A/N: Hey guys! So this is a longer chapter. Not the final chapter though. I plan to have an epilogue after this. Hope you enjoy!
Majorly in Love
Chapter 14
It was time. Time to hit home. Shepard had gathered all the races she could to help fight the Reapers. The turians, the krogan, the quarians, the geth, the asari, a few salarians and more joined and were ready to fight for their future. It was moment everybody had been waiting for. Now or never.
Liara had been on edge for a while now. Shepard had come by to check in on her. She said she was nervous and anxious but ready to go. Liara had even gotten a tad paranoid, checking her gear already 3 times over. She wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Liara hated being unprepared. After Shepard had checked in on her, Kaidan came by not long after. He was worried about her and Liara happened to be worry about him too. This was a battle both of them wished they never had to fight but at the same time, they had to fight this battle. It would decide if there was going to be a tomorrow.
"I better get into my combat wear. Shepard probably wants us ready" Liara said.
"Yeah good idea. I'll see you down in the shuttle bay?" Kaidan asked.
"Of course" Liara replied.
Kaidan left Liara's office and returned to his quarters. Liara on the other hand, changed into her Alliance commando leather. Before leaving she decided to send her friend Feron a message. She wrote a goodbye letter in a way, saying if she didn't survive that he should take over as the Shadow Broker, for her sake. She finished by saying she missed him and hoped he was okay. With the message sent, Liara powered down her terminal, grabbed her gear and headed to the elevator to meet up with Kaidan in the shuttle bay.
"Kaidan. You ready?" James asked.
"Sure. You could say that" Kaidan replied.
James let out a laugh and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Kaidan flinched a bit. His nerves were on edge.
"You'll do fine. Just don't get stupid out on the battlefield" James said.
"Same goes to you Lieutenant" Kaidan said.
"Yes Sir" James stated.
At that moment the elevator arrived and Liara exited. She saw Kaidan ahead talking with James. She hurried over to join them.
"Liara. There you are" Kaidan said.
"Yes here I am. James, are ready?" Liara asked.
"As ready as I can be. You?" James said.
"Nervous but ready. I can do this" Liara admitted.
"Wow Alenko. Your girlfriend has more confidence than you" James teased.
"Don't start Vega" Kaidan warned.
James laughed before moving away from the group. Liara inched closer to Kaidan. She let out a sigh and hung her head. Kaidan found her hand and held onto it. Shepard had all the fleets ready. They had already arrived at Earth with the fleets. The Normandy was making its descent to Earth. London to be precise. That's where all the Reapers had been gathering. Whatever was going on over in London must be important. Suddenly the elevator doors opened revealing Shepard. She exited with Garrus in tow. She walked fast, coming over to Liara.
"Liara I want you to come with me and Garrus for the first push" Shepard said.
Liara's eyes widened a bit and she turned to Kaidan with a worried look. Kaidan gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand quickly. Liara nodded and turned back to Shepard.
"Alright" Liara said quickly.
"We'll all meet up later I promise" Shepard said.
"Good luck Commander. You too Liara" Kaidan offered.
"Good luck Kaidan. We'll see you soon" Shepard replied.
Shepard, Liara and Garrus all boarded a shuttle with Cortez as the pilot. Everybody else got a ride on a separate shuttle. Shepard's shuttle was launched first. Here we go Liara thought. As soon as they left the Normandy, the shuttle started to rock from all the gunfire and explosions around them. Liara held on to one of the support beams inside the shuttle. Cortez brought up a visual of the streets below them. Liara watched Shepard's face become filled sorrow as she saw the current condition of Earth. It broke her heart to see her friend upset. Garrus offered silent comfort by laying a hand on her shoulder. Shepard looked away from the screen. She was in no mood to see the planet like this.
Everything was going according to plan until a shuttle was shot down by a Hades cannon. It was the team who was supposed to take the Hades cannon down. Nobody else in the vicinity could make it over to take down the cannon and as long as the cannon was operational, Hammer couldn't land. Shepard decided to take responsibility. Their new objective was to take down that Hades cannon. Cortez found them a place to land. It was overrun with Reaper forces, but it was the closest he could get them to the downed shuttle.
"Everybody move!" Shepard ordered.
Liara and Garrus moved out of the shuttle and onto flat ground. Whenever the Hades cannon fired, a bright light blurred Liara's vision and shook the ground, making it increasingly difficult to get a good aim at the Reapers. Still, she did her best to advance alongside Shepard as the three of them climbed to the shuttle. Cortez was giving them air support but at one point he was shot down.
"Cortez!" Shepard yelled.
"I'm good but I won't be picking you up!" Cortez replied over the comm.
"Get some place safe!" Shepard ordered.
"Anything for you" Cortez said.
With that problem sorted out, the three continued up to the roof of the building where the shuttle had gone down. Once they were on top, the shuttle could be seen not far from them.
"There's the shuttle. Keep an eye out for their heavy weapons" Garrus said softly.
A few Reapers were scouting out the wreckage. Shepard dealt with them quickly before searching for heavy weapons. Liara and Garrus searched as well.
