The door to Kestra's room swung open. She looked up from her drawing, expecting to see Laura Roslin before her. Instead, it was Lee Adama. A goofy smile stretched across his face as if he couldn't help himself.

"Kestra," he said happily. Kestra smirked slightly at his reaction.

"It's good to see you, Lee," she said evenly. Lee crossed the room in two strides and scooped her up into a hug. Kestra tensed at first, but slowly relaxed into his embrace.

"I missed you," he said softly. Kestra pulled back.

"You look pretty happy for a guy who just found out Gaius Baltar is going to be his president," she said.

"It doesn't matter who the president is," Lee said dismissively, "now that the election's over, you can come out of hiding." Kestra's eyes narrowed.

"Your civilization has just been put under the rule of a man you know to be a narcissistic opportunist, and all you care about is that I'm out of hiding?" she asked incredulously.

"Kestra, politicians come and go. Who the president is isn't going to change whether we live or die," he said. Kestra was furious.

"You'd just dismiss the last year of Laura Roslin's life as a political escapade. How can you be so heartless, Lee?" she asked angrily.

"Roslin did some good things and some bad things. All politicians do. Baltar hasn't been all bad either you know," he said defensively.

"Yes, but Laura spent the entire year she was in office doing what she thought was best for the survival of the human race. When has Baltar done anything for someone else's benefit? Lee, how can you be so dismissive about the future of your people?" she asked. Lee sobered as he looked at her.

"Look, I know that Baltar is a selfish prick, but there's nothing we can do about it now. You've been spending a lot of time with Roslin, haven't you?" he asked. He could tell that her thoughts on Gaius Baltar came straight from the former president.

"She's my friend, Lee," she said, "I needed one." Lee's expression softened.

"Kestra, I wanted to-"

"How's Dee?" she asked stiffly, walking back across the room. Lee was taken aback. He didn't know how Kestra knew about him and Dee. He thought she might have used her telepathy on him, but it wouldn't make sense for her to have heard any thoughts about Dee. Dee didn't usually trigger strong emotions in him. It was something he had been struggling with in the months since his injury. She had taken care of him after he'd been shot. Dee was caring and kind, and she doted on him every minute. Yet, every time he was with her, he was thinking of someone else. Dee was a good frak, but she wasn't the company he wanted. Starbuck confused him too. One minute she was kissing him, and the next she was talking about Sam Anders. Seeing the two of them together had made Lee angry, but not at Kara and Sam. He was mad at himself. He was frakking Dee, chasing Kara, and letting Kestra stay locked up on Colonial One. He couldn't get Kestra out of his mind. She was kind and insightful beyond anyone he'd met in the fleet. She had a perspective of the universe that he'd never seen before, and it fascinated him. She fascinated him. He didn't want to lose her, not when it was his own stupid mistakes that had driven her away in the first place. Being aboard Pegasus had made him realize how lonely being surrounded by strangers could be. He understood everything Kestra had been trying to tell him before his promotion. Standing across the room from her now, he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and promise her that everything would be alright. He wanted to apologize for his selfishness and beg her forgiveness. Most of all, he wanted to take her back to Pegasus with him and never let her go away again. He had to choose a place to start, so he picked the hardest one. An apology.

"Kestra, I'm sorry for the way I treated you on Galactica. You were right. I was selfish, and I took you for granted. But I missed you. I know I made mistakes, but the timing has never worked out for us either. When I got shot and when I got my promotion, I wanted to see you. Then this whole thing with the election. Kestra, please, give me another chance. Can't we start over?" he pleaded. Kestra looked at him with an unreadable expression. It was as if she was studying him thoroughly to make her final judgement about his worthiness. Lee found himself standing up a little taller under her gaze. This made her smile.

"I don't want to start over, Lee," she said evenly. His face fell. "Can't we pick up where we left off?" she asked. His face immediately brightened.

"Of course," he said, taking a step toward her. He paused to make sure this was what she wanted, but she quickly closed the gap between them and pulled him into an embrace.

"I missed you too," she admitted over his shoulder. Lee smiled.

"I want you to come back to the Pegasus with me," he said. Kestra pulled away and looked at him.

"I thought we agreed that it was dangerous for me to be aboard Pegasus," she said.

"We agreed that Galactica was dangerous. The crew of the Pegasus doesn't know you, and I can protect you," he said.

"Lee, the men who attacked me were from the Pegasus," she said softly.

"It's only two men. You'll be safer there than you will be hiding here from the press," he argued.

"Two men will talk," she reasoned, "besides Lee, I don't belong on a military ship. I'm a civilian. What would I do on your Battleship?" Lee opened his mouth to speak but rethought his decision and closed it. He sighed.

