Anderson's message had been fairly lengthy, and slightly wandering. Del had seen far too many of those particular kind of letters before…written by other soldiers. Some, she'd even written herself.
They were the kind of letters you wrote when you finally had a moment to sit down and wanted to send a light-hearted word off to family while you had a chance. You intended them only to be short and happy, the 'I'm doing ok, love and miss you' kind of things, but the weight of the battlefield, time, and exhaustion conspired against you to make them long, rambling missives-the weary philosophy of the trenches.
Anderson started off talking about his apartment and her taking a load off. Fairly straight forward-and if not 'light-hearted', at least the tone was of optimism. Then he started talking about how Kahlee had wanted to settle down there after the war, and about some of the things he was seeing and dealing with on Earth and some of the regrets that the soldiers and civilians had about their lives. The line that had struck Del the most kept echoing in her mind as she wandered through an arcade mall looking for the address.
The more I stay on Earth, the less I want to leave.
She had been forced to leave at the start of the Reaper attack. Instead of being able to stay and fight, she had to go, leave them all behind. It was for a damned good reason, of course- to rally help and find a way to actually end the Reapers- but that hadn't made it any easier to do. She could not imagine if she had stayed, been there fighting in the trenches this whole time.
If she had, once the war had been won, she probably would never have wanted to leave Earth again, either. Apartments amid the bright lights and bustle of the Citadel would have seemed like diving into naïve ignorance again.
The flat turned out to be a penthouse, and stepping into it made her pause almost immediately. "Jesus, Anderson…"
He could not have afforded this on even an Admiral's salary.
His time as the Councilor for Earth must have paid better than I thought.
Letting the door close behind her, she just stood for a long moment in front of it, feeling almost awkward…like a speck of dirt that had landed on the Hope Diamond.
The décor was muted but ultra-modern, and from what she could see there were at least two floors. Still feeling like she was invading someone else's home, she tentatively started forward and began to look around.
It wasn't long before she caught obvious signs that military souls had lived there. Among the artwork, the bookcases, the sitting rooms, and the personal zen garden (complete with its own waterfall, she thought with a shake of her head. A damned waterfall in an apartment…), there was a well outfitted gym, and a workroom-slash-armory.
She smirked a bit when she entered the office and saw the poker table, letting her fingers drift over the green felt for a moment, before they moved over the spines of the books on the shelves.
Actual books. Paper and everything. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu…this must be worth a damned fortune-
She took the volume down and opened it, then smirked at the inscription. Ah. Gift from Fleet Master Barrett. I'll have to get this back to Anderson once the war is over.
Closing the book carefully she slid it back into place, then sighed. Finding a small bedroom (she'd located no less than three so far, besides what was clearly the master) through another door in the office, she sat down on the bed, then flopped back with a weary groan.
I know he wants me to keep it but this place…I don't know. This isn't me. It's nice but…Christ, I think Nan's house back on Earth could have fit in here twice over. I don't know what I'd even do with it.
She closed her eyes, days of weary exhaustion and stress almost immediately tugging her toward sleep. Her body seemed to ache in a thousand different quarters- the kind of almost pleasurable ache that came when rest was desperately needed.
I can just keep it safe for him, until the war is over. If he still doesn't want it then, maybe we could…I don't know. Sell it and donate the money to the relief efforts. All this…this stuff, this room…
Plenty of room for little blue children- was the last treacherous thought that snuck through her mind, before sleep abruptly draped over her.
She woke startled, one hand groping toward her hip and the pistol she was carrying there, before consciousness fully asserted herself. She was alone still in the room, but apparently not in the apartment any more. She could hear music, soft and distant. Sitting up, she pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to shake off the fuzziness, before glancing at her chrono.
Over an hour had gone by.
As she stepped out of the bedroom and into the office, the music grew slightly louder. It was a piano. Remembering that she'd caught a glimpse of a piano in one of the larger sitting rooms, she headed that direction…a soft smile coming to her face as she recognized the self-same strains of the unfinished song she'd been writing for Liara.
The asari stood at the piano, softly picking out the notes with one hand. Her back was to Shepard, the neon lights of the Arcade outside the apartment tower outlining her in pink and red, blue and yellow and green. Leaning on the doorway, Del folded her arms and watched her for a while.
