Dancing is so awkward at fifteen. It’s even more awkward dancing with your best friend who you just so happen to be in love with. She’s stepped on his foot a couple of times, blushing hard, whispering sorry. He smiles and nudges her feet on top of his. He whispers ‘I’ve got you,’ and pulls her closer. It’s less awkward. She laughs and lays her head on his shoulder. It’s their first dance, and he’d love for it to never end, but it will end. Their friendship, however, will strengthen thanks to this.
Dancing is so intimate at a wedding. Especially, when it’s your own wedding. Even more so when you’ve married your best friend. She’s gotten better at this. She hasn’t stepped on his foot except for once, and he just laughed it off. He smiles and presses his forehead against hers. Her lavender eyes shine so bright with love and excitement. He’s excited too, but he’s always hoped that they would end up here. She presses her lips against his. People are clapping, but all of his attention is on his new wife.
Dancing is hard to do with a little one. It’s even harder when you have two little ones. He’s gotten a little time off and finally gets to be with his best friend again. She laughs when he puts his hands on her hips, humming a tune in her ear. She complains about needing to cook, but she’s accepting his hand and letting him pull her against him. Her lavender eyes sparkle with glee, and that’s when their son and daughter whine that they want to dance too. It’s no longer him dancing with her; it’s him dancing with their daughter and her dancing with their son. There’s laughter, and all he can do is smile.
Dancing is impossible to do with her gone. His best friend has been gone a year, and he hasn’t gone anywhere near music. He’s signed it off. His friends don’t care and pull him to the crowded bar on the Citadel. There’s a woman there giving him bedroom eyes, but this is their song that’s playing. His mind flies to a happier time, and he gets up to leave. One of his friends tries to stop him, but he’s out of the bar before an argument can be made. Lavender eyes and a laugh ghosting in his ear.
Dancing is the last thing on his mind on Horizon. The Collectors are taking people left and right, but not him. He can’t understand why. The stasis wears off, and he’s running towards the enemy ship, trying to save his people. One of the colonists is yelling at a woman, and slowly he recognizes her. Those lavender eyes are full of regret and fear. One of her companions yells at the colonist, claiming that the colonist would be dead too if it weren’t for her. Her other companion nudges her, and lavender eyes find chocolate. The colonist walks off, and he’s walking towards her. He hears her take a deep breath before he’s wrapping her in his arms. She whispers his name against his neck, and all he wants is to kiss her senseless. But he doesn’t, he needs to know why she isn’t dead.
Arguing, begging, pleading, are things he never thought he’d have to do with her. She can’t be his best friend. She has to be a clone. That’s not her, but she looks just like her. Just like his best friend, his wife. He rubs his forehead remembering those eyes. They were so full of hope for a solid moment before he dashed those hopes right down the drain. Now he’s sitting before his terminal trying to write a letter to her. To explain his actions, but there aren’t any words that are coming to mind that will suffice. He glances at the picture beside his hand. They’re smiling, laughing, dancing. The words finally come to him, and he’s able to finish the email to her. He presses the send button and goes back to reminiscing about happier days.
The reapers have come, an AI has tried to kill him, and now Cerberus is trying to over-run the Citadel. He wants to kill any and every Cerberus soldier that comes near the council. He’s got three of the four councilors on the roof, and there’s someone following them. The doors of the elevator slide open and reveal her. Lavender eyes ablaze with anger. He’s ordering her to put her weapon down while she’s trying to tell him that there’s a mole on the council’s payroll. They’re dancing with danger, with death; one wrong move and he’ll kill her, and that scares him. He hears Udina call her a traitor, and the anger in her voice causes him to do a double-take. He’s never heard her that hateful, not even when they were chasing after Saren. Udina, the bastard, grabs the Asari councilor and threatens to kill the councilor. She’s not having any of that. He hears her cock her gun, ready to blow Udina’s head off. She pleads with him to trust her. She’s never been okay with a death on her head. When Ashley died, she locked herself in her room until they reached the Citadel. He remembers her crying, cursing herself. He flips around and points the gun at Udina’s head, but he doesn’t give the bastard the chance she’s given him. He pulls the trigger, and it hits Udina right between the eyes. He hears her sigh in relief behind him.
It’s weird being back on the Normandy. And even though she has said that he’s more than welcome there, he doesn’t feel it. She’s skirting around him, away from him. She’s keeping her distance, and he knows why. It’s all this. This stress that she’s putting herself through, and he just wants her to relax. She’s helped out all of her old teammates, even Miranda on Horizon. He never thought he’d go back to that planet and now he wishes he hadn’t. He knows that Anderson has ordered her to take some shore leave, but she’s not complying. So he takes to the helm and tells Joker to take them to the Citadel. Thankfully, the pilot agrees. Jeff’s seen how she’s acting, seen how stressed she is. She comes down from her room asking who changed her course, and he intercepts her. He tells her, orders her, to take the shore leave she’s already been ordered on. She wants to argue, he can see it, but she doesn’t. She just turns around and heads back to her room. She’ll probably try to spend all of her shore leave in that damn room, but he won’t let her.
