The idea of writing about Benezia and Liara struck me after a discussion over at the masseffect community on Livejournal. I couldn't get it out of my head, and started writing bits and pieces about them. I prefer writing shorter snippets of text, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do just that.

This entire... Experiment... will focus on the relationship between the Matriach and Liara. It was just something too good to pass up on.

Disclaimer: Own nothing; it's all BioWare.

The Ocean

Liara's first conscious memories were from a remote planet in asari space, where Benezia had a small house by the seashore, on the edge of a seaside village. Her mother had stepped away from the political arena for a while, removing herself from the hectic life to, as she had claimed, let her daughter have some calm in her early years. Benezia had been a different person those tender days at the seashore. She had walked with her head bowed, burdened by her own thoughts and choices, isolated from the rest of the galaxy.

Many years later, Liara had understood that Benezia had been struggling with her own shame and humiliation. Benezia had been dealing with a broken heart, and Liara could only vaguely guess at what had transpired between her two parents, but it couldn't have been a peaceful exchange. Too aware of her mother's sorrow, Liara had never been able to ask Benezia who her other parent had been, wishing to spare her mother from unnecessary pain.

For twenty years, Benezia had been in a transitory phase, raising her daughter while tending to the pieces of her heart, hardening her exterior and honing herself into a Matriarch, shrugging off the role of the Matron. For twenty years, Liara observed her mother as the old asari, at the end of a world, let seven hundred years of living wash over her. Her mother was sorting herself out, while Liara was shaping herself.

”Everything is transitory,” Benezia would say, standing barefoot as the waves lapped at her, Liara scavenging the edge of the water for seashells and flat stones. Their days often passed in a peaceful manner, but that day, storm clouds were gathering, a grey sky heavy with downpour. Something about the changes in the air had brought Benezia out of the house, and she had walked Liara further along the beach than previously. ”Nothing remains,” Benezia continued, crossing her arms, furrowing her brow. ”Each emotion is passing, each existence is a flutter on the periphery of the universe. So what will truly matter? What will truly make a difference?”

Liara had looked up at her mother then.

”If I wish to remain anywhere, how will I leave a mark? Is there any way to impact this galaxy forever, or will I fade into nothingness as well? Or will I accept a transient existence, at peace with... No... I must achieve something greater. I need to be remembered."

Benezia lingered in the same position for a few more minutes, the ocean spray wetting her face. Liara waded through the water, coming to stand by her mother's side, a seashell clenched in her hands, the jagged edges of it digging into the soft flesh of her hands.

"Or the present is the only thing that truly matters, perhaps." Benezia sighed, then looked down at her daughter with a smile. "You have grown, Little Wing." Liara merely nodded at the statement. "I do wish you would talk more. This exile may not have been good for you."

"I talk," Liara said quietly.

"You do not understand, Liara. You are just a faint whisper, and no one would hear you, even if you expressed the greatest thoughts ever articulated into words. No, you must grow, strengthen your voice, talk with a strong belief and unyielding will." As the first raindrops fell on Benezia's naked head, she leaned back, smiling up at the sky. "We should return home. This will be a proper storm."