Reporters and cameras caught them exiting the Swan at the entrance to the Galactic Dome. Jo's high heels and Joker's cap with the tux made sure everyone noticed them. Questions rained from all sides and Jo tried to answer as many as she could while making slow progress towards the front doors. Without Garrus or Vega there to clear their path Jo and Joker had to rely on the regular security team, who had their hands full already.

There were close to ten thousand guests in attendance and these were only the highest ranking people who had had direct influence on the outcome of the war.

A turian girl waited for them at the doors and escorted them to an area near a big stage. People stood in groups around small tables. Mechs buzzed every which way delivering drinks, supervised by a small number of sentient waiters. Joker smiled inwardly at the thought. The world had changed a lot in the last few years. You could no longer say 'organics' if you wanted to be politically correct. In fact, Joker saw several geth supervising the mechs and doing a far better job at it than any organic.

Jo and Joker were guided to a table where Garrus stood with a glass full of green liquid. At his side stood... a vision. Joker blinked twice and swallowed through a suddenly dry throat. The woman wore a black catsuit, which glistened and shimmered in the mysterious lights of the giant hall. It gave her form the appearance of liquid perfection. She was not as hot as Jo, but she was very, very close. Her face and hair were hidden completely under a black mask and hood. Joker noticed that the woman stood straight and tall, but her hands were nervously turning her glass.

"Tali?!" It suddenly hit him that this could be no one else. He'd gotten so used to seeing her in her envirosuit that he hadn't recognised her right away.

"Hi, guys," Tali's voice sounded so ordinary without the suit's speakers. "You both look fantastic."

"And so do you," Joker had to admit. "You're really hot. But why are you still concealing your face?"

"Oh, uhm..." Tali briefly looked up at Garrus and started turning her glass faster. "Maybe I'll take it off. One day. Eventually. I think."

"Joker's right, you're smoking hot," Jo said with a delighted smile. "Have you seen the rest of the guys?"

"I saw Admiral Hackett earlier, and Zaeed was here talking to Samara. Alenko is over there with Oriana," Garrus tilted his head to another table. "They look cosy."

Joker followed the nod and saw Alenko with his arm around Miranda's sister, smiling at her with stars in his eyes. He wondered how long it would be until they announced their wedding.

While Joker looked around, spotting more and more familiar faces, the turian girl from before led Jo away to participate in the opening ceremony.

Within a half hour all the guests arrived. The lights dimmed and everyone hushed. Driana Corvis, the governor of the capital, walked onto the stage. She waved, smiled and activated her omnitool to use like a microphone. Her voice carried clear and strong through the loudspeakers as she spoke about the war, the victory and everyone's efforts. Soon, however, she directed everyone's attention to Jo, who was waiting at the side and now made her way to the front of the stage.

"The greatest honour of all is to have the hero of the war, Commander Moreau, better known to you as Commander Shepard, standing next to me. In light of her close friendship with the president and myself, she was happy to accept the invitation, and we are all pleased to have her here!"

The guests answered with roaring applause but Jo grabbed the governor's wrist and spoke into her omnitool:

"Just a moment, people." Her confident Commander voice left no option of disobedience. "Let me set a few things straight: I've never met the president, so there is no friendship between us. As there is no friendship between me and the lady governor, since we've only met once before today. Governor," Jo addressed the asari personally. The entire Dome fell silent. "That's not how it works. My husband and I don't support any politicians, which we've already made quite clear. Lying about being friends with me won't do you any good. We are here to honour those who sacrificed themselves in the war and to congratulate the survivors on the titanic efforts made to help the galaxy recover." Jo turned away from a pale blue, struggling for confidence governor and addressed the crowd, still speaking into the asari's omnitool: "Dear friends, most of you have been with me during the war, all of you have contributed to our victory in one way or another. The fact that we stand here together is our greatest accomplishment. Let us lower our heads and observe a minute's silence for everyone we've lost. Their names and faces will be in our hearts forever, may their souls be at peace."

Everyone lowered their heads. Jo saw the president entering the stage from another side. Her entrance was supposed to be the main point that would open the evening, but it got completely lost in the minute's silence.

Seconds ticked away, as Jo, just like everyone else, let the parade of her dead friends into her memory. Mordin, Thane, Legion, EDI, just to start off. There were hundreds of people she personally knew, thousands she was supposed to help, millions lost.

