Rated M for Language, Sexual Content, Adult Themes

Warning ! Quite dark, proceed with caution.

Contains FemShep/Liara

This story is about an extremely damaged woman, struggling with love, loss and eventually redemption. She is not exactly likeable, nor should she be.

AN: I apologize for the long delay between updates... A friend of mine passed away and I've spent the last month locked in my apartment, drinking. Anyway here's another chapter.

Shepard had done the impossible, she'd killed Sovereign. An orphan from the streets had become an icon. For the first time in a long while, things had taken a turn for the better in her personal life as well. Ariadne had found someone she could always rely upon, a shoulder to cry on, a body to hold, when the nightmares returned. And yet they hadn't moved passed the occasional chaste kiss on the lips, Shepard felt absurdly protective of her shy asari girlfriend. She didn't want to rush the virginal scientist to fast; she couldn't imagine putting the girl through the pain she had experienced during her first sexual encounter.

With an idle finger she drew a line down the blue arm that was wrapped across her chest. Despite the lack of physical intimacy, they still shared a bed, something Ariadne had insisted upon, in order to keep an eye on her possession.

Blinking away the sleep from her eyes, Liara gazed at the lithe female form that was sprawled out across the mattress next to her. Shepard hadn't noticed that she was awake yet and whispered silently to her, whilst absentmindedly continuing with the soft caresses.

"You're so beautiful."

Liara opened her brilliant blue eyes all the way and gazed at Ariadne with absolute adoration written across her face.

"I love you."

Liara didn't know what had overcome her to say those words, but she knew beyond a doubt that it was the truest thing ever to leave her lips.

Without warning tears started to run down Shepard's cheeks, as she pulled herself closer than humanly possible to the asari.

"It's just that no one has ever said that to me."

Shepard managed to choke out before she began to sob violently, barely able to even speak.

Liara didn't even attempt to stop her own tears from falling as she clung to her girlfriend.

"I love you too."

Aria's descent into anger had been brutal and at a rampant pace. The self-loathing was the worst; she was at fault for pushing away the daughter she had always wanted, after Liselle had died. However 'daughter' really was the wrong word; a more apt description was love of her life. She had never even had the courage to tell her as much. So the self-proclaimed Queen of Omega had hurled herself into her work, blindly trying to forget what she had done to the girl she had raised.

It was in the middle of the night when the Collector's attacked. The beam of energy had hit the Normandy without warning, killing many of the crew instantaneously. The two would be lovers had thrown themselves out of bed and pulled their respective armor on as quickly as possible. Then the unthinkable happened, Shepard forced the girl she had fallen for to leave without her.

The darkness was beyond oppressive, the lack of oxygen a pain impossible to explain. And strangely enough, she had only one regret.

Two years later.

Shepard woke up in pain; an angelic voice could be heard, shouting something incomprehensible. And yet in her heart Ariadne knew that she couldn't be in heaven.

Fuck. That was too short. I'm sorry if my writing isn't up to par, just testing the waters. Let me know if I should continue.