A Feeling of Being Home

by Roxy Leigh Blue

The Dwarfers find a stasis chanber from before their own millenia containing a female clone, someone willing to restart the human race with Lister; but can he see what is right under his nose of will the memory of a lost love hold him back? ListerOC

I watched it growing up and again with my Canadian husband to be recently. I cannot get the idea out of my head for this one shot so I'm gonna do it. Seeing as I hate OC's and their 'perfectness' as a rule I've decided to make Lister's OC love interest a little flawed, and basically an average Jane with nothing extraordinary about her (excluding the main plot thread of her existence), but including the fact that Lister is the only one that finds her attractive. Three million and some years of no sex will do that to a guy.

Disclaimer: Red Dwarf is a feat of epicness I cannot lay claim to. Leigh Pilgrim however is a bit of a smeg head that I created!

Spacebug drifted lazily through the void of space, endlessly searching for Red Dwarf while the crew started to feel the effects a little too much. It had been about 6 weeks since any sign of the mining ship and Dave Lister was beginning to lose all sight of hope; and in turn, Earth. Loneliness was the usual emotion aboard the vessel, and although no one really mentioned it, its effects were as present as the lingering scent of tandoori coming from the last human being alive.

"Any sign of her yet Cat?" Lister asked.

The feline sniffed the air in the cockpit and frowned. "No, but I got something else. Smells like...you actually Lister." He shook his head. "Except, more human you know?"

"No I don't know." Lister replied, adjusting his seat so he could be Cat's co-pilot. "Kryten!"

The mechanoid walked into the cockpit happily. "Yes Sir?"

Lister jabbed his hand over to the radar. "Cat's got something, Human but not human. Do we have any reads?"

Scanning the radar, Kryten frowned. "It appears to be some kind of stasis chamber slash escape pod dating back to Earth year twenty-two seventy-seven. Should we pick it up?"

"Smeg no." Rimmer replied, joining the others for the end of the conversation. "Look what happened last time we picked up a random stasis chamber. Listy here had his arm lopped off."

Lister cringed at the memory, rubbing his right shoulder. "Yeah but Cat says it's humanoid."

Rimmer's face deadpanned. "He also says that sequins are in style."

"They're not?" Cat exclaimed, removing his jacket. "Why did nobody tell me?"

"Your jacket isn't what's important at the moment Cat, were gonna be on top of it in about 3 minutes, we need a decision." Kryten replied. "Do we risk it to save a life, or do we let it drift in space?"

Lister cracked his neck and straightened up his back. "We save it what else? It could be another human." A grin spread across his face. "It could be a FEMALE human being. We would have the task of restarting the human race."

"With you as the forerunner of humanity I'm glad I'm dead." Rimmer replied sarcastically. "But I'll agree with you me laddo, we have a duty to rescue it. Kryten go prepare the airlock and Lister you get ready. We're gonna have to spacewalk to bring it in."

Lister blew a puff of air out hard and rose from his seat. "I'll go suit up then."

Mumbling to himself, he put of the spacesuit and headed for the airlock. Kryten's voice came over the 2-way radio confirming that it was okay for him exit the airlock and ease the pod in. He spacewalked out to it and gave it a gentle shove, allowing the lack of gravity to do its work and pull it into the airlock. Once inside, he followed and closed the airlock, removing his space helmet. "Cat man, come and give us a hand with this. It's smegging heavy." He radioed and waited. Looking at the nameplate on the chamber, confusion and delight evident in his features.

'No. 1026 – Leigh Pilgrim.'

"What do we got?" Cat yelled as he entered across from Lister, heading toward the airlock.

Lister looked up, smug grin plastered on his face. "We got a woman cat."

XOX

"I do not believe you we found a woman in space." Rimmer exclaimed, circling the pod. "An actual woman. I wonder what's wrong with this one."

They had moved the pod to their sleeping quarters as it was the only place in the Spacebug that would allow enough space and was still contained their bazookoid guns and a solid door that could be locked in case she was batshit crazy like the other people they had found so far.

