Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I just play with them.

Some months later Kara is walking off her ship, doing the shut down inspection. Its midwinter on Caprica and Kara and her crew are off for a couple weeks leave. The ship is resting nicely in it hold. The tyllium has been drained; everything tied down and cleaned out. She sighs realizing she now has to trudge out into the snow to get home.

Tomorrow is the midwinter festival and Kara still has to pick up her gift for Leoben. She painted a picture of the beach at sunset for him while she was away and had dropped it off at the framer before her last haul. She trudged there now wrapped up from head to toe to keep out the blistering wind and sleet. They double wrap the framed painting and she sets out to try to find a cab in the blizzard. She manages to catch one about 5 blocks from their place but hey its 5 blocks she doesn't have to walk.

"Honey, I'm home." She calls out when she enters their place. It smells of cookies and spiced cider. She takes a large breath and smiles. It's been years since she's had somewhere warm to be on Midwinter festival. Tonight they would dress up and head out to Karl's place for a masked party. Leoben and Kara had both kept their costumes a secret from one another. That was part of the fun of the midwinter festival, the thrill of not knowing who was behind the mask. "Honey, you're cooking." She says sarcastically. He snorts moving around the island in the kitchen to capture her. She's still pulling off articles of wet clothing.

"Lords your cold." He says pulling away from her.

"That happens when it snows." She retorts.

"Are you ready for the party tonight?" He looks her up and down and wonders if they'll even make it out.

"I need a nap and a shower." She states grumpily.

"The invite is for 10 pm but I know Helo would want to see you before then."

"We're dressing there remember?"

"Right. I haven't been to one of these in years." He says wrapping his arms around her now that she's warmer. "So when do you need to leave to get ready?" He jokes, knowing even with the costume she'll be the least fussy about getting ready. She glares up at him. "Go take your nap." He kisses her brow and releases her. She moves up the 3 flights of stairs to their bedroom.

Kara passes out face first into the large bed with all of her clothes on. It's dark when she wakes up and it's disorienting. She realizes she is home and goes to take a shower.

Leoben hears the shower on and sets the table for dinner. He stops in the hall way to look at the package and smiles to himself. He opens the door to his garage and grins even wider to himself looking at the gift he got her.

Half an hour later Kara is wrapped in a robe eating dinner.

"So what misadventures did you have this time?" He asks between bites of food.

"The usual."

"How are things going with training Moose?"

"Good. She can almost knock me on my ass. Not quite but she'll get there. Not entirely sure I should be teaching her that but it's been helping."

"Good."

"How are things at work for you?"

"Oh fine. Busy this time of year. Everyone wants to reconcile with their families. I think it's all the snow that gets people down." They clear the table and Kara begins to get her stuff together.

"Presents now or tomorrow?" He asks almost gleefully.

"Tomorrow I think. Makes it more special. You almost ready to go?" They head out the door around 9:00 pm.

By 10 Kara is tied into her flowing costume, thanks to Sharon. Its black and has ties everywhere and has a matching wig. Kara admires herself in the mirror from side to side before moving over so she and Sharon can apply their make-up. They both laugh at one another as they apply way too much makeup between shots of ambrosia.

In a not so distant room Karl and Leoben sit drinking. Their costumes only required getting redressed, although the masks took another person to secure. Leoben smiles as his mask covers most of his face.

Leoben roams the crowd in Karl's living room. All of the furniture had been moved out so there could be dancing. The costume was a little too warm and he ducks out onto the generous porch that covered both the living room and the bedroom. He looks out and notices a single woman standing at the balcony. He smiles to himself knowing how fond Kara is of watching the city.

"Hi." He says standing next to the woman. Her blond hair waves in the wind, the building taking the bite out of most of the storm. The woman turns to him and he realizes it's not Kara.

"Hi." She says. "I'm guessing, I'm not the person you were hoping for?" She smiles.

"Nope, sorry. If you'll excuse me." He smiles back and goes back inside.

Kara laughs to herself as she watches Leoben and the woman. She adjusts her black wig and smiles. At least he didn't put his arms around her, she thinks to herself. She stalks him as he looks for her. He looks at her several times and dismisses the black hair, not getting close enough to the black rimmed eyes to notice it's her. She saunters up to the bar and pours herself another drink. Someone leans against her as they get their own drink. She looks over and recognizes the piercing blue eyes.

"Lee Frakking Adama." She almost shouts. She laughs as he looks around. "What are you doing planet side?" He looks at her very closely.

"I'm sorry, I don't know that we've met." He says oh so politely.

"It's Kara." She says. He squints at her, then recognition dawns on him.

"Oh gods Kara. I didn't recognize you with that wig on."

"Yeah well neither does my date." She makes a face and motions towards the crowd. He laughs.

"You'll kick his ass later for it I suppose."

"If she can find me." Leoben says from Kara's other side. "How did you hide your tattoos?" He asks absentmindedly.

"Took you long enough." She exclaims looping an arm around him. "Let me guess…Ares?" She guesses from the bident he's holding.

"Hades." He says. "You of all people should know Persephone."

"Why are you so good at that?" She asks.

"Talent." He notices Lee is starting to look uncomfortable being around the couple. "Hi, I'm Leoben."

"Oh my, I'm sorry. Lee this is Leoben, Leoben this is Lee." She says with a flourish of her free hand between the two men. "This is Zak's older brother." Lee watches as the recognition hits him.

"Good to meet you." Lee says extending a hand. Leoben shakes it.

