Disclaimer: Lets get one thing straight. I’m not making any money of this thing. Would anybody want to pay for this? I don’t own anybody in this story with the exception of Hailey Sheridan. She never existed in the show, but she did exist in my head and I needed to get her out. This is the result. You have a right to be afraid. Anything that comes out of my head is bound to be insane, depressive, or incredibly sappy. This is the latter two at some points. It’s sappy all the way through and kinda depressive at the end. Although I have just been informed that it’s not depressive at all, so I guess you’ll have to make your own judgement. If you want to post this at your site, ask me first. [email protected] Thank you and enjoy. Please, do not me nasty letters if you happen to hate this. It’s not my fault, I simply had to get it out of my head. With no further babbling, I’ll let you read the story now.

Hailey Sheridan, nine years old, ran up the hill into hers and John’s secret place. Once there she sat heavily down on the moss that carpeted the floor of the grove and frowned, pulling off her red and black checked flannel and straightening her white tank top. John barely ever spent time with her anymore. He hadn’t come up here in weeks, and she was fairly sure that he wouldn’t ever again. He would be leaving home in a matter of months, and once he was gone, what would happen? He would probably just forget her. Thinking this hurt her very deeply, for she and John had always been close, even though he was eight years older than she was. But he would. He would go out into the world and meet some woman that he’d end up marrying and would forget all about her.

She didn’t notice that the sky clouded over. However, when it turned black she looked up in fear. She jumped to her feet as the first drop of rain landed on her shoulder. She pulled on the flannel that she had shed and suddenly she heard the rain coming, racing along the tops of the trees. Lightning crashed and her old fear of storms suddenly seized her.

She moved quickly into the trees and began to make her way down the mountain. The ground had turned to mud underneath her and she slid on the slippery ground, becoming bruised and covered with mud. Fighting her way down the quarter mile to the stream, she tried to see through the downpour, looking for landmarks that would prove she was going the exact way she needed to be.

When finally she reached the stream, she discovered that the water, which in good weather was easy to cross, was now starting to flood. It was deeper than usual and crashed and thundered in its bed, the current sucking away branches and leaves in a swirling maelstrom down the mountain. More lightning crashed and she found herself unable to think or decide what to do. Standing there, she found no other way, so she removed her shoes, took a deep breath, and stepped into the creek. Normally, the water was cool and reached up to mid calf, but now the water was icy cold and swirled angrily around her knees. The current’s pull was strong, pushing at her, trying to knock her off her feet, while she fought it with great difficulty. Suddenly, a great wall of water slammed into her and she slipped, falling into the water. Her head knocked painfully against a rock on the bottom and she gasped, sucking a great amount of water into her lungs.

Coughing, sputtering, trying to gain footing, she floundered madly about until she succeeded in grabbing a branch overhanging the water. Clinging on tightly, she tried to pull herself to shore, but her exhaustion was great. She was cold and shivering, but she never gave up, pulling, straining, until finally her feet touched the bank.

Slipping, sliding in the mud, her head pounded with pain where she had hit it against the rock. The lightning came every thirty seconds or so, lighting up the world in a strange, surreal light. Suddenly, she slipped and her knee hit a rock concealed in the mud. Her head pounded and throbbed along with her knee and, in pain, she tried to rise but found she could not. She was too tired, too scared, hardly able to breathe, immobility grasping her like an iron fist. She sat dazed in the mud and started hoping that it would all be over soon. She was so cold, and tired, and the pain was intense . . .yet through the haze that permeated her mind, from far away, she thought she heard a voice.

She cried out and soon there was a faint crashing over the sounds of the rain and the thunder. Hearing this, she was encouraged and again, she called out to the person, fearful that whoever it was would not find her. That scared her even more than the storm and her helplessness so again she cried out to whoever it was.

Suddenly, he was there. John Sheridan knelt and picked her up, cradling her in his arms like a baby. Over the noise of the rain and the thunder, they could not speak; but she clung tightly to his neck, so happy to be found that she began to cry. Looking up into his face, she saw the concern etched around his eyes. She was not nearly as afraid now that he was there, for she knew that he would protect her no matter what the cost. She had been foolish to believe that he would forget her once he left, and she was suddenly ashamed.

Finally, the welcoming light of home appeared in the distance. In the doorway, she saw her mother’s petite form, waiting, wrapped in motherly concern and fear. Behind her mother, she saw her father standing nervously in the kitchen, staring at the wall. Carefully mounting the stairs, John set her carefully down as her mother wrapped her in a towel and marched her quickly upstairs.

Later, after she had been dried off, her cuts and scrapes cleaned, and her body warmed up, she crept down to the kitchen where John was seated, holding a cup of hot chocolate. Without speaking, he rose, grabbed another mug, and made her a cup of the steaming chocolate. She smiled slightly and took it as they sat down at opposite ends of the table, both occupying their attention with their mugs. Wondering what he was thinking, she glanced up, trying to meet his gaze.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked.

"Yes." Another long pause. "I’m very sorry, John. I was up in the grove and I didn’t notice it was going to storm." She looked up at met his eyes, noticing for the first time the fear they held. She had never seen him afraid before and it struck her speechless for a long moment as it sunk in. Eventually, he gave a queer, nervous laugh and spoke, reaching across the table and rumpling her wet hair.

"Good God, Sparrow, you had me scared." She paused for a long moment, trying to decide what to say. She sipped her hot cocoa thoughtfully before straightening her bathrobe and speaking.

"Thank you for coming to find me. I’ve never had such a wonderful feeling seeing anyone before." She paused again. "You know, when you found me, I wasn’t scared anymore. I simply knew everything was going to be okay." She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"Just as long as you’re all right. Even though you’re only a kid, I still think you’re pretty great."

"I’m nine years old!" she insisted. "I’m not a kid." John smiled back at her and she instantly knew all was forgiven.

"Well now, I don’t know," he said thoughtfully.

"John" she cried in exasperation.

"Okay, okay," he said, giving in. "Not a kid." Hailey grinned at him.

Hailey Sheridan watched ISN without much interest. She was reading a book at the same time, paying no real attention when, out of the blue, the newscaster interrupted the program. "This news footage sent in from the outer colonies is not a hoax. I repeat, this is not a hoax!" Hailey glanced up and was very startled when she saw exactly what was not a hoax. A giant ship, coming out of hyperspace, destroying the entire colony. "Mom! Dad!" seventeen-year-old Hailey yelled from where she was seated. "Come here, quick!" David and Nancy Sheridan came running.

"What’s the matter, Hailey?" her mother asked with concern. Hailey pointed at the screen. Both her parents’ mouths dropped open in shock as ISN replayed the massive ship destroying the ships and colony they defended. "Oh my God," her mother breathed in fear. She glanced up at her husband, looking to his shocked face for comfort.

"Nan, get Hailey out of here," he told her softly. "She shouldn’t be seeing this."

Nancy tried to coax Hailey to leave, but the girl was already too transfixed on the atrocity that it was useless. She gave up on her daughter after a moment, glancing at her husband hopelessly.