When the minute passed, Jo once more spoke into the minister's wrist, which she never released:

"Thank you all. I'd like to say something now, and if you feel the same, you can repeat it with me." People looked up at her with attention. Jo put her hand on her chest right beneath her throat and spoke solemnly: "I swear that my friends' deaths will not be in vain. I swear to uphold the galactic peace with all my power. I swear to never ignore a threat that might cause any kind of damage, especially start a war. I swear I will help the galaxy rebuild in any way I can. I swear to be loyal to this galaxy's unity, to love and respect all life, to accept our differences and always, always keep in mind what binds us together, not what separates us."

In the front row Joker, who had taken his cap off for the minute's silence, saluted her:

"I swear," he said, and the rest of the guests, governor and president included, either saluted or touched their chests, speaking as one:

"I swear."

"These are no empty words. You've all seen what one person can do," Jo chuckled. "At least everyone keeps telling me I did it all alone. Imagine what we can do together. And that is what we're going to celebrate tonight. But I think I've talked enough. I'll let the president open the ball, or whatever is going to happen next. By the way, nice to finally meet you, Madam."

Jo finally let go of the governor's wrist and shook the asari president's hand. There was nothing more to add and president Ylvana knew it. She raised her hands in a welcoming gesture and declared the official start of the First Annual Victory Ball.

"You realise of course that you just killed her career?" Once Jo was back at the table with Joker, Tali indicated the governor, who was trying her best smile for the cameras but there was now a crack in her facade that all her composure couldn't conceal.

"She should have thought of that before she tried to use me on the galaxy-wide news," Jo shrugged, unapologetic. "And I hope everyone else who was planning to do the same learns their lesson."

Jo could be wrong, but when Joker bit his lips, shaking his head slowly at her, his eyes sparkled with pure love. She knew she was singularly lucky to have met the one man in the whole universe who shared her views and loved her more for all the bad things she did.

As if to prove her right, Joker grabbed her head and leaned in to kiss her like his life depended on it. Jo went pliant in his hands, holding on for dear life as he plundered her mouth and sunk his fingers into her complicated hairdo. He took as much pleasure in destroying the stylist's hard work as in kissing her. When he was satisfied, Jo had tangled blond tresses falling down her back. She didn't get upset, she was rather pleased to have his attention like that. With her hair ruined and unfitting the dress, she was marked as his property for all to see.

Almost immediately people started crowding them, wanting a word with Jo about the Academy, the Normandy, the Aurora Foundation, about their own projects they wanted her help with. For about an hour or so Joker was pushed away from her and she didn't even get a chance to finish her drink. Then again, all members of the Normandy crew were highly sought after targets that night. Soon enough Garrus and Tali were whisked away by the Primarch and a quarian delegation, and Joker found himself surrounded by fellow pilots who had flown with him during the final battle. They shook hands, congratulated each other on making it and saving their respective crews, then started sharing stories about their Commanders. None had quite the same story to share as Joker, though.

"Just tell us one thing," the pilot of a turian frigate nudged Joker. "What does a guy like us have to do to land Commander Shepard?"

A few years ago Joker would have bristled. Today he had more confidence in himself than ever before and enough experience with people to realise that the turian was not belittling him. He was idolising Jo. Joker also noticed that most of these pilots were wearing caps similar to his. Had he started a new fashion?

"The only thing you can do when a woman like that tells you she loves you, is to pull your head out of your ass and humbly surrender."

"Did you resist at first?"

"Sure did."

"Why?!" Several people exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what people usually say if they only know the great Commander Shepard. I was on the same ship with her for years, I know what she's like in private."

"Is she that terrible?"

"No. She's even more wonderful than in the vids."

Surprisingly, that earned him understanding nods. All these pilots' Commanders were heroes in their own right and they knew what it was like to live close to the person behind a legend, especially when the wildest legend couldn't do justice to reality. To lose a person like that...

"Jeff, I daresay that Jo is as much in awe of you as you are of her," Karin Chakwas joined their group, shortly followed by Vega and his date. The human girl he brought was from the Academy and judging by the way she was looking at the big guy she was hoping they would become closer than a recruit and an instructor. Vega wasn't really looking at her, though. Joker doubted that he as much as touched her hand all evening.

"All right, people, I need a drink and a break," Joker heard Jo declare from nearby and a chorus of disappointed sighs followed her when she emerged from the crowd. Joker's fellow pilots helped to crowd her in, shielding her from eager admirers. "Thanks, guys," Jo nodded at them after downing her soda.