"Well we're about to find out." Lister said as he pressed the button that would release her from stasis. His hand crept toward his bazookoid as did Cat's. The top of the pod released with a hiss of compressed oxygen. There was a sputtering cough, causing the entire crew to take a step back and Lister and Cat to raise their guns in defence. From the smoke came two feet, followed by the rest of the woman. She was dressed in a uniform from the star ship EDEN (it was embellished on the back), soft red hair that ran a little way down her back. Her brown eyes blinked at the crew, noticing the bazookoids and fearfully took a step back. "Shit, space pirates." She mumbled under her breath. Glancing around, she found her voice. "Where is Luca, what have you done with him?"

"I'm afraid miss, that there is no Luca above the Spacebug." Kryten replied, smiling. His sensors picked up on her fear. "And we are not space pirates. We rescued your pod from deep space. Is it true that you're from the late twenty third century?"

She nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Yes, what year is it now? How long have I been out there?"

"Well ma'am, I think it would be best that Mister Lister explain it to you." Kryten responded. "He is from the early thirty seventh century."

"So you are time travellers then?" She concluded. "Okay, show me to your Captain Lister and I will sort everything out."

Lister raised his hand (and weapon), before dropping it seeing how startled she was. "I'm Lister, just Dave Lister. No captain here. And you're Leigh Pilgrim right? Your stasis pod says so."

The woman nodded. "Yeah, that's the name my creator gave me."

They all took another step back as Lister's hand closed around his gun again. "Your creator? What are you if you're not human then?"

Leigh laughed. "Oh I'm human, but I am a clone."

Rimmer's face screwed up in thought. "Alright missy, as the highest ranking officer aboard this ship, I demand to know your origins and how you ended up so far from your time."

"From my time?" Leigh pondered. "What do you mean from my time?"

"You're gonna wanna sit down for this." Lister sighed and put down his gun. He sat down and waited for Leigh to join him. "We don't know the exact year but it's been three million years since I myself went into stasis, year was thirty-six eighty. I'm really sorry but from the looks of things we're the last human beings alive. On the plus, neither of us will be the death of our species anymore."

"You mean that everyone...everything I knew is dead?" She asked quietly.

Lister nodded. "I'm sorry yeah. I know how hard this is."

Slowly and softly, Leigh began to cry.

XOX

"So what you're telling us Kryten is that the EDEN ship was trying to create the perfect man and woman so they could populate a distant habitable planet?" Rimmer concluded.

They had left Leigh in their sleeping quarters to sleep off the shock after deciding she was of no threat. Gathering in the cockpit, Kryten had explained the origin of Leigh to them so that they could comfort her when she awoke.

Kryten nodded happily. "Yes sir, I'm assuming Luca was her male counterpart and with whom she was supposed to procreate with once they had landed on the planet. Why she ended up in stasis I don't know."

"Maybe she wasn't supposed to go into stasis." Rimmer offered. "Maybe it was an accident."

"It wasn't an accident." Leigh said, entering the cockpit.

The crew turned toward her, spooked by her sudden entrance. Lister spoke first. "Then what was it?"

"Luca was my creator." She explained. "By all definition I wasn't supposed to exist, but after the sudden death of his wife, he cloned me in her place. Once the captain found out what he was doing, they said that they would grant me life on the condition that I was a complete success. If I wasn't then I was to be jettisoned into space and all Luca's records and experiments based around it would be destroyed."

"What happened then?" Lister asked. "Weren't you perfect?"

"Sadly no, I have too many things about me that weren't the doctors." Leigh shook her head and laughed bitterly. "She was a neurosurgeon; I only managed a PhD level of medicinal knowledge. Secondly she was deeply in love with her husband and for some reason although I love Luca I don't love him like she did."

"So what happened when the captain found out about your flaws?" Rimmer said, arms crossed across his chest. "Obviously they didn't intentionally send you out in stasis, did Luca?"

"Great observation...erm...hologram." Leigh said cringing slightly. She despised being informal but introductions had not occurred yet. "Luca sent me off before they found me. He told me that the pod was programmed to head for the nearest oxygenated moon and he would meet me there. This is why I am having a hard time believing you."

