I am so so so sorry for the horridly long delay. A lot has happened that pulled me away from this, but I am back now and I am hoping to finish this soon! Thank you so much for sticking with this fic, and with me. I hope it was worth the wait. I tried to throw in a little romance, so we'll see how that worked. Bioware still owns the ME universe.

Shepard stirred. Opening her eyes and sighing, she pushed away from her lover, regretful to leave his side. But after the way she had died last time, she had a burning desire, bordering on obsession, to be more prepared this time. Slipping out of the bed as quietly as she could, she dressed and tiptoed to the door. Garrus had yet to stir, and she smiled in relief. Shepard took the elevator to the crew deck and snuck into the conference room.

"EDI?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"If Garrus wakes up, let me know and tell him I went to the mess."

"Understood."

Shepard took a deep breath and linked her omni-tool to the holographic interface the Illusive Man liked to use. Instead of transmitting a message out, it would send it to her omni-tool. She squared her shoulders and started the recording.

Garrus woke slowly, feeling that something wasn't quite right. He shifted and reached for Shepard, only to find that she wasn't there. Suddenly fully awake, he sat up and searched the darkened room. It was silent aside from the bubbling of the fish tank.

"EDI, where's Shepard?" He asked groggily.

"She is currently in the mess hall."

"The mess?" Garrus stumbled out of bed and drug on his pants. He went for his shirt before remembering that Shepard had shredded it and smiled. Oh, that woman. Well, he'd venture out without a shirt. It's not like there were really all that many people left on the ship now to catch him. On the ride down to the crew deck, he couldn't decide if he should be nervous or not. He hadn't expected her to leave the bed without waking him, but his gut told him that there wasn't anything to worry about. The doors opened to music playing and the smell of something sweet in the air. He rounded the corner to find something he never thought he would see.

The counter was full of dirty mixing bowls stacked haphazardly. There were plates of cookies on the table, which had been pushed over to the side of the room. Shepard was pirouetting around the newly opened space, twisting to the music in a graceful dance. Her eyes were closed; she seemed to be lost in her own world. Garrus watched, entranced. He had seen her in countless gunfights and thought her easy elegance unrivaled. The way she moved now held a different kind of grace, born not of the need to move in order to survive, but of the need to surrender yourself to something else and let it move you. It was beautiful in a heartbreaking sort of way, and Garrus felt his jaw hang open. She jumped and landed a tight spin, letting her long legs slide out from under her. The song came to an end and she held her position on the floor, panting softly. A timer sounded somewhere in the small kitchen and she pulled herself easily off the floor and disappeared from his field of view. He stood for a moment longer, still star struck by her performance.

Final able to make his feet move, Garrus followed Shepard into the kitchen. She was pulled another tray of baked goods from the oven.

"Hey, Austin," he said softly.

Shepard jumped and spun to face him. "Oh! Hi, Garrus."

"I was worried when I woke up alone."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't really sleep and I didn't want to wake you with my tossing and turning. I came down here for something to drink and I guess I got a little distracted," she looked sheepishly at the mound of mixing bowls.

"You and your mom used to bake when you were upset, right?"

She nodded mutely, her eyes wide with surprise. "You remembered?"

He took her hand in his and pulled her close, "Of course. I remember that your father built you a tree house as one of his many projects. He didn't like to be idle, just like you. I remember when you got that scar on your back that you miss, the one from the colossus on Therum. I remember the way you opened up to me after Ashley stayed behind on Virmire." Soft music started to play and he pulled her out to the open space. Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered, "I'm not very good at this."

She pressed her lips against his as they began swaying to the music, "You know what I remember?"

"Hmm?"

"I remember the day I met you in that med clinic in the Wards. I remember trying so hard to damage the Mako so I had a good reason to talk to you. And I remember thinking of you safe on the Citadel when the Normandy went down." She looked up into his eyes, "I remember wanting to find you and have you back by side as soon as I woke up again. But most of all, I remember the day I realized I'd fallen in love with you."

Garrus spun her slowly around the mess, letting her words warm his heart. Shepard let him take the lead, happy to follow him in their easy dance. The song ended, but they kept dancing to their own rhythm, their own melody, that only they could hear. They twirled around the small space, lost in each other, lost in their private world, where reapers and Cerberus and war didn't exist; all that did was the two of them and the love they shared.

Shepard stopped the dance after a long while, and pulled him back into the kitchen with her. "Bake with me?"

He clicked his mandibles and nodded to her.

"I know you'll never get to meet my parents, but this is as close as I can get."

Garrus inhaled deeply, touched that she was trying so hard to include him in a part of her life no one else would get to know. He stepped up next to her at the counter and smiled down at her. Shepard smiled back, and told stories from her childhood between explaining how to make different confections.

They were cleaning the dishes when EDI alerted them that they were approaching the Omega-4 relay. Shepard sighed, "Ready to save the crew?"

"And if the galaxy as we know it is thrown in there too, that's a bonus."

They shared one final laugh before suiting up and joining the others in the conference room.