Author's Note: Hello all! Thank you so very much for your patience. I had a great time over the weekend and now I am back, refreshed and recharged, with all sorts of ideas. I appreciate all of you who have followed, favorited, and left reviews on this little story, and I hope that you continue to enjoy it.

Bright Blessings,

~Raven

Liara

"What's…what's going on?" I heard a slurring voice and looked to Shepard. It was not her who had spoken, however.

Miranda Lawson leaned against the support pillar, a hand pushed against her head, her skin pale, marred by the lines of darkening blood trickling down her cheek. The parts of me that had known realization began to shut down as reminders came in the form of a body and a voice that I did not think I could cease disliking. Whatever moments may have been shared between Shepard and me were over.

"Garrus," Shepard looked past Miranda, though I could not help but see the worry flaring in her eyes, "you feeling okay?"

The turian emerged, a grin on his face. "Did I miss all the fun?" he asked. "Or will I have to engrave on my chestplate, 'I helped take down the Shadow Broker, and all I got was this headache'?"

"Glad to see you're okay, Vakarian." Shepard's voice held warmth. "Get yourself, Miranda, and Feron back to the Normandy and into the med-bay."

Garrus' eyes narrowed as he saw the blood streaming down Shepard's face. "You don't look to be in the best of shape yourself."

"I've had worse." Shepard brushed off his concern, as she always had in the past. "Go."

I did not understand what was happening as Miranda leaned into Garrus' support. Feron limped behind them, and I thanked the goddess that he was well enough to walk under his own power. Light flared in the room as the remaining energy crackled like lightning. All of a sudden, every thought that I had dismissed at the sound of Miranda's voice rushed back. My heart began to flutter in my chest, my throat felt tight, and I could not find any words.

We were alone on the field of battle, the sounds and sights and smells of war, and I knew that I should not be afraid. I should have felt the anxiety and tension wash away with the knowledge that we had triumphed. But I could do none of that when Shepard turned to me. I saw the horrific gash across her face, the blood running down her skin. I remembered the piece of metal I had held in my hands and I knew that she stood, burdened by pain and injury, but for some reason, she remained behind the others.

Her silver eyes met mine and in them I could see no pain, no hurt, no aching. All I could see was rapture, amazement, and all things in the human race that were beautiful.

"What made you do it?" she asked, her voice soft, sweet, and gentle.

"I…" I found my ability to speak, "…I made you a promise that you never knew about, Serena." the confession fell from me in spite of the fact that I did not wish it to. "I made a promise that I…that I would ease all of your burdens in whatever way I could. And when I saw him dead, and heard the operatives, I realized that I had access to his entire information network and…I wanted…I needed…I can…I can give you…" I turned away from her, unable to bear the brilliant stars of her eyes.

I remembered the two years of grief. The tears that I had placed into a needle and shoved into my veins. The bodies in which I had buried both my sorrow and my rage. I remembered that I was not something worth loving any longer, a risk no longer worth the taking, even by someone who stared death in the face on a daily basis.

Wretched, broken sobs heaved out of my mouth from the depths of my chest; the shadowed, shattered chasm of my heart. I had wasted so much time. I had refused to heal. I had been devastated and fallen into darkness, only to be bitter and cold when once more the sun appeared in my life…a glittering star in the form of an individual from a weaker, newer race in the galaxy. In the form of a battered warrior with scars on her body and in her soul and psyche that no life form of any race or species should have to bear.

"I can…" I choked.

Warmth enfolded me from behind. It felt like all that was comfort, all that was peace. Pure, silent strength infused me and I remembered what it was to be cradled in the heart of a warrior. An intimate knowledge of protection, an inalienable concept of personal worth...I turned into Serena's embrace, letting my arms wrap around her, resting my forehead against the solidity of her shoulder.

"Forgive me for this." she whispered through her split lips. "But I needed to hold you. I needed to tell you that it's all right."

My body trembled in her embrace, for I remembered everything. The armor that separated us seemed as nothing but an idea and I could feel our bodies melding together, naked flesh against naked flesh, vulnerable heart opening to vulnerable heart. I could hear her breath fluttering in her chest, speaking its own language. I could smell the blood on her skin, sense her willingness to give everything that she was to the person who held her heart.

I lifted my head and gazed into her silver eyes. In them, I found the soul that I had abandoned when she died. I found in them the mercy that I had once believed in, the love I had fled, the gentleness and kindness that once I had made my pursuit. In her eyes, I found the innocence that I had lost, and wanted nothing more than to reclaim it, if only for a moment.

It is not mine anymore, I remembered, but still I fell towards her, daring to press my lips against the parts of hers that were undamaged. It felt brief, and hollow, but it was all that I would take, all that I could receive. In that glimpsing eternity, I felt everything again, and I felt it die as I pulled away from her.

"It's…it's been two years." I whispered. "And no matter that we might both like to believe otherwise, we are…we are different people, Serena. You have your mission and I have…"

"This." she gestured to the room, then stepped forward, taking my hand and pulling me close to her. Her eyes burned into mine and I felt hopeless, trapped, and so comforted that I never wanted to be anywhere in the galaxy but here. She took my hand and rested it against her heart. "And this."

Her lips fell against mine and I felt the broken edges of her skin as I returned her kiss. I tasted her sweat, her devotion, the tang of metal and salt that was her blood and her dedication. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me, opening my mouth and my mind and my heart, allowing her to speak to me with silent eloquence as we reconnected in a primal way, on a primal level. I wished that it would last forever, and yet I knew that it could not.

I know that you are forgiving, Serena Shepard. I know that you have a mercy in your heart that would shame the peace-mongering people who advocate against soldiers and armies and war. But I know who I am, and I know that I have turned my back on you. I will cherish this kiss, as I cherished our love but I am…I am not worth loving, because there is anger still in my heart, and this step that I have taken, this promise that I have kept, is in no way an absolution for my transgressions. Such a thing does not exist for me.

Knowing that once I had been worthy of her love, and that I was no longer, I pulled away from the kiss. But I stamped the moment in my memory, to cherish for when she left for her mission, for her life that could not include me.

"Okay." I breathed, closing my eyes, attempting to slow the accelerated beating of my heart, to dull the pain that had begun to dwell there. "Okay."

It is so much more agonizing to know that what once was could be again, and that I will deny it so that she might…so that she might give her love to someone who deserves it. I want to let her go, to give her beautiful heart the freedom that it deserves.

I opened my eyes and gazed at Serena Shepard. Even with that dreadful, horrific gash across her face, she had a beauty about her that few could see. A beauty that had captured me, and retained the ability to hold me still. I blinked and memories resurged, the window of the life support chamber as it cleared, illuminating the wreckage that space and flames could wreak on the human body. The living visage before me flashed to the gruesome wreck of mangled flesh from that time and I shuddered and winced.

I took several step backwards, trying to center myself, trying to find my sanity, trying to forget that her kiss, even with her damaged, bloodied lips, had felt like home and welcome and surety and strength.

"Liara," Serena reached out, took a step forward, and her knees buckled.