"Good to meet you too."

"Lee and I also went to flight school. He was the number two pilot."

Lee looks at Kara questioningly.

"Why yes I was. Although after you take into account grades I was number one." He says. Leoben cracks into an even larger smile.

"The number two pilot that ended up in hack with Kara?" He watches Lee's ear turn red.

"Yes. He's that one." Kara laughs as she watches Lee get even more uncomfortable.

"So Starbuck how's life out of the military?" He tries to rub it in that she got kicked out. She smiles and squeezes Leoben too her a little tighter glad to have him next to her.

"It's pretty good. I've got my own live-in head shrinker and I'm captain of the vessel I joined a few years back."

"Has it really been years?" He asks faintly. She nodes. "Well I'm glad for you."

"How is your dad?" She asks. He doesn't twitch for once.

"He's good. We're good to be more accurate. Got some counseling, it seems to have helped."

"Good. I'm glad for you both." She smiles.

"See honey, we head shrinker are good for all sorts of issues." Leoben pipes up. She tickles him. "Hey." He warns.

"So where are you stationed now?" She asks.

"On Galactic, actually."

"Wow. Your dad must love that. Tell him hi for me." She says wistfully.

"I will. He won't believe that he passed up this party and missed you."

"He can always come visit us when you're in Caprica City." Leoben offers.

"I'll pass the message along." Now Lee looks very uncomfortable. "Well I'm going to go see if I can't find my date. I've lost her now in this crowd. Good to meet you." He moves off.

"Don't even start." She says pouring more ambrosia into her cup.

"You didn't tell me they were brothers." He says evenly. "How did you not get yourself mandatory counseling when you were in the service?"

"I keep my secrets." She says looking at him. "It was only the one time that we got thrown into hack for anyways. Barely worth mentioning." He laughs.

"Alright then, I retract my previous statement." Just then the music starts up. She looks at him.

"Had enough ambrosia to join me?" She teases. He looks at her and tries to breath. She still has the ability to take his breath away.

"Oh sure, why not."

They join in the square dancing. Leoben misses a lot of steps and Kara laughs hysterically as he tries to catch up. After two songs he bows out and sits down to watch her. Even with all the black make-up around her eyes and the dark wig she still shines, he thinks to himself.

After many songs Kara bounces over to him and pulls him outside onto the porch so she can cool off. She shivers as the air hits her heated skin and smiles at herself. He looks at her puzzled. She grabs his other hand and brings him to face her.

"Do you think you'd still keep trying to dance with me even when you've got a cane?" She asks with a glint in her eye.

"Absolutely." He says turning serious.

"Good." She says getting down on one knee. He looks at her stunned. "Leoben Conoy, will you marry me?" He opens his mouth to speak and his voice catches the first few times he tries to answer. "Could you hurry? The snow is soaking through the dress." She teases.

"Yes, yes. Absolutely, yes." He says lifting her up into his arms and crushing her to him. She showers kisses on his face until he puts her down. She lifts his hand up and puts the ring on his littlest finger. He looks surprised then beams. He knew she wouldn't do anything the traditional way. He smoothes his hands down either side of her face and kisses her passionately. "Let's go inside before you freeze." He says noticing she's shivering.

The rest of the night they share a secret smile when they're across the room from one another. In the middle of the night, the masks are removed and the alcohol starts flowing even more freely. Leoben and Kara stumble home. They sing and shout and generally cause trouble the whole way home.

They both wake the next morning with wicked hang over. She gets up first and makes the coffee, carrying two cups up the three flights of stairs. They lay in bed for the better part of the day. After napping on and off until mid afternoon, they finally make it down stairs for food. He cooks breakfast while she unwraps one of the plastic bags from around the painting and places it on the table.

"You go first." She says.

"No way. Not after what you did last night at the party. You're getting yours first."

"Are we both going to stand here and refuse to accept the gifts?" She says skeptically.

"Alright, I'll open mine. But next time it's your turn to compromise." He sits at the table and unwraps the painting. He stares at it for a long time. "It's amazing. Truly. You should have become an artist."

"You think?" She says moving to turn the food over so it doesn't burn. She turns it off and serves their breakfast. They eat slowly and she points out the little details she put in that reminded her of his parents' beach house. Once breakfast is cleared he turns to her.

"Your turn. Now close your eyes." He says. She purses her lips and looks at him. "I couldn't find paper big enough." He comments. She reluctantly closes her eyes. He puts a hand over her eyes just in case and leads her out to the garage. He takes his hand off. "Ok, you can open them."

She opens her eyes to find a shiny, new black motorcycle sitting in his empty garage. She looks at him and then the bike. "You're kidding." She states.

"Nope it's all yours." He beams at her. She starts jumping up and down. She runs over and hugs him then moves to sit on the bike.

"It looks fast." She says as her feet barely touch the ground.

"Well I couldn't get a viper, so I thought this would quench your need for speed to some extent." She laughs at that comment and moves off the bike to admire it some more.

"Thank-you. I can't wait to ride it. Hopefully the snow will clear up so I can take it for a spin before I have to be back on the Temptation." She hugs him jubilantly and he carries her inside as his feet start to go numb from the cold garage floor.

They snuggle in front of the TV in their bedroom for the rest of the night. He wraps himself around her and she plays idly with the ring she gave back to him.

"Best midwinter festival ever." He whispers against her brow as they lay intertwined falling asleep that night. She mumbles her approval before drifting off to sleep.

TBC...