Disclaimer : I own no part of the Mass Effect series. Adalia Shepard and any OC's are my creation.

Adalia Shepard-Spacer, War Hero, Adept, Paragade. Romanced the wonderful Kaidan Alenko in ME1 and stayed faithful throughout the trilogy.

Hope you enjoy! R&R

They had ordered-not suggested-that she wear a dress. The celebration required formal wear, and when she thought of formal wear, she thought of her dress blues. The Alliance brass had insisted that every solider-officer or enlisted-wear civilian formal wear. This was a fact that she wasn't very pleased about.

Out of the rubble of the wreckage, the rummagers-the people responsible for looking for useful items in the endless rubble of the cities-had opened up somewhat of a clothing store in the center of the London. It was odd to know that most of the clothing in the store belonged to families that were now buried underneath tons and tons of steel. Most survivors refused to think such things, but the knowledge of the billions of dead souls lingered in the actions of every citizen. Still, such stores erected by the rummagers were becoming increasingly popular; nearly every citizen had lost their belongings to the Reapers. The marketplace, as the collection of stores had become to be called, was simply an unorganized, large collaboration of products that the rummagers found to be valuable. Having a marketplace was a great step in recovering from the Reaper invasion; it contained a sense of normality that was strongly needed to recover from such a traumatic event.

She had enlisted the help of Tali and Liara-her best female friends-to find a suitable article of clothing in the marketplace for her to wear to the Alliance ball. The ball was to be held to recognize all of the troops who had fought and survived the Reaper war, but also to remember the millions who had made the ultimate sacrifice to save their planet. The numbers that the experts had put the causality count to were staggering. Once again, those numbers were not often thought of. Every person on Earth was bound to have lost at least one relative or friend.

Liara had found her a dress, and Tali had given it her approval. Now she was walking toward the building on the outskirts of the London that had been relatively untouched by the Reapers. The alliance had immediately saw the building and set up their command center within in its brick interior. The dress was black and fairly conservative. The end brushed the tops of her knees. It was a dress that would have been more common as a graduation dress in the 21st century. Some people liked the classic look, Shepard included in them, and she wondered about the woman who had owned this dress before the Reaper attack. She wondered if the woman was still alive and searching through the rubble for the house that was now smashed and burnt. The thought that this was what Earth would be reduced to for the next couple of years saddened the war hero.

She was limping slightly, the movement not made any easier by the uneven terrain of the sidewalk she was forced to walk on. No other method of transportation was available, as the streets were ruined and filled with the twisted beams of houses and commercial buildings. When she had been discovered by the medics, lying on the ash-covered ground at the base of the broken transporter to the Citadel, her injuries had been severe. Her left femur had been smashed in one location; the nerves included. Her body had been peppered in 3rd degree burns in the places where the intense heat of the Reaper's laser had succeeded in breaching her armor. The surviving doctors in the hospital hastily organized after the defeat of the Reapers had done a great job at healing her. She was back to her old self-except for her leg. She still attended physical therapy every once in a while, but she was healing incredibly quick. The doctors attributed the recovery to the synthetic implants that Cerberus had implanted. Those too were now destroyed, but the protein markers they left in her body had sustained her and helped her to heal.

People rarely saw her out of uniform. Her friends and those she loved were the only ones given the honor of knowing her outside the facade of Commander Shepard. However, the private guarding the door of the Alliance HQ saluted her so stiffly that he looked as if he was carved out of stone. She looked at him and muttered an, "As you were," before moving on. In his eyes she saw an amount of admiration that surprised her. He was looking at her as if his superhero had come to life and saved the city right in front of his eyes. She noticed how his eyes followed her as she walked past him. There was going to be no hiding who she was; her face seemed to be engraved in every military member as the hero who stopped the Reapers single-handedly. She hated the spotlight and had tried to argue that she did, in fact, have lots of help defeating the Reapers-every military member of every species helped her. Her protests went unheard, as she was looked upon as the savior of the galaxy.

She enjoyed spending time with her crew, her friends, to escape the constant admiration. They had all fought with her; they knew that Shepard didn't do everything on her own and had constantly sought out the assistance of her crew members. They too, admired her for what she did. It was a different type of admiration-not overwhelming or demanding of her. With them she could relax, play a game of poker in one of the partially restored bars in London and talk about simple things. It had been a month and a half since the Reapers were declared a dead species by the red blast of energy Shepard had released. It felt good to celebrate the victory.

Shepard walked through Alliance HQ London, following the sound of voices, laughter, and music. Through the door in the back was a large room, lit by one of the scare generators of electricity found throughout the city. The technology they were limited to was at least 100 years old. It would take nearly a year to get society back to the way it used to be. In that time people could find the chance to heal their hearts and move on from the death and destruction.

