Ashley Williams had fulfilled one of her dreams. Ever since she was little, she always wanted to own a farm. A place where she could live with her family, with one or two horses and dogs. Now she was on her farm, on that small colony near Thessia where she had followed Shepard, and looked around happily.
Ash was still in the alliance and did not plan - other than Shepard – to leave the military too soon. She followed Shepard as commanding officer on the Normandy and she loved this new challenge. She was also proud of the fact that the name Williams was finally cleared of its guilt.
The Reapers couldn´t destroy all life on earth. Especially in rural areas as animals were able to survive. In addition, several scientists had cloned and recolonized a lot of them. Ashley had managed to buy a few Arabian horses and build a stable to have her own breeding. She loved these noble animals. If she, like now, spent time on the ground, she was accompanied every moment with her two dogs and James Vega.
She wrapped an arm around James and leaned on his big strong body. In the course of the struggle against the Reapers, they had come closer and then it went beyond the purely physical attraction. Although, she still had fun using him sometimes only physically.
She smacked him on his tight ass and then looked after her dog. How this very pretty animal had survived on Earth, was still a mystery to her. She was found by some soldiers, starving and in a sorry state. Ashley had been part of the team that searched and killed the last Reaper ground forces. As the poor creature approached her, she spontaneously fell in love with the female Golden Retriever.
Now, a year later, her coat gleamed again, golden in the sun. The fur was curled on her neck, she wore a light mane and she danced more than she ran. Thanks to cloning, Ashley had gotten the perfect partner for her and now stumbled six small puppies behind her mother.
Ash went to her knees and raised one of the tiny creatures. She would keep one, four had already a new family, but for the last little she still could not find the perfect home, even if Ashley already had a certain plan.
For her, children should grow up with a dog. Stupid was that Asari had not only panicked before the horses, the idea to ride them, brought each Asari off balance. Of dogs, however, they seemed to have developed a great fear. Unfortunately, this included the special Asari Ashley had hoped as the future owner of this puppy. Shepard was not a problem. Humans could not resist a baby mammal, but Liara? Ashley would at least try; otherwise Dr. Chakwas would take the pup.
"Li? Are you coming? "Shepard waited for a while for her wife to finally find the way out of the bedroom to join her. Aethyta had promised to take care of their daughter for a few hours. Ashley had invited them and Shepard looked forward to the visit. She hadn't had the opportunity to congratulate her on her promotion. "Li, I swear...you," she called impatiently up, but thankfully Liara finally came. Shepard was staggered every time anew when she saw her partner. Something that would probably never change.
As Liara entered the last stage, Shepard took her around the waist and spun her in a circle. Liara, who was familiar with this ritual, put her hands on Jane´s shoulders. Shepard let her slide slowly to the ground in front of her. Liara´s hands wandered to Jane's neck and both sank into a gentle kiss.
The Asari let her forehead lean against Shepard's. "Can you not simply go alone?"
Shepard looked her wife in the eyes and she tried very hard not to lose herself in them. She had to clear her throat and break eye contact. "Ash wanted to see both of us and we already agreed." She gave Liara a kiss on the nose. "So? Shall we?"
Liara sighed and nodded. "Have you programmed the route?" Shepard laughed. "You mean, if I want to drive?" Liara's eyes widened in panic and Shepard shook her head quickly. "I know that you do not like that." She grinned and kept the rest of the sentence to herself. She planned a detour to spend a little extra time with Liara.
Shepard had managed to distract Liara, but when Ash's farm came into view, the Asari was nervous again. "Are you not happy? We haven't seen them since the baby party." She attempted a smile. Liara was most afraid of Ashley horses. Shepard had not really understood it until Liara showed her a picture, and told her the matching story from the mythology of the Asari.
Thousands of years ago, when the Asari had just begun to establish colonies on nearby worlds, a strange incident occurred. The settled Asari disappeared. The matriarchs on Thessia sent a reconnaissance team, but only one Asari returned.
She told stories of a great demon. His body shone as black as night, and four – not six like usual - legs carried him fast like the wind. His eyes glowed red like two suns and in his mighty jaws he wore huge teeth. The Asari told how the demon had called to them at night.
They chained themselves, but one after the other followed the siren-like call and disappeared on the back of the demon. The next morning, the survivors found only the gnawed bones. In later centuries, the demon was never found, but any colonizing on that planet failed and the fear manifested in their genes.
Shepard found the similarity with terrestrial horses interesting and that Ashley had chosen black horses did not helped for sure. She could also explain to the Asari every so often that horses are pure herbivores. The Asari knew and understood it, but Ash's farm was still shunned by them. Only matriarch Aethyta did not seem to mind. They even came to them but not too close, but she didn´t avoided them either. "At my age, I'm too tough," her only comment was.
