The kiss that Liara gives her when she gets out of the car is the kind of good, long kiss that Ashara has to follow up with several smaller ones just because she doesn't want it to be over.

"I see you missed me." Liara's hands are warm running over her back as her head rests against Shepard's chest.

"You know that I did, Ashara. I always…"

"I know." When they'd first been reunited after she destroyed the Reapers, it had been hard for Liara to be apart from her for too long. Over the last few years her wife's fears of losing her have eased, but they haven't dissipated entirely. "It's good to be home."

"The message you sent when you landed indicated that you did not enjoy the flight very much."

"You can say what you want about Cerberus, but the SR-2 was a hell of a lot more comfortable than that piece of junk the asari lent us. My back did not appreciate those chairs."

Liara gives her a sympathetic look. "In that case, why don't you join me in the hot tub and you can tell me about your journey."

"Mm." Some days, she really does feel exceptionally lucky. "You in a hot tub… it may be a while before we actually discuss the trip."

Her wife's smile turns slightly mischievous. "I can be patient."

Some time later, when both of them are feeling a great deal more relaxed, Liara's bondmate asks her with a laugh, "So, when we get out of here, should I check the garden for an Aethyta-shaped hole?"

Liara purrs happily, still enjoying the afterglow. "You will be pleased to know that I actually came to a better understanding of why she has acted the way that she did."

"Go on."

"It can be traced back to Benezia. I knew very little about their relationship and it was far more intense than I had realized. They were together for a hundred years, and when Aethyta lost my mother just as they were going to have a daughter, it hurt her very badly."

"What happened to them?"

"It was politics but also personality. Both of them had always believed in changing the Asari Republics, but when they finally started to gain the power they had sought, it did not work out as they had hoped. Aethyta can be… abrasive and my mother worried that she was becoming a liability in her public appearances while Aethyta became jealous of Benezia's followers. She thought that she was using her sexuality as a means to control them as well as to gain influence over important people."

Ashara shakes her head sympathetically. Liara had heard the occasional unsavory rumor about her mother before, but she'd never wanted to investigate the truth of them further. "When they finally split up, Benezia told Aethyta that I would be better off without in her in my life and as my father became increasingly bitter and angry, she started to believe that it was true. That is why she stayed away for so long and by the time Benezia died, she did not know where to begin with me. She was afraid I would think that she was trying to take advantage of the fame and influence I possessed, especially after the war."

"I told her that I did not believe that and we are going to try to make a fresh start. She wants to be here when our daughter is born, to be a part of her life."

"I'm glad to hear it, Liara. We don't have much family. Besides, we could use a babysitter we can trust."

The asari laughs. "Provided she refrains from teaching her granddaughter to swear like a krogan pirate, I would agree. Now, how was your trip?"

"The students performed well. I'm going to ask Cellia and Elphi to stay on as instructors when they graduate."

"And Rissia?"

"She's probably the most skilled of the three, but she doesn't have the personality for teaching. I think she'd be better off going back to special forces. It wouldn't surprise me if she became a Specter some day."

Liara nods. "What about Kelly?" It worries the asari that Shepard has been putting off the topic.

A sigh escapes her wife's lips. "I don't know. When you first told me where she was, it was easy to imagine the worst case scenarios. I mean, Omega, you imagine her face down in a gutter or enslaved in a brothel or some other terrible thing. It wasn't like that. She was safe, working at Mordin's old clinic, but when I saw her, she was so damaged. Not just from the things that happened to her, but she had all of this guilt. She thought, god, she thought we hated her for leaving the Normandy."

Liara slides over, running a wet hand through Ashara's hair. Kelly's survivor's guilt isn't the only regret here. "She was just a damn kid, you know. Just a bubbly face the Illusive Man assigned to the ship because he wanted to put me at ease. She was half in love with me, and so green, and I let her get screwed over pretty thoroughly."

"You saved her from the Collectors." Liara kisses Ashara gently.

"I never should have let her get taken in the first place. Now I'm living in a mansion on Thessia with a beautiful wife and a daughter on the way and she's working in a slum in Omega not sleeping at night."

"I am sorry for her, Ashara, but what happened to her doesn't mean you do not deserve the life we have built together. Her friends can be there for her when she's ready, but Kelly will have to find her own way back, just as you have."

"It's still not fair. After all," Ashara adds with a small smile, "Not everyone gets a Liara to help them out."