"Commander," a small voice sounded from behind Jo and everyone turned to see a young asari waitress holding a tray with a wine bottle on it. "This is for you, compliments of the gentleman at that table," the waitress nodded at a small group of people around another small table nearby. An elderly human man stood there, surrounded by three asari matriarchs, a krogan clan leader and several volus and humans, who all looked like they were happier to be doing business rather than fight in a war. The man saluted Jo with his own drink.

Tense silence fell around Jo and Joker while everyone regarded the bottle suspiciously.

"What is this, poison?" Jo asked.

"The gentleman told me to make sure the bottle was unopened. He also asked me to give you this." The waitress gave Jo a small datapad. While Jo activated it to read, Karin opened her omnitool and started a series of scans on the bottle.

"Commander Moreau,

my name is Jordan Mills. I own a winery on a colony in Athena Nebula. The bottle in front of you is based on the old Earth recipe for Absinthe, combined with asari techniques. I made it just for you :)"

"That's new," Jo gave the datapad to Joker.

"The wine?"

"The smiley face. What's the word?" Jo asked Karin.

"As far as I can tell, it's just wine. Strong, but not outrageously so."

"No poison inside? Not even nanobots that would take over my brain?"

"Not as far as I can tell."

"You're not just going to drink it, Commander?" One of the pilots worriedly frowned.

"Of course not," Jo detached herself from Joker and headed straight for the man.

He saw her approach and saluted her with his glass.

"Who are you and why are you sending me wine?" She asked forcefully.

"I'm a wine maker," the elderly man smiled. "My winery isn't very old, but we make new things that combine traditions of several species at once. The best advertisement for my brand would be if Commander Moreau herself liked it."

"And that's it? You just want my endorsement?"

"That's it."

Jo found it hard to believe, but maybe she was too jaded from dealing with the worst in people all her life.

"I can't just drink it, you understand. I'll have to have it thoroughly tested to make sure it's safe."

"I understand. You are who you are, child, and you need to be careful."

Jo relaxed a little. As long as the man understood the deal, as long as he was reasonable, she saw no reason not to try the wine - when she wasn't pregnant anymore.

"So," she cocked her head. "Forgive me for such rudeness, but what is a wine maker doing at the First Annual Victory Ball?"

The man nodded with a sad smile when he said:

"I'm over one hundred and thirty years old. My wife and I have been married ninety seven years now. In that time we had sixty four children. Forty nine of them died in the Reaper war."

Tears burst out of Jo's eyes instantly and like a fountain. She pressed one hand against her mouth to cover up an agonised cry, and held the other hand protectively over her slightly distended belly.

"Now, now, kid," Jordan Mills reached for her and held her in a fatherly hug. Whether it was the hormones or the mere idea of losing a child - even one child! - Jo wept almost hysterically. Mr. Mills made sure that no reporter around them noticed it. At the other table Joker and Vega started making their way towards them, worry and murderous intent written in their faces.

"I'm sorry," Jo sobbed against the man's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. If only I'd done more..."

"Kid, you've got nothing to be sorry for. You've sacrificed more than any of us. You've paid your dues and much more. Don't you see? If it weren't for you, all seventy one of my grandchildren and twenty eight of my great-grandchildren would be dead as well now. You should be proud."

"I should have tried harder."

"What's going on?" Joker demanded and Vega stood tall, a huge and menacing figure ready to do battle. Jo let go of Jordan Mills, wiped her face and smiled at her guys:

"I'm okay. Really, I'm good. I'll be right over."

They eyed Mr. Mills suspiciously, but eventually trusted Jo enough to take care of herself. When they left, the elderly man smiled down at Jo:

"Forget the bottle on your table. I'll send you another one tomorrow. It's an asari blend, safe even during pregnancy."

"Wha...?"

"Girl, I just told you about my family situation. I know a pregnant woman when I see one."

Jo touched her belly again and said:

"Please don't tell anyone. We're..."

"Letting it grow before someone jinxes it, I understand."

"Thanks. And I'm very sorry about all your losses. Dying seems easy when I think about losing a..."

"Don't even think about it," Mr. Mills said.

"And is it true, all you want from me is an endorsement?"

"I do have a business to run and a huge family to feed," he chuckled.

"If your family ever needs anything..."

"I'll make sure not to ask you for help," Mr. Mills pinched her arm gently. "I'm serious, kid. You've given more than enough for others. The rest of us need to learn to shovel our own shit."

"I like you," Jo declared, wiping away the rest of wetness from her face before she went back.

