Title: Harvest Moon
Author: Third Charm
Fandom: Babylon 5
Pairings: Marcus/Neroon
Story Type: Fluffy little seasonal drama
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income had been made.
Warnings: Very AU, not beta read, slash
Spoilers: None mentioned.
Summary: Marcus reminisces about his family beneath a Harvest Moon.
Author's Notes: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The information on Welsh Harvest Customs was found at the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Musem Wales website at:www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/home/ an the information on British Harvest Customs was found at the British Culture Homepage at: www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Harvest.html. Also, the Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.
Harvest Moon
The couple stood close to each other on the balcony of the ancient Welsh Great House, sipping their mulled cider and watching the moonrise over the mist-shrouded moors while the tastes and aromas of the cider's spices teased their senses. The night was warm; at least by Minbari standards, and by some miracle the sky was clear. With the House being located to far away from any major city, the stars were able to parade in all their brilliance against the black velvet backdrop of the night sky. The great golden face of Earth's moon slowly climbed into the heavens as the Classical music of the diplomatic ball that they had brought them to this place came through the open terrace doors, adding its own charms to the celestial tableaux.
Marcus leaned back against his mate's chest, enjoying the astronomical display and the respite from the political small talk, as well as what he knew would be an all too brief interlude of piece and quiet. He sighed in the contentment of the moment as Neroon encircled his waist with a strong arm, pulling him into a closer embrace. Marcus snuggled back and sighed again, wishing that they could just leave and be done with all political pomp and circumstance, but knew that they couldn't.
"Mum would have called this a Harvest Moon," Marcus finally whispered, breaking the comfortable silence as Neroon gently kissed his ear.
"Hmm?" was the questioning response from the Warrior holding him as he again nuzzled Marcus's ear.
"I've told you before that Mum was Earth born, Neroon. She was from these isles actually. Since we, Willy and I, had never set foot on an actual planet before the War, she would tell us of the different seasons and Holidays on Earth as they came up on the calendar," he explained.
Marcus smiled softly in bittersweet remembrance as he continued, "I still clearly remember all the stories that she told of autumn, her favorite season. She had so many stories to tell of the fetes and fairs, of making corn dollies and cornucopias to decorate the table with her own mum. She spoke of Guy Fawkes Night and the bonfires, of old friends and her youth," Marcus said with melancholy touching his voice.
"Sometime I wish that I could have looked some of her old friends up while I was here during boot camp, but…" he left the sentence unfinished, not wanting to bring up the War again, and Neroon hugged him still closer in understanding.
A look of pure mischief came over Marcus as he picked up his tale again, "She also told us of the decorations in the schools and churches, of all the dances that they had held and of her old beaux, to which of course Da would growl at in pretended jealousy and then come over to where she was at, grab her about the waist and declare that she was "his best girl now, and that no other bloke had better even wink in her direction"!" Marcus laughed then.
"It never failed to make Mum squeal like a schoolgirl and bring a blush to her cheeks, and I swear that she always would look years younger when he did that. She enjoyed the byplay so very much, even though she always scolded him for it!" Marcus finished with a chuckle.
Neroon chuckled along with his mate at that last little tidbit, happy to hear his mate speak of his family without pain. "I too would be possessive in such a situation, my one. I would not wish to see anyone "wink" in your direction either."
Marcus laughed again. "Oh, I wouldn't think that you would have a problem with that, my love. Everyone is too afraid of the "MightySatai Neroon of the Minbari" to flirt with me in such a way!"
It was in that moment that one of their aides walked out onto "their" balcony in search of them. Marcus groaned when he saw he young man standing just within the periphery of his vision, waiting to be acknowledged. Neroon sighed as well when he saw the youngster, just as annoyed at returning to the diplomatic crush as his beloved was.
"Marcus, it is autumn now in this part of Earth, is it not?" the Warrior asked in sudden inspiration as he separated from his beloved.
"Yes, my love, it is," Marcus replied as he turned around to face hismala (spouse) and readied himself to face the throng within the ballroom again.
"Then perhaps we can find a schedule and see if any of the events and rituals that your mother spoke of are to be observed while we are here. If so, perhaps we may attend. Perhaps too, if they still live, we may be able to find your mother's old friends, maybe even invite them to attend some of the festivities with us. I was going to clear a day in our schedules for us to use privately anyway. Why can we not use that day to explore your family's past? After all, you have honored all the Histories, Holy Days and Rituals sacred to the Star Riders. It is only fitting that we explore and honor you family's legacy as well," Neroon suggested.
Neroon swore that the brilliance of Marcus's smile put even the golden "Harvest Moon" to shame in that moment. "Yes, beloved, I would greatly enjoy that. Thank you, Neroon, for suggesting it!" Marcus enthused before touching his hand to Neroon's chest in a Minbari gesture of love.
Neroon smiled at he soul mate, knowing that it never would have occurred to Marcus to even ask for a day off from their rigorous diplomatic schedule, let alone for a day to be dedicated to exploring his own cultural past. Even after all the cycles that had past, and no matter what Neroon said, Marcus still thought that "dragging out" anything of Human culture before Neroon would either insult him or bore him to tears, and there was almost nothing that the Warrior could do to change his beloved's mind. Hopefully, this planned excursion would show his love that that had changed long ago.
Neroon took his mate's hand within his own and brought to hips lips for a kiss then. "You are very welcome, my one. I am sure that we will both enjoy this planned excursion. Now, since our young aide has been so patient with us, perhaps we should head back in before he is forced to break all protocol and haul us back by our ears!" Neroon said while nodding to the now blushing young man, who also knew exactly what his assignment was for the next day.
Then the second most prominent couple of the Minbari Federation walked back into the ballroom, ready to take on all comers again after their brief respite. And, as the young Mibari aide looked away in respect in their passing, he was privy to an odd sight. The young one would later swear on his Clan's Honor that he had seen the so-called "face" in the Earth's moon "wink" at the backs of the couple!
The End