"Trying to finish the song on your own?" she asked after the notes paused a moment.
Liara half turned her head, a faint but wry smirk on her lips. "Well, I was weary of waiting for you to complete it."
"Uh huh," Shepard said, then straightened and walked forward. "I didn't know you could play."
"I cannot…well, not really. I entertained myself during a storm that lasted several days on one of my early digs. Another of the archaeologists had a portable keyboard. I learned little more than how to pick out certain notes. Afterward there was always something else that needed doing that was more important. I suppose I just figured that I was young yet…that I had centuries ahead of me to learn it better if I truly wanted to-"
Her brow had knit, her face growing troubled. Del gently caught her shoulder, meeting her eyes.
"Hey," she said softly. "You do have centuries ahead of you, Tianlán. And from what I just heard, you've got the talent…and I guess if I decide to actually keep this place, we've even got a piano for you to learn on."
Liara smiled slightly, but Del could tell she was not quite convinced. "You do not know if you will keep the apartment?"
"Have you looked around this place?" Del asked, glancing around again herself. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself here. Nan's house was the nicest place I have ever lived in, and that wasn't even this…big."
"Is that what troubles you? The size?" Liara asked. Del shook her head.
"I don't know, Li. I just…it still just feels wrong I guess. Sitting here in a penthouse at the top of a tower while good men and women are fighting and dying in desperation all over this galaxy-"
"Shepard…"
"I know."
She ran a hand back through her hair, then smirked with no real amusement. "Oh look. A bar."
Walking over she started digging through the cabinets, finding a bottle of scotch and pulling it out, before selecting a pair of small glasses.
As she opened the scotch and started to pour, Liara came around the bar and gently took the bottle, setting it aside before winding her arms around Shepard's waist. She said nothing, only held her tightly, resting her head against her shoulder. Del paused a moment in surprise, then gently put her arms around the asari and returned the embrace.
After a long moment's silence, Shepard sighed. "You'll stay here with me?"
"Of course," Liara said. "I can bring Glyph from the ship, coordinate what I must from here via his interface."
"Read my mail?" Del asked.
Liara straightened and lifted a brow as she looked at her. "Perhaps. If I feel you are pushing yourself to the breaking point again and deem it necessary."
"I'm not about to break, Li. I'm doing a lot better. The nightmares haven't stopped but they're so much better than they were, and the indoctrination-"
"Those things improving does not erase the fact that you have been fighting nonstop since Earth. That you have lost friends, have been pushed to the limits of even your physical means. It does not change what happened in orbit around Rannoch."
Shepard released her, picking up the scotch again and pouring a glass. She lifted it, about to drink, then looked at it and set it down again with a sigh.
"A vacation."
"It is not such a horrible thing, Del. And it is necessary. There is little you can do now at any rate; not with the Normandy in dry-dock."
Shepard said nothing, just stared at the scotch glass with a scowl. Reaching out gently, Liara brushed a lock of her hair back from her temple. "And you will be able to spend time with me," she said.
She was gratified to see Shepard give half of her crooked grin. "Now you're just bribing me," she teased.
"If that is what it takes."
Turning to her again, Del pulled her close. "You are too good to me, T'Soni. You know that?"
"I do," Liara said, then looked at her seriously. "I love you, Del Shepard. Neither of us knows what this war will ultimately bring. These few short days together may be our last chance to…just be."
"Yeah. I kind of like the sound of that, actually." She rested her forehead on Liara's. "Find a moment of peace."
"It may be that moment that ends up making the difference."
"You think so?"
"Stranger things have happened. I know. I have seen most of them with you."
Shepard laughed, then shook her head. "You are quite persuasive, T'Soni. I'll try. I'm not going to promise anything but…I'll try. Ok?"
It may have been her imagination, but she seemed to feel some of the tension in Liara's body give way slightly. Cupping her face, the asari kissed her, slow and gentle.
"Thank you, Del. That is all I ask."
"Are you sure I'm not intruding?" Nan said worriedly as Del carried the small cargo bag into the apartment, the older woman on her heels.
"I invited you, Nan," Del said, setting the bag down near the sitting area.