"But Miss Leigh, I have checked your pod and there is no such programming." Kryten concluded. "Maybe Mister Luca told you that to ease your worries."

Leigh sighed. It was definitely a strong possibility that Luca had lied to protect her, but why would he lie about meeting with her. Luca had regarded her as his own daughter. He had told her that he and his wife had tried for many years for children but it had never happened for them, and Leigh had always suspected that he had made her for this purpose, mainly because although he introduced her as his wife; they never shared a bed. They had tried once but neither Luca not Leigh could bring themselves to. She had done so mainly because that was what she was created for – to substitute for his wife in every way – but he took one look at her and began to apologise profusely. He felt as though he was betraying the memory of his late wife and in turn harming her clone. They had loved each other like father and daughter, and for this reason Leigh came to one conclusion.

"They killed him." She said quietly. "Because he wouldn't turn me over."

"Smeg." Lister sighed, running a hand over his face. "That's awful. Well we do need a doctor so the decision is yours. You can stay aboard Spacebug and help us get to Red Dwarf or we can drop you off at the next planet."

"Yeah but if it is as far into the future as you say it is; then the chances of humanity as a species being completely extinct is pretty high." She said, looking at Kryten. "You're a pretty intelligent being, what do you say about this?"

Kryten looked from her to Lister. "The truth ma'am; is that humanity is extinct. You and Mister Lister are the only two humans left alive in the galaxy."

Leigh's knees buckled and she fell to her bottom on the ground. "Wow, really? Luca and I had discussed the possibility of the human race going extinct but I honestly never thought I'd see the day." A thought occurred to her that made her head snap toward Lister. "Does that mean humanity rests on our shoulders?"

Lister grinned smugly and opened his mouth before Kryten cut in. "If your reproductive system works as it would for a normal woman then yes, if you so choose."

"I've had my period before but that doesn't mean I'm fertile." She said casually, addressing Kryten. "Will you be willing to assist me in a few experiments? If I am indeed fertile then once we reach a hospitable planet or moon then we should restart humanity."

Lister's stomach dropped. "Are you for real? You just met me and you'd start the whole smegging human race with me?"

Leigh looked at him, her face deadpanned. "I do intend to try and get to know you before we hop in bed. Worst case scenario, we don't even have to do that we can just get a sample from both of us and once necessary impregnate me with it. All we need is a hypodermic and a test tube. Actually that might work better."

Rimmer laughed hysterically. "She'd rather not have you touch her it would seem Listy, can't blame her honestly."

"Smeg off Rimmer." Lister grumbled. Surely he wasn't so disgusting, he thought to himself. He just needed to do some laundry and maybe have a shower. "I'm not that repulsive."

"I don't find you repulsive at all actually Dave." She confirmed cheerfully, ailing Lister's fears. "I just thought that you might not want to because you're...you know."

Lister rolled his eyes and stared at her. "No I don't know, enlighten me."

Leigh stared at him, her confusion evident. "Well you're gay ain't you? Gay men don't sleep with women. Or clones of women."

Lister's eyes and right index finger landed directly on Rimmer. "Don't you dare smegging laugh! Leigh, I'm not gay far from it in fact! I just don't jump into bed with everyone."

"Or anyone." Rimmer added. "In fact it's been what, five years since you last had a woman?"

"Yeah, I've only had Rachel, same as you man." Lister replied shaking his head. "Smegging sad's what that is."

"Who's Rachel?" She asked with amusement.

Lister pointed to Rimmer, not removing his eyes from the floor. "Rimmer's blow up doll."

Leigh laughed. "Rimmer you sly dog!"

"Are you forgetting that I am the senior officer aboard this vessel?" Rimmer said with a slight smug air about him.

"Actually sir, seeing as how Miss Leigh is now a crew member, she ranks higher than you because she is the crew's health practitioner." Kryten said merrily, unaware that it was aggravating Rimmer.

"So seeing as I will be travelling with you gentlemen I think that it would be best if you could brief me on what our directive is and how we plan to reach it." Leigh said with finality. If she was going to be with these guys then she was sure as hell going to know what was going on.

