Title: Memories
Author: written and translated by Servala, corrected by Niorah
Game: Mass Effect 3
characters/pairing: Jane Shepard/ Liara T´Soni
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its assets belong to Electronic Arts and BioWare.
No copyright infringement intended.
*****
Liara felt well, due in large part to the forced sleep. Somehow it had been sweet of the Commander, to kidnap her to bring her into her own bed and Liara had needed it. As she went now through the messages she had received overnight, her mood improved even more. Finally she had found the track of matriarch Aethyta again. After the attempt by Cerberus to take over the Citadel, she had disappeared from Liara's radar and she had been a little worried. Even if she had met her father only recently, she did like the very unusual Asari and she would have regretted it to lose her so quickly.
She decided to interrupt her work for a moment to get some food. Like sleeping, eating was something she forgot to do on a regular basis. Luckily EDI had taken it on board as a personal task to remind her about it, and the threat to inform Dr. Chakwas helped too.
She left her cabin and walked the few steps to the mess. Suddenly there was silence, as all turned towards her. "Liara?" Tali asked in surprise, "Hey Doc!" James beamed at her. Liara thought she should perhaps spend a little more time outside her quarters and mix with the people and not just only see them on a mission."Doc?" Tali almost hissed at James. "Only Doc?" Garrus snorted. "Do not worry, he sees Liara too rarely to give her a nickname." Tali looked at him indignantly. "He only saw me once and since that he calls me sparks!" Liara could not suppress a giggle. She went to the fridge and took out something for herself that was palatable.
She did not join in the talks, but instead just listened, until she saw Shepard who was walking along with Ashley and followed by Traynor, on her way to the elevator. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other. Both did not notice how Traynor startled at the sight of Liara and stumbled with the data pads against Ashley's back. "Hopeless," Liara heard Garrus say when Shepard disappeared in the elevator, "Absolutely hopeless.". She looked at him in confusion, but he just laughed. "Oh, nothing."
She stayed a little longer and then let the others alone with their conversations. She turned but didn't go back to her cabin, walking to the observation room of the Normandy instead. She could easily work from there, but her mind didn´t want to focus on the data. She leaned back and looked out of the window and sank into memories.
Shepard found her an hour later. She took a moment to watch Liara. The Asari seemed completely relaxed and peaceful. Her hands were folded in her lap and her eyes were focused on the infinity of the universe, while a slight smile was on her lips. Shepard wanted to leave, just as Liara noticed her. "Looking for me?" The commander nodded. "EDI said you were here. I do not want to disturb you..." Liara gave her a warm smile. "You could never disturb me."
Shepard leaned against the outer wall. "What are you thinking about?" Liara was looking sad. "About my mother," Shepard nodded expectantly. "I was thinking about our conversation, and it reminded me of those days." - "You mean like you were digging for ruins in the grass?" Liara laughed, this time happily so. "Yes, I…" she hesitated. "I would like to show you one of my memories."
Shepard frowned and ran a hand over her chin. "Is that possible?" Liara nodded slowly. "Yes, Asari can share thoughts or memories, I…" she hesitated and looked uncertainly at her hands, "I think I'd like you to see it through my eyes. How she was before, before ..." she looked into Shepard's eyes and Jane gulped when she saw the anguish behind her look. So she just nodded and sat down beside her. "Close your eyes," Liara's voice was soft and Shepard could feel the forehead of the Asari leaned against her own. "Embrace eternity!"
Grass, she felt real grass under her feet. The sunlight was bright and warm, it gleamed through the leaves of the trees and the flowers were turned into a sea of gemstones. The little girl looked around, while the young Asari, a student of her mother, who should take care of her was distracted. She threw a careful look towards the other Asari in the park, then she ran away and hid among some bushes before falling to the ground.
The sounds, the smell of the flowers, the bright sunshine, were almost too much to take in. The girl giggled, rolled around in the grass and pulled a small book from the pocket of her dress. She knew she would have at least half an hour before her nanny would find her. A wonderful half hour, only for herself.
"Liara," the girl was startled out of her thoughts when she heard her mother's voice. She put the book back in her pocket and crawled out from under the bush, only to look at the angry eyes of the matriarch. She gave her mother a big smile, "what shall I do with you," her mother said, mostly to herself. "Liara?" The girl looked up at her mother. "I'm not angry, but you cannot always run away," she wiped a tear from her daughter's cheek. "And now we'll put you in a warm bath my dirty little wing!"
"Your nanny was only distracted for a second and you disappeared. Again." She knelt before her daughter and looked into her big blue eyes. Eyes that could hide no emotion, no feeling.
"What do I do with you?" She took the girl by the hand and walked towards her apartment. They lived in a building near the park and as Benezia was looking around to find her student, she only shook her head. Liara was just too much like her father, an Asari, whose father was a Krogan. Who could blame the poor girl for her genes?
The memory ended and the meld faded. Shepard needed a moment then she watched Liara blink and smile. "How old were you then?" Liara looked at her under half-lowered lashes. "Seven, almost eight and I used to have my mother very often driven to despair," she laughed softly, but sadly, to herself. Shepard still felt the effects of the memory. She herself had grown up without a family. There had never been such peaceful moments in her life and she was overwhelmed by the abundance of feelings.
She took Liara's hands in hers. "Thank you," she smiled at the Asari. Shepard sat down so that she could hug her. "Our daughters can play in the grass, as much as they want," she promised Liara. She sighed nuzzling her, close to her partner, hoping there would be grass somewhere to play. She kept this thought for herself, because she didn´t want to ruin the moment. "She loved you, you have seen it in her eyes and that is something you should never forget," Shepard's voice was soft. Liara leaned closer to her and she felt her tears running down her cheeks. Shepard said nothing more, patted her reassuringly on the back and decided to just be there for her.