Great. It’s started raining again. Somehow I don’t really mind it though. After spending so much time on board a space ship it’s kind of nice to feel rain falling on my face again. I’d hoped to be gone from this planet by now though. Oh, it’s a nice planet and all, but it’s not home.
I don’t really have a home. Never have. The first “home” I can remember was a bunk in the orphanage, followed by a bunk at the Academy. For the past several yahrens, “home” has been a bunk in the bachelor officers’ quarters on the Galactica. Not much to show for my twenty-odd yahrens. No wife, no family, no place to call home.
Doesn’t really help that the Commander decided to let as many people of the Fleet as wanted to settle here. So now I have to see the families crying and kissing each other in their joy at being off whatever gods-forsaken ship they were on. Even in the rain, their elation is plain to see. They haven’t seen rain in almost as long as I have, I guess.
Kyle is directing people to the habitable houses the Cylons left. Not too many. Some people may have to live in temporary shelters until new ones can be built.
Good kid, that Kyle. A bit pompous at first, but after I made him my lieutenant, he did a great job. And Miri, what a girl! Beautiful, intelligent, talented... Whatever she’d put on my leg had worked wonders. I still felt a twinge in it every now and then, but it was healing nicely. I don’t think it’s even going to scar. The little ones were amazing too. Amazing that anyone could do what this one family had done. They had defeated the Cylons! Almost gave a guy hope.
Family. That’s another word I don’t have a real reference for either, like home. I’d hoped to be able to use my leg wound as an excuse not to help with the relocating families, so I wouldn’t have to watch this. I guess Miri’s medicine worked a little too well. I’d never tell her that though.
The boys are already starting to find excuses to be near her. I knew it wouldn’t take long. I have the feeling Kyle’s going to be watching them pretty closely, once things start to settle down.
I could stay here. I could get used to living planetside again. It’s been so long though that I’d probably get restless and hear the call of the stars again, except I’d have no real way of getting back out there. Far better to stay with the Galactica and keep moving on.
Hey, it stopped raining for a bit. Looks like the clouds are parting enough to let the moon come through. Moonlight is beautiful. It’s a sight I don’t always get to see much of, one I kind of miss sometimes. I remember staring at the moon and stars when I was a kid. I’d sneak out of the dormitory at the orphanage some nights just to look at the sky.
Time to move along though. Looks like they’re rounding up the warriors who came down to help out. Back up to the battlestar, back to the search for a new home. I wonder if we’ll ever find Earth. I wonder, if we ever *do* find it, if we’ll be able to settle down there after wandering the stars. I don’t know if I will. Since I’ve never had much of a home, I think I could call just about anyplace “home”. But I’d be restless in a few sectares, at the most, anxious to be off in space again.
Apollo’s spotted me off over in the woods. I’ll probably get chewed out for not helping as much as I could have but I just couldn’t handle the happy little families who know what “home” is supposed to be.
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“Starbuck! It’s time to head back,” Apollo called.
“I’m coming. Just been enjoying the rain. Kind of nice, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I’ve missed it myself. I’m glad it finally stopped though.”
“Yeah, me too.”
The two friends stared up at the moon as one, just enjoying each other’s company.
“You two coming or staying?” Boomer demanded, coming up behind them.
“We’re coming,” both warriors answered at the same time.
“Just enjoying one last moment of the planet.”
“We could always settle here, you know,” Boomer suggested.
Apollo and Starbuck just laughed. Clapping Boomer on the back, they headed toward the shuttle for home.
Now here’s the song that inspired this little fic:
The Crippled Lion
By Michael Nesmith
Slowly I walk through the gently falling rain
And I know that I will never pass this way again
Never wondering why
Teardrops chafing my eyes
Longing to be where the noted kisses fall
Lingering and still
While quietly they tell their all
Blue is the color of the sun
And nothing stops when everything is done
Now my whole world opens up in different rhymes and tunes
With the highways making up the verse
And then suddenly I see the light of something called the moon
And though my path is planned it’s not rehearsed
So I move along to the next thing on the list
Knowing full well that some of them just don’t exist
But I am finally alone
And where my foot steps down is where it’s home
The Crippled Lion by Rainbow Chicken
Author's Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor did I write the song listed at the end. The song is by Michael Nesmith.