Disclaimer: Everything belongs to BioWare. I own nothing, nor do I receive any profit...except your wonderful reviews.

Author's Note:Well, here we are again, ready to dive into the world of Mass Effect. This one will probably be shorter than "This Side of Yesterday", due to the fact that it will still be told strictly from Liara's point of view. In any case, I hope you all enjoy.

Bright Blessings,

~Raven Sinead

Thessia

"Sen," a dark, deep, crisp accent spoke her name and the asari found her heart racing, "it's good to see you."

Mira rose from the table, an absolute vision in a shimmering silver gown. It accentuated the ebony radiance of her skin and the golden tattoo that spiraled down her arm, around the base of her elbow in exotic sworls and extending to the back of her hand, radiating along the lines of her veins. Dark eyes, the color of earth and coals, bored deep into Sen's chest and she took a breath, as though reminding herself that such a thing was necessary for life.

I've missed you, were the first words that sprung to mind, but they seemed too needy, to self-centered, and that was not at all what she wanted to communicate.

"Thank you." she extended a hand, shocked when Mira took it. "Thank you for seeing me."

Mira's eyebrow quirked upward, but she said nothing as Sen took her seat and stared attentively at the menu.

"There's something different about you." Mira commented, looking over the screen at her former lover's face. "I can't put my finger on it, but you've definitely…changed."

Sen looked up, grateful as always that Mira did not flinch from her gaze, did not think her features strange and her markings unnatural. The human had always accepted her as she was…Sen had missed that. She had missed being seen; she had missed being part of someone's life.

It had been a month, and Chief Ela T'Vari had somehow managed to find a way to keep the investigation going. No other medical facility would even look twice at Sen's application during the investigative period; the cardiologist knew that, and therefore did not attempt to find new employment. She had enough money to live on for at least a year without work, thanks to her mother's meddlesome interference in her affairs, and a few well-placed investments. Not to mention it was a paid suspension.

But the last month had been lonely, only broken by the random vid-calls from Liara, who had been off-world for two weeks, but had kept her promise to remain in touch with Sen. And last week, after three of silence, Mira had called. Sen had waited until the few stilted words between them were spoken, had agreed to meet for dinner this evening, and waited until Mira's face disappeared from view to dissolve into tears of happiness, relief, and sorrow co-mingled.

The fact that she sat here now was more than she could have hoped for. She smiled at Mira and melted again as her love's full lips curved upward, revealing perfect, gleaming white teeth.

"I've had a lot of time to think." Sen replied. "And learned more in a day than I have in a lifetime. Not to mention the fact that I've actually been able to go to sleep at a decent hour."

"Oh?" Mira frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sen typed her selection into the menu and closed the screen. "I suppose I didn't get the chance to tell you." she said. "The day…the day you left, I was suspended from work, pending an investigation."

Mira's eyes went wide. "It's not a malpractice suit is it?" she asked, true worry filling her voice.

"No." Sen shook her head. "Nothing like that. My last patient's scanners were hacked. They think I might have had something to do with that."

Mira took a sip of wine. "Impossible." she said. "I engineer that equipment and designed the very system that Thessia Medical uses. It's impenetrable. You're good, darling, but you're not that good."

Sen spread her hands, even though the endearment made her heart catch fire. "I'm not allowed to look into it. I do not know if T'Vari trumped up something in order to get rid of me, or if the system actually was hacked. Given the patient…it wouldn't surprise me if they were."

"Oh." Mira's voice went flat. "That's right. You were playing personal physician to Liara T'Soni. I remember."

Sen bit back her frustration, the edge in her tone, instead looking at the woman she loved. "I know it still seems like a ridiculous story." she said, extending her omni-tool. "But I've got proof."

Sen kept her peace as Mira read the information, the written messages exchanged between Sen and Liara. Her eyes widened and her lips parted as she turned her eyes from the screen and looked at the asari she had left.

