Nearly a year after the reaper war, Shepard and Liara are getting used to their lives on Thessia in Liara's ancestral home... Until the most unexpected guest shows up on their threshold and Liara learns that not all is as she thought it was...

It was nearly nine months since Commander Jane Shepard activated the Crucible and the reaper war finally ended, the ancient killing machines that plagued the galaxy for untold eons finally destroyed.

War was long and terrible and almost every inhabited planet in the galaxy was affected. Thessia, the asari homeworld, was no exception.

It was this planet where Commander Shepard moved after the great war, together with her bondmate – Dr. Liara T'Soni, the famous archaeologist, information broker and current head of the famous T'Soni family.

They moved to T'Soni family mansion which was located several kilometers out of main Armali city. Rumor said that T'Sonis resided in this area ever since asari first learned to use agriculture, over 40 000 years ago. Liara's family was also instrumental in founding the Armali city and one of her ancestors was its very first overseers (equivalent to a Mayor in human terms).

It was all the more surprising that the reaper invasion and the resulting chaos practically did not touch the T'Soni's ancestral household at all.

After Benezia's death, only a handful of asari tenders were left on the grounds, and when Reapers invaded, they left as well, leaving the household empty. Perhaps it was for this reason that the reapers ignored it, focusing on the asari population and not paying any attention to old, empty buildings.

When Shepard and Liara came there with their entourage, the house was completely livable after only a day worth of work and so they immediately settled into their new life.

It would have been a life of decadent luxury if not for the war devastation apparent all around them.

Shepard woke up to an empty bed. She did not panic when she failed to find her bondmate next to her. Instead, she just sighed and put on her clothes.

She stepped out of the bedroom and walked through seemingly empty halls of the T'Soni family mansion... it was an illusion of course. To her initial annoyance, Shepard found out that life in Liara's ancestral house meant that various servants and guards were watching her every step... One to fulfill her wishes and the others ready to lay down their own lives to protect the family members.

Shepard knew that at the beginning, Liara too was quite reluctant at what she once disdainfully called "living the life of her mother". Nevertheless, after few days, the young asari fully embraced her role, completely living up to her family name with grace and dignity.

Eventually, Shepard reached a room where she knew she would find her bondmate. Stepping inside, she was assaulted by quiet humming of computers. This was one room which was off-limits to the household servants... This was Liara's secret Shadow Broker room.

The Shadow Broker herself was currently slumped over her desk, her head lying on it as she slept.

Shepard smiled, taking in the image before she quietly reached her bondmate and pressed a kiss onto her crest.

"Wake up, love," she whispered.

"W-What?" Liara grumbled as she was aroused from her sleep. "Oh no, not again..." Liara complained as she came to and saw where she was. She lay her head against the chair's headrest

"I know," Shepard said and massaged the asari's stiff neck. "You need to take better care of yourself now, Liara," she lightly chastised her as she kneaded the blue flesh.

"No burning of the midnight oil, anymore..."

"It's not like that, Jane," Liara assured her as she stood up and stretched herself. She glanced at the clock. "I actually woke up only an hour ago..." she defended herself.

"I could not sleep anymore, so I came here to maybe get some work done" she said. "I guess the sleep came over me again"

Shepard smiled. Ever since the war ended, Liara has been pushing herself hard in her role as the Shadow Broker to increase the rebuilding efforts throughout the galaxy.

And when it came to Thessia, Liara was using the full impact of her family's name to spearhead the reconstruction of Armali.

And Shepard had to admit that she was doing an amazing job on both levels. She just wished that it did not tire her bondmate out this much. This was not the first time when she found Liara sleeping at her workstation.

Together, they seriously considered dismantling the Shadow Broker network after the war. However, they eventually concluded that at the moment, it was still too much valuable to loose - not only to speed up the recovery, but also to keep an eye on various factions that might take an advantage of the galaxy's vulnerable state – Liara's secret influence was actually maintaining the peace.

"Ok then" she said and gave Liara a quick peck. "Did you eat yet? Will you have breakfast with me?" she asked, focusing on the positives.

"No, I didn't... and Yes, I'd love that" she smiled as she laid her head on Shepard's shoulder for a moment in a quick hug.

Joining their hands, they went in the direction of the dining room where their breakfast would be set up.

When they came into the room, there were two asari servants preparing their seats and meals.

"Good morning, mistress T'Soni, mistress Shepard," they said in unison followed by carefully practiced curtsy.

Shepard and Liara greeted them back and took their seats at the table, thanking them as they sat.

Ordinarily, even the breakfast was more like a luxurious banquet in the households of noble Thessian families...

But Shepard and Liara were both very pragmatic people and so they insisted that their everyday breakfast be modest and simple. Liara was having what Shepard knew was a common morning meal for asari – baked rolls filled with sea algae that grew in great quantities in coastal areas of Thessia. Additionally, they were topped with a sweet liquid similar in taste and origin to human maple syrup.

Never coming to like asari dishes (something that Liara constantly teased her about), Shepard was having purely human breakfast consisting of scrambled hen eggs, bacon and mushrooms along with wholemeal bread.

She was drinking coffee while Liara had an asari tea.

One of the things Shepard had to overcome when she came to live on Thessia was the food.

