Shepard could hear the impatient tap of her mother's foot long before she entered the foyer. She had purposely taken her time with Garrus. She'd even let him place a bandage over her shoulder before getting dressed. Now as Shepard neared the foyer, she felt herself hesitate. Her stomach weighed heavily in a stone knot. She took a deep breath to ready herself for the inevitable arduous confrontation.

She was greeted by her mother's scowl as she entered the room.

"Was it really necessary to keep me waiting this long?" Hannah huffed.

Shepard sneered at her as she made her way to the bar. "I was hoping you'd realize you weren't wanted here and leave."

"Don't speak to me like that," Hannah scolded. "I'm your mother. I deserve your respect."

Shepard choked back a fit of laughter. "You're not exactly one to talk about respect, mother. Respect is not something you automatically receive. It has to be earned, regardless of familial ties."

"I suppose your contempt has to do with that Turian," Hannah responded, averting her eyes from Shepard's menacing glare. "He should've left us to our business."

Shepard scoffed, pouring herself a drink and downing it in one bitter swallow. "What you do and say to me is between us. I can deal with it. You had no right to treat Garrus that way. I will not stand for it. Now tell me why you're here so you can get the hell out of my life."

Hannah's pinched expression shattered as genuine hurt crossed over her face. "You don't want me to be a part of your life anymore? How can you say that?"

"Because for as long as I can remember, you've never been there!" Shepard growled violently. "There's always been an empty spot beside me where my parents were supposed to be."

"I had other commitments," Hannah argued. "A career!"

"You had a commitment to me!" Shepard barked, slamming her hand against the bar. "I should've been your priority! But you just disappeared from my life when Dad died. I felt like I lost you both."

Hannah laughed derisively. "Oh, Artemis, I would've thought that you of all people would understand the importance of not living in the past. How can you stand there in a well of your own self pity and blame me for your shortcomings? Have you forgotten who you are? Have you forgotten what you've done? You turned out to be a strong, independent woman. A soldier who led the Alliance to a victory against all odds. They're hailing you the savior of the universe!" Hannah continued shrilly. "And yet all you can do is whine to me about how I wasn't there for you, how I wasn't there to hold your hand when times were tough."

"It's not about that," Shepard spat.

"Then what is it?" Hannah yelled, the shrillness in her voice increasing. "I don't understand it, Artemis."

Shepard shook her head, a coldness creeping through her shaking limbs. "You wanna know? Fine, I'll tell you," she hissed. "You justify abandoning me as if you had no choice. You justify it by the person I am and you actually try to take credit for who I've become. You cannot fathom the darkness that I've faced. Yet, you walk in here, smug and arrogant, thinking that I owe you something somehow." Shepard sucked in a deep breath, hatred seething in her voice. "I owe you less than nothing. You were never there for me. You were a cold, distant figure in the back of my mind that for some inexplicable reason I couldn't let go of." Tears burned at her eyes and she despised herself for them. "Deep down, I always hoped you would come back for me. Deep down, I always wanted you to love me. But I know now that every shred of your love died with my father all those years ago. I've been holding on to a hope that has long since been lost, dead and buried."

Hannah stood in stunned silence, shaking her head. "I can't believe how venomous you've become towards me," she murmured.

"You wanted to know," Shepard replied coldly. "So, now it's your turn. Why are you here?"

Hannah sniffed, running her hand along the ridges of her eyes. "Do you really hate me that much?" Hannah sobbed, avoiding Shepard's question.

Shepard filled her glass again, wishing she could simply disappear into the warm liquid that comfortably burned her throat. "You know the answer to that," she said after staring at her drink for several agonizing seconds.

"When did you become so heartless and cruel?" Hannah sobbed into her hands.

Shepard snickered into her glass as she raised it to her lips. "Must be a family trait. Are you gonna answer my question or just try to manipulate me into feeling guilty?"

Hannah began to shake with indignation. "I can't believe I thought you'd come to your senses and see reason," Hannah shouted. "How foolish of me!"

Shepard nodded, keeping her calm. "Yes, very foolish. I'm sure you can let yourself out." She turned and began to stride out of the foyer.

"Artemis, wait, please!" Hannah called after her, desperation leaden in her voice. "I came to tell you about your brother!"

Shepard stopped, feeling the crushing weight of despair on her shoulders. All she wanted to do was escape, but she forced herself to turn unwillingly to face Hannah whose eyes pleaded frantically with her. "I have information. I know where he is. Please, Artemis," Hannah reached out a hand for her daughter. "I want you to come with me to meet him."

Shepard stood rigid and unmoving, refusing to accept her mother's extended hand.

"Please, Artemis," Hannah begged again, grasping at any strands of hope that may have remained. "We'll go together. We can be a family. You need to give me that chance!"