"We're trying to get the Red Dwarf back." Cat supplied. "And my nose is starting to pick up the scent of it."

"So you are feline then?" Leigh concluded. "I was curious as you display a lot of feline characteristics. Cleanliness, an air of superiority and exceptionally well preened."

Cat lapped it up nodding his head. "I like her can we keep her?"

"And the Red Dwarf is your ship?" She said, addressing Rimmer. "Is that our mission directive? Also I noticed the sleeping quarters are rather small, so will I be sleeping in my stasis chamber?"

"It's either that or with one of the gentlemen ma'am." Kryten replied. "And I'm sure Mister Lister's is breathing heavy because he is going to offer up his bed. It is the only one that goes into double mode effectively."

Lister fought back the shade of rouge threatening to adorn his cheeks. True he was going to offer up his bed, but... "Yeah I was going to, but not for the reason you're thinking Kryten. I haven't felt the touch of another person for five years man, and I have a duty to restart my species with her right? Might as well start behaving like a man, cant slob around anymore you know." He sighed, the weight of it all finally crashing down on his shoulders. "If you don't have any problems with it Leigh I'll go set the bed to double and start making room for you in the quarters."

"You do have clothes don't you ma'am?" Kryten asked. "We don't have any women's clothes aboard but we do have some on the Red Dwarf. Speaking of which, how far away do you think it is Cat, sir?"

Cat inhaled deeply. "About a week I'd guess, it's a very weak smell but it's the ship."

Lister left the cockpit and headed into the sleeping quarters, shoulders sagging. He was getting what he wanted; another human, female at that. He was going to get to fall in love and have kids. It wasn't Fiji but they could always name whatever moon they began on Fiji, he guessed. Why didn't he feel elated like he knew he should? Turning to the lone window in the cabin, he stared at the stars.

Lister's eyes welled with unshed tears. "Goodbye Kristine, I'm sorry it couldn't be you."

XOX

The first few days had been hard on Lister. He was trying so hard to be accommodating to Leigh but was finding it difficult when his heart was mourning the loss of Kochanski. He had been in love with her for years and the thought of finding a way to get her was what had kept him going through the long lonely days. Now he was forced to give up his hope as the realisation set in. But he could always get over her he figured, and learn to love Leigh. She was, after all, going to mother his children. Yeah, he could love her eventually. Unfortunately she had been busy with Cat and Rimmer for the last two days, getting to know them. She had told Lister that they had their entire lives to get to know each other, so she was going to start with Cat and Rimmer.

Leigh had spent the first few days trying to get to know the crew. As the teams new doctor, the first thing she did was schedule a couple of physicals to make sure everything was working properly. She had already taken a look at Kryten and together they had examined Cat. He was more responsive when she told him that if he didn't get examined and something was wrong, it could kill him. He had been very cooperative after that. Rimmer didn't need an exam because he was a hologram and Lister had offered to go first. She was currently heading back to their cabin with her lunch in her hands. She had been busy with the crew all morning and hadn't stopped for food. Sitting down at the small table they had replaced the stasis pod with, she ripped the foil off of the Indian food that the ship was full of and sighed in bliss as the aroma his her nostrils. Ripping off a chunk of Naan bread she dipped it into her tikka and began to eat.

The smell of the curry was what lured Lister in; he didn't think anyone else of the ship enjoyed it. He sat down opposite Leigh and smiled. "Don't make a bad curry do they? The space core I mean."

Leigh paused, fork halfway to her mouth. "No not too bad. Luca and Leigh loved Indian food Luca told me. He thinks it's why I love it so much, it was one of her favourites."

Lister nodded automatically and Leigh spoke again. "I'm sorry that it's a burden to you to procreate with me Dave."

"Did you just call me Dave?" Lister said amused. "Call me Lister, everyone else around here does. And it's not a burden, it's just a surprise. I always thought that I'd meet a nice woman, settle down and have kids. Now I don't have a choice in any of those things, because if humans are to continue, we need to get it on don't we? Is this even what you want? Do you really want to have kids with a disgusting smeg head like me?"

