Tali and Shepard's Citadel Date

I get off the elevator on the lowest floor, walking into the small shopping center of the Presidium. I open my omni-tool and give everything one last check. The rental agency says it's in place and the driver is patiently waiting for my message. The cargo is safely stowed back behind the seat. And according to Tali's tool, she's down on the lower courtyard. Perfect.
With all of that set, I give myself a once over. Jacket's clean and presentable, white shirt underneath is sparkling in contrast, jeans are comfortable, and the shoes match. One of the few times I've ever really cared about what I'm wearing. Tali's worth it, though. I sigh in preparation and walk down to the mini-mall.
She's easy to spot when I climb down, the only Quarian in sight. She's preoccupied with some upgrade or another on the terminal as I sneak up behind her. "Guess who." I whisper, wrapping a hug around her stomach.
She jumps a little in surprise, but relaxes when she realizes it's me. "I was wondering how long you would keep me waiting." she jokes and rubs her hands on mine.
"I told you to meet me here at one. It's not even twelve forty-five." I chuckle. I lean my head against the side of hers. "I was planning on showing up now and waiting for you."
"There was nothing else going on, and your message said not to eat before coming. I didn't have much to do."

"Well, that's going to change." I let go of her so she can face me. "I've got an idea, if you're interested."
She shrugs a little. "Sure. What do you want to do?"
I take her hands and hold them in front of me. "I've gotten to spend time with everyone else on the ship here for a little shore leave. I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I didn't take my girlfriend out to lunch."
Just like she always does, she slides one hand out and runs her fingers across mine. "That sounds great... But do we really have time?"
"The asari councilor won't be out of her meetings for at least another three hours. Even if she needed to see me now, she can wait. She's not the most important woman in my life... You are."

I give her a soft smile and lean towards her. "Miss vas Normandy, would you like to go on a date with me?"
Maybe it's just my imagination, but the little glows of her eyes get just a little bit brighter, and I would swear I can see a smile in that purple haze. "I would love to, Mr. Shepard."
"Perfect. Would right now be ok?"
"More than ok. Are we going to a restaurant?"
"Not quite... May I see my hands?"

She slowly releases my hands, obviously content to hold them a lot longer. I open my omni-tool again and tap out a quick message: "Now." Within seconds, a small white car rises from beyond the guardrail and hovers just above the ground of the courtyard. I grab Tali's hand and lead her to the opposite side of the rental as it lands. The doors open when we get close, allowing me to help her into the passenger seat.
The original driver appears beside me a moment later. "Your vehicle, as requested, sir." the young salarian says.
"Thank you." I hand him a ten credit chit. "As a tip."
He immediately gives a small bow. "Thank you, sir. Simply call the agency, and I will be out to recover the vehicle. Have a pleasant day."
"I certainly will." I say to myself as he heads off. I walk around to the driver's side of the car, step into the seat, and take off before C-Sec can give us any grief.

A few minutes later, we're driving down the main stretch of Citadel travel, listening to the music from my omni-tool over the radio. "Lost in You" is playing now, making me bob my head and less-than-softly sing with it. "Somehow I found a way to get lost in you. Let me inside, let me get close to you. Change your mind, I'll get lost if you want me to. Somehow I found... a way to get lost... in you..."
"What does that mean?" Tali asks. "How do you get lost in someone?"
I shake my head. "I'm not sure. I think it's supposed to be romantic, but I don't really know."
"But how can it be romantic if you don't know what it means?"
"Well, listen to the rest of the lyrics. 'I remember when I said I'm nothing without you.' That's romantic. And then 'Now every day, I find myself say I want to get lost in you.' It means that every day, he feels the same way about her. And if getting lost in her is how he says he cares, then it's romantic. Sometimes, you can't take human music literally. You have to let loose and just go with it."
"Haven't I always told you that?" she asks with a chuckle. "Don't I have to keep telling you to relax?"
"It's only with music and you that I really relax, baby girl." I grin. It earns me a little giggle and a head shake.

