Summary:
Liara says goodbye

Notes:
Challenge Yourself: A Month Of Fanfiction 2017
Saturday 8/12's Prompt: Major Character Death

"It's time, Peeress."

Liara looked up from her work, Iryra, as always, at her side.

"So soon?"

Dr. Iadri nodded, allowing the young matron to process the information she'd received.

Liara bowed her head, "I thought we would have more time."

"Everyone does, Peeress," she stepped into the doorway, indicating Liara should follow.

They walked through the estate in silence, none impeding their path. Liara's emotions were palpable, and neither Iadri nor Iryra intruded upon them.

Eventually they reached a small bedroom at the north end of the estate. Small was relative, of course. There were few sleeping quarters in the T'Soni household that could truly be considered confining. The room easily fit the three of them with room to spare, in addition to the three nurses and the frail human woman whose tall bed they gathered around.

The woman's eyes were closed, her breathing practically nonexistent.

"Can she hear us? Does she know I'm here?" Liara quietly asked Iadri.

"Perhaps," consoled the doctor. "She was fairly lucid when I left to get you."

"Fairly lucid," responded Liara. "There was a time not long ago when I would have hoped for more."

"It was an abrupt decline," confirmed Iadri, "but not an unanticipated one. Given her age, one might even say it was inevitable."

Liara asked the hardest question of all. "Will she recognize me?"

"Difficult to say, Peeress." Iadri was not one to peddle false hope. "But there is one way to find out."

Liara stepped to the bedside, taking the human's frail hand in her own. Feeling the skin like paper, the pulse so weak as to be nonexistent. Every breath could be her last, but still Liara waited to speak. She was a coward, she knew. But she still hoped for rescue, for salvation.

That rescue came as it always did, this time in the form of a pair of arms that wrapped around her from behind. Familiar lips closed in and kissed her cheek. Liara sagged against the strength of her bondmate.

"You OK, love?" Shepard asked, concern evident in her whisper. "I got here as soon as I could."

Liara turned and buried her face in Shepard's chest. "I didn't think it would be this hard."

Shepard nodded, holding Liara close as she tried to keep a stoic face. "It gets harder each time," she confirmed. "Soon there's only going to be two left."

"Ori?" A whispered question from the bed.

Liara whirled to the bedside, again taking Miranda's hand. "Oh, Miri, Ori's not here." There was no point in explaining why, explaining that Oriana wouldn't be here. Couldn't be here, having long preceded her sister on the journey upon which Miranda was about to embark.

Miranda looked disoriented, trying to peer around Liara, as if not believing the matron's statement when she caught sight of Sarah. "Shepard!" She called, her voice clear for a moment.

Sarah stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder with Liara, one arm around her bondmate, the other reaching to Miranda. "Well if it isn't the perfect Miss Lawson," she replied. "Don't you have work you should be doing?" She teased.

Miranda's face belied her bewilderment as she attempted to move. "Commander? I already…" She hesitated, "I don't believe…" Finally she met Shepard's eyes in confusion. "You look so young," she whispered as she slumped against the bed, exhausted from the effort.

"Your work, Miranda." Liara leaned forward and kissed the human on the forehead. "You always did excellent work."

"Someone else might have gotten it wrong," murmured Miranda, a running joke shared between two Shadow Brokers when they chose to take certain matters into their own hands. Her eyes closed as her hand relaxed in Liara's grasp.

"And I will never be able to thank you enough." Liara tightened her hold on Sarah. "Our love, our family, is your legacy."

The pair turned to Iadri, who confirmed Miranda's passing with a respectful nod. "You came just in time."

Liara turned into Shepard's embrace. Not sobbing, exactly. Miranda would have objected to that, but it was a near thing.

Iryra stepped forward. "Commander," she started with atypical hesitancy, "Is there anyone we should notify? Family?" Even here, Miranda had been an unknown, an enigma. A woman with as little past as the history books would allow. Outside of the estate there were few who could have confirmed she was even alive.

Liara turned to Iryra, still tightly held by Sarah's arms. "We are her family. Rain is expected through the week. We shall release her as soon as Wrex and Grunt arrive."

"Yes, Peeress." Iryra turned away to begin preparations as Liara closed her eyes and whispered,

"And now there are two."