Shepard stood in the back of the cargo hold watching her crew having a blast. The music was playing, a mixture of modern dance music, oldies but goodies and holiday music from various different cultures and species. Shepard grinned as Zaeed pulled Miranda out on the dance floor, much to Jacob's narrowed eyed disgust. The older Merc was actually pretty light on his feet, and Miranda laughed as he twirled her around the floor. As the music changed, Zaeed moved on to Chakwas, who proved to be a slightly more experienced dancer and she and Zaeed danced to several songs together. Jacob glared at Miranda when she walked back to him, and she simply smirked at him. He snapped around on his heel, but Miranda reached out and grabbed his arm, stepping up close to him and whispered something in his ear. Jacob stood tense, but as Miranda continued talking to him, he began to relax. Just as the song changed to something slow, Miranda pulled Jacob around and out on the dance floor, moving into his arms as the music moved on slow and sensuous.

Shepard watched, amused, as Kaiden asked Kasumi to dance, stiff and awkward and she placed her hand in his, walking out on the floor. Joker moved to stand beside Jack, and she turned to sneer at him. Joker's face fell, though he didn't look at her; Jack glanced over at him, then made a strange face and reached down to grab his hand and pull him onto the floor, being far more gentle than Shepard had ever seen her. Ken and Gabby danced on one edge of the dance floor as Mordin and Samara moved to the other. Shepard raised her eyebrows at those two, but chuckled. Tali was standing next to Legion, hands waiving as she pointed at the dance floor and Shepard snorted as she realized that the little Quarian engineer was trying to explain dancing to the Geth. Shepard glanced around and found Grunt sitting at the bar, well on his way to being completely drunk off his massive ass. Next to Grunt, unobtrusively trying to take some of the bottles away, was Garrus. As though he felt her eyes on him, Garrus looked up, met her eyes and smirked at her, before turning back to Grunt.

"Siha, you seem so melancholy…are you well?" Shepard turned to see Thane standing directly behind her. She smiled at him, though she could tell he was a bit tipsy, the enigmatic Drell seemed no different than normal,

"I'm fine, Thane…just enjoying myself…"

"Here in the shadows, by yourself, simply watching?"

Shepard started, then said, "Well, you seem to be in the same boat…"

Thane gave her a gentle look and said, "Siha, I have far more reasons for staying in the shadows than one as bright and fierce as you. Come…dance with me?"

Shepard smiled, "I'm not really a good dancer, Thane…just ask anyone…"

Thane smiled, "Ahh, Siha…come and let me show you the trick to dancing…"

Frowning, Shepard looked at him and then smiled, "Fine…but don't blame me if I stomp on your feet…"

"My feet will recover, Siha…but my soul will not if I leave you in the shadows…"

Shepard looked at him, surprised, but he already had his hand on her back, guiding her to the floor. As they entered the dance floor, she glanced over at Garrus, who was smirking at her, Kaiden glanced over and said, "Better watch out, Krios…the Commander is a lot of things, but light on your feet isn't one of them…"

Shepard looked down, smiling, but not as broadly as she had been. But Thane reached out and turned her to him, raising her face to look at him, "Siha, do not listen to anyone by me…just relax and allow me to guide you…I promise, I will not allow harm to come to you…"

Shepard wasn't big on letting someone else lead or guide her, but the comments of Garrus, Jacob and Kaiden really had hurt her feelings little, despite her covering it. So she relaxed her hands on Thane's shoulders, resting her head on his chest and allowing him to guide them around the dance floor. In a few minutes, she found herself relaxing and enjoying herself; she felt the rumble of Thane's voice as he said, softly, "There Siha…see, you are dancing and it is not that difficult…I assure you that my feet are quite safe…."

Shepard looked up at him, her smile turning radiant, seeing him smiling down at her as they glided around the dance floor. She looked around and would have stopped still, except for Thane's hands continuing to guide her. Most of the other dancers had stepped aside and were standing watching she and Thane. Kaiden and Jacob both stared at her in shock; but it Garrus' expression that really surprised her. Garrus watched, surprised as she danced with Thane, then as she watched, his eyes narrowed, and with a start, she realized he was annoyed. Sighing, she began to tell Thane she had to go, but Thane's soft voice stopped her, "Ignore them, Siha…it is good for all of them to see you out here. Most especially your mate…they should not have tortured you regarding your skills…nor laughed at you."

Surprised she looked up, "You heard that?"

Thane nodded, "Yes…and I would have intervened, but did not wish to make you more of a target. But it was un-necessary and cruel. Now relax, Siha…just allow the music to flow through you."

