Civilain Earth was not how Pandora had expected it. Sure, she had been around these parts before, but only ever as an Alliance officer. She had never arrived on a shuttle dressed in civies, and most certainly had never walked through the crowds like a normal person instead of her usual parting of the sea effect. She and Kaidan casually stepped off the shuttle, both dressed down in jeans and hoodies and carrying their duffle bags, and blended into the busy crowd as if they were never even there.

Vancouver Port was mainly swarmed with humans, only an asari or two dotted around the place. Pan had spotted only one turian so far. She found it strange to see such a little amount of aliens roaming around, but then it was the human homeworld. It wasn't just some colony. It would probably be the same on Sur'kesh, Palaven, Thessia and Tuchunka. It would be beyond odd to see a human on Tuchunka.

"Hey, the cab I called is just over there."

Kaidan's voice pulled Pan's childlike amazement away from the crowds and pointed to one of the station's exists.

"Right, yeah. Let's go."

He gave her a lopsided grin with his eyebrow raised, clearly finding her wonder amusing. "Just wait until I take you to the beach. Ever gone swimming in fresh sea water?"

"Well-"

"I mean relaxing; not while being shot at."

"Then no. No, I haven't."

He let out a quiet 'huh' as their cab came into view and shifted the bag that was slung over his shoulder. He looked back at Pan and moved his eyes towards her own bag. "I can-"

"Kaidan, I am on shore leave, not bed rest. If a reaper has yet to kill me, a fricken bag won't."

She heard him mumbling under his breath while he opened the cab door, and flung his bag into the back seat. As he hopped in, she was sure she heard the word 'gentlemanly' in his quiet speech, and smiled to herself as she got in beside him. He was always a gentleman without even trying.

He gave the cabbie the directions and sat back in the seat, taking a relaxing deep breath.

"Dammit, have I tired you out already?"

He looked at her sideways and smirked. "If you want get me tired, you'll have to try a lot harder than that, Pan."

Pandora froze for a moment at the sound of her name on his lips, catching her completely off guard. but then, she decided that she liked it. Her name didn't sound half as bad when he said it.

"Will you say that more often?"

He moved his eyes side to side, puzzled as to what she was referring to. "You'll have to... try a lot... harder?"

Pan let out a burst of laughter she didn't know she even had in her, and put a hand gently on his forearm. "No, I just... I don't like my name."

"I'm sorry, I won't-"

"Shut up and let me finish, Kaidan. I don't like it. But when you say it? It sound like... me. Does that make any sense? And it's a hell of a lot better than Dora, so thank you for not adopting that one."

Kaidan quickly glanced at the cab pilot and when was satisfied that he wouldn't be looking any time soon, the staff lieutenant leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his commander's lips.

"As you wish."

Like Kaidan had said, his apartment was close to the Alliance headquarters which was located beside the space port they had arrived at. Their ten minute trip was cut short when the cab driver announced that they were on the right street and that because of the monstrous traffic jam ahead of them, they would probably make their way faster on foot. Pan was pleasantly surprised by the man's suggestion, assuming he'd take the chance to keep them in the cab longer to soak up more money. Apparently this was the nice part of town.

She sent Kaidan a playful glare when she caught him smirking at her as they unloaded their bags from the car. Well, it was more so just his bag and Pan's small backpack. She had been embarrassed when he first saw it, and unfortunately had to explain that she had nothing other than military clothes to bring with her. He had simply smiled and put a hand on her arm gently, guiding her in the right direction. When he mentioned that she'd have to go shopping, he got a well thought out reply.

"Are you shitting me?"

"Hey, you've gotta look presentable when I take you out for dinner tonight."

Pan felt like she should have kicked herself when she allowed a faint red blush spread across her cheeks. She'd never been on a date before. And now, as they approached his apartment, she couldn't help but feel a bit queezy with nerves.

She was spending three weeks with Kaidan, living in his apartment, meaning there would be nowhere she could retreat to with some horrible excuse whenever she felt awkward. She was being committed and it scared the hell out of her. It wasn't that she had ever seen herself as a 'no string attached' kind of person, but she had never committed herself personally to anyone but her mother. She even had a bit of distance between herself and Kay. But Kaidan... their closeness frightened her.

It made her realise why there were regs. If she got too close to Kaidan, she'd become willing to die for him, to be reckless in the line of duty if his life was at stake. With her mother, it was different. Military families resigned themselves to the fact that their loved ones could die in combat. Pan had accepted this about her mother at a very young age. But now there was Kaidan, and he was brand new. If he was killed in action, she didn't know how she'd react. She didn't have years of mental preparation for that, and if Ash's death had taught her anything, it was that she could not deal grief well.