The chime signaling an incoming call rang in Hailey’s ears. She looked up from her book, rising to answer it. She smiled when John Sheridan’s face appeared on the screen. "John!" she said in surprise.

"Hey Sparrow. How are you doing?"

"I’m okay," she told him softly.

"You don’t sound too convinced of that." Hailey only shrugged. "Now, come on. I know something’s bothering you. You can tell me, sis."

"Its just," she sighed and tried to find the right words. "I guess I’m just worried, that’s all. From what I’ve seen on ISN, the Minbari are winning and won’t accept surrender. I’ve heard they’re invincible.

"First of all, I don’t believe in an invincible enemy. You just need to find the chance to win and take it. Secondly, you needn’t worry. We’re going to do our best, which is pretty damn good. We handled the Dilgar, didn’t we?"

"Yes, we did," she answered. John knew full well that they were losing badly, but he did not want Hailey to know. After all, the war was only two weeks old.

"Anyway, I just wanted to call and apologize to you. I’m not going to be able to make your birthday. The Lexington is being sent to the front. I’m really very sorry." She smiled, trying to reassure him.

"John, it’s all right. My birthday isn’t important. Just take care of yourself, and come back alive, okay?"

"Don’t worry, Sparrow," he said, giving her a supposedly reassuring smile. "I’ll be all right. Now, are Mom and Dad home?"

"No. Dad went to Earthdome and Mother’s in town."

"Well, give them my best. I’ll try calling back later. I love you, Sparrow."

"I love you too." He smiled again and broke their connection. She sighed and spoke aloud to herself. "He’s a terrible liar." The words seemed small in the empty house.

Hailey’s eighteenth birthday came and went. The day after, she went into town without telling anyone why. When she came back, it was late, almost midnight. "Hailey?" Her mother came downstairs when she heard the back door open. "It’s late. Where have you been?" She came around the corner. Her daughter was standing just inside the screen door, black hair down around her shoulders; face lit up in the moonlight. She turned to face her mother, eyes shining brilliantly in the moonlight.

"I went to town."

"Why? Hailey, you haven’t been yourself lately. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing really." There was a long pause. "I went into town today to join Earthforce."

"Oh, Hailey," her mother said sadly. "You didn’t."

"Yes, mother, I did." Nancy Sheridan’s hand went to her neck and she rubbed it softly. On her face was a look of pure grief.

"Why," Nan Sheridan asked her daughter after a moment of silence.

"Mother, no matter what John told me the other day, I know this war isn’t going well." She laughed softly: a tense laugh. "He never could lie to me. Anyway, I want to do something, anything, to help rather than just sit here and pray we won’t be annihilated. I don’t like feeling helpless, and I don’t like waiting. Besides, most of my friends have already gone."

Nancy leaned back against the wall. Hailey, tears starting to form in her own eyes, looked into her mother’s anguished ones and spoke. "I’m sorry," she whispered and moved quickly upstairs to her room. Nancy Sheridan moved slowly up the stairs to tell her husband.

Hailey glanced around her room. Her half-packed duffel lay open on her bed, the pictures on the walls glimmering in the summer sunshine. Her mother stood in the open doorway behind her, watching as she packed a few things. "Hailey, are you sure you have to go?"

"Mother, we’ve been over this," she said with a sigh.

"I know," her mother replied softly, turning away to find her husband.

He was seated on the back porch, looking out over the mountains. He glanced up at his wife as she seated herself beside him on the porch swing. Upstairs, in Hailey’s room, music played softly. "If John were here, he’d talk her out of this."

"No, he wouldn’ t, Nan," David Sheridan told his wife, "He would understand that Hailey makes her own decisions, and once she makes them she sticks with them. Lord knows she’s one stubborn girl." He smiled. "You know that just as well as I do."

"I know. But, David, I feel so hopeless. She could be killed."

"Nan, she knew that when she signed up. She believes that what we are fighting for is worth dying for. I am glad she can believe in things. She’s a good girl, isn’t she?"

he said, tacking on the last sentence as an afterthought.

"The best," her mother agreed.

Just then, Hailey stepped out onto the porch. She gave a slight smile.

"It’s time I should be going," she told them softly. Both her parents stood slowly. David gave his daughter an awkward hug.

"You take care of yourself, you hear?" he told her, tears in his eyes.

"I will," she assured him, turning to her mother.

"Just come back alive," her mother demanded through her tears. "Just come back alive."

"I’ll do my best," she assured her mother once more.

I was in my first fight today. At midnight, after I had been asleep for only four, maybe five hours, the call came for all the pilots to get to their ships. I met Lieutenant McGuire in the hall on the way to our Starfurys, and he told me that several Minbari warships had ambushed us when we came out of hyperspace to protect one of the outer colonies.

And I don’t know precisely how to feel either. I am extremely happy to be alive, but it almost feels wrong when so many of my friends died today. I could have been among them. War is a hellish, terrible thing, and I wish that I can survive and help people understand, when this madness is over, what exactly we have gone through. That is assuming, of course, that at the end we are not all dead.

Hailey

DIARY ENTRY: SAME DAY:

I always knew that, in the back of my mind, people died in war. But today, as I watched Starfurys blow up, the reality was driven home. Not only did I watch my friends die, but I killed today. I killed. They were Minbari, yes, but to another Minbari, they were called friend, or father, or son. Pulling that trigger made me a soldier. I’m not sure if I can accept that. Yes I am a soldier now and yes; I am defending my home. However, I cannot help wondering if the price we pay is worth the killing? I suppose I should not be second-guessing myself. But I killed someone today, and it’s not a fact I can take lightly. I wish I knew what to think. No, what I really wish is that John were here to tell me I’m doing the right thing or else just that he loves me. Good God, I wish I could see that dear brother of mine!

Hailey was jolted awake in the middle of the night by the red alert klaxon ringing insistently. She unsnapped the restraints holding her on her bunk and headed as fast as she could for the launch bays. Within five minutes, the Alpha Squadron had launched.

The Minbari fighters were sleekly designed, fast moving ships. It took extreme coordination and reflexes to survive against them. Hailey had both. With her small hands, she banked and controlled the fighter, destroying several Minbari fighters. Suddenly, her own Starfury jolted as her wing was hit. "Alpha Four, are you all right?"

"I will be in a minute, Alpha Leader," Hailey responded, bringing her fighter back under control. "I have a slight loss of maneuverability, but I should be okay."

She concentrated hard on the consoles in front of her and occasionally gave the starfield outside her cockpit a sweeping glance. The chatter over her headset was getting muddled, but one exclamation broke clearly through the tangle of voices.

"Look!" She did not recognize the voice, but as she came around, she saw what he meant. Their ship, the EAS Yukon, was on fire, and Hailey understood it would be the same as she had seen a hundred times before. The majestic ship reeled under the explosions and finally, it broke apart.

"Jesus," she whispered. Alpha Leader’s voice brought her jolting back to reality.

