Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everyone! First of all, thank you to all who reviewed Blue Water, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. This time, I've decided to be bold and write this from Garrus's point of view rather than from Shepard's. I prefer doing my own scenarios for this pairing, rather than just copying what's in the game from the three romance sub-plots already in it, so this takes place on Virmire right after the Wrex confrontation. Hooray for do-it-yourself romance sub-plots! ... or something. It's another short one, sorry. This was inspired by a certain scene from an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Again, I don't own Mass Effect or its characters, they're © BioWare.

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The beach of Virmire created a pastoral setting, though not an ideal place for a vacation at the time being -- since it was currently under occupation by a unit of Salarian commandos and the small, ragtag group from the Alliance frigate, Normandy.

Garrus Vakarian slowly swept his gaze over the area of the beach where everyone was currently staying before letting it settle upon the shoreline. Three figures were walking slowly along the surf, not bothered by the little waves that lapped at the sandy shore around their feet. Despite the glare of the sun forcing him to squint slightly, Garrus recognized the figures as the three humans he had met that fateful day months ago back on the Citadel: Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, and Commander Julia Shepard. From the way they were gesturing, he knew that they were in a conversation -- most likely about Wrex.

Merely a few minutes ago, the Krogan had become angered at the fact that while there was a possible cure for the genophage plaguing his people, it would ultimately have to be destroyed. Captain Kirrahe had asked Shepard to deal with Wrex, and Garrus had found his hand inching towards his sniper rifle when the Krogan had gone to the length of pulling his shotgun on the Commander. Though Shepard too had drawn her assault rifle as a reaction, neither had fired, and after a few more exchanged sentences, the human had holstered her own weapon. Garrus had reluctantly allowed his hand to drop back to his side, knowing that Julia Shepard wasn't powerless without a gun in hand. She was a biotic, and her abilities had improved tremendously since the day he met her. In the end, Julia's patience and kind words had succeeded in Wrex backing down without any unneeded bloodshed.

The Turian kept his gaze settled upon the three humans as the small group dispersed, all three of them each going to a different part of the beach while Garrus kept his attention upon Shepard. As he watched, the woman moved to sit down near the surf, though far enough away from where the water met the sand... and far enough away from everyone else to be out of earshot. He pondered going to her, but couldn't help wondering if she had gone away from everyone else to have time alone. Even so, Garrus had too much on his mind concerning himself and Shepard to keep held back any longer. They had been through so much together in the past few months, and it was during this time that he realized that he had grown to love her. She had helped him to open his eyes, teaching him that there were ways to deal with matters other than outright violence. In a way, she had helped him to see the galaxy in a new light.

He stopped himself after taking a few steps forward. Not only to go over what he wanted to tell the Commander, but because... he just wanted to look at her a bit longer. Julia Shepard's physical appearance was one thing Garrus had immediately taken notice of the day he first met her. Her darker, coppery red skintone made her stand out from most humans he had seen during his time in C-Sec, like a Rachni in a room full of Keepers. Eye color was the second aspect of her physical appearance he had immediately taken notice of. Shepard's eyes were gray, standing out from the color of her skin and reminding Garrus of storm clouds. Like a storm, her eyes would sometimes lighten or darken, and though these changes were subtle and barely noticeable, the Turian had learned to use them to read the Commander's emotions even though the woman didn't really bother to mask them herself. He had seen Asari who were far less captivating than the human woman who now sat gazing out across the water, and there were times that Garrus wished that Shepard was a Turian like he... with those storm gray eyes.

After one final moment to compose himself, Garrus finally closed the distance between himself and Shepard, halting no more than a foot away to her left. He felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him when Julia turned her head to look at him, giving a nod of respect before she rose to her feet and turned to face him, taking a moment to brush sand from her armor.

This was the moment he had been waiting for, and he knew that there was no turning back.

"Commander, I--"

"Garrus, I--"

"Uh... you can go first," Garrus said, glancing down the beach back towards the others for a moment before returning his attention to her.

"Well..." Julia said, raising a gloved hand to push a few strands of jet black hair out of her face. "We've all come a long way since the day we first met, even Wrex. I'm proud of everyone, and I don't know how I would've been able to get through all of this without any of you. Especially you, Garrus. You've become so much more than the headstrong C-Sec officer I first met on the Citadel months ago."

"I.. uh... th-thank you, Commander..." the Turian only manged to say, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as a shiver crawled down his spine. Something had constantly been bothering him since the Normandy had dropped everyone off on the beach of Virmire. It was nothing to do with Shepard, but it was just an omnious feeling of wrongness that was damning the mood, and Garrus was half tempted to turn around; expecting to see his father standing behind him with a disapproving glare. The uneasy feeling was soon replaced by a feeling of awkwardness as the two fell into silence, and with a barely audible sigh, Garrus forced himself to continue. "Things probably won't be the same after this will they?"

"No, I don't think they will..." the human replied, shaking her head. Garrus took a moment to steal a glance into her eyes, seeing that the normally light gray irises had darkened... clouded... Was that sadness he saw within them? "I'm afraid something's going to happen... something that none of us will be able to prevent... I mean, what if... what if one of us doesn't make it through this alive?"

"It's best not to think about that, Commander," Garrus said. "You've brought us this far, and I believe that you'll be able to see us thr--"

The movement from the Commander had been quick, sudden, and the Turian went rigid with surprise when he felt her lips against his own, her eyes closed. It was a human show of affection, and a very bold one at that. Garrus felt a degree of frustration at the fact that he was unable to return such a gesture, his anatomy too different from her own. Just as soon as it began, the kiss ended, leaving Garrus's mind clouded within a haze of mixed emotions.

"I..." Shepard trailed off before she cleared her throat, looking as surprised by her own action as he felt. "I wish for you and Wrex to join me for this mission. Could you let him know and then meet me back at the campsite?"

"I, uh... no... I-I mean yes... I-I mean... of, of course... Commander..." the Turian stuttered, stumbling over his words even as he felt the haze slowly lift.

"Thank you, Garrus... for everything," the woman said softly, smiling and reaching out to give the Turian a gentle pat on the shoulder before she moved past him and headed for the campsite. Garrus remained where he was, keeping his gaze upon the human's retreating form before he whispered the one sentence he hoped to have the courage to tell her directly... one day...

"I love you, Commander Julia Shepard..."