Alliance personnel looked up as she entered and acknowledged her with a nod or smile. She was grateful for that fact; she didn't want to make a spectacle of her arrival. She glanced around the room for someone she knew, saw James leaning against a table near the back, and started towards him. He looked at her and grinned when he realized who it was.

"Hey, Lola! Lookin' fine, if I do say so myself." His statement was accompanied by a suggestive movement of his eyebrows. Shepard had to admit to herself that he looked nice. Vega had managed to find a full tuxedo to wear. She had heard on her quest to find a suitable dress for tonight that the rummagers had found an intact bridal store and figured that that was the culprit.

Shepard rolled her eyes, "James, you know you will piss a certain person off if he hears you saying things like that to me."

James smirked, "Well, the Major isn't here yet; I still have time to tell you what I think before he butts in and ruins all the fun."

"Ruins all the fun?"

"Yeah, he's always defensive when I start talking about you around him. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you're wearing that ring Garrus helped him pick out for you."

The small ring on Shepard's left hand seemed to triple in weight at the statement, reminding her of the changes the Reaper war brought about in her life, "Uh huh." She said to her smartass lieutenant, "You know it's against regulations to be saying things like that to your commanding officer."

"Last time I checked, it was against regulations for the commanding officer to be sleeping with a member of her crew." Vega seemed to have the same interest in her personal life as Joker did. Shepard couldn't help but wonder if Vega and Joker had been discussing her relationship with Kaidan behind her back.

Shepard raised her eyebrows at him, "Technically, we're both Spectres and don't have to follow the common law."

"Well, la ti da, Shepard." James shook his head, but Shepard could see the smirk that was tugging at his lips. It felt good to her to banter back and forth with him once again. She had barely seen any of her crew after the invasion had stopped. They had all been so busy helping the rummagers, recovering from injuries, and searching for lost loved ones. Shepard hadn't seen Kaidan in a week. He had left with Steve on a shuttle to Vancouver to look for his parents. Shepard had hated to let him go; she wanted him to be near her for as long as he possibly could, but after seeing the desperation in his eyes, her feelings had changed. She was tied to London by medical red tape-a phrase that she shamelessly took from Kaidan. Shepard had begun searching for her mother, Hannah Shepard, with no avail. She refused to give up.

"Have you heard from your uncle?" Shepard asked.

James smiled and nodded, "He's fine, a bit shaken up, but fine. He said that the town where my father lives in was hit pretty bad by the attacks. He was never much of a father, and I'm not really concerned about his safety." James's smile faded, "I know that sounds sort of cruel, but...it's the truth."

Shepard simply nodded, "There have been so many deaths that we are going to sound cruel when talking about the deceased no matter what. It's awful, but true."

James gave a curt nod at her statement, "Anyway, he's coming to London. He's in the Alliance, and should be reporting in to the HQ in a few days. He wants to see me, and I was wondering if you would let me introduce him to you."

"Sure. After all, I'm your N7 trainer. Once they get that program set back up I'm going to be seeing you a lot."

"Good. He'll be pretty shocked to know that I served under you during the war. There are some good aspects about the war I will walk away with."

The two stood in silence, listening to the music played on an old stereo found in a maintenance closet in the back of the building. A large space had been cleared out in the center of the room for Alliance personnel to dance. Shepard couldn't help but smile as she recognized Donnelly and Daniels in the center of the many dancing couples.

"Well, hello." Shepard turned at the sound of James's voice. His eyes were fixed on a brunette soldier in a tight-fitting dress that had walked in front of him. "I'll catch up to you later, Shepard." He said to his former commanding officer without even a glance in her direction as he started after the brunette. Shepard smirked at his antics and rolled her eyes. Men-distracted by a pretty face or an overly large ass. She was lucky she was engaged to Kaidan.

Shepard tapped an area above her wrist and opened her Omnitool to check the time. 1730 hours, and he still wasn't in sight. Kaidan had promised her he would be back by the ball. She didn't doubt him and resigned herself to patiently wait for him.

She watched as James led the brunette out to the dance floor and started a slow dance with her. They were talking and laughing. How James had managed to get a complete stranger to dance with him was unknown to her. She supposed that he did have that certain charm about him. If she hadn't been madly in love with Kaidan when she had first met him, she supposed she would have regarded him in a different light. However, her heart belonged to someone else-someone who James would never compare to, in her book.