"I was going to say you would be with me, but that wouldn't really be for you. It would be for me. You'd have a better shot at making a life for yourself here as a civilian than you would on Pegasus," he said. Kestra smiled softly.

"Thank you," she said, "it means a lot to me that you understand and you're not mad."

"No, I'm not mad," he said sadly.

"I'll visit you, Commander," she said hopefully. Lee took a step closer to her.

"You'd better," he said, inches away from her face. Kestra closed the gap between them by pressing her lips to his. Lee's arms quickly found their way around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Kestra's arms wrapped around his neck. The kiss ended, and Kestra wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. Lee was practically holding her off the ground as they embraced. "I think I'm ready for a visit now," he whispered into her ear. Kestra laughed. It was a light, effortless laugh, and Lee couldn't help but join in.

"I would like to get outside this room for a while," Kestra admitted. Lee pulled away from her to look at her.

"Let's go then," he said, sliding his hand down to take hers. Kestra squeezed his hand as they left the room. The halls were strangely barren as they roamed the halls. They made it to the president's office and found it stripped bare except for the desk in the middle of the room and the couches across from it. Laura Roslin stood behind the desk looking forlornly across the room.

"Laura," Kestra said softly as they entered, "what's going on?" Laura smirked at her sadly.

"I just wanted to take one last look around. Everything is already packed up," she said.

"Where will you go?" Kestra asked worriedly. Laura shrugged.

"Admiral Adama has agreed to let me stay on Galactica until settlement starts on New Caprica," Roslin said. Kestra looked back at Lee nervously.

"On the planet?" she asked, turning back to Roslin. Roslin smiled softly.

"It's the only place I can go. I've never really belonged anywhere else but here," she said looking around the room, "and now…" Her sentence tapered off and she let out a sigh. Kestra turned back to Lee. He saw the fear on her face and brushed her hair behind her ear with his hand.

"It'll be okay. You promised to visit remember," he said. She smiled sadly at him then turned to Laura.

"Laura, will you take me with you?" she asked. Laura looked questioningly between the two of them for a moment before answering.

"Of course, if that's what you want," Laura replied. Kestra nodded.

"It is," she said firmly. Laura nodded.

"Well, I'm leaving for Galactica now if you want to come," Laura said nodding toward the door. Kestra turned to Lee and grabbed his hands. Lee looked between the two of them.

"Kestra, come with me to Pegasus. You can stay with me until settlement starts, and I'll escort you back to Galactica when the… when Laura is ready to go down to the planet," Lee said emphatically. Kestra turned to Laura questioningly. Laura raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," she said smugly. Kestra smiled as she turned back to Lee. she nodded and Lee picked her up in a hug and swung her around. "I'll see you two later," Laura said as she left. Kestra quickly detached herself from Lee.

"Laura wait," she called as she ran to her. Kestra threw her arms around the older woman. "Thank you... for everything," she said. Laura returned the hug and smiled.

"Thank you," she replied with emphasis, "I'll see you on New Caprica." Kestra nodded as she released her friend. Laura left and Kestra turned back to Lee. He held out his arm and she looped her own through it. Lee led her down the hall, but Kestra stopped him before they could make it to the hangar bay.

"If I'm not coming back here, I want to get my drawings," she said suddenly.

"Drawings?" Lee asked.

"Well what do you think I've been doing for the past two weeks?" Kestra asked. Lee smirked as he followed her back to her room. This time when he entered, he noticed a pile of papers in the corner. Kestra knelt down and began gathering them up. Lee kneeled down and examined a few of the pages. The first drawing he grabbed was of a forest with a large lake just visible through the trees. The next was of a man and woman. They were both smiling and the woman was tucked protectivel under the man's arm.

"Who are they?" he asked as he passed the page to her. Kestra stopped what she was doing to look at the image. She smiled wistfully.

"Those are my parents," she told him, "back when they had reason to smile. I always loved my mother's smile." Lee squeezed her shoulder, and Kestra ran her fingers over his hand. "It's getting better. I still miss them, but it's not as hard to think about them anymore." Lee nodded. He turned back to the pile, and a picture that had slid up against the wall caught his eye. He picked it up and studied it. Kestra noticed and looked over his shoulder to see which drawing he'd found. "Oh," she said shyly when she saw it. It was a drawing of Lee's face.

"It's good," he said as he looked at it.

"You can have it," she said. He looked at her with a smirk.

"Just in case I forget what I look like?" he asked. She smiled back.

"Get over yourself. I thought you might like it, but if you'd rather not I'm sure Dee or Starbuck would hang it in their lockers. Lee's eyes went wide, and he saw her smirk.

"That's not funny," he said, nudging her playfully. She laughed and pushed him back, scattering the drawings all over the floor again. They both broke out in another fit of laughter as laid back on the floor.