A few minutes later, the music ended and Thane delivered her back to the edge of the dance floor, bowing to her with a smirk as he turned and walk off, disappearing into the shadows. The music picked up and many of the couples moved apart, dancing faster. Shepard glanced around her but Garrus was nowhere in sight. Jacob, however, walked over with a smirking Miranda in tow and said, "Wow Shepard…have you been practicing? Looking pretty good out there with Thane…."

Shepard was saved from answering by a loud noise from the dance floor. She looked up and realized two things; one, Grunt was completely, off his ass, sheets to the wind drunk. And two he was DANCING; complete with waving arms stomping feet and hip thrusts. Staring, wide eyed and fairly sure she needed to find that eye bleach Joker was always talking about, she wanted to look away, she really did…but she found she just couldn't stop watching. She glanced over and saw Jacob watching Grunt with the type of disturbed fascination, face slack in shock. Miranda, on the other hand, had her eyebrows nearly in her hair and was shaking her head at the scene before her.

As they watched Grunt reached out and grabbed Gabby, twirling her around and nearly throwing her off her feet. Luckily, Ken managed to grab her and pull her to safely as Grunt kept gyrating not even close to the beat of the music. Kaiden stepped up beside them, head cocked to the side, also watching the train wreck that was the drunk Krogen dancing, "Shepard, I take it back…you are NOT the worst dancer I've ever seen"

Zaeed was laughing and slapping his leg and Chakwas was downright giggling, and Kasumi was staring in horror as Grunt worked his way closer and closer to the tree she'd spent so much time decorating. Suddenly, the music stopped, and Shepard looked over to see Samara striding to the dance floor, Grunt grabbed her and began to gyrate into her she kept his attention as Mordin, to Shepard's surprise, moved up behind the drunk and disorderly dancing Krogen and stabbed him with something, then fled. Samara stepped back as Grunt kept dancing, then threw his arms wide and screamed, "I AM KRO…" and fell face first onto the floor; snoring almost before he hit the ground.

Several of the crew grabbed Grunt and hauled him to the elevator and disappeared, hopefully to drop Grunt off in his room. After a few minutes, the party began to get back on, mostly due to Kasumi and Miranda's pushing. The music picked up, though Shepard heard Miranda telling Edi "NEVER play that song again…none of us need a reminder of that…that…image."

Shaking her head, Shepard made the rounds talking to people, laughing and joking. She kept her eye out for Garrus, but found him nowhere to be seen. She was beginning to get a little worried. As she reached the far side of the room she felt her mate's talons close around her waist. Startled she looked up at him, eyes wide as he pulled her backwards. He glared at her and she gazed back waiting for him to speak. Before he could, however, she heard Jack laugh and say, "Hey Shepard…look up!"

Shepard looked up and saw that she and Garrus were standing directly under the mistletoe. Garrus frowned as he looked up then back at her, shaking his head, obviously confused. Shepard sighed, he was obviously irritated, so this was not the best time, however with the entire crew watching, she didn't want to cause a scene. Shepard said, "That's mistletoe, Garrus…human tradition says that if you stop under the mistletoe, you have to kiss the person you're there with…." Garrus frowned,

"Why?"

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know…it's just…tradition." Garrus eyes gleamed and Shepard felt like a mouse being watched by a particularly hungry hawk. Garrus put his hand behind her neck and at her waist and dipped her, gazing into her eyes as he held her parallel to the ground and smirked at her, then kissed her, his tongue delving into her mouth, deepening the kiss as he held her there. Shepard was dimly aware of the crew laughing, the cat calls and whistles, then Garrus stood her back up, smirking at her as the crew continued to shout good natured sentiments and cat calls. She laughed with them, waving her hand in front of her face as if to dispel heat. Garrus laughed too, but every time she looked at him, she saw him watching her with that strange expression on his face.

That was TWICE tonight that she'd been the center of attention. And damned if the dance with Thane hadn't been less embarrassing.

CHAPTER BREAK

As the night wore on, Shepard was aware of people coming and going, but she didn't pay much attention; it was a party, after all. When Tali stood up on the table and clinked a knife against a glass, trying to get everyone's attention, Shepard frowned. But it took Jack and a loud, piercing whistle to get everyone's attention. As people watched, Tali said, "Shepard…we know what you did…"

Shepard frowned, :what I did?:, Shepard thought

"and while it's all noble and sacrifice-y…?

:is that even a word:, Shepard thought, feeling like an exhibit at a zoo :and this is Shepard Killedareaper, a strange creature that seemed to be the last of her kind: Shepard chuckled inwardly, but continued to listen to Tali.

