Part 2

The bar was dark, and quiet. They were the only ones there. Them, and Harper, although he sat behind the bar, absently working. His mind was somewhere else, she knew. She thought he probably didn't even remember they were there with him.

It was quiet. At least until a soft song floated through the room. She started, looking around, seeing the others do the same. Her eyes came to rest on the source.

Harper. Was singing! Oh, she'd heard him sing before, but never like this. Always in that slightly joking way, never singing seriously. Almost trying to sound bad.

She'd thought he couldn't sing.

And was now surprised.

Because this song, one from Earth, she thought, was sung beautifully.

She'd never known he could sing. Made her wonder what else she didn't know.

Glanced at the others, saw the same thoughts reflected in their eyes.

Looked back at the lone figure by the bar. Funny how apart they seemed now. Not just the physical difference, the width of the room, but emotionally.

He never talked to her any more. She wasn't sure she'd been all that inviting, but she did have to admit to herself that she missed him.

Missed his quirky personality, the jokes, the easy companionship. Hell, she even missed the trouble he always seemed to attract.

Missed the person, and realised that this had happened before Seefra.

He looked older, she though. Then realised, really understood.

Three years.

It never occurred to her, never sunk in. Harper is now three years older, compared to her six months.

And she shuddered then. Those six months had not been pleasant. She could not imagine three years.

She remembered the loneliness, the feeling of betrayal. Of abandonment, when no one came to save her.

For the first time, she wondered how Harper had felt. He'd seemed so much the same. It had never registered, never seemed real, that he'd spent three years in a place that had almost destroyed her is six months, and Rhade in only three.

She continued to study her friend at the bar. She really looked at him, for the first time in a long time.

Saw what she hadn't wanted to see. Saw some of herself reflected in him.

And winced at the way he sung the last words of the song. She could hear the longing in his voice for something. No, not something . . . for home.

Blinked back the tears that had made a sudden appearance. Harper was a gifted singer and the emotion he put into this song would break your heart.

She remembered that he'd always loved Christmas, insisting that they celebrate. She smiled slightly. Those Christmases were some of the best memories she had.

For the first time, in a long time, Beka Valentine came alive. Plots filled her head. Christmas plots.

She couldn't think of a better time to start mending relationships.