"People see everything through the lens of their obsessions."
- Francine Prose, Goldengrove
Tangle
Looking in the mirror, Liara touched her scalp crest and sighed.
"Dr. T'soni, do you need anything?" Her assistant droid questioned.
"No, Glyph. I just..."
People said asari were the most gorgeous race in the galaxy. Liara wasn't sure if they were right, but she knew she was always envious of one human feature; their hair.
The scalp crests on asaris' head were semi-flexible. They couldn't dye it or change its style. Human hair had so many colors. They wore their hair in a variety of styles and were able to change them numerous times.
"If I dyed my head... That would be ridiculous," Liara imagined herself with a blond tentacle. It wasn't very attractive.
It didn't look like she could do anything about it. At last, the Shadow Broker stepped away from the mirror frustrated.
"It's five minutes before lunch time," Glyph informed her.
Normally, Liara didn't care much about those schedules but she knew most of the crew would be in the mess hall in this time of day, Butterfly included.
Thinking about the girl made her smile. Her favorite niece had beautiful raven hair that was long, thick, and so soft. Liara could play with it all day and never get bored. Every morning, she would comb and do Butterfly's hair like she saw in old vids from Earth. Twin braids were her favorite so far.
Still grinning, the asari walked to the kitchen just in time. Butterfly was stepping out of the elevator when Liara wrapped an apron around her waist.
"Good afternoon, aunt Liara."
No one knew why, but Butterfly kept calling everyone except Shepard and Chakwas as her aunt or uncle. (She called the good doctor grandma.) At first, the Commander was worried people would find this insulting. However, the crew didn't mind, they let the girl say it.
"Good afternoon, sweetheart. Today aunt Liara learned a new recipe. Want to try it?"
Butterfly tilted her head, hesitating to accept. The asari was a chef-in-training. Sometimes, her cooking ended up in a small disaster.
Still, it was better than Shepard's cooking.
"What's it, Aunty?" She gazed around locating the fire extinguisher. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Human food... Nothing fancy, just an egg and ham sandwich." After her attempt to cook her mother's special recipe had failed, (miserably, Butterfly might add), Liara learned the hard way she should work her way up through difficulty of recipes.
"Sounds harmless enough," Butterfly thought. She was, after all, too polite to say out loud.
She was waiting from a safe distance while Liara sliced the boiled eggs. At least, the asari knew how to chop. Last time Shepard tried to do the same thing, she almost lost her index finger. Garrus said the kitchen looked like a murder scene.
After that, Butterfly had to eat frozen food for days.
"So, where had you been?" Liara tried to make conversation.
"I was just walking around. At first, I went to play with K-9 in the shuttle bay, but Mr. Vega wasn't happy to see me, so I went to the cockpit."
Butterfly said it nonchalantly, but the Shadow Broker took note. James and her had something to discuss.
"The cockpit? What happened there?"
"Uncle Jeff let me sit on his seat." Excitement sparked in her eyes as Butterfly made gestures. "The vista is so beautiful, even better than the starboard observation, and Uncle Jeff said I could go to the cockpit anytime."
Hands that were slicing vegetables paused; Liara remembered what she said to Shepard the other day.
"With regards to EDI's observation, most of the crew believes Butterfly's adopted," she said with concern, "shouldn't we tell them the truth?"
Shepard sighed, "I can't. I trust my crew with my life, but this isn't about trust."
"What do you mean?"
"Just... think about it. Joker is more sensitive than he looks. He blamed himself for my death. How would he react if he knew that lovely girl died because of him?"
The Commander was very thoughtful. Liara continued to speak with the girl.
"That's good to hear. Our pilot never complains, but I think he's lonely sometimes. He sure could use some company." It's hard to imagine anyone not liking Butterfly, Liara thought.
Although Lieutenant Vega might be an exception, Liara considered.
"But Aunty EDI is with him?"
"And is everywhere in the ship. EDI is busy woman, dear. Besides, you can never have enough friends," said Liara as she placed a sandwich in front of little girl.
"You're right, Aunty," Butterfly agreed, "Friends are our strength, hope and family. But sometimes, friendships need 'calibrations'."
"Let me guess. Garrus told you that." That got her every time. Leave it to these two to make her smile. Before the Normandy, she never thought people from different races could become good friends. Good thing she was wrong.
The girl just smiled and ate the sandwich. It wasn't great, but nonetheless, well prepared. Liara did her homework.
"Speaking of which, Uncle Garrus said the krogan leader is mommy's friend. Is that true?"
"You mean Wrex? Yes, he is," Liara smiled at the thought of her big friend, "It's funny when thinking about the old days. Wrex used to... He still is a tough guy, but he's grown up a lot since the Normandy... since he decided to unite his people for the future of the krogans."
She couldn't say it when the Normandy SR-1 went down. That day, after all, was the day mother and child died together in the cold, lonely space.
They both died, but eventually came back.
But Butterfly seemed to notice the lost words. "Why is everyone nervous when talking about the first Normandy?"
The crew didn't know about the other victim of the Normandy SR-1, so they treated Butterfly like any other little girl. Liara knew otherwise.
"I- We lost a lot of good people that day. Most of the names on the memorial wall... They died-"
Butterfly shook her head. "No. They didn't die."
Blinking, the asari was dumbfounded.
"People truly die only when they're forgotten. On the memorial wall aren't only the names, Aunty."
This girl... Liara smiled at the thought. She is really Shepard's daughter.
Thank The Lonely Traveler, for being lovely beta.