Chapter Text
There was a soft sigh that emanated from her lips. Almost 33 years old, and free of the usual blemishes that men and women her age usually moaned about. "Who are you?" She muttered. "Who am I?"
For Colonel Hailee Shepard, the first human Spectre, Hero of the Eden Prime war, Saviour of the Council, Saviour of the Rachni, Hero of the Reaper War, Hero of the Skyllian Blitz and Saviour of the Elysium colony, and one of the few survivors from Mindoir, she simply didn't recognize herself in the mirror. It was the face of someone she'd seen on the news, in articles, someone put on a pedestal.
It wasn't her.
And in truth, it hadn't been her since before the Reapers invaded the galaxy at large, since before she'd dealt with the Collectors. It hadn't been her since she'd …
Hailee swallowed nervously. It wasn't a period of her … well, not life, that she cared to think about. She was still unpacking the complicated and tangled emotions from that event; it had been easy to distract herself by defeating the Collectors, and then going to war against the Reapers, but now there wasn’t anything left for her. Staying in the Systems Alliance or as a Spectre wasn’t ideal, even though both parties wanted her to serve as an ambassador of peace and good will between all of the races and factions.
The front door opened with a soft intelligent voice calling out a greeting. Well, Hailee didn’t have a war to distract her, but she did have something that was a lot healthier for her physical and mental states. “I’m in here,” she called out vaguely.
Quite fortunately, Liara knew exactly where ‘here’ meant. Hailee caught sight of the blue beauty strolling in thanks to the same mirror that she had been examining herself in. The Asari wrapped her arms around Hailee’s waist from behind, giving her a comforting hug. “Have you eaten yet?”
Hailee shook her head, focusing on Liara's face rather than her own. "Just coffee," she replied.
Liara kissed her cheek affectionately. "That won't do at all. Come talk with me while I fix some lunch."
They revelled in the simple act of holding hands as they made their way from the bedroom to the kitchen. Liara sat Hailee down at the bar counter, slipping around it to make them some sandwiches. As she grabbed the necessary ingredients, a thought occurred to Hailee.
"Why is it 'fix some lunch'? When did lunch get broken? 'Assemble some lunch' I could see, since it's putting it together," she rambled. "Even if you're reheating something, that doesn't really equate to fixing it like how it was before. Well, maybe it does, but when has fixing something ever been so easy?"
Liara held up two bottles of condiments, waggling both of them at her. Hailee pointed to the aioli sauce before continuing. "But 'assemble some lunch' doesn't roll off the tongue, and kind of makes you feel like you're making everything from scratch. Bake the bread, grow the lettuce, mix the sauces, slaughter the meat - or at least organically grow the engineered meat alternative, and then put it together."
As Hailee continued, Liara put everything away and then grabbed some fruit from the fridge. She grabbed a knife and a clean cutting board to start slicing it.
"And then what about the plates? Make your own ceramics and glaze them in a kiln? Utensils? Mine and forge the metal? Fuck, the containers too. How do you even make plastic? All this to 'assemble lunch'? Yeesh."
She looked down to see a delicious sandwich with slices of apples from Sur'Kesh waiting for her. Looking up, she saw Liara pouring two mugs of authentic green tea, her favourite. "How long have I been rambling on about this?"
Liara kissed her cheek again before taking the seat beside her. “You know the complexities of some idioms are beyond me. I found it best not to think too deeply about it sometimes.”
Hailee took a bite of her sandwich, partly to sate her sudden hunger, and partly to make up for a lack of replies. Liara had fixed a tasty sandwich, one that she could lose herself in. Seconds turned into minutes as Hailee ate, letting the flavours fill her senses with each chew. The freshness of the bread, the crisp spine of the lettuce, the soft texture of the meat, none of which were flavours she noted, but were key to a good sandwich.
A bite into a crisp slice of apple stirred her from saucy revelations. It seemed that Liara too was somewhat lost in thought or the flavours of lunch. Maybe 'fixing lunch' wasn't about what you could do for lunch, but what lunch could do for you. Under the counter, Hailee stealthily rubbed her leg against Liara's, taking a bite of apple as she did so.
Liara smiled broadly, but kept from making a big deal about it by munching on her sandwich. But as she chewed, she couldn't help herself and rested her head on Hailee's shoulder. Hailee finished her slice of apple, and then closed her eyes, resting her own head on Liara's. A tear suddenly escaped Hailee's hazel eyes, followed by one-two-three-a-dozen more.
Suddenly she was crying uncontrollably, ready to bury her face in her arms when Liara gently pulled her in. Hailee's tears soaked Liara's shirt but Liara paid it no mind. Her only concern was Shepard in her arms. Liara now put her head on Hailee’s, gently rubbing her back and shoulders.
“I didn’t think the sandwiches would be that bad,” Liara joked.
Shepard only cried harder, now clutching fistfuls of Liara’s shirt. After what felt like an eternal hour, the tears abated enough for Hailee to get some control. She came up for air, and Liara wiped away some of the remaining tears. “You must think me a mess,” she moaned.
“Not at all,” Liara admonished gently. “I learned very quickly it is not healthy to hold back emotions all the time. You taught me that, after the death of my mother.”
Hailee cracked a hint of a smile. “And now you’re so wise as to give me the same advice.”
Liara shrugged playfully as she kissed Shepard’s forehead. “I doubt I will be giving you all the same advice you have given me in the past. Especially as I don’t plan on commanding a ship of loveable misfits and strays against a galactic threat.”
“‘Commander T’Soni’,” Hailee mused. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“So does ‘Liara T’Soni-Shepard’,” Liara smiled genuinely. “Or maybe ‘T’Shepard’.”
Hailee paused mid-sniffle. “Liara, are you…” She didn’t even dare to finish her question in case her heart was about to be shattered like her body had been months ago.
“Yes I am Hailee,” Liara confirmed. “I love you, you are my siame .”