A/N: Okay. So here it is. The ending I wanted this AMAZING game series deserved. This fanfiction starts basically where the final mission starts when you go to Cerberus' home base. From then on I change pretty much everything. So it, you know, makes sense. I have included a final boss battle that makes sense (and that we were DENIED), lore continuity, and this fanfic may or may not contain little blue asari babies at some point. XD This is but one ending, if you were a dedicated paragon, and if you got all the war assets and galactic readiness up to 100% like I did. I do suggest you take this fic with a grain of salt: I more or less just wanted to write this to get to Liara and Shep's happily ever after, which is in "A Gift for You, My Commander," the sequel to this fic. Some of you may think this is all just self-indulgent nonsense, but hey! That's what fanfictions are for!

DISCLAIMER: Too crazy to own it, too lazy to try. So don't sue!

WARNINGS: This is going to have some LiaraxFemshep lovey stuff because I am massively in love with that pairing. I'll put additional warnings at the beginning of chapters if you're not interested in the lovey dovey fluff (there's a shower scene at the end of this chap btw). XD That's totally okay. I won't let it detract from the ending. An ending that makes sense. With no stupid pointless A.I. Godchildren. And no C'thulu theories where everything you do doesn't matter. IT DOES MATTER THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF MASS EFFECT.

Chapter 1

"The crucible is never going to work, Anderson," Shepherd said darkly. The hologram of his face contorted in concern.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Think about it. Just as the Reapers make their return, an all-powerful weapon just appears? It's all too convenient if you ask me. The V.I. on Thessia told me this weapon has been improved upon over hundreds of cycles, every race adding something to it, trying to improve upon it. But that's just the problem. Hasn't anyone stopped to think maybe the damn Reapers have been monitoring its progress over the eons? Don't you think they would have come up with some kind of countermeasure? They've always been ten steps ahead of us, so why not now? They even knew about the Catalyst and stopped us from getting it on Thessia. So what the hell are we doing Anderson?"

"What are you saying, Shepard? That we should just give up?" he shot back, irritation obvious in his voice.

Shepard ran a hand through her red hair in a vain attempt to suppress her agitation. "I'm sorry. I am just so . . . tired. And with every victory we have, the Reapers manage to come up with three more ways to defeat us. I stop Saren, he kills himself. Then Sovereign resurrects him as some horrible nightmare creature. I kill Sovereign, then the collectors start abducting human colonists and liquefying them. I save the krogan and quarians only to have Thessia fall. Every inch of progress I make, it's thrown right back in my face. I guess I'm just used to expecting the worst at this point."

"Have a little faith, Shepard," Anderson said with a deep sigh. "Hackett certainly seems to think it will work."

"He has enough optimism to power the crucible by himself. But wars are not won with optimism."

"No," Anderson agreed. "They're won with leaders like you. For what it's worth, if anyone can win this, it's you."

Shepard leaned forward on the console. His words didn't comfort her; they weighed more heavily on her than anything else he could have said. She felt like the whole universe was looking at her, waiting for her to save them all. Or, in the case of the Reapers, they were looking on while plotting her demise. Everything rested on her. What would she be? The savior of the known galaxy? Or the biggest failure of the cycle, and possibly of all time? According to Javik, no one person from his cycle had ever had as much responsibility as she. She rolled her shoulders and popped her neck. The best way to cope, she had found, was to block it from her mind.

"You have an uncanny knack for accomplishing the impossible, Shepard," Anderson continued. "Take comfort in that. I know I do."

"Thanks Anderson," she said and gave him a weak smile.

"Any time, Shepard. Now go kick the Illusive Man's ass for me, okay?"

"With pleasure," she said without a hint of humor in her voice. She meant it. She would take great pleasure in hurting the insane bastard. He had his indoctrinated head so far up his ass, he couldn't see the light of day. Anderson's hologram disappeared leaving her alone in the comm room. She took the few moments of silence to think.

