When she'd been a child and she'd first learned what death was, the knowledge had brought with it a rocking of her foundations. All children thought themselves- and those they loved- immortal. When she'd truly realized that she could and would someday inevitably die, a ten year old Shepard had entertained briefly the ways that it could possibly happen.

It was Nana's death- her mother's mother- that had brought about this life changing realization. Nana had been sick a very very long time, and she was very old. Her illness, especially toward the end, had frightened Del a little, and she had suffered nightmares for a time that she would become sick herself, withered, and bed-ridden at the end. She decided if she had to die, she wanted it to be quick and unconscious…in her bed asleep, perhaps, when she was very old. As she grew up and matured, death lost its terrifying hold though it was still something she disliked considering. Even so, she was a doctor, a geneticist, with a calm and ordered life. As such, the possibility of violent death had very rarely entered her mind.

She certainly hadn't pictured the end of her life would be anything like this.

The pain in her chest had transformed into a hot, crushing weight, and she could feel the blood spilling from her mouth. Air was a myth, impossible to get, and her vision was taken up solely by the distorted reflection of her helmet face-plate in that mirrored eye. She thought of her family, and of Liara, and wriggled as much as she could, a helpless denial of the inevitable rushing toward her. She wanted to live, but it was more than clear she was not going to. Osco would make her suffer to the last breath, slowly squeezing her until the life finally fled her body. The thing would delight in it, savor every moment of pain and horror in her helpless victim.

Then a gleam of orange speared through the mirrored eye from behind, shattering it in a glut of ichor. With an unearthly shriek, Osco bucked and revolted violently. Del found herself loose and in the air, upside down. She crashed into some debris and then to the ground. She lay there weakly, trying to see, her breathing thick wet gasps that brought more blood than air.

She could see only flashes of activity through the mist and haze. Madly writhing and badly damaged tentacles coiled and looped, flailing here and there, only to vanish back into fog. Then Osco twisted, and for a moment Del could see Sokka clinging to the back of her massive head.

The rakir was battered and clearly badly hurt herself. One arm seemed all but useless, burned free of hair and skin. She was hanging on with her feet, claws digging in as she drove her omni-blade again and again into the ruins of the thing's head.

Then they were swallowed by fog again, only shifting shadows and the occasional writhing bit of black to be seen.

A foot crunched slightly in the dirt. Shepard felt detached, weightless, oddly calm and comfortable. The pain seemed to be leaking out of her, a distant thing separated from her now. Her arms and legs were shaking badly but she was unaware of it, watching as a gray and blue hard-suit- battered and scorched-strode past a few feet away, a rifle lifted.

On the heels of the grey-blue hard-suit came a black and red one, all but dragging a leg behind it but hefting a rifle up as well.

The gunshots were faint whispers. Sokka tumbled past, mist swallowed the figures up, shadowy ghosts danced in the distance. Light flashed blue, reflecting in the clouds.

It's so beautiful, Del thought.

Time went away for a while. Vaguely she became aware of something gripping her, of being shifted. The moment she was moved the pain returned-still distant but sharp enough to make her gasp a bit, clarify her mind. She looked up through her streaked face-plate, and through the dingy face-plate of the asari captain, seeking those blue eyes.

Shepard…stay with me! Shepard, please!

I'm here, Liara. I'm right here with you.

Merah…

Merah…please stay…

The mist came down again then, and took everything away.

Outside of the wide view-port, Liara could see the shimmering lights of the nebula outside of the Citadel dock where they were currently clamped. Busy shuttles, sky cars, and lumbering ships moving in toward their own slips reminded her of the ocean, sea creatures filled with life.

"You know, since you walked in, you haven't once even glanced at the ocean, or the trees."

Liara stared at her, then followed her gaze to the deep blue water, the clusters of colorful fish. "I have seen the ocean before," she said. "On Thessia, there are nine oceans, and a hundred seas. We are born of the water."

"You've seen it before, so you cannot look at it again?" Del asked.

"I have a lot of things on my mind."

"All the more reason to stop and look at the sea," Shepard told her.

Exhausted blue eyes closed, and Liara's head bowed forward. As her fingers lightly touched her forehead, a bead of moisture appeared, slowly trailing over her cheek. Her lower lip trembled faintly.

"Captain?"

Wiping her hand over her cheek in an automatic gesture, Liara turned and looked at the young Alliance private standing there. The girl was stiff and starched in a perfect uniform, her blonde hair twisted up into a tight bun. She looked solemn. When Liara said nothing, she cleared her throat, speaking softly.

"We are docked, ma'am. The families are waiting for you."