Which is why she was now standing in front of the apartment door staring into the distance, completely unaware of the fact that they had arrived.

"Pan?"

She was broken out of her trance by the sound of Kaidan's voice, and turned her head to see him looking at her with concern and confusion, obviously having to tried to talk to her beforehand while she was busy in her own thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said here's the lock code for the door. In case I'm ever not there to open it up."

She looked down at her omni-tool where a new message had arrived. She thought back to those old vids that herself and her mother used to watch. He had basically just given her the key to his home, and according to those vids, that was a big deal. It showed incredible trust.

"Th-thank you."

He looked at her strangely but smiled, confusion at her odd behaviour. Pan gave herself a mental shake when she realised that he was noticing and came back to her old self.

"Well after you then, Commander."

He opened the door and although he hadn't been there for a while, Pan thought the place was distinctively Kaidan. It was just... him.

The furniture was simple yet comforting; a corner sofa and vid screen in the sitting area that was adjoined with the kitchen. The kitchen was snug in size and the counters were made from a dark wood. But what really got Pan, was the shelves near the vid screen that housed dozens of old, prized paper books; the kind that were quite rare to find now since the introduction of new technology. And that was what made the apartment scream Kaidan Alenko. Pan knew he was sentimental, but had no idea that he went out of his way to collect real books. The lieutenant's pay wasn't that big, was it? Even just one of those things cost a bomb nowadays. She decided she'd ask him about them later.

"Wow," she mumbled under her breath quietly, not intending for him to hear.

"Wow? Seriously, Pan? This place whas the cheapest one I could find in this area."

She didn't hesitate at making herself at home, leaving Kaidan shaking his head, grinning. She dumped her bag on the wooden floor by the kitchen counter and dropped onto the corner seat of the sofa.

"Kaidan, you haven't seen my place. I don't need a place because I'm always on ships, but the Alliance insisted for paperwork. And let me tell you, that place is a shoebox compared to here. Why would I bother spend money on some fancy apartment that I'd never use when there's so many mods begging for my attention?"

She let out a dramatic sigh and relaxed back into the cushions, leaning her head on the soft material. She'd never been in a proper apartment casually before, and she'd be damned if she said she wasn't loving it so far. She heard a small chuckle come from behind her and almost got a fright when she opened her half closed eyes to see Kaidan sitting next to her. She'd never been this relaxed before. It was so nice.

"Well, you get to experience a proper living space for the next three weeks now. How do you feel about that?"

She wasn't used to it. The lack of her pistol at her hip, the security of place where she wasn't a known Alliance officer, and most definitely she was not used to someone putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to their chest. She wasn't used to it. But she liked it.

"Mmm, that would be nice," she said quietly, shutting her eyes as she leaned into his embrace, his hand moving down to her waist and her head resting on his collarbone. She felt his lips kiss the top of her head, and then his own head settling on hers. Their breathing deepened and before long, after their travelling and the stress of the last few months finally gone, they fell asleep.

Pandora Shepard woke up when she felt someone poking her in her side. She groaned and let her body stretch out until her arm hit someone's head.

"Awh, shit. Sorry, Kaidan. What time is it?"

He was a little more awake and had sat up properly on the sofa, his arm still around her shoulders feeling slightly numb. He activated his omni-tool on his other arm and mimicked Pan's groan from moments before.

"What? Oh, crap. What?"

She sat up quickly and looked at him frantically. Usually when she was late for things, it started a break in the status quo. Or in the case of the recent Normandy crew, all hell would break loose. Of course, it was mostly Garrus and Wrex causing the chaos and it always started out friendly , but by the time Pan arrived, it would have escalated dramatically. Once of these arguments, Liara had subtly moved behind one of the cargo boxes where Kaidan had been standing close by. her biotics ready to throw up a barrier if things started flying across the room. Kaidan didn't even notice her there, and instead he had his eyes trained on Ash, who was basically fuelling the fire between the two aliens. Meanwhile, Tali had been sitting on the mako, tossing in comments in favour of Garrus' side of the argument. Pan had just looked at them all in disbelief, and told Joker to alert them to her presence.

"Guys, the commander is standing right outside the elevator and looks like she's about to shoot you all. Have fun with that."

