She was sitting on the bench in the garden when he arrived. The sun was coming up in the horizon and made the entire dew filled landscape beneath it glimmer like it had been showered with precious stones. When he closed in, the rays had reached the hem of her dress. She was statuesque this morning, her hands placed in her lap and her back straight. It only made David feel even more awkward. As an adolescent young man, he hadn't managed to become comfortable in a body that had been growing too fast. And instead of being blessed with the natural graces of a Minbari, he more resembled a human, with all their flaws.
"Mom?" David said. He intended for it to be stronger, to show her that his only concern was her well-being. He was the man of the house now, wasn't he? But it came out as a weak mewl, resembling the voice and tone he had used when he was five and had just awoken from a nightmare. His mother didn't turn around to greet him, but reached her hand out instead, inviting him to sit. When he did, she took a firm hold of his palm and pointed to the sunrise. "Look. Isn't it beautiful?" It was. The city was being reborn in the tender morning light.
He loved the view dearly, but he had never felt it tug at his heart strings like it did now.
"I should have come home earlier. But I didn't know…" He heaved after air, "I wanted to say good bye." A ranger had informed him of what had happened. So he had quietly left the dojo, walked into his room and smashed everything he could get his hands on. Pictures and sculptures had been crushed against the walls and the floor, his table and chairs were now useless as anything else than firewood and the two mirrors he owned had been reduced to small, sharp shards. After doing that, he had taken a cruiser and travelled home.
Delenn made him lean his head on her shoulder. It looked a bit ridiculous as he was very much taller than her, but at the moment, his masculine pride had vanished. "Would it have changed anything, David? You're half Minbari. We don't believe in good-byes."
"He was human, I think he would have appreciated it."
"Your father wanted you to remember him like he was when you last saw him; tall, strong and eternally worried about you."
He managed a small chuckle. The last time he had seen his father, he had been nagging him about remembering to pack everything for his training with the rangers. He had forgotten at least three things, and had been scolded badly over the vid-com.
"Do not be worried. When you meet him in your next life, you will have a chance to say your good byes. If you feel there is still a need for them."
They grew silent as they watched the sunrise end and the day begin.