She nodded once, and after a moment's pause, the private turned and walked off. Looking back at the view a moment, Liara steeled herself as best she could. It had seemed so much easier to do before this whole fiasco had begun. She had never felt herself out of control. No matter her feelings, she'd always been able to put on that mask of stoicism and do what needed to be done. Now, that mask felt broken forever.

Turning, she headed down the corridor of Kohaku's ship, the Encino. Though they had lost fifty ships out of the hundred of the fleet, the Encino had escaped destruction. There were signs of repairs already all around her, though she feared the frigate would need a week or two in dry dock before she'd be completely back up to snuff. It was enough for now that she had been able to get them back home to the Citadel, and to safety.

Sam, her face still black and blue and a burn patch pasted over her forehead, was waiting for her near the airlock with a small box in her hands. Though the medics on the Encino had treated her badly broken ankle (and had likely given her orders to stay off of it), she was in uniform and determined not to let her notable limp slow her down.

She said nothing, only gave Liara a supportive nod, resting her hand momentarily on the captain's shoulder before she followed her out of the airlock, and into the dock.

Nearby, the caskets were just being offloaded. The lights of the docking bay made the pair of them shine. At the far end of the dock- standing with a Council official and a pair of C-sec officers-a small and quiet gathering waited. There were two asari, one old enough to be a Matriarch, the other a Maiden. A young human man, in his twenties, stood close and was talking with the younger of the pair, speaking softly.

A second small group stood next to them. Liara recognized Bette instantly. She was with three other women, one middle-aged and two a bit younger.

Beside them Senator Shepard was stiff and square-shouldered, his suit perfectly pressed, his face almost expressionless. Though Liara had not met the two women with him, she knew who they were: Verona and Inna, Shepard's mother and older sister. Verona was elegant, poised, but she held a small cloth in her hand and even from here, Liara could see her eyes were reddened. Every few moments, she lifted the cloth and dabbed at her lashes. When she did Inna, holding tight to her mother's hand, visibly gave it a squeeze and looked at her with concern.

Sam glanced toward the families, then back at Liara as the captain headed toward the caskets. Pausing a moment, the asari softly rested her hand on one for a long moment, before moving to the next and doing the same. She felt her eyes heat up and paused until she could be sure they were clear again, before she slowly withdrew her hand and straightened, heading down the dock toward the waiting group, Feris limping gamely along at her heels.

As they drew near, Bette broke away from the three women with her and rushed forward, flinging her arms around the N7. Sam returned the embrace tightly, carefully holding the box in one hand as she softly murmured to her intended. Bette's eyes were damp when she loosened her grip, and holding to Feris's hand, she joined her as the N7 approached the other three women.

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Madie…" she said, handing the older woman the box in her hands. It held everything of Ash's they were able to salvage from the Aswa wreck- which wasn't much, and most of it was burnt or damaged.

Madeline Williams took the box with a faint nod, then met her eyes. "There is a chance she is still alive?"

"There is, a good chance. But the possibility of her ever coming home-"

"I understand, but knowing she's alive somewhere out there…I have to hold to that."

She hugged the N7 tightly, Ash's younger sisters gathering around and joining in. Though Liara fully intended to say a few words to them, for the moment she let Sam tend to her family and instead approached the asari, offering her apologies and condolences, and the only reassurances she had- which was that Jura had met her end quickly and bravely.

They could never be sure, of course, but Liara suspected that Jura had been killed the moment that Osco had tackled the Aswa, breaking through the viewscreen. She did not share those details with Jura's mother and daughter, of course. All they needed to know was that she had died doing what she loved, and she had saved a lot of lives by giving hers.

As the casket carrying the pilot's remains was transferred into their custody, Liara turned away and spoke to the Williams family a moment. A look of surprise crossed her face when Madeline abruptly hugged her, but she mastered it quickly, murmuring condolences.

While the other two families were dealt with, the Shepards' waited with remarkable patience. Clearing her throat, Liara once again left Madeline and the Williams' girls to Sam and Bette, and walked over.

"Senator Shepard, I wish we were meeting again under better circumstances," she said gently, offering her hand. He took it with a nod, then gestured at the others.

"My wife Verona, and my oldest Inna."

"Mrs. Shepard, it is my honor to meet you," Liara said.

"No, no, it is my pleasure," Verona said graciously, enfolding Liara's hand between hers. "Call me Verona. Jacob has said so much about you, and what you did for Delilah. I cannot thank you enough for everything, Captain."

"Liara, please. And truly, the honor is mine. Del…well, you raised a remarkable daughter, Verona. Two of them." She glanced over at Inna with a nod.