While, she whole heartily agreed with the galactic codex that described the asari homeworld as the "crown jewel of the galaxy" and "beating heart of galactic love", it was still a very foreign place to her human organism and she faced the same issues as every other alien bondmate that followed the asari all the way to their ancient home.

The problem was the ever present eezo in the planet's biosphere. On Thessia, the element zero was in the food, water, even the ground and the air.

The native live learned to live with it during the evolution. Either by developing biotic powers (like the sentient asari) or in the completely opposite way, by becoming highly-resistant to its effects. This was not true of the aliens as none of the other homeworlds in the Citadel space possessed any significant element zero deposits.

Since Shepard wasn't a biotic, her body could not handle the element in a safe way. The same went for all non-biotic aliens living on Thessia.

A water could be easily filtered and was never an issue. But in the past millenniums, the food for the alien bondmates had to be imported, which could be quite expensive for the family. Culturally, an asari living with an alien bondmate on Thessia was therefore seen as a sign of wealth among the asari.

Nowadays, the aliens could eat even local food after it was treated with a special device similar to a microwave oven that would extract the eezo from it.

The eezo food extractor was available in almost every restaurant on the planet and in every household that had alien family members or visiting alien friends.

Shepard and Liara slowly ate their breakfast, occasionally exchanging glances, smiles and small talk about their plans for the day.

When they were finished, Liara nodded to Shepard's left where there was a white pill placed on small plate and a glass of water.

Shepard rolled her eyes slightly before she took the pill and gulped it down along with some water – another thing she had to do while living on Thessia.

While the asari and humans were more biochemically compatible than anyone, there were still differences that required specific dietary treatments. Specifically, the life on Thessia did not use two of the human standard amino acids – tryptophan and proline. It also lacked vitamin C and several other minor substances that had to be supplied artificially – hence the pill.

Colloquially termed "human pill" it was created to incorporate all compounds necessary for the human body that it could not otherwise obtain from Thessian food. It also contained peptide designed to encapsulate trace amounts of element zero breathed in by the human and allow their body to expel them safely.

Similarly, there was also salarian pill, krogan pill, volus pill and batarian pill (the dextro-based turians and quarians having to import all their native food anyway).

Fortunately for the aliens, the environment on Thessia was biochemically much more forgiving than on other homeworlds or colonies and the asari did maximum to ensure comfort of their bondmates.

An asari living on Earth or Sur'Kesh faced more serious limitations and imported food was usually the only solution. This was also the reason why the colonies were often settled based on whether the settling species could grow the plants native to their homeworld there.

It is necessary to say that Shepard did not mind those things at all and after few months did not even think about them. To her, these limitations were a very small price to pay for the opportunity to share her days with the love of her life, on the most beautiful planet in the galaxy.

They were finishing their coffee and tea respectively, when Liara's omni-tool rang.

The asari accepted the call and the face of the T'Soni's household guard commander appeared in the holographic projection.

"What is it, Shiala?" Liara asked, seeing the uneasy expression of the huntress and her childhood mentor.

"Liara, we may have a security issue here" she quickly said and glanced to her right.

"There is an asari at the main gate asking to speak with you," Shiala said and Liara resisted the urge to ask questions, knowing that Shiala would not bother her unless she deemed it important enough for her to know.

"She did not give us her name..." Shiala continued.

"She only said that she knew your mother"

Liara considered the situation for a moment. Many people knew her mother and she had no wish to meet with half of them.

"Tell her that unless she cares to be more specific, she can wait and arrange a scheduled appointment like everyone else" Liara eventually said.

Shiala shrugged. "I think that maybe you should speak with her now... she knows things."

"What kind of things?" Liara asked, her curiosity of an information broker peaked.

"Things that I am certain that your mother never told anyone" Shiala said.

"She's also... I really think that you should speak with her now" Shiala said with confidence. "We scanned her for weapons and explosives and she is clear" she assured her.

"Alright," Liara eventually consented, trusting Shiala's instincts on this.

"Bring her to the entry hall. I will meet her there" Liara instructed and Shiala nodded before disconnecting.

Shepard was watching the exchange with growing curiosity and when Liara asked her to come with her, she immediately did.

They arrived at the hall and in few seconds, Shiala came in together with a single asari wearing a traditional robe.

Shepard's eyes fell on the asari and she had a strong feeling that she has seen her somewhere already.

The asari had a commanding presence around her. Shepard figured that she must be old, perhaps even a matriarch.

She was also very beautiful and Shepard found herself unable to break an eye contact as it was made and the asari stared intently at her. There was something overwhelmingly powerful about her that made Shepard feel scared and completely captivated at the same time.

It was still nothing compared to Liara's reaction. Shepard's thoughts were broken when she felt a trembling hand of her bondmate grabbing her wrist.

"Mother..." Liara whispered in weak voice.

At that moment, Shepard knew where she saw that asari... she was a spitting image of Liara's mother – Benezia T'Soni... But she knew that that was impossible... was it?

The asari broke eye contact with Shepard and looked at Liara with a sad look.

"No. I am sorry, Liara," she said sympathetically, apparently having heard Liara's weak outburst.

"My name is Syrila..." she said and took a deep breath. "Syrila T'Soni."

"Benezia was my sister."