Disclaimer: Bialar Crais, Talyn, Tuavo Crais, and the Peacekeepers aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them, and will return them when I am done, in the condition I borrowed them, or better. Promise. Anyone else, that you don't recognize, is my creation. Though if the people who do Farscape were to find them, and borrow them, and actually bring Crais and Talyn back... well, I ain't gonna argue.

Author's Note: This story will pretty much ignore anything after WISC. And Crais is only misplaced, not dead. So this is, obviously, AU past WISC. Enjoy.

Summary: Bialar woke up ten cycles ago on this planet, with healing wounds, and no memories beyond the name of his ship, Talyn. The Leviathan gunship likewise had a past that was a blank to him except for a name, Bialar, which he knew was his captain. Now, Bialar is a merchant and farmer on this world, married and a father, trying to do his best to build a life that is safe for himself and his family. When he discovers the Peacekeepers are coming to his adopted planet, will he find the strength to give up two of his children? Or will their arrival trigger memories that have long been buried, and show him why he is afraid of the arrival of those who are supposed to protect this planet?

PAIN!

Pain screamed along his nerves, wracking every part of his body as Bialar curled into a ball. He couldn't think for the pain, couldn't see feel anything beyond the pain, even to tell where he was injured. He scrabbled along the floor when he began to smell the sickly sweet scent of burning flesh, trying to get away from the stench.

"Bialar."

The voice was familiar, and he looked around for the source of the voice, wishing the person would find him, and make the pain stop.

"Bialar! Wake up!"

Bialar woke with a start, drenched in sweat. He felt cool hands on his face, and light surrounded his wife's face in a halo. He reached up a hand that trembled still from the after effects of the nightmare to stroke her cheek.

"Another nightmare, love?" Her voice was soft, and filled with concern. "You sounded like you were in pain."

He tried to swallow, but his throat had gone dry. Reaching over to the table that stood beside their bed, he picked up the mug of water there, and gulped down its contents. "It was like all the others."

It was already fading into the far corners of his mind, even though he tried to grasp it. The nightmares were painful, but they were the only link he had to his forgotten past.

Xenobya stroked a strand of damp hair back from his face as he sat up. "I wish those nightmares would stop. You can never sleep after them, and you spend days trying to remember them, and neglecting your family, and your duties."

Bialar pulled her into his arms, giving her the comfort she needed. "I can't afford to neglect them, Xenobya." He smiled at her, his eyes already promising her that he wouldn't vanish onto his ship for days this time.

Xenobya smiled. "Good." She leaned her head back against his shoulder. "Nytali would be highly displeased if you vanished now, when the baby is due to be born any day."

Bialar chuckled softly. "I know." He laid back down, drawing Xenobya with him, holding her as she fell back asleep. He still was unable to sleep after the nightmare, but he couldn't afford to leave now. Nytali's baby was due, the harvest was only half in, and the market would have plenty of goods for him to take to the commerce planet along with the merchants and farmers who had business there.

Talyn. He spoke in his mind, his ship already roused from rest by his nightmares. Nightmares they had always shared, ever since they had woken here on this planet, and had been accepted into the natives' culture.

Bialar? the ship replied. Is Nytali all right?

Bialar's lips curled up in a smile. Talyn was fond of all three of the sisters who were, by the laws of this planet, and the customs of their people, his wives. She is fine. She's sleeping. Xenobya is here right now, and she has already gone back to sleep.

Ah. Talyn was silent a moment. The nightmare again. I can't remember it. There was frustration in Talyn's voice, that echoed Bialar's. I should remember it. It's important. But it always slips away.

Bialar nodded, knowing Talyn would sense the gesture. I know. I cannot remember it either.

Perhaps this time, when we go to the commerce planet, there will be someone who can help us? Talyn sounded almost afraid to hope. I want to remember. I want to know what the nightmare means, and what happened before.

As do I. The harvest should be finished in less than a weeken, and then all that must be done is take it to market, and pick up what merchants and farmers wish to travel to the commerce planet this time.

He got the feeling of agreement from Talyn. And you will bring everyone with you, won't you?

I couldn't leave them behind if I wanted to. The farm-hands are quite capable of taking care of the farm while we're off on this trip, as Xenobya would point out.

Talyn chuckled. Yes, she would. He paused. Go back to sleep, Bialar. I want to be able to go soon. And if you're too sleepy to help with the harvest, it will take longer.

Bialar smiled again, before reaching back and setting the transponder in privacy mode, so he wouldn't bother Talyn with his thoughts, if he was unable to fall back to sleep.

Bialar was woken out of a doze by Myshe shaking his shoulder.

"Bialar," she whispered, trying not to wake her sister. "Bialar, Nytali's gone into labor. The baby is to be born today. She's asking for you."

Bialar sat up, carefully easing out of the bed, fully awake now.

