"I need to know you're always coming back."

.

The Crew Deck was silent. Liara looked down at the plate in her hand and finally pushed herself to take the few remaining steps towards the memorial wall looming over the small group that had gathered in front of it. She heard some of the crew standing behind her shift uncomfortably as she stopped in front of the wall, feeling tears sting in her eyes when they fell on the free spot above the plate bearing Admiral Anderson's name.

Blinking away some of the tears, she lowered her gaze once more, looking at the plate in her hand, the name engraved on it, and her sadness intensified. She lovingly brushed her hand over the letters. This cold plate was all that remained from the woman she loved. It was so little, not nearly enough to give her even some kind of solace for the loss she'd suffered... But it was everything she got, all she'd ever get...

Someone behind her cleared their throat and Liara roused herself and raised the plate to put it on the wall, her fingers remaining on the cool metal as she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the wall was still there, Shepard's name was still engraved in the plate and there was nothing she could do about it but brush over it one more time, pretending to secure the plate but in reality finding it almost impossible to let go of it. To let go of Shepard...

With a gasp, Liara shot up in bed, panting heavily as she buried her head in her hands. Pulling her knees up to her chin, she started rocking back and forth to calm herself. Forcing the images out of her head.

She heard movement beside her and not long after, felt a hand on her back.

"Hey..."

The words whispered in the familiar voice made Liara finally stop and she slowly raised her head and carefully turned it to the side, only to be greeted by the familiar face she'd hoped for, strands of red hair partly covering steely, blue eyes that looked at her worriedly now. Liara stretched her legs again and sank back into the pillows, Shepard's arm immediately snaking around her and pulling her close.

Liara closed her eyes as she felt Shepard's warmth, inhaled the other's scent, all of this helping her to push the memory of her nightmare further away... "I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered and Shepard soothingly ran a hand over her crest, smiling slightly.

"You should have thought about that before you started ravaging my mind every other day, Dr. T'Soni..." Liara gave a shy laugh, burying her head in Shepard's neck. Shepard let her free hand gently slide down the asari's arm and added, "Our minds are linked. I can tell when yours is plagued..."

The picture of the memorial wall shot through Liara's head once more and she slightly pulled back, rolling on her back and staring up at the bedroom's ceiling as a few tears ran down her cheeks. "It felt so real..." she whispered weakly and turned her head back to Shepard.

"It was a dream," the former commander stated, propping her chin in the palm of her hand. She knew the look Liara gave her by now. The asari had told her about the nightmare that had started plaguing her a while ago, which also meant that by now, Shepard knew how to put her lover's mind at ease... "I'm real," she whispered, letting her hand slide down Liara's arm once more, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'm here," she continued, "And it's over. It's all over."

Liara nodded absent-mindedly. Shepard's hand continued on it's way across her body and the former commander's fingers suddenly brushed over Liara's bare breasts, making her inhale sharply before she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes.

"You make a... compelling argument."

Shepard leaned closer, smiling mischievously. "Oh, I'm just getting started..."

Their lips met and Shepard's hand was about to slide down Liara's side when they were interrupted by a whimper. The former commander sighed as she pulled back and turned to leave the bed.

"Tell me again whose idea it was to have a lot of little blue children..."

A/N: Just a short scribble... So that's basically my opinion on the extended endings (can't say I've expected anything else, really...). What bugged me ever since I first watched my Shepard die was not just that (among many other things, of course, but there are more than enough sites for this kind of discussion...) but I immediately thought of Liara. She deserves a happy ending, more than almost everyone else, in my opinion... And they still owe us our little blue children. Aaaand we're going to get them, even if it takes tons of fanfics (more)... :)
I kinda combined the endings and I know that she somewhat smiles at the end of one of them, but I left that part out, didn't serve my purpose...
Ah, I feel better now... :)