She'd watched Shepard since the beginning. The way she moved with such grace, fluidity. Like a large Earth cat on the battlefield.
Other crew members openly approached her to talk but Liara didn't have the courage. She hid in her small room behind the medbay, trapped in research and insecurities.
She was just an archeologist. She wasn't a soldier like the humans, turian, or krogan. She wasn't an engaging or mysterious quarian. She was just Liara T'Soni. Plain, boring. The girl who skipped her scandalous maiden years in exchange for seclusion on ancient homeworlds and new discoveries. Compared to Shepard, Liara was still a sniveling child.
But Shepard was everything Liara could only hope to be. Strong, loyal, determined. She cared about every problem that passed her desk, even problems petitioned by crew members. They became priority in Shepard's mind.
Oh, the beauty of her mind. Liara had experienced it twice. Beautiful yet terrifying, it was an endless spiral of Prothean visions, young children on Earth, and boundless colorful nebulae of feelings unable to be said. Liara still had trouble contemplating all she saw in Shepard's mind. It took a strong woman to carry on after everything Shepard had seen and done.
Liara found that admirable.
If only it stopped there.
It wasn't just Shepard's brain or strength that was mesmerizing, it was the way she walked, carried by athletic legs honed from years of service. Her deep russet skin and eyes black as the void. The way she smiled, the way she talked. Her compassion.
Goddess, Liara was in deep.
So when Shepard chose to confide in her, Liara was shocked. She thought out of the whole crew, Shepard would choose Kaidan; they appeared closest, constantly sharing conversations just outside the medbay.
But suddenly Shepard was visiting more, and if Liara didn't know better, flirting. And then they were kissing and Liara was invited to the captain's suite and—Goddess, she really was in deep.
Yet there was a flaw with plain, boring Liara T'Soni being with the admirable Maxine Shepard. She was . . . weak. Not good enough for Shepard's legacy.
So Liara became stronger. Having the token of the Shadow Broker in her pocket made her someone to be reckoned with. She owned every star in the galaxy, had an eye and ear on everything. She wanted to impress Shepard. She wanted to make Shepard proud, but somewhere along the way she strayed into a poisonous vendetta. It turned her into a coward when Shepard came calling. A mistake she would never make again.
Now as she stood on Earth, Shepard striding toward her for a final conversation, Liara vowed she wouldn't run away. She wasn't weak anymore. She wasn't a coward. She would stand by Shepard, hand-in-hand, and be the person Shepard always believed she could be.