Auwe - (Asari) Bitch. A person with an unpleasant or argumentative personality.

Bapai - (Asari) A large, cud-chewing herd animal native to Thessian southern continent. Also used as a derogative for someone who is being stubborn and unreasonable.

Hanua - (Asari) Aunt

Hinah - (Asari) Mother

Kaika - (Asari) Daughter.

Makah - (Asari) Father

Nais - (Asari) pronounced Nah-ees. Asari over the age of majority (40) Plural - Naisa

Nitta - (Asari) Pronounced Nee-tah. Asari under the age of majority (40) Plural - Nittas Slang: Niti - equivalent of kiddo.

Tiyga - (Asari) Large cat-analog native to Thessian polar regions. Uses biotics to freeze its prey in place.

Wahinah - (Asari) Grandmother

Tashya Porae glanced toward the window as the Thessian sky flashed electric blue, lightning backlighting the rolling clouds. The lights flickered. Muscles along her spine tensing, she waited, a faint blue nimbus appearing around her hands as she counted. One … two … three. She jumped as the thunder pounded the skyscraper despite expecting it. At least a kilometre away and moving toward the mountains.

That settled in her mind, Tashya turned back to the lightning storm standing in the doorway of their bedroom. Counting again, the numbers ticking away in the back of her head, she waited for Weshra's thunder.

Her bondmate of over a century and hinah of her only child threw up her arms. "Are you even listening to me?" Weshra waited, but Tashya knew she didn't actually want a reply. She just wanted to be able to say that Tashya had been granted the opportunity to answer. Still, Tashya inhaled, opening her mouth to let out a single affirmative. It never reached the air.

"Her friends were teasing her about being a pureblood again," Weshra said, a quaver to her voice that promised either escalating fury or tears. Considering the situation, Tashya fully expected both. "She's in her room crying, and you're just going to leave?" The asari matron paced from the door to the closet and back. She threw up her hands again, delicate blue fingers slicing the air. "You'd think after a hundred and fifteen cycles I'd know better than to expect you to put your family ahead of the republics."

Frustration warred with guilt, the combination turning sour and ugly in Tashya's gut. She shoved three neatly folded t-shirts into her footlocker, using enough force to make the mattress bounce. "What do you expect me to do, Weshra?" she asked, glancing toward her bond-mate. "March down to the school and smack a bunch of auwe little nittas around?" She stormed to the dresser, snatching out two handfuls of clothes. Pivoting on her toes, she flapped her arms once, stabbing at her mate with shorts and underwear. "Paya is twenty, not an infant, she doesn't want her makah fighting her battles."

Weshra let out the angry tiyga growl that announced the end of her patience. After more than a century together, Tasha knew the sound better than her own heartbeat: the downside to bonding with someone so passionate about absolutely everything. She stopped halfway back to the bed, her packing still clutched in her hands. Her chest heaved with a single, deep sigh as she looked up, meeting Weshra's stormy stare. Lightning flashed outside, reflecting in the nais's unshed tears.

"Look, you know I'll talk to her about it. Just let me finish packing." A quick glance at her chrono confirmed the need to hurry. She shoved the clothes in the bag, then strode into the washroom to collect her kit.

Weshra followed. "When is it going to be us, Tashya?" She blocked the doorway, one hand buttressed against the frame. "When will you choose your mate and your child over adventure?"

"Adventure?" The word ripped through her, searing and electric. It took four breaths to choke down the twenty hateful things she wanted to spit back, settling for the obvious. "We're at war, Weshra. I'm needed."

"Yes, we're at war," Weshra shot back. "My point exactly. We're scared, Tashya. You're needed here."

Rolling her eyes, Tashya pivoted, pushing her shoulder into Weshra's arm to get out the door. "I go out there and fight to protect the two of you." She threw the kit the last two metres into the duffel, turning toward the closet. Shoving her feet into her boots, she bent to fasten the buckles. "If you're scared to stay here, why not go to the Citadel?" Glancing up, she lifted her brow, a slight shrug pulling her shoulders toward her ears. "Your hanuas are all staying with your hinah, right?"

Weshra scoffed and leaned against the door, arms crossed: her official condescension pose. "Yes, that's what Paya needs, to be trapped in an apartment with a bunch of terrified, gossiping, old naisa."

Tashya shrugged into her utility harness. "There'd be a lot more there to keep you occupied … both of you." Sighing again, she strode over to take her bondmate's shoulders in a firm, gentle grip. "Look, they need people to help with the refugees; you could really make a difference. And, I'll feel better knowing you two are safe and being looked after."

Weshra twisted from Tashya's grip, striding to the door. "Just go say goodbye to your kaika."

"Fine." Tashya returned to her duffel, double checking the contents before she sealed it and slung it over her shoulder. "But, at least think about it. Please?" she asked, following her bondmate out into the living area of their apartment. "When you've stopped being pissed off at me, you'll know that I'm right. Paya's safety has to come first."

Weshra just stormed to the dining table and slid a datapad over to the end. "Sign your will before you go. It's been sitting here for a week."

The demand struck like a fist, nearly doubling the nais over. "Goddess, Weshra, could you be any colder?" When only a turned back answered her question, she shook her head. "Fine. I'll make sure there's an equitable distribution of my assets if I eat a bullet out there. Glad to see that's what's important to you after all these cycles."

