I write for a living, but mostly just technical info. This is my first attempt creative writing. Please leave a comment if you have any feedback or recommendations.

I know many people were upset by Liara's drastic personality change between ME1 and ME 2. I hope to create some background as to why that change occurred. I have left the descriptions of Shepard vague intentionally so the story can hopefully work for anyone's mental image of femShep.

Edit: I revised the earlier chapters to match the way my writing style has changed in the later chapters. I want to thank everyone for the reviews and the constructive criticism, especially the crew from Aria's Afterlife. It has helped me immeasurably!

Thanks for taking the time to read the story and I hope you enjoy it. It is a personal story for me and the process of writing this has changed me in ways I cannot even name.

The Waiting Room of the Universe

Chapter 1

The ice cold air assaulted her body. Her blood thickened in her veins and the beating pulse of her heart slowed by the second. She opened her eyes to see darkness surrounding her with lights flickering in the distance. Her lungs jerked inside her chest as she struggled to breathe in the only air left. She was alone. There was no sign of safety near her—no ship, no crew. She must wait for someone to find her and save her. Could anyone find her in time? Would her life end in the pain, the darkness, the waiting . . .?

Light and sensation flooded Liara's body as her eyes snapped open and she tried to recognize her surroundings. She felt her chest expand as she drew in a deep breath. I am alive. It was just the dream again. Her body relaxed as she realized that the experience wasn't real; it was the same dream that has been haunting her sleep for weeks. Her pulse slowed as she became aware of warm arms surrounding her and moist breath on the nape of her neck. The residual feelings of pain and emptiness from her dream melted away in the comforting embrace of her lover's arms wrapped softly underneath her breasts. She did not know the cause of this reoccurring dream, but its importance faded away as she felt the reassurance of her partner's touch. Liara could tell by Shepard's rhythmic breathing that the human was still deep in her slumber. Liara absently ran her fingertips over Shepard's arms and pondered on the events that had brought her to this place, here and now.

It had been several weeks since the battle for the Citadel was waged and Saren and his Reaper flagship, Sovereign, were defeated. The battle had caused great damage, but the citizens of the Citadel were relieved that the previously unknown threat had been so quickly resolved. In fact, even among the Council members, politicians and leaders of the Alliance, there was a drive to forget the dire Reaper threat which remained in deep space. Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy, however, knew that the threat remained. It was time for the cycle of extinction to continue as it had since the beginning of time. No one would be safe from the onslaught of the Reaper forces, but no one was willing to fight this fate except for the small crew of the Normandy.

So many aspects of Liara's life changed within a few, short months. What if she never met Shepard? What if the Reaper threat had not brought them together? As devastating as the threat was, it was the reason that she had met this beautiful woman. Liara whispered a quiet prayer of gratitude to the Goddess as she pulled Shepard's embrace closer to her chest. The asari's movement woke Shepard. She stretched her muscles as she asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Just thinking," Liara replied. She turned her body to face Shepard so she could look into the woman's deep, green eyes.

"About what?" Shepard asked with a crooked grin.

Liara, not willing to spoil a peaceful morning with her partner with thoughts of destruction and worry, replied, "Oh, nothing important right now."

A playful look crossed Shepard's eyes and she said, "I thought you might have been thinking about last night."

Liara's blue skin turned a deeper shade as she thought of the hours they had spent deep in each other's embrace. "Shepard…." Liara shyly turned her eyes away and looked to a distant corner of the room. Although the pair had spent many nights together since their initial joining before landing on Ilos, the young asari still did not know how to respond to the intimacy she shared with the human female.

Shepard giggled and touched the side of the asari's face. "You are so cute when you are shy." She pulled Liara closer and kissed her forehead. Liara nestled her head between Shepard's neck and shoulder as the asari hid her blushing face from view. Her lips brushed against the skin on Shepard's neck as she smiled. The two remained like this in silence for a few moments.

The sound of the intercom broke the silence as Joker interrupted the couple's bliss with no apparent regard. "Hey, Commander, you awake yet? You've been sleeping in quite a bit for someone with military discipline. Or… oh, maybe you haven't been 'sleeping' in the mornings! Is that it? Come on, you can tell me. I certainly won't broadcast our conversation on the intercom system for the entire ship."

"Joker, certainly you have something more important to discuss than my sleeping habits," the commander grumbled as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Commander, you're no fun, did you know that? XO Pressly wanted me to report that scanners have picked up evidence of a settlement on Lorek. It's a small settlement, but they are packing some serious hardware down there."

