The house was in upheaval, Ganis walked past Jane's door and was almost hit with flying debris. Ducking around the corner to avoid being hit he called for Jane amid the rubble that was once her room.
"I didn't know I would be avoiding fire when I woke up this morning. Can I ask what in the spirits you're doing?" Some clothes and a pair of boots were flung past his head and he ducked just in time to miss being hit in the face by Jane's data pad. It landed on the growing pile of clothes.
"Really that wasn't a rhetorical question Red, what the hell are you doing?"
"Oh hey dad, have you seen my pistol?"
"No, but I'm sure if you cleaned up this disaster you call a room you might find it under all this junk. When did you get so unorganised?"
She jumped up with something she had grabbed from under her bed and added it to the growing pile of weapons on her bed.
"Hah! Found it."
Ganis set the cup he had held to the side.
"What is the point of a weapons rack if you don't use it?"
Jane rolled her eyes walking towards the door to collect the clothes and various items tossed into the hall in her search.
"I do use it, I was just trying to pack and it must have gotten shoved under the bed on accident."
Ganis watched Jane sort through her clothes tossing some aside and folding others, the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach grew, she would be gone and he couldn't protect her again. His talons tapped against the side of the door as he thought.
"Hey Red, you know they are going to give you a uniform, and I doubt they will let you have all of your weapons during training."
She nodded not really looking up from the pile of stuff continuing to fold or toss things to the side.
"Yeah but Kaidan said there are lockers I can rent until basic is over."
He quietly watched her as she stopped folding and rubbed her temples.
"Are those headaches getting worse?"
She nodded and bit down on her lip.
"You're doing that thing with your lip Red; do you need me to get the pills Le'lani dropped off for you?"
Shaking her head no Jane continued on her mission of packing.
"This one's not so bad; Kaidan was telling me that he gets them too. Something to do with our implants I guess."
Ganis pulled his mandibles close to his face in a deep frown and tapped his talon again.
"So, you're meeting up with Kaidan when you get there?"
Jane hopped up from where she was sitting on the floor and brushed by him and into his room; clicking on the console in his room she pulled up a map.
"Yeah we're meeting here." she pointed at a city on the map and it zoomed in.
Ganis narrowed his eyes at the human city. "It's on the water, an ocean."
She grinned ear to ear. "Yeah, it's called Vancouver. I guess it's where Kaidan is from."
She folded her arms neatly over her chest quirking her head to one side staring at the map.
Ganis fidgeted at her side and she noticed instantly, considering he was normally very still, a sign of good Turian training.
"What is it dad?"
He shifted his weight again trying to find the words.
"So Red, don't be upset okay?"
"Right why would I be upset?" She watched her dad closely.
"Kaidan, I messaged him the other day, before you say anything I was just thanking him for, well everything."
Jane nodded but didn't say anything so he continued.
"I couldn't help but notice some of the messages he's sent you. I want you to be careful, he cares about you and well you wouldn't."
Jane shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him interrupting his train of thought.
"What is it with everyone and reading my messages? Dad, he and I went through a lot together that's it."
Ganis held up a hand as if to block her words.
"Right I know that Red, but I think he cares for you quite a bit. I'm just saying be careful not to lead him on."
Rolling her eyes again she sighed and clicked the console off.
"Yeah dad I'll be careful, but I think he has a thing for blondes and ones that aren't Turian in nature." She quirked an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.
"Well in that case anyone that doesn't see that my daughter is the biggest catch in the Galaxy isn't worth her time."
She laughed and threw her arms around him.
"Okay now that our moment is over can you help me finish packing?"
Looking back towards her room Ganis's mandibles made a clicking sound.
"You want me to go into that warzone unarmed?"
They laughed together and walked back to her room.
~~00o00~~
They stood together at the shuttle, Ganis felt Jane's hand in his and looked down to see her holding his talon; he smiled and looked up to meet her eyes.
"Now, you make me proud little girl. I love you."