Liara laughs. It's progress to see her bondmate's sense of humor reemerge relatively quickly after a bout of guilt. She'd never want Ashara to lose her compassion but she should be allowed to enjoy the happiness she's unquestionably earned. "Well, this one is taken."

She feels Shepard's arms enfold her. "I'm glad to hear it. There is one thing I can do though; get the clinic some extra funding. My cut of the profits from "Commander Shepard: Mako Assault," ought to buy a lot of bandages and medicine.

"I will make the arrangements. You know, Garrus once tried to get me to play that game when he was visiting. I cannot believe he enjoys it. I still shudder every time I think of that tank." Ashara gives her a look. "I know, the experience was a product of its design and the circumstances you had to drive it under, rather then a reflection on your ability at doing so." She pauses for a moment. "For the most part."

Ashara winces in mock pain and laughs. "All right. Fine. I may have taken a 'head-on' approach to some of our missions. But I got us through, didn't I?"

Liara nuzzles further into Shepard's embrace. "You really did, love."

She always sleeps better when Ashara shares the bed with her, so Liara is enjoying her most restful night in almost a week when she's woken suddenly by Glyph floating into their room. "Doctor T'Soni."

Beside her, her bondmate stirs. "Liara," she mutter groggily into her pillow, "Can I just blast that thing?"

"Perhaps. Let us see what it has to say."

"Doctor, you have a priority call."

"From who?" There are very few people that Glyph is authorized to wake her up for.

"Kasumi Goto." But she's one of them. She's disappeared entirely since the end of the war. Some of Shepard's teammates keep a low profile, but all of the rest of them, even Javik, have been in touch at least a few times. Not Kasumi though, and if she's made contact, that's reason enough for Liara to drag herself out of bed.

Ashara seems to agree because she's pulling on some sweats. "We'll take it in here, Glyph."

"Very well, Commander. I will route the call to Doctor T'Soni's omni-tool."

"Wait, Glyph…" Liara scrambles to throw on her robe, only barely getting it closed before an image of Kasumi pops into existence above her nightstand.

"Hey Shep, Liara."

"Kasumi, do you know what time it is on Thessia?", Ashara grumbles.

"Nah, I was never any good at doing the conversions."

"Fine, whatever. Why exactly have you surfaced after all this time other than to wake my pregnant wife up in the middle of the night?"

"Sorry about that and congratulations by the way. I just thought you might like to know, someone tried to kidnap me."

Kasumi's words seem to banish whatever fatigue Shepard is still feeling. She may be annoyed at the thief, but no one messes with her crew. "What happened?"

"Well, ever since people found out I was in your little club, it's been hard to get work. Too much name recognition for most potential clients, you know. So, I've been trying to stay away, get back to being anonymous, but it's not easy."

"I am sorry that helping to save the galaxy has impinged on your criminal career."

Unlike her wife, Liara is not finding it hard to stay annoyed, but Kasumi blows right past the comment. "Nah, don't mention it. I got paid well to help. But for now I've had to take the jobs I can, and this time it was supposed to be with ExoGeni. Supposedly, they wanted me to do a little corporate espionage, but when I showed up for the meet, it was a kidnapping instead."

"I cannot imagine you are unaccustomed to betrayal in your line of work."

"Betrayal I can deal with. But this time, they didn't wait for me to do the job first before trying to take me out. Instead it was just a bunch of guys, a submission net and some flash-bangs. I'm just lucky they didn't know quite how good I am."

Shepard lets the bragging pass and moves on to the problem at hand. "Do you have any idea what they wanted aside from you?"

"No. Pretty sure I never stole from ExoGeni before. At least nothing that they'd miss enough to go after me like that."

"Shit. Anybody coming for you should know you've got dangerous friends. Which means that either they're really dumb or they're powerful enough to take the risk."

Liara rubs her forehead. Worries of a kind she'd hoped were banished for good are starting to bubble towards the surface. It's been so long since they've had a enemy they really worried about that it's catching her off guard. "Please send me the details and I will see what I can find our for you."

"Will do. And Shep, sorry about not calling. It's just me."

On that enigmatic note, the thief ends the call and Liara turns to her bondmate. "I should get started looking into this. I do not feel like I will have much success in falling back to sleep right now anyway."

She feels a kiss on the top of her crest. "I'll go make you some tea and get myself some coffee. If it's going to be a long night, we'll get through it together."