Ashley slowly woke up under the covers, still being cradled in Shepard's arms, yet free to use her omni-tool. She checked on the usual stuff: News, messages, notes from family, exc. and noticed she got a message from Admiral Anderson. Upon opening it, the message read,

Spectre Williams,

Admiral Hackett told me about what happened on the citadel and also about your status as a spectre. That goddamn Udina had it coming, and im glad Shepard was there to give him what he deserved in the first place. I wish I could congratulate you in person like I did Shepard when he became a spectre, but the men and women I lead on earth need me. I also heard about your request to stay onboard the Normandy, and I managed to convince Admiral Hackett that it was a sound decision. Shepard needs as many allies as he can recruit in this war, and I know you can help him, that's why I wanted you to accompany him onboard the Normandy.

Keep Shepard alive and well. That's an order! We both know that if Shepard falls, or loses his will to fight, the reapers will win, and all of us might as well drop dead. Don't worry about your conduct with Shepard either; we knew about it back when you served with him aboard the SR-1, and the alliance decided not to do anything about it because of his spectre status. We also got word of it during and after your stay at the hospital; we're not spying on you, we're making sure you can do what's right for Shepard without us getting in your way. Shepard's heart and mind has already forged powerful alliances, but we still need more if we're going to stance a chance to win, and I want you to help him in any way you can.

My hands are tied here on Earth, but if there's anything I can do for you and Shepard, all you need to do is ask. Keep fighting the good fight, spectre Williams.

- Admiral Anderson

Ashley's heart warmed up after reading this letter and while she was slightly disappointed the alliance knew about their relationship, she was also happy they chose not to get in her way and to encourage her to continue supporting Shepard. She powered off her omni-tool and turned to face Shepard, who opened his eyes slowly after she looked at him for a few moments.

"Hey," Ashley stated. "Sleep well?"

"I did. It reminds me of…"

"Ilos. And all that time we spent after. I never thought about it until now. Damn, it felt so good. And it still does."

"I could use another nap."

"Aye aye, commander. Permission to command the deck?"

"Permission granted." And with that, Shepard turned to his side so that Ashley could spoon him, and they spent another two hours taking a nap. During this nap, Shepard had a weird but pleasant dream. Shepard and Ashley were together on different worlds; he didn't recognize where he was, just different places on different planets. Then, Shepard appeared in space with Ashley. Ashley turned around to him, whispered, "I love you," and faintly kissed his right check. The dream faded to black, and Shepard slowly woke up.

As Shepard looked around the room, his stomach rumbled. He was hungry after all the love he and Ashley shared, and wanted something to eat. As he was thinking about a way to sneak out of Ashley's spoon, Ashley stirred at Shepard's rumbling and decided it was best to simply talk his way through it,

"Morning Ash. Sleep well?"

"Sure did. Nothing but the best."

"Im feeling a bit peckish. Want me to fix you something?"

"Sure. Nothing fancy, maybe some noodles or something?"

"Coming right up." Ashley then loosened her spoon on Shepard, allowing him to get up, put on his boxers and make a packet of noodles for both himself and Ash. As he was waiting for the noodles to cook, Ash got up, put on her bra and thong, and sat on the couch. The couch was much more relaxing than anything on the SR-1, allowing her to stretch out and relax, with her right arm on top of the sofa and her leg crossed. When she looked down at the coffee table, she caught her eye on the glasses sitting perfectly still on the table. Her tongue suddenly wanted to taste some sweet, fine alcohol, and asked Shepard,

"You got some alcohol to drink, hero-man?"

"Look under the coffee table. Pour me some of that, uh, that green stuff."

Ashley looked under the coffee table and quickly found a bottle of green alcohol, mostly full, in the front of his collection of drinks. She pulled it out, held it up, read the label and asked, "This? You mean Aldebaran whiskey?"

"That's the one!"

"Wow Shepard, never knew you to be a whiskey drinker. I'll have a glass of it myself, see how your taste compares to mine."

As Ashley poured a drink for her and Shepard, Shepard stated, "Don't start without me!" At that moment, Shepard and Ashley's noodles were done cooking, so he pulled them out of the microwave, got what he needed, and sat down with Ashley. At that point, Shepard realized this would be the perfect opportunity to have a toast, and Shepard asked,

"We haven't had a toast in a long time. Got any ideas?"

"Hmmm, well, let's see…hard to say because if this damn war's not on my mind, you are. Ah, screw it, let's have a toast to us. I never want you to leave my heart again."