"You can't fake a digital signature." she whispered. "At least, you can't. I…I am sorry, Sen. It's just…everything got so…so quiet between us and I couldn't stand it. I was going out of my mind; you were always working, I was always working, we only had snatches of time to be together and I…"

"I know." Sen reached across the table and took Mira's hand, her breath shuddering at the human's naturally warmer body temperature. "I'm to blame for most of that." she admitted, stunning Mira into silence.

"You really have changed." Mira commented, her voice holding a note of awe.

The asari she remembered was stubborn, obstinate, insistent on how her life and career should be run. Every question became an argument…Sen had been so defensive, and almost never in the wrong. The admission of guilt was staggering.

"Liara has helped immensely." Sen whispered. "Helped me see a lot of where I went wrong. Mentored me, you might say. She taught me what love was meant to be, and when I realized that I had that with you…and lost it somehow…I want nothing more than to have that back again. But…" she paused as Mira opened her mouth, "…I understand that you need time, and I won't ask for more than you can give."

Mira smiled and Sen's heart kicked in her chest. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, Sen." Mira's voice grew heavy and Sen inhaled, deep, waiting for the rejection. Waiting for Mira to tell her that she had moved on, that the letter she had left no longer rang true…a month was a great deal of time.

"All right."

"God, Sen…I've missed you."

Sen released the breath she had been holding; loosed the tension spiraled in her shoulders. Her lips shook and she nodded as the first of many barriers between them came crashing down.

"I've missed you too." she admitted.

"I still…I still need time." Mira confessed, clarifying.

"So do I." Sen nodded, alleviating the guilt she could see in Mira's molten earth gaze. "But…let's start here. Let's eat, and laugh, and tell each other ridiculous stories and forget what used to be. And if that goes well, maybe we'll do it again another night. And maybe…maybe I'll find where I stepped wrong when I tried to reach your heart."

Mira reached for her glass of wine, and Sen noticed that her fingers trembled. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing, if her response had been too much emotion too soon, but she could not withhold from Mira what she felt in her heart.

"Is Dr. T'Soni giving you elocution lessons?" Mira teased, but her words were gentle.

"I'm learning to speak from my heart instead of my head." Sen replied, eliciting a deep, throaty chuckle from Mira. "I'm finding out that my head…can be rather stupid."

Mira laughed at this, nodding in silent admission of Sen's accuracy. "Yes, dear, but so can mine."

Sen shot Mira a sly grin. "Well now that we have that sorted out…"

"Food. Now that we've sorted that out, we eat food." Mira dictated with a grin as the VI server approached with a tray.

Sen smiled, draping her napkin across her lap and savoring every moment, the exquisite taste of the dishes prepared, the intoxicating light that was Mira's presence…the sheer goodness of not being alone, inside her own mind, attempting to sort through the thoughts she had all the time in the world to focus on.

She celebrated that night, indulging in more than one glass of wine, in holding Mira's eyes a little too long, in tracing the golden tattoo across her hand as the evening wore on. But, all good things must end, though they parted on a pleasant note, and a gentle press of Mira's lips across Sen's cheek. The asari returned to her apartment, and, though the space beside her was empty, it no longer felt as though it were a howling desolate wasteland of eternal loneliness.

Sen smiled, and dreamed of bright things, good things, of azure skin and ebony wrapped in an embrace, the pleasure of kisses and the depth of attraction and longing given physical form. She jarred awake from the dream as the door alarm rang in the too-early morning. Groggy, she rose from the bed and threw a robe on, readying her biotics just in case.

She opened the door and her heart began beating a rapid tattoo in her chest as she saw two asari peacekeepers in uniform. The one before her held out a badge, but Sen did not care, looking into the asari's eyes for the truth.

"I'm Officer Renya Miyal." she introduced herself. "Are you Doctor Sen T'Aryn?"

"I am." Sen replied, clutching her robe more tightly around her.

"You're listed as the emergency contact for a Mira Dorsen." the officer looked at her omni tool. "We regret to inform you that there's been an accident."