Disclaimer - I don't own Andromeda. But Reese is my personal character.
Author's Note - This story is the sequel to my other Andromeda story "Fateful Reunion" so if you don't get what I'm talking about, then you should probably read that first.
The Eureka Maru flew quietly through the black nothingness of space on its way to a remote little planet. Its two passengers - Captain Dylan Hunt and Reese Valentine - were headed to confer with a group of the Andromeda's 'allies': a colony of Wayists known as the Hajira in their settlement of Serendipity.
"And, tell me again why you chose me as your ambassador of the Commonwealth?" Reese asked from the pilot's seat.
Dylan sighed. "Because you grew up there, and you know the locals better than I do. And it wouldn't hurt to have a friendly face by my side considering things didn't go too well the last time I was there."
"Who says it'll be a friendly face?"
"Oh, come on, Reese. What's so bad about going back to your home planet?"
"I can think of two things: lots and everything. No offense, but you didn't grow up there. And I left when I was nine years old, after my mom died. What does that tell you?"
"It tells me that I really know very little about you, and, since we've got some time before we arrive, I would like to get to know you better. Tell me a story."
"About what?"
"Anything you want to tell. Why did you leave? How did you become part of Beka's crew after her father died?"
"Oh, so you know I was with Rafe for a few years, huh?"
Dylan nodded. "What was that like?"
Reese raised an eyebrow. "I think you know more than you're letting on, Boss. You say one thing, but your voice tells me that you know about my Flash addiction." Dylan's facial expression revealed that she was right. "Okay, I'll play the bonding game, but only if you tell me about you later."
"Deal."
"'Kay, if you fall asleep, I'm taking it personally. Here goes: I lived on a farm with my mom in Serendipity until I was nine."
"Really? You lived on a farm?"
"Don't get excited, we only raised chickens. And cats. Lots of cats. They were mine - all strays. I was the secret savoir with a warm place to stay for the outcast felines of the world." Dylan smiled. "My mom was pretty lenient about it too, as long as they stayed in the barn. She was lenient about a lot of things I did, now that I think about it. When she died, my life completely changed."
* * *
~~Serendipity, 12 years ago~~
"Sister Julianne Valentine. You were a stranger among us, but we welcomed you with open arms, and your smiling face brought sunshine into the lives of everyone here. Your cheerful disposition and good nature will be sorely missed."
"We will remember."
Ignatius Valentine watched with sad eyes as his baby sister's funeral pyre was set ablaze, the flames envelopping her shrouded body. Julianne had had the luck that followed their family name, and had gotten pregnant at the age of fifteen. It was then when she decided to turn her life around, and left home to come to this Wayist settlement. She devoted her life to the Way, and lived with a race of peaceful people known as the Hajira. She gave birth to a tiny baby girl and named her Teresa after the Wayist Saint. For the next nine years, they stayed in Serendipity until Julianne fell deathly ill with the fever that had been plaguing the area.
It attacked Ignatius's conscience to know that she had sent for him from her deathbed. He hadn't known Julianne very well; there had been a significant age difference between the siblings. He could even count the number of times he'd visited her since she left on one hand, and still have fingers left over.
Brother Thaddeus Blake made his way over to where Ignatius stood. Blake was young to be leading a colony of Wayists, but the elder priest had also been taken by the fever. Blake's kind face showed his inexperience, but also his strong will to learn.
"Mr. Valentine?" the monk asked.
"That's Captain Valentine, Brother," Ignatius corrected him.
Blake bowed in apology. "This must be very hard for you. Your sister was a good woman."
"She certainly worked hard for her redemption," Ignatius agreed. "I'm glad she could make something of herself here, and I'm sorry I couldn't have known her better."
"She worried for you," Blake told him. "She was constantly concerned for your well-being, knowing how dangerous your line of work is. Her prayers were for you, but I now pray for another."
"Her daughter."
"Yes."
