Liara wandered the streets of Elysium surrounded by humans. It doesn't bring Shepard back, but it helps her feel connected to her. The narrow streets are filled with children and adults alike. It brings the usual regrets of never having a child together.
She is careful to avoid eye contact. The social skills learned aboard the Normandy have degenerated to those of her youth. They just didn't seem necessary any more.
The death of each friend and comrade reduced the number of people she spoke with until inevitably only Urdnot Grunt remained.
He doesn't require social graces. They speak mostly of the past, stories of Shepard and the Normandy. Both carefully dance around the mystery of what became of her. He'd been there to help her perform the Krogan funeral rites when Atheyta found peace with the Goddess. Their bond had grown past the superficial connection of being friends of a friend to mutual respect and admiration.
Life seemed so empty without her human at her side. She honored Francesca's memory by surrounding herself with the short lived species to celebrate her love's birthday.
A small out of the way bar caught her attention. The name was really the deciding factor; "New Year" brought back a fond memory. A human custom to kiss on the arrival of a new year had led to much more than a kiss.
She felt the blush upon her face at the memory of that wonderful night. She isn't surprised by the number of Asari inhabiting the space. Humanity had become a popular species as bond mates since a single human championed the galaxy.
A conversation caught her attention. Someone was asking a human if she'd been told she resembled Commander Shepard. Liara held her breath and didn't dare move.
It had been two hundred and twenty three years since she'd felt such hope. The body she'd come to know as intimately as he own was never found. The Crucible had fired a white light and the Reapers changed from adversaries to allies. The vulgar response caused her to seek out the source of that familiar voice. She'd remember it until the day she accepted the Goddess' loving embrace.
She found herself pushing through the crowd more forcefully than intended, until she stood behind a figure bent over the bar. The hair was the wrong color, but there was a scar that ran down the back of the neck. A scar caused by a brute's claw on Tuchanka. Her hand reached out and started to trace the scar.
The human moved with lightening fast reflexes. She turned as if she would speak, but no sound was made. The human's eyes widened allowing Liara to see irises the color of looming rain clouds. Her name was said with a mixture of horror and sadness. The familiar face of Francesca Shepard began to swim as the tears filled her eyes.
The human pushes past her and runs into the busy streets. Liara finds herself moving in the same direction following the human whose hair is the same color as her eyes. Liara wasn't in the same shape she'd been as a maiden. Her fatigue and the twisting turns of the busy streets worked in her quarry's favor. She'd lost her.
Liara had just seen her lover alive and well after believing her to be dead for centuries. The shock of seeing Shepard had worn off as she walked through the streets again. A part of her hoping to pick up the trail once more, another part knowing it was fruitless. The woman had been an N7 infiltrator.
The confusion of seeing Shepard run from her had turned to anger. How could she allow Liara to believe she was dead? Why would she do something so cruel, unless she'd never really loved her? The anger soon gave way to a pain that made her heart ache.
Her feet moved without direction. A wound she long thought healed reopened and eviscerated her very being. She found a grassy knoll overlooking the colony. She sat down in the shade of a tree. The tears flowed freely as sobs caused her body to shudder.
Atheyta had left her when she was a child, her own mother had been distant, and now Shepard. What was wrong with her that no one that claimed to love her stayed? She'd known happiness in Shepard's arms and pleasure in her bed. It was all a lie.
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought her out of her moment of self loathing. She looked up to find her former lover standing over her. The woman wouldn't meet her gaze, instead looking off into the distance.
The voice she'd dreamed of hearing once more explaining that she couldn't stay long. Liara let all her questions, thoughts, and doubts spill from her lips. A pained expression crossed the human's features. The crucible had destroyed her being. The form standing before Liara was a machine, a vessel that this being that was Shepard, yet something new used to reconnect. The woman had given up everything to save everyone else. In the end she hid because she wasn't real anymore.
Liara doesn't care. She wants the machine to take her with it. She wants a chance to love this new thing as much as she'd loved the woman it had been. She is willing to accept that there is no hope of children or the many things they'd promised. She wants another chance at happiness.
The thing that was Shepard shakes its head. It feels things now that it's become a part of the woman she'd loved. It hurts to see Liara unhappy, but it hurts more to know what can't be anymore. It used to watch her. It wanted nothing more than to be with her, but it's not human anymore. It has nothing to offer. Seeing Liara hurt too much and it turned its gaze away.
Liara begs to stay with this being that isn't organic, but not really synthetic. It offers a compromise. It will visit her. If there ever comes a time that it doesn't hurt it will stay with her. Liara reaches out and touches it. It feels real, she wants to meld with it to prove she's right. She wants to prove that she is still in there somewhere.
It takes a step back ending the contact. It shakes its head. It's moving away from her, apologizing with every step. It finally gives voice to Liara's fear. It can't do this. It isn't real anymore. It calls itself an echo. A relic of a long dead age, all Liara can do is watch it run from her. She lets it go. If Shepard is still in there she will be back. She promised to always come back.
A/N: Okay so I lied, I wrote another FemShep story before focusing on A Heart of Darkness. Not intentionally mind you. I was at work today and this story just kind of happened. I had to write it or I would have to commit ritualistic suicide for such an epic fail. It's a one shot, but I'm going to leave it as incomplete just in case something happens. I never know with my writing...the curse of not being a story planner strikes again. I want to be clear on one thing. I absolutely abhor the control ending, but my writing has a mind of its own. Hope you enjoyed it.