"Alpha Squadron, keep fighting. All defensive fire on the cruiser." Hailey whirled her ship around and came at the cruiser, all guns blazing. It barely made a dent in the hull. She was beginning to realize the hopelessness of the current situation. She glanced out, trying to find the rest of Alpha Squadron. There were only seven she could see still alive. Alpha Leader was shouting commands at the survivors, but suddenly there was nothing but static. Hailey watched his Starfury blow apart with a shudder. She was fourth in the chain of command for the squadron, but when none of the others above her responded with orders she spoke. "Alpha Squadron, this is Alpha Four. I’m taking command." She tried to speak calmly, but inside she was quaking. She had never commanded her own squadron before, much less in conditions like this. She watched as one of Alpha Squadron’s Starfurys spiraled down towards the Minbari cruiser, ready to explode. It hit the cruiser causing enough damage to be a hindrance. "Pull about and form up on my wing. We’re not going down without a fight."

One by one, the survivors formed up, and she turned her Starfury towards the cruiser. "Aim where they have all the damage."

She gunned her thrusters and charged towards the massive ship, dodging the fire coming from its main banks. Her shots scored the hull where there was already massive damage, but it did not help very much. Pilot after pilot was going down, until there were only four left. Hailey knew they had lost, it was an obvious fact. When the Minbari fighter hit her wing and sent her spiraling into space, she thought it was over. With the concussion of the blast, she blacked out.

She awoke an hour later; amazed she was still in one piece. All her instrumentation was down, her scanners, thrusters, everything. Only the hum of the life support system greeted her. "I’m in trouble," she said aloud. A voice in her ear shocked her.

"Hailey?" She recognized the voice.

"Will?" she asked. "What is your status?"

"Not good. My engines are out, scanners are malfunctioning, and I think I have a concussion."

"Have you sent a distress signal?"

"Affirmative. I sent it when I was sure the Minbari were gone. I don’t think they care about two little fighters anyway. Besides, we’ve drifted pretty far from the battle site."

"Great," she said. "Listen, we’re going to want to stay together. Can you reach my ship with your grapple?"

"I can try."

"Do it." They fell silent and Hailey waited for the shudder that would mean they were connected. Five minutes passed then ten. Finally, after she had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes, she felt the shudder and Will’s triumphant exclamation. She gave a sigh of relief. "Good job."

Time passed slowly. It had been ten hours since the battle, but it felt like an eternity longer than that. "Will?" she asked, "How are you holding up?"

"I’m so tired," he said.

"No!" she demanded. "Don’t fall asleep! If you have a concussion, falling asleep could kill you!"

"But I’m so tired," he said again.

"No, Will, stay with me. Why don’t you tell me about your family? Your wife, sons?"

"My wife . . . Cheryl. She’s a pretty woman, you know. She’s waiting for me at home with my little boys. Ryan and Alexander." There was a long pause.

"Will, if you don’t stay awake for me, stay awake for them!" Hailey insisted.

"I’m trying, but it’s so hard." His voice sounded pitiful. "I don’t want to die,"

he said in fear. She wanted to reassure him that that would not happen, but she knew that they had only four, maybe five hours of air left and if they were not found by then they would, essentially, suffocate.

"It’s okay," she said as she attempted to reassure him, "They’ll find us." There was a long moment of silence. "Will?" she finally asked. There was no reply. All her attempts to wake him failed, and she realized that she was truly alone.

She looked out at the stars, watching them, trying to gain some comfort from them. But it only made her realize just how large and how truly terrifying the universe was. She was alone in the night, hoping for the miracle that would deliver her. An hour passed, then another, then another. Each breath began to feel a little less adequate and as it did, her drowsiness began to plague her mind, demanding that she sleep. It was just as she was about to fall asleep that there was a large blue flare in her eyes and she forced them open, seeing the Earthforce ship backed by the beautiful blue of the jumppoint. She found a smile coming to her face, and she almost cheered. As she was pulled onto the destroyer, she felt the sleep coming, and this time she did not fight it.

John Sheridan walked slowly down the hallway to the prep room for the pilots. On his way, several men and women passed him, and when he came to the room there were only two people left inside. "I don’t know, Hailey," the man stated. "There is no undefeatable enemy. Just keep that in mind."

"I know, Commander. That’s what my brother has always told me."

"It was good advice," John mentioned, smiling as Hailey turned to him in shock.

"John?" she asked in disbelief. "What . . .what are you doing here?"

"Can’t I come visit my little sister?" She crossed the room in several strides and pulled him into a tight hug. When they finally pulled away, she turned back to the other man in the room.

"Lieutenant Commander Sinclair, this is my big brother John. John, my LC." The two men shook hands.

"You have a great little sister," Sinclair mentioned.

"I’ll keep her," John said with a smile.

"Hailey, I’ll leave you two be. I’ll have you called when we’re getting ready to launch." She nodded.

After he had left, she turned back to John with a smile, taking his hands in her own small ones.

"Now, you never answered my question."

"Hm?"

"What are you doing here?"

"The Lexington stopped here last night. I heard you were here, so I decided to give you a surprise."

"Well it’s a wonderful one!" she told him as she smiled broadly; a smile that faded quickly. "I just wish we had more time."

"We will someday. For now, I just have one question. Are you okay?"

"I think so. What about you?" she asked him. He nodded. They looked at each other for a long moment until, finally, she broke the silence.

"Here, John. Take this." She undid the clasp of one of the two necklaces she always wore. One was the Sheridan family crest, which always went to the youngest grandchild bearing the name of Sheridan, and the other was a present from her godmother. She took off the latter necklace, a silver affair with two charms of a dove and a four leafed clover; the dove bearing the inscription 'May luck be on your side. All my love.'

"Hailey, I can’t," he told her.

"You can, and will. I have this for luck." She touched the crest softly. "You keep that."

"Hailey Sheridan, report to launch bay 12 for immediate launch."

"I have to go," she told him sadly.

"Good-bye," he whispered.

"No, John. We’ll never say goodbye. That would imply we’d never see each other again. And there is always going to be a tomorrow, always going to be a next time. So no, never good-bye. I love you," she finished. As she turned and walked away, he smiled.

"I love you too, Sparrow."

I won’t write it. It will make it seem too real, too inevitable. Maybe there’s a chance I’ll survive this war after all. But at this point, I’m just too low to see it. I miss you, I miss Mom and Dad, and I miss home! I miss everything so bad it hurts. Every night before I fall asleep, I imagine I’m back up in our place, sitting on the rocks, the sun is shining, the wind is whispering to the trees and they answer back. Then the wind cries to me, begging me to come to the ends of the earth on its back, but I’m happy because I’m right where I’m meant to be.

John Sheridan mounted the old stairs, hearing the reassuring music of the creaky steps. His mother and father, who both seemed to have aged decades since he had left, met him at the door. It was good to be home for the first time since the war had started, a year before. He talked with his parents for a long moment standing on the porch, then went inside and climbed the stairs to his room. Nothing had changed since he had moved out when he had turned eighteen and joined Earthforce. The baseball posters still graced the walls and his old ball bat leaned in the corner, worn and smooth to his grip. His mother came bustling in with a tray of fresh fruit and fresh bread.

