Altana could not stop crying. When she received the encrypted message from Asari government, her whole world collapsed around her. In a way, she has been expecting this ever since the whole mess started, but it still felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Half of it anyway. She still had her daughter. And she would protect her little girl even if it meant being unhappy for the rest of her life.
Oh, how easy it would have been to forget all about her race and just follow her heart... But she had to ensure that her daughter, even her future grand-daughters had a chance to live in this galaxy, in peace.
Oh, to hell with Thessia! I will do this, but only for you honey, not for them!
When warlord Jurdon Tolnar came home in the evening, she would prepare and share a meal with him as was their custom for more than a century. She loved her husband very much, despite all the horrible things he did to advance the cause of Krogan people.
When she looked at him, she would not see the brutal conquerer, she would see the amazing and strong Krogan who would fight a pack of wild Varrens with his bare hands to protect his family.
She did not see the butcher he was to the galaxy, she did not see the enemy who would command his people to conquer her homeworld and murder her people. She saw a man who loved their daughter more than life itself.
She remembered how he smiled when he saw her for the first time. He never smiled to anyone. Not to his Krogan brothers, parents, not even to Altana. His smile was for his daughter alone.
She will never see his smile again, Altana thought and cried. She cried in her mind. All physical tears were long gone, her emotions retreating deep into her being.
Their eyes met over the dinner. Perhaps he sensed there was something troubling his wife, but he did not say anything. After all, the situation between Krogan and Asari was deteriorating more each day and he knew it was a difficult time for her.
As they retired to their bed, he asked her what was troubling her. When she failed to form words, and new tears she thought gone forever reached her eyes, he would gently hug her and whisper comforting words.
"Show me" he beckoned her. It was always easier for both of them to show their feelings towards each other in the meld than in physical words. He assumed this was just one of those times.
With heavy heart she gently cupped his head in her hands as her eyes went black and she linked their souls together.
How she wished that the galaxy could see him as she did right now. The gentle soul that was beating underneath the layers of hate he always presented toward the world.
I am so sorry, my love!
Just as he began sending his thoughts through their link, always so full of concern and love for her, she would seize his mind in a deadly grip that only few Asari could master.
He gasped in a surprise as he lost control of his physical body and his wife's voice filled his panicking mind.
"There can be no other way, please forgive me my love!" she would whisper to him even as she barged open every door guarding his most secret thoughts about his people's military plans. She would absorb it all, easily brushing off his minds feeble attempts to stop her.
She could sense him trying his utmost to resist and she felt the pain that it was causing him.
"No, my love. Please, do not fight me! I can not stand to cause you this pain. Please, listen to me!" she begged him.
"Why" he finally managed to form a coherent thought in his torn up mind.
She sighed sadly, but decided to be honest with him as she always has been during their marriage.
She showed him her memories. The Matriarchs from Thessia growing worried about Krogan's expansion and later the refusal to leave Lusia...
How they eventually ordered Altana to take her husband's secrets and end his life... for the good of Thessia and Asari race.
"So you chose you're people over me..." he said to her through their link, his words drenched in horrible bitterness and feelings of betrayal.
"No, my love, not for them" she stressed as she showed him her motivations. How their daughter would never have future in a galaxy where the Krogan conquered Asari.
He was stunned by what she showed him for a long while before he said in firm words.
"Then do it"
He then sensed her sadness and pain and quietly added "I love you both so much... and I forgive you"
These were the last words he ever said to her in this life. She could sense him open his mind to her completely, the layers of hate he cloaked himself for so long finally gone.
"Goodbye my love. I will never forget you. Walk proudly in the company of your ancestors."
She walked freely in his mind, receiving his every secret. She did not need to 'take' anymore. He gladly gave her all that he was. She continued to send her love to him as he send his to her, all colliding in one rapturous whole.
When his mind finally gave up, he did not feel any pain and he entered the void wrapped not in his mortal hate, but in their eternal love.
Altana and her daughter left Lusia the same night, never coming back again. One leaving behind her father and the other the love of her life.
But let the history be not too harsh on Altana and goddess rest her soul!
Because through her line, the greatest hero of Asari people would be born!
Her great-granddaughter rising in arms with commander Shepard to save the galaxy from its greatest enemy...
… and standing victorious.