"Shepard! Please wake up, we need to go, it's not-ahh!-It's not safe here! John, please!"

...

Shepard snapped awake with a start, heavily breathing in his seat. The comforting blue fabric massaged his neck as he slowly acclimatized his vision. He was aboard a ship, chartered towards Rannoch. His heavy breathing mellowed and he held a palm over his chest to slow his rapid heart rate, quenching each breath. Once his body was back under his control, he peered around more calmly at the first class portion of the ship. Many races, mainly Volus, humans and Asari filled each of the luxury seats. The occasion cough and yawn filled the quiet cabin. Curtains were pulled across the viewports and a soft, calm blue light illuminated the night time cabin. The thin strips of blue light lengthened across the ceiling of the tube like cabin. It was no Normandy, this wasn't a private vessel, nor a warship, but it was comfortable enough.

To Shepard's surprise, no one had bothered him at all with thanks or autographs. He sighed with relief and leaned his head back into the seat, trying to make sense of his nightmare. A cold wind rushed down his spine, like Death's skeletal finger, plucking each of the bony ridges atop his spine. He turned to his side and saw the empty seat. His heart froze solid and a panic set in.

Where's Tali?

Before he could have a heart attack of anxiety, the Quarian in question returned, migrating down the hall from behind a blue curtain. She took her seat beside him, some people frowning at a Quarian in the first class lounge. His heart warmed and he sighed a breath of relief. He needed to calm down. She was safe, so was he. No need to panic. She sat down, fidgeting back into the seat for comfort. Her back rested into the seat and Shepard smiled at her, weary of his lack of sleep.

"Hey." He groaned, his knee throbbing along with his eye. Tali snapped her masked gaze on him.

"Hey sweetheart." She cooed, rubbing his arm. He grimaced and slammed his head back into the seat, saliva string gritted teeth grinding. She gasped and leaned forward between her seat, rummaging in her bag.

"Don't worry; I've got your pain killers." Shepard felt his head go light and woozy, but fought it, watching her rummage faster.

"Keelah, where are the Bosh'tets?" She growled, suddenly flinging her hand up with a carton in hand. "Yes, ha-ha!" She cheered. Several people gave her grim glares, others shushing her. She slumped her head down, apologizing with a whisper.

He looked at her with pain strangled eyes. His head felt like it was being compressed. Chakwas had issued him an array of pain killers before her departure. Tali tapped a pair of the blue pills into her gloved palm and then grasped a water bottle from the bag for him. He took the tablets and plucked them on his tongue. She handed him the bottle and he quickly swigged the pills down.

Over five minutes passed of pure uninterrupted agony, all Tali could do was hold his quaking hand firmly, stroking a hand across his scarred forehead, soothing him. Soon the painkillers that swam within his blood got to work, numbness clearing his head of all sinister pain. Tali moved the armrest out of the way as Shepard wrapped a free arm around her, his pain clouded mind clearing of the horrible fog. She snuggled up to him, almost sitting in his lap as she wrapped her arms around him, settling her hooded head on his chest.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. He massaged his scalp and sighed with content.

"Much better, thank you sweetheart."

"You're welcome." She cooed, snuggling closer. It wasn't long before the inviting warmth and silence of the darkened cabin made both their lids feel heavy.

"Mmm, I still don't believe this. My dreams are coming true...have come true." Tali smiled within her mask. Shepard moaned with delight as he massaged her stomach with the hand he had wrapped around her.

"Me too. We're almost to Rannoch. We're going to build you a home." Shepard whispered softly.

"John, I already have a home. That's you. We're going to build us a house to make a home." Tali snuggled. Shepard smiled warmly as he coiled both his arms around her, the soft hum of the ships small drive core whirring below.

"Can't wait." He smiled with closed eyes as he hugged the love of his life. He thought about how hard he'd fought for this very moment, and now he was living it. Why shouldn't he enjoy a bit of peace? Proof that he'd earned it was the fact they were still alive to live this way. At first when they found his ruined body and took him from the carcass of the Citadel, his only concern was the primeval fear of dying, trying to stay alive.

When he was in the hospital, pumped with I.V and morphine, his concerns were able to linger to the state of the galaxy. He asked of the Geth and all Synthetics, receiving the sorrow filled response of their demise. At first he was distraught, Tali having to cradle his sob wracked body throughout the night. Two months later and after his plea to Tali to check the A.I core, he received the news that EDI was in fact alive, that most A.I's had sealed their data codes inside their consensuses and cores. The Crucible destroyed the Synthetic hardware, the Reapers being unable to flee their bodies and suffering a well deserved pain, but did nothing to affect the coded makeup of the Geth or other . All they required were new platforms, which the Quarians were happy to work on.