She squeezed his talon and reached up on her tippy toes kissing his mandible and his head settled against hers.
"I'll miss you dad, but this time I'll write you all the time. Oh and hey, I expect to hear that you've asked out a certain doctor."
Ganis shrugged and chuckled. Jane committed that laugh to memory and smiled.
"I'm serious dad."
"Alright alright I will, now you had better get on that shuttle you don't want to be late."
She nodded and grabbed her last bag tossing it on the shuttle turning she saluted him and his mind flicked back to the last time she left. This time there were no tears only a big smile as he saluted her back.
"I love you Jane Shepard." She had turned to board the shuttle and upon hearing his words spun back and ran to him throwing her arms around him and whispered.
"That's Jane Vandrel to you dad; and I love you too."
And with that she was gone from him again, he turned making his way back home. Upon entering the house he noted that she had made her bed before she left and he laughed. Walking to his room he noticed the light on his console was blinking opening it he saw a message from Jane.
Hey Dad!
I love you, and I wasn't joking about the doctor. Talk soon.
Red.
He laughed and felt a very real tear slide down his face.
~~00o00~~
The trip to Earth was uneventful and as they landed in Vancouver and Jane stepped off the shuttle the first thing she noticed was the air. It was damp and much colder than she was used to; she shivered and heard a laugh from the side of her.
"Really Jane, it's not that cold yet." It was Kaidan his hair was shorter than she remembered it and he looked rested. He was smiling and walked to her to grab her bags.
"Thought I'd meet you here and save you the trouble of trying to find your way around. As an afterthought I should have brought you a coat."
She shivered again as the damp air caught in her nose.
"I've never been somewhere so, wet."
He laughed again his eyes crinkled. "Well I forgot you were probably from a very warm planet. Let's get your stuff stowed and we'll find you some better clothes."
Jane looked down at what she was wearing, a tactical shirt, pants and boots.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now? Well besides the obvious lack of a coat."
Kaidan shook his head and smiled again. "Well we don't report until the end of the week, until then I'm planning on showing you around. That means you'll need something that doesn't look like you're headed to formation."
Jane stared at her boots and shrugged. "Okay Kaidan, you'd know."
Kaidan took her bags and as they walked away he regarded her profile, some of the scars were still visible but she wasn't pale and her eyes had that light in them again from when he had first met her. Her hair was shoulder length and brushed behind her ear and she was smiling something he had not seen her do much back on Jump Zero.
They stopped in front of a car and Kaidan stacked all of her bags in the back. Jane was eyeing the door and Kaidan walked to her side and opened it for her.
"Hop in, my dad has a few apartments here, we're bunking in one of them downtown, amazing view of the bay. I was hoping it would be warmer today and I'd take you out swimming, but if it doesn't warm up the pool at the tower will have to do."
Jane scrunched her face up and ducked into the car. Kaidan watched her look about the interior of the car as he climbed into the driver seat.
"You okay Jane?"
She was biting her lip and she looked worried but Kaidan could only see that lip being bothered by her teeth and how red it was when she finally spoke. He had to shake his head and tear his eyes away from her lips to hear what she was saying.
"Pardon?"
"I said, would you laugh at me if I told you I'd never actually been in a car before? I've read about them though. Also I've never really gone swimming. We didn't really do that sort of thing in the colony I was from."
Kaidan stifled a laugh and nodded.
"Right you were too busy learning to pick people off with a single shot from two-thousand yards."
Jane smirked.
"Three-thousand yards, well not in combat of course but my best shot was three-thousand yards with my dads, well now my sniper-rifle."
Kaidan stared at her in disbelief before pulling out and heading towards his apartment.
"You're kidding right?"
She chuckled and stared out the window.
"I guess you'll just have to wait till marksmanship and I prove I'm the best shot on this planet too."
Kaidan pointed out at the bay and explained to her about the city and what part of North America they were in. She asked him about the sports she had read about while researching the city and he nodded explaining hockey and football.
Shaking her head she sighed.