"And should we fall, may we fall together and not be a second apart from heaven."

Ashley snickered and said, "Ok, here's to us!" and with that, Shepard and Ashley clanked their glasses and quickly gulped down their Aldebaran Whiskey.

"Quite a drink Shepard. What's the word for it…umm…oh, acquired! That's how it tastes."

"Really? That's a new one. Never thought tastes could be acquired to you."

"Oh, stop it, you!" Ashley playfully shoved Shepard and both of them quickly shared a kiss before eating their noodles. Around half an hour passed between eating noodles, trying out different sips of Shepard's alcohol, using the extranet, and using the bathroom before Shepard came up with a crazy idea that involved Ashley and a tank full of water.

"You know, I never had any fish in this tank ever since they locked me up all those months ago. I also haven't had a good swim in a long time. Care to go skinny-dipping with me?"

Ashley nearly lost herself, but quickly responded,

"You want me, to go skinny-dipping, in a fish-tank that used to have fish, with you?

"Well it's either that or we go back to earth and take on the Reapers."

Shepard looked at Ashley teasingly, to which Ashley finally pulled her doubts together and said with a bit of frustration, "Fine. But if that water's cold or nasty, im grabbing my gear."

After getting some towels, Shepard and Ashley went to the side of the fish tank, up the ladder leading to the top of the fish tank, and stripped off their underwear. As soon as Ashley slipped out of her bra and panties, Shepard took a renegade action by grabbing Ashley and jumping in the pool with her. She managed to let out a scream before plunging into the water. As the water was nice and warm, with no nasty growth or smell inside the talk, Ashley's mood went from uncertain to scared and then playful, and as soon as both of them surfaced, Ashley said,

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be? Your gonna drown commander, im the stronger spectre and you know it!"

"Try all you want!" and at that point, Shepard and Ashley playfully tried to keep each other underwater the longest, without actually drowning each other. For 20 minutes, both of them splashed and wrestled wildly in the tank, getting gasps of air and the occasional laugh in when they surfaced. The playful contest they had was close, but in the end, Shepard knew he stayed underwater less than Ashley, even when she said,

"Ok, why don't we call it a draw for another day? I think we need a bigger tank to do this."

"Tired already, Ash? Come on, weren't you going to drown me in this tank?"

Ashley laughed and said, "Joker or EDI could call us down and we'd still be fighting in this tank. You really want to push it that far?"

Shepard dared to make a renegade move towards Ashley by saying, "No, but I will push this!" and at that moment, penetrated her in the pool, causing Ashley to gasp and immediately grip the edge of the fish to stay afloat. The action, and the pleasurable feeling she got, completely took her by surprise. Ashley couldn't believe that Shepard was having sex with her in a fish tank, but she thought of it less as a fish tank and more as a pool. She could have fought against it, but decided to go with the flow and let Shepard take the lead on this one. For 40 minutes, Shepard and Ashley had probably the best sex they ever had up to this point, and couldn't believe they never thought to have sex in a pool of some sort sooner. Between the usual fucking, as well as brief handjobs, a titfuck and even an oral from Ashley, Ashley and Shepard both managed to climax three times each, and at one point, both of them climaxed underwater. It was just as intense as wrestling in the pool, and by the time they were done, they were out of breath, and could barely stay afloat. Both of them eventually climbed out of the tank, and Ashley, still out of breath, said,

"That…was…fucking…crazy! Next shore leave…"

"Yeah...I'll book it."

Both of them eventually calmed down and dried themselves off with the towels Shepard brought up, and rather than putting on their underwear, they decided to take a hot, massaging shower to clean themselves off. Shepard and Ashley shared a moderate, compassionate shower, with hardly any thoughts of sex, just love and comfort for each other. They washed themselves off and occasionally massaged one another to relieve the tension they built up in the pool. Shepard wished he had a bottle of strawberry scented soap for Ashley so she could faintly smell of delicious strawberries when she stepped out of the shower, but he brushed it off and realized someday, he'll have the chance to get her a bottle of strawberry soap and much more, preferably on their next shore leave. Shepard and Ashley eventually stepped out of the shower, donned both their underwear as well as some bath robes on, and ended up getting ready for bed by finalizing reports, browsing the extranet, dimming the lights, exc.

Five minutes before Shepard was going to snuggle in bed with Ashley, Ashley came up with a bold idea to reward Shepard. Ashley beckoned,

"Hey skipper, you coming to bed? I've got a goodnight present for you, and a challenge."

