Tali looked to Shepard as he eyed the message on his omni-tool. They only been out of the hospital for a few hours and they have already received word from Admiral Hackett about an upcoming special ceremony taking place in London, and he had a part to play. She could tell he seemed very worried as he sat ridged and his arm shook slightly.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she fidgeted on a barrel next to him. They were in a camp near where the Normandy was parked and all their friends were around to see Shepard's new suit.

"I don't know, I'm just not used to giving speeches to every species in the galactic community," he said anxiously.

Tali squeezed his arm lovingly and reassured him, "You'll be just fine."

"I hope so," he replied as he checked over the white machine that was hooked up to his suit. Doctor Chakwas caught him before he left the building and hooked him up to a miniaturized version of the machine that was in his room. It was held on the back of his waist the same way someone would hold their shotgun.

"You were able to put it off for this long Shepard, everyone, including reporters, have all been waiting over a month to hear from you," Garrus said as he rocked from a makeshift hammock near them.

"I appreciate you holding them off for me," Shepard replied.

Garrus chuckled, "I cover your ass all the time, I'm just sad there were no sniper rifles involved."

Shepard let out a hearty laugh, "I missed you man."

Garrus gave a wink, "That's because you're a lousy shot."

Shepard retaliated by raising a pointed finger, "Hey! Don't make me come over there!"

Tali smiled as her lover and best friend exchanged quips and jokes, something she missed greatly. The gang's all here.

"I'd be careful, Garrus, this man wiped out an entire race of reapers, I don't think a simple turian would be much of a match for him," Liara said from the other side of the smoking fire pit.

"I don't think anything ever will be a match for Loco anymore," James put in.

"It was one hell of a save the Commander did," Jacob agreed, who had been caught up on recent events by the rest of the crew while Tali and Shepard were in the hospital.

"Could we please talk about something else?" Shepard asked nervously.

Understanding dawned for them and Tali. He was obviously still processing the memories. For the crew, it has been a little over a month, but Shepard lost two weeks out of that time.

Kaidan nervously grunted, "Well, I don't think Garrus needs to cover you anymore, you seem to do well hiding in plain sight," he motioned to the suit.

"Yeah, I don't know whether to keep calling you Loco or Sparks 2.0," James joked.

Shepard reached over and grabbed Tali by the waist, scooching her barrel closer to him, "Thank the beautiful Engineer next to me. She made it."

Tali noticed her Auntie giving a hard stare.

Kasumi looked like she was about to die from the amount of cute she just witnessed. Garrus, however, just snorted, "Don't get me wrong Shepard, I missed you as well, but if you're going to be mushy gushy with each other, could you do it at the hospital?"

Kasumi punched his shoulder lightly to protest his distaste, "Stop!"

They heard a rustle of grass and turned to see Joker hobbling towards them, "It's nice to get out of the ship every once in a while. But I gotta say it still reeks out there...Oh hey Tali! Long time no see! Who are your friends?"

She grabbed both Shepard's and Raan's hands and looked at him. "Joker, I like you to meet my Auntie Raan, member of the Admiralty board, and..."

"It's good to meet you again, Joker," Shepard interrupted as Joker shook hands with Raan. Although his voice was slightly warped from the helmet, his voice was still distinguishable.

Joker's eyes widened as he looked over his old friend thought dead, obviously trying to keep himself from roping him around in a hug. Probably a good thing, too. The last thing they needed for a reunion was another injured person.

"Commander! You look...ah...well...better! I mean, I heard about what happened, but I didn't expect to see you wearing a uh..."

"It's alright, Joker, where have you been?" Shepard asked.

Joker extended his thumb and pointed behind him towards the Normandy. "I just had some people help me look over the plan copies of EDI's body. We're trying to make her a new one."

"EDI?"

"Yeah, she got shut down after the...explosion...But Tali managed to fix her up! So...here she is!" Joker fumbled with a pocket until he pulled out a long object with a glowing, electric blue light.

"Hello, Commander Shepard, it's been too long," came EDI's voice.

Shepard looked shocked, "EDI! I'm glad you're still alive!"

"As am I. According to the reports I compiled from my systems, I am reaper-tech free, thanks to Tali. I couldn't be here without her," the A.I. praised.

Tali felt warm as Shepard turned to hug her, "You didn't tell me about this!"

"I didn't think that I needed to," she replied as she returned the embrace. Raan, however, looked confused, but stayed silent.