Ignatius looked to where the nine-year-old stood several yards away, leaning against a large, gnarled old tree. With her were his two children: sixteen-year-old Raphael and thirteen-year-old Rebecca. Teresa - or Reese, as she preferred to be called - was keeping a watchful eye on the pyre, but seemed almost completely unphased by what was going on.
"Young Teresa is somewhat of a problem-child," Blake continued.
"She comes by it honestly."
"I will agree with you on that, but it does not ease my mind. Although she has lived here all nine years of her life, we rarely see her save for a brief appearance at meal times. She leaves early in the morning and spends most of her time in the town on the other side of the hills, where her head is filled with stories of adventure from passing pilots. She refuses to befriend the Hajira children, and has absolutely no interest in becoming a devout Wayist. I am inclined to fear that, with her mother's passing, she will decide that she has no reason to remain here, and will run off. All I wish to do is ensure her safety."
Ignatius nodded. "This is why Julianne sent for me?"
"She knew you would protect her."
"How could I do any less?"
*
Reese scrunched up her nose. "How come you guys are here, anyways?"
Beka and Rafe shrugged in unison. "Dad said something about your mom wanting him to come here, I think," Beka explained.
"Why?" Rafe grinned. "Don't you want us here?"
"Yes," Reese stressed the word. "You guys are cool, and way more fun than Tiama and Arun." The girl rolled her eyes as she said their names.
Rafe grinned again. He'd always liked his little cousin because, even though she'd only seen them a handful of times, she had never been shy around them. "What's wrong with Tiama and Arun?"
"They're always following me," she shrugged. "Maybe they wanna be friends or something, but they're weirdos." She looked back over at the funeral service and noticed a girl of about the same age with straight, brown hair looking in their direction. "Damn."
"Hey, watch your mouth," Rafe winked.
Reese grinned. "Wanna come to town with me? It's just over those hills. I can show you my hideout." The urgency in her voice was obvious, and Beka and Rafe looked up. Seeing the brown-haired girl and guessing her identity as the despised Tiama, they readily agreed.
*
The town was something Beka imagined could have been right out of an 'Old West' Earth story. The streets were dirt and most of the buildings were made of wood. There were large carts filled with crops ready to be sold, and creatures Beka recognized as horses were hitched to posts lining the street.
"Nice place."
"No, it isn't," Reese shook her head.
"Yeah, that's why I was being sarcastic."
Reese nodded, understanding. "Yeah, well, that's why nobody comes to look for me here, usually. But when they do, I'm in my hideout, so they never find me."
"Where's your hideout?" Rafe asked.
"In there," Reese pointed a couple buildings down to an establishment clearly marked 'Diego's Tavern'."
"Aren't you a bit young?" Rafe smirked.
"Diego - the guy who owns it - gives me money to clean it for him," she explained. "And it's the only place any Wayist wouldn't dare come in and look for me."
"Slick," Beka nodded honestly.
Reese smiled at the praise, then averted her eyes, kicking at the dirt. "Yeah, but it doesn't get me outta here." Her cousins looked questioningly at her. "I hate it here, you guys. It makes me feel trapped, like the cows on the farms. They let you wander, but only inside the fence."
"So, jump the fence, baby cow," Rafe teased her.
"Shut up," she kicked mud at him, but couldn't hide the smile. "Brother Thaddeus says it's good to be symbolic. But I mean what I said; I hate it in Serendipity. I only stayed for mom, but now, as soon as nobody's watching, I'm outta there."
"But, where will you go?" Beka asked.
"I dunno," Reese shrugged. "Maybe Diego can give me a job."
"You're nine."
"So? I know lots of stuff."
"You probably do, kid, but there's a lot of bad people out there. It's not really safe for you to be on your own," Rafe reasoned with her.
"I don't care. I'm not staying there anymore."
Rafe looked up and saw Ignatius approaching from across the street. He waved him over. "Dad's here. He'll explain what I mean."
"So here you all are," Ignatius smiled. "Brother Thaddeus said I might find you in town."
"Dad, will you talk some sense into this kid?" Rafe pointed to Reese. "She'd rather take her chances on the streets than mooch off a bunch of Wayists who are more than happy to provide food and shelter."