"Why can't you just let me go?" Shepard whispered.

"What?" Hannah asked, her surprise evident. "What do you mean?"

Shepard walked back towards her mother until she stood uncomfortably close to her. Hannah slightly recoiled into herself. "Why can't you just walk away from me? Why can't you just let me go? I want you to let me go!"

Hannah stared into her daughter's eyes. "Because you're my child! You're worth holding on to."

Shepard sneered at her. "What about my brother?"

Hannah took a stunned step back. "What about him?"

Shepard continued to close in on her mother, the sadness slowly numbing her to the core. "Was he worth holding on to as well?" She growled. "So, what information do you have about him, mother? Hm? Are you going to tell me that his name is Apollo Donner? Are you going to tell me that he was adopted at the age of three by Becky and Hank Donner?" Hannah's eyes widened in surprise as Shepard continued. "Or maybe you want to tell me that he works as a customs official for an Asari trader on Illium. Or that he's married to a law officer named Janaya. Tell me about his two adopted Asari children, Trystine and Nella. Are you going to tell me how they're sisters who were orphaned when both of their parents tragically died? Does your information include why Apollo adopted them? It's because he fiercely believes no child should grow up without loving parents. Oh, and I'm sure you know that in his free time he volunteers to mentor orphaned children and that he likes to collect rare stones from other planets." Shepard felt her chin tremble as she listed off facts about a man she had never met. "I bet you even know that he has spent the last ten years searching for his real parents, but has made little progress since his personnel files have been locked by a high ranking official." Shepard narrowed her eyes at Hannah. "You didn't want him to find you. At least, not until you were ready, not until you needed him. He was your last resort."

Hannah gaped at Shepard. "How…" her words dropped off in her shocked state.

"I have friends," Shepard replied. "Good friends with lots of connections."

Hannah's taut face melted and she looked older than her years. "You know?"

Shepard leered over her mother, coldness pricking at her skin. "I know everything. Every secret you tried to bury, every lie you ever told me…" Shepard nodded as she emphasized her words. "I know the truth."

Clearly shaken, Hannah struggled to regain control of herself and the situation. "I don't… I don't know what to say." She met Shepard's gaze, concern building in the shattered green depths of her eyes. "Have you spoken to him?"

"Not directly," Shepard muttered. "I sent him a message."

Hannah looked Shepard abashed. "Did you tell him I locked his records?"

Shepard fidgeted, wanting nothing more than to strike at the wound she'd already inflicted, but that was not who she was. "No, I didn't tell him."

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief, a simple smile of gratitude touching her lips.

"But I did tell Hackett that he has a son," Shepard continued.

"Oh," was the feeble response Hannah mustered. "And?"

"He's gone to Illium for a few days to meet the son and the family he never knew he had," Shepard snipped.

"Did you tell Steven about the records?" Hannah whined.

Shepard shook her head. "No, but he'll figure it out soon enough when he talks to Apollo and discovers that his personnel records were sealed. What Hackett decides to do after that is up to him, not me."

Hannah nodded slowly, her lip trembling. "I see. Why didn't you tell Apollo I had the records sealed?"

Shepard shrugged. "You've burned your bridges with me, but he might still be willing to give you a chance. I'm not letting my feelings towards you influence his. He should have the right to come to his own conclusions about you."

"You must want something then." Hannah said, strength returning to her voice. "To not have told him. What do you want from me, Artemis?"

"I want you to leave," Shepard replied firmly. "Cut the ties and say goodbye to me for the last time."

Hannah's relief quickly turned to frightened surprise. "You can't mean that!"

"I do," Shepard replied icily, tears threatening to prick at her eyes.

"You don't want this!" Hannah wailed. "I know you don't." She reached for Shepard.

"No!" Shepard bellowed, stepping away from her mother. "No! I am done crying over you!" She yelled, enunciating each word through clenched teeth. "I am done letting you make me feel like this! Now I have a chance at happiness, at some shred of normality. I'm not letting you take that away from me. Not again." Shepard turned to stalk away.

Hannah lunged for her, her hands gripping Shepard's shoulders and shaking her. Shepard winced at the pressure on her tender shoulder, pulling out of Hannah's grasp. "Why are you doing this?" Hannah cried out, tears finally flooding down her lined cheeks. "Do you want me to apologize? Do you want me to beg? I'm sorry, Artemis! I'm sorry you feel I've wronged you in some way. I'm sorry for what you feel like I did to you when you were a child."

