"We should burn it down."
That's what she, Sharon Eight, had said after they'd taken Boomer out of that place and to a hospital, after when they were all standing there staring at the ship.
"You know, to make sure nobody ever goes on it, make sure there are no bodies left for them to wake up in. Destroy them forever."
"Owen, burn it down."
She hadn't stayed long; she'd walked away after that. When she had accessed her sister's memories so long ago, it had been in curiosity, and what she had found was the knowledge of true love. That is what she had wanted to gain so many years ago and it was still what she wanted now. After all her years on Earth with Boomer, it was still the only thing she had never found. Boomer had, twice even. Though the way her sister explained it was that the human inside her had loved the Chief, but Sharon Valerii had died when Cally shot her, and Boomer had been nothing but a ghost of her former self.
Perhaps another country would give her what she wanted.
She'd stayed only long enough to make sure her sister lived and then boarded a plane towards America. In search of new adventures, in search of a quiet life. She'd been sitting in a bar just outside her hotel for a while when he came in and sat down next to her. He'd smiled at her and ordered her a drink, how he had known what to order was a mystery and she had found herself smiling back.
"I'm Steven and who are you?"
"Nice to meet you, Steven. I'm Sharon."
And with the meeting of two hands, a new story starts.
He'd told her once, a long time ago, after he had killed her so she could get Hera ,that he had always known he couldn't live without her. But he hadn't wanted it to be proven to him, he wanted to pretend, and she hadn't understood him then. Now she did, now that she had spent months sitting by his side, now she understood exactly how he felt. But Helo had known she would return, and Helo had known that their separation was temporary; Athena had not.
But all that was behind them now, now everything would be alright.
The doctor spoke of a miracle, and perhaps it was, but told them he would never be completely alright again. It would take time before he could walk out of the hospital, and even then he'd always have problems. Cottle told them later he would most definitely never be able to fly again, not that it mattered; she suspected that the entire crew of the Galactica never wanted to fly a raptor or viper again. But they were together, united again, and that was all they needed.
It was a little confusing though. Hera told them she had only been gone a few days, but she had been gone for months, but apart from that, there was nothing else. The Admiral and the Cylon representative had wanted to send somebody after Boomer, but Athena thought it was about time to let all of it go and just move on. Let Boomer live her life far from them; she had everything she needed.
He held them both in his arms and vowed to himself he would never lose them again.
She hadn't died, which had taken her by surprise, but it had taken a while to recover. That had been new to her. She was, after all, a Cylon, and Cylons didn't heal. Cylons died and were then resurrected, they had completely new bodies, and they didn't need to heal. Jack had been there through her entire recovery, never breathing a word of what had happened until she had recovered. She'd told him everything, that had been a painful few hours, and he had just looked at her and said nothing.
But she had almost died and that enabled that he could forgive her easier, it would take time, sure, but they would eventually be fine. She stared at the city below her; why Jack had brought her here was beyond her, though she had to admit it was beautiful. It reminded her of Troy, actually, even though she had never actually been there, and somehow it had a calming effect.
She felt his arms around her and smiled.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes."
She'd realized a while ago, lying in that hospital, that everything that had happened was just as much her fault as theirs. And that at the end of the day, after everything, it didn't really matter anymore. This was their new lives, and they should embrace them, make the best of it and leave each other alone. Forgiveness from those she had called friends was what she had been searching for when she advocated New Caprica, but she realizes now that she didn't just need their forgiveness, though it was still important.
In the end what she needed to do, above all, was forgive herself.