"That so?" Ignatius turned to Reese. "And are you going to get off this planet someday, too?"
The thought hadn't really occurred to Reese, having seemed so out-of-reach. Now, however, the idea danced through her mind. "Yup. Someday."
"How far do you want to go? Enga's Redoubt?"
"No way, there's Dragans there."
"How about Castalia?"
Reese thought for a moment. "Aren't the Volsung Nietzscheans in that sector?"
"Indeed there are," Ignatius nodded. "What about Enkindu or Schopenhauer's World?"
The girl made a face. "Tch, yeah, maybe if the Sabra and Jaguar Prides ever move their battleground away from there."
"Dyhedra System?"
"Magog."
"The kid's done her homework," Rafe was impressed.
"I listen to the pilots that stop here for supplies," she informed him. "They tell awesome adventure stories when they're in the tavern."
"Well," Ignatius kneeled down to her eye level. "How would you like to go to Diphda Five?"
"Diphda Five," the girl repeated, trying to remember if she'd heard anything about that planet.
"Dad, isn't that where we're going?" Beka asked.
Reese's eyes lit up. "You mean it? You'd take me with you? You ain't teasing?"
"You bet I mean it," Ignatius nodded.
"Hear that, cow-girl?" Rafe asked. "Your fence just broke down." He scooped up the kid into his arms and she hugged him around the neck, then realized what he'd said and punched him on the shoulder.
"Beka, go with Reese back to the colony and help her get her things together," Ignatius told his daughter. "Then meet Rafe and I back on the Maru."
"Okay, Dad," Beka nodded, brushing a strand of red hair out of her face. She wasn't sure about the concept of bringing her cousin into their lives. She was Daddy's Little Girl...would it stay that way now that there was Reese?
*
After Reese had said a hurried goodbye to Diego, she and Beka had returned to Serendipity to pack. "Hey, Beka," Reese called to her cousin. "Come here for a sec."
Beka emerged from the bedroom in the small farmhouse Reese had shared with her mother, carrying a small bag. "Is this all?"
"Yeah, I don't have too much stuff," Reese nodded, then clasped her hand around Beka's wrist. "I wanna show you something."
Before Beka could object, Reese was leading her through the fields of lush, green grass and golden crops until they reached an expansive canyon overlooked by a cliff. "What is this place?"
"It's called the Shouting Cliffs," Reese explained. "Wayists come here to scream at the rocks when the Way is too hard to follow. I come here to scream when the Wayists are too hard to put up with."
Beka laughed. "You hate it here that much?"
Reese shrugged. "It's good for Wayists, but I don't belong here. I can feel it inside me that I'm destined for something more. I need..." she thought for a moment, "...action." She walked to the cliff's edge and took a deep breath. "AND I'M NEVER COMING BACK!"
"Teresa?"
The girl cringed at the hated name, and turned around, giving Brother Thaddeus the evil eye.
"Reese," he smiled, remembering her preferred moniker. He was carrying something rectangular in both hands and approaching her. "Child, you may vow never to return, but please do not forget all you have learned here," he handed her the object - a framed portrait of her and her mother, taken when Reese was five. "Memories are precious. Do not leave them behind in your haste."
The nine-year-old accepted the portrait and looked up at Blake, echoing the words of the Hajira: "I will remember."
Blake smiled and embraced the child. "Go in peace, and be safe," he instructed her. She nodded and began to leave the clearing with her cousin. Suddenly, she whirled around.
"I'm sorry I've been so bad, y'know, with all the pranks I pulled on everyone. And I guess I should have tried harder to stay awake during your sermons."
Blake regarded her kindly. "The Way is not for everyone, Child. You have known for many years that your path leads elsewhere. That does not make you bad; that makes you special." Reese's eyes conveyed her silent gratitude. "One thing troubles me, however. You did not shed a tear for your mother."
"I guess that's because I know crying won't bring her back," Reese replied carefully. "She knows I love her."
Blake nodded in acceptance, and the two girls continued on their way.
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