Shepard shook her head, astonished. "What I feel you did to me? Are you even listening to yourself? You still don't get it! I had no one, mother. You faded from my life! You stopped visiting me and then you stopped returning my calls and my letters. You abandoned me at the Academy. I was alone during every birthday, every holiday, every nightmare, every love and heartbreak. It was only when I started making a name for myself that you made a half assed attempt to reach out to me. Even then it was only so you could prey on my good name to advance your own career! I learned to survive without you. I learned to do things on my own and in doing so, I made a new family; a family that has stood by my side and never faltered, even when I led them into the deepest depths of hell. Garrus was by my side every step of the way. And whether you like it or not, he is part of that family. He has never once let me down. I go to bed at night knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can always rely on him to catch me if I fall."

Hannah cast her gaze down and she stared idly at the shadows on the floor created by the early afternoon Rannoch sun that filtered in through the large windows. "You have high expectations of your family."

"What can I say? They're a reflection of me and I only accept the best." Shepard said bluntly.

"So, you're telling me you won't even try to make a place for me in your new family?" Hannah asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

"Would you try?" Shepard asked sincerely. "Could you ever accept Garrus as my husband and see us as a family? Could you ever accept the fact that he is a Turian and let go of the past?"

Hannah visibly shuddered as she contemplated her daughter's words. "I can't, Artemis. I truly can't."

Shepard sighed, forlorn. "Garrus is apart of my life and always will be. He is the most important thing in my world and if you can't come to terms with that, then there is no place for you in my life."

"That's where it stands with you? You can walk away just like that?" Hannah asked tersely. "It's either all or nothing with you?"

Shepard shook her head sadly. "If you knew me at all, you would know this about me."

"Well, I guess that's that then." Hannah shook her head angrily, finally fed up with the confrontation. She glared at Shepard a moment longer before hurrying past her towards the door. She stopped and turned on her heel. "You know, you are right, Artemis. I don't know you. I don't know who this person in front of me is. You're a stranger. As far as I'm concerned, my daughter died when the Normandy SR1 was destroyed."

The remark cut as deep as it was intended to. Shepard winced at how hard the words struck her. She turned to face Hannah, endeavoring to remain calm and collected. She clenched her fists at her sides, digging her nails into her palms. "You say that like you had a daughter to lose," Shepard whispered. "You've orphaned two children. You have no right to claim me as your daughter. You never have. As far as I'm concerned, I lost both my parents when my father died. You say I'm dead to you? You've been dead to me for a long time, but somehow you've always haunted me. But I've come to the conclusion that ghosts are only as real as you make them." Shepard contemplated her words carefully. "You don't exist to me anymore."

Hannah gaped at Shepard, her pained expression intermingled with remorse and regret. "Goodbye, Artemis."

"Goodbye, Hannah," Shepard replied softly, turning away from the old woman to stare out the window.

She heard Hannah's sharp intake of breath at the sound of her name. A heavy silence settled in the room that seemed to last for an eternity. Without another word, Shepard finally heard Hannah's footfalls retreat. The slam of the front door resonated through the house, somehow a fitting finality.

Shepard felt her emotions building in her stomach as the cold numbness began to wear away. Despite her resolution, a sickly hollowness began to spread throughout her chest. She stepped over to the bar, supporting herself against it as she felt her face contort under the promise of hysterics. An overwhelming despair began to grip her even as she assured herself she wouldn't feel it. Shepard slammed her fist against the bar repeatedly, rattling the glasses as she struck the heavy wood.

"Never again," she whispered breathlessly. "Never again." She collapsed against the bar, at war with her inner turmoil, refusing to let herself succumb to tears over her mother.

"Is this a bad time?" a dual tone voice sifted through the heavy haze of her thoughts and depression. Shepard gasped, straining to compose herself as she raised her gaze to Lyras Vakarian.

She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "What can I do for you, Lyras?" Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

"I wanted to visit with you," he explained, awkwardly gesturing with his hands the same way Garrus did. "I haven't gotten much time to get to know you, but if this is a bad time…"

"It's fine," Shepard mumbled. She reached over the bar and grabbed a fresh glass, pouring Lyras a drink and then one for herself. "I'm just going through some personal things."

Lyras cocked his head to the side. "Does it have anything to do with the irate woman who tried to run me down as she left?"

Shepard shot Lyras a mournful look as she handed him the drink. "She did? I...I'm sorry about that."

"Your mother, I assume?" Lyras took the glass and tipped it to his mouth. Shepard watched him. It was always interesting to her to watch Turians eat and drink. Lyras set the glass on the bar and fiddled with it. "Garrus told me about her, how she feels about Turians. A prejudice you quite obviously don't share."

Shepard chuckled dryly. "Did he tell you why she hates Turians?"

Lyras continued to fiddle nervously with his glass. "Yes, he told me about your father. I'm sorry that your first experience with my race was a tragic one."

Shepard downed her drink. "You don't need to apologize to me. My mother is the one with the grudge. I bear your race no ill will."

