Liara

Zhira spent the entirety of the night with me, awake. We shared tears between us, and though she had seen it all within my mind, she asked to be told the story of my life, in my own words. It reminded me of when I had asked Shepard to tell me the stories of her past, flashes of which I had seen in our first meld, and how she had been unable to do so. I had not known, then, how to give her the courage to do so…Zhira did have that knowledge, and I did speak to her, empowered by her compassion and her giving of her heart.

The sun rose and found me sitting in my bed, underneath the covers, emotionally spent and physically exhausted. I looked out of the windows, wondering what it would be like to feel hope again. A sweet smell wafted through the air and I looked away from the window. Zhira entered the room, carrying two steaming teacups.

I caught another, subtler scent that I remembered from the Normandy. My brow raised and Zhira smiled, sensing the question before I asked it.

"There's honey in it." she confirmed my suspicion and handed me a cup.

I wrapped my hands around it and found myself pleased by the lack of trembling in my fingers. It had not been easy to arrive at this place, and the difficulty for me had not ended. But I felt, though empty and drained of everything, more myself than I had in months. More myself than I had during the desperate search for Shepard's body and the mad, manic time that followed.

I took a sip of the tea and smiled at the sweetness that had been so novel aboard the Normandy. The flavor splashed across my tongue and even though the heat scalded me a bit, I found myself enjoying it. Zhira drank hers as well, but set the cup aside as thoughts clouded her amethyst eyes.

"So, you've told me that this Miranda bitch thinks she can bring Shepard back to life." Zhira spoke, her no-nonsense voice not dancing around my past whatsoever, comforting me with its brusqueness. "Are you holding out any hope for that?"

I stared into my teacup, remembering Dr. Chakwas' ridiculous assertions that one could read their future in tea leaves. I wished, however, at this moment, that her assertions, not made in earnest but in jest, had been true. It would have been pleasant to be able to see what would come to pass.

"No." I shook my head. "I…I do believe that with enough research and technology full resurrection could be accomplished. But…but it will not be Serena any longer. It will be her face and body, perhaps even her voice…but it will not be Serena. It will be enough to convince those who did not know her as I did. The truth of her person is something no science can restore. It is somewhere that none can retrieve it and she…she has earned her rest, Zhira."

Zhira nodded over the top of her teacup. "I agree with you there. I just…wondered how you felt about that. Besides confused, that is. I felt plenty of that in the meld."

I offered a self-deprecating smile. "I cannot allow myself to waste away and yearn for what shall never exist again. In fact, Zhira…" I paused, thinking over the ramifications of the words that hovered on the edge of my tongue. I spoke them. "…I do not think I shall ever love another as I loved her. In fact…I do not know if I shall ever love again."

"Love hurts like nothing else in this galaxy can." Zhira said, but she did not agree with or support my statement. "Just…" she reached out and laid her hand on my arm, "…don't give up on the idea all together. Don't fall into anything ill-advised, or risk attachment while you're still healing, but…but don't lock your heart away, Liara. Don't become…" she paused and shook her head, "...never mind."

I narrowed my eyes at the asari who had, through the course of our interaction, been nothing but forthright. "Zhira, what were you going to say?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Liara." Zhira answered. "Seems like the galaxy's done enough of that its own damn self."

My eyes hardened. "Tell me, Zhira. Please."

Her breath left her body in a hissing sigh. "Don't become like your mother, Liara." she said at last. "Don't become the cold, distant asari that I saw inside your mind. Just…just fucking don't. You're better than that."

I bit my lip, unable to deny that her words had stung, even though I had asked for them. "I do not…I do not know if I am better than that, Zhira."

"I'll believe for you until you can believe for yourself." Zhira gave a wide, easy grin. "It's worked before hasn't it?"

"Even so." I found myself smiling again, and it was pleasant.

"I get it, Liara." Zhira told me. "I do. Just giving you a friendly warning. But I know you better now, and I know what you need so that you don't go running off into something new and equally as harmful as a drug addiction. You're the sort who needs a purpose, a mission…something to occupy that wickedly brilliant mind of yours."

My features fell and my smile vanished. "You might be right, Zhira." I acknowledged. "But I…I have nothing with which to occupy my time. I've lost my purpose."

Zhira bit her lip and reached into her pocket, withdrawing a small object. "I found this when I was cleaning out your stashes." she said. "You kept it with your drugs, so I figured it was important."

She extended her hand and I gasped. It was the OSD that Feron had trusted me with, the information on the Shadow Broker's dealings from his base on Alignon. I had forgotten it all but entirely in the drug-induced haze that had defined my life…but I had not shown Zhira that event in the meld. She knew nothing of my dealings with the Shadow Broker…only that I had stolen Shepard's body out from under him with the help of a drell who had been captured in the attempt.

Zhira read my expression. "I see that it's obviously important."

"More than you could imagine." I whispered. "That, Zhira, is the key to the galaxy's underworld."

Zhira's eyes widened. "Are you goddess-damned serious, Liara?"

"Yes." I spoke, locking my eyes with hers. "Feron pressed this into my hands not moments before he was captured…by the Shadow Broker's most trusted enforcer."

Zhira's lips parted, but all that left them was a stream of curses in old Thessian, the original language of the asari.

"Zhira, stop." I chuckled and her stream of curses ended. "It is all but useless to me. I have the funds to follow the information contained there to its end, but I do not have the capability of doing such a thing myself. I can fight, I can even kill but...but I am not well-versed in subterfuge."

"Liara, I saw that last fight." Zhira said, her voice fierce. "Your drell friend was being beaten, but if that bulked up salarian had wanted him dead, then he would have killed him right then and there. There's a chance that Feron is still alive. You have to follow this to its end."

"Zhira, I can't." I stressed the words. "As I said, I do not even know where to begin…"

"With me." she offered. "You have the funding to begin and the mind to be successful in this sort of work. I can help you with the rest. A lot of Kariah's people left when my grandmother was killed; they don't like the way my mother runs things, and they're still looking for work. If you pay well and stay honest, I'll get you commando-level agents."

I looked down at the OSD, feeling something inside my chest kindle and brighten as I thought on it more and more. At last, I removed the disk from Zhira's hands.

"We start small." I said. "I know you can be trusted not to speak of this but before anyone else is involved. We must see exactly where this information will lead us. I know the ways in which the Broker works, Zhira. Layers on layers of failsafes, carefully plotted points of ignorance. No one of his agents, or bases, I imagine, has all of the information we will need to find him. We will have to put this puzzle together, and its pieces are scattered all across the galaxy."

Zhira grinned, reached out, and squeezed my hand. "I'm with you in this, Liara." she said. "I've been a dancer for a while now, and frankly, I kind of miss the excitement that working for Kariah provided. I want to do this. I want to help you."

"Zhira, you have already done so much for me…"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Zhira extended her hand, in the human manner of greeting, parting, and agreement. "Let's get started, shall we, T'Soni?"

I shook my head, but clasped her hand in my own. "Liara T'Soni, information broker." I tried out the title, finding it not at all unpleasant. "I do believe it has an agreeable sound."

Author's Note: Hello all! Thank you so much for the faves, follows, and reviews. I apologize that it's been a while since I've updated (with no explanation). Life kind of crashed in over the weekend and I barely had a second to breathe, let alone write. But hopefully I'll get back to regular updates this week, and then take another 3 day break next weekend, because I'm going to be meeting my baby nephew for the first time. Once again, thank you for all of your encouragement, and your patience.

Bright Blessings,

~Raven