"What the fuck happened?" Joker demanded once she returned to their table. She told them about Mr. Mills' family and her listeners fell silent. How any family could live through such a devastating loss was beyond most people's imagination.

A new voice from behind Jo interrupted their reminiscence.

"May I have this dance?"

Everyone turned to the intruder and Joker's solemn face changed to an evil grin. The man offering Jo his hand was human, maybe a decade older than them, dressed very expensively and groomed to obscenity. He had a smug air about him, like someone who always got what he wanted. He hadn't spared anyone else at the table even a brief glance. All his attention was focused solely on Jo.

"Name, address, occupation and insurance contact," Vega demanded. The newcomer raised an amused brow at Jo. She raised one right back, daring the guy to ignore Vega. With a condescending eyeroll the man produced a chit and handed it to Vega without ever taking his hungry eyes off Jo. Vega took the chit, fed the intel from the calling card into his omnitool and started a background check. It took him only a few seconds to find out that the man was legit: Logan Westen, a multibillionaire, among other things the owner of one of the biggest construction companies on the planet, branching out to two dozen other planets, he'd built shelters for refugees during the war and was one of the biggest donors to the Aurora Foundation.

It was clear that despite the guy's credentials Vega didn't like him. Neither did Joker, but there was no particular reason to keep him from Jo after she gave her time to so many other people that night. She put her hand in Westen's and let him lead her away.

"There goes the first one," Joker muttered. Jo winked at him:

"Watch the poor sucker and be ready to call the medics."

Jo let the man lead her to the dance floor. If he hoped to escape Joker's and Vega's scrutiny, he failed. The whole Normandy crew was watching them like hawks from different spots in the hall. Jo had no doubt that after Vega's displeased grunt Garrus was about to unpack his sniper rifle hidden somewhere underneath his festive clothes, and that Tali was getting a drone ready to stun Westen at the first hint of trouble.

"It's a great pleasure to finally hold you in my arms, Jo," Westen said smugly as he pressed their bodies together. "Call me Logan."

"I don't think so, Mr. Westen. And I have not given you permission to call me Jo."

"Details. What's titles between friends?"

"True, except you're not my friend."

"I've been waiting for a very long time to meet you in person, Jo. We have so much to say to each other, so much to share."

"I don't actually have anything to share with you since I don't know you at all," she said curtly, her frown deepening.

"I've been admiring you from afar for too long. I knew one day you would come to me and I'm a patient m..." He grimaced when Jo deliberately put all her weight on her heel, which she placed on his shoe. He didn't cry out, though. "I'm a very powerful man, Jo. I always get what I want. And I want you. Jo, my Jo."

"You're a regular creep, aren't you?" She stopped trying to dance and stepped away from the guy.

"Call me whatever you like, I'm not offended." He reached for her.

"You need a reality check," Jo stopped his advance with a knife to his solar plexus. He froze. Clearly, he hadn't expected her to be packing under the fancy dress. "Just so you know, I'm married to my soul mate and I'm deliriously happy with him."

"That guy?" Westen dismissively nodded back toward the table. "He's not worthy of you."

"And what do you know that makes you think you can make that judgement?"

"I know he's cheating on you."

Jo slid the knife back into her dress and pityingly patted the man on the cheek:

"I'm so sorry for you. Once you progress from manic delusion to full-blown hallucinations, there's nothing I can do to help you anymore."

"You think I'm wrong?"

"You are."

"I really didn't want to do this, but..."

"Bye." Jo wasn't going to listen to the crazy man a second longer.

"I always get what I want, Jo! Mark my words!" He called after her. She felt no need to grace him with a reply.

Back at the table, she said to Joker:

"Put that guy on top of the 'closely watched' list. He might be dangerously delusional.

"Why, what did he do?" Vega demanded. His date was anything but happy about his involvement in Jo's affairs.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, but the guy's a creep."

A few hours later the ball guests were slowly but surely getting inebriated, conversations got gloomier and the dancers on the floor reverted to what Joker called 'forget my problems' dancing. Jo's feet were hurting in the high heels and she was tired from talking her lips off all night. On the plus side she'd received support for the Aurora Foundation from many important people across the galaxy.

While Joker was caught up in a conversation with his pals and Garrus was heatedly explaining something to Vega, Jo looked around the gigantic hall. A human girl at a table nearby caught her eye. Jo had never seen her before. She was beautiful in a natural way that didn't need make-up, with dark brown hair and a revealing dress. Looking at the exposed flesh, something long forgotten stirred in Jo's chest. A memory of other girls, their creamy skin, their scrumptious bodies, soft moans...

