Title: A Commander's Last Goodbye
Paring: FemShepxLiara T'Soni
Commander Lilly Shepard's Background:
*Born on Mindoir
*Paragon through all 3 games
*Loyal to Liara T'Soni
*Survived the Suicide mission with all characters
Months passed after the war with the Reapers finally ended. Many brave servicemen and women were lost in the fight but never forgotten in the eyes of their families and to the Alliance. After the crucible fired upon its targets, Admiral Hackett along with Anderson put together a large search party to find any people who might have survived the attack. Many were found but more were lost with each passing day. The death toll was among the hundreds by now.
The days continued to pass before their was a faint radio chatter which mentioned one of the teams managed to recover Commander Shepard's body on the Citadel to everyone's relief. The Commander was in a bad state however as her wounds bled and many bones broken. There was a slight pulse still felt but it was a race against time to get the war hero back on her feet.
"Barely got a pulse here!" cried out one of the Turian doctors as they carried in the stretcher to which held the Commander's fragile form. On the other side of the stretcher was another woman; an Asari to be more precise reaching out to hold the Commander's limp hand but was failing none the less from all the pushing and shoving to get Shepard to Huerta Memorial.
As the medical team rushed Shepard into one of the emergency rooms, one of the doctors held out his arm to stop the Asari from following.
"I'm sorry miss but you cannot go with them at this point. Authorised personnel only" He muttered as the woman continued to push. "She's in the best possible place now, Miss T'Soni."
"She's my bondmate! I need to be there with her!" Liara screamed as her eyes filled with water before her legs began to buckle. Thankfully the doctor was there on hand to lower her slowly into one of the nearby seating areas as she continued to sob.
"We all feel your pain, Miss T'Soni. If I was in your position right now I wouldn't be able to contain myself either. The surgeons will do all they can for your bondmate but for now she needs your support by praying that everything will be okay."
After a few minutes of continued sobbing and support from the Turian doctor's words, Liara finally fell silent before taking her hands from her face and looking towards the door to where her bondmate was fighting for her life. Liara knew the doctor was right in what he said but she just couldn't bring herself to think of how she might never see Lilly again.
"I just want her by my side again. I don't want a famous war hero... I want my wife, my love, my hope."
Days rolled by and there was still no sign of Shepard awakening. After much praying to the goddess for her lover, Liara finally got the news she was waiting for. Her bondmate had made it through surgery with much success and was on the verge on healing from the scars that painted her body. Ever since that day Liara had never left her lovers side in case she awoke without her beside her.
With both hands intertwined and the silent sound of soft breathing filling the room, Liara is suddenly awoken by movement from Shepard's hand. At first it brought her excitement as the thought of seeing her sweetheart open her eyes once more brought heat behind her eyes.
"Lilly?" Liara whispered as she held Shepard's hands gently within her own. "Can you hear me? If you can squeeze my hand" Seconds moved before Liara finally got her answer. A small squeeze of her hand told her all she needed to know. Shepard was beginning to show her outside awareness.
With all the excitement of her wife showing signs of movement after so long, Liara rushed out the room to collect one of the nearby doctors to show her findings.
"Well she does seem to be showing an awareness of the voices around her. Keep talking to her and soon you might see her finally open her eyes." After checking the Commander's vitals the doctor walked back out into the main corridor to the other patients while Liara continued to keep her promise to not leave her lovers side.
The next morning was one of much pleasure as Lilly Shepard was finally awake and responding to everyone around her. As the now much loved Commander finally awoke, the first face she laid eyes on was that of her lover and wife Liara T'Soni. Tears were shed and many of sadness much to Lilly's sadness but none the less she had been given the opportunity to see her loved ones again. Not much could be said for the many men and women who lost their lives in the fight all to which Lilly blamed her own for not being quick enough to save them all.
Lilly was the first to awake the following morning as the sun stripped through the clear view window. A full view of the Citadel's arms put the Commander in a much relaxed state. There was a lot to do in regards to rebuilding the place but it was nice to finally see the races working together. Who would have known it would have been the Reapers to attack Earth to get everyone together?
"Morning sleepy head" echoed the familiar voice from across the room. Liara came walking over to the side of the bed to kiss Lilly's soft lips. "How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.