"You don't do that enough."
"Do what?"
"Smile." she says. "I hardly ever see you smile."
"Well, I've seen that smirk of yours all of a dozen times." I joke a little softer than I intended.
She chuckles under her breath, but she holds her ground. "I mean that, though. You never smile much... And you've only smiled four times since I came back to the Normandy. I'm starting to miss it."
I sigh, multitasking in thinking of what to say and not swerving into traffic. "It's... it's just stress. It's been a long few months. Especially without you."
"I know..." She wraps her fingers around my non-driving hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner, Aaron."
I take her hand in mine, bring it to my face, and kiss it. "I'm not blaming you, Tali. You haven't done a single thing wrong. Life's... being a little difficult at the moment."

"If this is what you call a little difficult, I hate to see a hard time." she giggles softly. I let out a smile and a chuckle. "That's five." she counts.
"Ok, ok." I surrender, releasing her hand. "Hopefully lunch will make things better. And if you promise me we'll spend some more time together, I promise I'll smile more."
"I had planned on spending more time with you anyway; I was waiting for you to ask. But I promise."
"Keelah se'lai?" I ask.
She nods. "Keelah se'lai."

We finally arrive at our destination, a spot that makes Tali tense up in surprise. "What's this?" she asks as I land the car on a small grass patch.
"Garrus took me to a spot not far from here. I spotted this from the car ride and decided it was worth looking at. Checked it out, thought this would be a good place to relax."
I get out of the car and walk around to help her out. "May I take your hand, lovely lady?"
She gingerly sets her hand in mine, acting like princess. "You may, knave."
"I'm a knave now, huh?" I chuckle. I pull her up harder than she expected, catching her against me. She fakes a protest for a second, but quickly surrenders to my hug.

After a few moments, she takes notice of the scenery around us. The spot I found is a section of grass and flowers lining the walls, almost like a park back on Mindoir. The car takes up a lot of the fifty by fifty garden, completely out of place with the bright greens, yellows, and blues of the flora.
"Wow..." she whispers, letting go of me to feel a flower hanging next to us. She runs her fingers across the petals of the small red blossom, lost in a brief trance. I watch her for a few moments, smiling and feeling content.
"Look at the view." I suggest when she lets go. She turns to face it, and her hands drop to her sides.
We're maybe ten feet above the lake, where none of the fountains disturb the view and well below the passing cars. Looking out and across, you can see all the lights from the stores and homes shining. Each and every one of these sparkling diamonds are reflecting off the water in a kaleidoscope of colors and mirrors. And with the very edge of the garden surrounding the picture, the dark green and red completes the flawless landscape. The scene looks like something from an oil painting, almost too perfect to be real.
"This is... amazing." she whispers. "Just beautiful..."
"Not as beautiful as the view I'm looking at." I chuckle. I snake an arm down her back and around her hip. "This spot has absolutely nothing on you."
"If you're trying to be romantic, you're doing a good job." she giggles, leaning into my shoulder. "This is perfect, Aaron."
"And it's only the opening act. Come on. I brought lunch."

She follows me back to the car while I open the door again. She has a slight head tilt when I pull out a large straw picnic basket. "What is that?"
I set it on the ground and open the top. "There's a thing humans like to do sometimes. If we find a place like this, a park with grass and flowers and such, and it's a nice day, we eat lunch out on the grass. We invite our friends, family, or loved ones, pull out a large blanket to sit on..." I grab the picnic cloth and hold it out for show: about six by six, with red and white checkers on it, like an antique out of an old vid. I spread it out across the ground, straightening it out perfectly.
"...then we eat some food out of a straw basket like this. We call them picnics. The food's never perfect, but it's more about enjoying the scenery and the company than anything else. I thought it might be a nice little romantic getaway for us today."
She shakes her head, laughing softly. "My mother and I would do something like this on the Rayya. We would sit in the greenhouses among the plants that gave us oxygen, and we would eat with our friends. I didn't know humans did the same thing."
I sit down on the cloth and pat the spot next to me. "I could use a little company over here."
"I don't know..." she says, placing a finger on her mask like she's thinking. "My father warned me about eating lunch with strange men."
"Oh, just because I think a Quarian's the most attractive woman on a ship? That's what makes me strange?"
I get another laugh as she bends down and crawls over to me. "No. The fact that you treat her like a princess does."