"I thought you might be hungry after your trip," she mentioned, placing the tray on his desk. She moved quickly around the room, straightening the curtains and puffing up his pillows. He barely noticed, so enthralled was he at the prospect of fresh fruit, which he hadn’t had for over a year, and the bread which was still warm from the oven.

"Mom, sometimes I don’t think you realize I’ve grown up."

"Even a soldier needs a little babying, and since you’re my little baby . . ." his mother justified herself by saying. She came over and kissed him on the cheek, giving him another hug. "I can’t help if I’ve missed you and I worry about you." John smiled and took her hand gently in his own.

"I’ve missed you too, Mom, and I do worry about you both."

"Now, John dear, you needn’t worry about your father and I. I reckon we can take care of ourselves, even if this big old house seems a little empty without any of our babies left in it."

She smiled, squeezed his hand, and quickly walked from the room explaining, "You need a decent meal. I don’t know what the army’s feeding you, you’re getting so thin." John smiled and lay back on his bed.

After the wonderful meal and a night of talking with his parents and Elizabeth, and meeting the girl his sister hoped to set him up with, John Sheridan should have been tired, but he was not. He lay awake in bed, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The house creaked slightly as it always had, and the wind outside picked up. Ten minutes later, it began to rain. John rearranged his tee shirt on his chest, making it more comfortable. He rolled onto his side and shut his eyes, trying harder to fall asleep until a noise downstairs, barely audible over the rain, made his eyes jolt open.

Rising carefully, he moved stealthily over to the corner and picked up his baseball bat. Then he quietly opened his door. He cautiously moved around the creaks in the floorboard and he crept to the stairs, then quickly moved down them, glad they were in the back of the house so whoever had come in the front door did not see him. Peering around the corner, he saw the person standing in the doorway, suddenly outlined in a flash of lighting. He moved quickly up behind the person, raising the bat to strike. It was then that the person turned, stopped the bat inches from their shoulder, and tried to wrest it from his hands.

He fought back and suddenly they were on the floor, rolling about, each trying to gain the upper hand. The person managed to get the bat and jumped to their feet. John did as well and, before the person could react with the bat, punched the person across the face. Whoever it was lost balance and flew into a small table, knocking the silver bowl on top of it with a clang into the tile entryway. He could not see whoever it was; they were hidden behind the couch. He moved quickly over to behind the couch, grabbed the person by the collar and finally recognized the person he had attacked.

His little sister, in her surprise, began to laugh and he had to join her. Suddenly, the light went on, and they both knew they were in trouble.

"What the hell is going on here?" David Sheridan demanded. John quickly pulled Hailey to her feet and the both stood at attention, unable to stop laughing.

"Well, Dad," John managed to explain, "I thought Hailey was a burglar." Hailey rubbed her cheek where John had punched her and kept right on laughing.

"I wanted my visit home to be a surprise," she explained to her brother. "I told Mom and Dad not to tell you. I didn’t think I’d be home until tomorrow night, but I got a chance to come early and no chance to call."

"David, is everything all right?" they heard their mother call nervously.

"Yes, Nan. Come on down." Their mother appeared and as she saw Hailey she broke into a smile.

"Hailey!" she said with surprise and a smile which quickly melted when she saw the bruise already appearing on her daughter’s cheek. "What happened?"

"John thought I was a burglar and socked me one. Heck of a way to welcome me home, by the way, brother." They all began to laugh at this, until Nancy Sheridan went to put on a pot of coffee.

The next morning, Hailey awoke sore but happy in her own bed. She smiled over the recollection of the night before, realizing it would make a good story when she returned to her squadron. Rising from bed, she straightened her tank top and yanked her hair back into a careless ponytail. Opening her door, she walked down the hall to the bathroom where she took a long, hot, real water shower, the first she had had since she couldn’t remember when.

Finally, dressed and clean, she went downstairs where her mother was flipping pancakes. David and John were already at the table, eating their fill. "Morning," Hailey greeted her family happily.

"How’s you cheek?" John asked. She laughed and glanced at it in the mirror.

"It’s okay. You okay?" He nodded and laughed back.

"I’m going to laugh at that when I’m eighty," he told her with a smile.

"So will I," Hailey agreed and, pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she went to help her mother. Nan Sheridan protested and made her daughter sit.

Hailey sipped her orange juice silently. When her mother placed some steaming pancakes in front of her, covered with syrup and butter, Hailey smiled and spoke. "I’ve missed this," she mentioned and dug in.

Later, after they had all finished, Hailey smiled at John. "Want to go for a walk?" she asked her brother. John looked her in the eyes and nodded. They both rose from the table and went out into the summer day.

Without speaking, they set off for their grove, Hailey and John in perfect stride with each other. They walked up the path their feet had tread a thousand times before, and finally entered the beautiful stillness of the grove. They sat down in their accustomed spaces on rocks, Hailey on the higher, John on the lower. For a long moment, they simply appreciated the beauty around them, and then finally Hailey broke the stillness.

"Every night before I fall asleep I imagine myself here, just as it is now. A lazy summer day, cool and shadowed and safe.

"It’ s the only thing that will never change like we have in the past two years. Neither you nor I are the same as we were then but this place . . .it’ s just as I remember it being, and I haven’t come here in almost two years." There was another long pause.

"Do you regret joining the war?" John asked suddenly. For a long moment, Hailey did not answer.

"I don’t know," she finally said. "I can’t help but feel and understand that I’ve changed. I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m a soldier. I suppose I knew I had to change someday, but I’m not sure if I’m happy to be what I’ve become. The war came upon us so suddenly and I guess it made me feel powerless to control what happened to me."

"I understand. No one will ever see it, but I’m afraid all the time. It’s terrifying to know that so many people are depending on me with their lives. They need my guidance to keep them alive. Sometimes it feels as if the weight of the universe is on my shoulders." Hailey smiled sympathetically at her brother.

"I know what you mean. When I was forced to take command after our L.C. had been killed and after the ship was destroyed, I felt that. And it turned out that only Will and I survived. I can’t help but feel I let them down somehow. If I had done something differently, would things have been different?"

"I doubt it, little sister," John told her, looking her in the eyes. " One of the horrible truths of war is the fact that sometimes you can’t do anything to help, as much as you try. I’ve managed to understand that but it took time. You’ve had it thrust on you and there’s nothing you can do except keep pressing forward. Maybe we will survive, and maybe we won’t, but we’ll not have given up without a fight."

"You especially. You scored the only victory we’ve had against the Minbari. The whole of Earthforce is proud of you for that brother. I’m proud of you."

"I did what I had to do, no more," he told her firmly. " If it hadn’t have been them, it would have been us." Hailey sighed.

"Things have changed so quickly. Listen to us! We’ve both lost a lot, changed a lot. This war is what we are now, what we have become. Somewhere behind the battle hardened Commander I see in front of me is my brother, and somewhere behind the Starfury pilot you see is your sister. Barely recognizable, even to each other."