Shepard's guilt for a Billion lives lost was able to rest and his mind could focus on repairing his own body. Now as his mind returned to the Quarian snuggling into his chest, he smiled warmly and truthfully for the first time since the end of the war, not just a crease to his lips that he slapped on to keep his friends happy. Now, he was truly happy. He leaned into the seat and closed his eyes, feeling the calm breaths of Tali as she slept. The silver dots behind the mask were gone and an adorable half snore sounded every so often. Soon his lids fell very heavy and he succumbed to sleep.

...

A soft shove to his shoulder and Shepard awoke with a gasp through his nostrils. He peered around through lazy eyes. His half lidded vision was blurry with sleep, crust in the corner of his eyes before he rubbed them awake. He looked for the assaulter in question. Tali was still snuggled into his chest fast asleep, the cosy warmth was more than inviting and he really wanted to fall asleep again with the Quarian his arms were wrapped around. Her slender hand was draped over his shoulder, the other held to his chest.

The flight attendant whispered to the dazed and tired Commander, obviously jet-lagged. "Sorry to wake you Commander, but we are about to begin our descent into Rannoch." She smiled warmly, her soft cheeks pushed up under bright blue eyes, batting a long blonde lock behind her left ear as gravity intended on pulling it down. Shepard nodded his thanks and went to fall asleep again, nuzzling into Tali's soft, warm hood. It had an intoxicating aroma, a mix between lavender and metal.

His eyes closed again and the smiling stewardess turned her attention to the Asari who had a question.

"Can I get a warm towel please?" Shepard heard the Asari asked as sleep began to reclaim his fuzzy mind.

"Of course" The stewardess whispered as she walked away. Shepard sighed with content through his nostrils as he gave Tali a barely conscious squeeze. She moaned happily and they both gave into a deep sleep.

...

Shepard and Tali awoke with a gentle thump as the ship touched down on the surface of Rannoch. It was a small settlement erected within five months of having the planet free from Geth hands. Now that piece could exist between the races, the Geth began immediate work on construction. The settlement consisted of a small town of ten apartment blocks, only five apartments high each. The Geth were already erecting more, scaffolding and metal apartment skeletons stood tall. The Landing pad that attached to a rather small terminal greeted the ship as all three of its feet thumped the ground softly.

Shepard and Tali slowly stirred in their seats, peering around with sleep filled eyes as passengers began to pick up belongs to depart.

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your patience on this long flight to the wonderful newly reclaimed world of Rannoch. Enjoy your stay. The gravelly voice of the pilot emitted over the speakers. Tali felt a heart warming serge of emotion, pride and happiness at the word: Rannoch. They were finally here. She wanted to rub her eyes clear of sleep but couldn't thanks to the purple glass in the way. Shepard yawned beside her and stretched, smiling happily.

"We're here sweetheart." Tali announced with a squeal of happiness, bundling her hands up to her chest. Shepard chuckled at her cutely enthusiastic movements.

"Yeah, we are. Come on; let's go meet your Auntie." He groaned, pressing down on his cane as he stood from the seat, his indentation slowly fading as the seat reformed. Tali was already eagerly stood, hand luggage in front of her hips, bouncing on her toes, watching everyone leave the cabin. It was obvious she was incredibly excited.

"You can run on ahead if you want." Shepard smirked, filing out of the row and meeting her in the path between seat arrangements. "You don't have to let this old man slow you down." He chuckled.

"What? Oh Keelah, I'm sorry, I'm not entirely with it, I'm so excited I mean we've talked about this for so long and I only thought of it as a pipe dream but here we are and the Reapers are dead so no more-"

Shepard cut her off by gripping both shoulders gently, making her stuttering stop. Her wide eyes settled on his soft yet damaged ones.

"Calm down sweetheart. We've got all the time in the world now." He smiled. She nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on her toes and peering back down the empty isle towards the exit.

"You are so damn cute." He exclaimed, obvious that she was far too excited to calm down. He followed her out as she almost barreled passed the Stewardess. Shepard gave her a smirking nod, shaking his head at the Quarian's utter excitement to be on the home world for something other than the Reapers. The blonde woman simply smiled back with a laugh.

Shepard hobbled alongside Tali, taking a guilty pleasure of looking out of the corner of his eye at her tremendously incredible physic, her stunning rear and arched back, wide hips, wonderful powerful thighs, and perfect breasts. He slapped himself mentally and looked down in shame. He'd been so focused on himself getting well that he had been neglecting her. They hadn't been together since before hitting Cronos to stop Cerberus once and for all. He blushed ever so slightly and shook his head clear of the thoughts.

