Author's Notes: FYI I just wanted to share with all of you. This was originally supposed to be a single Chapter one shot story. Thanks to all your reviews and encouragement, it has gone far beyond that. Thank you again for your reviews and adds to your favorite story list. I hope I continue to please!

Ardat Yakshi - Chapter 11

Gaisha's Plaza

It was early evening when Elysia was on her way back to Liara's office after grabbing something to eat. It was another one of those late nights where Liara and Elysia had become confident enough to allow the young asari to fetch a meal at the food court in Gaisha's Plaza by herself. Located in the business section on Nos Astar and close to Liara's office, they counted on the absent minded professionals who normally inhibited the center to pay no mind to anything but their own personal lives. They were so involved with making a profit, Liara believed that as long as the young Ardat Yakshi kept her head down and stayed quiet things would be ok.

Elysia was wandering the streets impetuously with her nose in a book. She was learning more from Liara than how to control her powerful biotics. Hearing a loud crash that caused her book to fall to the ground, she widened her eyes as her instincts took over. "Hide! Hide first, always hide first."

As Liara's words echoed in her mind, she immediately took cover behind a small planter's box. Fighting to breathe, her brain surged with fear as she heard gunfire fill the plaza. Seeing the heavily populated plaza rapidly empty caused a great deal of fear to griped Elysia. Subconsciously her fingers started to glow blue. "No! No!"

The young Ardat Yakshi closed her eyes to concentrate. "Only as a very last resort. You can control this Elysia. You can! You can do this because Liara said you could!"

The light from her fingers dissipated as she slowed her breathing. Cautiously peering over the planter box, she saw an ugly batarian shoving a pistol in the face of a young asari maiden.

Clearly angry, he started yelling at her. "You screwed me over you blue bitch."

Dressed in a long lavender dress, she helplessly tried to explain, "You are mistaken. It was in the contract."

Spit flying from his mouth, he blasted, "You didn't tell me that my slaves couldn't leave the system. You tricked me you conniving hag?"

Knees weakening, the distressed asari fell to the ground with only her bare hands between the pistol and her face. She pleaded, "It was in the contract, section 32, paragraph 48. It's all there. I swear it!" She was practically in tears as she felt the end of her life coming.

The little girl's mind raced, "Why doesn't she use her biotics?" She then recalled a conversation she had with Liara during one of her biotic training at the warehouse. Elysia had asked, "Oh, this is so much fun! Why aren't all asari commandos?"

Liara answered, "Well, not all asari believe in using their biotics for such purposes. Some never even train to use them. Those asari often go into politics or the arts."

The young girl's thoughts ripped back to the present with the sound of the batarian hitting the side of his weapon with his hand. For some reason it had jammed and it wouldn't fire. He had tried killing the lavender dressed asari, but thanks to his weapon jamming it hadn't happened; yet. Elysia's heart raced and her hands and arms glowed brilliantly as she felt a compelling compulsion to do something. She wanted to help the pleading maiden, tears pouring from her eyes, as she lay on the ground huddled against a large planter just waiting for certain death. Frantically looking around the plaza, Elysia wondered, 'Was no one going to help her? Where had everyone gone?'

The frustrated batarian released his weapon's thermal clip, allowing it to slam to the ground as he quickly pulled another from his utility belt and shoved it into his weapon. Raising the weapon up, readied to fire, he paused when he heard a young girl yell, "Barrier up!"

Simultaneously, the batarian's head turned to find the voice while a small asari rounded the corner of the planter box, charging in his direction. Being the expert killer he was, he immediately fired three shots at the girl. However, those bullets flew off her shield upon contact since Elysia did exactly as her guardian had taught her and put her barrier up first. Charging forward with controlled fear at her fingertips, she put her hands together as Liara taught her and yelled "Lift". The powerlessly batarian floated in the air as he began to yell obscenities.

Elysia glanced down at the relieved asari on the ground as his words filled her ears she snarled, "It wasn't very polite to call her a blue bitch!" With that Elysia pushed her arms out and yelled, "Throw!"

With an incredible force the batarian flew clear across the plaza at least 50 meters before he slammed hard into a wall; crushing nearly every bone in his body. Seeing that the smuggler was no longer alive, Elysia gulped hard and turned towards the petrified woman now at her feet. Reaching out to help the asari woman up, she panted heavily and speculated, Is this what Liara felt like the day we met and she saved my life?

The shaken maiden was surprised by two counts; First, that someone she didn't know not only helped her, but saved her life and that such strong biotics came neatly bound in small asari child. She ecstatically expressed her feelings as she tightly hugged the young asari. "Thank you! Thank you! I will never forget this! I am forever in your debt little one."

Pulling out of the hug she continued, "My name is Adara, Adara Ti'tum, at your pleasure." She absentmindedly embraced Elysia again, but this hug seemed to have lingered a bit long even for an asari, Elysia thought. Wiping the tears from her eyes she stared at the child, "Forgive me. What is your name, the one I will forever owe my thanks?"