"But the point, Hailey, is that we still have each other. A lot of families are not that lucky."

"I know, John," Hailey moved down to his rock, and pulled him into a hug. They spoke no more.

Both their leaves had come to an end, and together they stepped out onto the porch. Hailey saw the weariness return to her mother’s eyes as she pulled her only son into a huge hug. John saluted their father as Hailey finished her good-byes, then they started away together. They waved for a long time, then they turned the bend in the road and the house was visible no more. They didn’t speak, and Hailey wondered what her brother was thinking. They had this time together, at least, a little more than they had had with their parents, but neither knew what they could say. Soon, they would be separated again, and Hailey suddenly had a queer premonition that she would never see her brother again. She shuddered slightly, and John looked over at her with a smile. "What’s the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing . . ." she told him. "I just . . .had an odd feeling, that’s all." Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, he reached out, took her hand, and squeezed it gently.

When they reached the station, she noticed that her shuttle left almost an hour earlier than his. She walked over to the ticket booth and bought her ticket, then walked back across the platform and sat down beside John.

They sat in friendly silence until her shuttle number was called, then they both rose and hugged each other quickly. "I have to go," she said gently, looking down.

"Good-bye then," he told her, squeezing her hands.

"Didn’ t you hear what I told you last time? I’ll never say good-bye."

"Of course," he said with a smile. "Until next time, then?" Hailey nodded and picked up her duffel, boarding the shuttle.

Once in her seat, she leaned out the window, waving to the solitary figure standing on the platform until he had disappeared from view. With a sigh, she sat down and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

Three months later, the Third Beta Wing waited, laughing and joking around to try to lighten the mood as they always did while waiting for their orders. Lieutenant Commander Sinclair was talking, trying to boost their morale somewhat. However, after two years of fighting a war there was never any hope of winning, they had only managed to delay the inevitable. In other words, none of them had any morale left to boost.

Suddenly, over the loudspeaker, came the voice of the President, shaky and unsure. "Are we on?" Someone must have told her she was, for she continued, telling that the end they had fought against and delayed for two years was finally at hand. Slowly, everyone in the room got up to leave, one by one, some not even waiting for the president to finish. Some went to pray and some to weep, and some to prepare for the end. None would survive; that was understood. But deep in Hailey Sheridan’s heart she knew that they would all be up there.

"For two years," she said. " Two years we’ve all known we would not make it out of here. A war we can’t win. My brother always told me that there was no such thing as a no win scenario. I guess he was wrong." She rose to leave, to write the letters she had not wanted to write but would now, out of necessity. Sinclair was out of moralizing speeches, and he just watched her go.

"Lieutenant Sheridan," he called, just as she reached the door. Hailey turned to him, wondering what he could possibly say to make this easier. "God be with you."

"Indeed, God be with us all," she replied, turning and leaving.

Hailey Sheridan sighed, lying the letters at the bottom of the box. Then, she laid inside her diary, the letters she and John had sent each other. Finally, with shaking fingers, she reached up, behind her neck, and carefully undid the clasp of her necklace. She fingered the crest, tears coming to her eyes. She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes and, without looking at the crest again, dropped it into the box. Finally came the stack of pictures. She lay them all inside the box except for a picture of John taken the last day they had seen each other before the war began. This, she carefully took, without crumpling it, and tucked it into her flight suit’s breast pocket. Then, she sealed and addressed the box and, leaving it on the bed, she walked away, never looking back.

The Sheridan Family

Colorado, Earth

To the Sheridan Family:

It is my sad duty to inform you of the death of your daughter and sister, Lieutenant Hailey N. Sheridan, during the final battle with the Minbari three days ago. I served with Lieutenant Sheridan after her first ship was destroyed a year ago and was with her in the final hours. I have never met a woman with more courage and plain decency as her. Her surviving squad members and myself mourn her passing with all our hearts.

Not only was Hailey our comrade in arms, but she was a dear, close friend to all of us. Never thinking of herself, she put us before herself. Her main goal was to protect us, and help us all live through the hell of war. She is a true hero, not only to us, but also to the people of the Earth Alliance.

Enclosed are a few of the things that she left behind. She told me that if I survived and she did not, assuming any of us did survive, I was to get these into your hands.

Again, I wish to express our sorrow over her passing. I know my words must be cold comfort, but know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Sincerely yours,

Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey D. Sinclair

Third Beta Wing, Earthforce

John Sheridan twisted the letter in his hands, grief filling his every feature. He felt suddenly ill, collapsing into a chair, reading the letter again and again trying to gain some belief that it was true. Hailey couldn’t be dead. She was his little sister, bright, beautiful, his closest friend. He did not hear Anna come up behind him, but felt her hand on his shoulder.

"John, what’ s the matter?" He offered up the letter, not trusting himself to talk lest he begin to weep. She read it over quickly, and a look of pure sympathy rested on her face. "Oh, John." Anna had only met Hailey once, before the war, but she had taken a good impression of the young girl. "I’m so sorry." Sheridan bit his lip and began to cry, pulling his fiancee closer to him. She could only rub his back and try to calm him.

John Sheridan walked up the mountain, crossing the stream, finally reaching the grove. Almost a year had passed since the Battle of the Line and his sister’s death, but somehow he had not felt ready to open the package she had left for him. He had carried it with him onto the Lexington after he had returned, but he could never bring himself to open it. He knew that he would have to do it in the grove, the place she had loved most

. Carefully unsealing the box, he opened it and examined the contents. He carefully pulled out a necklace. It was the gold necklace which had been passed down through the centuries bearing the Sheridan family coat of arms. Their father had given it to her when she was nine, and she had worn it ever since. He supposed she, knowing she would die, had taken it off so it would not be destroyed. Then, he carefully pulled out her leather bound journal. Opening it, he saw her name, scrawled in her straight, perfect cursive. He flipped through, noting the date of the first entry. January 27, 2245. She hadn’t quite been eighteen yet. In it she talked of practicing for track the coming spring, the play that would be coming up, her classes, his upcoming visit. He began to flip through, past the golden summer, and the last real summer, of her life, stopping only when he reached the date where she had found out about the war. Hailey had been two weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday.

I’m almost too numb to write tonight. Word just came in over ISN that we are at war! I’ll never forget the image of those ships as long as I live. They slipped out of hyperspace and destroyed everything, not acknowledging the pleas for surrender from the colony’s inhabitants. They moved slowly and gracefully, the very image of death itself, or so it seems now.

I worry for John first and foremost. I don’t know where his ship is now, but I do know that he will soon be in danger for, if this is truly a war, he may be sent to the front lines. I fear for his safety.

I had to pause to take a call from Jo. She’s going to town to enlist in Earthforce tomorrow, and she told me that Jack, Dan, Ryan, and Paul are going with her. They are all eighteen already, old enough to go. It seems strange that all my friends will go to war, strange that everything we wanted yesterday has been destroyed today. We all dreamed that we’d go on to college and have families and good lives, none of us ever thought about being in the army. Now, it seems that things have suddenly and obviously changed. It will only be Maria and I left here, and I don’t know if she will follow when she turns eighteen next week. How horrible to have the knowledge that everything we had yesterday is different!

