Shepard's vision was blurry as he opened his eyes to the dark cave. The cave slowly leaned to the left and then to the right sending Shepard off balance. He looked out the hole in the side of cave and saw that the outside too was swaying. His mind began to piece together the events of the night before. He finally grabbed his head and tried to stop the dizziness that was plaguing his eyes. He looked over to the side of the cave to find Tali leaning against the side of the rock with her shotgun poised on the rock at the cave entrance. He smiled as he listened to her breath heavily as she slept soundly. The mud and blood on her hands and face drew Shepard's attention to his own mangled body.

The pain began to sink back into existence as his muscles protested against his movements. He sat back down on the hard cave floor. The broken rib in his chest screamed at him and his quick breath in from his rib reminded him of his nose. The bandage that was wrapped around his ribs tightly and the bandages up his burnt legs began to feel more like ovens, but it held the majority of the pain back. From what Shepard could see, he had some third degree burns on his legs and arms.

He sat back and reflected on that last encounter with Krog. There was no possible way that he had survived that explosion. He was directly over it yet here he was in this dark cave. The memories of that day came back to him. He remembered after he closed his eyes he felt Krog hit him in the chest. He felt the heat of the explosion, but beyond that, it was a blur.

He looked down at his chest to see a box-like outline through the slightly browned clothing. He moved it in the light to try to see if it was only shadows, but there was clearly an outline on his chest. He heard Tali begin to stir. She turned and looked at him with sleepy eyes that immediately opened wide when she saw him sitting up.

"Shepard!" She yelled as she dove over into his lap hugging him and smothering her face in his chest.

"Good to see you too!" Shepard said.

"I was so worried!" Tali screamed into his chest.

"What happened?" Shepard asked as he looked around the cave.

"You don't know?" Tali asked pulling away from him and looking into his eyes.

"I have no idea… I was sure that I had just killed myself." Shepard said nodding to himself.

"Well…" Tali said as she brought a small broken device over to Shepard. "This was strapped to your chest when I found you…"

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"An emergency shield generator…" Tali said.

"That means…" Shepard started.

"Yes, Shepard. Krog saved your life, putting his own in danger." Tali said looking at him.

"But… I-he… why?" Shepard asked. "I'm pretty sure he wanted to kill me."

"He did Shepard. He wanted to kill you." Tali explained.

"I guess he did, but that doesn't explain why he called me a coward…" Shepard said lost in his own thoughts.

"I don't know either." Tali said leaning back against the same wall face as Shepard.

"So where is Krog?" Shepard asked.

"He left…" Tali answered.

Shepard sighed. "How many more days until we get off of this planet? I'm all funned out." Shepard said with a hint of sarcasm.

Tali opened her Omni-tool and flipped through the logs. "Six more days…" She answered.

"Great…" Shepard answered. "Let's get back to the camp and see what survived.

"I don't think your in any…" She started to say, but Shepard had already pulled himself up. "Why do you have to be so stubborn Shepard?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't…" Shepard said with a smile.

They returned to the charred campsite. Not much was left in terms of rations. The hut was still standing, and Tali's box of goodies were still together. The broken glass and pieces of splintered wood were scattered everywhere. Tali and Shepard's mood took quite a slump upon seeing their campsite in ruins, but their interlocked hands drove them through the dismay. Shepard stepped out a few fires and looked inside of their shelter. He turned to Tali and gave her a thumbs up and crawled inside. She followed him in.

The soft pieces of fabric that they had placed on the pad were instant soothers to their bodies that had endured at least six hours of hard cave walls. Shepard flopped onto the far side of the tent while Tali took the near side. She didn't lay their long before she slid herself onto Shepard draping her legs on each side of him. She bent over on him and looked into his eyes. Shepard looked at Tali in the same way.

"Cheated death again Shepard…" Tali said as her lips neared Shepard's.

"I'm getting quite good at it…" Shepard said with a smile as he closed his eyes to receive his kiss. "And I always get the girl. I'm a true-blue 007."

"True-blue 007?" Tali asked laughing at her own question.

"True-blue is just a human expression for a real life version of… 007. Well, that's a classic human movie series that was created back in the 1900s." Shepard explained

"What's it about?" Tali asked placing her hands on his chest to prop herself up.

"It's about a spy who risks his life saving the world from mad men, and always in the end he… seems… to…" Shepard drifted off as Tali slid the robes off of her shoulders dropping them on top of him. Shepard smiled as he looked at Tali who smiled back to him. "Now how am I ever going to tell you about James Bond 007 if you do that?"

Tali bent over and kissed Shepard again, but a bit more deeply than before. Shepard turned her over so she was on the bottom looking up at him. The excitement of the heated passion began to burn through Tali's smile.

