Chapter 31

The Wedding, Part 2

Shepard and Liara walked among their friends, hugging and laughing and even lightly crying. Poor Wrex was still incapable of forming proper sentences, so he gave them both a bear hug instead, then continued loudly blowing his nose into a giant hankie. In between snuffles, Liara placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Your shotgun may say Commander Shepard, but we both know you have the romantic heart of an asari."

"I just have 'Liara' painted all over my damn heart, you mean," he said gruffly, clearing his throat and giving her another bear hug. "You were always my favorite. Don't tell anyone."

"I'm standing right here, Wrex," Tali said in her best scolding tone.

Liara giggled.

"She's one-quarter krogan. She's allowed to be my favorite," Wrex grumbled unapologetically before lumbering off toward the food table.

Liara conversed happily with their friends for some time before she noticed Falere, Samara's daughter, standing beneath one of the Thessian Sakura trees. She made her way over and lightly touched the other asari's arm. Falere jumped so hard it caused Liara to jump right along with her.

"I-I'm sorry!" Falere stammered. "I'm not used to being t-touched. The monastery . . ."

"Oh!" Liara exclaimed upon realizing her mistake. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to -"

"It's okay," Falere hastened to reply. Then she said with a small giggle, "It's not as if I have a giant sign on my back saying 'don't touch.'"

Liara blushed but offered a small giggle in return, hoping it wouldn't offend Falere. The other asari seemed happy by Liara's response.

"Do you . . . you're not afraid of me?" Falere asked tentatively.

Liara was surprised by the question but did her best not to let it show. "Of course not," she replied with a soft smile.

"Is Ambassador Shepard really going to open a research facility? Am I . . . am I going to be cured?"

"In all the time I've known Shepard, she has never made a promise she didn't keep. We have actually already been contacted by several leading scientists, both asari and salarian, requesting to work for the research facility, and the architect we hired to design the building is already done with the blueprints. I have a feeling the stigma attached to 'purebloods' will finally subside, especially now that Matriarch Aethyta, my father, is going join the matriarchs and High Command again. One of the only good things to come out of the accursed war."

Liara suddenly noticed Falere was staring at raised belly with rapt attention, unable to tear her eyes away. She looked positively transfixed. A tentative, gloved hand slowly lifted then stopped a few inches shy of Liara's belly. Falere turned a deep purple and she seemed incredibly torn about something. "C-can I . . . m-may I . . .?"

Liara's face broke into a smile. It was quite a strange contrast; Falere and Morinth. Morinth was an evil predator through and through, but Falere was the complete opposite. She was painfully innocent still, though she still wore the loss of her beloved sister, Rila, in her eyes. Liara felt a small twinge of loss, remembering how she used to be that innocent.

"Of course," Liara replied. When Falere's fingertips lightly, tentatively touched Liara's stomach, the archeologist covered Falere's hand with her own.

Falere gasped and Liara actually saw tears in the other's eyes. Falere said nothing, but Liara heard a soft, sweet, "Oh . . ." escape her lips. It touched Liara more than she would have thought possible. She also knew in that moment she and Shepard had, without a shadow of a doubt, done the right thing. If anyone in the galaxy deserved love, if anyone deserved to be held, it was Falere.

"Were you really not allowed to touch anyone all those years in the monastery?" Liara asked, squeezing Falere's hand sympathetically.

"Rila and I sometimes held hands when the lack of contact became too much," she replied, and Liara heard a powerful pain and regret in her voice. "It was only permitted because we were sisters. We weren't allowed to touch anyone else. Do you have names for them yet?"

Liara sensed Falere's reluctance to speak of the monastery further so decided to drop the subject. "Naiala and Elaria."

Falere withdrew her hand and moved it to her heart, almost as if she were guarding it. "Those are beautiful names. The ceremony was beautiful. You were beautiful. Oh Liara . . . please tell me this is real. Please tell me I'm here now, on Thessia, and that I will be able to hold children of my own someday . . ."

Though Liara knew such things were strictly forbidden, she was compelled to embrace the Ardat-Yakshi anyway. She certainly couldn't understand all of Falere's pain, but she knew the pain of being a "pureblood." She was surprised when Falere returned her hug.

"You may never be able to mother your own children, but I do believe you could father them if we discover a cure," she said and she felt Falere tighten her fingers around Liara's white Bonding dress. "Shepard and I are going to do everything in our power to find a cure. This I promise you, Falere."