Addendum, July 12, 2245

I’ve been trying to sleep for hours! I keep thinking, however, of how John is in danger and soon most of my friends will be. I suppose the night gives you time to dwell on these things, but I have come to a decision. And I believe the decision will be the same tomorrow. The war which we are in now, for indeed after I wrote the first part of this day, the Earth Alliance declared war on the Minbari, will end only with our surrender, which the Minbari up until now have not accepted, the genocide of the human race, or our victory. The first and third option might not be feasible. Therefore, when I turn eighteen next month I am going to go to town and make sure that I am part of Earthforce, to do what I can to stop the twilight of the human race. I know what I do cannot be much, but will be better than sitting here on Earth, waiting, trying to decide when and if the end will come. I won’t tell Mother, Father, John or Elizabeth, for they may try to talk me out of it, and I don’t want to make this any harder than it will be already.

Slowly, John closed the book, tears in his eyes. He lay it down carefully in front of him and pulled out the next bundle, curious about what it contained. Pulling off the piece of string holding the envelopes together, he pulled them apart, realizing they were the letters he had written her over the course of the war. She had saved every one. The tears became more insistent. Lastly, he pulled out a stack of pictures she had saved from before the war. Pulling the one off the top, he saw it was a picture of her in her pilot’s uniform, standing before her Starfury, and she was smiling.

However, there was something different about her smile, a sad, melancholy part that he had never seen. Turning the picture over, he found it was dated May 5, 2247, taken shortly before the Line. In the picture, he saw the weight of the world in her eyes, a weight that had not been there before. He sighed and continued flipping through the pictures. Finally, at the bottom, he saw three sealed envelopes. He picked the first up, and it was labeled Elizabeth. The second was labeled Mom and Dad, and the third, the one on the bottom, was addressed to him. With shaking fingers he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Here I am, twenty years old, and hearing my own funeral bells tolling. I can hear it so clearly it gives me a shudder to think of it. But it comforts me to know that I do not hear yours. The Lexington will not be here in time for the end and while I know you’re going crazy, I’m so very thankful. You will have the chance to survive that I do not have. Embrace that gift John. If not for yourself, do it for me. Live on and embrace life, but never forget us who will fall.

Captain John Sheridan sat next to his predecessor in silence on the shuttle flight. Marcus sat behind them, also silent. Ambassador Sinclair glanced over at John Sheridan and finally broke the silence. "You’re sister’s name was Hailey, wasn’t it?" he asked. John turned to look at the Ambassador in confusion, then suddenly understood.

"Yes, it was. You were her commanding officer during the Earth Minbari war, weren’t you?" John asked.

"Yes. She was a good woman, one of the best I’ve ever had the opportunity to command. She was the oldest in my squad and had been fighting the longest. All the others were rookies, still green. Hailey would always help them out, make sure the got through the day. I think it gave her a purpose in life, to help those guys. It gave her the meaning she was trying to find. I don’t think she was ever meant to be a soldier, but she ignored that fact and fought bravely and well.

"When she died, every surviving member of our squad mourned her heavily. It was almost unthinkable that someone as young, vital, and full of life as she was could be dead." Sinclair sighed. "But that happened a lot during that war. Too many times." Sheridan nodded.

"She was the best little sister a guy could have asked for. I’ve spent the last twelve years mourning her death," he shook his head. "You don’t get over someone as wonderful as she was. I miss her as much today as the day I found out she had been killed, it’s just easier to handle with time." Jeffrey Sinclair nodded. " My sister was one hell of a woman," Sheridan said. " One hell of a woman." There was a silence for a long moment--a heavy silence that pressed down on the two men.

" She would talk about you all the time. She’d mention how much she missed you, and a lot of times, on the worst days, she would say to me ‘I’d give my arms just to see John right now, for just a moment, so that he could tell me that everything is going to be all right. Maybe I could believe it then.’ She said that to me a lot in the last months of the war. She obviously loved you a good deal." John nodded.

"We were as close as two people can come." He shook his head. "We’re almost to the coordinates Delenn sent. Do you know what we’re going to find?" Sinclair shook his head.

President John Sheridan awoke slowly, coming to full alertness in stages. The computer’s automatic wake up call had started, and he listened half interested until he heard the date. He sat up in bed, noticing that Delenn had already gone. It’ s been fifteen years to the day. Fifteen years to the day since Hailey died. As he prepared himself for the day, that thought continued to come into his mind. All day, it stayed with him, reasserting itself in inopportune moments.

That night, he was sitting in their quarters, staring at the ceiling, thinking about his beautiful younger sister, when the door slid open and Delenn appeared. "John, are you all right? You seemed very distracted today at the council meeting." He smiled gently as she came over and sat beside him. "You seemed preoccupied."

"Well, Delenn," he paused trying to find a good way to tell her what was wrong. " It’s been fifteen years to the day since the Battle of the Line." Delenn pondered this for a moment, attempting to affirm this statement.

"Yes," she finally said.

"Fifteen years to the day since my younger sister died." Delenn said nothing, only comprehended what he was saying. "She was eight years younger than I was, and she was a good person, Delenn. I loved her as much as I love you, except it was different. She was my sister. I can remember, when I was little, how I would love to go into terrifying places, Indian burial grounds, so called haunted houses, witches’ front yards. And yes, though it was great alone, it was even better with Hailey."

He smiled gently, rising and going into the bedroom. He came back with the box she had left him. "She turned eighteen three weeks after the war started, and she joined Earthforce right away. After I came home the spring before the war, I only saw her twice ever again. She was twenty when she died. She would be thirty-five now."

He shook his head, showing Delenn the things Hailey had left him, touching each one with reverence. "I’m sorry, John," Delenn finally said.

"It is not your fault," he said softly. "Hailey knew what she was risking. She knew . . .that she would most likely be called upon to die. She wasn’t afraid. I just miss her . . .I miss her a lot. When someone that close to you dies, it’s like a piece of you dies with them. It’s a piece I miss terribly." Delenn gave John a tight hug, attempting to console him.

Delenn was just on her way out when the call came in. She accepted it, and found herself face to face with a Minbari man who had been her friend for some time. "Dannier," she said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

" Delenn, I need your help. A high-ranking member of the warrior caste has just passed beyond the veil. When we went through his compound in Tuzanor, we found a woman." He paused a long time, looking into Delenn’s eyes.

"She’s a human woman. A prisoner left over from the Earth-Minbari War fifteen years ago. She has been in prison ever since." Delenn looked as horrified as she felt. "We would like you to smooth this over with the human government. This will obviously not go over well, especially since that warrior did not treat her well. She is coming to Babylon 5 on the next transport. Will you meet her and arrange for medical care?"

"Of course. Can you tell me her name?"

"She will not speak to us."

"Very well. I will make sure everything is in order."