"Oh, no, this one is all 'Lilah's. Believe me, my ego isn't bruised," Inna said with a faint smile. "I can't tell you how proud I am of what she did, Captain. And I am so…I am so glad she got the chance to meet you."

"As am I," Liara said softly, as Inna's eyes glossed with tears. Jake put his arm around his wife's shoulder, hugging her gently.

"We'd…we'd like to see her now, if we could Liara," he said softly. She nodded, and gestured up the dock.

"Of course. Please."

As they headed up the dock way toward the airlock, Verona's watery eyes settled on the single silent casket left. A private was standing quietly beside it, watching them silently.

"How sad…" Verona said softly. "Is no one here to meet this one?"

Liara looked over at her, speaking softly and clearly holding tight to her emotions. "Helen Chakwas was my medic for many years. She had no family, outside of me and my crew. She was a good woman, and a very dear friend. She will not be neglected, I assure you. We are taking her back to Earth, to the place of her birth, to lay her to rest there."

"That is very kind of you."

"As I said…she was my family."

They entered into the airlock, following Liara as she led them to the Encino's infirmary.

"Arrangements are being made to transport Del over to Huerta," Liara said. "The transfer team should be here within the next few minutes."

"We'll accompany them to the hospital," Jake told her. "I suspect you'll want to come along as well?"

"With your permission."

"You don't need to ask. You're part of this family, Liara, and part of her life. Of course you may come."

Verona's voice was hesitant. "Are…is she as badly hurt as the reports made it sound?"

"She is out of danger," Liara reassured her. "But I will not lie to you. She came very close to death. Fortunately, the Alliance doctors are extremely skilled."

This was not entirely accurate, but Liara did not share that with the Shepards. Truth be told, it was only a miracle that Shepard lived long enough for the rescue shuttle to reach them, but barely had they lifted off the surface of Permiatic than her heart stopped. She had lost an incredible amount of blood, most of it from a badly torn lung that had led to her literally drowning as the fluid swamped her functioning lung.

Liara still remembered the moment Shepard died. Working as best they could on the small shuttle, the medics had stripped her of half her hard-suit, assessing her injuries. Del was unconscious and had been for several minutes, her face and chest painted with the blood that had spilled from her mouth. The thick gurgling as she desperately tried to breathe was dizzying, terrifying. The doctors were trying to insert a tube to suction the blood out of her good lung enough to allow her to breathe when her heart gave up. As if some wire had been cut, Shepard had gone still, those horrible sounds stopping. One of the medics did a scan as the other continued to try and clear the blood out, but by the look they exchanged a moment later Liara knew they had no hope. Her vitals had gone flat, her heart had quit, and she wasn't even attempting to breathe any more.

In that moment, sheer desperation shook the asari. Tearing off her own gloves so frantically she managed to dislocate a finger, she grabbed Del's hands in her own, closed her eyes, and opened a Joining, frantically connecting her nervous system to her love's.

It was madness to even try it. Liara was far too young, and to act as this kind of 'life support' took decades of careful training and mental discipline. Usually only Matriarchs mastered it. By attempting it, Liara was risking her own life. It was very possible that Shepard's collapsing nervous system would cause a cascade affect that would kill Liara right along with her. Even if that didn't happen, if the connection failed, Shepard would still die…and Liara would be trapped with the memory of that experience forever in her own mind. To feel another's death as if it were happening to you was beyond traumatizing, especially when the one dying was a loved one. It often broke the sanity of young asari, even if they survived it.

In Liara's mind, however, there was no question of trying it. If Shepard died, her life and sanity were over anyway.

The doctors, being human, had no idea what she was doing, and reacted in shock when Shepard's heart suddenly started up again, beating in time with the captain's own. Once more she started to struggle to breathe, her chest rising and falling in sync with Liara's. Sam, lingering worriedly nearby though in significant pain from her own injuries, figured out what was happening only because she had been in the Consort's chamber the day Pio had tried to integrate Del with Sha'ira, and had overheard them talking about such things. When one of the medics went to pull Liara's hands away to improve his access, she was the one who lunged forward and stopped him.

"Don't! She's keeping her alive, don't you see? She's using her own nervous system as life-support."

"They can do that?" he'd said, stunned, before he shook his head. "Well, it won't do much good if we don't get some blood into her fast…a beating heart does jack-shit if it has nothing to move around. C'mon, Mike. Get that lung drained and your fingers crossed."