"…and we don't think it's fair that you didn't get a present from a Santa."

:oooohhhh, that's what she's talking about:

"so we all got together and got you something. You're special to us, Shepard…there isn't a person on this ship who you haven't saved, directly or indirectly. You've even saved some of us multiple times. When I read up on this Christmas thing, I found out that the real Santa gave out gifts just to make people happy, he never got anything in return and that sounds so much like you. Anyway, I know you've probably been holding a dialog in your head during this, because you hate speeches, but this is from the entire crew, your ground team, your ship's crew…even Wrex and Urz. We hope that you like it…. And that, at your low points, you remember how much you mean to all of us. How we're all blessed to have you lead us, and honored to call you friend.

The box they put beside her was not huge, but it was good size. She glanced around at her crew and then with a grin, ripped the paper like a child. Garrus chuckled, "real mature there, savior of the galaxy…" and then reached over to Jack and held out his hand, who grumbled but slapped a credit chit in his hand. Shepard laughed, but continued opening her gift. When she lifted the box she had to take a deep breath. There was a dress uniform, brass buttons polished stiff undershirt brilliant white. But instead of Cerberus colors or the colors of the Alliance, this was done in silver, white and red. On the chest were her rank insignias, and on the shoulder was a patch; the Normandy SR2 was in sharp relief, but behind her was a smaller image of the original Normandy and around the edges at the top were the words Veni, Vidi, Vici and on the bottom "Shepard's Alliance for Peace". Wrapped around the neck of the uniform were dog tags.

Shepard felt the tears behind her eyes, but refused to shed them. This was…beyond all thoughts. She raised her hands, putting them over her nose and mouth, trying to quietly wipe the tear or three that had leaked from her eyes. She looked up at her crew, at her family and said, "Thank you…everyone. This is the most special…most important gift that I've ever gotten." Looking around, she noticed that every single one of them wore the same patch as was on the uniform.

Thane spoke, gently, "Continue going through the contents, Siha…."

Shepard looked at the Assassin, who seemed to be swaying just a tad, and said, "Yeah….ok" She removed the dress uniform and found a paper, done in a heavy, flowing Script

I, fill in name do hereby affirm that by joining the Shepard Alliance of Peace I agree to follow Commander Lia Shepard wherever she may lead. I will uphold my job and do everything in my power to assist Commander Shepard in the completion of her duties. I join the Shepard's Alliance For Peace of my own free will, being of sound mind and I am aware that death is a possibility. Even if we are forced to separate I will return to Shepard's side immediately upon request, and if not requested, I will find her and join her anyway. I will follow Shepard in the mouth of hell itself, because I know that she will never ask what she is not willing to do herself. I take this vow seriously, I affirm that I am dedicated to the cause, because I know that Commander Lia Shepard speaks only the truth, and if anyone can save us, she can."

And every single person on board her ship had signed this piece of paper. Shepard choked up again, the crew trusted her. The Council, the leaders of the Alliance, of Asari, Turian, Hanar…all of the Council races dismissed her, but her crew, they knew she was doing the right thing and they were vowing to follow her wherever she may lead them. She looked up, eyes too bright, but still holding back most of the tears. She began to speak, but Garrus squeezed her shoulder and said "Keep going…there's more"

"MORE?" Shepard asked, surprised. "But this is…this is amazing, what else could you have given me…. Beneath the letters were more clothes, this time ship clothes, loose pants, tank tops, tunic tops…even a hoodie and every single one bore the patch that was on her "dress uniform". She shook her head, but then noticed one more thing. She picked it up and saw it was meant to be scanned by her Omni Tool, so she did. When she opened it, there were pictures, videos. She pulled one up and it was Tali, speaking to the camera, "Shepard, you are my best friend…and I trust you with my life…You've saved my life more times than I can count and you've always been there for me. I want you to know that I believe in you…it wouldn't matter if you told me that the galaxy was about to be attacked by pink bunnies wearing clothes; I'd grab my shotgun and get ready to fight."

There were other files, some video talks, photos of her and her team, her crew, many of them were candid's, when she didn't know that she was being photographed. IN one she was standing next to Tali, they were laughing and she could almost hear it. There was a photograph of she and Thane in Life Support, during one of their long talks, she had her head thrown back, laughing and even the enigmatic Drell was smiling a little. Swallowing hard, Shepard looked around her at the people who had become more than a crew, they were her family. And this proved that they felt the same way.

