The elevator doors opened and Saren stepped out with Shepard in his arms. She was just as light as he imagined her to be, being a small human. He held her tight to his chest, as if he was carrying something extremely valuable. As he opened the door to her captain's quarters and thought about it, she was indeed valuable. But also troubled. She slept in his arms so deep she didn't mind the elevator or the door noises, and made zero moves when he put her down on her bed. She was having the sleep she needed for spirits know how long.

He laid her down slowly, carefully, then turned around to leave.

But then he stopped.

The light of the fish tank mirrored in his eyes as he turned his head back to her, just looking at her sleeping figure. Something moved in him and he went back, sat down next to her on the bed, and looked at her. He studied her reddened eyes, her pale, perfect skin and her hair that seemed a lot darker when damp. It was longer than all those years ago, now reaching her collarbone. He decided he liked it better this way.

He slowly raised a steady hand and touched her hair, twisting a lock around his talon. She looked just as beautiful as three years ago. There was something in her that drawn him in, and he knew it was the fire inside of her.

Her sweet cherry scent lingered around him as his thoughts went on for another minute, but he then released her hair and stood up. He left the room this time, closing the door behind him.

"Mmm…. yes?"

Who was knocking on her door? She was sleeping so well… she didn't want to wake up yet. She was so tired before and this bed was so fluffy, and it felt so good after a week of…

Jane sit up in her bed with incredible speed, just now really waking up and realizing what was going on. She was in her bed? In her quarters? How did she get here? Where was Saren? Who was knocking on the door?

"It's me Jane. Are you up yet?" it was Tali, she recognized the voice.

"Come in!" she said, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes. She looked at the clock. It was more than a day after she sat down next to Saren's bed… How much did she sleep? While she realized this and started panicking inside, Tali entered.

"How do you feel?" she asked kindly, sitting down on the couch.

"How did I get here? How's Saren?" Jane immediately asked back, and suspected a smile on her friend's face behind the mask.

"Saren woke up yesterday evening, but you fell asleep. Chakwas told me he brought you up to your room." Jane's thoughts were racing: So he's fine? He even carried her up? She must have made a very strange face because Tali started giggling.

"So he's fine?" she asked, still in disbelief.

"Yes" Tali nodded. "You were worried he might die..."

Tali said this like it was a fact. Jane looked at the sheets, searching her mind. She was right, she was indeed worried. She worried for Tali, Legion, Saren, everyone. She was so caught up in her fear of losing her friends that she completely missed that Saren needed medical help.

"Of course I was. I should have known something was not right… but I didn't."

"It's not your fault" Tali moved on the couch, switching legs, while Jane climbed out of her bed and started getting dressed. She looked a lot better than yesterday. It was a wonder what a good night of sleep did to humans. "Saren should have said something, but he never did. It was just as his responsibility, as it was yours."

"You might be right, I'm not his mother after all."

"No you're not." Tali nodded, and started looking at the floor "But Jane… How are you?"

She stopped for a second. She finished pulling down her top, then sit down next to her friend on the couch: "Well..." she started "I don't know. Legion… I mean, he..." her voice broke. Tali moved a hand over her shoulder to comfort her. They leaned on each other, like old friends, and they started staring at the coffee table. "He's not gone, in a way. He's with the geth now."

"That's right" Tali smiled, trying to support her friend seeing things from a better perspective. She needed to leave tragedy behind, and see the situation for what it was. "He's in the consensus now. He saved millions of lives, and gave us all a new chance. And Saren is alright too. You won't lose him."

"When he collapsed… I thought I was losing my mind." she gasped.

"He's important to you isn't he?" Tali eventually asked, after a minute of silence. Jane's heart leaped as she prepared to answer.

"He's a great asset to the war effort" she lied "He's a good soldier." There was a long moment of silence, and she felt it wasn't right. It wasn't the truth, and Tali knew it too. She could not fool neither her friend, nor herself: "All right, he's not good" she sighed "He's the best damn soldier I've ever seen. In battle he moves in a way that I don't even have to pay attention. He just lets loose, and it's working. It's like our instincts are so similar, it scares me... " she said, as she thought about the incident at the telescope. How in synch they were.

"I'm not sure what's happening" she admitted, as she looked at the table, just staring into nothing. "I'm losing everybody and everything. And amidst all of this, he somehow returns, and is now on my side. And when I look at him, I'm not afraid of the reapers."

Tali somehow wasn't surprised. The power Saren represented was unique, aggressive, and what was too much for the rest of the world, was exactly what Jane needed. Tali leaned on her shoulder, letting out a sigh, telling her she understood and that she was there. A small smile appeared on Jane's face, and as she herself sighed, she noticed a little white box in Tali's hand. She was idly playing with it, as if it was a small toy.

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"What… this?" Tali asked, turning the box in her hand again "I don't know, it was here on your desk, and I just started playing with it."

Shepard sit right up. She never saw this box before.