Leigh frowned. Lister had been very kind to her in spite of their situation. Realization dawned on her...that conversation she'd had with Rimmer last night coming to mind. "Dave...erm, Lister sorry, I don't find you disgusting at all. Sure you chew on your toenails and don't really like to do laundry but you've been sweet to me so far and you're kind of brave. Rimmer told me about Kochanski and..."

Lister got up, angry. "It has nothing to do with that smeg, why would he tell you anything!"

"Let me finish Lister!" Leigh yelled, she then sighed feeling bad for yelling. "I know I'm not Kochanski and I know it's gonna take a while but I do think that given some time we could fall in love. I've accepted that you'll not love me like you did her, but also have hopes that we can start the world on a good note."

Lister agreed with her in that respect. She was quite nice to be around, didn't hog the bed and as much as he hated to admit it, she did have a better body that Kochanski. He had always had a soft spot for cuddly women. "Yeah, it was nice having someone to cuddle with this morning by the way."

"Yeah it was." She replied quietly. "Cat says well be at the ship in about three days, I can set up in a separate room if you wish for some more time to get to know me..."

"And time to get over her with." Lister finished. He contemplated the options for a moment before shaking his head and walking toward her. "Nah, we'll just skip the formal stuff and make it official. We are destined to after all." Swallowing the guilt he felt toward the deceased woman he hugged Leigh stiffly to which she returned equally as stiffly. "Once we get back to the Dwarf well move all our stuff into the Captains quarters and start properly."

Leigh nodded, looking deep into his eyes for any trace of regret of apprehension. "If you're sure that this will work out like this then let's do it. I'd rather not, how do I put this? Practice the child making process until we're both ready to take that step."

'Child making process?' Lister thought, grinning ear to ear. He leaned over and kissed her cheek causing a blush to appear on both of them. "No worries there love, but seeing as I'm a red blooded male I'll let you decide when that time will be."

XOX

Two days saw some progress for the crew. The Dwarf was closer than they originally thought. So close in fact they were prepping for a landing. With a renewed purpose for existence, Lister had taken a better handle on everything and was slowly slipping into the responsibility easily. With landing imminent, he was ready to depart and inspect the ship somewhat with Cat and Rimmer while Leigh and Kryten waited on the Spacebug.

Leigh had also taken to her responsibility well and was beginning to establish a place in the crew. Much to Rimmer's delight she was capable of holding a conversation, pleasant company he had commented to Lister. Lister had agreed. They spent little time together but what they had spent he had enjoyed. Leigh herself, found Lister to be delightful. He offered her a personality the likes of which she'd never seen. She had technically only been alive for several years though her body read twenty eight; and those years had been spent around intellectuals. From her observations, Lister was crass, loyal and had a very dry sense of humour. He was also very kind and surprisingly shy.

Lister came up behind her as she was making sure that everything was ready to go once they were given the all clear. His arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Everything's ready, we'll be landing any moment now. We're doing a quick thirty minute sweep and then when we give you the all clear; Kryten will lead you to our old room where we'll meet you."

She nodded and checked the life on the radio. "Yep, I'll bring all our laundry and your guitar, and like you asked, I'll bring the blaster."

There was a slight jolt in the floor indicating their arrival back on the ship and cat appeared in the doorway. "You ready monkey? I wanna hurry and get back to my den!"

"Yeah I'm ready." Lister replied. He hugged Leigh. "Wait for our signal before you come alright."

"I know Lister, I don't want to jeopardise our quest anymore than you do." She replied with a sigh, hugging him back. "So go, and hurry up. I can't wait to start my new life."

"And I can't wait to get back to my old one." Lister mumbled, heading for the exit.

XOX

"So far so good buddy." Cat grinned. "I can almost taste the fish! Oh I'm gonna eat you little fishies..."

Lister shook his head. "I know man, me old bed in me old room..."

"With your new wife!" Cat laughed. "Oh my bad you ain't married yet!"

"Smeg off." Lister threw half heartedly. "It's hard enough as it is."

Cat hit one of those serious points seeing the distress on his friend's face. "You feel like you're being forced into it don't you buddy? Man I'm sorry, no man should be forced to be with someone he don't wanna be with."

