Disclaimer: All rights, all characters belong to JMS.

I know "Clash of Death" isn't over yet, but this story has been stuck in my head and had to be written. Have fun!

Much had happened since Delenn left the Chrysalis. Sinclair was gone. She herself was struggling with the various physical changes that her transformation had brought with it. Gradually, she found it easier to cope.

The various strange looks, the comments of the others, however… She would have to contend with those for some time. She had expected that, but not that even her own people, the Minbari, would be critical of her.

All of this bothered Delenn.

And then there was John Sheridan.

The station's new captain. Delenn had been somewhat surprised that the so-called Starkiller was now in charge of Babylon 5. Of course she knew who he was. Every Minbari knew the Starkiller, or at least everyone knew the name. The person behind him was a mystery. Delenn had tried to fathom that mystery.

Since resuming her duties as ambassador, she had been in contact with the captain several times. Yet... she hadn't been able to establish a friendly relationship with the human.

He always remained strangely reserved, taciturn, and tried to talk to her as little as possible. Delenn wouldn't have been surprised if Sheridan had been similar to any other ambassador, but that wasn't the case. He joked with Londo, argued with G'kar, albeit playfully, and was friendly and outgoing even with his own command staff.

However, as soon as he interacted with her, he was different. The kindness he showed the others seemed to be lost to Delenn.

His cool gaze seemed to scrutinize her every time, as if he didn't know what to make of her. Delenn had tried several times. She had even once tried to persuade him to have dinner with her, to ease the awkward atmosphere between them, but the captain had refused, pointing out that he was simply too busy at the moment. Delenn had known that was just an excuse. He certainly had a lot to do, but he met regularly with his staff at the Officers' Club, or she saw him in the Zócalo, where he was socializing with some other visitors to the station.

No matter how she twisted and turned it, John Sheridan didn't like her.

Before her transformation, Delenn wouldn't have minded. She would have handled the whole thing professionally and continued working, but now... it was difficult for her. Was it because she'd changed, or was it because of John Sheridan? It hurt her that he was so hostile towards her. She couldn't explain why, but it hurt that she couldn't connect with him.

With this whole situation, with the rejection of her own people and with the fact that she couldn't yet fully understand her new appearance, Delenn felt more alone than ever.

XXXX

John Sheridan had settled in surprisingly quickly. From commanding a warship to managing an entire city in space... Who would have thought? A few years ago, he would never have considered taking on such a position. But John liked his new job. He liked his colleagues, and it was fun to work with Ivanova again after all this time. He'd had some initial difficulties with Garibaldi, but that had since calmed down.

He got along well with the various aliens. It was almost funny to have them all in one place. He was always fascinated by how different, yet so similar, they all were. The ambassadors were often like children fighting over a shared toy. Sheridan still enjoyed watching them resolve these conflicts.

He had arranged to meet Stephen, Michael, and Susan in the Zócalo. After a long day at work, he was almost looking forward to a few pleasant hours that wouldn't involve some alien crisis, docking fees, or administrative hassle. The four of them had gathered at a bar table and had been following Garibaldi's story for some time now, about how he had chased a naked Centauri across the Red Sector today.

"I can't believe it. What did Londo say about that?" Susan asked.

Garibaldi had to laugh: "Nothing. He said it was part of growing up. He was the son of some influential Centauri. Londo couldn't have done much. We warned the young man."

John had to grin: "Every time I think I've seen everything here, Michael comes up with a new story."

"Let's toast to that!" Michael replied amusedly.

For a while, everyone let themselves be carried away by the cheerful, carefree atmosphere on the Zócalo until Franklin finally spoke.

"It's nice that you've taken a liking to the station. But there's one question that interests me. What's going on with you and Ambassador Delenn?"

Sheridan looked at Stephen in surprise, Michael suppressed a giggle, Ivanova rolled her eyes.

"What about me and Delenn?"

"Well," Stephen began, "I do notice that you're… let's call it a bit cold towards her."

"I'm not cold."

Now Garibaldi had to laugh, Ivanova pushed him discreetly.

Sheridan gave his security chief an icy glare, which Garibaldi skillfully ignored and instead countered, "You certainly aren't the personification of kindness toward her. Stephen's right. It's noticeable."

Sheridan felt caught. He nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"It's… complicated."

"Oh yeah? Would you like to fill us in?" Garibaldi sounded amused.

"Did she do or say anything that upset you?" asked Stephen.

"As if Delenn would do something like that," Susan defended her. "I hardly know anyone who is more committed to being diplomatic at all times."

"She's just... I can't put it into words. I find her... weird. She's always so perfect and I... have no idea what to say to her."

Now Sheridan had the full attention of the table.

"What are you supposed to talk to her about?" Michael giggled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone has developed a crush."

Stephen couldn't help but roar, which earned him a shove from Susan: "Stop that nonsense!"

Sheridan rolled his eyes. "Definitely not. She's weird."

"You already said that," Susan replied, "but you could still be a little nicer to her."

Sheridan took a deep breath: "Yes, maybe I should."

That closed the subject for him, and none of the other three dared to bring it up further. What Sheridan didn't know was that Ambassador Delenn had overheard at least a small part of the conversation while walking through the Zócalo.