This was why she was staring at Kaidan with panic. Had she forgotten a meeting with the Alliance brass? Had she forgotten something important she and Kaidan were meant to do? Had they both forgotten someone's birthday?

"Nothing. We just slept past the time I had booked for our dinner reservations."

She let out a large sigh of relief and then mentally kicked herself when she saw Kaidan's confused facial expression.

"No! Sorry, it's just- just... I thought we had missed something important that could trigger a galactic war. That's all."

He narrowed his eyes before rolling them and removed his arm from her shoulders so he could grasp her own hand.

"You are on shore leave," he said sternly, looking her in the eyes and sounding like a scolding parent. "Which means you're not working; you don't have any meetings and you don't have to worry about accidental starting galactic wars, alright?"

She pouted, utterly frustrated at his gift with words and how to make her feel better.

"But-"

"No, Pan. Seriously, no thinking about commandering and Spectre-ing. Just think of... now."

Pan shook her head slowly, her mouth slightly open as she looked at her lieutenant in awe.

"How do you read my mind?"

"I just know you too well, I suppose."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say... freak of nature."

Kaidan put on a mocked hurt face before breaking out into a grin and pulling her closer by their joined hands.

"I'm a freak of nature?" he asked, his voice growing quieter as his lips neared her ear. "Says the one who can't do anything that doesn't involve a gun."

Had he not been so close to her and wasn't beginning to kiss along her jaw, she probably would have smacked him on the arm.

"Mmm, Kai..." she mumbled as her eyes closed, and a small moan of pleasure came from her throat as he made his way down it, leaving feathered kisses against her pake skin before he reached her collar bone. "What about dinner-"

He shut her up by sliding a hand behind her head and under her short hair, and pulled her into a proper kiss. Her arms went up around his neck after a few moments of hesitation, the whole thing still being new to her, and his own made their way down her sides to her hips, taking in every single curve of her body. She felt goosebumps appear on her arms as one of his hands went below her legs and scooped them up into his lap, his lips not leaving her own for one moment. Pan felt her stomach go all fuzzy when they did leave hers, only to kiss their corner and then her jaw again, and then all the way to the back of her ear.

"Ka-Kaidan,"

"Mmm?"

"Din-dinner?"

She heard him sigh and felt him lean his head against her cheek.

"I really, rally don't want to go out tonight," he admitted, moving to look back to Pan's eyes and then to er lips. "How do you feel about pizza?"

He took her grin as a yes and before lifting her from his lap and standing up, he tugged her back in for one last kiss.

"What about lunch out tomorrow then?"

"Sounds good. Sounds... very good."

He gave her a peck on the lips, feeling her smile against his own, and grasped her two legs in his hands and dumped them onto the sofa beside him.

"What the hell happened to my shy little blushing, stuttering staff lieutenant?"

He looked up from the menu on his omni-tool and gave her a cheeky grin.

"You happened."

A/N: Thank you so much guys for the reviews and favs/follows. So many of you are guests so I want to reply to your reviews down here. Here's the next chapter anyway. Hope you like it. It's only a taste of what's to come. I absolutely loved writing shore leave. There's just so much freedom and Shenko need more time than the games gave them. Cos really... What DID happen between ME1 and ME2? Lots and lots of fluff. I've noticed a lot of my readers are guests. If any of you want me t email alert you any time I update, just let me know.

Anyway, please review and let me know what ya'll think.

Guest#1 (Let me just say that this is fabulous. I really like your writing here. I'm looking forward to your interpretation of what happened between ME1 and ME2. Shenko shore leave is always a favorite to read! ) : Thank you so much! I haven't really found any fics that go much into shore leave so I'm excited to explore it.

Guest#2 (who left like, ten reviews at once.): OMG MAN THANK YOU SO MUCH! Yeah I absolutely LOVE Momma Shep. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Guest#3 (I think the next two were you?): Thanks for the reviews. I know, Ashley/Kaidan/Shep friendship forever. I miss her already :(

Guest#4 (Don't be sad about the lack of reviews! To counterattack that in writing one now ;D I love your story and your Shepard, she's what I imagined my Shepard to be too :)) And Kaiden is always such a sweety! Keep writing please! 3): Thank you so much honey! People like you are always the ones who give me the push to update. I hope you like the new chapter.

Next time: With her hoodie covering her bare shoulders and her pistol loaded, she went through the archway that connected the bedroom and the other together. She pulled her gun straight up on the guy who was leaning over the coffee table by the sofa. He turned and almost choked on his own breath.

"Hands up and on your knees!"