"I only treat you the way you deserve, Tali." I say, rubbing her shoulder. I pull out a cooler out with a large "T" stenciled on it. "I wasn't sure what kind of sandwich you would like, so I got every kind of meat, bread, and condiment I could."
She opens it and examines all of the contents. "I'm not particularly fond of most of these, but..." She pulls out a small container of meat faster than I can blink. "Oh, you brought sermie!" she squeals with childish delight.
"The Quarian running the store thought you might like that." I chuckle. I reach into the basket again and retrieve my cooler. "I also brought what he thought was the best nutrient paste, in case you have trouble eating that."
"I'll be fine. I can cut it into small pieces and fit it into the induction port under my helmet." She continues to dig through the cooler and adding more strange colored meats and condiments to the slightly blue bread. "I hate to ask, but did you bring anything to drink?"
"Did I." I open the final cooler and pull out several small drink containers. Only two of them are mine, a few rare bottles of Pepsi on the Citadel. The other six are three different sodas for dextro-aminos. "Gabby and Ken weren't sure what was your favorite. I know what your favorite wine is, but not soft drink. The clerk recommended these three."

She examines them for a second, then decides on the yellow bottles. "It's sterilized, just like the food. Don't worry." I assure her. "I also brought straws."
I hear a soft giggle when I retrieve two straws in neon bright colors with crazy circles and spins. "Keelah, what are those?"
"Straws. They don't usually come like this, but I thought you'd enjoy it."
She takes the pink straw, sticks it in the top of her bottle, and immediately slurps down a few gulps through the slot under her helmet. "Mmm... I haven't had soda in years."
"Good." I chuckle. "I wanted this to be special." I take a few sips of my own Pepsi before setting out to make my own sandwich: a wheat roll with ham, turkey, bacon, pickles, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, and spinach.
The process only takes me a few seconds; that being said, when I look back up, Tali's already finished one of her sodas and half of a sandwich. I laugh a little, making her retreat in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I've been living off of nutrient paste. This is the first real food and drink I've had in eight months."
"It's ok. I like a woman who knows how to eat." I joke, rubbing my hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
She calms down a little and leans into my hand. Then she scoots over until she's against me and in my shoulder. "You're a good chair." she quietly jokes.
"You're welcome." I chuckle. I slide my arm under hers and set it in her lap. Then, we quietly munch on our lunches.

We finish in about ten minutes, not really saying anything, but only because there's nothing to say. Tali sets down the knife she used to cut her sandwich before leaning against me more. I drink the last of my soda and set the empty bottle to my other side. I slide my newly freed hand around her waist and rest my head against hers. The only sounds that come from either of us are soft, content sighs.
I finally work up the nerve to ask her. "Have you ever swam, Tali?"
She rotates in my arms until she can look me in the eye. "It was training for my Pilgrimage. I know how to, but I'm not very good. Why?"
"And is that suit water-proof?"
"Yes. It's meant for vacuums, and seals itself when in contact with non-oxygen atmospheres. I would have almost an hour's worth of air. You still haven't answered my question."
"What do you think of swimming in the lake for a few minutes?" I ask with a grin.
She just stares at me for a second, trying to make the jump of logic. Then she shakes her head. "We can't swim in the Presidium lake, Aaron."
"Why not? I'm still a Spectre, so I can pardon both of us if C-Sec comes. And you just said you can do it."
"I said that I can't do it well. And how would we get back up here?"
"There's a ledge right on the water and a small staircase back up here for the gardeners. It's not like we haven't done crazier."
"Uh..." she tries to mutter in protest, but... she lowers her head down and turns away from me. Oh, damn it... did I scare her or something?

"Hey..." I whisper, tightening the hug around her stomach. "I'll be right there with you, Tali. I just want to do something fun with my girlfriend. That's all."
I give her a kiss on the side of her mask, trying to calm her down. "If you don't want to do it, it's ok. Just say no, and I'll leave it at that. But if you aren't totally opposed to the idea, I want to do it with you. But it's your choice, baby girl. Just like when I've asked you to be with me, and just like everything else we've ever been through."
She continues to stay tense for a good ten seconds, never looking back at me... Finally, I feel her muscles relax with the sound of her sigh. "As long as you jump in with me." she whispers softly.
"I can do that." I answer in the same hushed tone.

I help her to her feet and lead her to the edge of the garden. I let go of her hand by the small ledge so I can ditch my jacket, shirt, and shoes. She stays motionless the entire time, almost frozen in uneasiness. I weave my fingers between hers as soon as I'm done.
"You ready?" I ask in the most comforting way I can.
"Yes." she whispers, definitely nervous and tightening her grip on my hand.
"On the count of three, ok?"
The only response I get is a very slight nod.
"One... Two... Three!"

