Miranda was barely holding herself together.

The fight through the Eclipse stronghold had been daunting enough on its own, but compounded with Niket's betrayal and, now, seeing Oriana in the flesh for the first time in years, it was all nearly too much. The Cerberus officer clasped her hands together to keep from wringing them and willed herself not to cry.

They wouldn't have been sad tears, she reasoned. She was just so happy that Oriana was out of danger. She was just so relieved to see her with her family again. Her normal, average, unassuming family. Her kind, safe, caring family.

Her false family, who would never know her true origin and never appreciate who she really was. Not like Miranda could.

All right; maybe they would have been sad tears after all.

Miranda sighed and squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the urge. This was not the first time she'd had these thoughts, of course, but it was the first time in a while. Being here now: so close and yet so far from her long lost sister, was like a knife to the heart.

Miranda was so busy reining in her meltdown that she did not notice Shepard until the woman's shoulder was brushing hers and she was murmuring softly, for Miranda's ears only, "Don't you want to say hello?"

Miranda jolted at her sudden closeness, and then grew irritated at herself for the slip. Why couldn't she ever keep her cool, collected mask in place when it really mattered? Now was not the time or place to be making a fool of herself. "It's not about what I want. It's about what's right for her," she said, more snappishly than she meant. Then she felt bad for taking it out on Shepard. Her next words were gentler; restrained. "The less she knows about me, the better. She's got a family. A life. I'll just complicate that for her."

Even without looking, Miranda could feel Shepard's eyes on her. It was probably one of her thoughtful looks; the kind that meant she was working on a solution to a difficult problem. But maybe this problem wasn't so difficult for her after all. "She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?" she asked.

Well, when you put it like that. Miranda pursed her lips, trying to keep a lump from rising in her throat. She couldn't take her eyes from Oriana, afraid that if she looked away, her sister would disappear again. Afraid that she would vanish, spirited away to someplace safe and secluded from the kind of people that would put her life in danger—but from Miranda as well.

That thought was more painful than she'd expected. How had she gone this long without ever meeting the woman her sister had become? And how had she planned to keep herself detached from her forever?

Shepard was right. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for them to talk.

"I guess not," she finally assented with an unsteady chuckle.

Shepard's gloved hand settled on the small of her back, and all the air in her lungs retreated. "Go on," the commander encouraged, giving her a gentle push forward, oblivious to the effect her touch had. "We'll wait here."

Maybe it was just because her emotions were already so close to the surface; all the edges of her nerves exposed, that Miranda found herself flustered so entirely by that unassuming little gesture. On the other hand, maybe it was because in that moment, she realized that she was in far too deep for her own good.