"I know but…surely you and Liara want some privacy-"
"Uh, look around," Del laughed, gesturing. "Given the size of this damn place, I'm pretty sure we can manage getting privacy. Hell, you practically need a GPS to find your way back from the bathroom."
Nancy laughed. "It is…quite lovely. And roomy. But really dear, I'm just fine on the Normandy-"
"Yeah, so was I, until I got dragged by the ear into a vacation," she said. "Look, Nan. All seriousness. There are plenty of bedrooms, and you'd just be in the way of the engineering crews on the ship. You're not as young as you used to be-"
"Oh, this is about age now is it?" Nan scoffed.
"-AND I will not sleep in a damn palace while you sleep in a bunk. There are four bedrooms in this place. We don't even have to see each other if you don't want. You're not intruding, you're staying. Period, end of story."
"Is that so, young lady?"
"Nan," Liara emerged from a hallway, walking up behind the older human woman and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "This means a lot to Del. And to me. Please, you need to stay. Let Del spoil you for once."
Nan laughed, patting the asari's hand. "All right."
"Oh, you listen to her now and not me?" Del asked with a snort.
"I am far more persuasive," Liara said dryly.
"And prettier," Nan added.
"That too."
Shepard rolled her eyes and picked up the bag again. "I'm putting your bag in the bedroom just down this hall. And just for the record, I have a much nicer ass than Liara."
"Yes, I can see it from here," Liara called after her. "It is truly lovely, despite having been shot at least once."
"I hate you both!" Shepard yelled back cheerily, before vanishing into the room.
Nan laughed, turning and hugging Liara a moment before she sighed. "Tell me truly, dear…how is she really doing?"
"Worse than she will readily admit to," Liara said.
"Yes, that's our Del for you," Nan said, shaking her head. "She's had to keep such a tight grip this whole time…that is why she truly doesn't want this down time. She's afraid if she relaxes it, even a little…"
"She will fall apart."
"And it's our job to get her to loosen that grip, show her that's not going to happen," Nancy said, her tone showing the determination that had helped hundreds of kids in the past. She clapped her hands together. "So. First thing's first. Dinner."
"I was just going to order a pizza, maybe. I'm not sure what we even have stocked," Del said, emerging from the hall and hearing the last sentence.
"Oh no. No pizza," Nan said, already heading into the kitchen. "You are going to cook."
Shepard blanched. "What? Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Are you kidding me? I can't cook!"
"Are your arms broken?"
"No, of course not-"
"Then you can cook." She reached the kitchen, rummaging around. "And you're in luck- it looks like we are fully stocked. Liara, would you like steak or fish?"
"Nan, the last time you made me cook I burnt water!" Shepard said, entering after her.
"I remember. It was in my kitchen," Nan said. "Don't look so terrified, Del. I'll walk you through it. Now get those pans up there. We'll need some olive oil…"
The Normandy felt odd without the crew aboard, only the strange faces of the Alliance engineers and retrofit teams wandering the halls and setting their duty tasks and priorities. It seemed every other one had a data pad she had to sign off on before work could really begin.
Felt odd being aboard dressed in her civvies again, too- but Liara had insisted she leave the uniform at home.
"You are on vacation," she'd said. "You have to sign the work orders, no way around that, but if you go back on that ship in uniform your mind will be at work, in this war. You will be Captain Shepard. That is precisely what you do not need."
She'd worn only civvies the entire time this had been a Cerberus ship, refusing to put on any Cerberus uniform or colors. Being aboard now that it was an Alliance vessel again, while wearing scuffed jeans and a t-shirt, seemed far more surreal than that had been.
She'd finished off on the last work orders, freeing the crews to get work going on some of the more sensitive systems, then headed up to the Nest to get a few of her things together. Liara was aboard too, tying up a few loose threads with the Broker network and gathering some items that she would need at the apartment, including Glyph. Packed up, Del headed down to find her when her omni-tool buzzed.
She had a text message from Joker.
Riding the lift down to the crew level, she looked it over, then shouldered her pack and stepped off, heading in Liara's door.
"Hey, you about ready?" she asked as she stepped in.
"I am going to be a little while yet," Liara told her. "I have a few more contacts to set up. I do not want the Broker's efforts to help refugees and provide resources to the Crucible to suffer simply because I am taking a little down time. That I will have to do some work while we are in dry dock is unavoidable, but I want that to be as little as possible."
