Siobhan was tired of this. She was covered in dirt, and blood, and anything else that was around her. She had been stuck in the post office for five days, sniping at any British troop she could find…

Seamus was hiding with a friend's family, far, far away from Dublin, somewhere that he would be safe. He couldn't see this; their capital was… their people were… She wiped away tears before she returned to her post, taking out another Brit before someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her back. She winced in pain, but when she opened her eyes, she was looking into the face of one very pissed off Arthur.

XXXXX

Arthur was still holding her hair with one hand, and he held her arm behind her back with his other, rendering her motionless. She was on her knees, watching as the British troops murdered her leaders, her friends! She tried to turn her head away at the first shot, but Arthur forced her to watch.

She wanted to scream, to wail, cry until she couldn't make tears; but that was what he wanted. England wanted her to be in pain, he wanted to see her cry. So she didn't. As every man condemned to die stared at her, she stared back, their mutual Irish pride burning in their eyes, and as each man took their last breath she blessed them all, silently.

OoOoOoOo

When she got home she ran to her basement. Her dear friend Eamon de Valera promised to bring her son home safely to her the next day. She wanted to clean herself before Seamus saw her.

As she shut the basement door she made sure to lock it before she approached another door. The red head pulled it open silently, and smiled at the contents. She walked in and kneeled down beside the small bed.

"I promise, Mammy, I'll fight to keep your memory alive in every Irish man and woman, the great Celtic nation will never die." She took in the woman's appearance, still abnormally pale, with long, wavy blonde hair that flowed down to the back of her knees. She wore an ancient white dress, stained with the blood of the wound inflicted on her thousands of years ago that caused her comatose state.

"James and Edward are fighting too, but they can't seem to get free. But I will be free, soon, and when every Irish person thinks of themselves as free, and great, just like our Celtic mother, then I'm absolutely certain you will wake up!"

And with that she rose and took her leave.

OoOoOoOo

That night Siobhan had to evaluate her wounds. There were several new scars, on her abdomen and back, and a gunshot wound on her right bicep that she didn't recall receiving… but she was able to remove the bullet and clean herself properly.

In the morning Seamus returned, safe and sound. De Valera had decided to leave instead of staying around, but he did see Seamus run into his mother's arms, and the long embrace that followed.

OoOoOoOo

Seamus lived on his own now, and no matter what the circumstances Siobhan and him couldn't look at each other without wanted to murder one another. It had been several years since Seamus told her that he wanted to live with Arthur. He didn't want to fight anymore, and that was all it seemed to be when he was with his mother.

As soon as he suggested it Siobhan slapped him. Hard. Right across the face; there was a large handprint on his face. She stared at him with wild eyes. Seamus had to fight back tears in order to explain, "Don't think I don't love you, or that I don't want to be with you, but… dad won't stop attacking until he gets some part of Ireland. I'm much smaller than you, and Mr. Collins already signed the treaty…"

Siobhan thought that Michael Collins was her friend, and that he would do whatever was best for her, but she was deceived. Collins signed her son over to her damned (finally) ex-husband in a treaty. The treaty made her free, but it lost her her son, the most important thing in her life!

"I… I won't rest until that man is dead."

She decided to side with de Valera, he was the only man who seemed to have some sense. He was the only man that knew what she wanted.

Siobhan wanted to be free.

With her son.

And her people would never stop fighting until they could live peacefully in the Republic of Ireland, united, north and south.

OoOoOoOo

Michael Collins' funeral was fancy, considering his background. There were mourners everywhere, and even if the others couldn't point them out Siobhan knew they were everywhere. The IRA that is.

No matter what they did, no matter how they did it, Siobhan loved them. They were fighting to let her be with her son again. Part of her, though, hated them. They killed her people; they would hurt Seamus with their bombs, they were terrorists.

Siobhan was too confused to even begin to sort out her views on anything. The only thing she could do now, was keep her government in check. She was finally, finally, free.

XXXXX

What do you think? What a twist I made, having the Celtic part of the world be alive. I feel like every nation stays alive as long as their people think of themselves as people of the country, and since in Ireland you can see lots of Celtic artifacts, art, and more that she would be keeping her mammy alive. So, do tell what you think! And I finally got to the Easter Rising…

BTW this was uploaded as a birthday present to myself =)