It turned out to be a mistake. Her mind seemed determined to unpleasantly reminisce on the past. Sovereign, the geth, the Reapers, Saren . . . Oh how that turian tortured her nightmares. She replayed the last moments of his life in her mind every day since the attack on the Citadel over three years ago. Just when she thought she could help him, that she could turn things around for him, she saw him raise his gun. She saw him put it to his jaw. Then she watched him blow his own brain out in a vain attempt to rid himself of Sovereign's control. And even in the end he couldn't find respite. No absolution, only control. He was used like a tool then tossed away like garbage. It made her sick. All of it made her sick. The Reapers, Leviathan, the cycle, the Collectors, all of it. Why was this happening? How could it be happening? Why had someone created the Reapers all those eons ago for the soul purpose of wiping out all organic life in the universe? To what end? What was the goddamn point of it all?

She pushed herself off the console. There was no point in torturing herself with questions that had no logical answers. She could only move forward. And right now, she just wanted to go feed Twitchy (whose appetite could rival that of a krogan. Impressive considering he was a hamster), and lay down for a while. She needed to collect herself. She needed to save face for all the people looking to her for hope. She walked slowly through the Normandy. She had a horrible feeling this would be the last time she saw her beloved ship. There would be no more Cerberus to rebuild it after this mission, whether they succeeded or failed. There wouldn't be anyone left to rebuild anything. She took in all the familiar sounds, smells, and sights of the ship. When she reached the elevator, movement at the end of the hall caught her eye. Tali and Garrus were conversing softly, and he occasionally kissed her hand. A warm smile curved Shepard's lips. It was about damn time.

"Did you finally finish all those damn calibrations, Garrus?"

Garrus let out an embarrassed, but amused cough. "The Normandy's as calibrated as she's ever going to be."

"Don't stay up too late, kids. I hear we have to save the universe tomorrow. That might take a bit of energy. Not sure though. And remember. You have reach, Garrus, but Tali has flexibility."

Both of them coughed, even more embarrassed, and Shepard laughed. "Do me a favor. Survive this damn war because I plan to be your best man, Garrus. You don't have a say in this. I will be your best man."

"There's no one I'd rather have at my side, Shepard. As long as I can be your best man, too."

"Deal," Shepard replied, her grin widening.

"Why does she get to be your best man?" Tali argued. "Why can't she be my maid of honor?"

"Well there used to be two of me, maybe we could bring my clone back?" Shepard joked.

"On second thought, maybe we'll just have to find a way to compromise," Tali said quickly.

Shaking her head in amusement, she stepped in the elevator and said, "Captain's Quarter's Edi. And hold my calls for the next few hours, yeah?"

"Of course, Shepard," Edi's voice replied over the intercom. "Are you all right Commander?"

"I'm all right. Just need some rest."

"Very well. Sleep well, Commander Shepard."

"Thanks."

The elevator came to a stop and she strode wearily to her cabin. Twitchy was squeaking away, demanding food as usual. Shepard dumped a handful in and softly stroked his head while he gorged his fat happy self. She envied the little monster. He didn't have to worry about Reapers or galactic extinction. His only concern was when his lazy owner was going to feed him next.

"Thank the goddess for Liara, little man, otherwise you probably would have died of starvation long ago," she said, smiling at the saying she'd picked up from her lover.

She turned on her shower and cranked the heat to near-scorching temperatures. Stripping her uniform, she left it in an uncharacteristic heap on the floor and let the hot water wash over her battered body. Hot water was just about the only thing that could relax her muscles these days. Just about. A certain asari came to mind . . .

As if on cue she heard her door hiss open. She groaned. Apparently Edi didn't know the meaning of "hold my calls." Without even bothering to grab a towel, she marched around the corner to glare down her would-be intruder.

"Obviously Edi didn't make it clear—oh," she stopped when Liara greeted her eyes.

Liara took one look at Shepard and blushed furiously.

"Commander!" she squeaked in the most adorably indignant voice Shepard had ever heard. It reminded Shepard of the first time they'd melded. When she had asked Liara if she'd like to go for round two after their first love-making session, Liara had replied with the same, very adorable, "Commander!"

