Title: That Was Then, This Is Now

By: Katherine (Dragon) (Dramkat)

Sum: What Happens After Harper Wakes

Rating: PG

A/N : ok I want to thank my beta reader Margaret, and eveyone who reviewed, do the same for this chap.

Dis: (forgot this) I don't own Andromeda or the chars, but the one I created are mine, all I get is the love from you :)-

Harper woke in a warm bed, with a mountain of blankets - not what he had expected after being knocked out by his best friend. As he looked around the room, he noticed that it was like an old Earth castle, with stone walls and a real wood door and bed.

Slowly getting up and moving across the room, he noticed the door was locked. "What the hell?"

He quickly made his way to the window and looked out. He was at least six stories up. That escape route out of the question, he started looking for more ways to get out, just as Trance walked in and shut the door behind her.

Harper spun around, ready to question and yell, stopping when he finally saw her. She was dressed differently than he had ever seen her, in a long white dress that flowed all the way to the floor, and beyond. Her hair was down all the way, too - he had never noticed how long it was before.

She didn't look so much beautiful as like a goddess - a goddess that was crying. All the anger he felt flew out that window suddenly at the thought that something so beautiful could cry. "Trance? What..?"

Trance spoke quickly, apparently to herself."You shouldn't be here...You didn't know.... You could change it if you tried... It wasn't you - not *this* you, at least..."

Harper could see she was about to break, so he walked over to her, took her in his arms, and sat her down on the bed. "Shhhh, it's okay. Now, what happened, and what's it got to do with me?"

Trance looked up, tears in her eyes. "You need to know something..."

Harper just stared at Trance. He had never seen her so stressed out before.

Trance quickly looked out the window. "Okay... You know I came from a bad time, where a lot of things went wrong." Another tear fell.

"What's this all have to do with me?"

Trance looked back at Harper. "You have a daughter."

Harper nearly fainted. "What?! I thought I died!"

Trance placed her hand on his. "Things happened a little differently in my time..."

She took a deep breath. "I couldn't save you, but I knew I knew I was close to a cure, so we froze you in a cryochamber until I could find it. I *did* find a cure, eventually, and I was able to save you. When I got you back on your feet, you claimed you'd had some kind of epiphany, and then confessed your love in true Harper fashion."

She smiled at that last thought and looked back into Harpers eyes. "To make long story short, we were happy. But then they attacked - the tunnel beings - and I made another mistake. I was only blind for a second, and didn't see what would happen, but you dyed with the rest, leaving only Beka and me. Then, to make things worse, I found out I was pregnant."

She broke the eye contact quickly. "Things got bad. Beka got hurt time and time again, and it wasn't safe for the baby, so I brought her here."

Harper thought for a moment. "Wouldn't she disappear after you changed things?"

Trance smiled. "No, this planet isn't in real time."

"Oh." Harper grinned at her.

Trance wiped her tear-soaked cheeks. "Now the king - my father - is dying."

She watched the shock flit across Harper's face. "Yes, I'm a princess - and the eldest, which makes me heir, though I turned down the throne a long time ago."

She took another breath. "Since I refused the throne, it goes to my firstborn - our daughter. She is more than ready for it, but the people don't know she has mixed blood. A royal Princess and an outsider having a child would be bad enough, but for that child to want the throne, as well..."

She paused for a moment. "The only reason my father even allowed her here was that you were dead."

Harper smiled thinly. "Man, I feel loved."

Trance smiled back, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "It gets worse... My father doesn't believe any other race could love one of my kind. He believes that it could only ever be lust, and has decreed that if an outsider is ever found with one of my kind, they are to be killed."

Harpers eyes grew wide, and Trance rushed to continue. "I've tried to explain that it wasn't you, but they won't listen. All they said was that they would test you."

Harper got a serious look on his face. "What do I do to make sure they know it *is* me?"

Trance just looked at Harper. "What!? They'll kill you!"

Harper looked at Trance, and smiled. "I *do* love you, no matter what the timeline, and if we have a daughter, I'll love her more that anything in the universe too. We'll figure this out somehow, don't worry."

Trance smiled in relief. "Then you need to meet her, don't you?"