Hey everyone, just a short bit at the start:
I am excited that a few people are actually reading the story and I am writing Part 2 right now. It would be great if you have time to leave just a short feedback. I haven't written or posted anything in a long time and I would also like to know what you think about it all.
Please note that we may not meet all the characters from the ME franchise again. Some are obviously dead (in my case: Kaidan, Mordin, Legion. And Jacob, because I never felt it :D ). Some are not on earth right now, which means they spent the last battle elsewhere (Samara, Miranda). Talking about the last battle - I obviously have my own ending in my head. It will be told through the story bit by bit as I don't like long explaining paragraphs ;).
Enough talk- thanks for reading!
10 PM. Commander Jane Shepard was fast asleep on the couch of her quarters on the Normandy, a video stream of intergalactic news still blaring from her data pad that was propped up on the nearby coffee table. Her face had sunken into the soft leather, one hand placed on her stomach, the other arm dangerously close to slipping off the sofa. Her slumber was so deep that she did not hear the soft chime from her door or the quiet 'swish' sound it made when opening.
Liara used to be very considerate about Shepard's privacy, always waiting to be invited in before entering Shepard's quarters on the Normandy. She smiled when she thought about how shy she had been back then, tip-toeing around the Commander, always trying to keep a professional attitude. That was a long time ago, at the beginning of their journey. Now they had reached the end of that journey that had led them to hell and back and a closed door would not stop or discourage Liara from visiting.
When she found her lover in that awkward but peaceful position she felt bad about having to wake her. Sleep still didn't come easily to Jane and when it did it was quickly interrupted by nightmares. When she was released from the hospital a week ago the doctors prescribed medication that helps deal with the trauma, but Shepard refused to take them. Liara thought it was irresponsible but let Jane have her way as there was little sense in trying to change her mind.
Now Liara sat on the floor next to the couch and gently stroked Shepard's arm trying to wake her. The commander made a faint noice, stretched out her arm and clumsily touched Liara's cheek with her finger tips. Liara took her hand and kissed it and Shepard opened her eyes, smiling sheepishly. Her face had marks from the couch cushions and her hair stood straight up on one side.
"Hey." She said in the raspy voice she always had after waking up and began stretching her arms and legs.
"Hey yourself. Why don't you go sleep in your bed, sleepy face? You don't want to be all sore for your big day tomorrow."
Shepard sat up, sighed, and scratched her head to rearrange her hair.
"Guess I must have fallen asleep watching the news." She turned off the data pad. "It's really boring, they are showing me every five minutes."
Liara had a response ready, mocking Shepard for watching herself on the news stream, but she could tell from Jane's tone that the commander dreaded the coming day and hated the attention. Liara got up from the floor, sat beside Shepard and put her arms around the other woman. Shepard returned the gesture.
"I don't get why you are so uncomfortable with this. This is a good thing!" said Liara.
Shepard smiled crookedly.
"No, you're right, I know it is. I just … have some issues… I guess."
"Well, what is it? Is there any reason they shouldn't parade you around and pin a lot of metal to your uniform?" She cupped Shepard's chin with her hand and made her look straight into her eyes. "Defeater of the Reapers, savior of the galaxy, war hero?"
Shepard laughed and rewarded Liara's enthusiasm with a kiss.
"Now don't get me wrong." She said. "I think this is an honor and I would be lying if I said I don't like … appreciation. But …"
"You can tell me, you don't have to keep it all to yourself." Liara encouraged her.
Shepard was obviously uncomfortable talking about what was going on. It had never been easy for her to break character and allow others to see her weaknesses. Liara was the only one who was ever able to get close to her. Shepard took a deep breath.
"Well, I am a little nervous. They expect me to be this … glorious hero and to give an inspiring speech. But I have nothing. I mean I'm sure that they have some ghost-written piece ready in case I choke but… I feel like I will disappoint."
"Jane, how could you disappoint anyone? You saved all of us. Believe me, it doesn't matter what you do on that stage tomorrow. Your people want to thank you. They owe you and you don't have to prove anything anymore."
Shepard sighed.
