Title: Wide open sky

Author: SparkyCola

Summary: Harper angst. Other than that, it's so short you might as well just read it ;) 

Spoilers- I don't think so.

Rating: pg

Archiving: Sure- let me know if you can. Just out of interest ya know.

Disclaimer: The crew of the Andromeda are sadly not mine, and personally I blame it on too much homework, but it's on my to-do list.

Beta read by Lauriena and GordonAI

Author's note- this fic was inspired by a song by Goldrush called 'wide open sky'

Wide open sky
 
I was looking up
Looking at the stars
When the state of my mind
Seemed reflected in the wide open sky
Watching over like an old friend of mine
You told me we all seem to lose it sometimes.
 'Wide open sky' by Goldrush
 
 
Beka bounced onto the bridge of the Maru. Harper looked up at her from the console he was working on. Beka never usually bounced onto the bridge. Stormed, ran and drudged yes, but never bounced.
"Hey sport, do you know what it is today?"
"Umm. Tuesday?"
"No, it's exactly one year since you came on board."
Harper had a far away look on his face.
"Oh yeah. Wait- you actually remembered?"
"Well, Trance may have jogged my memory a little."
 
"Trance. That makes sense."
"But anyway, I thought maybe we could celebrate."
"Why?"
"Well, the last time we celebrated was five months ago, and Trance doesn't
have a birthday. Wait a second; when is your birthday? We just went a whole
year, so when is it?"
Trance entered just in time to hear the last few words of Beka's sentence.
"Everybody should celebrate the day they were born; except me of course."
Harper stood up.
"Ya know, birthdays weren't celebrated much on Earth and I really have to go
and fix the relay coils but I'll catch you guys later, coz hey it's a small
ship right?"
And with that Harper ran out of the room towards engineering.
"What was that about?"
"Don't ask me."
 
So take a look at your life
It's never over
It's a simple mistake that
Anyone could have made
In your life
Coz one moment when you could have done better
Now it doesn't really matter
 'Wide open sky' by Goldrush
 
Harper was standing by a window looking at the stars. Beka watched from the
doorway as a tear rolled down his cheek. She came up behind him and put a
hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly.
"What are you looking at?"
"The sky. It's the only thing that has been with me my whole life."
Beka considered this.
"My birthday was last month, but in case you didn't notice, I don't want to
celebrate it."
Beka hoped that Harper would answer the next question; it had been plaguing
her all day.
"Why?"
Harper looked down as more tears filled his eyes.
"On my tenth birthday there was a Magog raid. Everybody ran for their lives
as usual, but my mum fell over, so I went back to help her. She'd broken her
leg. She was calling for me to help her, but the Magog were too close... and
I..."
Beka put her arms around him and bit back any tears of her own that
threatened.
"Harper, it's ok; it wasn't your fault."
"Not my fault? Did your mum die because you were too scared to save her?"
"If you'd tried to help, you would both have been killed. Wouldn't she have
wanted you to survive? Seamus, I know she would be proud of you now."
Harper didn't respond.
"If you don't want to celebrate your birthday, then that's fine, but you can
still celebrate a year off of Earth."
She got out a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
"Here's to a freakin' genius, whose mother, I'm sure is very proud of him,
wherever she is."
"And here's to a year off that dump, may I never return."
"Never?"
"Never."
 
I was standing on
Standing on a mountain
And the doubts in my mind
Seemed reflected in the wide open sky
Watching over like an old friend of mine
You told me we all seem to suffer sometimes
 'Wide open sky' by Goldrush
 
The End- please r and r..pleeeeeeease?