Shepard walked on shaking legs over to the sofa and sat down heavily, overwhelmed with emotion. Liara disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, before returning with the glasses and the wine bottle. She refilled Shepard's glass to a good depth and handed it over.

"It wasn't my intention to upset you, Shepard, although I fear that I have," Liara said quietly. "I just thought you would like to know that not everything was lost in the crash."

Shepard took several large mouthfuls of her wine, feeling the liquid warm her insides and calm her down slightly. "I'm not upset," she said. "Just a bit...taken aback. When I woke up I felt like I was alone in the world. Now I've gotten some of my crew back, and I at least know where the rest of them are. I found you and convinced you that I was still the same. And now I have a piece of my old armour back." She smiled.

"I can arrange to have it shipped to the Normandy, if you would like to take it with you," Liara offered.

"No, it's fine," Shepard replied. "I'd like you to keep it, if you want."

"Thank you." Liara looked pleased. "I wasn't sure I was going to be willing to give it up, anyway."

"Well, I suppose it doesn't look too out of place here," Shepard said, taking another look around the apartment. "What is one more relic? Although I'm not sure my old armour is on the same scale as a piece of Prothean history."

"No," Liara said slowly, looking serious. "It isn't."

Shepard swallowed hard at the look Liara was giving her, and the subtle emphasis she placed on her words. To try and give herself some breathing space, she took a step back from the cabinet.

"You have some wonderful things here, Liara," she said, changing the subject slightly. "And this apartment is fantastic. I've never been in a place like it." It was true. Liara's apartment was in almost showroom condition, filled with immaculately kept glass display cases. It wouldn't have looked out of place as part of a museum or art gallery.

Liara glanced around the room, almost surprised at what she saw there.

"I suppose it is," she conceded. "I never paid much attention to the aesthetic of the place. But I am glad you like it though."

Shepard furrowed her brow. "It isn't like you to not pay attention to the things you surround yourself with. You must have had some reason for choosing to live here."

"Not particularly," Liara said. She took a sip of her wine. "As you may have already found out, Illium is a fairly superficial place that places worth on material possessions. Conspicuous consumption, I believe the term is. In order to establish myself as an information broker, I had to prove that I was someone who knew how the game was played. That meant having a large office in a central location, and a luxurious apartment, full of expensive items." She shrugged. "I suppose it worked. People were drawn in by the belief that I had money and knew what to do with it. And I proved them right."

"That is a bit superficial though, isn't it?" Shepard asked. "I can't imagine that being a way you would choose to do business."

"Brokering wasn't necessarily a choice," Liara reminded her. "But I am content with the way things have turned out." She glanced over at Shepard. "Although when I move on, I will not have to worry about having too many possessions to move with me. As far as I am concerned, there are only two things in this apartment that I am attached to, and one of them is your armour."

Shepard looked intrigued. "What is the other one?" she asked curiously. "One of the relics? The first ever piece of Prothean history you managed to unearth?" She glanced around the open space, as if hoping the object of importance would make itself known to her.

Liara looked suddenly embarrassed. She put her wine glass down and dusted an invisible speck of dirt from her clothes. "It isn't much, really," she said shyly. "I am sure you will find it silly. It isn't even worth showing you."

"Come on Liara, you can't hold out on me now," Shepard exclaimed She thumbed back to her armour. "You've already shown me this. Was it something else from the Normandy you managed to recover?"

"No. This was a more recent acquisition," Liana said. "One I purchased after I moved to Illium."

Shepard looked around them again, trying to see if she could spot it. There wasn't much in the apartment to see, and nothing in her eye-line seemed to carry any emotional value.

"It is upstairs," Liara clarified.

Shepard tilted her head backwards to look at the mezzanine floor. It appeared to be one open space, and judging from what she could see in the rest of the apartment, she quickly surmised what it was. "In your bedroom?" she asked.

"Yes." Liara shuffled her feet awkwardly. "I was inspired after I acquired some information about a project I was keeping an eye on."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Well, that sounds intriguing," she said. "Mind if I take a look?"