"Auntie Raan!" Tali exclaimed as they walked through the terminal towards the luggage collection point. Turians and Quarians were the norm at this checkpoint, their dextro biology making their romances more acceptable. A few different races had made home plans on Rannoch, but mainly Quarians. It was heart warming to see so many Quarians in one place, Shepard had never seen so many, even aboard the Migrant fleet.

He smiled as a male Quarian held out open arms as a young female Quarian leaped into his arms. The male chuckled and spun her round in his arms.

"You made it, thank the ancestors you made it." he silently wept as they held each other. Shepard smiled warmly at the returning Pilgrimages. Many who brought gifts to offer to ship captains would instead be told to offer it to a Village elder, who would then accept them into that clan. behind them was a huge wall of glass, overlooking the gorgeous view of Rannoch's orange landscape under bright amber sky.

Tikkun baked the ground and small four winged crows took to the sky from the splayed out leaves of huge trees, like oak sized palm trees. The windows reverberated and the sand blew up as a massive black shadow cast larger over the land. It was then that the rattling windows calmed and the huge hull of a Migrant fleet Envoy ship filled the sky, rumbling overhead. In the distance two more Envoy ships breached the wispy clouds, the icy fog clinging to the underbelly of the hull, leaving morphing holes in the clouded sky. The ships were converging on a large flat of sand that could house their metal hulls. The ships would serve as homes for now as the Quarians and Geth needed time for housing to be built.

Shepard peered at the conveyor belt as Tali and Raan conversed, small giggles and chuckles sounding. He walked over to the belt, going to grab their case.

"Don't worry; I've got i-argh!" Shepard cried out as his hand jerked from the handle. The sudden weight lift caused the deltoids to scream in lactic agony and a sharp snap felt in his left triceps. The left hand clutched his chest and he staggered, holding it. Tali snapped her gaze over as soon as she heard him cry out.

"Keelah, Shepard!" She squeaked, running over, Raan close by. He calmed his breathing and quenched his breath as the squeezing sensation in his tensed Triceps calmed.

"Whew, thought I'd set myself back." He rolled his left shoulder, chuckling. Tali scolded him immediately.

"You Bosh'tet, I told you not to carry anything heavy!"

"And I told you I hate being weak...being useless." He sighed, walking away towards his cane, picking it up and hobbling towards the exit of the terminal and the sky car lot. Raan stood by Tali as she lowered her head.

"Tali, he didn't mean to snarl at you."

"I know that Auntie, it's just...he's not himself. He feels weak all the time, and beats himself up over it."

"He survived the Citadel exploding, while on it. It is a miracle he is here now, child. He must realize he needs time to heal." Raan sighed. Tali chuckled weakly, rubbing her upper arm.

"He always has been impatient. Come on Auntie, we can talk on the way." Tali picked up the case and walked alongside her Auntie as they shared stories.

Shepard stood by the candy red sky car, looking out over the terminal and trees at the huge Envoy ships dropping from the atmosphere. Cupping hands of foggy cloud supported the ship's belly's as they descended. Tali opened the side of the car as she put the case in. Raan took to the drivers seat. Tali could see his distance glare, the way he was sighing and shaking his hand.

"Honey?" She spoke, catching him off guard. "You'll be alright, okay? We'll get you back to full strength, don't worry." she soothed him. He nodded.

"Sorry I snapped at you, you didn't deserve that." He sighed, rubbing his nose's bridge.

"I know that. Hey, we're here now! We can begin planning our future!" She raised her happy voice to keep it audible over the roar of the Envoy ship above. He nodded, rubbing her shoulders.

"I love you!" He chuckled, hugging her.

"Love you too." She whispered into his ear, pressing her mask to his lobe.

"Are you two going to get in?" Raan lent across the passenger seat, a hint of overprotective Auntie in her tone. Shepard released Tali, hobbling over to the rear seat. Tali sat in the passenger seat beside her Auntie as the roof lowered and snapped shut, muffling the Envoy ships roar.

"Sorry Auntie." Tali nervously chuckled, tugging on her purple hood. Raan laughed faintly, shaking her head.

"Do not apologize for being happy, either of you." She said as the car took off. Shepard leaned forward with a groan, taking Tali's hand.

"We won't." he smiled.


Author's notes: A chapter of pure Tali and Shepard fluff. Hopefully it doesn't rot your teeth. Don't worry we'll get to the plot soon enough. Please remember to review, even if it's just a few word, anything helps ;)

-Dave.