"Will I ever get a break?" Shepard asked as Tali tightened her legs around him. Tali responded by reaching up to his shoulders and pulling him down to kiss her again. "I'll take that as a no…"

Though most of Shepard's body still burned and ached from the broken bones and third degree burns he still managed to enjoy himself. Tali, on the other hand, who still had blood and dirt on her, seemed completely restless and full of energy. Shepard decided that this would be his gift to her. As things started to get more heated. Shepard stopped her.

"You know we are filthy…" Shepard said.

"I like your thinking Shepard…" Tali said with a final kiss.

She loosely wrapped her robes around her which hopelessly didn't cover anything at all. They both ran down to the side of the spring. The damp grass on their bare feet soothed their soreness, the water melted away their fears, and their touch brought back the happiness. The near-death experience seemed to only excite them more, and neither seemed the least bit traumatized by it. They both assumed it was because it was becoming a common occurrence.

The next six days were quite relaxing with mainly sleeping and lounging as the wounds healed. The Normandy came by and picked them up about halfway through their next day. Tali bottled as much of the water as she could and included a specimen jar of it to give to Mordin. She had fixed her suit and had put it back on before the Normandy picked them up. She didn't want anyone else to see her face. Shepard walked back to his Cabin and sat back down to look through his mail.

"Over 2000 messages…" Shepard quietly said to himself. "Great…"

One message caught his eye as a quickly scrolled over the countless messages. His jaw nearly snapped off when he saw the sender and that responses had been given to it.

"That's the last time I let Garrus take command…" Shepard said sarcastically too himself.

He flipped open the message and read over the name slowly so he could take in the name. He couldn't believe she was still bothering him, but he decided to hear her out.

Dear Shepard,

I know Garrus is receiving all of these messages, but I'll still address them to you. I want to see you again Shepard. I've wanted to meet up with you ever since you betrayed Cerberus! Good job by the way Skipper. I wanted to know if you wanted to meet on Illium. I'll be stationed there for some time, and wondered if you would like to have a drink with me. I hope to see you sometime. I'm glad you betrayed Cerberus. I thought I lost you again.

Love,

Ash

Shepard grabbed the bridge of his nose as he thought about his dilemma. He reached over to the small intercom button and flipped it to engineering.

"Hey Tali?" Shepard asked.

"Yes Shepard?" She asked excitedly.

"Want to go to Illium?" He asked her quietly.

"Of course Shepard…" Tali said in a long loving drone.

Shepard flipped the intercom to Joker. "Joker! Plot a course to Illium!" Shepard commanded.

"Aye commander!" Joker responded.

Shepard walked over to the elevator to leave, but as he was about to press the summon button the doors opened with Jack standing there. She jumped slightly when she saw that Shepard was standing right in front of her.

"I need to tell you something…" She strained to say.

"It's ok Jack… I don't blame you for leaving us on that planet… It was a accident." Shepard said with a smile as he patted her shoulder and boarded the elevator.

Jack simply shrugged to herself and returned to the elevator. "Engineering?" Shepard asked.

"Yes…" Jack responded.

The elevator doors clicked closed and opened in engineering. Jack walked back down to her 'room' while Shepard walked into the door directly behind Tali. She heard the door open and she knew who it was, but she didn't turn around. She merely kept working, but the smile on her face made her miss a few buttons. Shepard put his head on her shoulder and she laughed.

"So… What do you say we get the human marriage out of the way on Illium?" Shepard said into the audio receptor on the side of her helmet.

"That would be… amazing Shepard…" Tali said as she turned around.

Shepard took a few more steps forward causing Tali to have to bend backwards onto her panel. This only made her laugh as Shepard began his casual flirting.

"When will we get there?" Tali asked.

"Three hours…" Shepard said with a smile.

"What should I wear? I mean… wow! I should probably- no-no-no-no… I think I should wear something white-no-violet…" Tali continued.

Shepard let her continue rambling for some time. She stopped abruptly after she had discussed the different dresses with the drive core and turned her attention back to Shepard.

"I'm rambling again… aren't I?" Tali asked.

"Yes, but I have a solution," Shepard said with a smile.

"I would like to know…" Tali said grabbing his hands.

"You, Miranda, and Mordin can go dress shopping while I take care of some business." Shepard explained.

"Why Mordin?" Tali asked tilting her head in confusion.

"Because he's smart." Shepard answered.

"Why would that help?" Tali asked.

Shepard merely shrugged and smiled at her.

"If you want to use some of that water so you don't have to wear your suit to the wedding then go right ahead." Shepard told her.

"I don't think I'm ready to show them…" Tali said uneasily shifting her eyes around.

"The drink some of the water, and I'll just take your mask off when we have to kiss." Shepard reassured her.

"And they won't see my face?" Tali asked.

"No… I'll make sure of that…" Shepard said with a smile.

He turned and left after his embrace with Tali. His face turned a more serious tone as Ashley's message flashed in his memory. He would have to make his little 'reunion' short, but he knew Ashley was going to have a fit.