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Valerie Shepard looked out at the ocean as she leaned against the balcony railing. She tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear as she took in a deep breath of the sea air. It felt like ages since she had a breath of fresh air. Six months felt like an eternity to her when she was stuck rounding up pirates and renegade soldiers that had fled from Earth after the Reaper War had ended. Sure, she loved her job but there were times where she felt like she was drowning in responsibility to both the Alliance and to the Council to take care of any missions that crossed her desk. She closed her eyes as she began to fall into a light doze from the soft sounds of the ocean tide coming in.
She felt something cold on the back of her neck. She jumped a few inches in the air and tried to slap away the cold object on her neck but found it to be gone. She heard a chuckle behind her and she spun around to see Kaidan standing behind her holding two bottles of his favorite brand of Canadian beer. “Very funny,” she said in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice.
“Try to lighten up a bit, Val,” Kaidan said to her as he slid next to her. Valeria shook her head gently as she took the beer from Kaidan when he offered it to her. “I want this shore leave to be relaxing but I am finding it hard to do that,” she said in a soft voice as she leaned against her fiancé’s side. “I just keep thinking that Hackett will find an excuse to cut shore leave short like he did last time or the Council will find another pocket of pirates for me to get rid of before shore leave is done.”
Kaidan gently slid around Valeria’s waist and pulled her closer to him. “I know you can’t say no to the Admiral if he asks us to cut our shore leave short but as for the Council,” Kaidan started to say before he paused for a few moments. “You can feel free to deny any requests from the Council. Hell, Val, I know you have been through a lot since the Reaper War ended. It took you a better part of a year for you to recover from the injuries that you sustained after the Crucible went off and killed the Reapers. And then after that you had a half a year of physical therapy to help you remember to even walk properly. The Council can shove any assignments up their asses. We are taking these next five days to ourselves to relax. Hell, if you want we can even get hitched. I know you already got permission from the Admiral board for us to get married.”
Valeria sighed and smiled up at Kaidan, relief on her face. “Maybe I will do that if they do come a-calling before we head back into space. As for us getting hitched, maybe in a few days? I know a few former squad-mates who want to attend it if they are able to get to Earth.”
Kaidain chuckled and knew who she was talking about. Garrus and Tali wouldn’t forgive them if they got married without him and Wrex and Grunt would love the after wedding party that they would hold in their apartment. “I think I can arrange for the invites to go out tonight after we’ve had a little fun.” He smirked at her as he tugged her inside and towards the bedroom. Valaria laughed as she let him, knowing that it wouldn’t be until after sundown when they would send out any invites to their upcoming wedding.