It wasn't a fluke his finding her. She's still here, sitting right next to him, scowling like this is something she hasn't expected.
He doesn't care if she's angry. He doesn't care that the shock of seeing him has worn off and she hasn't said a word. He doesn't care about what Leoben is going to say to them whenever he decides to show up.
She is here, within arms reach, and she isn't going through some life altering trauma he's forced to watch and have his heart ripped apart every single time. He reaches for her right hand and is surprised when she doesn't pull away. And before he thinks the better of it, he can't help but say, "This is the one."
Kara's eyes widen with shock and anger, but her lip quivers the slightest bit, and Lee knows it is the hand that felt the wrath of that door all those years ago. She doesn't ask how he knows. She only rips her hand from his and holds it against her chest, absently rubbing at the knuckles.
"What were you thinking Lee?" She asks. "I told you I wasn't afraid. I asked you to let me go."
"Maybe I wasn't ready to do that," Lee counters.
"Frak you," she says through clenched teeth. "You had your father. You had Dee. You had so many things back there for you. Coming after me was a death sentence."
Lee has no reply to that. She's mad at him. Fine. He honestly didn't expect some kind of heart warming reunion. He doesn't know what kind of reaction he expected from her once she learned he followed her into certain death. The only thing he can take from this is the fact this she hasn't gotten up to move away from him. That she's not running away.
"I wasn't thinking," he answers quietly. "One of the only times in my life I didn't break down all the possibilities. I didn't over analyze. I saw you go and I just couldn't..."
Leoben chooses that moment to make an appearance as he walks through the door, that cruel grin plastered on his face.
"Now that you're reacquainted," he says. "We can begin."
Kara isn't surprised to see him and Lee wonders if that means anything. Leoben circles around the table, his eyes speaking volumes that haven't quite reached his mouth. Lee leans into Kara, ignoring the machine walking around them.
"What does your destiny have to do with the cylons?" He whispers.
Kara doesn't even flinch.
"He's not a cylon." She says, her eyes catching Leoben's before moving to Lee's. The confusion is evident on his face and all she can do is shrug in response.
"I don't know what he is," she goes on. "I never thought to ask."
Lee's eyes turn to the third man in the room, his mind going blank on what to refer to him as.
Leoben leans on the table grinning. "For continuities sake," He says. "I'm going to stick with this form."
His eyes move to Kara.
"You're angry," he states, his gaze moving over to Lee. "At him?"
Kara looks back to the bucket of water.
"I'm not going to use that if you don't tell me," He says, that smile coming back into play. He turns to Lee. "We've seen a lot haven't we?"
Lee doesn't reply.
"And throughout our travels I could never come to a conclusion as to why you were there at all. Why you were so willing to be."
He moves to sit haphazardly on the table in front of Kara.
"You took some convincing," he grins. "A shove here, a gentle nudge there. You had been told your whole life that you were special but when it was right in front of you, when you saw what you had created with your own hand, I still had to make you see what you were meant to do."
Lee is looking so hard at Kara but she refuses to look back at him. Leoben moves into Lee's eye line, interrupting his stare.
"You however," he says. "Took no convincing. No push, no shove. She blew up right in front of you, and you blew up right after."
He looks back to Kara.
"Did you know that?" He asks her. "That he was so willing to do that for you. Because of you?"
"I didn't ask him to," Kara retorts.
"My point exactly," Leoben counters. "You didn't have to. He cared for you enough to chase you into death. He cared enough for his heart to burst at every agonizing detail of your life in this place."
Lee and Kara's eyes meet, and he can see the sheen of tears threatening to form. He reaches out a hand and despite a spilt second hesitation, she takes it. The warmth of her touch spreads through him and he is grateful the rules had suddenly changed when it came to physical contact. "This is what I mean," Leoben says. "She's angry with you right now. For dying, for leaving the old man behind, but still lets you try to comfort her."
"We're friends," Lee says.
"You're so much more than that," Leoben counters. "Don't diminish it just because you two are such cowards you can never admit it to each other at the same time."
Lee can feel Kara want to pull away but he holds on that much tighter.
"Let me ask you this Major, with all my talk of destiny, all my talk of paths, journeys, and sacrifice, did you ever once think of yourself?"
"When could I?" Lee replies. "This whole time you were only telling me about how I didn't belong here. How this was her journey and you never understood why I was here."
Leoben smiles and Lee squeezes her hand more for himself than her. If this thing starts to laugh at him in anyway, he wonders if the rules had changed enough for him to be able to finally punch it.
"I was ill informed," is all he says. "I couldn't see it when you two were apart, but now it is so clear it's almost blinding."
He looks down at their hands clutching so tightly, before moving from the table so he could look them both in the eye.