In all, Liara was connected with Shepard nearly two hours, before they were able to get her stable enough to put her on full autonomous life support. The moment she'd broken the Joining- the doctors on the Encino holding their breath until it was clear Del's heart wasn't going to stop again-she'd all but collapsed, sobbing. Since that moment, Liara had told no one what she had experienced during that Joining. From that moment onward, however, her grip on her emotions seemed to completely elude her, coming only as a struggle if it came at all.

Still, she would do it again a thousand times over, if it meant her Merah was still with her.

As they neared the infirmary, Sokka looked toward them. The rakir had parked herself outside the door as a kind of guard, ignoring the Alliance privates actually assigned to that detail. Her left arm was missing, a protective cast over the stump just below her shoulder.

According to Sokka, she'd woken up after the wreck to find a weapons' locker on her arm- a locker still glowing with heat. Using all of her strength she'd managed to move it and tear the limb free, but the weight had reduced the bones in her arm and hand to little more than powder, crushing nerves and blood vessels. The burns from the hot locker had in places gone down to nearly bone, and there was no salvaging the limb. She had reacted to its necessary removal as one might to a haircut, though the prospect of getting a synthetic limb had lit up her eyes. Before she'd left Nakira, such things were unimaginable. There, a lost limb meant death…or if one was especially stubborn and high-ranking, a wooden and fairly useless replacement. Now she was enticed at the prospect of getting a new arm that would not only be fully functional, but possibly superior to the original.

Liara could only admire the rakir's strength and resilience. Her missing arm will probably be lauded back home, and her replacement will be marveled over, I am sure.

The Senator, who had met a rakir before, barely glanced at the female standing there. Inna and Verona blinked and stared a bit, before they were ushered past and into the medibay.

Shepard was in an ICU section at the back of the infirmary. She looked small and washed out among all the machinery. While she was no longer on full life support her condition was still delicate enough they were taking no chances. Where her face wasn't pale, it was marked with bruises, and both her left arm and her leg were enclosed tightly in hard cast.

As Liara walked to her side, she bent and gently kissed her forehead, brushing a hand over her hair a moment. At the touch, Del opened her eyes and looked at her, smiling weakly.

"Hey, you," she whispered softly.

"Hey, yourself," Liara replied gently. "It is nearly time to move you to Huerta. I have some visitors for you."

She stepped back, allowing Shepard's family to move in to her side. Verona was overcome with tears, kissing Del's face over and over until Shepard chuckled weakly and reassured her she was fine.

Liara lingered back, watching the reunion quietly for a bit. Her thoughts went to Helen, and to Jura and Ashley- and to all those who had died at Osco's hand. The thing was dead now. They had killed it on Permiatic and at Liara's request, Kohaku had razed the entire crash-site after they'd been evacuated. There was nothing left of the Aswa or Osco now but atoms drifting in methane.

Though the Terminus systems were still making threatening noises toward the Council, it seemed all out war with them might be averted. They were doing little more than sabre rattling, and the ships that had arrived just as the Permiatic fleet started to depart the system had not pursued, only casting a few shots their way. Posturing, nothing more.

After a few minutes, Liara was surprised to see Inna break away from her sister's bedside and walk over. Giving a lopsided grin that was almost a spooky copy of Del's, Inna reached out and took her hand without any hesitation.

"What are you doing way over here? You're family, right? C'mon. You belong with us."

Taken aback, Liara allowed herself to be lead. As she got back to the bed, Verona turned and put an arm around the asari's shoulders, as if they had known each other their whole lives.

From the bed, weak and tired, Del Shepard smiled.

Epilogue

"Careful now," Liara said as she stepped off the shuttle, turning to automatically reach back toward Del. The human woman took her hand and laboriously stepped down from the vehicle, using her cane to brace herself as she did.

Though it had been two months since Permiatic, her left leg had undergone nearly sixteen surgeries to repair the damage to her hip, knee, ankle and foot. Her entire femur had been replaced. It was still encased in a hard cast, and it would be a few more weeks still before the muscles had healed enough to allow her to put her full weight on it and walk normally again.

"I'm all right," she said, smiling at Liara as she got to level ground. "I feel like I could run a marathon."

"You may feel that way, but you would make it about four steps before you collapsed, and you know it."

"Always the realist, bursting everyone's bubble," Shepard joked, before she took a deep breath and looked at the view in front of them. "Wow, it looks…horrible."

Little more than a foundation remained of her home. The burned debris of the actual house had been cleared away, but dead and scorched patches of grass and skeletal plants remained around it and in her garden.

"The construction crews arrive in the morning. In two weeks it will be well on its way to being your home again."

"Well on its way to being a house, maybe," Shepard said, taking Liara's hand. "I know where my home is, and this isn't it."

Liara looked at her softly, ducking her head a bit and kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Did you see the invitation this morning?"