The girl Jo was looking at returned her glance and her lips curved into a confident smile. Whatever she saw in Jo's face seemed to be enough of an invitation to detach herself from her group of friends. There wasn't even a hint of hesitation. The young woman strolled to Jo, cupped her face with both hands and kissed her. Her lips parted almost immediately, tongue delving deep and scoring a good taste of Jo.

Reflexively, Jo grabbed the girl's arms and dug her fingers into the seductive flesh. She didn't hurt the girl - no part of Jo would let her hurt an unarmed civilian woman - but she needed something to hold on to. The kiss made her knees wobbly.

Everyone at the fable fell completely silent.

"Jo?" Joker spoke up. The dark haired girl ended the kiss, licked her lips and beamed at Jo:

"Thank you, honey. I'm Layla, by the way. And you are something else." She then winked at Joker and said before leaving: "You're one lucky man!"

The silence stretched. Vega and his date gaped. The pilots looked close to systems shutdown due to sensory overload. Garrus was confused. Joker's face was unreadable.

"What just happened?" He asked calmly. Too calmly.

"I don't know," Jo shrugged. "I guess she found me irresistible."

"That's not the surprising part. Why were you kissing her right back?" His eyes narrowed. "You marry me and then tell me you're a lesbian?"

"I'm mostly straight," Jo said, trying for a teasing smile.

"What does that mean? Have you been with women before?" Joker's anger and confusion cracked under the onslaught of curiosity.

"Yes, I have," Jo smiled.

"I specifically remember you telling me that you prefer only one pair of boobs in bed, namely your own."

"And how do you think I arrived at that conclusion?" Jo bumped her shoulder against his.

"How many women?" He demanded to know.

"Three."

"Do I know them?"

"No."

Jo could see the guys around their table furiously try to keep up with the kind of conversation she and her husband were having in public. Sensory overload was only getting worse.

"So are you bisexual?" Joker couldn't decide whether to take it seriously, or turn everything into a joke for the sake of saving his face in front of his friends. Jo helped him out there:

"Hey, I love dick. Your dick. In fact, that thing? From Sunday morning? That should tell you just how much I love dick."

Now there was a whole new wave of interest around the table. Joker turned a little red as other guys leaned in closer:

"What? What thing?" One of the pilots asked.

"Oh, it would be highly irresponsible of me to corrupt your young, innocent minds with that kind of imagery," Jo grinned. Last Sunday, when they'd finished their breakfast and realised they had no plans for the day, Jo had Joker lie down naked on the kitchen table, put whipped cream on his hard erection and put a cocktail cherry on top before she gorged on that dessert.

He shivered from the rush of heat the memory brought.

"Forgive me that one lady kiss?" She made big, begging eyes at him. "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?" She said with a knowing smile and while the other guys didn't get it, Joker did, and he quivered.

Still, in his eyes she could see a little insecurity that hadn't been there before. He never had a reason to doubt her sexual attraction to him, but now he was wondering if she was missing something in their relationship, something he didn't have. She already knew that not pushing Layla away had been a mistake. Hopefully tomorrow they would just laugh about it. She leaned closer to his ear and whispered:
"No, love, there was never anything missing between us. You're all I'll ever want or need. Those women were just my way of protecting myself in my young years, when I trusted no man with my body. But I trust you completely. I remembered those old days when I saw her and she picked up on me remembering. I'm sorry. You're the only one for me."

He calmly took his drink and took a sip. His smile was once again cool and confident, like a cat, when he turned to her again:

"Would you kiss another girl if I asked you to?"

"For you? I'd do anything," she grinned.

She knew that Joker's fellow pilots would go home with their minds boggled and their view of the stoic, heroic Commander Shepard completely shattered, and that her old friends would have another story to laugh about in a bar. Maybe she should have considered becoming a comedian when she came to live on this planet.

Early in the morning, after a long night of partying at the Galactic Dome, Joker finally helped Jo into their car. Without consulting her he took a long, scenic route toward the tallest building in the center of the city: an apartment block with a garden on the roof, from where the whole metropolis was visible.

"Wanna watch the sunrise?" He asked her. Jo nodded, even while thinking to herself that she'd rather watch him. She was not the kind of girl to wax poetic, but in her world he was the sun, the moon and the brightest star.