The two of us jump forward in the same heartbeat, hands still in glued to the other's. It feels like eternity before we hit the water, even though the drop is only ten feet. When we do finally crash into it, the colder-than-expected water slaps me hard. We sink almost six feet under before I open my eyes and start to stroke up. Tali's lack of water competence immediately shows when it takes her four strokes to match my one. I paddle back to her and get a one-armed hug around her. Together, we swim up to the surface.

"Whoo!" I shout, gasping when we hit air. Tali's head breaks a moment later, shaking some of the water off.
"I need to install wipers on my mask." she laughs as she mops the water on her visor off.
"I told you. Worth the encouragement?" I smile.
"Totally worth it." she jokes. I pull her a little bit closer and push her wet hood off, letting my legs keep us floating. Good thing I aced all of the swim lessons when I enlisted. I can still hold my breath for over three minutes and swim a mile in ten.
I feel her hand rub down one of my shoulders. I lean my forehead against hers and smile as much as I can, trying to keep my promise to her. Her entire torso presses into mine as she tightens her hug. Those eyes just keep shining brighter and brighter...
I dip both of us under the water, making her give a short scream of joy. She stays glued to me and laughing the whole way.  I use my legs to swim us just under the surface, moving fairly quickly. At first, she tries to help with her small paddles, but soon abandons them to hug me tighter. I slowly go in a blind circle, still watching her eyes. I don't stop until I hurt for air.

Tali giggles again when we breach the surface.
"What's so funny?" I ask, keeping my grin.
"It's not funny. I'm happy." she laughs. "I've never had someone treat me like this."
"I can be a little romantic." I chuckle. "I just need you to encourage me."
She leans her head into my cheek, making her hug as tight as she can manage. "Thank you, Aaron."
"You're welcome, baby girl."

I roll backwards, dipping us both into the water headfirst. She lets out another squeal of delight that I can barely hear through the water. My legs push us down until we're almost seven feet under again, where we flip and float in the water. We stay there, just hovering in the silence...
I let go of her, only enough to have her at arm's length. She looks at me for a second, almost confused. I take my hand and run it down her arm. I trace her outline, just trying to drink in as much of the moment I can. She does the same with her hands, laying one on either side of my face and rubbing her thumbs across my cheeks. I feel a smile form while I slide my hands down her side, and then back up to her face. When I have her head in my grip, I pull her against me. Her mask softly taps my forehead while her arms fly though the water and around my torso. I pull her as tightly against me as I can with my own hug. I feel her hand rub down my back while I hug her. This one moment... one little snapshot in my life... a few minutes, away from this damn war... with the girl I love... it doesn't get any better than this.

I finally start to run out of air and swim back up to the surface. I gasp for oxygen, but Tali stays quiet. She stares at me, watching me like I'm life itself... "Can we get back to the garden?" she asks softly.
"Sure." I smile just as quietly. We slowly make our way back to the land, where I help Tali up first before climbing. We take a small staircase to the side, using it to reach the car again.

I reach into the back seat and pull out a towel large enough for the both of us. By the time I return to her, she's wrung out her hood and put it back over her head. I get half of the towel over me before wrapping it around Tali, bringing us closer together. She puts her hands on my chest while I use one hand to dry us off. I only scrub her down a little, getting the standing water off her.
I work my way through her shoulders and down her back. When I reach just above her butt, she swats my hand away with a slight giggle. I almost protest, but she wraps me in a hug before I get the chance. She presses her mask into my cheek while tightening her grip around my ribs. I just return the hug and lean more into her.
"Tali..." I whisper.
She pulls her head back to face me. "What is it?" she asks softly.
I give the slightest sigh, trying to find the right words. "There's something I need to say right now... something that I should have said a long time ago... Something I need to say without some clever line, or some pointless joke... Something worth so much more than that..."
I lean on her mask and try to show her as much love as my gray eyes can. "I love you, Tali'Zorah."
There's a second of silence as she looks back in my eyes. She tightens her hug around me... "And I love you, Aaron Shepard." is all she whispers back.

We start to cry at the same time. It only takes us a handful of moments for us to be bawling and gasping for air. I should have told her this last year. Before I let her leave for the fleet again... Damn it, I should have told her, but... I don't know. I don't know why I didn't...
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that..." she laughs in the middle of a sob.
"Yeah, I do..." I say in the same crazy cry. "Because I'm feeling it too..."