Dumping her bag at the end of the couch, she strode into the short hall, pausing outside a door covered in hand-painted flowers and dire warnings about entering without permission. A sad smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Tashya lifted a hand, a single knuckle rapping at the portal.

"Yeah?" Her kaika's shout competed with loud, grating music. "Come in."

Pushing the door open, Tashya winced at the wall of horrific, deafening noise. "Dear Goddess, babe, what in the name of all that's sacred …?" She covered her aural canals. "Turn it down."

The nitta on the bed rolled over, searching through the clutter of books, OSDs, make up, and trinkets that covered her nightstand before finding her stereo remote. The racket died down, pulling a sigh of sheer relief from Tashya's lips.

"That's horrible," she said, walking around the bed. Bending down, she pushed her kaika's legs aside to make room to sit. "What was that? Krogan destroying their instruments with chainsaws?"

"Something like that." Paya grinned, then shrugged, all mirth draining from her face. "The nittas at school listen to it. I thought maybe I'd get used to it, but it's no use … it's complete crap. I was just using it to drown out your arguing."

"Sorry about that." Tashya stared into her kaika's gorgeous green eyes and reached out to caress one beautiful, plump, lavender cheek. "And of course you were; you're too much your own person to follow the crowd." Swallowing the lump that blossomed in her throat, a grenade set to blow, she leaned in to kiss Paya's brow. "I love that about you." She smiled and closed her eyes, breathing the nitta in. "I love you, you know? You're the very best thing I've ever done."

\Paya pushed up, shifting around to sit cross-legged on the bed. "I wasn't, you know."

Tashya frowned, confused, her hand dropping to grip her kaika's shoulder, the pyjama material soft beneath her palm. "Wasn't … what?"

The nitta's shoulders popped in a tiny shrug. "Crying my eyes out because the others tease me about being pureblood." Another shrug, and a heavy sigh. "I mean, sure, it bugs me, but in the end, while I'm kicking ass in college biotiball and becoming the pre-eminent physicist of our time … they'll be shaking their tits at some sleazy bar or kissing Eclipse's ass." She grinned, a merry but almost vicious grin. "Who'll be laughing then?"

Her heart feeling too large for her chest, Tashya grabbed her kaika around the neck and pulled her into a hug. "Goddess, I love you, you ornery brat." She kissed Paya's crest. "And don't make fun of dancers … that's how I met your hinah."

"She still being an auwe?" Paya's slender arms wrapped around Tashya's waist, holding her tight.

"Sh, don't speak like that. She's just hates it when I deploy. And she's afraid." Tashya rested her cheek on the top of her kaika's head, savouring Paya's embrace. "The war has everyone scared, niti. She'll be fine."

Paya sighed, a thick, wet sort of sigh that betrayed her tears. "She'll be a wreck and cry for two days about how she shouldn't have been such an auwe to you before you left." She squeezed the hug tighter for a moment, then drew away, swiping at her face. Turning a brave face to smile up at her, Paya shattered Tashya's heart to dust. Maybe the time had come to resign her commission … settle down … give her family the stability they deserved.

Paya swiped at her cheeks again and gulped down a noisy swallow. "Don't worry, I'll look after her, and when she calms down, I'll get her on a transport for the Citadel. If I call Wahinah, she'll help me convince her."

Tashya laughed and took her kaika's hand, stroking the delicate fingers with her thumb. "Yeah, your hinah has nothing on her hinah when it comes to stubbornness." Her omnitool beeped, reminding her of the transport waiting to take her to the Morning Wind. She pulled Paya into another tight, desperate hug. "Take care of her for me." Pulling back, she pressed a handful of kisses onto the pale, tear-streaked cheeks. "I'll be home before you know it, baby."

Paya nodded, pressing her lips tight as she sniffed. "I love you, Makah."

"And I love you … so much." Another kiss and Tashya yanked herself away, striding to the door. "See you in a couple of weeks, babe. I love you."

She returned to the living area, walking straight into a dry-eyed, furious Weshra and an outstretched datapad. Shaking her head, she side-stepped her bondmate to pick up her duffel. "I haven't even had a chance to read it, Weshra. Take it with you to the Citadel, have your hinah's people look it over, and I'll sign it when I get home … " She shook her head. "... there … whatever."

"And if you don't come back?" her mate demanded, her tone rimy and crackling. Her footsteps followed Tashya to the door, heels clicking quick and sharp on the tile.

Tashya turned back, one hand on the control, giving Weshra her best, most confident smile. "I always come back. Right?" She leaned in to kiss lips that remained rigid and stiff beneath hers. "I love you. Send messages when you stop being pissed off."

The datapad slapped her in the chest. "Sign the damned thing. It's the least you can do when you can't manage to stay and take care of us the way you should."

"Weshra, seriously … stop." Tashya pressed a hand to her bondmate's cheek. "Take Paya to the Citadel. Stay with your mother until I'm finished with this mission, then I'll take all of us to Horizon … to that Sanctuary place." She forced a smile. "It's supposed to be really pretty there. It'll be almost like a vacation."

Weshra's eyes flashed with anger, and she jerked away from the touch, the pad clattering to the floor. "Just go. You'll miss your shuttle." The nais whirled to turn her back, arms locked like gates across her chest. "You've made it clear where your priorities lie, and it's not with us."

"I'll miss you too," Tashya spat back and slammed her palm into the door control. "Goddess, you can be such a complete bapai." She stared down at the pad for a half second as thunder set the building trembling once more, then turned to walk out the door. "See you in a couple of weeks."