Joker took a careful seat between Raan and Kaidan and started breaking twigs absent-mindedly. "I see Tali had some design input on your suit," he pointed to the whorls on the cloth.

"Actually she made the whole thing," Shepard replied.

"No I didn't!" Tali interjected, "I just modified the hands and legs and picked out the colors and design!"

Joker laughed, "That's still like, half of the suit. I just didn't know that you could actually make one!"

Tali gave a small laugh, although a bit more sarcastically. "These suits keep us from dying! Of course every quarian knows how to make one!"

"Oh! Well okay then," Joker replied awkwardly.

Tali regretted her laugh. Joker probably still felt shame despite their moments together when they were resurrecting EDI. She faced him and tried her best to give him a visible happy look, in order to tell him that she was only just joking. She then continued the conversation.

"Speaking of which, I better teach this guy how to make one after his speech," she elbowed Shepard.

Joker looked to him, "You have to give a speech?"

Shepard groaned, "Yeah, at the ceremony this weekend."

"Do you think anyone's going to believe that you're Commander Shepard, wearing that?"

Shepard went to scratch his cheek, only to be stopped by the mask. Obviously it was a gesture he used when thinking.

"Eh, I don't really care. Once I'm done with it, they can think whatever they want."

Joker smiled devilishly, "Then maybe we can...hold a party afterwards!"

"I'm ready to partay!" James burst out. He looked sheepish as all eyes turned towards him, "What? Aren't you guys?"

He looked less embarrassed as everyone agreed with him enthusiastically, giving a round of excited cheers.

"But where at? I am sure the apartment is just a memory now," Shepard interrupted.

Tali interlaced her fingers with his and gave a squeeze, "Don't worry, we'll find some place. But for now," she stood him up, "Let's continue our walk? Then you can get to work on your speech."

"Yes ma'am," Shepard accepted.

Raan got up to join them but Tali stopped her, "Why don't you stay here Auntie? Get to know the crew a little more?"

Raan looked reluctant, these weren't the kinds of people she was used to talking to, but she agreed and sat back down.

Tali felt excited to get some alone time with Shepard outdoors, so she eagerly grabbed his hand and bounced off, dragging him behind her.

She smiled and even blushed a little when she heard a rather loud, "Aww!" from Kasumi.

She kept running until they left the Normandy behind and its crew, coming into a smaller park area. The sun was high and the sky was a rich blue, she's never seen so much at once. Surprisingly, the park seemed to be spared most of the wrath of the war. Its green trees standing tall and even some of the benches didn't have so much as a speck of ash on them. She slowed down and allowed for Shepard to match her step next to her, panting as he did so.

"Man, keep that up any longer and my legs would've fallen off!"

Tali giggled as she hugged him, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot you were a human." She poked his mask teasingly.

A sudden realization of the view in front of her made her take a deep breath as she took it in. It was perfect. It was him surrounded by green trees, and the sky stretching overhead. How can something so alien be so beautiful? She realized that she didn't really need to understand what she saw to respect its beauty. She started to doubt whether Rannoch could ever compare to this.

"What?" Shepard asked, a puzzled look in his non-luminescent gaze.

She took another long moment of silence before speaking, as if the sight would break in front of her.

"I love this...us together...here...The trees and the sky, and you in my arms, with all of our greatest worries behind us."

Shepard squeezed her hand tightly as he looked around himself, also taking in the sight. Tali could tell something was ticking inside his mind, just the way his head moved, some ideas were forming in his brain, but she didn't know what.

"I never been much of a summer guy, but before we leave, right in the fall, you're in for a treat," he said.

"Oh? What's that?" Tali asked.

"The leaves start to turn into rich golden colors. Reds, oranges, yellows. They begin to fall, hence the name, and it's truly a magical time. Children like to rake up the leaves into piles and jump in them. Although I doubt there'll be any children here by then...Parents tend to not want to raise kids in a place that used to be a war zone," he half joked.

Tali's imagination took effect as she thought of all the warm colors and laughter of small children from the season. She heard plenty of different seasons from different planets but she never got to witness the unique ones herself. She's seen plants on the flotilla lose some leaves, but not much of them changed colors.

Will the trees on Rannoch do the same? She never saw much large plant growth from her time on her homeworld. Again she started wondering if Rannoch could compete with what she was witnessing.

"That sounds lovely," she said simply.

Shepard sighed as they resumed walking until they hit a roundabout in the road, "Yeah, Earth has been a good home, even if most of my memories aren't totally fond of it."

