Shepard ran his fingers along Miranda's back, smiling as she woke up, her hair messy and eyes foggy. "I love waking up with you." Shepard chuckled.
Miranda smiled. "We've got a lot to do today, Shepard. Staying in bed is, regretfully, not on our to-do list."
Shepard couldn't help but smile. It was all he could do to not smile around Miranda, but when both of them were naked in bed, it was simply impossible. "The second year after the final Reaper fell, right? Time flies."
"You've got to give a speech at your statue, then smile for a million pictures, then autograph memorabilia, then" Shepard silenced Miranda with a kiss.
"Let's get it started, then?" Shepard said.
"Sooner it's over, sooner we get back home." Miranda said, half-smiling to see what Miranda would do.
"We'll never get anything done if you do that, Miri." Shepard said. A while later, he was dressed in a tuxedo. "So, are we going to that ball tonight?"
"It's in your honor, Shepard. We have to go." Miranda said, walking out of the bathroom in a black dress. Miranda didn't look any different than the day Shepard first met her, though she did smile more. However, Shepard looked different than he did those years ago, though not much: his hair was graying, and he had a scar along his chest from where Reaper debris had cut his stomach open. Shepard still remembered when that had happened...
"Shepard!" Miranda shouted, running with several medics to the Commander. Shepard's stomach was open, and some of his organs were falling out. "Oh god." Miranda said, in shock. She'd never felt queasy seeing blood, but seeing Shepard's was different. They crudely stitched his stomach open, aiming to do a better job when he was in a normal hospital. When they loaded Shepard up into an ambulance, he said one thing to Miranda:
"I promised you, Miri." Shepard said, drowsy from blood-loss. Then the medics gave him enough chemicals to knock a Thresher Maw out. Miranda knew immediately what he meant: on the SR-2, when they still worked for Cerberus, he had promised he'd survive. A week later, when they wheeled Shepard out of the E.R., the Commander smiling and surrounded by his crew, he gave Miranda one of the most passionate kisses of her life.
"Shepard? Are you listening?" Miranda said.
"Sorry. Zoned out for a second." Shepard said.
"It's okay. Let's go see dad." Miranda said, understanding that, after going through Elysium, the Citadel, and half-a-million other hellholes, Shepard was bound to 'zone-out' one time or another.