A week later, Delenn was there to meet the transport. And she quickly discovered that Dannier had not been lying. The woman wore a white Minbari shift and her face was wrapped in a bandage. Her black hair stuck out from underneath it raggedly, uneven. Her hands were wrapped as well, as were her arms. Her legs were hidden by the dress, but Delenn made her assumptions. "Welcome to Babylon 5," Delenn said gently to the woman. "My name is Delenn, and I am the Minbari Ambassador here." Delenn extended her hand to shake the woman’s, noticing the thing the woman clutched in her hand. "May I see?" she asked, taking it carefully from the woman.

It was a picture, torn, crumpled, and faded, but she could make out the face in the photograph, and what she saw amazed her. The picture was of John Sheridan, a younger version yes, but it was John. Delenn looked at the girl’s face, disbelieving, trying to remove the layers of bandages and the scars to recognize the girl from the picture John had shown her.

She carefully handed the picture back to the woman, who clutched it tightly in hand, as if drawing courage from the spirit the paper conveyed.

"Come this way," Delenn said softly and took the woman’s hand to lead her to MedLab.

After she turned the woman into the care of Doctor Franklin, she went quickly to John’s office. The President looked up at her as she came in. "Delenn. This is a pleasant surprise." He rose, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. Noticing her expression, he frowned. "What’s wrong, Delenn?"

"You need to come with me John. You need to come now." She explained what she had seen and he, in disbelief, followed her down to MedLab, almost in a haze.

The door slid open in front of them to reveal Doctor Franklin in the back room carefully unwrapping the bandages from the young woman’s face. Layer after layer came off until, finally, her face was revealed. It was a mass of scars, hideously ugly, red and deformed. Her eyes were missing, revealing two dark holes. Sheridan suddenly felt sick. He turned away, suddenly hoping that it was not Hailey at all. That deformity could not be his beautiful younger sister, could it?

Forcing himself to turn back, he saw Franklin coming towards them. "Her name is really Hailey Sheridan?" he forced himself to ask.

"Yes. Is there any relation?"

"My little sister. May I?" Franklin nodded and Sheridan walked into the back room.

"Doctor?" the face asked. And he knew, without a doubt, when he heard that voice, that it was she. He took her hand, which had also been horribly scarred, into his own. " Who’s there?"

He heard fear in her voice, something she had not displayed since she had been nine years old and alone during that storm in the woods. She frowned and he was forced to turn away from her face. "Please, who’ s there? Who are you?

"His voice would not work as the waves of emotions suddenly rushed over him. Yes, this was his sister, but he could not accept it quite yet. They had hurt her, badly, but she had survived.

Hailey Sheridan sat for a long moment in fear, scared by her ignorance of her situation and her inability to act. When at long last the voice came and spoke to her, it said something so completely unexpected that she was shocked dumb for a long moment. "It’s me, Hailey. It’s John."

Her heart stood still for the longest moment as her brain realized what he had said. "John?" she whispered, and all the hope, fear, and pain of the years they had been separated came out in that one word. "Is it . . .is it really you?"

"Yes," he whispered. "It’s really me." He realized that he was crying and he couldn’t stop the tears. They came uninvited, steadily, as he looked at her scarred face. "It’s really me," he said again.

Suddenly, Hailey she realized what she must look like. Suddenly ashamed of her disfigurement, she turned away quickly, covering her face.

"John . . .you . . .you shouldn’ t see me like this. I . . .I look like hell." He sighed and felt tears coming to his eyes. He said nothing, instead pulling her close to him, holding her tight as the tears streamed down his face.

"We thought you were dead," he whispered to her. "All this time, we thought you were dead."

"I’m sorry, John." she whispered to him, pulling away, reaching up to touch his face with her hand. Then she spoke in dismay. "I can’t see your face."

That thought hurt her more than anything else ever had.

"Hailey, no. It doesn’t matter. You’re home, and you’re alive! We’re together again, little sister. You’re okay now" She smiled sadly, the pain again present even through her disfigurement.

"No, John. I’m not okay. I don’t need eyes to see what happened in that prison," she whispered softly. "Every night I . . .never mind. It will be all right." The last sentence she said firmly, with a touch of the passionate spirit he remembered so well from their childhood.

He squeezed her hand, glancing out where Franklin and Delenn were waiting. "It will be all right," he agreed, nodding to the doctor who began walking back.

"The doctor’s coming back. He’ll be able to fix you up in no time."

"Stay with me, John?" she asked, "Now that you’re here, I . . .I don’t want you to leave."

"I won’t. I’ll stay right here with you."

After Hailey had fallen asleep that night, he walked quickly home and put the call in to his parents. There was a long pause as the computer connected, then his father’s face appeared on the screen. "John! Well, if this isn’t a pleasant surprise. How’s it going? How’s your wife?"

"Delenn is doing well. As for me, it’s been a pretty rough day. Good and bad."

"Well I’m sorry to hear that," the elder Sheridan said truthfully, scrutinizing his son’s face. "You got something on your mind?"

"Actually I do, Dad." All day he had been thinking, wondering how to tell them that Hailey had not died on the Line. "Hailey, my sister, she . . ." By now, David Sheridan was frowning in concern. "She’ s not dead, Dad."

"What?" David Sheridan asked incredulously. "Son, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I don’t know either, Dad. Like I said, it’s been a long day. A week ago, the Minbari government contacted Delenn, saying they had found a human prisoner never returned after the Minbari surrender at the end of the war. She came in this morning on a transport, and it was Hailey. She’s here right now, down in MedLab." His father did not say anything for a long time.

"You’ re sure?" he finally asked, looking old and tired and shocked. Sheridan nodded.

"More sure than anything." David Sheridan’s face seemed unaffected, but son looked into the father’ s eyes and saw the depth of emotion there.

"I want to see her. Can we come out?"

"I don’t think that is such a good idea, Dad. She’s not in very good shape. Nothing serious at all, but her face is pretty . . .well, do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes. Can you contact us when it’s okay?"

"Yes, I will." David Sheridan felt the need to turn off the viewer.

"I guess I had better go tell your mother."

"Give her my love Dad."

The elder Sheridan nodded and cut the connection. John sat down on the couch, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, rubbing them, massaging them.

"How was your father?" Delenn asked.

"Dad?" Sheridan opened his eyes and looked up at her. " Shocked. He had every right to be."

"How do you feel about all this?"

"I don’t know," Sheridan admitted. " Seeing Hailey today . . .with what was done to her I almost wish she had died. Her face . . ." his voice faltered for a moment. "It’s been such a long time. I was used to her being dead. Now . . ."

"Now she’s back and you’re not sure how you should feel taking into account how she was treated. You want her alive but at the same time you wish her dead." There was a long pause.

"I guess that’s it," he managed to say. "But anyway, Doctor Franklin said that he could fix all of the outer problems. She’ll look just like she did before. But the person she was . . ."

"Everything will be all right, John. We’re here to help her, you and I." John opened his eyes and smiled up at Delenn. "Faith manages." John squeezed her hands tightly in his own.

