Daybreak had come, and the clouds had vanished, leaving the sky bright and brilliant and cutting in its luminosity. The snow that had fallen the night before etched every crag of the mountain peaks around them and painted a slope of pristine white into the distance.

Daenys stood in the garden near the railing, almost in exactly the same spot Eridra had been standing in late the night before when she had spotted the lights of the battle in the night.

Now there was cerulean sky, and the brilliant chill of the sun, and shuttles moving back and forth through the mountains.

The Alliance ships were finally arriving, blue uniforms and human faces appearing amongst the asari HC troops.

"Daenys?"

Blinking from her thoughts, she looked down at her hand a moment. When she'd come into the garden, she'd almost unconsciously plucked a bloom from a nearby flowering plant. It was soft and white and smelled like crisp smoke in cool evening air. Now the bloom was crushed in fingers she hadn't even noticed she'd clenched. She forced her grip to loosen, and the battered petals slipped free of her hand.

"Daenys?"

The voice was at her side now, Irie gently touching her shoulder and looking at her with weary concern. The scrapes on her face had been treated, and the bruises that remained looked almost like exotic make-up.

Leave it to Irie to somehow turn even battle wounds into elegance, Dae thought with a weary, internal chuckle.

Out loud she said, "I am sorry, I was thinking."

"You are exhausted," Irie said softly. "I thought you were in resting with Aleu."

"I cannot sleep," Dae told her, regarding her with a slightly lifted brow. "The same clearly holds true for you."

Irie gave a faint nod, looking upward. "The Alliance and High Command are treating what happened here as classified level one. Communications have been all but shut down completely out of system, but Mama finally got a message through to Admiral Tonaki. From what I understand, she peeled a layer of flesh off his ear. He got her authorization to contact the monastery and they forwarded her call to me. I have spent the last hour reassuring her as best as I can."

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth," Irie said. "That Normandy is badly damaged but intact, and that we sustained losses but her family-most of her family-suffered only mild injuries. I told her the children were all right. She and Sam should be here by noon. Joker is bringing them on the Freedom."

"And about Mel?" Dae asked.

Irie shook her head a little. "I wrestled with that one. I did not want to tell her the truth of it. I can only too well imagine the feeling. It is an old nightmare, one every parent has, I suppose. Knowing your child may likely die and you are hours away from them, your mind filled with nothing but the fear that you may not even get to their side in time to say goodbye…that they may go alone, and frightened, and you are helpless to even comfort them."

"Yes," Dae said almost inaudibly. "You did not want to tell her…but you did?"

"Yes," Irie said. "In the end, I had to."

"Irie, I think-"

"Daenys."

They both turned to see Beth standing in the garden doorway, an urgent expression on her face. As they looked at her, she gestured and then vanished back inside. Fear immediately gripped Dae's heart, and she caught hold of Irie's hand as the two hurried back inside, both trying not to actually run.

Beth did not take them to the infirmary, much to Dae's surprise. Instead, she led them into a small and quiet reading room. Sunlight made the room golden and warm, but Dae felt only cold as she saw Lily sitting there looking much aged.

"Lily? Lily-"

Her niece held up her hands, getting to her feet and taking her aunt's arm. "She is alive," Lily said. Dae felt her resolve crack, weary relief like hot water rushing into her legs, making them weak. Lily gently tugged her and unconsciously Daenys obeyed, sitting down. Beth and Irie followed suit.

"Oh, thank the Goddess…"

"Is she awake?" Beth asked.

"No," Lily said, resuming her own seat. "We managed to repair the damage and stop the internal bleeding, treat the chemical reaction before her fever got too high, but she has been through a lot. Her vitals are still weak but they are getting stronger every minute. We are hopeful that in a few days she will be back on her feet, but it will take time until she is back to her old self."

"You do not believe she is in further danger of dying?" Beth asked, a strange expression on her face. Lily shook her head, but her jaw was tight. Irie recognized the look- her daughter often had that expression when there was something she did not want to tell her parents- something she feared would upset or disappoint them. The odd expression on Beth's face told Irie that she, as well, suspected Lily of holding something unpleasant back.

"No, she is weak but stable. We will monitor her closely over the next twenty four hours but I do not think-"

"Then why do you sound as if you are reading her eulogy?" Beth asked, in that even and oddly soothing way she had. When they were kids, Irie had once joked to Melara that Beth could describe to you the massacre of your family and yet somehow she would manage to make you feel good and comforted about it at the same time.

"Yes, Beth is right," Irie said, looking at her daughter. "There is something you are not telling us."

"It is too soon to say if it is even of any relevance, let alone concern-" Lily said.

"What?" Dae asked. "Please, Lily…we need to know."

