Normally, Liara and Shepard didn't permit themselves the luxury of spending the night together. Even when they weren't hip-deep in Reaper forces, there was always more work to do, more preparations to make and more reports to file, leaving life's simpler pleasures to all too often fall by the wayside.

Tonight, however, was an exception. They had promised always for the first time that afternoon on the Presidium, and if that did not merit a night in each other's arms, then what were they fighting for? "Always," had also been in their joined minds as they made love, and lying in the commander's bed afterwards with Ashara's arms wrapped around her naked body, her face nuzzling against the back of her crest, Liara felt as at peace as she had in a long time.

That calm was disrupted by the serious tone in Shepard's voice when she broke the silence. "Liara, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, love. Anything."

"Why did you keep doubting that I wanted this?"

The asari felt her happy state of mind dissipating. "I.. I am not quite sure what to say."

"I don't mean when we were hunting for Saren. You had never been with anyone before and I understood that you weren't certain where we were going at first. I'm talking about… when we beat the Shadow Broker, and after Mars, you kept asking me if I still wanted to be with you." The human's arms pulled tighter around her. "On Hagalaz, I get it I guess. I'd been dead, and a lot of stuff had happened. But even today, before I said I wanted to spend my life with you, you were talking about being friends. Liara, I think we've been a lot more than friends for a long time."

A lump formed in the asari's throat. "Ashara… I know that. It is not that I did not want… I always loved you, desired you."

She felt a warm kiss on the back of her neck and Ashara laughed affectionately. "I kind of had some hints. I mean every time I said that I was interested, you were pretty quick to agree. But then why did you keep asking me? Couldn't you tell how I felt?"

Liara didn't know how to explain it, how to put her doubts into words, but she owed it to her lover to try. "It is just… you have always been under such terrible pressures, and I did not want to add to them. I wanted to be with you, but I did not think it was fair to make you feel as if I expected you…"

"Liara," Shepard interrupted her. "Being with you has never been a burden. Sometimes, especially these days, it's one of the few things that makes me really feel alive, like there's still good left in the galaxy." Her words soothed Liara's thoughts, but Shepard wasn't done. "Was that really the only reason though? I don't mean to ruin the moment, it's just… this confused me sometimes and I'd like to know."

"No. There is more…" A tear ran down the asari's cheek and she buried her face in the pillow, ashamed that her fears had distressed the woman she loved. "When I was growing up, I had few friends. My mother's fame intimidated many people, but more than that, I was not very socially adept. As I matured, I did not get much attention from the other maidens."

She felt silly saying the words, but she was reassured by a sympathetic caress of Shepard's hand across her stomach, and Liara continued. "Being with you, sometimes it did not feel entirely real. I kept expecting that I would lose you somehow. Mostly I worried about the battles you fought, but… you are Commander Shepard. There are countless people who desire to be with you. I feared for a long time that you might come to prefer someone else and I did not want to presume."

Gently, Ashara turned Liara over so that her pale green eyes were looking straight into the asari's blue ones. Her voice was affectionate, but also emphatic, making it clear that she meant every word that she spoke. "Liara, that will never happen. You are lovely, and brilliant, and sexy, and brave. I love you and there is no one else that I want. If I have ever done anything to make you doubt that, then I am very sorry, but I hope that you never will have cause to again."

Liara brushed the tears from her eyes. Goddess, she felt fortunate at that moment to have found such a wonderful partner. "You did nothing wrong, love. It was only my insecurities. Usually, I knew how you felt, but sometimes, especially when we were apart for a long period of time, I would start to worry that things had changed between us. When we would be together again, I needed the reassurance." She smiled. "After today though, I think that the depth of your feelings has finally sunken in." Liara paused, running her fingers through Ashara's dirty blonde hair, before adding, "My bondmate."

"My bondmate," Ashara repeated, joy evident in her voice, before kissing Liara tenderly on the lips. Liara had told the human earlier that day that in light of the pledge they had made, the term was appropriate.

"We do not need a ceremony," she had explained. "For an asari, it is enough that each of us knows that this is what the other wants." She truly had known then, and feeling Ashara's loving arms pull her close, she did believe that they had a future together, if only they could survive long enough to see it.