This is new. Tali looked at him curiously. In all her time, she never really asked Shepard about his childhood.

"What happened?"

Shepard chuckled slightly as he prepared mentally for his story. "I wasn't always the, 'Savior of the Galaxy,' you know. I lived on the streets in some large cities, picking up scraps. I was, uh...an orphan. My dad died before I was born, and my mom died when I was a kid. They were both in the Alliance Military, but they were more assistants than anything. I ran off once I found my mom passed away in the morning. I got involved with gangs and they hid me from the Alliance...Everything went south that day."

Keelah, why did I have to open my big mouth?

"John, I'm sorry I asked, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm so sorry for reopening old wounds." She had to admit that she was surprised that he wasn't always the perfect man that he was today. His actions were so...heroic. But she guess that he had to learn them from somewhere.

He only shook his head. "No, you deserve to know. You told me so much about yourself, I shouldn't be a stranger to you. Besides, that isn't even the worst part."

Tali raised her eyebrows in interest, nodding and listening as he continued.

"I hid for several years and did some of the gangs more intricate work. Crawling into small spaces and stuff like that. I did crimes, they were petty but crimes nonetheless. I regretted those years with every fiber of my being...I finally escaped it all when I enlisted...Anderson...actually set me straight."

She could tell that he was still recovering from the death of the closest father figure he had. She understood how that felt. Even if her father wasn't the closest person in the galaxy, she allowed him a few moments thought. But it didn't take long for her more negative feelings towards her father to take her thoughts. She turned her focus back to her love.

"The worst part, still give me nightmares...Actually, I don't think I should talk about it on a beautiful day like this," he said. "Maybe another day. Let's just forget it and enjoy this."

"If that's what you need," Tali replied, understanding.

They had long passed the roundabout and went over some fallen walls into an even larger park. Soon they came across a small river tainted with debris and took the path next to it. They held each other's hands closely and rubbed shoulders as they walked. They wanted to be as close as possible. The direction they were walking was somewhat parallel of the scene that happened over a month ago, inching slightly closer.

She thought back to their talk of seasons.

John is not a summer person.

She never knew much about what he favored, only about his actions. That was how she fell in love with him, how he always did what's right. Actions do speak louder than words. Still, she couldn't believe in all the time she had known him, they never got the chance to sit down and just...talk about themselves.

It was about time she changed all of that. There is just information that can't possibly be acted out, unless they wanted to play an odd game of charades.

"So...I don't think we know some of the more personal information about each other," Tali hinted.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we don't really know each other's preferences, what we like to do and how we like to do things. Important events like birthdays and such."

Tali could practically feel his goofy smile burning behind his mask, he definitely liked the idea. It was almost too strange for her, to feel so much child-like joy to come bubbling out of her lover.

"What would you like to know? Shepard Q and A is ready to go!"

Tali laughed at his impression of a talk show host. She raised her hand and replied, acting like a member from an unseen audience. "Yes, Mr. Commander Shepard! When is your birthday?"

Shepard let out a cartoonish chuckle. "I'm glad you asked, Miss vas Normandy! I'll have you know that my birthday is on the 11th of April!"

Tali stealthily added the note to her omni-tool, calculating the Earth's general time with Rannoch's.

"Now, we like to do a little twist on the show tonight! Where I, Mr. Shepard, will ask the audience a question about themselves!" Shepard said with an even goofier grin, clearly he couldn't wait to know even more about the quarian woman he fell so deeply in love with, so Tali decided to indulge his desires.

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!" Tali said with excitement.

"Yes, Miss vas Normandy! I was hoping to ask you, when is your birthday?"

Tali had to shake her head at the repeated and basic question. Then again, the day was just getting started. She threw a little fun in her own.

"What? You don't remember?!" She asked, imitating herself taking offense.

She smiled devilishly as his body stood rigid. She could only imagine the gears in his head rolling backwards in fear, trying to remember information that was never given.

His voice cracked as he tried to cover his obliviousness. "Tali! I'm so sorry! I didn't-!"

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "I'm only messing with you, John! Keelah, you are so funny!" She giggled a little to get him to relax. "It's March 20th, by the way."

She walked past him as he took a deep sigh of relief, sashaying her hips flirtatiously. "And your old man memory better not forget it!"

"Who you calling an old man? I'm only like what..."

Shepard paused to think. To most people having to remember your age would seem ridiculous, but then again, Shepard's life was all kinds of ridiculous.

"...I think...Twenty Eight? Man, I am getting old."