Lily sighed. "She seems to be having some possible neurological problems," she said, then quickly added, "Nothing is showing on the scans. She does have some minor head trauma but there are no bleeds or damage to the brain that we could find, and all her brainwave readings are green-"

"What neurologic problems?" Dae asked, worried. "What do you mean? If everything is green-"

"She woke up, briefly, about an hour ago," Lily said. "We had her stable and brought her out of the anesthetic. I wanted to switch her to a mild sedative, let her wake up for a little bit but keep her out of pain. Test her responses, get a conscious brain-wave scan…and let her know that her family was all right. When she woke up she was confused…more than she should have been."

"Waking up hurt, half-drugged, sick…of course she would have been disoriented and confused," Dae said.

"No, this was different. This was unlike her. She was not just disoriented, she was frightened, and angry, demanding. She became combative…well, as combative as she could be under the circumstances. We had to hold her down and put her under again. I spent the last hour going over every inch of her brain scans but I cannot see a physical or electrical problem."

"What did she say?" Beth asked. "You said she was demanding, she must have spoken in order to demand something. What was it?"

Lily glanced almost apologetically at her mother and Dae. "She…wanted to see her father," she said.

Dae felt an emotional clench in her chest, tears warming her eyes before she shook her head. "It is understandable," she said. "If she did not know where she was, only knew that she was in pain and not how she had gotten into that state…between her trauma and the medication, it is understandable that she would ask for her parents, one or the other, or even both."

Lily nodded. "I have had long-seasoned soldiers wake from anesthetic asking for mothers long dead, or childhood pets. Our minds often revert to childhood under such circumstances- the most instinctive and first safety ever encountered in our lives. But this was different, Dae. I have treated her injuries dozens of times. She has never been like this. She was so insistent. She kept shouting for Del. This was not a momentary outburst fueled by confusion and disorientation. This lasted too long for that, and it did not end until we put her out again. She refused to even listen to me. As…as the medication took effect and she started drift off again, she started weeping, and just kept repeating, 'please, just let me see her.'"

Dae felt stricken, her throat tightening as tears blurred her vision. Irie reached over and took her hand, looking fearful and baffled. Only Bethayla looked collected, though her concern was still clear.

"What is to be done now?" She asked Lily.

The young doctor made a helpless gesture. "We give her more time. I want to keep her out for at least the next twelve hours, if not longer. Give her body a bit more time to recover. We are going to do full scans hourly, body and brain. Make absolutely sure there was nothing we missed. It could just be that this is some kind of residual reaction to the alien toxin or our treatments for it."

Daenys wiped her eyes. "Liara should be here in a few hours."

"Good," Lily told her. "She needs to know, and she needs to be here. Until then, Aunt Dae, you should try and get some rest-"

"You are a sweetheart, but you and I both know that will not be happening. Not yet. Am I…can we see her?"

Lily nodded wearily, then got to her feet. "Of course."

The others rose, but once they'd stepped out of the reading room, Beth hesitated.

"I still have much work to do," she said. "Matters that require my attention."

Dae looked at her. "Take a moment," she said. "Come and see Mel. You are as much part of her family as the rest of us."

"We both know that is not true," Beth said quietly. "Much as it might have been, once. No, Dae. You are kind, but I believe it is best if I do not."

She turned and walked away, and as she vanished through a doorway Irie's hand slipped into Daenys' and gave it a squeeze.

Silently, the two turned and followed Lily back to the infirmary. As they stepped inside, Dae loosed her hold on Irie's hand and immediately hurried to the side of the silent figure on the biobed.

Melara was clearly asleep, still pale and shadowed with bruises. A few feet above her head a hard light representation of her brain hovered, lit up in different sections with neurological activity that Dr. Lory was monitoring. Dae ignored it, instead bending over her unconscious bond mate and cupping her face, resting her forehead against Mel's and struggling not to cry.

"I am here, my love," she whispered softly. "I am here."

Irie was holding Ashley as the Freedom's shuttle lowered to the monastery landing pad. Barely had it touched ground then the door was swinging open, Liara and Sam jumping to the tarmac.

Ashley, spotting her parents, immediately squirmed to get loose, thrusting her hands out and crying. They rushed over, Liara scooping her youngest into her arms and hugging her tightly, tears of relief rising in her eyes.

"Oh, my sweet baby! Oh, thank the Goddess you are safe!"

She allowed herself only a moment, peppering Ashley's face with kisses before reluctantly handing her off to Sam, who held her just as tight, murmuring softly to her- just as relieved as her bondmate. In turn, Liara embraced her eldest with almost as much fuss as she had her youngest.

"I swear my heart stopped when I heard the news. It did not start again until I heard your voice," she whispered in Irie's ear. "I should have been there-"

"There was nothing you could have done," Irie told her, drawing back just far enough to see her mother's eyes. "It happened without warning. We were torn apart almost before we even knew we were under attack."

"How? How did they get here?"

"There was an anchor in orbit. Large enough that what looked to be a cruiser could fit through it. We still do not know for sure how it got here, but we believe it had something to do with the single scout that attacked the monastery before. It is possible it released some kind of probe that constructed the anchor automatically once it reached orbit."