"Oh my God. Look what I found" Shepard said excitedly.
Liara and Garrus turned to see Shepard holding a Cain. It was her absolute favourite heavy weapon.
"Oh no. We better stand back Liara. You haven't seen Shepard with a Cain before" Garrus warned.
"Good idea" Liara said already backing up.
Shepard aimed and charged the small nuclear device. With a small click the Cain fired and flew towards the Hades cannon. Everything was silent for about 10 seconds. Then a huge explosion erupted and engulfed the cannon. It teetered around for a bit before finally giving in to defeat and crashing to the ground. Shepard let out a satisfied cheer.
Liara and Garrus slowly exited their cover.
"See what I mean" Garrus said.
"I do" Liara replied.
The two laughed before coming over to Shepard. Once Shepard had calmed herself she radioed on an open channel for pickup. Anybody would do.
"This is Commander Shepard. We need immediate extraction. Is anyone hearing this?" Shepard hailed.
No reply. The only reply they got was a high pitched scream from a Banshee.
"We've got company" Liara stated.
"Get ready. Banshee incoming" Shepard warned.
Sure enough a Banshee floated up to the roof, angry as hell. She let out an ear piercing scream before using her biotic jump to close in. Luckily, Shepard was able to take her down quickly with help from Liara and Garrus. Now they just had to hold out against what felt like never ending waves of Cannibals. Liara really hoped somebody had heard the hail. They wouldn't be able to hold out forever.
"Shepard over there!" Garrus called out.
Shepard turned her attention to a shuttle that pulled up to the side of the roof. An Alliance marine waved them over.
"Get to the shuttle!" Shepard ordered.
Without further ado, everybody sprinted onto the shuttle while the marines covered them. Once everybody was on board the shuttle took off, headed away from the roof. Liara let out a sigh of relief.
"We made it" Shepard said, relieved.
"That you did Commander" a familiar voice said.
"Anderson! It's so good to see you're okay" Shepard expressed.
Liara smiled, glad to see that the Admiral was still alive and kicking after all the weeks he'd spent on Earth. Anderson brought them up to speed about the situation. They'd go over a real plan once they arrived at the FOB. The rest of Shepard's crew was at the FOB as well. Liara smiled at that. She'd get to see Kaidan.
The shuttle brought them down to the landing pad at the FOB. Shepard told Garrus and Liara to go on without her. She'd catch up with them later. Liara nodded and left down to the lower level. She decided to search for Kaidan. Liara found him over with some marines. When he saw her, a relieved look washed over his face. Liara engulfed Kaidan in a hug.
"Thank God you're alright" Kaidan said.
"I was so worried" Liara admitted.
"I was too. But you're here now. That's all that matters" Kaidan said.
Liara pulled herself out of the hug. She gazed into Kaidan's eyes. Tears threated to spill down her cheeks. She forced herself to hold them back.
"I guess this is goodbye" Kaidan said softly.
"I guess it is. But we're going to win" Liara said sternly.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm gonna fight like hell to see you again Liara. I want that future we talked about" Kaidan said.
"I want it too Kaidan. So much" Liara confessed.
A silence passed between them. Liara wiped her eyes before finding her voice. She was hoping to sound confident but her voice came out sounding like she was on the verge of tears.
"There's something I want to give you Kaidan. It's a small gift. It'll only take a moment" Liara said.
"What kind of gift?" Kaidan asked.
"Do you remember when we joined minds the evening of Cerberus HQ? I want to do that again expect I will be showing you my memories. Asari exchange them sometimes with good friends or...their bondmates...it can also be a way to say 'farewell'" Liara explained.
"Show me" Kaidan said.
Liara smiled and place her hands on Kaidan's shoulders. "Close your eyes".
Kaidan did as he was told. Slowly he felt the world around him go silent. The sounds of battle faded and the chilly air around him was no more. When he opened his eyes again it was dark all around him. A few stars twinkled around him. He felt a hand grab his. To his left was Liara. She held his hand tight, a sad smile on her face. Kaidan looked ahead of him and the darkness was split in two by a bright light. The light enveloped them. Kaidan saw many memories. He saw a young Liara with Benezia at the park she lived beside. Benezia was as beautiful as ever and Liara was adorable, digging around in the grass as her mother watched her from a bench. Another memory was Liara at a prothean dig site, doing hours of long research. He saw another memory, a little more recent, when Liara first met Kaidan on the Normandy. He saw the memory of Liara telling him stories after Benezia had died. The final memory was when Liara had confessed her feelings for Kaidan on the Citadel and when he accepted. He saw the kiss they shared on the presidium. He could almost feel it. Then slowly, the memory faded and everything turned to black once again. Kaidan closed his eyes and once he reopened them, he was on Earth, facing Liara.
"Thank you. For everything" Liara said tearfully.
"I love you Liara" Kaidan whispered.
"I love you too" Liara whispered back.
Kaidan swept her up into a long, passionate kiss. Liara leaned into the kiss. He could tell she was desperate. She didn't want to leave him. When they pulled away from the kiss, Liara had tears running down her cheeks.