She surveyed the display of people in the room. In addition to the Alliance, the soldiers of the other races were also present. There were asari, quarian, turian, and even a few Krogan mingling amongst the crowd. Thankfully, the room was almost colossal in size, and there was enough room to accommodate everybody. Shepard's heart leapt as she identified Garrus and Tali sitting in a corner table of the room. She thought about going over to see them, but they looked as if they were having a serious conversation. The curious part of her wanted to know what they were discussing-especially after she had walked in on them having an intimate moment on the Normandy. The reasonable part of her realized that they probably wanted to be left alone. She respected their privacy and decided to stay where she was, waiting for the fiancé she loved so dearly. If Garrus and Tali wanted to talk to her, they would find her-Shepard knew that.

She started when she felt an arm slip around her waist and turned her head to meet the warm, brown gaze of Kaidan. A smile graced her features, and a matching one appeared on his face. He leaned forward and kissed her slowly. There was nothing demanding about the kiss, but it relayed the love he felt for her. Feeling this love never failed to set her heart beating, and she loved the way she felt when she was around him. She was the first to pull away from the kiss as her breath failed her.

She placed a hand against his neck and smirked at him, "You made it."

"Told you I would." He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Liara had convinced her to wear it without tucking it behind her ears tonight. She was already starting to regret following the asari's advice.

"How'd it go in Vancouver?"

"Great, and I'll tell you the details if you'll dance with me." Shepard noticed how it seemed like a weight had been released from his shoulders. The news he wanted to share with her was obviously good. She wondered if that was his strategy to convince her to dance with him.

"You know I can't dance, Kaidan."

He laced the fingers of one hand with one of hers, "I don't really care." He started walking toward the 'dance floor' in the middle of the room, dragging her along behind him, "This is a ball. At military balls, you typically dance."

Despite her protests, she didn't resist as he walked her to the dance floor. In the crowd, they were virtually unnoticed. Nobody spared them a second glance, even if they did recognize them as the first human Spectres. The songs that were playing were slow, and Kaidan lead her in a slow dance, matching the pace of those around them.

"See, you're not as bad as you think." Kaidan murmured to her after a few seconds of silence.

Shepard gave a short, breathy laugh, "This is slow dancing. Any other type of dancing and I'd be the laughing stock of Alliance HQ. They'd never let me live it down."

Kaidan chuckled, "Commander Shepard, savior of the galaxy and first human Spectre, and an absolute failure at dancing. That one would be quite popular around here." At her smirk he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, "You look beautiful, by the way.

Shepard smiled up at him, "You clean up nicely as well." Kaidan was wearing a white, button-up shirt, a black tie, and black slacks. It was the first time she had seen him in civilian formal clothes, and she had to admit to herself that she quite liked the change of attire.

"Where did you find the dress?"

"The marketplace downtown. Liara and Tali helped me pick it out." Shepard's smile turned sheepish, "I'm not used to wearing dresses."

"Speaking of which," his eyes followed the direction he had seen her looking in when he had arrived, "I can't help but wonder what they are talking about."

"Looks pretty serious." Shepard was once again reminded about how much she and Kaidan thought the same; it was one of the many things she loved about him.

"Probably talking about their relationship-Garrus seemed pretty preoccupied about it while we were in the same hospital recovery room. They wouldn't let him see Tali. Only the quarian doctors and officials were allowed in her room-that wing of the hospital had to be completely sterilized for the injured quarians. It was driving him crazy. Seeing you helped him a little bit; it was good to know his best friend was going to recover fine-certainly helped me, too."

Shepard followed his line of sight to look at her two best friends, "I accidentally walked in on a moment between the two of them while on the Normandy." Shepard smiled wryly at the memory of the stuttering dextro-aminos. "I told them I was happy for them. Garrus seemed to think that their...ah...romantic relationship was going to last after the war, but Tali wanted it to remain a fling."

"I doubt Garrus is going to settle with that." Shepard nodded in agreement. Garrus was dedicated to his friends. Garrus and Tali had grown immeasurably close over the years, and Shepard doubted he would settle for a fling.

The song changed, and Shepard brought her eyes back to rest on Kaidan's, "So, how was Vancouver?"

"A little better than London, but still a pile of rubble. My parents' orchard on the outskirts of town was untouched, though. It was like walking into a different world-destruction to untouched farmland." His eyes grew distant, and he imperceptibly shook his head to bring himself back to the topic at hand, "My mother was unharmed but scared out of her mind. She threatened me with a gun when I first showed up. Apparently they had had to kill some rogue husks. My cousin, Cissy-well, Cecilia, was with her. Cissy had to keep her from shooting me. A husk had broken her arm, but she wasn't in the mental state my mom was in. I brought them both back to London to get medical care. They want to meet you." He added.

"Any news about your dad?" Shepard asked quietly.

