Chapter 17
Spirit of Liberty Moon 1
She marched her way with a megaphone to the steps of the prominent building intent on proclaiming the sins of her former government.
As her feet touched the first stair, she saw her child.
She kept silent.
Within two strides, Jean held the tall, gangly girl in her arms, weeping "Daughter" into her braided tresses. She stroked her child's hair, so much like her own growing up. After the upheaval, Liberty Moon had been detained along with several other children in an orphanage regardless whether they had living parents or not. Such was the efficiency of the Chinese government, where a parent's fate could be decided in three days' time, and children could be herded into a pen like cattle.
Jean had faltered. She had her conviction to be a martyr to the world, but hesitated at the sight of her daughter. God so loved the world that he sacrificed his only begotten son, but could he have sacrificed himself while leaving a child behind? Jean could not, and with that said, a revolutionary stayed silent, a daughter kept her mother, and the people walked on in Tiananmen Square.
It didn't take long for him to find her. Edward Tanner had been her faithful knight since first hearing her story. He was in love with a beautiful, passionate woman whom he didn't know existed three weeks ago, but now was willing to break international law to help her. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her to keep still, to stay safe with him. Fortunately a higher power had persuaded her. Jean's husband was dead, but she had seen her child. She could live for her child now safely enshrouded in her arms.
The man took her and her daughter into his care as their cherished friend, always honoring the memory of her departed husband. It didn't take but a few judicious bribes to bring the girl and woman back into the United States. Jean went to him with every triumph her daughter achieved in her new world, and he grew to love the girl like his own. Years past and Liberty Moon, the daughter of a poet, took her family's story to heart. She became a humanitarian rights lawyer with her proud mother looking on. Edward continued to admire from afar, the ever faithful servant to his Joan of Arc. This Joan would not be sacrificed needlessly at the stake on a bed of fire. Instead the crusader would choose life over death.
I love this episode. When I first saw it Jean's death was so heartbreaking to me, and Adrian Pasdar's character was so sweet to her and Monica. Bai Ling is also a wonderful actress. This was just a what-if if Jean had saw her daughter before her speech in China. Two more to follow.