"So, about before," he began, easily steering the car with one finger. The sky was already bright pink, the sunrise minutes away.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm, you've had sex with women?"

"Yes," Jo felt tranquil, that special kind of tranquil when you've partied through the night and the tiredness transformed into complete and utter nirvana. She leaned sideways in her seat and looked at her husband. Just the way he was, he was so damn perfect, she could stay like this forever.

"Well, keep talking."

"What about, exactly?"

"I'm not interested in the how. I mean, sure I'm interested in the how, who wouldn't, with two hot women? I mean, I'm more interested in the why. You like women?"

Jo gave it some thought.

"I don't think it's about what I like. Most people aren't strict in their sexuality anyway. Almost everyone wonders, experiments or is at least bi-curious. To me it was... About power. Who had power over whom. In the most vulnerable moments of my life I chose partners who weren't dangerous to me."

"You saying that women aren't dangerous is incredibly hypocritical."

"Not that kind of danger. I mean the danger a man poses."

She saw the confusion in his face as he landed the Swan in the middle of the rooftop garden. Thinking about her words, he made no attempt to open the top.

"Jeff," Jo sighed. "This is something you might never truly understand. You are wholesome, decent, full of love, respect and appreciation for the women in your life. Where I grew up, every man was a beast, a threat. And I knew how to deal with it. But when I went to boot camp at Macapa, my whole world was turned upside down. I was told that men are actually decent and that I was safe from them. I didn't know up from down those days. So, in a moment of vulnerability I sought comfort from a girl. She would have no weapon to hurt me, she couldn't do anything to me that I couldn't do to her. It wasn't about me liking girls, but rather about gaining power over the world around me. It was about experiencing humanity for the first time. And she did a wonderful job. She was also very kind. We've only had sex one time, and then she became my first teacher on how to be a woman. She showed me how to get a guy's attention and how to control the situation. It wasn't about what I liked, but rather about what I needed."

"And the other two?"

"The next one was just a hook-up in a bar on the colony I was stationed on right out of the Officers Candidate School. For the first time I was out in space for a job, not on a supervised training mission. I was out of school and in the real world. Once again, it was a way to take control. And the last one was when I was released from the hospital after Akuze. She was actually an asari, a dancer from a strip club. We've spent a few days together and she helped me a lot with my PTSD, but then again, she was handsomely paid for her time and efforts."

"You actually paid a hooker?" Joker bounced with delight. He was the kind of man to find that amazing.

"Sure. You're not the only one in this car who has hookers in his past," Jo teased him. He was not ashamed of his past, and neither was she. "And these days I can still appreciate female beauty, but I don't need the security women provide anymore. I have you, and I'm not afraid of other men."

Joker kissed her knuckles with a serene smile.

"It's so strange, you know, back then in Afterlife, when you first told me you were in love with me, I thought: yeah, right, there is no way a woman like that would ever be really happy with a guy like me. You were so intense, so powerful, so guarded, you always carried yourself with a cool air in public. I thought you needed someone just as powerful, just as intense to be your equal. But now I think that you couldn't relax and be yourself, unguarded and real, around someone as intense as you. I mean, look at how Vega messes with your equilibrium. You relax around me. Makes me feel like a Superman."

"And nobody in the world knows me quite like you do," Jo said very quietly. For a while they just sat in the car, looking at each other in their newlyweds kind of way.

"Let's see the sun rise," Joker grinned and opened the top of the car. He took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. They sat on a bench facing East and held on to each other tightly.

"I really love this," he said.

"What?"

"Us. The way we can talk quietly. When I don't have to strain to hear your commands over the sound of roaring guns, people shouting, between flying the ship, talking to EDI and repairing systems all at once. I love it when you put your head on my shoulder and all you have to do is whisper and I'll hear you. I love it when nobody is watching, when you don't have to be the Commander and I don't have to be a professional. I love the peace between us, this feeling… Like you're my home."

Jo smiled against his chest.

"You know, your mother doubted we'd be together that long. She thought I'd leave you for someone else."

"Come on, the whole galaxy thought that."

"Shows them how little they ever knew about the real Shepard."

Joker pulled her closer against him and said:

"I don't say this often, perhaps by far not often enough, but you have to know: I love you."

Jo rubbed her cheek against his chest. Right now she was nothing like the woman who ended wars by shouting, or the woman who single-handedly killed thresher maws, who led the entire united galactic fleet into battle against impossible odds and won. She didn't want to be that woman in moments like these. She was just happy.