Hi Everybody, sorry for the inconsistency of my posting lately. My summer schedule is just making all the days run together. Again, thank you for all the likes and comments, they make it much easier to continue writing this story. Special thanks to Who Cares711 for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate them so much, and don't worry I plan to have Kestra interact with the cylons more in the future. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy these next two chapters.

just before the cylon attack on New Caprica:

Kestra threw her packed bag on the bed and sighed as she turned back to Laura. Laura raised her brows challengingly.

"You'll have plenty of time aboard Pegasus, I'm sure Lee wouldn't mind if you stayed another day," she insisted.

"You'd be surprised. He was very eager to have me on Pegasus," Kestra argued.

"Well, that's just Lee being selfish. The art show is tomorrow. Come on," Laura pleaded, "it would mean so much to the children to have you there. Especially Katie and Melanie. They adore you." Kestra sighed and fiddled with her thumbs, and Laura knew she'd won. "Great, so we can put this away for now. Let's head back to school. I told Maya I wouldn't be long," she said happily as she moved Kestra's bag off the bed. Kestra rolled her eyes at Laura's antics.

"Alright, let me go tell the raptor pilot to leave without me, but when I get in trouble with Lee I'm blaming you," she said.

"Happy to take the blame," Laura called as Kestra left the tent. Kestra chuckled as she walked down the street and made her way to the landing sight.

"Ready to go Miss?" the pilot asked. He furrowed his brow when he saw that she had no bags with her.

"No, um... When you get back, please tell Commander Adama that I'm staying here for a few more days," she said. The pilot glanced back at the ship nervously.

"I have orders to bring you back with me ma'am," he said.

"I know, but I am under no such orders. I will make sure that the Commander knows that this is my decision, and you did your job to the best of your abilities," she assured him. The pilot nodded hesitantly and walked back to the raptor. Kestra pitied the pilot, knowing that Lee would grill him when he found out that she wasn't aboard. She considered stopping by the parked raptor to tell Lee herself, but when she walked by it she saw Starbuck already using the comms. She furrowed her brow thoughtfully as she continued back home. She couldn't imagine Starbuck was talking to the Admiral, so she had to be speaking with Lee. Maybe he would finally get around to meeting up with her like he'd promised to. Kestra smiled as she made her way back through the city. She slipped quietly into the school tent, though some of the students noticed her entrance and greeted her.

"Shh, pay attention," she scolded them with a smile. The students giggled and returned their attention back to Laura. Kestra snuck around the back of the room to sit with Maya.

"Laura tells me you're staying for the art show," Maya whispered with a smirk.

"She didn't have to twist my arm too much. I would have been sorry to miss it," Kestra replied.

"Well, I'm glad you're staying. It'll be lonely around here without you," Maya said. Kestra smiled gratefully. "I'm so happy for you though," Maya continued, "It's very exciting."

"Yes it is… and nerve wracking," Kestra said with a laugh.

"I'm sure you'll both be very happy," Maya said with an encouraging smile.

"I'm sure we will," Kestra said happily as she turned her attention back to the class. Laura's lesson was interrupted, however, by screams from outside the tent. Loud whooshing noises echoed from the sky as the students all began to murmur.

"Everybody stay calm. Stay where you are," Laura instructed the students. She made brief eye contact with Maya and Kestra before rushing to the door. Kestra looked at Maya and then back to the students, who had disregarded Laura's instructions and were following her to the door. Kestra and Maya both got up and started herding children back to their seats. Kestra made her way back up to the front of the room where Laura was pushing students back into the tent. Kestra ushered them back to their desks and instructed them to work on a worksheet before turning back to the door. She stepped out and found Laura looking up at the sky. Hundreds of ships were flying just over their heads.

"What's happening?" Kestra asked.

"They found us," Laura replied in a hollow voice. Kestra watched the raiders fly overhead and her heart filled with dread. Maya stepped out of the tent to join them and gasped at the sight before her.

"Lee," Kestra said softly, "Laura, if the cylons got past them…" Kestra's hand shot to cover her mouth as tears sprung into her eyes. Laura remained fixated on the sky with a vacant expression. Maya gently rested a hand on Kestra's shoulder and looked at her sympathetically. Laura was brought out of her daze by Kestra's muffled sobs. She turned to the women behind her and finally noticed Kestra's tears. She grabbed Kestra's other hand and looked her in the eyes.

