He turns toward the living room and sees that the piano is still there, mother Thrace must have had a soft spot for it, though he can't help but think it hasn't been touched since that day. Kara is waiting for him at the front of the hallway and he starts toward her when he notices the medal mounted on the wall. He'd seen it out of the corner of his eye before, but hadn't gotten a good look because it hadn't really registered in his mind. He takes the time to look.
The Colonial Marines medal of valor. It's impressive. They don't hand these out lightly.
Kara clears her throat and Lee nods moving toward her. She moves backward through the hallway, staying a few feet ahead, wordlessly leading him to the room at the end. He feels the slightest apprehension and what he might walk into. It seems like there are far too many bad memories here for such a small living space.
Kara disappears behind the door.
It's late afternoon, golden sunlight spills into the room through half drawn shudders. Kara is already standing on the left side of the bed looking down at the woman whose medal Lee was just admiring.
Socrata Thrace is close to death. The simple act of breathing looking like more effort than it's worth. She doesn't appear to notice either of them. He finds himself drifting to the right side of the bed. He doesn't know what to say. His first instinct is to yell at this woman. For being an abusive, frak up, piss poor excuse of a mother. He wants to lean over her and curse her for ever having the audacity to hurt Kara. It's surprising this anger. It bubbles to the surface so quickly.
He looks over to her questioningly, thinks of the favor she asked him, and decides it best to say nothing at all.
"Mama," Kara says causing the dying woman's eyes to open. "This is Major Lee Adama."
Despite the massive effort it seems to take, Socrata forces her head to turn in his direction, rasing a shaky hand in salute. Lee returns the gesture without thinking.
He looks down at the scrap book she has opened on her lap, sees childhood memories of Kara plastered across the pages. At least in some small way this woman appeared to care for her daughter. It's enough to feel his anger toward her evaporate just as quickly as it had arrived.
Kara is watching them so intently Lee is unsure what else to do.
"He's special too," Socrata whispers hoarsely.
His eyes shoot back to Kara.
"How can you tell Mama?" She asks.
"He's with you," Socrata replies, never taking her eyes off of Lee.
Kara smiles sadly and Lee understands why she brought him here. She has no family. She'd lost it long before the attacks. And despite how horrible the family she had may have been, there was still a part of her that was that little girl he'd seen.
Kara just wanted to be able to introduce him to her mother. And despite having no clear definition of their relationship, whatever he was to her, having someone important to you meet your parents is just something you did.
He smiles softly to himself. She'd lied a little about letting it go. But with this exchange it seems like she can finally be able to leave it all behind.
"Come on," she says drifting backward.
"We're just going to leave?" He asks.
"I've seen this part already," she replies quietly. "I know how it ends."
Lee nods and starts to follow, but pauses at the foot of the bed. He isn't sure why, but he removes his wings from his lapel and moves to set them on the pillow next to Kara's mother. Socrata Thrace closes her eyes and he knows she doesn't have much time left.
Kara smiles approvingly at the small exchange and offers her hand for him to take.
"Where are we going now?" He asks.
"Home."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
They are on the observation deck of the Battlestar Galactica. And no, they both know they aren't really on the old ship, but the familiarity is comforting and Lee can't help but think that the gods do have a twisted sense of humor. They put you through hell, and then they send you home.
Leoben, or not-Leoben, as Lee has been thinking of him, hasn't made an appearance since he promised to take them to Earth. Lee knows that they probably won't see him again. He'd gotten his point across. He'd shown them their path.
Kara stands next to him twisting the ring around her thumb and tapping her foot in impatience. They've been waiting for their destiny to show up for what feels like quite awhile. He watches out of the corner of his eye thinking that it only took a little thing like death to finally get them here.
He also thinks that the old line floating around the bucket since the attacks, where goes Starbuck so goes Apollo, is true in every sense of the word. He turns his head to look at her. That reminds him.
"I have to ask you something," he says.
She turns her head to him, eyebrow cocked.
"Starbucker?"
She laughs lightly and punches him on the shoulder. It's been so long since she's heard the name with the extra 'er' attached.
"You heard him?"
"Yeah. It made me realize I never got an answer out of you."
She smiles at him, that old mischief in her eyes revealing itself for the first time since their reunion. He'd missed it.
"You only asked once," she replies. "And that was after Zak introduced us."
"Yeah, and you never answered me then either."
Kara clucks her tongue and thinks about not telling him, about teasing him and letting him sweat over not knowing yet another thing about her. But then she realizes that he's already seen so much of her already. One more little detail isn't going to make that much of a difference.
"My father used to call me it when I was a kid," She offers."He'd given me my first paint set when I was four and I couldn't get enough of it. I would stop doing anything else until I'd finished what I'd started. I wouldn't sleep, I refused to eat. He said that when I put my mind to something, the stars themselves would buck to get out of my way."
Lee smiles at that. "Sounds about right," he says.
She laughs again and bumps his shoulder with her own.
"Hey," she says turning serious. "I see something."
He turns to try and follow her line of sight, but can't see what she does at first. All he sees is the endless black of space. He hears Kara's breath catch and all of a sudden it's there, bright blue and green and habitable. The salvation awaiting the remnants of mankind. A sprawling, gleaming, gift from the gods.
"That's it," Kara says next to him. "That's Earth."
Lee can't help the smile that comes, the feeling of elation. To see the spoils of such a forsaken odyssey come to pass is almost indescribable. They've found it. They've finally found it.
Kara must be thinking the same because she isn't talking. Her eyes are as wide and full of awe as any happy moment he's ever seen her in. Of any feelings of goodwill she's ever considered herself worthy of.
Still, a part of him can't help but think that it's so small. That a society of billions spread across twelve worlds, now reduced to mere thousands, are looking for life on a single solitary planet.
"We have to go back," Kara says, her voice a mere whisper. "We have to show the others."
He looks at her and knows it's true. They will reunite with the fleet somehow. They will show them the way.
It's their destiny after all.
"That question you asked me," he says, waiting for her eyes to find his.
She knows which one he means without having to ask.
'If I leave Sam, will you still leave Dee?'
"What about it?"
"When we get back home, when this is all over," he says reaching for her. "Ask me again."
Lee takes Kara's hand as the thirteenth colony of the lords of kobol spins on its axis below. Their eyes shine at one another, and lips match in a knowing smile.
This is his place.
This is his time.
This is where he belongs.