"A good rope has many strands," he begins. "They twist and overlap, to the point where you cannot tell one strand from the other, to the point where it is so strong severing these bonds cannot be accomplished in one single cut."
They both look at each other. "Your destinies are so intertwined," Leoben continues. "That not even the gods themselves could tell them apart."
Kara's gaze turns questioning and Lee knows his own has turned the same.
"That doesn't make any sense," he throws in. "If my destiny was so intertwined with hers, how come I never had any clues to my place like she had? Where were you telling me what I had to do?"
"Tell me Apollo," Leoben throws back. "Who is paying attention to a god?" His eyes move to Kara. "When he is continually being outshone by a star?"
Lee wants to say something to that, but Leoben cuts him off.
"The how and why doesn't really matter now. The both of you are here for a reason."
Leoben moves to stand in front of them.
"We know where Earth is," he says placing his hands on each of their shoulders. "And we're going to take you there."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
They are on New Caprica. Moonlight covers the barren ground and random shrubbery and it takes a moment for Lee's eyes to adjust. Leoben isn't there again, and Kara is standing a few feet away staring at something on the ground. He follows her line of sight to see the clothes they wore the night they weren't afraid anymore. The night they finally consummated their drawn out and frakked up relationship.
"I know the gods can have a twisted sense of humor," Kara says, her eyes still focused on the ground. "But this is just..."
Lee smiles weakly, at least she didn't sound angry anymore.
"Just?" He asks.
"Mean."
He laughs to himself and quickly erases the distance between them, enfolding her in his arms before she could even think of protesting, and feels a small sense of relief when she doesn't. Her arms wrap around his neck, and her head rests gently on his shoulder.
"I saw you die," he says softly into the nape of her neck.
"I had to," she replies.
He doesn't say anything else at the moment, just nods against her. He wishes this is how it could have ended the last time they were here. He wishes that he hadn't woken up alone that morning after finally being brave enough to tell her how he felt. After shouting to the gods that Lee Adama loved Kara Thrace.
"They want to pull you down with me," she says against him. "We're destined, how frakked up is that?"
"You make it sound like I'm stuck with you."
"Story of your life isn't it?"
Interesting choice of words, he thinks, welcoming this change of pace. This chance to finally stand still with Kara.
"I need to tell you something," he says pulling back so he can look at her. "Leoben, whoever, whatever he is, showed me things. Things I don't think I was ever supposed to see."
Kara's eyebrow rises in curiosity.
"About you."
She nods for him to go on.
"I saw your father leave. I say him say his goodbye to you without the words."
He can feel her go rigid against him but he continues.
"I saw what your mother did to you." He grabs the hand she pulled away from him earlier and kisses it gently. "I saw your tears, felt your pain."
"Gods dammit Lee," she mumbles against him. "Don't you frakking make me cry."
"I saw your last pyramid game," he keeps going. "That dirty hit that ruined your knee. I saw you with my..."
He pulls away slightly to cup her chin between his thumb and finger, bringing her eyes to meet his. "I saw you with Zak. I saw how happy you were."
His heart breaks for what feels like the hundredth time in this place at the sight of her tears.
"He wanted to make me understand why you have done what you've done. He wanted me to see you for all you really are. It's strange; I thought no one else knew you like I do."
"You were wrong," she says softly, seeing his eyes drop in disappointment, she amends the statement. "You get me," she says moving her head back to his shoulder. "There's a difference. You get me without knowing all the crappy details, without ever having to ask."
He squeezes her slightly.
"And you never asked" she repeats. "Because you never had to. You would just look at me and sometimes it felt like you could see right through me."
He can't help but smile against her at that.
"I don't think I ever told you how much that scared the hell out of me."
"You didn't," he replies and feels her nod against him. "Is it different?" He asks. " Now that I know?"
"I'm not sure," she replies. "But do me a favor."
"Anything, you know that."
"Let it go."
He looks down at her in surprise and she offers him a small smile and shrugs. "I did."
Finding himself at a loss for words he only nods his head once in reply.
"How long do you think we have?" He asks after a few minutes.
"I'm not sure," she sighs. "They said they were going to take us to Earth and they brought us here."
"For such a preordained path it has more twists than an Athena roll," he jokes lamely but is rewarded with a laugh.
She looks back up at him shifting slightly against his body and wrapping her arms around his neck again.
"Maybe they wanted this to happen," she suggests.
"Maybe," he concedes lifting his hand to run softly down her cheek. "Does this mean you forgive me?" He asks in a whisper. "For dying?"
Her lips brush gently against his. "You know better than that," she replies.
He can only smile in response. "Before we go," she continues, not breaking his gaze. "I want you to meet someone."
He looks and her questioningly.
"Trust me."