"There is a lot of politics involved already. The earth lies in ruins. So do … Thessia and Palaven and many others. There is chaos and re-structuring and room for politicians to go for the power. There is mostly a good spirit about it now… Species working together, euphoric about winning the war as united forces. But that won't last. Old conflicts will light up again and new ones will arise. How will the Turians react to the genophage cure in a couple of years? The Batarians have not spoken the last word about the destruction of the Bahak System either. I am technically still awaiting a decision from the Alliance military court. And most importantly: Who will form the new council?"
Liara nodded.
"I know. These are sensitive times."
"The thing is: I know Alliance brass want me to play a role in that. They want to push humanities influence on intergalatic politics and expand their control with me as a leader. And that is not what I want at all."
"And they have no right to put you under that much pressure." Liara assured her. "Don't feel like you owe them anything. You are a great leader but you deserve to do whatever you want to do."
"Thanks for understanding". Shepard smiled.
"So what do you want?" Liara asked.
There was a pause.
"I just want everyone to honor the peace we just established and paid so dearly for. But I have no interest in politics and becoming a pawn in someone's game."
"Then you should just say what you think. At this point you should not have to answer to anyone."
"Since when are you so rebellious?" Shepard grinned and her eyes told Liara that some of the tension about the topic was relieved.
"Since when do you worry about offending your superiors?" Liara mocked and jokingly pushed the commander who had to admit Liara was right.
"Time to get you to bed." Liara said. " We have to get up at 8 in the morning and it would be good for you to get at least a couple of hours of sleep."
Shepard nodded and attempted to get off the couch. She pushed herself into a standing position with her arms and swayed dangerously as she reached for her crutch that was leaning against the back of the couch.
"Let me help you." Liara said and grabbed it quickly before Jane fell.
Shepard took it from her silently and shifted her weight off her legs. She slowly walked over to the bed, as proud and upright as she could while limping. Liara got up to dim the cabin lights except for the bed side lamps and began to take off her clothes.
"I'll hop in your shower real quick." She told Shepard and disappeared into the bathroom. Shepard just waved a 'go ahead'. Since the Normandy had been sitting in a dock on earth it had become more of a house than a battle station for its crew. They all stayed on the ship until the relay repairs would be finished and the Alliance would start to call their ships to duty. That could still be months from now. Military protocol was only losely followed, nobody really cared. Shepard was glad Liara stayed the nights with her. It helped having her close when the nightmares came. During the day she had to let her loved one go who buried herself in research on the Crucible, the Citadel and the workings of the Catalyst. This work would be the keystone of her research on the Protheans. It was sure to win her an intergalatic science award. The way she explained it, it was similar to the Nobel price earth scientists raced for. She had also started to go back to her responsibilities as the Shadowbroker. She tried to re-build communication channels to her agents and connections and kept an eye out for the conflicts Shepard worried about.
Shepard propped herself up on her side of the bed and put the crutch against the wall. It could be months until her legs would work properly again. Although she should have been happy to even be alive the immobility bothered and frustrated her. She let her head sink into the soft pillows and listened to the running water in the shower when her communicator beeped to signal a new message had been received.
When Liara emerged from the shower wearing nothing but one of Shepard's Alliance branded T-shirts, Shepard couldn't help but grin.
"Hey, get over here, beautiful. … I just got a message from the committee. They got me a cane for tomorrow so I look less… disabled I guess."
Liara crawled under the covers and looked at the communicator.
"Well, you can moap about it or take this chance to look really classy." She tried to motivate the commander. "And you are not disabled, you are wounded. Try not to be so touchy about this."
"I always assume the worst. It is a … necessary habit."
Liara drew her closer and rested her head on the commander's shoulder.
"We have peace now. You will have to cut back on that habit a lot is my guess."
"I will try." Replied Shepard, put her right arm around Liara's body and placed a kiss on top of her head. The bed side lights dimmed down and the commander closed her eyes trying to take her mind off everything that was troubling her so she could fall asleep again.
~ooooo~
Liara woke up to the jingle of the alarm clock. She put her hands on her eyes and moaned. Sure enough Shepard had woken from nightmares three times during the night. When she did she was wet with sweat and panicked and Liara woke as well and tried to help Jane unwind from whatever she saw in those dreams. In the end they had not gotten more than 4 hours of sleep.
