Her eyes opened. Shepard's legs were entangled with Kaidan's and her body was caressed by his arms. Shepard looked to see if Kaidan was awake and was disappointed to see his eyes closed and hearing his soft snore. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and sat up. Kaidan's arms loosened and let go of her. Her body squirmed out of the blankets trying not to wake him up and grabbed her hoodie and pants off of the floor to put them back on. What time is it? Shepard stood up and pulled the blankets over Kaidan back to how they were. She let out a long exhale and pinned her hair back up in a bun. Shepard was still a little drowsy from waking up but she continued to walk towards the door. She turned around to look at Kaidan before she left. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Dreamless. Serene. Tranquil. She didn't have the heart to even try and wake him up. She had no reason to either.

Liara, Traynor, and EDI were still trying to hunt down Kai Leng. The bastard even with a tracker couldn't be found so easily. Until then, all the crew could do was prepare for the final assault; mod every weapon, boost morale, and ready your mind for what's to come. It's hard to ready your mind for something you have never tried before, let alone what-is-supposed-to-be your last fight: the final strike against the Reapers. Everyone's only hope. Humanity's only hope. Shepard's only hope. And it all weighed upon her to take advantage of that one hope. And all they needed was the Catalyst. Yay.

Shepard sat down at the large dining table and continued to rub her face with her hands to wake herself up. All it seemed to do was put her back to sleep. Her eyelids started to shut but soon were opened back up from the sound of a familiar voice.

"Shepard?"

"Hmm?"

Shepard turned around only to be welcomed by Liara walking towards her.

"Hey!"

"Shepard, what are you doing awake? Everyone is still resting."

"Couldn't sleep that much."

Liara sat down next to Shepard.

"Tossing and turning, were you?"

"Huh. A little. Yeah."

Liara raised her eyebrow. "I didn't hear the elevator...were you-"

"Ssssssshhhhhhhhh."

"Shepard."

She let out a long sigh.

"What?"

"There are regs on Alliance vessels, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Liara gave Shepard a stern look.

"I know you and Kaidan have something special but sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes you have to be a bit more cautious!"

Shepard raised her eyebrow.

"I mean-sometimes it seems as though you deliberately ignore the regs."

"What are you saying? I'm taking advantage of Kaidan's kindness?!"

"No!" Liara bit her lower lip. "Sorry, Commander, I...didn't mean to vociferate- raise my voice. I am just worried about you getting caught. That's all. Good thing Alliance Command is not aware of it or else both of you would be in trouble."

"Well I appreciate your concern but-Kaidan means a lot to me. I have my priorities. If my decision meant my position of authority or my relationship with him, then I think we both know which path I would take."

"And that is what scares me, Shepard."

Liara's hand reached for Shepard's.

"Your relationship has gone very far. It's impressive," she paused. "I have never seen anyone look at someone with so much...adoration. Affection. It's something very admirable."

There was a short silence.

"But it is a weakness, Shepard. There's no way of that going unnoticed."

"I know," Shepard took a deep breath. "I also know that the Illusive Man will do all he can to hurt me...which will, without a doubt, involve hurting Kaidan."

Shepard looked down at the floor. Trying not to think about it was just as difficult as thinking about it for Shepard. She knew that thinking about it would tear her apart but not thinking about it would only leave her in more shock if it did happen. Either way, she was suffering. And she couldn't do a thing about it.

"I mean, Shepard. Sometimes it seems as though you two should just run off and get married with how much heart you get in your eyes when he stares at you!"

The words after 'married' were a bit blurry to Shepard. She was engaged. Sort of. She said yes. That was a proposal. And yet no one knew about it. Not even Liara: the broker of all brokers who knew everything. Everything besides this. What if she knew? Would she turn Shepard in? Would the Alliance find out? How would Shepard be able to stand NOT telling anyone? Eventually they will have a wedding ceremony. At least, she could only hope.

"Shepard!?"

"Huh? What?"

"You're zoning out! Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry."

"Are you sure you are not tired?"

"Never said I wasn't."

"Let's make a deal. You either crawl back into Kaidan's room and go back to sleep or I will drag you back into your cabin by force to sleep in your cold bed alone. So which one?"

"Eeeeehhhhhh."

Shepard stood up and walked like a zombie towards the Starboard Observation Deck.

"Get rest, Shepard! It might be the last chance you get!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Liara shook her head and walked back into her room.

The blankets felt warm. Warmer than the outside world at least. Shepard closed her eyes hoping to fall asleep any second. She felt Kaidan's arms gradually embrace around her torso as they were before. All she could do was smile and snuggle closer to his body. In moments, she found herself slipping away into slumber.