The shuttle landed and Shepard got out. She opened Liara's door gallantly, but the Asari hesitated. "Li. Come on," she said, smiling. This got her a nasty look but the asari got out, however keeping close to her side as they walked slowly towards the house.
Ashley and James waited outside the barn. Ashley was never tired of showing her horses to the Asari. Secretly it galled her that even Liara turned pale at the sight of these beautiful animals. She knew the story and the genetically developed fear, but found that the Asari could slowly grow over this tale.
"Commander," Shepard grinned and patted her on the shoulder. Ashley blushed, but the two women hugged. James shook Shepard's hand and nodded to Liara, but she was far too distracted by a small, gold-colored animal that slowly lumbered closer to her. Liara walked a few steps back and looked for help to Jane, but Shepard was distracted by something James and Ashley had said to her. The little creature was not to be swayed or distracted. It kept coming closer. Liara went back a few steps until she came back against a resistance. Suddenly, a large black head pushed beside her own and snorted.
Shepard turned around when she heard Liara screaming. The Asari stood completely motionless at the gate of the corral. One of the mares sniffed, clearly interested and a little puppy tried to climb up her boots. Would she not totally be in panic, the humans would certainly erupt in laughter, but Liara looked like seconds away from a circulatory collapse.
Shepard rushed to her and lifted the puppy in her arms before pushing the horse's head gently away. Ashley, who had followed her, took the puppy while Shepard embraced Liara. "Loco," muttered James. Ashley gave him a glare, but he just added, "Commander Shepard, saviour of the galaxy, rescues her wife from a puppy. Wrex will love it."
Liara snuggled up tight. The little creature did not really look dangerous, it had big, deep brown eyes, a black nose and was, if she understood her friends correctly, still a baby. If the adult ones did not have big teeth and did not look like the mythical representations of the mounts of the first Ardat-Yakshi... Liara had often wondered why many of the old mythology motifs seemed to look like animals from Earth and she planned to eventually to pursue this.
"You okay?" asked Jane gently and let her go again. Liara nodded, looking sceptically towards the rear, but the horse was gone back to the others. She was upset about it herself, but could not get this innate fear of horses off. She wondered whether the humans would laugh if they would see a real dragon or serpent in front of them. In fairness, she had to admit that no one really laughed. All three were understanding.
Ashley put the puppy down and whistled for her dog. Liara took Jane's hand, but the great dog ignored them completely and only nudged her cub back to the other. Immediately the pups began to play, what, Liara had to admit, was just simply sweet. They tried to knock the other down, ran a race, turned around in the running and jumping, chewed at each other till a soft squeak sounded and then let go. The female lay beside them in the grass and watched over the little rascals, while one of her babies tried to climb onto her back.
"Sweet isn't it?" Jane whispered to Liara and she could not help but nod. "Have you found an owner for them?" Jane knew from Ashley that she had not yet found a home for the last little one and the thought of a dog attracted her. She had learned everything about that certain race and found them perfect for her family. Only the idea that Liara would then never enter or leave the house anymore had stopped her from suggesting it – till now. She looked at her partner, who relaxed as she was watching the scene. The Asari was indeed not afraid of the animals; it was only through the stories of their myths.
"No, the small one you just saw has not found a family yet," Ashley said regretfully. Liara looked suspiciously between the two women, back and forth, and knew where it would lead. "Well, you had to try it here... among Asari," Shepard grinned. She took a piece of rope from James and went to the puppies. Liara watched in horror as all six immediately stifled by the rope and growled. Shepard was surprised by the force, landing on her back and was immediately tested as a new game option. The former Commander lay laughing on the floor and tried to stop the puppies from licking her face.
After a while even Liara forgot her horrors and fell into the amused mood. She even stroked one of the baby dogs carefully.
Later that evening, Dahlia was happy sleeping in her crib and Liara was snuggled closely to her wife. Shepard had not talked to her about the afternoon but Liara felt that her wife's brain was still working. She rolled over and Jane looked at her questioningly, but put her arms around Liara and gave her a kiss on the nose. She looked at Liara, but as she still had not said anything, Shepard gave her a gentle kiss on the lips until they were caressed by a slight smile.
"Let's visit the dogs again?" Liara broke the silence. "Would you like that?" Liara nodded. Shepard tilted her head as best she could. "You must not do that for me, they're sweet, but you're sweeter." To sample she gave Liara another kiss and hummed contentedly. "Jane ..." Liara sighed. Shepard managed to throw her completely off balance and have her forget what she really wanted to say. "Good, then we see them tomorrow and now come here." Jane rolled over in bed with Liara and gave her a passionate kiss...