Myshe smiled. "I will tell Xenobya when she wakes up. Go."

He nodded, reaching back to switch the transponder out of privacy mode once more. Talyn. Nytali's in labor.

Talyn roused at the news, and Bialar felt his presence strengthen, watching through his eyes as he stepped into the bedroom Myshe and Nytali shared at the moment.

Nytali was pacing near the window, still in the early stages. It was her second baby, and there was little worry that she would have trouble.

"Nytali?"

Nytali turned, and smiled at him, though he could see the shadow of concern in her eyes. "Bialar. Stay with me today?"

You have enough hands to bring in the harvest without you being out there today. They're bringing in the apples from the orchard, anyway. Which means the children are helping.

Being the only ones who can get up to the top without fear of the branches breaking. Bialar knew that, and he replied to Talyn as he crossed the room to Nytali. "Of course." He'd stayed with each of them through each birth. He wasn't going to change that tradition now.

Nytali leaned against him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her weight as she rested a moment. "Thank you, Bialar. I pray this child is not so stubborn as her brother."

"I am sure she will not be." He remembered when Krys was born. Three days, and the midwife had been afraid she was going to lose both mother and child if it had lasted any longer.

If it takes that long, Xenobya and Myshe will banish you, and all the children from the house again. And you can come up and spend the time with me.

Bialar's lips twitched. Of course, Talyn.

Nytali was looking up at him. "You're talking to Talyn again. Tell him I am fine."

"He already knows, Nytali." Bialar let her out of his arms when she pulled away, watching her as she began to pace again, trying to encourage the child along.

"The grain is harvested, isn't it, Bialar?" Nytali was looking out the window as the horizon was tinted red with the coming dawn. "The orchards and the gardens still need to be harvested, and the livestock brought in for the winter, right?"

Bialar sat on the bench that was under the window, watching Nytali. "You know the harvest as well as I do, Nytali."

She sighed, and nodded. "I know." She looked down at him, a slight smile on her face. "You surprised Mother when you helped with the harvest before you married us. She didn't think you would know how a farm worked, coming from space as you did. In Talyn, wearing the garb of a Peacekeeper."

Bialar shrugged. "Perhaps I wasn't always a Peacekeeper. Or perhaps I stole the uniform. I don't know."

Nytali nodded, and began to pace again, as Bialar sat and watched, knowing there was nothing he could do but be there until the babe was born.

Xenobya rested her hand on Bialar's shoulder, rousing him from his trance-like state. She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "You have forgotten to eat, Bialar," she whispered, holding a bowl out to him filled with a fragrant vegetable stew. "And you should fall asleep in a bed, not a chair."

He laughed, as softly as she had a moment ago, careful not to wake up the two sleeping on the bed. Nytali and baby Marko. He smiled at them a moment before standing from the chair he'd been occupying for the last several arns, and silently padded out of the room.

Xenobya followed him after a long moment, in which he knew she had been watching her sister and nephew. She smiled with amusement when she saw the bowl was already empty, and took it from him. "Go to bed, Bialar. You look as exhausted as Nytali."

Bialar shook his head. "I am in no need of sleep yet, Xenobya." He walked beside her as she made her way back to the kitchen through the dark and silent house. "Allow me to finish cleaning this up, love," he murmured, gesturing to the pile of dishes that waited beside the deep kitchen sink.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "That is my work, Bialar. And you slept poorly last night, and were with Nytali all day. Childbirth is not easy on those who attend it, anymore than it is on the mother and child." Xenobya gave him a stern look. "Go to bed, husband. I will take care of this, and then I will join you. We still have the harvest to finish tomorrow, and you need your sleep more than I for that. Go."

He knew he couldn't argue with her when she took that sharp tone with him, and he spread his arms in surrender. "I bow to your decision, wife," he replied, using the same formality she had, though his voice had a teasing edge that lightened the words where hers had not.

Xenobya's lips twitched in a smile, and she shooed him out of the kitchen, shaking her head. "You are going to be the death of me, love. Go rest."

Talyn was chortling in the back of his mind as Bialar made his way back up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Xenobya. You never win that argument with her, Bialar.

Bialar smirked. And it always makes her laugh when I offer to do the cleaning. What better reason is there for doing so?

Actually meaning to clean if she one day chooses to take you up on that offer.

He nodded. If she ever does, I am capable of cleaning the kitchen, or the house. None of them have to take on the cleaning on their own.

Talyn gave him the impression of a shrug. For them, it's unthinkable that a married man do his own cooking or cleaning, unless he's gone to the city. Where, I might add, they still don't do their own cooking, most of the time.

So I've noticed. The cook houses are all run by women, and they'd have it no other way.

She's right about one thing, though. You ought to rest. The first flocks start coming back from the hills tomorrow, and they'll need you out there to identify your sheep, and make sure they all get to the barn.

