpacked, on top of the usual mess that Emma tended to always make and leave behind. She really blamed her parents for the habit; they never gave her chores, they cleaned up after her, and they were gone nearly all the time. The baby sitter would spoil her and clean up after every little thing, sometimes even doing homework for her. But she was an adult, now, and she knew that cleaning was part of that job. As a bonus, it would keep her occupied for quite some time. She let out another sigh and began to work. Sure enough, a few hours later, everything was put in its place, and it was as clean as she had ever gotten a room after living there for some time. As she turned towards the closet, she hesitated. Something around the corner made her tense. She glanced over, and saw a furry tail sticking out from behind a chair. She relaxed and smiled, clicking her tongue a few times, to make sure.

A small, furry head peaked out, green eyes and brown short fur with tufts of white. Emma smiled and then quietly moved to the kitchen to grab a bowl of water, and some shredded up meat from last nights' dinner. She moved back to the bedroom, and set down the bowl and plate by the chair the creature was behind. Purring, the kitten ran out and began eating. Satisfied, she then went to call the front desk of the apartment complex about the missing cat. After Emma was sure the message went through the third time, she hung up and waited.

During this time, Emma decided to redecorate the living room. She had rearranged the furniture around a few times, before a knock on the door caused her to pause her labors. She opened the door, a bit hesitant. However, she was glad to see a rather beautiful asari at the door.

"I was told to contact you about a missing cat?" the woman smiled. Emma smiled back, and welcomed her in.

"I hope you don't mind me feeding her." She said going to fetch the cat.

"Him," She said, "His name is Pio."

"Ah... Well Pio is in here, somewhere, last I checked. He's adorable too, I'm not sure how I missed him when he came in." Emma said as the asari began searching. She was glad she had cleaned up. Soon enough, the cat and owner were happily reunited. Theresia was the asari's name, and they talked for a bit. Emma was surprised to hear some of the things the woman had gone through. Theresia seemed quite content though, and the two agreed that when time allowed, they would have lunch. She seemed docile enough to trust in Emma's eyes.

After the small event, the time passed by slower than ever. Eventually, she was able to go back to her true home on the Normandy just a few days later. Everything went as planned for the most part, the team travelling through the terminus system and looking for some pockets of geth. Until about two months later, the alarms suddenly went off. All she could think about, odd as it was to her, was avoiding Saren in what would surely be the gates of Hell welcoming her very shortly.