- Some Months Later -

"Peek-a-boo," Jim cooed as he opened the hands he had across his face again. Louise laughed every time her daddy did that. Jim didn't know why, he didn't care why, he only cared that it made her laugh.

There had been too few reasons to laugh in the past months since Louise was born. Jim had stayed on Mar Sara since Sarah had sent him away but he'd kept his ear close to the ground. He had heard a few reports of Sarah. It broke his heart to hear she'd been badly injured during one of the fights, losing an entire wing; he'd heard she'd been so badly hurt it had taken a few days to grow back unlike the mere seconds it had taken when Zeratul had encountered her. He longed to be fighting beside her again, but he knew she needed him to be here with their daughter.

He'd heard of the epic battles that had occurred; the attacks on Korhal and the destruction of Shakuras. The "alliance" of the Zerg, Terran and Protoss was a fragile one, although they were driven in their common goal of defeating the called Amon, their strategies were different and the long history of conflict between them acted against them. However, they had come together for a few minor victories. They appeared to be very much on the losing side and it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the entire universe came crashing down around them all. Except, the latest report. The latest report brought news of Amon's defeat.

Jim waited with baited breath for more news. He had to believe in the people who were out there, Sarah, Matt, the rest of the raiders, Artanis, Valerian, and all those that served under them. His job was here, to protect and love their daughter. He looked down at her again in her crib. "You look so much like your momma when you laugh," he told the small, beautiful bundle. Her red hair, her green eyes, the way her mouth was a little too wide for her face when she smiled, but she had his nose.

He was interrupted by a loud bleeping from the other side of the room, signalling someone was calling. He looked to it briefly and then back down to Louise. "Daddy will be right back," he promised her before heading for the communicator. He hit the button to activate and the face of an old friend appeared. "Matt," he forced a smile, glad to see his face but sorry about the toll the war had taken on the sector. "It's good to hear from you," he added.

"Jim," he returned his greeting kindly.

"I heard about Korhal," Jim said grimly. He wasn't attached to the place personally, but the loss of life, the senseless destruction had hit everyone badly. He knew Matt had been there when the Moebius Core had attacked.

Matt's expression grew darker. "It was bad," he surmised. "But it could have been worse if the protoss hadn't shown up." His expression changed slightly for the better. "I guess we owe that one on you."

"You do?" Jim asked, confused.

"Artanis," Matt replied. "If it wasn't for you and the friendship you'd given his people I'm not sure he would have helped."

Jim felt pride in their relationship. He respected the Hierarch and trusted him, he'd class him as a friend. "I'm sure he would have. He wouldn't just leave people there to die. He's respectable, honorable."

"Yes, he is," Matt echoed his sentiments, grateful for all Artanis had done.

"I heard Amon was defeated?" Jim asked eagerly, having heard bits but nothing more.

"Artanis," Matt explained again with a smile on his lips. "He destroyed the body he was building, freed the protoss from the Khala and took a mighty chunk out of his forces. As I understand they've sent him back to the void. It'll be a while before he tries anything like that again." His voice carried a sense of satisfaction in it.

Jim left out a breath of relief that a way bad been found to send Amon away. "This mean the sector can go back to healin' itself?" He knew the road ahead would be hard despite this victory. The Dominion had so much to rebuild, the protoss too. He thought about Sarah, how she'd pledged herself to the fight. Could she be free now?

"We start to rebuild now," Matt replied. He too knew the price of victory, he'd witnessed it surrounded by death and rubble. He pushed the memories away, he'd sworn to himself that things were going to be different, that they would have peace. He hoped that was on the horizon, he hoped it was the reason he was seeking out Jim. He paused as he mulled over his next words.

Jim knew Matt well enough by now to know when he had news he wasn't sure how to tell. He had an awkwardness about him that he was fast losing as he matured into his role of admiral. "I guess you didn't call for a friendly catch up," Jim surmised, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Matt forced a smile. "Kerrigan wants to meet with you," he said slowly.

Jim's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name. It had been so long since he'd seen her. He hoped that now the war was over they could reevaluate their relationship, try again and give things another shot. He hoped he could bring her all the way back to human now and he'd never let her go.

"She's called a meeting with you, and Artanis, on the Spear of Adun," Matt added the extra details.

Jim felt his heart drop slightly. He wondered what she wanted him and Artanis for. Clearly not to talk about 'them'. "Do you know why?" Jim asked, he knew it unlikely she would have said, she always did keep her cards close to her chest.

Matt shook his head. "She asked that you don't bring her daughter," he said reluctantly. He hated being the bearer of bad news when it came to that woman and his child.

It pained Jim that she was always rejecting their daughter, but he buried those thoughts. He tried to tell himself that she was doing it to protect her. Most days he believed it. He nodded to let Matt know he understood, "I have some people I can trust." He wondered why she'd changed her tune over their daughter's safety, insisting she stayed with him. He chose to believe it was probably due to the fact the war was over.

Matt smiled, "I hope those people are free? We'll be there in four hours to pick you up."

Jim was shocked at his arrival estimate. "Damn, don't give a guy much warning do you?" His mind raced at his limited time to get his daughter ready and settled. He hoped the local florist and her partner were able and willing to take her - they were good at the baby sitting thing and Louise seemed to like them.

"Got to keep you on your toes, Commander," he joked.

"See you soon," he added dryly.

Matt nodded and deactivated the communication.

Jim sighed and went to his daughter's crib. He lifted her slowly and held her. "Were you listening to that?" He asked her knowing full well that she couldn't understand him. "I gotta see your momma," he felt a smile creep across his lips as he spoke. He realized he would be glad to see her again after so long. He straightened his expression as he spoke seriously to his baby, "I promise I will try and bring her home." He let that thought linger longer with him and hoped he could make it happen.

He spent a little while longer enjoying her presence before he arranged her stay with the florist and packed her things. Leaving her behind was one of the hardest things he'd had to do, especially when he had no idea how long he'd be gone. He said his goodbyes and left with the Hyperion.

So now LotV is out, I'm bringing certain story elements from it into this and taking a few liberties. Again, I don't really want to delve too much into the story of StarCraft as I will solely be focusing on Jim and Sarah and their relationship - so please don't be mad I just skipped all of the events of LotV :D