A/N: So... this is not my first fanfic, it's just the first one that I've decided to publish, just to dip my toes into the proverbial water. So I guess it is the first one for you folks. Have fun! And obviously, I own nothing.
Nos Astra, Illium
Liara T'Soni had had a very bad week so far. Several of her projects had recently hit a dead end, with no discernible successes to weigh out the failures. She knew that if she wanted to take on the Shadow Broker one day, she would have to "step up her game," as the humans said. The still considerable resources of House T'Soni were one of her biggest pillars of support in that undertaking. She had so far refused to hire any more agents out of fear that the Broker or one of his minions would finally start to take her seriously. She hadn't been shot at in three months, for Athame's sake! That had to be some kind of record for information brokers on Illium.
Liara, however, was taken out of her musings by the chime of her omni-tool that was reserved for one person only. Her heart beating in her throat all of a sudden, she opened the message.
From: Miranda Solheim
To: Liara T'Soni
Subject: Your package
Dear Dr. T'Soni,
Included is your monthly status update. If you will allow for a personal note, the package is nearly complete and should be ready within the next three months. Keeping in mind our original agreement, I have switched your update schedule to a biweekly one.
Ai nadal,
Miranda Solheim
Liara took a deep breath, not even noticing the formal asari valediction at the end of the message, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she typed a quick reply.
Make it daily.
So, the day of reckoning drew ever closer. What would Shepard think of her when she eventually figured out the truth? What her sweet, adorable and naïve scientist had done in order to bring her back? With whom Liara had struck a deal, however reluctantly? Oh, she had known the stories about Cerberus. The thresher maws. Rear Admiral Kahoku. The rachni. Shepard loathed the self-proclaimed guardians of humanity on a level that only the Reapers were privy to. And Udina.
As she thought about all of that, unbidden memories came back. Repressed memories, from the month between the almost-destruction of the Citadel and the temporary destruction of Humanity's Greatest. Arguably the best month of her young life, she had experienced companionship and love like never before. And then Shepard had sent her away, unknowingly walking to her death. It had been so very hard not to crush the fragile Joker in a warp that would have rendered a krogan down to an unrecognizable pile of goo…
Hot tears made their way towards Liara's lips, where she tasted the salt and released a sudden cry of anguish and curses in her native tongue that would have made her mother blush a deep shade of purple.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the office door, Nyxeris smiled.
New London, Earth
A desperate Liara T'Soni raced through the myriad of empty corridors that made up the Bill Stevenson Memorial Ward of the St. George's Hospital in New London. It had taken the crew of the Normandy two months to get their ship space-worthy again, and another two months to get any sort of message through. That was in no small part thanks to EDI, whose files had been restored out of a secret backup hard drive that had been shielded from not only the knowledge of each and every crewmember, but also from the mysterious red blast that had eventually caught up to the Normandy during the last seconds of its desperate escape. In fact, that particular feature of their trusty vessel had only been revealed once electronic messaging had been restored and Liara, as the unofficial XO of the ship, had finally been able to skim through her mail. None of that was on the young asari's mind right now, though.
By now, the final battle was almost nine months in the past and the Normandy had only now returned to the Sol system. Liara had been assured that Shepard was indeed alive at the first opportunity, though 'alive' was a rather broad term. For one, there was, once again, not much of her left. Both legs and one arm had to be replaced with prosthetics until Miranda Lawson could be tracked down. Shepard had then been given her own ward where the galaxy's brightest minds stayed up in makeshift labs for days in order to recreate the success of Project Lazarus. In other parts of the world, Alliance storing facilities were being raided for the rare raw materials that the Commander's implants required. Fortunately, both groups had been successful in their respective quests.
Shepard had awoken twice during that time, and both times it had not been pretty. At least the second time the squints could assure her that her bondmate in all but official procedure was still alive. She had agreed to be put down once more after that.
Today, the last of the implants were scheduled to be activated, after which Shepard would be woken up. Liara, meanwhile, had reached the lab in the very heart of the ward, where, behind a one-way mirror, the Saviour of the Galaxy rested, assorted doctors in her immediate vicinity. A salarian in a lab coat gave what amounted to a thumbs-up gesture, upon which the cohort in white quietly retreated from the room. On the other side of said mirror stood two women, one human and one asari, united in their concern for the person that had changed both of their lives for the infinitely better. The former Number Two of Cerberus exchanged a glance with the Shadow Broker and, upon receiving confirmation, pressed a green button on one side of the mirror. A door opened and Liara stepped inside the room and, throwing any sort of pretense to the wind, crossed the short distance between her and her love with a quick run. The room smelled of sanitizers, but she did not care. What she did care about was the human that, eyes closed, first began to flex her fingers, then her toes, before one hand grabbed the offered blue one.
A small smile escaped both their lips.
Serrice, Thessia
Liara T'Soni stood upon the largest hill of the considerable T'Soni Manor, under the largest oak tree on Thessia. To her right stood an aged Aria T'Loak, arm in arm with the retired Councilor Tevos T'Zani. To her left were three asari and a krogan. Closest to her stood her youngest daughter, Benezia T'Soni, and to her left stood the mddle child of the family, Ava T'Soni. Next to Ava stood her older sister Hope T'Soni, heiress to the T'Soni clan, arm in arm with her bondmate Urdnot Mordin.
"So," the Pirate Queen of Omega began, "if no one's gonna say something, I might as well start. Ten years might not be a long time for most asari, but for us it definitely was."
"Shepard, we all miss you terribly, as I'm sure you can imagine," Tevos continued. "You will be glad to hear, though, that your goddaughter is well on her way to being the youngest asari commando in over a hundred years. Which is also why she can't be here today, but she sends her love. I guess all those hunting sessions did pay off in the end, regardless of what I thought about that at the time."
Mordin continued. "Dad says 'Hi,'" the krogan began. "He says he's probably on his way to visiting you soon. He also said you should tell Uncle Garrus to stock that bar of yours with enough Ryncol to give two krogans permanent damage in both livers."
"How… charming," Hope said, her tone slightly disgusted, but nevertheless smiling. "Also, your granddaughter says 'Hi,' too. She's got finals week at the moment and will come by next week."
"Dad, I've finally won the championship! I'd have shown you that big-ass trophy I got, but it's so heavy even two of my mechanics and myself can't lift it properly. Mordin refused to carry it. Says it's just worthless junk and I should have taken the heads of my competitors instead. Gross."
"So… I'm gonna start uni next week. I know I've got some pretty big shoes to fill, so keep your fingers crossed. Please…" Benezia's voice trailed off, slightly uneven.
"You're going to be fine, sweetheart, don't worry so much," Liara answered her youngest daughter. After that she closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to decide on what to say. "I love you," she said eventually. "I will always love you, and I know that I will see you again. If the time in-between wasn't just so damn hard…" her voice wavered, a solitary tear escaping and making her way down her cheek. It dropped eventually, falling onto a simple marble plate.
JOSS SHEPARD
April 11, 2154 - April 11, 2554
known by all
beloved by many
loved by few
"Happy Birthday, love."
And with that, the T'Soni family made its way down the hill, walking towards a beautiful sunset.