This time it was Tali who had to go back into her memory. Back on the first Normandy, Tali had gotten to know the crew well enough to know their ages, Shepard's included, and the math just did not seem to fit.

"I thought you were Thirty?"

Shepard shook his head simply. "I was dead for a couple years, remember?"

"But...huh?"

"I think age just measures how long you've been alive. I wasn't alive for two years, so I don't really think it counts."

I didn't think about that. How does resurrection factor into the time frame of someone's life? Existence versus Time was a weird concept to think about. It made her brain hurt, so she decided to drop it and just take John's idea as fact and didn't question it.

"So, what do you like to do?" Tali asked, trying to continue the conversation.

Shepard laughed, "Spending time with you!"

Tali rolled her eyes but blushed, "Besides me, of course." She winked at her little innuendo. An action that was most definitely caught by Shepard.

Tali couldn't handle compliments well, it was in her unselfish nature. But since she was with Shepard, she could deflect them with her flirtatious words. Besides, she was on a mission to know more about her human bondmate and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way, not even herself.

That's a really weird thought. Reminds me of when John was fighting that clone of himself on the Citadel. What were his exact words? "No one steals my ship, not even me?"

"Well, I enjoy hanging out and talking with the crew, playing those games or simulators back on the strip. Basically whatever anyone else is doing at the time," Shepard finally answered.

Tali could've guessed that. Shepard's social nature always reminded her of her crushing days when she would wait for him to make his, "rounds," through the ship where he would talk to everyone. She loved those days, but she loved these ones even more, now that he was hers.

"Anything you like to do personally?" She asked.

Shepard rubbed his helmet in thought, "Those game simulators...Reading, as well...Um, listening to music, I love that...Oh! Model making, can't forget that, either...and um, not much else really. Sorry if I seem boring." he finished.

"Nonsense! I love a guy who can build models and take down rea-...er...blow stuff up!" Tali caught herself before she could say the word reapers. She didn't know if Shepard also caught it, but if he did, he paid no mind. In fact, he seemed quite flattered.

"What about you, anything you like to do besides singing, dancing, and watching vids?" He joked.

Tali blushed slightly as she remembered that night when they were watching, "Fleet and Flotilla," back in his apartment before it blew up. But her mind also went back to the song she sang when she thought Shepard had died, that one painful tune she sang while she grieved. But it was over now, and she was here, with her living bondmate.

One last time. One long last time.

She smiled at the thought before she almost forgot that she had a question to answer.

"Oh...I like pretty much everything that involves tech and engineering. Not much else."

"Are you sure?"

Tali let her mind search for anything else she liked to do. She found one, but wasn't quite so sure about it. "I also like to...write."

Shepard craned his neck, "Writing? Like in a journal or..?"

"Journals and...stories. Stories are fun to write. I really get to use my imagination."

"Do you have anything already written? Anything I can read?"

Tali thought about her stories. Lots of them were more romantic, and...heavily influenced by Shepard. She wasn't sure if he would catch on to the strong similarities. If he did, would he judge her? Her mind drew a blank but she stammered out an answer anyway.

"Um, I have some back on the s-ship."

Shepard started to turn around and headed towards the camp. "Great! I bet you could be an amazing author!"

Oh no. Tali gripped his arm rather forcefully and resumed walking the same way.

"No! I mean, come on, let's continue our walk! I'm enjoying this!"

Shepard's eyes rolled as he silently obeyed and kept going alongside the river while Tali wrapped her arms around his side. She had a list of questions mentally prepared to ask him about himself, but because of her recent save from potential embarrassment, she had forgotten them all. So she decided on asking him about the future instead.

"Any plans, John?"

"The ceremony, another one of Joker's parties. Multiple surprises for you, and then we head for Rannoch."

Surprises? Ooh! I'm excited! Tali thought for a moment. But then she thought once again about Rannoch.

A question started to creep itself into her mind. She couldn't believe the question herself, even after all they've been through. But it was a question that she needed to ask her lover, just to make sure on where he stood.

"John, are you sure you want to live on Rannoch?"

This caught his interest.

"Yeah, why? I promised to build you a house, I intend to fulfill that promise."

"But Earth is your home, and it's beautiful. If you wanted, we could live here. I don't mind."

Shepard looked down at her and answered reassuringly. "Tali, Rannoch is beautiful, too. It even reminds me of the big deserts all the way back in America, which is west from here. Love that place, and the people are great, too. I bet it would be even better with you...and I'm sure there are plenty of trees and color somewhere...And besides, yes, Earth was my home. But as I said, I'm not entirely fond of it. I think it's best if we lay our roots on your homeworld."