"There is so much to learn I'm not sure I'll ever get it all."
"Well let's start by taking you shopping. Lots of girls like it."
~~00o00~~
Jane decided quickly as they were walking through the stores in what Kaidan told her was a mall that she was not one of those girls. There were more clothes in more colours than she could ever look at, not to mention it was crowded and she felt out of breath like everyone was too close to her.
She let Kaidan pick out a few outfits for her including a dress for dinner that she rolled her eyes at but had fit her really well Kaidan said. Kaidan grabbed her a good winter jacket and then helped her find shoes that fit, a few pairs of the runners she had never worn and a pair of heels that when she tried them on made her feel like she was going to topple over onto her face at any moment.
As they both climbed back into the car and headed back to the apartment to change for dinner Jane shook her head.
"Ugh, that was awful. How do you know what to pick out? There is so much of it."
"Eh, the girls known from magazines and the extranet; you're just not used to it. I'll take you again tomorrow I think you should pick out some more shirts maybe a couple of pairs of jeans for when we have weekend leave."
Jane bit her lip again and Kaidan was so distracted by it he didn't hear her whisper to the window.
"I'm not sure I want to get used to it."
~~00o00~~
After Jane had changed into the dress and heels that Kaidan had picked out for dinner she stood in front of the full length mirror in her room, which as she looked around she noted was almost bigger than her entire house back home. Turning her attention back towards the mirror she frowned and brushed her hair behind her ears. She felt ridiculous; her knees were showing and she hated it, trying to pull the dress down she sat at the console in her room and typed out two messages to her dad and Nihlus.
Dad,
Made it here, it's cold and wet. But really beautiful, wish you could see it. Kaidan has us staying at his dads place until we report at the end of the week. Haven't seen much yet; I'll write you more later.
Love you. Red
Nihlus,
Made it to Earth; no joke this part of it is really cold and wet. I wonder if it's always like this. Kaidan made me go shopping. I hated it but I guess my style of dress isn't okay for some Earth activities. I miss you; I hope you're keeping busy. I for one can't wait to get into basic training. Well besides the fact that it's cold not much to report.
I love you, talk to you soon.
Jane
Jane jumped up from where she was sitting and almost fell flat on her face as the heels caught on the carpet tossing her forward.
Catching her hand on the door she righted herself, then the dress cussing under her breath and pushed through the doors into the front sitting area.
It was a large room with a half circle of couches that faced the huge front windows that looked out on the bay. The view was enough to take her breath away. Walking to the window she stood looking out over the water, it looked so peaceful out there, she was deep in thought watching the sun set over the water that she didn't hear Kaidan enter the room nor the sharp intake of his breath.
Kaidan knew Jane was beautiful even in those dark days on jump zero. She had a different beauty she wasn't a blonde bombshell like some of the girls that he had dated. She was, strong confident and her beauty was deeper than the red hair that now shone before him in the dying rays of the setting sun. It was like a small halo of fire around her head and he cleared his throat trying to draw her eyes to his.
She turned to him her smile lighting the depths of those green eyes.
Kaidan was trying to form a thought into a sentence when she laughed and he realised she was looking at his clothes.
"What?"
"I've just never seen that look. It looks good on you. What is it?"
Kaidan did a half turn. "It's a suit though a bit different from the ones my father used to wear. They used to wear these ties.." He trailed off as he realised Jane had no idea what he was talking about.
"I'll show you pictures when we get back from dinner okay?"
"Yeah I'd love to see pictures."
He nodded and took a step closer to her. "I picked something up for you when we were at the mall. I thought it would match your eyes."
"What is it? Why did you do that? You don't have to get me anything."
She looked around him as he stepped behind her and clasped a simple single emerald around her neck then stepped back to the front of her regarding it.
"Yup I was right; it matches your eyes perfectly."
Jane fingered the necklace as it lay cold against her skin.
"They had matching earrings but I figured you didn't have yours pierced yet, we'll have to do that."