The start of this shore leave has been very much a miss. She’d gone out with Joker as ordered by Anderson, and she’d gotten shot at. Of course, she’d gotten shot at. He’s come to her rescue. His biotics flaring a bright blue as he slams down a couple of the mercenaries he’d been fighting when she rounds the corner. She is wearing a light blue dress, and he feels his throat contract. She’s gorgeous even as broken as she looks. She smirks at him, shaking those hips as she walks by. His jaw drops and hell yeah, he’s staring. He likes what he sees, always has. When they finally get back to the apartment thanks to Wrex’s help, he follows her upstairs to see to her wounds. She turns to look at him, lavender eyes shining. He takes a step towards her, places his hands on her hips, and leans in slowly. She accepts the kiss that he presses to her lips, a small moan leaving her throat. It’s going to take Liara a little while to track down the gun that she found, so he’s going to take advantage of this small window of just them.
Dancing is just a way of keeping eyes off them, but the way she presses against him, the little laugh she gives as his hands slide to her hips, the way that dress fits her body so perfect he’s sure everyone is watching already. He’s died and gone to heaven. That is until Brooks interrupts them with a problem. She promises that there will be more to come later, and he wholeheartedly believes her. Once they’re back to the apartment, he pulls her upstairs and presses her against the wall of her room. She nuzzles against his neck, pressing open mouth kisses to the base of his throat. They want each other even more with each passing moment, but there’s still a bad guy that wants to kill her, so their time together will be cut short.
It feels like forever since the party ended. She wanted to celebrate capturing her clone. Miranda has some ideas for the clone, but he doesn’t want to know them. He’s more focused on the woman beneath him. She looks so relaxed, so happy. He leans down and nips at her neck, right at her pulse point. The way she cries his name makes him do it again just to pull his name from her lips one more time. She claws at his back, wraps her legs tighter around his waist, pulls him closer to her. He’s forgotten how amazing she is like this. It’s been too long since they’ve been intimate, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long with how he still knows where to touch her, to kiss her, to bite her. She knows the same about his body, and when they’re done he kisses her, slow and sweet. She whispers that she loves him, and he replies in kind.
He wants to slit the Illusive Man’s throat for the way he talked about her. She doesn’t deserve that; she never deserved any bad thing that has ever happened to her. He wraps his arms around her waist. It’s not the place or the time, but he wants her to know that he’s deeply sorry. He should have believed her. She nods and smiles small, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She was used, and that makes him sick. She pulls away from his arms and starts down a hallway. He swears that he will fix this, no matter what.
It’s been months since they’ve set foot on earth, but this doesn’t feel right. He’s standing by a building, checking in with his biotic students when she walks up. She tells him that she’s spoken to their kids, like this wasn’t hard enough. He sighs and says that this might be goodbye. She takes his hand and says she’s going to fight to see him again. He squeezes her hand in apology. She has to find Anderson. They both know that, but she doesn’t want to leave him. He doesn’t want her to leave. She takes a step away from him, but he’s not ready. He pulls her against him, kissing her with a promise. He whispers, “I can’t lose you again.” She touches his cheek, closing her eyes tight as she pulls away from him. She’ll see him again, there’s no way in hell she’s going out there without him.
His ears ring for a moment as he feels hands on his waist. He can hear his name, just barely. His vision finally straightens out just as the Normandy lands. She’s going to make him go back. She pulls him to the ship with Vega’s help. He feels his weight transferred to the buffer soldier. The realization hits him like a bottle to the head, she’s not coming with them.
“Shepard. Adamina.” He calls out to her. She’s standing at the end of the hangar door, watching the fire fight in the distance.
She turns and looks at him, “You’ve gotta get out of here.”
He shakes his head, “That’s not going to happen. Not without you.”
“Don’t argue with me, Kaidan.” Her voice is a command, but he can hear the tiny waiver.
“Don’t leave me behind.” He begs. He can’t do this. Can’t lose her. He begs her with his eyes, come back, come with me.
She strides up the hangar door, “No matter what happens…” She reaches him, touches his face, “remember that I love you, always.”
His eyes search hers, chocolate meeting lavender, “I…” He starts, and then tries again, “I love you, too.”
She kisses him, gently and whispers again how she loves him. How she’s always loved him, will always love him. She takes a step backwards, out of his reach. He’s grabbing for her, reaching for her hand, begging her to stay let someone else deal with this mess. He wants her to be selfish for once, but she won’t, and he knows that. She’s off the hangar door and running, next to her clone, the one that Miranda had ideas for. This must have been that idea. Have them fight together. As the Normandy pulls away, he sees Harbinger getting ready for an attack. He gasps, and the hangar door closes shut.
He’s sitting in a hospital room beside a bed. It’s silent except for the machines’ beeping and hissing. He places his hand on hers, squeezes gently, “Come back to me.” Something happens, a twitch in her hand. She’s squeezing back. His dark depths find her lavender ones, “Mina…” She squeezes his hand again, and he calls for the nurse. She’s here. She’s alive.
Dancing is a little awkward when you’re learning how to walk properly again, but he’s got his best friend who he’s always been in love with in his arms. She blushes softly after stepping on his foot once or twice. He presses a kiss to her cheek, nudging his feet under hers. She laughs and the memory of two young kids dancing in the soft light of their shared room at Brain Camp flits through his mind. It’s fitting how its always been her, will always be her. Adamina wraps her arms around Kaidan’s shoulders and pulls his forehead to touch hers. They share a kiss and a long life together.
