Chapter 21: I'm Not an Angel.
The Normandy landed on the outskirts of Thessia, requesting that their presence remained low key as they had business to take care of in private. Samara and her daughters hurried out and stared in disbelief at the building before them.
"It can't be!" Samara breathed.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Georgia asked.
"How'd it survive the war?" Falare asked in response.
"Some could say it was divine will," Georgia smiled, and Samara stared at her in disbelief. "It was damaged, but I knew you'd return eventually, so I thought it should be nice for you."
"Thank you goddess," Samara said, before breaking down into tears, Miranda moved to support her. "This brings back many happy memories."
Miranda and John helped the Justicar to enter her old family home, with Georgia, Falare and Morinth following close behind. Inside they found the place ready for guests, and set out like they'd never had never left.
"Samara…" a voice said, and the Justicar turned, and her face went pale with shock.
"Impossible!" she breathed, gently shaking off her support and approached the ghosts of her bondmate and Rila.
"Nothing's impossible in the presence of a goddess" Miranda said softly. "Or two in this case."
"Hello my love, my children" Samara's bondmate said softly, which drew Samara's attention back to her. "It's been a long time since we last spoke."
"Too long…" Samara laughed weakly. "It's good to see you again; I'd almost forgotten your face."
"I understand," her bondmate said softly, before turning to look at Georgia. "Athame foresaw your rise Shepard, and I must thank you for this chance to speak to my bondmate again."
"No problem. Samara, care to introduce us" Georgia said as she stepped forward.
"Goddess, this is my… this is Sarina T'loak." Samara said, suddenly feeling awkward as she didn't know what Sarina was to her now. "And you remember Rila."
"Nice to see you again Shepard," Rila smiled. "Sisters."
"Rila," Falare and Morinth breathed, disbelieving their eyes.
"And it's nice to meet the woman who's captured my love's heart after years of isolation." Sarina smiled.
"Nice to meet you Sarina, and it's very nice to see you again Rila" Georgia said softly, managing to shake hands with the ghosts.
"I know why we're having this opportunity to speak," Sarina said suddenly, catching Samara off guard. "You need redemption for your past crimes, in order to live a new one. Though I overlooked your criminal acts to an extent, and hold no hatred for what you did when I was murdered, you need to find peace in your new life, and that means coming to terms with what you did."
"Indeed," Rila added. "You need to know the past is behind you, before embracing your goddess as a lover."
"Rila!" Samara snapped at her daughter's cheeky comment.
"It's okay my love, if she makes you happy then I'm okay with it." Sarina said, cupping Samara's cheek with her ghostly hand.
"So… how are we going to absolve me of all sins goddess?" Samara asked, after a few moments of coming to terms with the situation.
"Does this place have a large body of water we can use?" Miranda asked, knowing what her wife had in mind.
"The neighbours had a pool we'd take the girls to, but we never wanted one of our own," Samara said quickly, pointing toward the back of the house.
"How about a bath, do you have one of those we can use?" Georgia asked quickly, looking up to the second floor.
"We did have a bath... I remember it being quite big," Sarina smiled, and Samara blushed as the memories returned to her. "It should be more than big enough for you two; it could hold both of us."
"Excellent. Miri could you get the few crew members aboard the ship, there should be witnesses for this." Georgia asked.
"Of course Geo," Miri said brightly, before hurrying back toward the Normandy.
Samara led the others upstairs to the bathroom, where there was a small circular bath, the size of a hot tub, sunk into the floor.
"What do you wish of me goddess?" Samara asked, as Georgia's shifted her clothes so she was just in her bra and underwear, before she slipped into the large bath.
"Please remove all items of clothing and jewellery, and then join me in the water," Georgia smiled, as the water began to glow softly around her.
Samara nodded and without hesitating, dutifully removed her suit. As she took her Justicar collar off, the few crew members, who were on the Normandy, arrived and stood around the edge of the bathroom. Samara slowly stepped into the pool, the warm water bringing a smile to her face.
"What's going on general?" Diana asked, as the sight before her was completely bizarre. Two Asari ghosts with Miranda and John, both in full armour, standing around a small bath, where Georgia in her underwear was standing with a naked Samara.
"Something that will not leave the crew in terms of who knows about it," Miranda said sharply. "Samara is being baptized to fully absolve her of her past crimes, which is a story that can wait until afterward. Georgia has even summoned the spirits of Samara's deceased daughter and bondmate to complete this ceremony.""
"Though this is different because an actual goddess is performing the ceremony," Georgia joked, as she positioned Samara in a manner to help her perform a unique baptism of a crew member. "Miri, would you care to conduct it for me?"
"I think I only need to ask one thing. Samara; do you desire to be reborn as a true member of the Normandy crew, absolved of all past sins and crimes, able to live as you wish under your goddess and general?" Miranda asked, as Georgia placed one hand over Samara's heart, and the other supporting the base of her skull.
"I do!" Samara said boldly.
Georgia slowly pushed Samara backward, until she was submerged in the water, which glowed even brighter when the act was performed. As she was brought up again, Samara suddenly embraced Miranda and gave her a powerful kiss. The watching crew members, especially Falare and Morinth, weren't sure how to respond at first, but applauded when Samara beamed at them. She quickly sunk back into the water in order to keep her modesty, though John and her daughters had seen her completely naked before she had gotten into the bath.
"You are now reborn Samara, your life is a blank slate now, you may live it how you wish." Georgia said, hugging the Asari, who held on to her tightly. "Does this mean you need a new surname?"
"I choose T'Shepard as my new surname, in honour of the woman who gave me what many wish for," Samara beamed. "A fresh start."
"I'm honoured," Georgia smiled, before receiving a kiss from Samara as final thanks.
"Does the new name carry over to your daughters?" Miranda asked, looking to Falare and Morinth.
"We will follow our mother," they said after looking each other in the eye. "We owe much to our goddess like our mother, we are honoured to share her name."
The crew took this opportunity to wander back to the ship, leaving the Shepards, T'Shepards and ghosts alone in the bathroom.
"I think the others should be informed of everything as well goddess," Samara said slowly.
"Well, they will be returning soon, so we'll have the opportunity to get them up to speed then." Miranda said brightly, helping Samara out of the pool and handing her a towel.
"Not again!" Georgia growled, the other women looked over and saw the glowing blue water was tinged red with blood.
"You sure it's not that time of the month?" Morinth suggested, trying to be helpful.
"My womb is sterile, so I've never had a period," Georgia said brightly, slowly lifting herself out of the pool, to find another wound in her stomach. "This… this means something else has broken into my galaxy without permission."
"You'd let something in?" Miranda asked.
"Maybe, but… argh!" Georgia exclaimed as the pain hit her in full force.
"But we felt it best to enter unannounced." A familiar voice said from behind them.
They turned and their jaws dropped, as two versions of Shepard strode toward them. One was entirely robotic, almost like a Reaper in its construction, but it looked exactly like Georgia, with her eyes glowing gold. The other was completely fine at first glance, but upon closer inspection the skin was cracked and vivid red light escaped from underneath. Just like the robotic version and the original, her eyes glowed gold.
"This just got interesting" Samara sighed, as she wrapped a towel around her chest to cover her intimate areas.
-AN-
I am going to put Sierra Shepard on a Christmas break, allowing me to work on the remaining chapters without the pressing time constraints of the weekly update. I shall resume posting new chapters in the early new year, i.e. January.