21 Years before cylon attack
Laura Roslin age 31
Location: Caprica – Caprica City Government Center Plaza

Teacher of the Year. Laura sighed inwardly. Today couldn't have been a worse day to be receiving an award. In any case, it was mostly a chance for the mayor to look good in front of the press before the upcoming election year.

She wanted to go home.

Well, truth be told, she didn't really want to go home, she just didn't want to be in front of all these people, or listen to the mayor discuss his plan to improve the education system. Adar's plan sounded nice, even if it had no basis in fact. The truth was that the Caprica City school district was in a horrible state and it would take more than a budget increase of an extra one or two million cubits to fix it. Oh well, he was a politician and a charismatic one at that, it didn't really matter what he said, the media and the voters would believe him anyway.

At least it was an outdoor event and the weather was pleasant. The general crowd had gathered on the grass below the steps to the Mayor's Office where she stood and the reporters had all assembled in front of the plaza's rectangular water feature. Laura sighed and lost herself for a moment in the simple pleasure of the gentle breeze that carried mist from the fountains and the faint smell of lilacs. But the moment passed quickly and reality beckoned.

"…I am honored to present Miss Laura Roslin with the Teacher of the Year Award for promoting the value of Colonial history to her students and for inspiring those around her with a love of learning."

"Thank you mister Mayor," she replied. They posed for the obligatory picture of him handing her the award. It was a wooden plaque in the shape of an octagon and was engraved in gold lettering that read:

Caprica City
Teacher of the Year
For Achievement in the Teaching of History
Presented by: Mayor Richard Adar
To: Laura Roslin
13/56/9902

Then there was the requisite thank you handshake. She stood there with a polite smile and did her best to ignore the furious clicking from the cameras. Her attention drifted from the mayor's black pinstripe suit and focused on the warmth of his hand and then on his smile. He had a tranquil smile and his hazel eyes sparkled in the sunlight. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, but she supposed that was the trick to politics, to seem genuine no matter the situation.

It was a trick she had mastered herself, ever since the accident. It would be seventeen years today since it happened. Her attention was abruptly called back to the present as the mayor released her hand. Anyone else might have forgotten what to do or say after being so distracted, but she had years of practice in saying one thing while thinking about another and recovered from her wandering thoughts with ease. She spent the rest of the afternoon dealing with the press and Adar the same way she had spent that morning: on autopilot.

For the last seventeen years, she had made it through this one day preoccupied and lost in a cloud of denial, until she was alone. As soon as Laura shut the door to her one bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of the Riverwalk Residential Complex, she sighed and finally let her mental barriers drop. The memory of that night seventeen years ago promptly came to the surface in pieces. "Yes, this is she, who's calling?"Laura walked down the short hallway. She set her award and her keys on the cherry wood end table to her right. "Laura dear, we need to go." She didn't bother to turn on the lights. "Mom, what happened?" The soft evening glow that shone through the large window on the opposite wall was enough to see by. "Where are we going?"

She went to the kitchen alcove on the left to retrieve a half empty bottle of Caprican Valley red wine that she'd left on the counter and poured herself a glass."To the hospital dear. There was an accident." As much as Laura enjoyed cooking, tonight she just wasn't up for it, honestly, the last thing wanted to do was eat. "Are you Mrs. Roslin? I'm...sorry to… I'm afraid that your husband…they tried…nothing to be done." She took her glass of wine and paused a moment to kick off her heels before she curled up on the couch. "What about Elizabeth and Catherine?...with him…" Laura watched the darkening sky through the window across from her and took a sip from her glass. "…died at the scene…the driver was drunk…struck the passenger side…so sorry…" As quickly as it had come the memory had faded away.

Laura finished her glass and set it on the coffee table in front of her. She sighed again and reached for the phone that rested on the other end table to her right. She dialed the number to Judith Roslin's hospital room from memory and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hello mother." Laura kept herself under careful control.

"I heard about your award," said Judith. Her voice sounded hoarse and weaker since the last time they'd spoken, just two days ago. "Edward would have been so proud of you dear and your sisters too."

"I'm sure they would have." She glanced at the window and saw that it was beginning to rain. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…I missed him terribly today. He was such a good man, your father."

"I remember." Laura closed her eyes took a deep breath. "I'll come by and visit tomorrow."

"Oh, good. That will be nice."

"You should get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay dear. May the Lords watch over you."

"You too." Laura hung up the phone and rested her head against the back of the couch. Somehow, I think the Lords stopped watching over me a long time ago. The room was nearly dark and she could tell by the sound of it that the rain had built up into a steady shower.

She got up to turn on the lights and then went into her bedroom to change out of her lavender silk blouse and black skirt into a paint-stained white t-shirt and blue cotton pants. She walked barefoot back out into the room and went over to the opposite corner where her easel stood on an old white sheet to protect the hardwood floor. She placed a blank canvas on the easel, set her stereo to play one of her favorite violin pieces, at low volume of course, and picked up a large, flat paintbrush.

Laura held the brush handle between her teeth momentarily while she looked to the window and decided which colors she wanted to start with. She chose carbon black, ultramarine, viridian and zinc white to add to her palette. Normally she painted simple waterscapes to relax after a long day. Her best work she hung on the walls, the rest she painted over. Above her couch was the pool in the government plaza and above her bed was the wide expanse of the Caprica City oceanfront at sunset. But tonight she needed a challenge that would require all of her attention and the weather had decided ever so kindly to provide her with one.

The rain traced V-shaped patterns down the broad pane of her window and shimmered where it reflected the light from her apartment. Perfect. She had nothing to do tomorrow except visit her mother, so Laura stayed up that night and painted the rain.

AN: Thanks to the reviewers so far. The next part is in the works, but it might be a while. As I did in the beginning, I implore patience and faith while I struggle through. Thanks again for reading.