"It's not that I don't want to." Lister started; "It's just that I barely know her and I've gotta have kids with her and be with her because we're the last ones left. I never thought I would be the last man alive y'know? Always thought I'd be long dead when the end of the world came...lived a good life with lots of grandkids and died old. Never in my life even dreamed that something so important would be up to me."

"Look on the plus side you couldn't get a woman before and now you do!" Cat exclaimed. "And if she wasn't a little chubby she'd be real cute!"

Lister rolled his eyes. "Yeah but I like mine like that, cuddly."

"But Kochanski wasn't like that." Cat quipped. "She was one sexy woman!"

Lister cringed slightly and closed his eyes. "Don't bring her name up please Cat, I'm trying to forget her. "

"Sorry buddy." Cat replied quietly. He looked up and grinned. "It's our old room! Do that thing and tell Kryten that it's clear. I'm gonna go see if my clothes are still there."

Lister picked up the radio and pressed the button. "Hey guys all clear, Kryten, bring Leigh down to the room." He moved to his old bed and jumped up. They would be here in a half hour and he wanted to enjoy his room one last time.

"Lister get up."

Lister jumped up and hit his head on the top of his bunk. "Smeg that hurts!" Looking around he frowned. "How did you guys get here so quickly? It's only been a minute."

"Actually sir it's been forty five." Kryten replied. "The smell of your dirty socks was too much for ma'am to take so I showed her to the laundry facilities immediately."

"Oh." Lister said. He jumped down from the bunk and forced a grin for everyone. "Guess I'd better start packing up then."

"Um hope you don't mind Lister but there's been a change of plan." Leigh said. "I offered the Captains suite to Rimmer because I know that you love your room."

Lister grinned at her. "You serious? What about the bed though? We won't fit into a single."

Leigh nodded and motioned her head to Kryten. "He said there's a way to modify the beds and mould them together."

"Yes sir I know how much you like human contact." Kryten said to him happily. "Why since you've been here ma'am Mister Lister has taken to having a shower every morning!"

"Hey hang on!" Lister interrupted.

"But sir, I find your hygienic routine delightful!" Kryten continued. "But I don't understand why it had to be so cold sir, you complain about it every day. If it is so cold, why not turn up the hot water?"

Leigh and Rimmer began to laugh as Lister's face went red. "I happen to enjoy showering everyday thank you!"

Rimmer laughed harder and shook his head. "You barely showered before! You walked around for days smelling like a wild pig."

"Yeah well when you've got a gorgeous woman in your bed every night we'll see if you wanna smell like a pig." Lister bit back. "Only thing you sleep with is your pillow and blanket."

"Shall I start the modifications ma'am?" Kryten suggested, trying to diffuse the situation. "I feel it may diffuse the situation if I change the subject."

Leigh rolled her eyes. "Indeed it would, so yes go ahead. Rimmer I am assuming you know where the ships medical bay is? Would you be so kind as to show me?"

XOX

Lister woke with a start, hand shooting out for Leigh. It had been near a month since they had gotten the Dwarf back and things were progressing slowly. He was more comfortable with Leigh now, not feeling the need to change in the shower every day. He figured that seeing as her test results were positive and she was indeed fertile; then he might as well get used to being undressed in front of her. Frowning slightly, his hand found cold, empty sheets instead of warm, clothed skin. Yawning, he climbed out of bed and rubbed his face. "Where's Leigh, Hol?"

The face of Red Dwarf's internal computer; Holly, appeared on his mirror. "She's with Rimmer, Been there all morning."

"Rimmer?" Lister questioned. "What's she doing with him?"

"Left just after you kissed her head and called her Kristine." Holly responded with a small smile. "She just slipped out of bed and got dressed. Been with him since."

Lister cringed. He thought he was over Kochanski; he had almost cleared her from his head and heart completely. "She thinks I'm a total smeghead doesn't she?"

"Not really." Holly replied. "She's trying to find the remains of EDEN if there is any."

"Why would she do that?" Lister asked, throwing on the clean clothes Leigh liked him to wear every day.

