And now, each night I count the stars,
And each night I get the same number.
And when they will not come to be counted,
I count the holes they leave.
The searing heat washed over her, caustic and all-consuming. It was not like before, she noted. This was different. Replacing the bottomless depth of loss was the cleansing fire of rage. She was furious. It took every ounce of inner strength for Liara to simply hold back; to bite her tongue and say nothing.
"Commander Shepard," Admiral Hackett proclaimed, "it is with great pleasure I promote you to the rank of Captain, with all the rights and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Congratulations," he said, pinning a set of bars to Shepard's collar.
I told you so, Liara thought bitterly.
The office was different from the last time Liara had been there, she noted. It was more complete; gone was the sense of functional haste. Completeness came in the form of a wide desk, shelves lining the walls brimming with books on military strategy, and a far wall dwarfed by monitors. The wall behind the desk was a massive window, overlooking the entire Alliance Operations Command in London.
She smiled grimly as Shepard reluctantly shook Hackett's hand, barely concealing her ire.
"Admiral, I appreciate this, but the reason I came back here was-"
"Your mother. Yes, I'm aware. Rear Admiral Shepard is currently leading an exploratory mission to Arcturus. Alliance brass seems to want to rebuild out there." Hackett moved back around to his seat behind the desk, gesturing for Shepard to sit. Liara remained standing, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "I'm not certain when she'll return, but I'm sure we can find something for you in the meantime." Hackett tugged his uniform jacket straight before sitting.
"Admiral, with respect sir, I didn't come back to re-enlist. My soldiering days are over. Right now, I want to find a quiet corner of the galaxy and relax." Shepard passed a sidelong glance at Liara. "Might even start a family."
Liara couldn't help but smile back at him, a small crack appearing in her icy façade.
He has that effect on me.
"Shepard, I can appreciate your position. Humanity owes you a great debt. I think some R &R is well deserved. I was hoping however, I might be able to talk you into a slight delay."
Here it comes, Liara thought, holding her breath.
"Simply put, people will be thrilled to know you're alive, Shepard. The rest of the Admiralty- your mother included, I might add- thought it would be a good idea for a... well, a kind of victory parade. You'd travel around a bit, talk to some reporters, visit a few banquets… nothing military. When we found out you were back, some press aide put together a few stops…" Hackett tapped on a data pad briefly. "Here," he handed the list to Shepard, who gave it a cursory glance. Then, his eyes widened. "A few stops? Admiral, this tour would take weeks. There's two on Earth, and everything else is off-world."
Hackett nodded. "A large amount of the human population isn't bound to Earth at this point, Shepard. Aside from that, it's not just humanity that's interested in the fact that you're alive. I spoke to Primarch Victus shortly after General Vakarian delivered you to Earth. The Turians want to damn near adopt you, Shepard. Short of that, I think they'll settle for naming a new cruiser after you. Everyone wants to thank you. Salarians, Krogan, Asari… I even got a call from the Volus Ambassador after we announced you were alive. "
Shepard smiled slightly. Liara's shoulders dropped.
And now he's going to agree.
She held her breath, waiting. A million angry responses rolled through her mind as Shepard nodded. Instead of opening her mouth, Liara pushed away from the wall and walked out without a word.
•._.••´¯``•.¸¸.•` sραcεs `•.¸¸.•´´¯`••._.•
Shepard caught up with her at last in the courtyard. He called from behind her, but she ignored him, storming forward between two Alliance soldiers.
"Liara, hold on! ...Will you stop and listen for just a…" She heard him let out a sigh. Moments later, he appeared before her, flash-charging past her, and blocking her path.
"Hang on a second," he pleaded.
"You promised me, Shepard!" Liara yelled, crossing her arms angrily.
"I know I did. Just listen for a minute. If you want to go after that, I won't stop you. Hear me out."
Liara fumed, crossing her arms haughtily. "One minute."
He nodded, grateful. Shepard gestured to a bench in the courtyard under a young sapling. Liara sat down, crossing her arms again. Shepard let out a soft laugh as he sat next to her. "Not gonna make this easy, are you?"
Liara's glare in response was murderous. Shepard held up his hands in mock surrender, holding them there until she looked away. He sighed.
"You have to get Miranda set up as Feron's replacement in the Terminus systems. I told you I would help but… consider that for a moment: I've got the most recognizable face in the galaxy, Liara. Do you really want me out there with you and another covert agent of the Shadow Broker?"
Liara bit her lip, saying nothing. She wanted to be angry with him, but his argument made sense. She took a deep, calming breath, and lowered her arms to her sides slowly.
"I told you this would happen, Shepard. If we came back here, they would find a way to take you away from me…" A sob escaped her lips, hard as she tried to contain it. Shepard folded his arms around her, closing the distance between them on the bench and pulling Liara to his chest.
"There's nothing in this world- or the next, it would seem," Shepard grinned as she let out a laugh, "that can keep us apart. Remember what I said? To lose thee…"
Liara nodded once. "Were to lose myself." She lost herself in his piercing blue eyes until he leaned in to kiss her softly. Shepard stood, and pulled Liara to her feet.
"Now," he sighed. "Tomorrow, you're getting back on the Light Echo and heading to… wherever, and I'm being caddied around by some Commander they recently promoted."
Liara let out a purring laugh. "Why Captain Shepard, are you trying to tell me that I have you all to myself for the next 14 hours?"
Shepard grinned, wrapping his hands around her waist. "I suppose I am. Question is, what are we going to do with all that time?"
Liara leaned forward on her toes, her lips touching his ear as she whispered, "I can think of a few things."
•._.••´¯``•.¸¸.•` sραcεs `•.¸¸.•´´¯`••._.•
Liara awoke to the din of raindrops along the windowsill. She smiled briefly, recalling the last time she'd lay in an Alliance bed, listening to the rain. This time, she knew, when she looked over her shoulder, she'd find Shepard sleeping quietly.
It's only a few weeks. What's that compared to what we've been through already? I'm overreacting about nothing.
Liara leaned over and kissed his cheek softly before stealthily climbing out of bed and recovering her clothes. She turned quickly at the door, giving him one last glance. With a smile, Liara reached out and touched the door panel.
"I love you," Shepard murmured from the bed.
Liara smiled. "And I you, Shepard."
With that, she turned and walked swiftly away.
Author's Note: First and foremost, thanks for reading! I'm having a lot of fun working on Volume 2 of 'Stars', and I'm glad you've decided to join me for our next chapter in my ever-evolving experiment.
For those of you wondering, the bit at the beginning is from "Preface to a Twenty-Volume Suicide Note" written by Amiri Baraka. I felt like those four lines really resonated with where I want to go with this story- in fact, it was that quatrain that started this whole thing. I was perfectly content with how Lost Among the Stars had ended (the first time I wrote the ending, that is- a very final happily ever after). But then I realized, there was a new question that was rolling around in my mind. After all, we answered the 'what if…?' in volume 1; the question that was burning inside me now became, 'what happens now…?'. I deleted and re-wrote the last chapters, and took a new direction.
And so, this is where we're at, friends. This volume promises to answer the 'what happens now…?'. Given that I hadn't actually planned to write this, I cannot yet answer the question, nor can I answer if this will be the end of our tale.
I can promise, however, that I will do my best to keep you entertained, and stay within the spirit of the Mass Effect universe we've all come to love and enjoy. As always, I value your feedback, and thank you again for reading.
It's going to take some time to really put this one together, but after making everyone wait so long for the final chapter of 'Lost', I wanted to get this up as quickly as possible.
Until next time!
-Zero