"It's not mine, how did that get here?" she informed, and Tali shot her a confused look. She looked down at it. It was a small, white box, no writing on it. The quarian reached out and gave her the box. She took it and turned it in her hand, examining it.

"Are you sure it's not yours?"

"Yes..." she mumbled. As she played with the box between her fingers, a strange feeling took over her. She opened it, and a small piece of paper was in it, with the most strange, yet beautiful handwriting she'd ever seen:

"Never stop wearing it."

Jane lifted the paper, and Tali gasped into her helmet. It was obvious, that this was from Saren.

It was a small, metal ring.

The band itself was some simple metal, but the head… it was a very small stone, glowing with an emerald green colour. She looked closer, and she realized it wasn't actually a stone… she saw small, green coloured electrical circuits on a black surface, giving off the illusion of an emerald. It reminded her of only one thing, the protheans. It reminded her of the sorrow, the reason that they are fighting. It reminded her of her fear, and it told her she should not be afraid. They are not the protheans.

They are the only cycle in millions of years, who have a chance the others before them never had.

Tali watched as her commander fought down her tears as she saw the ring. She looked like she was freed from every burden she had, and was reminded of everything she needed to hear. Her face became smooth, her eyes strong, and her hand moved the ring to her heart, before sliding it onto her finger on her left hand. It was a perfect fit, and it fit her hand just the right way. It looked like it was made for her, and only her. The moment she put it on, her being completely changed. She stood up, looked at the fish tank, then around the room. She looked like the Jane she met on the Citadel three years ago, the Jane who laughed in the face of the Collectors. Tali saw now, in action, what Shepard meant when she said she's not afraid when he looks at him. Tali hated Saren, but she never saw someone brighten her friend up this fast.

"You talked to her, right?" asked Joker from Garrus, who just shrugged. They were sitting in the mess hall with the engineers, Chakwas, Tali, EDI and the Liara. Everyone had a coffee, trying to wake up together, while talking about the possible shore leave Garrus was easing Shepard into. Saren was also drinking his coffee, but he was away from the crowd, standing at the bar next to Gardner, who tried to start a conversation with him, but something stopped him every time. Saren was listening to the conversation the others had.

"I did talk to her, yes..." Garrus fidgeted.

"Do we really need a shore leave right now?" Liara interrupted "With everything that's going on, I-"

"Come on, Liara" said Chakwas "It's hard on everybody, and that is why we all need a leave."

"That's right" nodded Joker "So Garrus, she promised it, right?"

"I mean… she didn't exactly promise it..." the turian said, his mandibles just moving into a half smile. Tali asked impatiently:

"Well, what did she say?"

"Um" he cleared his throat, trying his best to imitate Shepard, even putting his hands on his hips:

"That is a grand idea, dinosaur!"

The mess hall broke into laughter.

Saren wasn't sure what was so funny about this - Garrus' tone; the phrase, or the fact that he imagined Jane saying this and it almost appeared in front of his eyes, it was so typical of her. He fought back a smile, and decided to hide his amusement in a sip of his coffee.

"Vakarian, you're an asshole!" came from the corner and Garrus froze. It was Jane and she heard everything: the mischief in her eyes told everything. The crew fell deeper into laughter as she stepped to the bar and started making coffee for herself. She did not even look at Saren at all. "If you're sooo good at impersonating me, maybe you can start reporting to the Council instead of me!" she laughed.

"You're heartless, Shepard!" hissed Garrus, his mandibles moving into a large smile.

"Yeah well, your first report can be telling them we'll be going on shore leave. To the Citadel. Two days, one night. And keep yourself free for that night, because we're going to make your shameless party happen. We have some work on the station anyways, so that's a perfect opportunity."

To say the crew was happy was an understatement.

Jane turned around from them and finished making her coffee. She then turned and looked right at Saren, her blue eyes were shining so bright, it sent a shiver through him. She lifted the mug to her face and as she took a sip, he noticed a small green reflection: his ring on her finger. They shared a glance, and he could see the smile on her face as she finished drinking. She turned back towards the others, joining the conversation, but Saren did not hear what they were talking about anymore.

He only saw her, walking to the table and sitting in the middle of the conversation, laughing with the others, drinking her coffee, raising her ring high every time, occasionally looking at him for a split second.

The sight of the ring on her hands messed him up badly. He started making it after their incident with the telescope and the reaper, but only now could he finish it. The problem with his movement slowed the process down quite a bit, but when he woke up, it took him no time to finish it. He put it in her room while she was sleeping, and she already found it. Even the thought of his ring on her finger set his nerves on fire, it felt like she was wearing his mark, even though that was hardly the reason he gave it to her. But it still did wonders to his pride how she was not even trying to hide the ring in front of her friends. He could see some of them noticed already, but no one said a word, and he could see it in her eyes that even if they would have asked, she would have said nothing.

He noticed Garrus' eyes on him. The sniper was looking at him with a look so dangerous, an expression so tense, his mandibles were almost glued to his jaw. Saren couldn't help a smirk, and it infuriated Garrus even more.