Bialar nodded, raising one hand to hide a yawn. I had thought it would be another day. They're moving faster this cycle than they have in the past. He frowned, his brow furrowing. Everyone is, and I cannot determine why. Whatever the reason is, they are accustomed to it, and likely think I am aware of what will happen as well.

Talyn made a rude noise. And you haven't thought to ask anyone?

It is harvest, Talyn. I have other concerns during the day, and at night there is only time for sleep, most nights.

Ask Xenobya tonight, than. You will have the time, and you don't need much information. And then later, when the harvest is in, you can ask for more details.

Perhaps, Bialar conceded. He peeled his tunic off over his head, and dumped it with the trousers into the wicker hamper near the door before sliding into bed. He was asleep before Xenobya came to bed.

Xenobya settled onto the bench on the broad porch at the front of the farm house with a sigh, Myshe collapsing beside her sister, and the children sprawling out over the porch for Bialar to pick his way around.

"Alyk, you're going to get stepped on if you stay there." Xenobya gestured for her son to come over to where she was sitting, making the eight-cycle-old boy groan.

"But, mama! I don't want to move!" He scowled at her, and earned a black look from Xenobya.

"Get up and come over here. And bring Leena as well. Jabryla! Come here." Xenobya glanced over at Myshe, who grimaced, and stood, moving to gather up Nyki, and settled onto one of the other benches on the front porch.

Bialar watched this with a frown, and raised an eyebrow when Nytali came out of the house, settling on the third bench with Krys and Marko. He sat next to Xenobya, leaning in close to her. "You're behaving oddly, Xenobya. Everyone has been, this harvest. What is go..."

Bialar! Talyn's voice held an urgent tone that interrupted Bialar's thoughts more than his words. There are ships coming into the system. I don't like them. I... I can't remember why, but I don't think they should see me. Or you.

Xenobya was watching him as Talyn spoke, and her brow was furrowed in concern. "What is Talyn saying, love?"

"There are ships coming towards the planet. He can't recognize them, but they concern him."

"The Peacekeepers." Myshe's voice was small, and she hugged Nyki tightly. "They come every twenty cycles, after the harvest. If we get it in fast enough, anyway. We have to, or we're short-handed to finish."

Bialar frowned, looking between the three sisters. "Why are the Peacekeepers coming here, and why hasn't anyone told me before now?"

Nytali was holding Krys close. "Because it is a part of life that we think little of." She stroked the hair of her older son softly. "They will take Krys and Nyki from us, to become soldiers. Alyk and Jabryla they won't, because they are Xenobya's children. And Leena and Marko are too young."

Bialar raised an eyebrow, inviting one of them to further explain.

"They do not take any child younger than three cycles, or older than ten. And they do not take the children of the oldest sister. They used to take them all, until the Ruling Mothers made a deal with them. For those children of the eldest, instead of the children, they take part of the harvest. So that we might keep our traditions intact."

This is all interesting information, Bialar, but.. what am I going to do? There was an undertone of anger to Talyn's tone, and Bialar suspected it was at the news that Krys and Nyki would be gone when the Peacekeepers left. I do not have long before they sense me. And they're approaching in a trajectory that will prevent the moon from hiding me the whole way. There's more than one.

Bialar's jaw tightened. Go to the edges of the system, Talyn. Hide in the asteroids there, and do not come back until they are gone. You, at least, they must not see. He didn't know why it was so vital they not see Talyn, but there was a pit of fear in his stomach that was made worse by the thought of the Peacekeepers finding out about Talyn. Another fragment of feeling and thought that connected to his elusive past.

"It will be all right, Bialar." Nytali was watching him with concern in her eyes. "It hurts to let Krys go, but it must be done. I can have more children. But we cannot antagonize the Peacekeepers. We do not know what they will do to us if we make that mistake."

"I was eleven when they last came through, husband. My aunts let their children go, and our family survived. Those who used to own this farm, there were two sisters. The younger one didn't want to let her children go. We saw the smoke above the trees that grew between our house and theirs. They were left without any of their children, or their farm. No one would take them in."

Xenobya was watching him. "The husbands, they had been of the same mind as the younger sister, but the older sister was not. She went to the city, and still lives there. The others, we buried them, one by one. No one would shelter them or feed them. Not traitors like that."

Bialar stood, pacing the porch. "I do not like it. But I will not have them destroy this family." He looked down at Krys, who was watching him with solemn eyes. "You will watch over your sister when you go with them."

Krys nodded. "Yes, father." He stepped away from Nytali, looking up at Bialar. "I promise. I'll make sure nothing happens to Nyki." He smiled, looking over at his younger half-sister, and holding out his hand. The two sat on the steps, watching the road that led to the city.

Bialar stood behind them, watching the road as well, with a feeling of dread gnawing at him. He knew he'd seen something much like this before. But when? And why did it cause this feeling that something terrible was about to happen?