Kaidan shook his head, "Still MIA. It's killing my mom. If Cissy hadn't been there to keep her hoping...well, let's just say I don't think I would've found both of them alive. What about your mom?" He asked, changing the topic.

"Haven't found her, but I'm not giving up. My mom is pretty resilient."

"Must be where you get it from." Kaidan told her with a smile.

The two danced in silence for the remainder of the song. At the final note, there was an immediate transition into the next song. Kaidan made no move to end the dance, and for once Shepard was glad he didn't. She was enjoying being this close to him after his week away in Vancouver.

"Have you thought about the wedding date any?" Kaidan asked her. She sighed and leaned in her head to rest against his jaw, her arm tightening around his neck.

"No. I was putting it off until I found my mom. If she is alive, she'd kill me if I got married to a man she hasn't met yet."

"Good decision. Can't leave any family out. I'll start helping you look for your mother tomorrow. She's going to be my mother-in-law here in a little bit. I care about her almost as much as you do. " He turned his head to gently kiss Shepard's temple and smirked, "Aren't women supposed to have their weddings planned out decades in advance?"

Shepard laughed, "If you want that, you're getting married to the wrong woman. When I thought of my future life decades ago, all I saw was military service."

"You never thought you would settle down?"

Shepard shook her head against his neck, "No. I thought I wouldn't have time to fall in love, and marriage was a fantasy. I had come to peace with the fact that I would never find anyone special who would genuinely care about me."

She could feel Kaidan frown, "You had to know you couldn't devote your entire life to the Alliance."

"I was perfectly happy with the fact that I would be married to the job." Shepard leaned back to see Kaidan's face, "I never planned on living until I was 100 and dying of old age. I always had a feeling I would die young in battle. I didn't want to burden anyone with the fact I wasn't going to get extremely old and die along with them. I didn't want to cause distress to someone who loves me. "

"What about now?" There was an odd tone to his voice that Shepard would have done well to recognize.

She took a deep breath, "Kaidan, I should have died in the final push-when I activated the Crucible. I keep having this feeling I shouldn't be alive."

"You're lucky. You survived, be happy about that." Shepard felt his arm tighten protectively around her waist.

"So many good soldiers died, Kaidan, I should be with them."

"No you shouldn't!" His voice was low, but it cut like a whip. Shepard looked into his eyes in surprise, "Your life didn't go as you planned, you have friends who care about you; you have me. We are getting married, even though you didn't plan on it happening." He closed his eyes and took a slow breath to calm himself down, "We all lost you once. I can't imagine what it would be like if I lost you again." He leaned in and rested his head against hers, "I don't want to imagine what it would be like."

Shepard raised the hand that was around his neck to twist her fingers in his hair, "I'm sorry."

He leaned back, "Don't be," The smile he gave her was forced, "just know that now, you have a reason to live until you're 100-which you are going to. I'll be with you the whole way there."

"Even when I'm old, fat, wrinkled, and ugly?"

Kaidan grinned and kissed the tip of her nose, "You'll never be any of those things in my eyes."

Shepard smirked, "Sweet, but we'll both end up like that whether we want to acknowledge it or not. There's no stopping the human life cycle."

"Mmmhmm. Can't wait."

"I can." Shepard muttered, earning her a laugh from Kaidan. "Even when we are forced to retire from the Alliance, we'll still have Spectre duties to attend to. We'll never get rest."

"We'll manage. I have a feeling that you would be miserable if you didn't have something to do."

"You know me too well." She playfully swatted him on the arm.

At the end of the song Shepard insisted that they sit for the rest of the evening. She blamed it on her bad leg, but Kaidan instinctively knew it was her hatred of dancing. He pretended to believe her excuse, though. They found a booth in the back of the room, away from the prying eyes of people, and sat.

Shepard rested their intertwined fingers between them, watching as, in the far corner, Garrus and Tali stood and began to dance. She looked away with a faint smile for her friends, wanting to give the two of them privacy. James and his brunette companion had disappeared from the fray a long time before. Shepard spotted various other Alliance members and members of her crew on the Normandy she knew and watched their proceedings before turning back to her companion.

"Thank you." Shepard said softly.

Kaidan looked at her in surprise, "For what?"

"For changing my life plans. I like it better this way."

He squeezed her hand, "I hope you're still saying that after you meet my mother."

Shepard laughed, "I'm sure I will. She can't be bad if she raised you."

"You can be the judge of that."

Shepard rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She didn't know where she would be without him. At the feeling of him kissing the top of her head, Shepard amended the thought; she didn't want to know what life was without him.

"Some of the best things in life you don't plan for." Kaidan told her quietly in the silence that followed.

"True," Shepard murmured in agreement, "so true."