O=O=O=O=O

"A toast!" Garrus said loudly, banging his claws against his pint of turian ale. Aethyta had been kind enough to provide a fully-stocked bar. "And hopefully I have enough alcohol in me to make this damn speech. Thanks for making me the best man, by the way," he said, giving Shepard an accusatory look,"because we all know how much I love giving speeches."

Everyone chuckled and Shepard laced her fingers with Liara's. "That's what friends are for, Garrus," she replied with a playful smirk.

Garrus coughed awkwardly and he shifted on his large feet. "We turians aren't exactly the biggest romantics in the galaxy, but . . . well you two have been behaving like a damn married couple for so long it's a relief you're finally married." More chuckles passed through the small crowd. Encouraged, he continued, "And well, thank you Shepard. Thank you for being the best damn friend I could ask for. We have a saying among we unromantic turians, that is probably the only romantic saying you'll ever hear any of us say. 'Drink when you thirst for love, feast when you hunger for your lover.' Not sure how that saying came about, but if it were to be taken literally . . . well you two would be fat and drunk by now, so it's probably good that it's not literal."

Liara almost dropped her glass of cider she started giggling so hard and Shepard did her best to keep her own amusement to a chortle.

"So a toast!" Garrus continued. "A toast to Shepard and Liara! May you always be drunk and stuffed with love."

The amusement continued as everyone said, "Here here!" and drank deeply from their champagne glasses.

When the chuckling and murmuring settled back down, Tali stood (albeit a little unsteadily) and people fell silent to let her speak. "I suppose I have to make a speech as well, since I'm Shepard's other best -hic- man. Even if I'm a woman. And trust me, I am aaaaall woman."

If Garrus were human, Shepard imagined he probably would have turned about a hundred shades of scarlet. The thought caused her to chuckle.

"Anywho," Tali continued, "since my fiancé here is incapable of saying anything sentimental without turning into a nervous wreck, I suppose that means I'll have to do the honors. My father once said to me, 'You cannot weigh your soul by the success or failures of your actions, but by the intentions with which you carry them out.' At the time I was too young to understand what he meant. But now I know he was trying to tell me to simply keep your intentions honest and pure. Your intentions are good, Shepard and Liara. Keep each other honest, weigh each other's actions by intentions, be there for each other when you fail, and lift each other up when you succeed. As we say on our newly reclaimed world of Rannoch, Keelah Sa'lai!"

"And may you have barrels and barrels of little blue one-eighth krogan babies!" Wrex bellowed loudly before emptying his tankard of champagne.

That time Liara actually sprayed cider, but fortunately she was able to aim for the ground.

A few toasts, laughter, and snuffling later, Shepard waited for a lull in conversation to steal Liara away to their fledgling flower garden in the back yard. Liara hadn't had much time to work on in with all the preparing for the wedding and getting settled on Thessia, but what little she had done already looked lovely. When they reached the spot Shepard had prepared, she stopped and revealed the Thessian Rose seed she'd been keeping.

"I thought maybe we could plant this today," Shepard said, gently placing the seed in Liara's gloved hand. "I did a little research. Thessian Roses can only be planted in the summer, which it is, and on a day with no rain. Looks like everything is perfect."

She carefully took the seed from the airtight container preserving it and set it in a small hole she'd dug earlier. Then she carefully covered it with soil in the exact way she'd seen done in vids.

"Now we wait for the first rain," Shepard said when the soil was firmly in place. "At least that's what the vids said. It said over-watering Thessian Roses is the number one cause of death. They are one of the few roses in existence that cannot grow somewhere like the Citadel because they require the specific climate of Thessia. It can't be manufactured in a lab."

Liara was looking at her with a smile so filled with adoration, Shepard was sure she blushed a hundred shades of red in that moment. "Did some research, did you?" Liara asked softly.

"I told you," Shepard said, taking Liara's hands in hers, "I'm going to take care of you. The Thessian Rose needs constant care and attention, which is why they're so highly valued. You are my Thessian Rose, Liara T'Soni. I will care for this rose for the rest of my life as I will care for you."

When their lips met in a sweet kiss - Shepard's second favorite pastime - she knew she was home. Not the T'Soni Estate, not Thessia; but home was where Liara was. And she never wanted to leave home again. 'I love you, Liara T'Soni. Always and forever.'