"What? I told Edi to hold my calls. I thought you were someone I don't want to see."

Liara was still averting her eyes with a soft blush resting on her lovely cheeks. "I can leave –."

"No," Shepard interrupted. "Stay. Please. Just let me finish my shower. I don't think I've had time for one in about four days."

"Okay," Liara said and fidgeted with her fingers.

Shepard returned to the hot water and leaned heavily against the wall. She winced when her body weight pressed up against her shoulder. It had never fully healed and it seemed to always be bothering her at the most inconvenient times. Like in the middle of battles. She tried in vain to massage it away but with little success. After about a minute of this, she heard the sound of clothes hitting the floor and felt Liara's body press against her back. Soft lips kissed her shoulder and blue arms found their way around Shepard's waist.

"Is your shoulder still bothering you?" Liara asked, continuing to lay soft kisses on it.

"Yeah," Shepard replied. She felt a little out of breath. They made love so infrequently that whenever they did anything even remotely intimate, she was helpless to Liara's touch.

"Shepard . . ." Liara whispered.

Hearing her name spoken in such an intimate moment pulled Shepard out of her spiral. She turned to look into the asari's eyes and placed the tips of her fingers over Liara's blue lips.

"No," she said. "Not Shepard. Not Commander."

Liara kissed her fingertips. "Okay." Then she leaned forward and whispered her first name in her ear.

Electricity shot up and down Shepard's spine. Liara said her name so rarely that when she did it drove her wild. She pushed the asari against the wall lacing their fingers above the other's head. Her self-control was hanging by a thread.

"Liara," Shepard breathed. "Please . . ."

"Goddess," Liara whispered. Her eyes were already turning black, which didn't add to Shepard's lack of self-control. She pressed her lips against Liara's perhaps more forcefully than she had intended, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. In that moment, all that existed was an undeniable need. She felt Liara's thoughts trickle into her own, and a wave of love washed over Shepard. Goddess, how that asari loved her. It was almost overwhelming. She only hoped Liara knew how much she loved her in return.

'I'd do anything for you, Liara. I'd die for you, lie for you, anything,' she sent the thought to her lover.

To her surprise, Liara pulled back, and her eyes returned to their normal blue. Concern rippled through Shepard's violet eyes.

"Shepard . . ." Liara hesitated. Shepard wasn't sure if it was the water from the shower, or if those were tears in her lover's eyes.

"Hey," Shepard said, gently tipping the asari's chin up. "What is it?"

"Don't die for me," Liara said after another moment's hesitation. "Live for me. Survive this, or I'll never forgive you, Goddess help me."

Shepard rested her forehead against Liara's and sighed heavily. "I want to live, Liara. I want to so much. All I want is to run away from all of this, to spend the rest of my life on some beach far away from here. I want to hear the sound of little blue asari babies running around the house, raising hell when I wake up in the morning. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms every night. I want to meld with you any time I want, damnit, not right before we're on a mission to our almost certain doom."

She heard a soft sob escape Liara's blue lips. "Damn you," she said, tightening her grip on Shepard's arms. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Hey," Shepard pulled back and sapphire eyes met violet. "I will always come for you. You hear? Always. Have I ever made a promise I didn't keep?"

Liara answered with a desperate, forceful kiss. Shepard found their positions reversed as Liara pushed her up against the cool metal wall. Their kiss deepened and Liara's arms tightened around Shepard's waist in embrace fraught with need. Shepard surrendered to her partner-the only person in the galaxy to whom she would ever surrender. She couldn't help it. She was defenseless, helpless in Liara's arms. She felt the asari's mind reach out to her once again and opened her thoughts without hesitation.

'Give yourself to me, Shepard,' Liara silently demanded and Shepard acquiesced. She acquiesced for the rest of the night until all thought of war, the Reapers, and the problems of the universe melted away to a dull gloom in the back of her mind. In this moment, it was enough. In this moment, all that existed was her and Liara. And that had always been enough.