"Oh? That so?" Shepard's curiosity caused him to drop the tablet he was working on so he could walk over to Ashley and get in bed if he was tempted. "What have you got?"

"I bet I could make you cum with just my feet. No other clothes off. And I bet I could do it faster than last time, even if just a little. Last time was what, 30 minutes and some seconds? I know I can jerk you off faster than that, and with clothes on!"

"Seriously? Wait, I know your not kidding. But what if you can't finish me off faster?"

"Then shoe shopping is on me. Come on Shepard, do you really want to be reading reports about Garrus's calibrations? Or would you rather pay tribute to my wonderful, sexy feet, like old times?"

"I could never turn down an offer like yours, even if you threatened me as a spectre. I'll gladly pay tribute to you."

Ashley laughed as both of them arranged themselves on the bed so that Ashley could give Shepard a footjob. Ashley started counting down the time as soon as Shepard stopped worshipping her feet (Which felt very soft and smooth after the shower and faintly smelled of the soap she used) and started jerking them off. While Ashley may not be skyclad like she usually is when having sex, she still looked sharp dressed in a N7 bathrobe. For 25 minutes, Ashley tried different positions, different moments, and even used her own spit as lube in the hopes of breaking Shepard and winning her bet. During this time, she wasn't so sure if he would involuntarily surrender himself to her, but after the 25 minutes, he could sense his resistances falling apart. She was tired, and so was Shepard, but she had to stroke faster, and with more force. Just when she was about to slow down and eventually give up, 3 minutes later, Shepard let out a moan, and Ashley felt the warm presence of cum all over the soles and toes of her feet. She gasped the moment she felt Shepard's cum on her feet and laughed a little as well. Footjobs may not pleasure her as much as traditional fucking, but if it pleases Shepard, it pleases her as well.

"28 minutes and 10 seconds. Ha! I win!"

"So did I, I can't tell you how great it feels to get a footjob."

"God, I never met a guy who cared so much about me, let alone who wants to worship my feet." Ashley then teased, "Do you realize how sweaty my feet get on a mission?"

"The joke's on you. I might have told you I liked your feet, but you thought of the idea of showing up in my quarters, stripping down and saying, 'Alright skipper, ready to clean them up for me?' right after we took down those pirates in the Terminus systems."

Ashley laughed and said, "You would remember that! But you told me about your fetish first, the joke is all on you, footboy. Wow, if word of this gets out to the crew…"

"You wouldn't!" Shepard said with a serious face.

Ashley laughed and said, "I'm just kidding, Shepard. I had you for a moment there though." Ashley smiled as Shepard asked,

"EDI…are you listening to us?"

Surprisingly, EDI replied and said, "Yes, Shepard."

"Just…don't say anything about what we're doing, ok?"

"I am already deleting logs of interactions between you and Ashley in your cabin. I have also stopped Liara from tapping into video feeds in your cabin."

After a brief pause, and with Shepard almost saying 'What!?' in shock, EDI continued, "The latter was a joke."

Shepard, content with what he heard, said, "Thanks, EDI."

Ashley changed the mood by saying, "Well, that's good to know. But seriously, thanks Shepard. You always had your way of pleasing me, whether it's in bed, on the battlefield, or even in a damn fish tank. God, a fish tank of all things…you really have what it takes to stop this war, skipper."

"Fighting a bunch of reapers is different from fighting a rogue spectre."

"Oh nonono, you are not going there. We'll get it done, Shepard. We'll take back earth, and make those reaper bastards pay for screwing with us! And if we have to shoot a few more politicians along the way, or bring more weird-ass aliens into this mess, we'll do it. At least Udina had the courtesy to make me a spectre before he died, rotten bastard."

"If I could, id make you a spectre myself. Not that the council would ever approve, but id do it to make up for all the times the alliance held you back."

"Ha, that's so sweet. I might even think of some payback, you'd be welcome to give me any ideas if you get any. But Shepard, im really tired, there's one more thing I gotta say before I go to bed."

"And that is?"

"Stay alive. That's an order!"

"You too, Ash. Goodnight."

Shepard and Ash kissed each other goodnight then cuddled together, without spooning. For 9 hours, Ash and Shepard slept well, if not the best they've slept in recent memory. The expressions of satisfaction on their faces and the position they cuddled in would woo the crew if they saw it, but this was a moment for Shepard and Ashley only. Neither of them dreamed, but instead were in a form of blissful stasis, seeing only black and barely feeling anything, even each other. Both of them were also fairly still, not tossing or turning like they both did before they started sleeping with each other.