I lose track of how long we spend like that, just laughing and crying like a couple of kids. When we finally stop, we don't let go of each other: we simply look in the other's eyes.
"I have one last thing I want to do." I smile, my cheeks still tear-stained. "One little treat for you."
"Ok." she says mutters with her voice still slightly broken.

I take the towel in hand while Tali walks over to the cloth again. I reach into the back of the car, swapping the towel for last item back there: my old acoustic guitar. She shakes her head as I sit back down beside her. "Why am I not surprised?" she giggles softly.
"Because you know me too well." I chuckle. I slide one hand under the crook of her leg and my other under her shoulders. I slowly lift her into my lap, where she adjusts herself until she's comfortable. Her arms go under my mine, tightening a hug around my chest and leaning into my left shoulder.
"Comfy?" I ask with a smile.
"Very." she says. "Do you have something in particular you want to sing?"
"I thought about playing "Still", but I thought that might give you the wrong idea." She just shakes her head. "I found another song a lot like it that's just as good. Hopefully it won't get you quite as hot and bothered as Matt Nathanson does."

I set the guitar on my lap, just outside of her body, and strum a few practice notes. Only when I'm really sure that I have it, I close my eyes and start the intro. The rhythm is a little tricky, but I keep it steady. Tali finds the pulse in the song and slowly starts to bob left and right with the beat. I lean a little with her, feeling a smile creep across my face. "The dawn is breaking..." I sing softly. "A light, shining through... You're barely awake and... and I'm tangled up in you... yeah..."
Either something about my voice or the music starts to really affect her, making her relax completely and flow with the song. "You're open, I'm closed. Where I'll follow, you'll go. I worry I won't see your face... light up again. Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the wrong words seem to rhyme. Out of the doubt that fills my mind, I somehow find... you and I... collide."
I feel her giggle just a little. Not enough to actually hear, but enough for me to notice her body move. "I'm quiet, you know... you make a first impression. I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind. Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the stars refuse to shine. Out of the back you fall in lime. You somehow find... you and I... collide..."
I slow down for the break in the music, where the guitar only comes in bits and pieces. She stops her swaying for a minute, curious as to how the rest of the song goes. I open my eyes and look up to her with my stupidly happy smile. "Don't stop here... I've lost my place... I'm close behind."
I add a little flourish to the next strum, trying to be cute. It earns me an audible giggle and a slight tightening of her hug. "Even the best fall down sometimes. Even the wrong words seem to rhyme. Out of the doubt that fills your mind... you somehow find... you and I... collide."

The end of the song takes its sweet time arriving, but Tali certainly seems to enjoy it. When it's finally over, I set the guitar on the ground and return to hugging her. "Enjoy the private concert?" I ask with a smile.
She moves her head until her mask is against my forehead. "What do you think?" she softly jokes.
"Glad you liked it..."

She pushes me back until I'm on the ground, where she curls up against me like we're in bed again. Before I can do anything, she moves my hands to their usual spots on her and presses her head into my cheek.
I rub my hands down her arm and across her side before closing my eyes. "I guess it's a good thing we're not back on the Normandy. You'd have me pinned on my back already."
"You've never complained." she teases.
"Because you won't let me come up for air."
She giggles one last time before she relaxes completely. "I love you."
"I love you too." I whisper back.

Within a few moments, we're both half asleep on the cloth. We've stopped rubbing, more focused only on laying as still as possible. I listen to her, just loving that gentle rhythm of hers. The little rise and fall of her chest when she breathes... the sound of her heart beating against mine... Slowly, we sync up with each other; our heartbeats matching, our torsos pressing together at each breath... Just like we were back on the Normandy... Just like we were never separated, never left each others side... Just like we were meant to be...
My omni-tool beeps, breaking the silence. Tali fidgets a little at the noise, but it seems more like a reflex than annoyance. She might actually be asleep. I lift my arm just enough to see the message. The councilor. "Please come as soon as you can, Commander. I am ready to meet with you, and we have things to discuss."
Tali's hand comes out of nowhere and pushes the message away. I turn to see her looking right at me. "I'm not ready to give you up yet." she says before laying her head back on my cheek. I just chuckle and close my eyes again.