"Thinks' there might be some of Luca's work there still, she's gonna try and clone Kochanski for you." Holly nodded. "Wants you to be happy."

Lister paused, halfway out the door. "I'm over Kochanski now, I've got a future, I am happy."

Holly shook his head. "She was hoping that you was thinking that."

"Until this morning." Lister mumbled.

"Until this morning." Holly agreed. "Now she thinks that subconsciously you'll regret your future because she's not who you really want."

"Smeg, I gotta stop her." Lister said, breaking into a run. He had made it down to the central hallway before bumping into Cat...who growled at him.

"Whoa Cat, man it's me." He said quickly his hands going up in defence.

Cat gave him a stink eye. "I know who it is monkey, what I don't know if why you made Leigh cry. She makes good fish and she makes you wear clean socks and she makes good fish!"

"You said fish twice." Lister pointed out.

Cat glared. "I know, but fish is important so I had to mention it twice."

"I know she's a good woman alright?" Lister near yelled. "They in the med bay?"

Cat nodded, continuing on his path and leaving Lister with a sense of confusion and despair. Sure he'd always dreamed of Kochanski; but Leigh was just as kind, attractive and she found him to be genuinely stimulating. He could see it in her eyes everyday when he came back from whatever part of the ship he'd been patrolling. She always wore a smile, always had his beer and vindaloo ready and waiting while she asked him about his day before they exchanged memories . He was truly felt like an utter smeg. Why hadn't he seen it before?"

Coming to a complete shot, realization crashed over him in waves. "She's in love with me..."

XOX

Star charts were spread out on an examination table, a few pins here and there that were indicating the path, Leigh and Rimmer planning their course and trying to find the best path to the planet that EDEN was scheduled to land on.

"You're sure about this then?" Rimmer asked. "You're sure this will work?"

Leigh simply shrugged. "What have I got to loose? Luca always told me that love was fickle and I'm not who he wants so the least I can try to do is give him what he wants."

Rimmer shook his head sadly. He knew as well as everyone else on the ship that Lister was adjusting to having his life planned out for him. "But he wants you. He'd have a smegging fit if he knew what we were planning."

"Smegging fit indeed."

Leigh's head turned to the doorway, sheepishly she grinned. "Hey Lister, I have a surprise for you!"

Lister crossed the room in three steps, his hands gripping her upper arms as soon as they fell and his eyes boring into hers. "I don't want Kochanski you daft woman, so you can stop with all this stuff! She didn't want me before what makes you think her clone would?"

"We can tweak her clone see, make her love you." Leigh answered, sadness barely masked by the forced twinkle and cheeriness on her face.

"Luca couldn't make you love him what makes you think you can do that to someone else?" Lister replied, getting aggravated. "Sure it's not what I had originally planned for myself, but you're special ain't you? You gave me my hope back."

Leigh raised an eyebrow at him. "Nah, you just think that. You'd be much happier with Kochanski."

Lister growled in sheer agitation, placing his hands on her face and making her look him in the eyes. "God sake Leigh, listen to me. I want you, our future and our kids. I want Fiji with you!"

"Fiji?" Leigh questioned. "What's Fiji have to do with this?"

"I am only going to say this one more time." Shaking from nerves, he pulled her face forward and kissed her dead on. "I want to be with you. Understand?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Good." Lister nodded, dropping his hands. "I know I'm not in love with you like you are me, but I'm working on it. We'll get there someday soon I promise you that but until then, please don't give up on me like everyone else has."

Leigh smiled softly at him. "I won't. I promise you I'll be here, but if you reach that point where you don't think you can love me, then tell me. I'll find a way to bring her back for you."

"There won't be that problem." Lister shook his head. "I may not be in love with you yet, but I do love you and I am over Kristine."

Opening his arms to her, Lister embraced her into a hard hug. Sighing, he put his chin on her head and smiled. He had always wanted this feeling; the feeling of being home.

XOX

Hope that this is well received and if you like it let me know because I am willing to write a follow up after the kids are born and am debating this happening on the ship!

Rox xx