They needed one more person ...
... to carry the Old Man's casket.
His grandson Zachary volunteered, against his parent's objections.
He'd lived a long life, done what he wanted to do ... achieved the kind of success that legends are made of. He'd been the dying leader who'd led them to Earth - he hadn't known it till they'd nearly arrived but he too was struggling with a fatal disease and though he'd battled it to the end - always the soldier - eventually it had taken him.
Thankfully he'd lived long enough to see Earth. What had once been a legend, something he'd used to placate everyone and lull them into the sense of security that they had a purpose in life, had eventually become his one and only quest. The other things he'd hoped to see in his lifetime - marriage to Laura Roslin and his children happy together, married and with a family, had come to pass but he would have been secretly disappointed had he not managed to find a way to follow through on the promise he'd made fifteen years earlier.
Zach was easily smaller than the other men by a head but what he lacked in height he made up for in sheer strength of will and determination - things he'd rightfully inherited from his parents.
Lee's throat constricted and he had to use every bit of strength he had to hold back the tears as he watched his son pick up the front corner of the casket and straighten up, knowing how much this was costing him.
Kara's tears flowed unchecked down her face onto her dress uniform. Zach and his grandfather had been close - much closer than Lee had ever been to him, and while a part of her had objected to such a little boy (he was only eleven!) doing such a solemn, adult task, another part of her had known it was something he had to do.
"I'm an Adama mom. I have to do this," he'd said, and she'd known he was right. Strong, loyal, brave ... Zach had inherited all the traits his grandfather had possessed and she knew that like his father he'd put them to good use.
"Goodbye papa. Rest easy. I'll see you on the other side someday."
Zach walked away from the grave holding both his parent's hands, tears streaming unabashedly down his face as he held his head high.
fin