Then Miranda spoke up, "You might not want to watch it all at once, Comm…Shepard. It got a tad long there…"

Shepard nodded, began to speak, then had to clear her throat before she could speak "Thank you…this is…this is the most perfect gift that I've ever gotten. It means…more than you can know… She glanced down at the next photo and the tears finally spilled over; it was a photo of she and Garrus, standing with their foreheads touching. Tears fell from her eyes and she managed to stutter another thanks before standing up and saying, "This is the best gift of the night, bar none…now everyone enjoy the party, I need to…. Need to make a check of the crew on duty….

She wasn't fooling anyone, but there were several not so dry eyes and smiles as they watched her duck into the elevator, Garrus managing to join her at the last moment. They all knew the Commander wasn't one to cry in public, nor show any emotion really; except humor and laughter. Shepard leaned against the wall of the elevator and since it was just her mate, she let the tears fall. He reached out soundlessly, and stopped the elevator, pulling her close to him. She nuzzled her face into his throat and he held her while she wept. He knew the tears were mostly "happy tears", human emotions really were weird, but still he held her. He was her mate, and if she needed anything, he'd die to give it to her. When she got some control, he pushed the button her their quarters and watched her as the elevator rose.

IN their quarters, Shepard sniffled and went to splash cold water on her face as Garrus fussed about in their living quarters. When she came out of the room, Garrus was sitting nervously on the edge of their nest and when she came down the steps, she saw why he was nervous. There on the table in front of him, was a small box. She looked up at him and he fidgeted, which Shepard had always loved to see. She walked over, wrapped her arms around him and said, "You didn't have to get me anything else…I thought we'd exchanged presents before?" Garrus grinned, thinking of their gift exchange and how it had ended. But then he went back to nervous and said, "This is just…a little something extra. And before you go off on "but I didn't get you anything extra", remember you told me that Christmas is about giving, not receiving. Besides," his grin gave away his next words, "if you want to give me another gift, then I'm not opposed to another gift like the one I got earlier…." Shepard laughed, for a Turian that had, at the beginning been very unsure of oral sex he'd warmed up to it rather quickly.

Shepard sat down, carefully unwrapped the gift and opened it and gasped. Inside the velvet lined box lay an absolutely beautiful stone, ornately set on a beautiful chain. When she picked up the stone, it started as an opaque, whitish grey, almost pearl like stone, but when she picked it up, it warmed in her hand, began to glow and darkened to a deep, cobalt blue. The stone was rounded and almost flat, though at one end, it had a straight cut, as though someone had cut it in half. As she looked into it, she saw an image appear of she and Garrus. She looked up, surprised and Garrus said, "It's a stone native to Palavan…they call is a lovers rock. It changes color based on the wearers emotion…"

"Like a mood ring?", the words didn't translate, but Garrus went on anyway,

"And it shows you an image of your love. For Bondmates, it gives a connection…", Garrus held up another stone, very similar in appearance and with the same straight mark on the bottom, and Shepard understood. The stone in her hand and the one in Garrus hand had been one stone, and they each held one half. The stone in Garrus' hand glowed a deep green, and she could just make out an image of she and Garrus in their nest, entwined.

Shepard said, "What kind of connection?"

Clearing his throat, Garrus said, almost bashful, "It will give you an indication of my mood…when they're put together…", Garrus walked over and did so , and the stones immediately clicked together, like two magnets and turned a deep, burning red. "It shows the emotions of the joined pair." He stepped away a little and the stones separated, and Shepard could swear there was a keen as it happened.

"Can we use them to communicate…" Garrus shook his head, his sub-harmonics sad,

"No…they just give an indication of the partner's mood, emotions, sometimes they'll react to stress or adrenaline."

A thought occurred to Shepard and she picked up her stone, concentrating on how much she loved Garrus, how deep her feelings were and heard him gasp, then purr. She looked and his stone and here were both a deep, vibrant blue. Garrus looked at her and said, "What were you thinking?"

"How much I love you…"

Garrus reached out and stroked her hair, sliding a talon through it, "I love you too, amica" He held his stone and thought about how much he loved her and the brilliant blue that had begun to face back to the normal blue of the stones, deepened and brightened. Shepard laughed, delighted,

"We may not be able to talk, but at least we can tell each other we love them…", now it was her turn to look a little sad. And Garrus purposely shrugged off his melancholy as he smirked at her and said,

"You notice it changes to blue, right?"

Shepard laughed, as he'd intended, "So you're saying your colors are the colors of love?"

Doing his best impression of a sly wink, he said, "How about we see what other colors we can make them turn, amica?"

The Christmas party raged on below them, but in her quarters, there was an even better party.