AN: Sequel to "Don't Get Too Close." I was originally going to write this as a one-shot, but it turns out I'm incapable of being succinct so instead reworked it for a chapter format & serial uploads. First few chapters coming out together since this is what I've written so far.
Warning: Some fairly graphic descriptions of violence & torture.
I. Prologue
Into the earth I sank till I
Full six feet under ground did lie,
And sank no more,—there is no weight
Can follow here, however great.
[...]
Deep in the earth I rested now;
Cool is the hand upon the brow
And soft its breast beneath the head
Of one who is so gladly dead.
-"Renascence," Edna St. Vincent Millay
"What's wrong?"
She was silent.
"Besides the obvious?"
A frail smile, but nothing more.
"You didn't like the eulogy?"
"The eulogy was beautiful, Ashley."
"The poem, then?"
Silence. Ah-ha.
"I thought you liked that poem? You said it reminded you of the asari joining mantra."
"I do, and it does. Parts of it, at least. It's just… I just didn't think it fit, that's all."
"Why? Because the speaker comes back to life in the end?"
"No, no, of course not."
"Then what?"
Liara sighed and looked at her hands. "You'll think it's foolish of me."
Ashley reached out and took a hand in hers. "Hey," she said, and the asari looked up, "Never."
After only another moment's pause, Liara sighed and looked off. "Her body," she answered, finally, "It was not recovered."
"You didn't like my eulogy because part of the poem I quoted is from the perspective of a body underground, and we couldn't actually bury her body?" Williams found the criticism almost endearing — of course Liara would be a stickler for such a detail. Should've stuck with Whitman's 'O Captain, My Captain,' Ashley thought, ruefully. "You know, I'm pretty sure the commander would have wanted to be cremated, anyway. It's just the thought that counts."
"Yes, I know."
"That poem's about peace. And finding G-d. I think the commander deserves that more than most."
"Of course," relented the asari, "You are right."
But she was not.