Well guys this is my first Mass Effect fiction, I hope you enjoy it and don't rip off my limbs. And yes I know it's not Christmas time but shut up, it's a good story so suck it up and deal with it. This is A Very Merry Normandy Christmas. Also little information on this Shepard,
Sole Survivor
Soldier
Male, romanced Tali, completed all the loyalty missions, takes place after suicide mission, romanced Ashley in the first game, let the council die so that others could be saved, and he is not completely paragon, but he is more paragon than renegade.
Shepard groaned as he fell backwards on his mattress. He just got back from helping Garrus with his calibrations, wrestling with Grunt, and helping Tali with some of her own "calibrations" and it was only 1:00 pm! He didn't even know what the date was. He activated his Omni tool and looked down with a deadpan expression at the tool. When Shepard saw the date his face immediately brightened and he jumped for joy. He couldn't believe that it was almost time. He had to inform the crew, maybe they'll participate this time, if they even knew what it was. "Edi, tell the entire crew to meet in the Cargo bay immediately, I have an important announcement to make."
"As you wish, Shepard." Shepard took off to the elevator, with a skip in his step and a smile on his face; he just couldn't wait to break the news.
Tali opened the doors to the cargo bay, walking through the crowd to the front where Shepard was preparing a small stool for him to stand on. "Shepard, what is this about? Did something happen?" She asked in a concerned tone. However when he turned his head, she saw it was an expression of pure joy on his face. "No Tali, something wonderful is going to happen." He leaned up and kissed her visor, making her blush deep red as he jumped on to the stool.
"Attention crew! I have something important to tell you!" He shouted. Everyone turned to him, confused and wondering what the Commander wanted with them. "Now everyone I know you are all probably wondering why I have called all of you down here."
"If this is an intervention for your dancing skills, you're a little late to deal with that problem." Garrus joked. The crew laughed at Garrus' teasing. Shepard glared at him but laughed along with them anyway. "No but we do need a group therapy session for those affected by that ugly mug of yours." The crew laughed even harder at that as Shepard held up a hand to silence the crowd. "Well I don't know if any of you have checked todays date, but it's December 1st. All my human crew members what that means! It's Christmas!" The crowd cheered as the non-human personal scratched their heads in confusion. "Now I know we can't all go home to celebrate the holidays. But you're good and glorious leader has got us a month long shore leave at the Citadel for us to relax, unwind, and celebrate the holiday!" Shepard could hear the crowd whooping and cheering, shouting "Shepard! Shepard!"
"Everyone hold your selves together, there is more to it." The crew managed to calm themselves down to hear the rest of it. "Now there is going to be a secret Santa program that we will be doing. You are free to buy as many gifts as you want for your fellow crew mates, but the secret Santa thing is to help spread Christmas cheer to everyone on board! Everyone who buys a gift that isn't part of the secret Santa project must put it under the Christmas tree, which I will have set up here in the Cargo hold." Donnelly let out a cry of joy as the rest of the on board humans rooted for their Commander. "Alright everyone you are all dismissed, that is except for my specialists, I have further things to discuss with you." Everyone started to leave as Shepard stepped down from the platform.
Soon the Cargo Bay was empty, leaving only Shepard and his friends. "Shepard, would you mind telling us what this 'Christmas' is?" Samara asked politely. Shepard smiled and pulled up chairs for everyone to sit down in. "Well grab a seat everyone and I'll tell you what Christmas is, because it's one of the most cherished human traditions there is." Shepard explained everything there was to tell about Christmas, from Santa Claus to the presents, even some Christmas stories that he loved. The group was absolutely engrossed in Shepard's description of this holiday. He described it was such passion and love it's almost as if he dated Christmas. Shepard talked about what it was like on Earth during this time, telling them all about what he considered the best time of the entire year.
"Wow Shepard, this sounds absolutely amazing!" Tali squealed with delight.
"I got to hand it to you humans; this does sound like a really appealing holiday. We could use some R&R." Garrus said, leaning back on chair.
"Hmm, human holiday never before experienced by Salarians, should prove interesting experience." Mordin commented.
"Well I'm glad you all feel that way because I have special assignments for all of you." Shepard stood up, all eyes on him. "I'm going to need help coordinating this Christmas for the crew, so I'm going to need all your help. First, Miranda, you coordinate the preparations and planning for the party and making sure everything goes smoothly."
"Yes Commander." Miranda said in a calm voice.
"Garrus, Grunt, and Zaeed, you three are going to do the heavy lifting that will require you to move all the presents, lift up the tree, and making sure not even a branch falls off of it, make sure the presents are accounted for and please don't get crushed under it."
"Don't worry Shepard, we can handle this. Or at least I can." Garrus said playfully.
Shepard smiled and then looked toward Legion. "Legion I'm counting on you to find the best Christmas movies for us to watch and enjoy. Oh and feel free to find some Earth classics like Nightmare before Christmas, The Grinch, and whatever else you can find."
"Objective understood, Shepard Commander." Legion said in his monotone voice.
"Mordin and Jacob, you will ensure that we get appropriate food and provisions for the Christmas party, which might include a lot of alcohol and eggnog. Oh and don't forget my absolute favorite food of all, Pizza."
"Don't worry Commander, we got this." Jacob said, saluting him in his seat.
"Jack and Thane, you two can handle setting up the music and overall party itself. Jack will plan what music will play, making the party itself just plain badass. Thane you can go gets the stuff she needs for the party."
"Looks like we get the fun job Thane." Jack smirked, propping herself up against a stack of crates.
"Tali, Kasumi, and Kelly will handle the decorations that will go cover the entire interior of the ship, just make it all christmasy." Shepard told the three.
"Yay! Don't worry Shepard; we'll make the Normandy scream Christmas!" Kasumi said with glee.
"This is great; I'm counting on all of you to make this work. You are also free to buy gifts for each other and participate in the Secret Santa. I will send each of you who you are to give your presents to on your Omni tools or in written form if you don't have one. Now you may all return to what you were doing and get to work on making this the best Christmas ever." Shepard said with the biggest smile on his face. The crew got into their groups and left, discussing how they were going to handle their jobs. Tali however stayed behind and walked up to Shepard.
"Shepard, this Christmas thing, it sounds so amazing and wonderful! Oh I just can't wait to celebrate my first Christmas." She joyfully hugged her boyfriend, him laughing and hugging her back.
"I'm excited too Tali, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, now I get to celebrate it with you." He smiled and kissed her visor, her blushing a deep crimson red under her helmet. "And I can't wait to give you your Christmas gift." Shepard winked and playfully smacked his girlfriend's butt. She let out a yelp and smirked at him. "If you're insinuating what I think you mean, than I think I'll love my gift." She hugged his arm and looked up at him. "I'll even make it extra special for you my commander, just for Christmas." Tali leaned up on her toes and pressed her helmet against his lips, the equivalent of a kiss.
"Well I was just playing when I did that, I actually plan on getting you an actual gift this Christmas, one I know you'll love." He smiled and held her hand in his. "Now come on, we got some preparations to make." Shepard led Tali out of the Cargo hold and into the elevator, heading up to the CIC to help with preparations for Christmas.
Well guys there is chapter 1, I hope you enjoyed it, provide some feedback please and I wish you all a very early Christmas.