"Still," Lyras relented, "I am sorry for your loss."

Shepard nodded, unsure of how to respond. "Well...thank you."

"Do you want to talk about your mother?" Lyras offered.

Shepard shook her head violently. "I'd rather not. I just want to forget about her."

"Forget about her?" Lyras inquired. "Was it that bad?"

Shepard clasped her hands together, uncomfortable talking about the complicated relationship between her mother and herself. "We never had much to do with one another. She dropped me off at the Academy when my father died. I saw her maybe half a dozen times after that and then not at all. It's not as if I'm losing much."

Lyras nodded, grateful for her forthcoming. "Garrus and I didn't have what you would call a great relationship. I always felt he was hotheaded and entirely too wreckless. I always pushed him to be greater than he was, blinded by my desires for what I wanted him to aspire to instead of seeing what he wanted," Lyras confessed. "I never really let him out of my shadow. I think that's why he pushed back so hard. I was the reason he was so foolishly headstrong. When Palavan was attacked and my daughter and I were seeking refuge, all I could think of was him and how I antagonized him for so many years. I kept thinking I would never live long enough to make up for it. I kept thinking that I would die knowing my son never knew just how proud I was of him. Not only proud of his accomplishments and everything he's done, but for finally freeing himself from the burden of living up to my standards. I was just too stubborn to see things any other way than my own."

"Sounds like a Vakarian trait," Shepard chuckled.

Lyras laughed. "Surviving Palavan made me realize that I have a second chance. A chance very few people were afforded because of this war. I've told Garrus that I want to be a good father to him. I want to be the father he deserves."

Shepard felt herself crack. Everything she had ever wanted from her mother was being said to her right now, but the words came from someone else and were not meant for her. She fought back her tears and endeavored a weak smile for Lyras. "It's good to know that he has a father who can admit his mistakes and expiate them."

Lyras reached over and patted her hand, linking his fingers around hers. "Thank the Spirits he found you. I am honored to have you join the family."

Shepard pressed her lips together tightly, stifling her wanton emotions. She nodded, squeezing his hand in gratitude. Lyras gazed at her for a moment, his hand other hand reaching out and resting consolingly on her shoulder. Shepard looked down, struggling against herself.

Without warning, Lyras pulled on her hand, yanking her from her seat. He wrapped his arms around her firmly in an embrace and pressed her head to his chest.

"What're you doing?" Shepard exclaimed, shock overpowering her sorrow.

"Father's don't like to see their daughters in pain," Lyras whispered as his fingers hesitantly weaved through her hair.

Shepard's surprise gave way to overwhelming grief. She explosively crumbled against Lyras, her fingers clutching desperately at his shirt as her pent up tears began to erupt from her. The beautiful sentiment had devastated her in the worst and best possible way.

Lyras continued to run his fingers soothingly through her hair and allowed her to cry against him. The comfort of his arms slowly washing away the painful incident with her mother.

She shook violently with sobs and Lyras hummed softly to her. "What wrong?"

She sniffled against him, feeling embarrassed at her display. "It's just that I always pictured my father holding me like this when things were bad. In my mind, I always thought it would make everything better."

"Does it?" Lyras asked.

Shepard laughed through her tears, the hollowness in her dissipating and the warm sensation of love taking its place. "It definitely helps," she said truthfully. "Thank you."

Lyras rested his mandible against her head. "My pleasure."

"I'm sorry my mother tried to run you down," Shepard said after the embrace ended and she was calm once again.

Lyras shrugged nonchalantly. "It wouldn't be the first time a woman's tried to maim me. After all, Garrus' mother tried to do that to me in a sparring match. That's how we met."

"Really?" Shepard asked, interested. "That's an odd way to meet someone."

Lyras lifted his mandibles in a smile and poured them both another drink. "Maybe for you humans, but not for Turians. I look back on our relationship now and wish that I'd have spent more time with her than on my career. I like to think we wouldn't have drifted apart if I'd been a more attentive husband," Lyras said, his voice heavy with regret. He looked at Shepard and raised his mandibles in a Turian smile. "But Garrus won't make those mistakes. I've never seen anyone look at someone with as much love and admiration as he does with you. You're his entire world."

Shepard felt her cheeks flush at the compliment. Lyras chuckled and offered her the drink he had poured for her. She took it, grateful for something to help hide the blush that still burned her cheeks.

"So, who won the match? You or her?" Shepard asked.

Lyras looked down at his glass, a warm memory flashing through his eyes. "Well, I knew it was going to be a good spar from the start. We were very evenly matched. I had reach, but..."

Shepard cocked her eyebrow, amused. "She had flexibility?"

Lyras lifted his gaze to Shepard's and his eyes sparkled with a sly mischief. "That she did."