A Thrill of Hope (S2, B5 Christmas)
A short thought piece set during The Long Twilight Struggle. Eight years of B5 Christmas stories. I'm really glad I didn't break the chain, even if this is last minute and not much of a story.
A Thrill of Hope
S2, B5 Christmas
rated G
Delenn, with vague hints of John/Delenn
It had been a very long day. Or rather a long week, a very long week-it had begun in hope, continued with horror and ended in dishonor. Delenn had watched helpless and guilt-stricken as G'Kar bore in silence the lash of humiliation wielded with such expertise by his old enemy. She knew, deep in her bones, the rage and insanity that led to such acts as the Centauri had perpetuated on the Narn. She had felt the drive to destroy, to kill everything and everyone that touched her own sense of terrifying loss. Mollari and the other Centauri seemed driven less by rage than a sour crabbed inferiority, but who was she to judge, when she had instigated death and destruction herself.
She idly straightened files piled on a low table in the living area. Rising, she passed into the dining area, pausing to pick up a cup stained with dregs of tea. Moving into the kitchen she put it into the tiny basin to soak. Watching the water spill over and run down the small drain she wondered what path it followed. Water was precious here; it wandered through the pipes and reclamation stations, recycled over and over again. Like Minbari souls traveling through time from one body to another, she thought idly. Then she laughed softly; the water was not providing the Universe with another point of view. It was not even progressing in its evolution. Whatever its path it remained water, an honest element, true to itself, vitally important and both productive and destructive.
Returning to the dining table, she picked up a glass half full of water and watched the reflection of a candle flame through the sides. Light was another element both productive and destructive. Draal had spoken of a conspiracy of light among the humans; she and Kosh were working on building an army of light. Conspiracies, armies...what had light to do with these? But what alternative was there when the darkness recruited whole peoples to its cause? She sighed and drank the water, then took the glass to the kitchen. Glancing at the chrono on the wall she saw that it was after midnight, station time. Another day gone, another night speeding them towards the end of the human year. Commander Ivanova had told her a story about this time of year, of how light had multiplied in a time of miracles. Could she dare to hope such a thing could happen again?
The Rangers on the station and from nearby sectors were gathering for their introduction to their new leader. Draal felt it was time to reveal their forces to Captain Sheridan. Kosh agreed. When Sheridan had first come to the station she had been undergoing her transformation. After she emerged as she now was, serious doubts about his suitability plagued her for a time. He had seemed the last human any Minbari could work with, the last one they could trust, and the Vorlon's behind-the-scenes insistence on his appointment seemed misguided. Still...the first time their eyes had met she had felt a thrill of hope. In the same conference room they had witnessed G'Kar's declaration of his principles, and she had stood beside Sheridan, allied with him in determination to stand with the Narn.
They had come so far. Perhaps in this, the humans' season of miracles, hope was not too much to ask.
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