"Let's do what needs to be done" Liara said softly.
Kaidan let him arms go limp and Liara released herself from his grasp. She backed away slowly, waving as she headed over to check on the wounded. Kaidan sighed and held his own tears back. It was the hardest goodbye in his life. He didn't want Liara to leave but she had to. But Kaidan wasn't lying. He was going to fight to win Liara that future. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
Shepard grouped everybody at the HQ upstairs. She was about to give her motivational speech. Everybody knew the situation. The plan was to get to the beam. That beam would get them access to the Citadel to they could open the arms and dock the Crucible. A Reaper was blocking their path but they had a plan for that. The fight was about to begin.
After Shepard's speech she chose her team. For the final push, Shepard was bringing Garrus and Tali. Shepard then ordered the rest of her squad to break up into two's. Liara chose to go with Javik while Kaidan went with James. EDI would return to the Normandy. With everything settled the teams moved out, ready to engage in the fight of their lives. Liara whispered a silent pray to the Goddess to keep Kaidan safe. She wanted to see him again. Javik told Liara to focus as they headed out on the battle field. Liara obeyed. She had to put Kaidan out of her mind for the time being. She had to focus on the Reapers right now.
It was a long fight. Liara had lost count with how many Reapers she'd killed. Javik felt the same way. They were waiting on extraction from the Normandy. Shepard had dealt with the Reapers and was making her way towards the beam. Liara hoped Kaidan was alright. The Normandy arrived at last. The shuttle bay ramp lowered and Liara and Javik climbed aboard. The ramp sealed once both were inside. Liara's first order of business now was to find Kaidan. Liara took the elevator up one floor. When the doors opened, she found Kaidan at the galaxy map.
"Kaidan!" Liara cried.
Liara!" Kaidan cried out as well.
The two ran at each other before flinging into each other's arms. Liara held Kaidan tight. She was ecstatic that he was alive.
"I'm so glad you're alive" Liara expressed.
"Me too Liara" Kaidan said.
"What's going on?" Liara asked.
"Shepard just contacted us. She's at the beam but she needs to get Garrus and Tali out of there" Kaidan explained.
"What? She can't do it alone" Liara protested.
"I don't like it either but we have to follow through with this. Go back down to the shuttle bay. Meet up with Garrus and Tali" Kaidan said.
"Alright" Liara agreed.
Kaidan turned back to the map while Liara returned to the shuttle bay. Upon arrival, the ramp was descending again. Liara saw Tali climb inside. Shepard was helping Garrus get inside. He appeared to be injured. Shepard passed him off to Tali. Liara approached slowly. She overheard Shepard say a final goodbye to Garrus, saying she loved him and she always will. Garrus whispered an 'I love you too' before Shepard took off, running towards the beam. Tali and Garrus watched her go. Liara did too, in the background. Then Tali helped Garrus inside as the ramp closed. Liara came along with them. They took Garrus up to deck three to see Chakwas. Now all they had to do was wait until Shepard got to the Citadel. If she got to the Citadel.
It felt like hours passed and there was still no word from Shepard. The Normandy was no longer down on Earth. After retrieving Garrus and Tali, the Normandy retreated to Earth's orbit. They planned to pick Shepard up at the Crucible once she armed it. Liara was with Kaidan inside the Starboard Observation deck. They were watching the Crucible and fight going on around them. Suddenly a red light started to glow from the Crucible. A announcement from Hackett reigned out.
"All ships leave the system. The Crucible is armed. I repeat the Crucible is armed. Disengage and get the hell out of there!" he ordered.
"What about Shepard?" Liara asked to no one.
"She did what she had to do" Kaidan said sombrely.
Liara buried her face in Kaidan's shoulder as the Normandy left without Shepard. The red light grew bigger and bigger. A bit a joy was in Liara. She knew that red light was going to destroy the Reapers. But it also meant that Shepard had probably died doing so. It was a bitter-sweet ending. The Normandy did it's best to outrun the blast but the red wave hit them and forced the ship down onto a grassy planet. Liara and Kaidan held each other tight during the rocky crash. Once things had settled down, the crew joined together in front of the memorial wall. Garrus was given a plaque that read Shepard's name. Everybody believed that she had died destroying the Reapers. What better to remember her than to put her name up with the rest of the fallen friends. Everybody watched in silence as Garrus approached the wall. He hesitated and looked down at the name plate. He ran his fingers gently over the name. Liara figured he was remembering her or saying his own silent goodbye. But he didn't place the name. Instead he dropped it to the ground. Everybody was a little shocked at his action.
"I don't think Shepard is dead" he stated. "I think she's still alive. I'm not giving up on her yet".
Joker nodded in agreement and left, returning to the cockpit. Eventually everybody left the memorial wall until just Liara and Kaidan were left. Kaidan took Liara's hand in his and held tight.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I think Garrus is right. Shepard is still alive and we're going to find her" Liara replied.
"I thinking the same thing" Kaidan said.
Liara and Kaidan stayed in front of the wall for a while. No talking. Just holding hands, relieved that the war was finally over. Now only one last step remained: Find Shepard and bring her home.