"Apparitions" Time: Twenty-five cycles after Dog With Two Bones

Disclaimer: I didn't create Farscape, didn't create the characters and don't make a plug nickel off of it.

---------------------------------------

Part Twenty-seven: Epilogue

(Vanessa.)

I walked from the transport pod to the low building that sat in the middle of a rolling plain. Mattis walked next to me, Chiana, Stark and the rest bringing up the rear. Mom and Dad remained in the pod for now. We had a surprise to spring.

"Are you sure you want to do this," Mattis asked. "Is it really a good idea to surprise a Luxan?"

"Don't worry about it, Mattis. This'll be good." I looked up into the clear midday sky and felt the slight breeze tug at my hair. I inhaled deeply, smelling the faintly sweet scent of ripening frotash. "This'll be real good."

I looked off to the side, at a small secondary building. I could see the silver-gray, almost insect-like design of a fast attack craft. "Lo'laan's looking to be in good shape."

"He always loved that ship," Chiana said.

I thought I heard a touch of regret in Chiana's voice. "Do you wish things had gone differently between you and D'Argo, Chi?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes. Hey, maybe there's another reality where he and I are together."

"Would you like to go looking for one?"

"Some other time, maybe."

As we walked up the path to the house, the front door opened and D'Argo stepped out, Jool close behind him. Both were smiling broadly, looking like the cycles had been good to them. "Vanessa! Chiana! Stark! Good to see you again!" D'Argo's voice was booming and filled with joy. He wrapped us up in his arms and held us close.

"What brings you out here," Jool asked as I kissed her on the cheek. "There's nothing wrong, is there?"

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong. We had a little bit of a hard time lately and we needed to take a little vacation. I've wanted to come by for a visit, so it seemed like the perfect time. You remember Mattis, Tashina and Lhatan, yes?"

D'Argo nodded. "Yes, of course. It's good to see you all again. How long can you stay?"

"We can stay for a little while. Oh, before I forget." I tapped my comm. "Pilot?"

Pilot sounded happy for the first time in a long time. "It's good to hear from you again, D'Argo, Joolushka. Moya hopes that you'll come up to see her."

"I would love to see Moya again." Jool was bouncing up and down, barely containing her joy.

"How are the kids?"

"Napping right now, which is a good thing. They're both bundles of energy." D'Argo nodded and waved a hand at the field behind the house. As we walked, he asked, "What kind of trouble did you get into?"

"Who said we got into trouble? I just said we had some hard times." The look on Jool's face was all the answer I needed. "Okay, so we did get into a bit of a tight spot with Peacekeepers."

"Vanessa."

"They started working on wormholes again. So we stopped them. It wasn't easy and it certainly could have gone fahrbot at any time, but we managed to stop them."

"If you needed help, why didn't you let us know? I certainly would have been willing to help."

"You have a family to worry about, D. Besides, we had some help. It's all good now." I didn't want to mention my feeling that I had made myself a dangerous enemy in Misata Katsur. "We stopped them."

"We lost Vanessa down a wormhole for a few days," Chiana said, "but other than that."

D'Argo growled. "Wormholes aren't to be played with, Vanessa."

"Hey, it was the only way I could think of to get rid of a Vigilante that was harassing us."

As we stopped at the edge of the frotash field, Jool said, "John always thought he could control wormholes. Until he and Aeryn fell down one and disappeared."

D'Argo sighed heavily and rested his hands on his hips. "I was just thinking about John and Aeryn. After everything we'd gone through, after everything fate and the universe threw at us, at least they ended up together, wherever they are." He looked at me side on. "Pity they have found a way back to his home."

"You don't have to keep that a secret anymore, D'Argo," Chiana said. "Vanessa knows about our trip to Earth." In response to D'Argo's questioning look, she added, "Sikozu was working with the Peacekeepers."

"I wondered what happened to her after all these cycles."

"She's still the same arrogant little tralk she was before."

I looked out over the frotash plants, inhaled deeply and smiled. "Crop looks like it's coming in good this cycle." I inhaled again and turned D'Argo and Jool away from the transport pod. A quick look past them was enough to send Tashina jogging back to the pod.

"There is something else. We came across two people while we were dealing with the Peacekeepers. When they figured out who we were, they said they wanted to meet the two of you."

D'Argo frowned. "Vanessa."

"Look, I know how you feel about uninvited guests. But these two are all right. You'll like them." I glanced at the pod and nodded. Mom and Dad were almost here.

With a loud sigh, D'Argo glanced at Jool and shrugged. "All right. Where are they?"

D'Argo started to turn toward the pod. I stopped him and made sure he and Jool were looking out over the field. "Both of you just keep looking out that way, and you, don't inhale too deeply, D'Argo."

I walked away, waving for everyone to follow me. I smiled at Mom and Dad as we past, then turned and watched.

Dad stopped just behind D'Argo, a little off to his left. Mom went to the right, just behind Jool. They stood in silence for a microt, and I could tell D'Argo and Jool were getting impatient.

Dad glanced at Mom, planted his hands on his hips and said, "Yo, D, I never pictured you as a farmer, dude."

For another microt, nothing happened. Then both D'Argo and Jool turned, their faces showing shock and surprise. A microt later, they were all howling in joy.

I watched them, smiled and leaned back against Mattis. "You were right," he said. "This was real good."

My smile grew. "Yeah. I'm going to enjoy this vacation." I looked around and sighed, feeling myself relax.

I don't know what the future holds for us. I don't know what we'll run into when we leave here. But for now, for today at least, I'm content.

THE END

The Story Of Vanessa Sun Is Not Finished