The commander sighed. "Ok, Joker, inform Pressly that I will be at the CIC in five minutes. I want to see the scan reports when I arrive." Shepard turned to Liara and gave her a quick kiss. "Well, I suppose I better get up and get to business." The Normandy had been tasked with locating remaining Geth forces in the Terminus Systems. Human settlements had been attacked recently, however, the Alliance brass could not determine if the attacks were the result of Geth forces or local pirate raids. The Normandy was investigating any anomalies they encountered while patrolling the Terminus Systems.

Liara jumped out of the bed as she said, "Shepard, let me go with you. I'll get my armor on."

Shepard touched Liara's arm as she was walking past. "No, Liara, you stay here. I know you need some rest after last night." Liara blushed again and was in no state to argue her case. "I'll take Kaidan and Garrus. We'll be back before you know it." Shepard slid on a tank top and shorts and was out the door before Liara could even regain her wits.

Shepard avoided having Liara in her squad since the attack on the Citadel. Liara knew that Shepard was trying to protect her, but she would prefer to be with Shepard and know that she is safe. The hours of waiting for Shepard's return were difficult. Not only did Liara have to deal with the anxiety of not knowing if Shepard was safe, she also just did not know what to do with her time.

Since she was not an Alliance crew member, she did not have a defined role on the Normandy. Her expertise with Prothean history and archaeology made her the best person to evaluate relics discovered on many of Shepard's visits to foreign planets. Less than a year ago, she would have been overjoyed to have the opportunity to research so many rare relics. For decades, she had spent her time in solitude, becoming completely lost in discovering and researching the relics of the Prothean Empire. It had been her passion and had fulfilled her. Now, however, her passions had changed, and she did not know quite what to do with herself unless she was in Shepard's arms. Liara did not know what to make of this change within herself. She had always been content to be alone and engaged in scientific study. Her desire to learn and to know had kept her driven every minute of every day. She had not even considered developing a relationship with anyone, let alone this mysterious, human female. Now as their relationship had grown, Liara could not even imagine being content with her life of solitude before. She felt as if the only home she had ever known or ever will know was with Shepard.

This life had its drawbacks. Liara stood in the middle of one of the worst drawbacks now—the waiting. "Well, you better do something useful," Liara chided herself. Slipping on a gown and grabbing a fresh towel and scientist uniform, Liara headed to the shower. The heat of the shower pulled Liara into a reality that she did not entirely want—the reality of filling up the days with tasks, waiting for the intimacy of night to return. Liara made up her mind that she would focus on her research and keep these wandering thoughts out of her head. She finished her shower and slipped into her uniform. After depositing some items in Shepard's quarters, Liara returned to her lab in the back of the med bay.

She opened the terminal in the lab and began to review her notes on the Prothean disc discovered on Chasca in the Maroon Sea. This disc was more intact than other discs she had seen and seemed to have a large data cache on it. Liara tried several methods to extract the data, but all were unsuccessful. She grew restless with each failed attempt. The intense focus on her work as she sat in the same position, staring at the terminal, caused the pain in her back and shoulders. She decided that a walk to the CIC would help to loosen the muscles in her back.

As she climbed the steps to the CIC, she noted that the crew were buzzing around the work stations faster than usual. As she reached the top of the steps, she saw XO Pressly was tense and bent over a work station playing the radio transmissions of the shore party on Lorek. The sound of rapid gunfire filled the room. Shepard and her team were in a heavy fire fight. Kaidan's voice broke through the sound of the firefight. "I am cornered on the left flank, repeat, I am cornered on the left flank. I have three asari commandos inbound. Throwing up a barrier."

Garrus' husky voice replied, "Getting into a sniping position, throwing out proximity mine for suppress …." His voice was cut short.

"Damn!" Shepard screamed. "Garrus is hit by a stasis field. I'm advancing to center position to lay down suppression on both flanks."

"That's crazy, Shepard! I'll hold this position."

"Moving forward. It looks like they just put Garrus in stasis to slow him down. They can't get a good angle on him. Moving up to engage your commandos." The sound of shuffling movements and rapid fire continued. "Kaidan, I only see two commandos on your position. Where is the third?"

At that moment, the sound of a crash flooded the radio transmission and the weapon fire ceased. Kaidan shouted, "Shepard's down, Shepard's down! Normandy, requesting immediate extraction on my position."