The ache that went through her bones was indescribable. There was not a way for her brain to process and recognize what had been done to her. Sadly, the root of her pain was not just increasing burden in the weight of time, but the inescapable loneliness that followed.
She wept in her bed for days. She refused visitors. Nobody had sent her flowers, or a letter, or a message. There were no news groups trying to meet with the once savior of the galaxy.
She experienced the worst punishment for her sins: being ignored and forgotten.
Too much time had passed since she defeated the Reapers. The cycle continued, and the Mass Relays were repaired and functional. AI's were being used again, the Geth were fixed by the Quarians. Everything she had warned them about, and all of her efforts to bring peace, everything that the Reapers did, had been erased.
It was as if it had not happened. In fact, to mention the Reapers was illegal galaxy-wide. There was no more justice, no more awareness, and instead a numb, faceless society replaced the warm mixed species and culture she had grown accustomed to.
Not only had she aged, unaware of her own cellular destruction, she had one sliver of gray in her hair. It crushed her. When she looked in the mirror, she was unrecognizable. She was just like the faceless, for whom there was no justice.
As doctors flitted in and out of her room, she could only see the shade of blue of one particular member at the trail end of the group.
"Dr. T'soni." Shepard's voice was not as strong as it was. Liara's name felt unused, but she had just dreamt she embodied her worst nightmare. Every part of her ached at the thought. However, that was just a dream, right?
Liara looked gorgeous and graceful, a plain blue suit underneath her white jacket. Her face looked the same. She asked the other doctors to leave, and slowly approached the dark-haired woman lying in bed.
"Liara, where's Garrus?"
Liara frowned, uncertain how to answer. "Shepard…"
Unable to control her emotions, Shepard began crying as she told her story. "I had the craziest coma dream, Liara. You and Garrus were together, and I lost all my fingers, and I was—"
"Shepard." Liara's voice was calm, but tears were brimming her eyes.
Shepard stopped, and her green eyes met Liara's ice blue gaze. She said words that fifteen years could not prepare her for.
"Garrus is dead."