Hailey awoke the next morning with the memory of the day before foremost in her mind. Her highly trained ears started working almost immediately, hearing the voices from the next room. In the time she had been blind, around five years, she had never grown used to the darkness. It still terrified her, made her feel as if she were not the complete master of a dangerous situation. And it had been the truth in the Minbari prison. But here . . .John would never let anything happen to her. Yet, even though she knew this to be truth, she was still afraid.

She heard a soft noise in the doorway, and she sat up. " Hello?" she asked, hoping the fear did not show too much in her voice.

"Good morning." It was the doctor’s cheerful voice. She relaxed somewhat, yet still harbored the fear deep in the pit of her stomach. She felt him touch her face lightly, and she turned it upwards, toward him, so he could examine her disfigurement better. "How did you lose your eyes?" he asked softly. " You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to." Hailey sat in silence for a long moment, seeing the events unfold again slowly in her memory.

"Well . . ." Her voice faltered briefly, but she continued. "It was a long time ago. It had been years since my capture, years of fear and darkness. I was sitting against the wall when they came for me yet again. This happened almost every day; they would take me to this room and hurt me in every way they could imagine. I had a picture of my brother with me, and I used to look at it and hope that someday I would see him again. His smile gave me hope that one day I could escape. Usually, I hid it before they came to take me away, but that day I fell asleep. When they came, I was holding it in my hand. I awoke, and tried to hide it, but he had seen. He took it from me, looked at it, gave this horrible laugh, and said: ‘Still hoping, are we?’ It was then that he took my eyes. ‘Do not be foolish enough to hope any more,’ he said to me."

She paused for a long moment. "But I never did stop hoping. That was one thing he couldn’t take from me." Stephen Franklin looked at her in admiration for a long moment, neither of them speaking. Finally, he spoke.

"We’re going to do that surgery on your face this morning. By noon, you’ll look almost exactly like you did before. Then this afternoon, I’m going to fit you for your positronic eyes. You’ll be able to see again by the end of the week."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh, doctor, thank you so much." She smiled with sincerity. "It will be so wonderful to see again." Suddenly, she straightened, hearing soft footfalls in the doorway.

"Hello," she said not turning.

"Hello." It was a voice strange to her.

"Oh, hello, G’Kar." The girl’s ears perked slightly. She listened to Franklin turn away just as she heard G’Kar walk up to them. She knew he was looking at her face, but she did not move or say anything.

"You were imprisoned?" he asked.

"Yes," she told him slowly.

"I have seen much like this on the faces of Narns after the Centauri were through with us. I am sorry." She smiled sadly. "It is a horrible thing, torture. I have been through the same myself at the hands of the Centauri." She nodded slowly.

"No one should have to live through anything like this."

"No." She sighed gently, and sat back, shifting her position to a more comfortable one on the bed.

"Well, doctor, you said you needed to have a word with me," G’Kar said, breaking the silence.

"Yes. Hailey, I’ll be back in a few minutes and we can get to the surgery."

"Thank you doctor. And G’Kar?"

"Yes?" He took her scarred hand in his own.

"Thank you." He squeezed her hand and was gone.

That night, Sheridan came into MedLab to see Hailey sitting in a wheelchair, face fixed and smooth, looking as it had years before, talking with G’Kar. Delenn stood behind Hailey. "Mr. President," G’Kar said, standing up. Hailey turned the chair.

"John." She smiled and reached out her hand. "Is this an improvement?" she asked, motioning to her face.

"You’re beautiful, Sparrow," he told her, taking her hand, tears coming to his eyes. His entire body shook with repressed emotion.

"Soon I’ll even be able to see you. I can’t wait for that moment, John. Will you be here when he gives me the positronic eyes?"

"Yes, I will. I promise." She smiled.

"G’Kar," Sheridan said to the Narn. "How did you happen to fall in my little sister’s company?"

"I met her this morning." John squeezed his sister’s hand. "Well," G’ Kar said. "I will leave you three. Hailey, be well."

"I will. And thank you G’Kar."

"My pleasure." And with that, he left.

"I see you’ve met Delenn as well." Hailey nodded. John made eye contact with Delenn over Hailey’s head and she nodded. " Good. You see, Hailey, Delenn is my wife."

"Really?" Hailey asked. "For how long?"

"Not even a year. Are you okay with that?" Hailey didn’t answer. Delenn again nodded at John, and this time she turned and left. When Hailey heard the door slide shut behind Delenn, she spoke.

"Do you love her, John?" Sheridan reached out and took her other hand, holding them both lightly in his.

"With all my heart." He could see her thinking for she pursed her lips in her old mannerism.

"Well then what am I to say?"

"But are you okay with it?"

"What I feel is not important, John. I can understand that she is not the one who did this to me; I doubt she would do this to anyone, and I am also sure that I accept this. I can accept it because it is obvious you love her very much." She paused a long time as neither of them spoke. "Now, tell me. I’ ve missed so much. What has happened in your life in the last fifteen years?"

"Franklin to Sheridan." John Sheridan put down his pen and answered his link. "We’re going to start the procedure."

" I’ll be right there."

When he got to MedLab, Hailey was sitting down in a chair, nervously rubbing her hands together. He came over and took her hand. "Hey sis. Excited?"

"Yes," she replied nervously. Then she smiled, and touched his face gently with her palm. "Happy as well. I’ll be able to see your face again." He smiled back at her as Doctor Franklin carefully brushed past him.

"All right, Hailey. We’re going to start. We have everything ready; we just need to put them in. It’s going to burn for a moment, all right?" She nodded, clutching her brother’s hand tightly. He chuckled a little.

"What is wrong with you, John?"

"Nothing. This just reminds me of when I used to take you to the doctor when we were kids. I never thought I’d have to do it again is all."

Both she and Franklin smiled at this as he put in the first eye. She kept that eye closed until he put the other one in, then she slowly opened them both together. Both Franklin and John were standing there in her vision, and she looked into John’s eyes, feeling the tears start to come. "Well?" he asked softly. She smiled a large smile and stood, never moving her eyes from his face.

"It is the most wonderful sight I have ever, ever seen." She told him, pulling him into a huge hug.

John Sheridan and Delenn stood with Hailey outside the airlock. He gave his sister a huge hug and Delenn bowed. "Sister, I am so glad you’re alive."

Hailey smiled at him, squeezing his hand.

"You know what?" she asked him. "I think I am too. It will be a long time before things are right with me, but I think I am too." She paused. "I am proud for everything you’ve done, John. This place . . ." She glanced around one more time, smiling.

"I wish I could come home with you," he mentioned. She squeezed his hand again.

"Not this time. You have many things to do here, to hold this alliance of yours together. I’ll be all right now." She paused for a long moment. "I think I may come back to this place. We have so much to catch up on."

"Goodbye, Hailey." She smiled and shook her head.

"Don’t you remember what I told you? Never goodbye." He nodded once.

"Of course. Until next time then?" She nodded, turned, and boarded the transport.

John Sheridan watched his sister go, complete happiness filling his heart. "No, never goodbye," he whispered, taking Delenn’s hand and turning away.