Jane scrunched her face at him not sure what that meant and not sure why he wanted her to do it so she shrugged.
"I uh, don't know what to say Kaidan, most of my presents in my life have always been some sort of firearm. But yeah this is nice, sure."
He watched as she turned back to the window and looked at it in the faint reflection and he realised she had no idea what the present was meant to show and he sighed.
"Come on Jane we're going to be late."
They sat in the resturant that over looked the bay talking. Kaidan ordered for her as she wasn't sure what to have, though she would have rather taken a shot in the dark Kaidan insisted. As the halibut parmesan was set in front of her she frowned.
"Well can't be much worse than the food at brain camp. Or lack thereof."
They both chuckled as a seafood alfredo was placed in front of him. As they sat eating she smiled at him and he realised that just seeing that smile was making his heart do little flips.
At one point she was telling him about her dad and how he used to try and cook new things that the Asari doctor had told him about and then she was reaching forward tasting his food.
A bit of the alfredo had clung to the corner of her mouth and without thinking Kaidan reached forward and brushed it away with his thumb. She laughed and almost snorted as she took a deep drink of water.
"I'm sorry you must think I have awful manners. I was raised by a guy you know and we didn't really have, what did you call it? Pasta?"
She settled back and he moved his hand back to beside his plate.
"No Jane your manners are fine. You know, it's really good to hear you laugh. Hey let me order you dessert they have a fantastic chocolate cake with raspberry sauce."
"Thanks Kaidan." He shook his head but she continued her words were almost lost on him as he watched the low light reflecting in her eyes.
"You're a really good friend and I appreciate everything you've done for me. All of this, I couldn't ask for a better welcome to earth."
Jane laid a hand on Kaidan's in what was a friendly gesture if you were a Turian but her touch sent a thrill through him at the thought that she understood his intent.
~~00o00~~
The second they were back through the door of the apartment Jane kicked her heels off and bent her foot trying to stretch it.
"Those things are awful; honestly I think you could use them as an effective interrogation device."
Kaidan watched her wiggle her toes and grinned.
"Hey remember how I asked you about dancing and music?"
Jane nodded "Sure, why?"
"Well tomorrow I'm taking you out to a club, we'll do some dancing I think you'd love it."
She was staring at her feet. "Do I have to wear these damn things?"
"No, here I'll show you what to wear for tomorrow."
Kaidan went to the closet where she had put the clothes he had picked out and he set a few aside and she frowned. She appreciated what he was trying to do but in a weird way it made her feel small, like a child, and even when she was a child her dad had always let her pick what to wear, not that there was a lot to choose from but still.
"Thanks Kaidan, I'm pretty tired. See you tomorrow okay?"
"Yeah sure thing Jane sleep well okay, I'm just down the hall if you need me."
He took her hand and squeezed it his thumb drifted over her knuckles.
She smiled at what she took as a friendly gesture and closed the door behind him as he walked away.
~~00o00~~
Before they headed out to the club Jane clicked on the console in her room and smiled as she read the messages from her dad and Nihlus.
Sweetheart,
So happy that you made it to Earth, I've heard that there are some very cold places there, including in the north part where you are, I'm reading more about it, just want to know all the things you're doing. Maybe I'll be able to come to Earth for your graduation from basic? I'd like that, if they'd let me go.
Headed down to the colony for a bit, no don't jump to conclusions. More on that later though. Love you soldier, carry on.
Dad
Grinning she closed it and clicked open the message from Nihlus.
Jane,
I think you look fantastic no matter what you wear. Maybe humans don't realise that it's not what you wear that's important; I bet most of them haven't seen how you can handle a weapon. Take em out and show them that shot of yours, bet that would shut most of them up.
Yeah really busy, had a few issues with a commanding officer. Mission was going wrong I took the initiative saved the mission but I guess it wasn't looked on like that. Oh well, talked to your dad he said you packed my rifle as well as yours. I was going back for that you know. Now I'm going to have to find you to get it. Guess I might have to come to earth and sweep it and you off your feet. Wonder if that would start an interstellar incident. For some reason the thought amuses me greatly.