"They would have jumped away," Laura said firmly, "Bill knew they didn't have the manpower to launch an attack. He will have ordered the fleet to jump." She looked back up at the sky hoping that she was right yet dreading it at the same time. Kestra seemed to be momentarily appeased by Laura's explanation. "Come on. Let's get back inside," she said as she led Kestra back into the tent. She had just gotten Kestra to sit down when frantic parents came storming into the school. Laura tried to calm the parents and safely get their children to them without panicking the rest of the students any more than they already were. Laura understood the parents' desire to have their children with them given the cylons' presence on the planet. Laura was so busy trying to get children with their parents that she found little time to contemplate her fate. What struck her was that the cylons weren't shooting. Raiders were landing, but it wasn't like the attack on Caprica. The cylons weren't killing anyone… yet. Laura found that she couldn't seem to care about the prospect of an attack. They'd been beaten. If the cylons wanted to kill them they'd do it. They had no fleet, no military to stop them. The cylons won. Laura finally found a moment to rest when parents had stopped barging in and the children had calmed down. There were only a few students left, and they all sat huddled in the corner with Maya, who was holding Isis tight to her chest. Laura felt a stab of guilt as she looked at the baby. It's parents were probably safely away on Galactica, and had no idea she was alive. If she died in a cylon attack it would be all Laura's fault. The baby might have been safer with her parents. Laura couldn't dwell on her mistakes. She walked toward the door, intending to find out what was happening. On her way out she stopped, seeing that Kestra remained unmoved from the chair she had sat her in when they'd reentered the tent. Laura glanced at the door briefly then walked up to Kestra and knelt before her.

"Kestra," she said softly as she grabbed the younger woman's hands. Kestra's watery gaze remained fixed on the floor. "Hey." Laura squeezed her hands, and Kestra looked up at her. Tears fell from her eyes as she did. "They jumped away. I'm sure of it."

"No you're not," Kestra said haltingly, "just because they knew they wouldn't win a fight doesn't mean they wouldn't try." Laura's breath caught in her throat and she turned her head away. She remembered Bill's reaction when they had left Caprica. He wanted to stay and fight. He only left because she'd convinced him that it was their only chance of survival. With the majority of the population down on the planet, she was sure Bill wouldn't want to leave. That only left Lee as the voice of reason. Lee surely would have seen reason and convinced Bill to jump away. She looked back at Kestra, and knew she was right. Lee would have left, unless he'd known Kestra was still on the planet. Laura felt that pang of guilt again as she realized she might have caused the deaths of the crews of the Galactica and the Pegasus, not to mention the woman sitting before her. She'd convinced Kestra to stay, and if Lee stayed behind for her the Pegasus would surely have been destroyed. Hopelessness threatened to overtake Laura, but she forced herself to focus on the present. This was just another mistake to add to her list. All she could do now was deal with the present crisis.

"No I'm not," she finally said, "but if Lee did stay behind it would have been to protect you. To give you a chance at life. So take it." Kestra met Laura's eyes and fresh tears sprung into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said as she lunged forward to hug Laura. Laura was startled by the action, but slowly returned the hug.

"I'm sorry too," she said thickly. She allowed herself a moment to embrace Kestra and let a few tears escape her eyes. However, she didn't let it last long and quickly pulled back and wiped her eyes. She met Kestra's eyes again and nodded. "Ok, you stay here. I'm going to see what's happening." When she stood up, however, Kestra stood with her.

"I'm going with you," she said as she wiped the tears from her face. Laura shook her head.

"You should stay here with the children," she said.

"Maya can watch them. I'm going with you. I… I can't afford to lose you too," Kestra said. Laura furrowed her brow as she grabbed Kestra's hand again. She looked into her eyes and saw that she was set on coming.

"Alright," she said with a nod, "let's go." They both walked out to the main street where a large ship was landing. Others had gathered on the sides of the street to see the ship. The street was filled with gasps as the hatch opened to reveal legions of centurions marching out in unified groups. They marched down the streets and all the colonists could do was watch. Laura's grip on Kestra's hand tightened as they watched the centurions go by.