"From Sam? Yeah," Shepard smiled. "I guess there's nothing like nearly dying on an impossible mission to get a girl thinking about the future. I shouldn't be surprised they're tying the knot so quickly. They weren't planning to for another year."

"She nearly lost Bette," Liara said. "She did lose her cousin. There was always an element of danger with her job-comes from being a soldier and a marine. Now that she is to be a Spectre as well, I think she just wants to be sure she leaves no regrets."

"The Council accepted your recommendation?"

"I think she more than proved herself capable of the job," Liara said. "The Council seems to agree. They offered her the position officially last night and from what I understand, she accepted."

"Good. I think she'll be amazing. The first human Spectre…couldn't happen to a better person."

Liara kissed her cheek again, before she turned around. The cliff edge was about ten feet away from where they were standing, and beyond the sea was as smooth as glass and bluer than blue.

"It is beautiful, Merah. I can see why you built your house here."

"I've always liked the sea," Del said. "Not sure why, it just has always given me a kind of…calm. Still gives me a chill to think I nearly died in it, though. If you hadn't helped me up off the cliff-"

Liara took her hand and gave it a warm squeeze. "It is over now, all of it."

"I suppose so. It's going to be strange again, going back to work in a lab, not getting shot at every five minutes. Even the idea of it feels…smaller."

"You do not have to return to your previous employment," Liara reminded her. "The Alliance and the Council would both offer you any grant or position you desire. It is the least they can do to thank you for stopping the PMD and helping put an end to Osco."

"I know. Honestly, I was thinking of going back to school."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Get another medical degree, pursue a new field."

Liara's brows knit. "You do not wish to be a geneticist anymore?"

"Well, don't get me wrong- I love genetics, always will. But I was thinking of becoming a more...hands-on doctor, you know? The kind that patches up wounds and broken bones, does some surgery-the kind maybe needed aboard the ship of a Spectre that gets shot at on regular occasions?"

"Del!"

Shepard turned to her, setting her cane aside and taking both her hands. "Li, I can't go back to my old life. I just can't. I don't fit there anymore. And I certainly can't just wait here alone in a house while you go off for weeks or months at a time on your missions. You're a Spectre, and a good one. You love doing what you do. I want to be there with you, see you every day. If I'm in your infirmary patching you up, then at least I won't be stuck here wondering if you're all right or what's happening to you."

Liara let out a breath, looking down at their hands a moment. "To be honest, Merah…I do not want to be apart from you for weeks or months either. But you have put yourself into enough danger-"

"Hey. You go, I go with you. That's the deal, Captain," Del said. "We're meant to be together…so we need to be together, ok? I mean, it's not going to happen tomorrow. I still need to heal, and I really do need to take some more medical courses, especially if I'm going to be patching up asari and other aliens on a regular basis- but I want this. I want to do this. Please say yes."

Releasing a hand, Liara lifted her own and gently brushed her fingers over Del's cheek. "How could I ever say no to you?" she asked. Shepard grinned, sliding her arms around her and hugging her tightly.

Del was right. The house didn't matter. It was just a place, a thing…like the Aswa. She'd been a good ship but in the end, she was just a ship, and could be replaced.

This…this was home. No matter where she was, or what she was doing, so long as her Merah was there with her, she was home.

As she held Del tightly, her thoughts moved to the asari soldier that Del had encountered through the Fold. They had never gotten the confirmation on whether or not she was Liara's daughter. Helen hadn't had the time to run the test, and the blood sample had been destroyed along with the rest of the ship. Oddly enough, she found she didn't need it. Somewhere deep in her heart, she knew that asari was part of them, a daughter of another Del Shepard and another Liara T'Soni. Perhaps there were millions of her, just as there were possibly millions of other Shepards and other Liaras.

Eventually, someday, perhaps she'd even be in this universe as well.

Liara, who had never fancied the idea of even having a bondmate, let alone children, found herself smiling slightly against Del's cheek at the thought.

Yes. Perhaps someday…she will be.

THE END

A/N: And we're finally at the end of DE:AU! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know my normal pace slowed down quite a bit with this story thanks to some changes with my workload, but I intend to keep on writing so long as people keep on reading!

Next up, the final chapter in the DE saga. DE5 will begin next week, and will tell the story of Del and Liara's children, Mel and Irie. It will be set about 150ish years after Shepard's death in DE4, and will address the source of the Reapers, why they were set to harvest organics, and will feature a lot of old and beloved as well as new characters. The title shall be DE: Inheritance. If you haven't already, please remember to add me to your author alerts so that you will be messaged the instant the new story is up.

See you soon!