Summary: Shepard retires after the Reaper War and attempts to live a life in peace.
Disclaimer: This is a personal work of fiction and constitutes fair use. This work contains depictions of violence, sexuality, mental illness, and harsh language. Regards/gratitude to EA Games/Bioware for a fun universe to play in.
Dedication: For all those who strive to make the world a better place for the ones we love.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I've decided to re-upload this story into individual chapters (instead of one giant uber-chapter). If you're already read this story, (thank you very much) don't worry, I haven't changed/added any content; no need to re-read anything (unless you thought it was so amazing that you want to read it again!). If you haven't started reading this story yet, congratulations, it should be way less unweildly. If you're in the middle of reading this story and are wondering what the heck happened to the rest of it, don't worry, it's all still there, just broken up.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Enjoy!
Prologue:
Asari Matriarch Lady Dr. Liara T'soni, her people's representative on the Citadel Council, looked into her beloved's eyes. They stared back blankly. They never got the eyes right.
She had had such vibrant, penetrating, green eyes. The portals to the soul. These, rendered in solid Iridium, just didn't have that spark. Not now, nor when the installation was unveiled in the Citadel Presidium nearly 300 years ago.
Over the centuries she must have seen hundreds of the things. Erected as memorials, or inspirations. In town squares, or outside of high schools and universities. In endless different poses and mediums. On dozens of worlds. They were all strikingly life-like, except in the eyes.
Oh Goddess, she thought, wistfully, to herself, how I miss you. Liara longed quietly for lost love and family.
Nearly three centuries of grieving had tempered the loss. On any other day she could walk past the memorial without so much as a second, usually fond, thought of her deceased bond-mate. Though, she had always used the term 'wife'. This day, however, always gave her pause. As the oldest member of the Council, and one of the few living to have known her personally, the duty (honor?) of addressing the Citadel on Remembrance Day befell Lady Liara.
She looked up at the imposing monument. The "Viking Vikki" pose. Clad in weathered N7 combat armor, left foot perched on a dying Collector, the right hand held an assault rifle to her shoulder, her gauntleted left hand motioned forward. This was how nearly every being in the known galaxy knew the "Savior of the Citadel", the "Slayer of the Reapers". To Liara, these titles were meaningless. To Liara, Admiral Victoria Shepard wasn't a mythic hero. She wasn't a symbol. To Liara, she was just Victoria, the only woman she would ever love.
Lady Liara put the memories aside and smoothed her elegant robes. She placed her delicate blue hands upon the obsidian podium and looked out over the crowd. Her inner emotional turmoil never showed on her dignified matriarchal face, she was too practiced for that. Assembled before her on the marble Presidium Promenade were hundreds of representatives of the various species of known space. Off to her right the reflecting pool shimmered silently. In the distance the Mass Relay sculpture, the Conduit, stood silent sentinel. She even spied the Rachni and Geth ambassadors viewing the ceremony from their embassy balconies to her left. Her speech would be simul-cast over extra-net as well.
She took a breath, steadied herself, and spoke:
"The night before we dropped on Ilos I went to Commander Shepard's stateroom. I speak to you honestly, I was not confident that we would be able to stop Saren and Sovereign. I wasn't so much afraid of my own death, but of failing the rest of the galaxy. I was looking for comfort."
The Matriarch lowered her head slightly in feigned shame. She was no longer ashamed of the fear she had experienced so long ago. Appearing mortal though, flawed even, to the crowd had the desired effect of solemnity. Goddess forgive me, I loath to make you a spectacle. It wasn't that Liara didn't feel Shepard worthy of such adulation, she just disliked making her so inhuman. She had loved a person, a beautiful dynamic person, not an idea.
Lady Liara continued:
"Commander Shepard looked at me, cracked that grin she was known for," Liara smirked herself, "and pointed me to a framed piece of yellowed paper hanging on her wall. It read:
Soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force. You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
June 6, 1944
"She said to me,
"That was written and published on the eve of the invasion for which our ship is named. It was, at that time, the single most important event in human history. The fate of the entire human race, literally, hung in the balance. The men who waded ashore and dropped from the sky during that battle felt the same way that you feel now. That I feel. They knew their odds. They knew what was riding on them. They were afraid. There is no shame in fear, Liara. It is nature's way of telling us we're still alive.
"Then she winked,
"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
"We'll come through this Liara. We'll succeed because we need to. The galaxy needs us, and we'll deliver."
Liara looked at the crowd. The bit about winking had elicited a few chuckles amongst them. The ending quote, however, part of which was borrowed from a now half millennium-dead human actor, had substantially mollified them. That wasn't nearly the most important thing she said, or did. But I can't talk about that to the crowd. Liara sighed internally. That night altered Liara's life irrevocably. It had been as if a light was lit within her heart. Shepard was her first, her only, love.
"I learned many important lessons from Victoria Shepard. We all stand together, a single galactic community. Our fight against the Reapers, all those centuries ago, threw into stark relief our common interests, our need for cooperation. While the Reaper threat has been long dispatched, the need for community remains. This truth should be remembered along with all those who died to preserve it for us.
"Thank you."
After the speeches concluded, after the parades ceased, after the people went home, Liara remained. She always remained. Liara always knew she'd outlive her love. A thousand year lifespan was both a blessing and a curse. Embrace the time you have together, went the Asari saying. If only memories would fill the hole you left in my heart, Liara thought to herself.
She closed her eyes. Tilting her head back she basked her pale blue freckled face in the Presidium's artificial sunlight. She pictured her beloved's face. In her mind's eye she could see her full lips, her emerald gaze, her flame red hair, let down as she kept it after her retirement. She smiled, Victoria was so beautiful. Oh goddess, what I wouldn't give for another moment with you! Again, she looked up into those dull Iridium eyes and her heart sank. She was gone, long gone.
Liara thought, what would you think of all of this? Would you take up the mantle for the sake of galactic cooperation and play this farce? Would you shake your head and walk away, retire and live a quiet life? Would that life include me? She lowered her gaze and turned away.
As was her custom, Matriarch Lady Dr. Liara T'soni retired to her quarters to reflect on her life, her loves and losses, triumphs and failures. She sighed. It always came down to the same thing, Shepard.