Tali and Shepard had been finding all kinds of things to do on the planet over the last two days besides the obvious thing of swimming and building a house like the rest of the crew. The pair had found some caves that they decided to very carefully explore for a couple of hours until Tali saw a spiderlike creature and then wanted to leave immediately. They also found a little cove in the middle of the forest with crystal clear water and a very small waterfall flowing into it from a small stream. This cove is where they had spent most of their time the last day.

"So what do you want to do today my dearest quarian," John was currently laying down next to the cove sunbathing trying to keep getting his tan back while Tali swam around and looked at all of the "Interesting" things she would find in the water. "I don't know, I was following you when we came here,". He chuckled before he sat up to look at her, "Well I mean I don't mind getting to watch my gorgeous girl swim around in the water and look amazed all day but I thought you might think of something more interesting,".

Tali swam over and slowly walked out of the water making sure to do everything she knew would tease him as she came out of the water. "Gorgeous?" she asked playfully as she got over to him and sat down on his lap and laid down on his chest snuggling into him. "Oh most definitely, I haven't laid my eyes on anyone more gorgeous than miss Vas Normandy," he smiled at her and kissed the top of her mask as he hugged her tight to him.

"Well if you say so," she teased him trying to playfully work him up and she knew it was working as she felt his hands going further and further down her back. "I definitely say so, and I'm sure there are others that would say so too, but I'd have to kick their ass if they said it and I found out,". Tali laughed and just looked at John looking over his face and wondering how a quarian like her could possibly have any chance of getting with the savior of the universe.

John however took notice of her staring and figured she was probably not thinking of anything good, "Tali, are you questioning yourself again?". Tali looked him in the eyes for a second or two before she slowly started to shake her head, even though she knew he already knew the answer to his own question. "You know that you're worthy of everything I can possibly give to you and all of the love that I can possibly hand out to you," he hugged her extra tight and looked at her with the most love he could possibly give to her without saying a word or giving her anything.

"I know, you've told me but I can't stop questioning myself every once in a while," she said as she laid her head against his chest, "I'm sorry,". John snapped his head to her when she apologized, "Tali you don't need to apologize for anything you haven't done anything wrong, and any time you doubt or question yourself you come and tell me, and I'll give you every ounce of love and care that I can possibly give out, no matter how I have to do it," he added the end with a wink to her.

Tali blushed at his last comment and smiled at him, "You always know how to make a quarian feel good about herself and how to make me fall more in love with you," John gave her his biggest smile and kissed her 'forehead' again. "It's what I do baby, now do you wanna stay here on the ground and cuddle, or would you rather go somewhere and find some more stuff on this planet to do?" Tali acted like she was considering the cuddle option before she smiled at him and began getting off of him.

The pair then decide to explore for the rest of the day and try and find anything else interesting that the rest of the crew hadn't already discovered or claimed as 'theirs' but they didn't find much that was close enough that they wouldn't get lost out in the woods. So they both decided it would probably be best for them to just go back to the Normandy and see what the rest of the crew were up to, or what trouble they were getting into.

The entire crew had been setting up a bonfire and planning to cook some food from the mess hall they had been able to get and of course, they also had plenty of alcohol to go along with the food and fire. John and Tali had made it back to the group when they had just finished building the fire but they hadn't lit it yet. Even though John was worried about eating food made by the rest of the crew they both decided to stay and have a good time with the rest of the crew and John was making a plan to possibly ask Tali to marry him tonight but he wanted to do it when they were alone so neither of them would get embarrassed.

Everyone had been enjoying their shore leave and it seemed like no one was stressed out about Earth or the possible future of all of the species and how everything would be rebuilt, which is what Shepard had hoped would happen. He had of course thought about what would happen after they returned from shore leave but he had always pushed it to the back of his mind whenever he saw Tali. 'I'll worry about all of that whenever we get back home, but right now I get to spend time with my girl,'.

Garrus had been doing everything from building houses to just laying about and talking with some of the crew that he had started to make friends with. John was happy for him, 'At least he's making more friends and we're not his only friends,' which at the moment Tali was over talking to Engineer Adams and some of the other young engineers that had joined the crew during their adventures. Shepard was very glad to have everyone on the crew that he has, he's always felt like the closer the crew is with one another the better and more fluid they can work together and make sure that everything is running as well and smooth as it can.

This belief had definitely paid off for him too as everyone got to see just how well the crew of the Normandy worked together during the battle on Earth and defeating the reapers. John was extremely proud of his crew and made sure that he let them know whenever he could, especially because they all helped save his life by rescuing him.

"John?" the voice broke him out of his thoughts as he turned and saw Tali was standing next to him, normally he would notice someone approaching him, he must have been deep in his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?" John never really liked sharing his thoughts as he never had been able to when he was younger. "Just thinking about the future again, and you of course," he added with a wink trying to get out of a conversation he didn't want to be in. Tali however had been with him long enough to notice when he didn't want to talk about something, 'I'll ask about it later,'.

"Well thank you but we should go and get some drinks and have some fun, not just sit over and look like a grumpy commander," she held out a beer towards him pulling out her own bottle of alcohol for herself. John took the beer but grabbed her hand with his other hand and pulled her to him before kissing her on the forehead, "You sure know how to make a man happy,". Tali just pulled him towards the fire and started talking to whoever was the closest when they made it to the rest of the crew.

The fire lasted about two or so hours after John and Tali joined up with the rest of the crew and when the fire had finally burnt out everyone began making their way back to their rooms and homes. Tali and John were on their way back to their room with Garrus in tow. The three were all on the elevator with John holding Garrus up as he was currently quite drunk and rambling on about calibrations. John walked him to his room and helped him into it and then left him to his own devices and walked back to the elevator with a waiting Tali inside.

John got to the elevator and waited until the elevator doors closed getting more and more nervous as the doors slowly closed. John then turned to Tali and pulled out the small box from his jacket pocket and got down on one knee. Tali looked at him very confused as she didn't fully understand all of the human customs, "Tali Zorah Vas Normandy would you do me the tremendous honor and marry me?". Tali suddenly understood and put her hands where her mouth would be, "Oh yes of course John," she said as she held her hand out to him.

John slid the ring onto her finger and immediately stood up and held her in a tight hug which she gladly returned. "So what does this mean?" she asked still confused about all of the human rituals involving marriage, "Well we have to plan a wedding at some point or we can just go get some papers signed that will make us legally married,". Tali thought for a moment, "So what exactly is a wedding?".

"Well it's kind of like a small party where we would invite family and some close friends to watch us basically just say our vows to one another and put rings on each other's fingers,". Tali nodded, "So a wedding isn't necessary to be married?" John shook his head in response, "No, but we can have one if you'd like to, I'm sure my mom would like to see me have one but she'll also understand us choosing not to have one,".

"Ok well we can have one then, I'd like to see what this wedding is all about," John smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Ok, well we'll have to either plan it ourselves or hire a wedding planner, I say we should let someone else plan it for us," Tali agreed as the elevator doors opened to their floor. They both then very happily walked into the room and sat down on the bed, "Well I don't know about you but I'm kinda tired so we can probably let all the planning wait until tomorrow," John said as he laid down on the bed, "Agreed," Tali said as she laid next to him and snuggled up to him.

That night was one of the best nights of sleep John had ever gotten and one of the happiest and more stress-free moments in his life that he's had in a very very long time. 'I'm gonna get someone to plan the best wedding possible because that's exactly what she deserves to have,' he thought to himself as he fell asleep cuddling up to his now fiance miss and soon-to-be Mrs. Tali Zorah Vas Shepard.