"Joker just messaged me. He wants to meet for dinner…some place called Ryuusei. Probably wants to make up for what he said before we docked."
Liara glanced away from her screen, fixing her love with a look.
"Everything he said was accurate. You do need a vacation, and you are stubborn."
"Doesn't mean I can't make him squirm a little," Shepard said. "I was kind of hoping you would join us."
"I would love to, but I really do need to finish up here. You go. Relax, and have fun. Just remember, you are mine for the rest of the night after you get back home."
Del smirked softly, then bent over and kissed her lightly. "I'll hold you to that, T'Soni."
"I am sure I shall enjoy being 'held', Captain," Liara said with a teasing glint in her eye.
Shepard laughed, then hoisted her pack back on her shoulder. "All right. I'm going to drop this stuff off and look up this restaurant. I'll see you later tonight when I get back."
"I look forward to it."
Shepard bent and kissed her again, before turning and heading out. Reaching the apartment again she stowed her bag in the master bedroom, then headed downstairs, filing through the extranet on her omni-tool. The information for Ryuusei appeared and began scrolling.
"Wow, really Joker?" she said to herself as she stepped into the kitchen, almost immediately enveloped in the smell of brewing coffee.
"What dear?" Nancy asked from near the coffee maker, turning around to look at her.
"What? Oh, nothing. Sorry. Joker invited me to have dinner and I was just looking up the restaurant he wants me to meet him at. It's called Ryuusei."
She turned her omni-tool to show the information as Nan drew close and peered at it.
"Not bad," Nancy said. "Fairly high end. Good reviews. Sushi?"
"Haven't had real sushi in…God. Years."
"Well, it will be good for you to get out, have some fun," the older woman said, returning to the percolator. "Coffee?"
"I'd love some," Del said, switching off her omni-tool. "Still, this place sounds pretty posh. Doesn't seem Joker's speed…and its odd he got reservations. There's a six month waiting list apparently."
Nancy laughed, and Del blinked at her. "What?"
"You really don't know how he got reservations?" she asked, pouring a mug and passing it over. "One of the famous Captain Del Shepard's crew?"
Del colored a little. "I'm not that famous."
Nancy arched a brow and Del cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not…infamous, maybe-"
"Infamy can get sushi reservations too," Nancy said lightly. "Sweetheart, come on. You saved hundreds of human colonies, saved the Citadel from an attack by Saren, then another attack by Cerberus, you cured the genophage, united the turians and the krogan, the geth and the quarians…you're the hero of this war. If that's not enough to open up a table for fish and seaweed, I don't know what is."
Del gave her a dry look, then chuckled, sipping at her coffee.
"What time does he want to meet?"
"Bout an hour from now."
"Is Liara going?"
"She begged out. She wants to finish dotting some I's and crossing some T's as far as the Brokerage is concerned before taking a vacation. And she has to finish gathering a few things. She should be here before I get back."
"Good! We can have some time chatting, just the two of us."
Del paused with the mug halfway to her lips again and looked at her adopted mother warily. "Chatting…"
"Yes dear. People do that."
"About what…?"
"Oh, this and that…honestly, Del. What do you think she's going to tell me about that I don't already know? What positions you like in the sack?"
"Nan!"
"Well, really! Come on, stop being silly young lady. Finish your coffee then go get ready. If that restaurant has a six month waiting list then I'm sure they expect you to show up in something other than grungy jeans and a New York Mets zeegee ball t-shirt."
Shepard looked down at herself, then groaned. "Hadn't thought of that. You don't think it's a black tie place, do you?"
"I'm sure a nice clean and tasteful shirt and slacks would be fine, Del. Jeff would likely shoe-horn himself into a tux as fast as you would into a ball gown."
"I could wear a tux."
"Do you own a tux?"
"Well, no-"
"Then unless you're going to put your dress uniform on I'd just go with the shirt and slacks."
Shaking her head, she drained the rest of her coffee then set the mug down, turning to head toward her room. "What I do for my crew..."
"Don't kid yourself dear," Nan joked after her. "It's for the fish and seaweed."
Shepard laughed. "Oh, it's totally for the fish and seaweed."