"Still a little worn from the meds but it'll wear off eventually. How long have you been up for?" Lilly asked as she smiled from the taste of the Asari's lips.
"Only for a couple of hours that's all. I couldn't sleep so I decided to get up and do something productive to keep me awake for a while." Shepard's smile began to vanish as Liara caught sight of it. "What's wrong?" she asked as she saw those blue ocean eyes she fell for look away from her.
"What happened? After the attack I mean. We've never talked about it ever since i've been awake." Lilly added as she looked back to Liara who took a seat on the edge of the bed.
This was the moment Liara had been preparing for. A lot had happened after the Crucible was fired but would Lilly remember any of it at all? The doctors said she might suffer a little from memory loss as from the damage took to her skull. Was she ready to learn the truth? Her eyes must have shown her thoughts as Shepard took her beauty's hands in hers while telling her everything would be alright.
Sighing, Liara began to tell Shepard the extent of what happened after the war had ended. This was going to be hard on them both.
"Did they make it? Please tell me they made it through, Liara."
After the Crucible fired upon the Reapers, the Normandy was called to back away from the fight as a wave of what looked to be a blue wave crashed over the vessel, causing the Normandy to slowly loose all power to the systems. Joker; being the experienced pilot the Alliance only knows managed to keep the old girl steady but not for long as another pulse came crashing towards them. Now having lost their systems the crew prepared for an emergency landing. The Normandy was never found or heard from in months until the wreckage was found just outside of Vancouver in flames.
The reports confirmed the initial damage the vessel took on impact. There was no mention of survivors as Liara soothed talked to Shepard. Knowing the Commander would take it as a hard blow, Liara held her in her arms as she felt Lilly shake along with a few sniffles here and there before tears followed on.
"Why them? Why not me?" Shepard cried as she held tightly onto Liara's shoulders.
"Now don't you dare talk like that Lilly Shepard! I almost lost you a few months ago and what do you think you would achieve if it was indeed you instead of them?" Liara was angered at Lilly's statement while she was trying to keep herself in check. Shepard continued to hold tight onto her blue beauty as she continued to cry in her arms.
A few minutes of continued sobbing soon died down as the two sat in each others embrace. Both hearts were hurting but in time both would find the strength to heal together.
"You talked about a monument the Alliance placed to honour the Normandy crew. I want to go say my last goodbyes as a Commander... and a friend."
Another couple of months passed before Shepard was finally able to leave the hospital grounds. The scars on her legs still pained as the doctors explained they were the ones that were mostly hit worst due to the implants Cerberus bestowed upon her. However, that wouldn't stop a now retired Commander from paying her respects.
Along with the help from her bondmate, Lilly finally made it to the location to which the monument was placed. A gold metal form of the Normandy was placed on top of a resting ground for the crew. As the two of them slowly walked through the cemetery looking at the named graves, Shepard couldn't help feel a wave of guilt of being alive inside as her friends, family lied in graves when it should have been her.
The couple soon came to a stop in front of one of the bigger plaques which on a closer inspection had the engraved names of all the crew of the SSV-Normandy written along side many other achievements the crew had accomplished.
Running her hand over the names that Lilly saw as not just friends or co workers under her command, the whole unit was more of a family over the years they spent with each other. Another flush of guilt flooded over her as she stepped back and took another look.
One thing that managed to catch her eye was a little quote engraved on the bottom.
We fight so that the people of tomorrow have a better future
"I failed you all once again. It should be me here instead of you. You were the ones who made the Alliance what it is now. Without you to carry on your kind words and solutions I know there will be many people who will fall into chaos. As your Commander I failed you... as a friend I failed you."
Tears once again began to fall onto Lilly's cheeks as her legs shook before buckling under her. She was thankful enough to have Liara catch her as they both sunk to the ground while Liara held her sweetheart in her arms. Hearing her cries made her heart melt as she took a look up to the monument before burying her head into Shepard's.
"I'm so sorry..." muttered Shepard as she let the tears fall without trying to stop them now. However, a Shepard's work is never done after all.
Hey guys I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and read this little changed ending to Mass Effect 3. I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to leave any comments on how I could improve in any way as they are always welcomed.