Shepard had not stirred upon hearing the alarm so Liara softly shook her.
"Jane. Time to get up."
The commander opened her eyes, sat up and yawned.
"Alright. Let's do this."
That's the soldier speaking, Liara thought, If in trouble always remember your training.
Shepard leaned over to her and gave her a quick kiss, then she grabbed the crutch and got out of bed. Liara thought about lying down just for a couple more minutes but forced herself to get up as well.
"I have to go get dressed in my own quarters." She said. "I'll see you on the bridge when we meet with the others."
"Alright."
Shepard headed for the shower. She let the warm water run over her face with eyes closed and focused on pushing all the images from her nightmares to a far away corner of her mind. When she felt they were tucked away securely, she turned the water off, wrapped a towel around her and quickly brushed her short hair. It had become a little longer, the wild, blonde locks falling into her eyes.
She opened her wardrobe and took out her new Captain's uniform that was still wrapped in a plastic dry cleaner's bag.
Captain Shepard… She had dreamed about this as an Alliance cadet. And now she struggled even putting on the uniform with her legs not cooperating and her scars hurting. Some Captain I am.
~o~
Liara had a similiar plastic dry cleaner's bag waiting for her. It was a decorative Thessian military suit that made her look very official. She never expected to be honored for anything else than her studies and the military still kind of confused her. But she was glad to experience this day with Shepard.
On exiting her quarters to go up to the bridge, she ran into Dr. Chakwas who had just left the med bay.
"Dr. T'Soni." She greeted the Asari. "You look great in your uniform."
"Thanks doctor."
"So how is our patient doing?" The doctor enquired with a knowing smile.
"Well, Jane has her nightmares and still refuses to take her medication. And she is obviosuly frustrated with her legs… You know how it is."
The doctor nodded understandingly.
"The commander just needs to go at her own pace. She misses the adrenaline of the chase and the fight and needs to wrap her head around everything that happened. The pills can help but that is up to her."
Liara pressed the button to call the elevator.
"I try not to worry."
The elevator quickly transported them to the bridge where they joined the other crew members waiting for their leader.
Ashley, Jack, Samantha, Joker and James all in blue Alliance uniforms, Garrus in a shiny new suit of armor flying the Turian colors, Grunt in the armor he wore when fighting the Thresher Maw, Tali pretty much unchanged but decorated with an antique Quarian belt given to her by the Admirality board of the migrant fleet. Liara liked how EDI interpretated the ritual of dressing up to express loyalty to your people and home. 'Normandy' it spelled on her left arm.
Everyone greeted Liara and Dr. Chakwas with excited smiles. They all waited impatiently for their commander.
~o~
Shepard stared into the mirror. The Alliance Captain-to-be staring back looked intimidating. War torn, serious, scarred, strong. I can do this.
She left her quarters and slowly made her way to the elevator. On the short ride down she felt her stomach flip a little and blamed it on the elevator. Then the door to the bridge opened and she was greeted by her crew applauding and shouting.
A sincere smile stole its way on her face and as she limped onto the elevated platform in front of the galaxy map she realized how much she loved all of them. For fighting with her, having her back. For literally digging her half-dead body out of the rubble after the battle of London. For being with her all the weeks she had spent in hospitals. And now they were all here together.
Slowly, they all quieted down.
"I want to thank you for being here with me today. " Shepard began. "Without you there would be no victory. And I wouldn't be either. So.. I am glad that the world will spend today thanking you for your service and honoring your achievements. I can't imagine a better crew."
"Don't sell yourself short, Skipper." Ashley said, clearly moved by Shepards words.
Specialist Traynor stepped forward and stood next to Shepard with her data pad.
"So, we will be picked up shortly by Alliance gliders." She began. "They will take us to the city hall where the ceremony will take place. Admiral Hackett is awaiting us there. I am supposed to remind you that there are no weapons aloud, loaded or not loaded." (Grunt made a disapproving noice) "Further specifics will be given on site. Oh, and by the way, they officially named it 'Galactic Peace Day'."
"Thanks Traynor. Okay everybody - It's go time."