Without waiting for a response she started to head up the stairs.

Liara reacted a second too late, and by the time she threw out a hand to stop her, Shepard was halfway up the staircase. She sighed in resignation and followed her upstairs.

As Shepard expected, the upstairs of Liara's apartment was as open and lavish as the downstairs. More artefacts were on careful display, and the large double bed was neatly made and lit by a bedside light.

But the thing that really drew Shepard's attention was the massive aquarium on the back wall. It was backlit, and that combined with the gentle waving of the water was causing a soft rippling effect to fall across the white bedlinen. There were several different species of fish swimming around, and Shepard stepped forward to take a closer look.

"Those are Illium Skald fish, aren't they?" she asked, referring to the blue spikey fish. "I actually have some of those." She smiled to herself as she watched the creatures flit about their habitat.

"Well, with this being its native planet, I thought it would only be right to purchase some," Liara said quietly from her position at the top of the stairs. Shepard didn't seem to notice that she wasn't coming to stand closer, because she was still focused on the aquarium.

"And Thessian Sunfish as well," Shepard commented.

"To remind me of home."

"I actually picked some up on the Citadel," Shepard said, smiling to herself. "The shopkeeper told me they were from the asari homeworld, and I couldn't resist." The chance to own something from Liara's home planet and to carry it with her everywhere she travelled was too great a temptation to resist.

"I know."

"I don't recognise the jellyfish, but I think I saw some of these flat fish for sale earlier." Shepard watched the odd way the fish swam, finding herself enchanted by the strange motion. "They're quite cute actually."

"Prejek Paddle fish," Liara replied in that same quiet voice. "And I believe that is a Belan jellyfish, discovered on a Hanar colony. It was a gift from a client."

"Well, I like them," Shepard said decisively. She took a step backwards and admired the view as a whole. "You know, this reminds me a lot of the aquarium Cerberus decided to install in my cabin."

Liara didn't say anything.

Shepard turned around to see if she had heard her last remark, only to discover that Liara was standing with her head sunk down into her chest, twisting the material of her gown with her hands.

"Liara, what's the matter?" Shepard asked, hurrying over to check on her. "Are you feeling alright? Was it something I said?" She pressed the back of her hand to Liara's forehead, checking for a temperature.

Liara didn't shy away from the touch, but neither did she particularly respond to it. She just stood there, holding a staring competition with the floor.

"Liara, please," Shepard all but begged. "You were fine a moment ago. What happened?"

The asari took a deep breath before raising her head slightly. Her eyes met Shepard's for a split-second before darting away, settling on the back wall.

"It is the aquarium Cerberus installed in your cabin," she mumbled.

"What about it?" Shepard was confused. She tried to deny any knowledge of the aquarium. "I didn't ask for it. I wasn't even expecting to have one, especially considering how stark my old quarters were. I guess the Illusive Man thought I might need something relaxing to look at." She rubbed her hand along the exposed skin of Liara's arm, wondering why her aquarium was causing her concern.

"No," Liara sighed in reply. "I mean that this is the aquarium Cerberus installed in your cabin. It is a replica."

"I don't understand," Shepard frowned.

Liara sighed and tried to turn away, but Shepard was still holding onto her.

"Tell me," she whispered softly.

Liara swallowed hard. "Well…" she began slowly. "I knew that Cerberus were going to rebuild you. And I wanted that to be true more than anything. So I might have hacked into their files and checked on their progress." She shifted in place before peeking up at Shepard. "If I could prove they were going to put you back the way you were, I would have been so thrilled."

"So why didn't you trust that it was really me then?" Shepard wasn't angry, but curious.

"I couldn't access all of their files," Liara explained. "And there was always a chance that the Illusive Man might have kept anything like that off the record. I followed your recovery as best I could, but I didn't have the full picture."

"Okay, that makes sense," Shepard said. She grinned. "No wonder you have the Shadow Broker on the ropes if you can hack into Cerberus without them noticing."

