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Lucidity struck Shepard awake like a miniature bolt of lightning, and she practically sat up straight in bed. Her heart was pounding, and the images from her nightmare seemed to have also been seared into her eyelids.
She raised her hand to her face in pained exhaustion, a poor attempt at somehow physically wiping the visions from her mind. There was always fire. That kid, that boy, engulfed in flames before she could reach him. And he would just stare back at her, waiting, empty.
This time had been different, though. She had watched herself burn right along with him. It somehow made the nightmare worse, made waking up and facing what was to come a heavy, cold weight pushing down against her chest. Getting out of bed these days just seemed to be a feat of its own.
But then a bit of movement next to Shepard broke her out of her spiraling thoughts, and she brought her hand away from her face so she could look. The sight of a sleeping Liara T'Soni brought the faintest of smiles to Shepard's lips. Her anxious heart began to calm, and Shepard allowed herself to turn onto her side and settle more comfortably into the mattress.
This young asari. This beautiful creature whose mere presence managed to bring a sense of peace to Shepard's troubled mind. Calloused fingers ever so gently brushed along the side of Liara's face, feeling the soft, lighter colored scales that marked the beginning of her crest. Shepard's eyes lingered on the splatter of darker freckles across that deep, blue-silver skin, and her smile widened. Everything about Liara was like a breath of fresh air, a soothing balm on shot nerves. Even when she slept – maybe even especially when she slept – Liara was the warm, welcoming picture of sweetness and innocence. She was home.
Shepard's thumb traced the asari's lower lip, and Liara stirred again, this time blinking her eyes open. The commander was immediately drawn to her gaze. Her eyes were so blue. Two, twinkling sapphires in the dim light of space. Perhaps even the whole sky lived there. Or the entire universe, it seemed, since Shepard always found little shining stars in those irises to get lost in.
Liara smiled a little, too, and her fingers came up to intertwine with her partner's. She pressed the back of Shepard's hand against her lips, leaving a tender kiss. “Are you alright?” she murmured.
For a small while there, Shepard had forgotten the nightmare, and she'd even forgotten the inevitable upcoming battle against the Reapers. The worries came back to her, but not with the same intensity as before. “I'm better,” she replied in the same tone.
But Liara was extremely smart, and she'd somewhat become an expert on all things Shepard. Getting anything past her wasn't an option – and it probably didn't help that in these moments of intimacy between them, there always seemed to be a tiny part of themselves remaining in the meld, unwilling to lose the sheer closeness it created between their very beings. Liara's eyebrows creased in concern as her smile faded. “You couldn't sleep?”
Shepard sighed lowly and began pulling away from her partner. “We're almost there, and…I just hope everyone is ready.”
Liara's hand slid from Shepard's and rested on her arm instead as the commander sat up and turned her back to her lover. There was a silence between them, but Liara eventually moved and pressed her naked chest to Shepard's back, arms cradling her from behind. Shepard closed her eyes, finding solace in the warmth from the young woman's body. She loved her so much.
“Don't worry about that,” Liara whispered, inches from Shepard's ear. A kiss was laid on her shoulder. “We are ready. We'll all be with you every step of the way. You've done everything in your power to rally the galaxy, and the Reapers should be the ones to have something to worry about now.”
And yet Shepard's mind clung to the boy being burned in fire – to herself being burned in fire. And what if she replaced that with Liara? Or any one of her friends? They had already all lost too many close ones in this war…
“I just wish…” Shepard clenched her fists, tension in her jaw. “I just wish I could stop any other casualties from happening. I wish I could keep everyone safe.”
With a gentle pressure of her fingers, Liara made Shepard turn to look at her. There was a firmness in the asari's regard now, but for all the world, that infinite compassion remained laced throughout. “Don't bear that burden on your own. You have a crew, allies, friends. You have me.” She cupped Shepard's face, easing away the stress, and rested their foreheads together. “You aren't alone. Ever.”
Shepard's heart tightened in her chest, but her fists relaxed and she turned so she could take Liara into her embrace. “Thanks,” was all she could manage against her partner's neck, and swallowed hard. “…I love you, Liara.”
Liara held on just as tightly, fingers threading through black hair. “I love you, too, Shepard. We'll make it. Have no fear.”