Disclaimer: BSG (2003) and all the characters are property of Ron D. Moore. I merely borrowed his playthings to play a bit in his sandbox.

Enjoy! L

Straightening her back with a moan, she looked around the now empty classroom. She sighed and sat down on one of the small tables, massaging her temples with stiff fingers. Her students had left the tent in a chaotic state that would require at least thirty more minutes to get under control until she could finally start her very much needed weekend. Crumpled-up pieces of paper, pencils, books, leftovers from packed lunches and even toys were spread on the dusty floor in front of her. All she wanted to do, however, was head home and crawl into her bed. No, she corrected herself, head to her drafty tent and carefully settle on her creaky cot, wrapped in a blanket to keep out the cold that permeated everything on this planet at this time of year.

Laura closed her eyes for a moment and conjured the mental images she had secluded herself with countless times during those past few months. Pictures that made her forget the sorrows, doubts and bitterness that had been her daily companions for too long already. She saw herself standing in the sun, enjoying the warmth and the clear air. Luxuries they all had probably forgotten soon after, but nevertheless, these memories were more than clear in front of her eyes. Particularly because she was able to share them with another person.

A soft smile appeared on her face when she thought of how happy Bill had looked that day, how he had shamelessly ogled her, especially her cleavage, and had made it more than plain where he was standing concerning their relationship, be it professional or personal. She could still feel his breath on her face and his warm body shielding her from the cold night on New Caprica, his arm wrapped around her waist and his beating heart reminding her of how precious it was to be alive.

The time were they had been on opposing sides had long been over and after she had lost the election to Baltar, he had been the one making sure she didn't lock herself up in her grief and despair. Yet, it had cost him a lot of effort to relentlessly invite her to join him in his quarters for dinner or to continue their conversations about literature they both loved – despite all the conflicts and difficulties he now had to face with Baltar and parts of the fleet who had gone into open protest against their new president.

Laura had felt a sting, sitting on the couch next to Bill who had told her about these issues with a worried look on his face. When they had locked gazes back then, she had known that things would never be the way they had been before. That she would miss their briefings, them fighting for the survival of the human race together, even their arguments that had occurred because they were both incredibly stubborn and at times opinionated. But the bond that had been created between them had become stronger and stronger and it had nearly broken her heart when she eventually had decided to settle on New Caprica and get involved in founding the new school there.

Their goodbye in his quarters had been rather short and wordless, but when she extricated herself from their hug and Bill gently placed a hand on her cheek, she had struggled to fight back the tears stinging in her eyes. And it had been an emotional roller-coaster after that, of course. They had promised to visit each other as often as their responsibilities would allow – visits between the former president and the military leader did still seem rather innocuous – but letting people get close to her just to say goodbye again soon had never been one of her fortes.

From those few times of their mutual visits, though, she had gathered some other beautiful memories that she would dive into when she tried to escape the harsh reality on "the frakking rock" as most of the population had started calling New Caprica shortly after the bad weather had set in and ruined their crops. Laura loved reliving the moments with Bill where she had felt like she could really be in the present moment, not think about the days lying behind or ahead of them and simply live. When blue eyes met green, they reestablished a connection that gave them both a sense of strength and a feeling of familiarity that, and Laura could only speak for herself here, she had not felt in a painfully long time.

Nevertheless, she was guarded in her reactions and interpretations of what was developing between them. The Gods only knew what her life as a teacher here would bring her next, and Bill's future was equally uncertain. The last time he'd been on the planet, after they had enjoyed a long walk in the mountains, he had mentioned the possibility of him settling down there as well. But Laura's reaction had been so unobtrusive that he'd quickly dropped the topic and wrapped his hands around his hot cup of tea again, staring at the steaming beverage.

Now, when Laura thought back to this last visit, she felt like an idiot for pushing him away like this again. The rational part of her said it was the best thing to do, but the emotional part increasingly felt the loneliness penetrating every aspect of her life down here and she truly missed someone who would understand her. She didn't know what exactly there was to understand, but she craved the emotional and physical closeness with another human being – despite being surrounded by people all day, from her students to their parents to other volunteers who worked in the school or some other known faces from Galactica. Still, it wasn't the same and she, as much as she struggled against it, really missed Bill.

A creaking noise woke her from her musings and Laura realised that the table she was sitting on was less stable than she had thought. She got up swiftly and, after taking a deep breath, continued to tidy up and started to dump the paper and food in a rusty bin. When she bowed down next to one of the tables in the front row some time later, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching her, coming to a halt one or two rows behind her. Laura frowned and was ready to chide yet another child that had forgotten the books they needed to do their homework, but when she turned around, she froze.

Leaning against one of the tiny tables was the man she had just thought about moments ago, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He was dressed in dark jeans, black boots and a thick navy wool sweater, and Laura tried to keep herself from staring at him because she had never seen him in civilian clothes before and, well, because his visit was more than unexpected. There was nothing else she could do apart from looking him up and down, however, since her voice had decided to be equally as stunned as her mind and she felt glued to the ground beneath her. After a few moments of mutual staring, Bill slowly continued his way towards her and stopped when they were only mere inches apart. A tender smile appeared on his face and he took one of her cold hands in his, gently stroking the back of it with his thumb. Laura let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and pressed her lips together, trying to remain calmer on the outside than she actually felt, still looking him in the eye. Quietly, Bill finally broke the laden silence between them. "It's good to see you, Laura." Laura squeezed his hand back and then a smile appeared on her face that displayed a whole range of emotions that were going through her. "You too, Bill."