Three Quarter Time, Part III
Part III and the end.
Three Quarter Time
Part I: Closed Position (J/D, mid-Season 3, rated G)
Part II: Incentive Program (J/D, Season 4, Rising Star, rated PG)
Part III: The Last Dance (J/D, post Season 5, rated G)
“All stars stand close in summer air
And tremble, and look mild as amber;
When wicks are lighted in the chamber
You might say stars were settling there.”
Leonie Adams
Standing in the dark garden outside the brightly lit room was an elderly woman. She was clad in a simple white robe, with a hood covering her now grey and thinning hair. Music spilled out into the warm night, and she watched as the couples moved in precise steps and turns. Minbari did not dance, but the Alliance had many members who did, and occasionally a formal reception ended with practice of the art.
Stars filled the night sky, performing their own celestial dance, turning around some central point of the galaxy. Many beings had tried to locate that place, but none had succeeded so far. The stars looked so close this time of year, like candleflames shining against the dark fabric of space. You are the brightest star in my sky, he had told her when he had left her. The stars may seem close enough to touch, but they remain out of reach, isolate and burning, consuming themselves until they fail and fade.
Earlier in her life, she had danced. Even after he had gone, she would go to the parties, the diplomatic functions, and participate in the ritual. Never would she accept a partner for the last dance of the evening. Unfailingly polite, she declined so graciously that no one was ever offended. They were only curious when they saw her smile, full of secrets and hidden pain. She knew the map of her sky, and the location of her heart. Keeping faith, she would watch and wait; and she would always, always save the last dance.