Jane was practically glowing, full of confidence and strength, and it was because of him. They both felt the change in her posture, the evenness in her heart rate. Whatever crippled her emotionally was gone, evaporated, and turned into raw power.

He put down the coffee cup and decided to leave the scene, glaring at Garrus victoriously.

"A club?" Kaidan asked, a look of confusion on his face. They were discussing party plans for the shore leave.

"Yeah, why? You don't like it?" Jane rounded the bar, taking a seat next to Kaidan on one of the bar stools. It was quite amusing to talk to Kaidan, he was so rigid it was almost ridiculous to her.

"I like it.. it's just that.." he started, searching for the right word "It's not like you."

She laughed.

"Kaidan, just because you haven't seen me in a club while on shore leave doesn't mean I don't like a good night out." At this point Kaidan was thoroughly confused. It was so typical of him. The time he spent in Shepard's team was only a couple months, which he spent with trying to hook up with her, never understanding why he was rejected as many times as he tried. He didn't even know how to relax properly.

"Well, whatever you want, Shepard" he replied eventually "I won't be the one to stay in the way of a good, shameless party." His eyes were extremely playful, and he was leaning on the bar in a way it could never be misunderstood. For a second Jane thought he was even going to wink at her, that would have been priceless.

She fought back laughing so hard, her cheeks reddened. But then she was saved by the door opening. A shirtless Saren stepped into the observation room, and without acknowledging them, he stepped behind the bar and reached for the bottled water stored in the fridge there. The mess didn't have carbonated water, but it was just what he needed after his workout session. As he reached into the fridge with his back to the others, Kaidan threw a disgusted look at him, and stood up:

"I guess I'll go now, have fun!" he said sarcastically, and removed himself from the room. As soon as the doors closed, Jane's laugh escaped her, just loud enough that Kaidan could hear it on the other side.

"That man is a coward" Saren casually said. He turned to Shepard as he opened his water and chugged almost all of it.

"He's not that bad" she chuckled. He looked at her. She was casually leaning on the bar, a cup of warm afternoon coffee in her hands. It appeared she was in the middle of her usual trip around the ship. Her dark circles were gone, her face regained its natural colour and her overall look was a lot better. Her eyes were brighter, as if despite everything that happened, she regained her strength.

"You look better." he commented with a neutral tone, but glowing eyes. Jane looked at him with a warm smile:

"Sleep does wonders to you." she said, not letting it slip how his ring reminded her of everything that was important to her. She needed to keep going if she was to win this war. Grieving did not fit the picture, and it only caused more issues. "I can see you're better too."

He nodded.

"It's easier to train when you don't have your body taken over by some first grade Cerberus indoctrination..."

"They couldn't indoctrinate you" she corrected him "Those days are gone."

She was so firm in her statement, it almost gave him a moment of piece. Indoctrination was his nemesis, he knew it, and she was right about it being in the past. It was a danger that didn't affect him anymore. Yes, the virus managed to fuck him up a bit with those dreams… but it wasn't indoctrination.

"I know" he answered eventually "The reapers have no control over me, or you." his low baritone rang around her in the room, and she eased into the conversation. It seemed like they could talk again properly, without the nerves ruining their mood.

"The virus… That's why you broke the horosk?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes. I dropped it. One more reason I will someday tear Cerberus to pieces." he said it in such a cold way, looking at the empty place where the horosk used to be, it almost brought her sadness. "It almost messed up the missions and my work with the ring."

Jane looked up at him. She did not expect him to bring up the topic of the ring, since he was so closed off usually. She instinctively lifted her hand and looked at the jewel.

"But what is this, Saren?" she asked as they shared a glance. After a moment of silence, Saren replied with honesty in his voice:

"It's a piece of Ilos." His gaze lowered as he looked at the ring, taking her hand in his. Her hand was so small compared to his, it would have been easy to crush. He moved a talon over the glass on the ring, covering the circuits. "It is a piece of a circuit board of some kind. I found it back in the day when we went through the Mu relay. It was still working, so I brought it with me. I have no idea how it remained with me after I died."

She looked at him, not being able to remove her eyes from him. He seemed so focused on it, his expressions were almost soft. As his hand cupped hers, examining the ring, her heart sank into a strange feeling. The way his mandibles moved, how his anterior fringes framed his cheeks. He looked so alien, but so strong at the same time. He looked really different from the other turians, and she liked that. He looked a lot more masculine, intelligent, and he was indeed. He exuded power.

"Does it do anything still?" she asked as she snapped back to reality. He looked back up at her, a small smile on his face.

"It might." was all he said.

"What kind of an answer is that?" she smirked, playfully removing her hand from his.

"A secretive kind" he said "You just carry on and organize your clubbing. I don't want to be disappointed by this party." His voice was almost playful as he said this. He then just turned his back to her and left the room before she could say anything.

So Saren will come clubbing with them? She wondered.

That should be interesting.