"Once you know the basics of information technology, there are very few systems you cannot break into." Liara smiled self-consciously. "Anyway, I might not have uncovered all of the files on you, but I did discover the blueprints for the Normandy SR-2. I was curious to view them, I admit. The first Normandy held a lot of fond memories for me, and I wanted to make sure that Cerberus were going to do justice to anything they were planning on giving that name."

"It is a good ship," Shepard conceded. "I loved the old version, but there is a lot more room on this ship. If you wanted to see the real thing, you can always come down to the docking bay," she offered.

Liara smiled. "I'd like that. One day soon, perhaps."

"So you saw the aquarium on the blueprints, decided it was a good idea and installed your own," Shepard guessed.

"Not quite," Liara replied. "I studied the plans for the new design. I didn't spend a lot of time in your old cabin, but I remember that the atmosphere wasn't especially inviting."

"No, it was definitely a bit bleak," Shepard admitted. "Although the Normandy was an active warship, so comfort wasn't high on their list of priorities."

"It was understandable, although I must admit that you were the thing I was paying the most attention to in your cabin," Liara said. "But I started to imagine what your cabin would have looked like with an aquarium. Then I started to wonder what it would have been like waking up in the morning after a night with you, watching the water flow as we cuddled in bed." Liara smiled self-consciously. "It was a lovely image."

Shepard nodded, imagining the scene herself.

Liara continued. "I couldn't guarantee that Cerberus were going to give you back to me in the same condition, but I could keep my memories and my fantasies." She coughed delicately into her hand, and shifted past Shepard to stand in front of the bed, gazing at the aquarium. "I could lie in bed and stare up at the water, imagining that somewhere across the galaxy, in whatever system you were in, after whatever mission you had completed, you were looking at the same view I was," she said fondly.

"That's a lovely thought," Shepard murmured, truly touched.

"I chose the three types of fish I knew you could easily source, trying to make it as realistic as possible," Liara said. "I could change for bed and get under the sheets, watching the fish swim around and round, imagining that I was waiting for you to come out of the bathroom, or finish a debriefing. You would come and lay down beside me, and we could watch the water together, taking five minutes to relax at the end of a hard day." She smiled wistfully.

Shepard came and stood next to her. She watched the water for a moment before reaching a decision. Putting her gently on Liara's shoulder to keep her balance, she pulled off one shoe then the other.

"What are you doing?" Liara asked, bracing Shepard's hand.

"Taking my shoes off," Shepard said. Once she was barefoot she sat down on the edge of the bed and looked expectantly at Liara. "Come on, it's your turn."

Liara bent down slowly and undid the zips on her boots, gently sliding them off her feet and placing them neatly next to each other.

Shepard followed Liara down with her eyes, lingering on the curve of her breasts as she leaned forward. Whilst Liara was busy, Shepard scooted backwards on the bed, lying down on the right-hand side, still staring at Liara through hooded eyes.

When Liara straightened up, she smiled at what Shepard was doing.

"Come on," Shepard murmured, holding out a hand. "Lie down with me."

Liara walked around to her side of the bed, still maintaining eye-contact, and gracefully laid herself down, folding her hands across her stomach.

Shepard pulled her eyes away and settled back against the pillows, looking upwards at the aquarium. It was a little strange to watch the fish swim upside down, but she had to admit that it was a peaceful view. It was helped by the fact that this had to be the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. Her Cerberus bunk was an improvement over her old Normandy one, but Liara must have found the sheets with the highest thread-count in the known galaxy. Everywhere the sheet touched her skin felt like silk. She barely resisted the urge to rub herself against the bed.

There was a tiny sigh from next to her.

"Everything alright?" Shepard asked softly.

"Yes," Liara said, shifting slightly in the bed to face Shepard. She smiled. "This is exactly what I hoped it would be like."

Shepard was hyperaware of how close they were, and that they were lying in bed together. "Exactly what you hoped?" she asked thickly, unable to stop staring at Liara's full lips.

Liara's breath hitched at the look Shepard was giving her. A dark look, full of longing and intensity.

"A-almost."