Love you Jane, give em hell.
Nihlus
The letters gave her energy and she dashed off towards the door where Kaidan was waiting.
The club was loud; Jane couldn't believe people were actually trying to carry on conversations at the small corner booths that surrounded the dance floor.
Kaidan was talking to her but she couldn't make out what he was saying. He led her to the corner table there were others and he leaned forward joking with them he removed her coat and dropped it on the seat of the table. He introduced her to the group stating that they were new recruits as well. She noticed more than one of the guys eyeing the low-cut strapless black top that Kaidan had picked and she desperately wished she was back in her old clothes. Kaidan ordered drinks around the table and then before she knew what was happening he was leading her out towards the mass of people in the middle of the room.
Jane resisted at first pulling back on his hand, he smile and nodded towards the dance floor.
"Trust me."
Allowing him to pull her through the mass of people Kaidan began dancing and she stood still watching him and the others in the room, she felt silly just standing there but the crowd was causing her to panic it was dark and much too close.
Kaidan saw the look of panic cross her face and he pulled her closer to him.
"Just move with me Jane, don't think about anything but us and tonight and now. Let the beat move through you and tell you how to move."
She laughed and closed her eyes trying to listen to the rhythms.
She opened her eyes and looked around, there were others dancing like this and she shrugged trying to copy them.
They moved together until Jane was sweaty and laughing he pulled her back to the table and they dropped down on the bench.
Jane was still laughing hard enough it almost became a giggle.
"Okay Kaidan, I'll give you this one, its fun. I'm terrible at it but it was fun."
She took a long drink and set the glass aside. "Though your liquor is much weaker here."
Before she could finish the thought Kaidan pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly. Jane's first thought was that human lips felt so weird and why was he doing this, she pushed back from him.
"Yeah, I'm not really used to the kissing thing Kaidan. I'm your friend too but I'm not really comfortable with that. I see others doing it but can we just stick to this?" She laid her hand on top of his and he frowned.
Shit he thought, she thought they were just friends, she didn't understand. What the hell was he going to do now?
"How do Turians show they care for each other, you know like a girlfriend boyfriend?"
She giggled and pointed towards his head.
"Strong affection is shown by leaning the foreheads against each other, it's to share scent. I don't really have those scent glands but to other Turians they can tell who you feel is closest to you. Mates mark each other with bites to the neck and sometimes back. Also there are places by the mandibles and fringe that are used for uh," She blushed. "Relationship purposes." She laughed with a little snort and finished her drink.
"Why?" She yelled a little too loudly.
"No reason just wondering." His eyes dropped to her shoulder and the scars he had seen there but thought nothing of until then.
Jane followed his gaze and shook her head her eyes growing dark.
"No, that's not what those are, those are something completely opposite.
Before he could smooth over the entire situation; a girl on the far side of the table leaned forward talking to Jane.
"You and Alenko huh? Nice catch."
Confusion etched Jane's face until she looked up to Kaidan's shocked look and then the realisation hit her.
Shit thought Kaidan, now it's awkward.
They finished and drove back to the apartment in silence. Once inside Jane finally spoke.
"Kaidan, I'm sorry I didn't mean to." She trailed off but Kaidan remained silent.
"You're my friend but I can't, I have a, as you say I have a boyfriend."
Kaidan nodded numbly.
"Right, who is he?"
She shrugged.
"He's in the military."
Kaidan frowned. "He's Turian in the military and you'll never get to see him. Jane.." Kaidan took her hand.
"Jane, I'm right here, I care about you more than I thought possible. But if you need me to be your friend then I don't want to lose that, it will be enough to be your best friend."
She smiled and his heart flipped painfully in his chest.
"Thanks for understanding Kaidan, tonight was fun, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave his hand a final squeeze and walked towards her room.
Kaidan watched as she closed her door and made his way to his own room. Shit he thought because he knew just being her friend wasn't going to be enough.