Tali smiled at his words. Yes, Rannoch was where she was meant to be. How could she have doubted that?

"My parents always called me their Little Purple Rose of Rannoch."

Shepard smiled. "I hope you don't mind if I take that," he chuckled. "Oh! also, well, some of my surprises are on Rannoch, so..."

"Well that definitely sells me."

They both laughed and hugged each other tighter. It was cut short when a bright flash went off from the bushes and they saw someone crouched and holding a camera.

The bushes ruffled and the person scurried from view after they have taken their snapshot.

Shepard groaned, "Stupid reporters, no, stalkers! Tabloid stalkers!"

Tali giggled, "I wonder what insane story they'll come up with this time."

He immediately raised his hands as if presenting a headline. "Shepard caught laughing about Earth! Hater of humans?"

Tali laughed harder at that. She had to take a few moments to catch her breath before speaking again. "As funny as that would be, I don't think that they will know that you are the Commander Shepard, with the outfit and all."

"True, although they might notice the fingers and legs, if it's not me, any ideas why they would want your picture?"

This time is was Tali's turn to present a headline, "Normandy Crew member Tali'Zorah converting humans? Honored Admiral or Cult Leader?" She felt proud of her quick-wit as Shepard bent over laughing at her joke.

"You would definitely make a great author!" He said in between breaths of air and chuckles.

They continued on giving funny headline ideas as they walked around the park until they stopped by a small lake and sat down next to each other and just...talked. Tali never thought she would see the day that they could enjoy each other's company without the threat of death looming over them. Her face began to hurt as she kept smiling and smiling as they transition from topic to topic until one of them came to their future.

"You know, it will be a lot of work, building that dream house of yours. I think once we get it done, we should have a vacation."

"But we won't need a vacation from our dream house?"

"I know, but I mean a vacation from it all. Away from everything, your duty, your job...everything."

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm planning on retiring from the Alliance."

Tali felt shock roll over her from Shepard's words, "You are?"

"Yeah, I think I've done enough breaking down, shooting and destroying things, and all the stress that comes with it. I think it would be nice to actually contribute and help build things. Maybe do some carpenter or general contractor work?"

Tali felt her heart warming and spoke with support for Shepard wanting to move on. "The Savior of the Galaxy wanting a modest job? Now that's a sight to see...So, where would you want to go for a vacation?"

"Well, I do have quite a lot of credits, so I thought we should go somewhere tropical and warm, where we can enjoy the sun and the ocean and its beaches. We can eat some delicious food and enjoy the sights. Somewhere we can pass off as strangers and nobody knows who we are. Just the nice things."

Tali's cheeks hurt even more as she smiled, her thoughts nearly lined up exactly with his. Except not all of them.

"I thought you weren't much of a summer person?"

"Doesn't mean I can't enjoy it every once in a while," he explained with a smile.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, "Once we settle down, I promise we'll do just that."

Together they just took in the sight of each other.

Tali caught notice of her clock, it was getting later in the afternoon, and as if Shepard read her mind, he said, "Hey, we need to get back, I have a speech to prepare."

Tali raised on her feet with him, both swiping grass from their undersides and walking back towards the camp, "And I have a lesson to prepare," she added cheekily.

Shepard groaned as he realized what she meant, "Do I have to know every single detail of a quarian suit for that lesson?"

Tali gave a small smirk, "No, you have to know every detail of a quarian suit for over several lessons."

She gave a small laugh when he let out an even larger groan.

"Kill me now."

"Come on you big baby, let's go see how my Auntie thought about the crew."

"Probably that we're all a bunch of bosh'tets," he said as he worked out the kinks in his muscles.

Tali looked at him in surprise when he used the Khelish swear word, "That's a little extreme, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "I don't know what it means."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to say something unless you knew what it meant?"

"Do you care to enlighten me then?"

Tali thought for a moment, "Nah, I think it would be fun to let you suffer in ignorance."

Shepard gave a dramatic sigh. "When did my woman become so cruel?"

"Your woman?"

She was caught by surprise when he wrapped her up in his arms and brought her closer to him, one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her helmet. His eyes pierced hers and she felt the intensity of the moment. With only a few words, she nearly melted in his arms.

"Yes, mine. And Se'tum croom."

She gave a small squeak and tapped her mask against his. "I love you. Oh so much!"

"And I love you."