Elysia spoke before thinking, "Elysia, Elysia.." She froze. She had spoken too much already. Liara was going to unhappy about this for sure. She was to never, ever say her real name and in all the chaos she had forgotten her forged name. Trying to be clever and mixing the names, she softly answered, "Elysia T'Soni. Yes, yes, that's my name."

The young maiden tilted her head slightly and gave the young girl a sideways smirk. "Elysia T'Soni it is."

The crowd from the plaza slowly started to make their way back from their cowering hideouts. It frightened Elysia. She didn't want or need the added attention. Panic quickly consumed her as she looked around. Not only had she spoken her real name, she had caused quite a large disturbance.

Looking back at the older maiden Elysia stated, "I have to go" before she took off running in the opposite direction before the maiden could even react. Adara was swiftly distracted by several shop owners and bystanders now checking on her well-being, but not before looking back once more for her little savior who quickly disappeared in the sea of bodies taking over the plaza.

Elysia went running past Liara's assistant's vacant desk without pausing and ran into her office. Rushing into Liara's arms she wept uncontrollably. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. They were going to kill her." She cried with the feeling that it was the first time she had purposely taken someone's life.

Sobbing she looked at Liara, "How can you love such a monster?"

Liara tried to calm her and calmly asked her, "Tell me what happened. Tell me everything."

Elysia calmed herself using the meditation exercises Liara had taught her. With an unsteady voice she told her everything; including using her real first name and about Adara Ti'tum. Liara pulled Elysia deep in her chest and slowly rocked her. "It's ok, It's ok. It's going to be ok." Even as she spoke those words, both Liara and Elysia knew it wasn't true. They both knew that their lives were anything but normal; anything but ok.

Instinctually knowing that Elysia knew her words to be untrue, Liara tried to lighten the mood, "So did you manage to get us dinner or are we having take out again?" Elysia laughed enough to cause a small vibration in Liara's chest. It was becoming a fond inside joke between the two of them as they smiled in their cuddling positions.

Later that evening Liara quickly worked in her office to scramble, if not out right destroy all the surveillance feedback from the plaza where the attack occurred. Bouncing the signal off three other systems, Liara was deliberately trying to make it appear the work of the shadow broker to a trained eye. Only he/she or they would have the expertise to route the signal in such a way. It was very late when Liara finally slumped into her chair spinning it around slowly as she stared at her small visitor. She rubbed her forehead with flustered strokes realizing this was too close and that it may not be the end of it.

However she did not fault the young asari. Elysia was only protecting the asari contract specialist who happened to have made a deal with the wrong batarian at the wrong time. She was only an innocent. How could she ever fault her for saving an innocent? Shepard would be proud of her she pondered.

Chuckling softly, the information broker glanced once more at Elysia asleep in the couch in her office. "Goddess, I'm proud of her!" Liara then placed her hands on top of the desk as she slumped forward resting her chin on top of her folded hands.

Her eyes focused on a frame on her desk and two silver objects lying against a tan background stared back at her. The light twinkled off of the shiny metal as she picked up the frame. With her fingers, she gently petted the case as if stroking it would bring back the memory. Embedded on the pieces of metal were Katherine Jane Shepard, Commander Systems Alliance, her identification number, her blood type and her religious preference.

So focused on the dog tags, Liara didn't hear Elysia approach her. Leaning on her arm against the chair, Elysia looked tiredly into her eyes. Without a single word she climbed into Liara's lap and rested her tired head on her chest. Her voice crackled as she asked, "Can we go home now? I'm sure Shepard wouldn't mind if you rested too." The prodigy had cleverly used Shepard's name to press the issue.

With her free hand Liara returned the cherished possession back on the desk and gently kissed the asari on her head. "Ok little one. We can go home now."

For the next several weeks Liara scoured the extranet searching for any hint of the incident at Gaisha's Plaza. She extended out to the far reaches of the universe, to every contact she had, and found nothing. It was as if someone else had wanted it gone as well; as it had never happened. To her surprise even the official reports that were supposed to be filed by the local magistrate were never filed or deleted. Liara had a high ranking contact within the bureau, and she too reported that there was nothing on the activities at Gaisha's Plaza.

The savy asari chuckled to herself. "Everyone needs an information broker at one time or another. Knowledge was power."

Liara remembered that this particular contact came into her office one raining day asking, no begging, for her help to find out if her bondmate was cheating on her. The fee had been an exorbitant amount of credits, but it was more for her discretion rather then the actual task. As an added bonus, or by a heavy hand Liara might refer to it later, she would occasionally call upon this contact for classified information about local affairs at the bureau. The T'Soni information broker could not have asked for a better 'well placed' informant. Liara smiled and whispered, "And she walked right through my door."

News of the dead batarian at Gaisha's Plaza did, however, reach the asari home planet Thessia. It wasn't the smuggler's death that caught their attention, but rather the reports that it came at the hands of a young asari with powerful biotics. It was the secret magistrate on Thessia who wiped out any and all records of the Gaisha Plaza incident. They wanted to quietly and discreetly send in their representative and collect the girl quickly without drawing attention. After all, Asari Justicars were very efficient at their job.