Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot
Susan knelt before a mound covered with flowers adding the roses she had brought to the pile. She was on Arisia where an informal shrine had been set up in Marcus and William's honor. She had just arrived the night before. Marcus had left her his home as well as business, but she had not been able to stay the night. She would visit it later that day. She had spent two weeks on Earth, in Russia. It had been odd, the clean crisp Russian air is like no other and she had not breathed it for nearly thirty years. She had visited her parents and Ganya's graves. She had spent time in both the Saint Petersburg and summer house. Went through each room, slept in her childhood beds. She had never been in these homes alone. It was odd yet it gave her a new kind of strength. She had not known what she would do after the wars. She knew now. She would remain in her position as Vice President and Entil'zah, she was needed there. This she had decided as she walked the streets of Saint Petersburg shopping. She had met with friends she hadn't seen in decades. Instead of depressing her even more like it should have, the experience had revived her. She had even spent a night in Paris and London before heading to Arisia.
It was her plan stay here, where Marcus had grown up a few more days. Then she would go back to Mimbar and resume her duties. John still wanted her to move in with him, Delenn and David. But she was adamantly against this. Still, if she was going to be spending more time on Mimbar she ought to have something more than a few rooms set aside for her in the Ranger compound. Before, she had thought it useless to build a home for a lone woman. Now she had changed her mind. She was already thinking about the land she would buy. There were ten acres that bordered Ranger property. She would build a house there. Not as large as John and Delenn's, she had no need of something that big, but a modest yet tasteful home. It would be more Earth styled, Russian styled, with tower like structures and porches. Two stories, brick and stone on the outside, wood on the inside. She smiled in pleasure. Four bedrooms. Hers would be the largest, but then she would need guest rooms. Neither Stephen nor Michael lived on Mimbar. They would be useful.
She rose from in front of the mound. The sky was an orange like shade. All around her the once nearly destroyed planet was alive with activity. She walked leisurely to the English style manor Marcus had grown up in. It was beautiful, she thought. The manor was well maintained. She stepped up to the door, thinking what it must have been like when Marcus was a child, running in the door and unlocked it with her key.
As she entered, and walked it, her plans solidified. She would return to Mimbar, and she would get out more, like John wanted. She would take off the all black she had worn for the past 15 years. It was time to stop mourning the life that could have been, and celebrate the life that was. Her mind resolute, she boarded the ship to take her home.