"Could the same thing be happening around Oasis?" Sam asked, still clinging to Ashley.

"It is doubtful. We would have seen something by now," Irie said. "Regardless, I had considered that. The team at Oasis is carefully scanning the whole system to make certain it is clear."

"What happened to the anchor?" Liara asked. "Did the Normandy destroy it?"

"No, Gerty did," Irie said. "Drove the crippled Lily Fire right into it, cut the cruiser in half as it was still passing through. It was the only thing that saved us. Had that ship gotten through and full weapons free we would not be standing here now."

"Gerty's ok, right?" Sam asked.

"He is fine, just a bit banged around," Irie said.

"And Mel?" Liara asked, as if afraid to voice the question.

"She is asleep," Irie said. "She is recovering, but…"

The relief in Liara's eyes was instantly hedged. "But…"

"Come. I will take you to the infirmary, and I will fill you in on the way."

Daenys was nearly dozing in the chair beside the biobed when a soft hand touched her shoulder. Her eyes first went to Melara's face as she opened them again, then past her to Aleu, who was curled up in a similar chair on the opposite side. Only when she had assessed that they were both all right did she look around to the one that had touched her.

Liara's hand tightened on her shoulder a moment, before she stepped past the chair and bent over Melara, softly kissing her forehead and both her cheeks, whispering a mother's blessing to her child in asari.

Dae got to her feet as Lily came over, looking at her grandmother.

"I trust Mama told you?"

"Yes," Liara said quietly.

"Her brain scans are still clean. Her vitals are holding strong."

"May I speak with her?"

Lily shook her head. "Not yet. I still want to give her a few more hours. It is not good for her to stress herself, not right now."

"Do you believe she was delusional?"

"I can think of no other explanation," Lily said. "However it is still my hope that it was caused by the medications. She is showing no signs of anything neurological that could cause it."

Liara glanced at the brain scan herself. "If it was not the medication, and it was not caused by neurological damage, what else could have caused it?"

"Ruling out the meds and actual physical damage to her brain leaves only two other options," Lily said. "Either for some reason she suffered a complete psychological break- something I find highly unlikely…"

"Or?"

"Or she really expected to see her father," Lily said.

"Do you think that is possible?" Daenys asked.

"Do I think it is possible she actually believes that? Yes," Lily said. "Do I think it is possible Del is actually here, or should be here? I would have to say I find that incredibly improbable. It is far more likely that she had a hallucination during the crash. Given the seriousness of her wounds, the blood loss, fever, and physical shock, she could have hallucinated something that she took as real, something that convinced her that Del was there, or was coming."

Liara looked back down at her sleeping daughter and brushed her hand affectionately over her crest. Then she straightened, and turned to hug Daenys.

"I am so glad you are safe," she said. "I am so glad you are here with her."

"Thank you, Liara. Sam came?"

"She is with Ashley and Irie right now. Irie tells me that you and Lily got Ash and Aleu off the Normandy. I cannot…I cannot thank you enough for keeping her safe."

"There are no thanks needed," Dae said. "Truth be told, we were incredibly lucky. It could have been so much worse."

She kissed her cheek, and Liara hugged her tightly again, before moving around the bed and bending over her sleeping grandson, gently stroking his head and whispering softly to him. He stirred a bit, but didn't wake up.

Motion at the door drew her attention, and they looked over as an Alliance private appeared, clearing his throat and saluting awkwardly.

"Dr. T'Soni?"

"Yes?" she and Lily said at the same time. The private colored.

"S-sorry, th-the elder Dr. T'soni. I'm sorry to bother you ma'am. The admiral wanted to allow you to see your family was safe before bothering you with this. Dr. Leota aboard the Qai'tira is requesting your presence."

"For what reason?" Liara asked, her brows knitting. "My daughter was severely injured and I have just arrived. I would like to remain with her and my family at least a short while-"

"I know, ma'am, and I'm sorry, but apparently it's urgent."

"It would have to be beyond urgent to tear me away from my daughter's bedside at this moment, private," Liara said with irritation. "Everyone here has classification clearance. They can either deliver the reason or they can wait until I am ready to-"

"They have a patient aboard their ship that is asking for you. She is refusing to cooperate and insists on talking only to you."

"Me? Who is this patient?"

"Some…some kind of a clone, ma'am. Or an imposter."

"An imposter?" Daenys asked, frowning at him. "A clone? Of whom?"

But Liara's analytical mind was already formulating a hypothesis. Before the private could respond, she stiffened, unconsciously gripping Daenys' wrist almost painfully.

Maybe Mel really expected to see her father…because she did see her father.

"It is Shepard, isn't it?" she heard herself ask. The private looked to her with an almost timid hesitation.

"No, ma'am," he said. "It's Fleet Master Ashley Tepper."