Since I Found Serenity | Glowfic Constellation

I'm-still-free

To those who survived it, the battle for Serenity Valley would always be the worst of the war.

It was worse for Erika than for some of the others. Not that there were many other survivors. But the planet Hera was where she had grown up, and to lose, ultimately, here of all places, was about a gallon of lemon juice in the wound. That Serenity Valley was nowhere near her childhood home, that her parents were alright, was--some comfort. Not enough.

They stuck everyone in prison camps, after, for underspecified "war crimes." (And what of the war crimes the Alliance committed? No matter, of course; history is written by the victors.)

(The others from her platoon were dead. She knew this. There hadn't been another living soul around, when the Alliance came for her, and she couldn't find anyone in her camp, and she had heard the whispers--)

(If the Serenity Valley had taught her anything, it was that hope was futile. If she had any to spare she might as well spend it on hoping that Anwar and Sargon got to see Cardea again in some kind of afterlife. That one, at least, she could never know the answer to be disappointed by it.)

She would almost have been grateful when the Alliance let them all go, not too long after they had mopped them up in the first place, if she had the capacity to be grateful to the Alliance for anything. Too much trouble to keep, she would have heard with some satisfaction, if she had been in any state to be actually making trouble, if it weren't just that the Alliance didn't want to bother feeding and trying them all.

The Dust Devils came recruiting not long after, and Erika felt less like a walking corpse than she had since the Independent High Command had ordered surrender. She could do something meaningful again, strike at the monsters in suits who played games with peoples' lives--

avenge her friends--

she could do something again.

Almost a year after the end of the war, she felt almost like a real person. Sitting in a bar with one's (not friends, not really, she hadn't had a friend since--) comrades attempting with futility to drown the cold and empty places inside, that was a human thing to do, right?

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I'm-still-free

It would have been so much better if it had been her that died, instead of Cardea.

She sends a message to her mother before they take off explaining the situation. And then they can babysit him for the week it takes to get to Hera.

found-serenity

He continues being very depressed and not much else.

I'm-still-free

Erika considers telling him Cardea wouldn't have wanted this, and decides not to open that can of worms.

found-serenity

Cardea certainly wouldn't have wanted this, and yet here he is.

I'm-still-free

Yeah.

Well, the success at preventing booze is...not literally nothing. Probably.

found-serenity

They arrive on Hera. He follows Erika to her parents' place.

Her mother comes out to greet them.

Hugs for anybody who wants hugs.

found-serenity

Anwar will stand still to be hugged if hugs are the order of the day.

on-the-horizon

Sargon hangs back; he does not know Erika's mother that well yet.

I'm-still-free

Hugs. Hugs hugs hugs. Hugs hugs hugs hugs hugs...

Hugs and crying, as all the tears she's been unable to quite shed for the past year make their way to the surface.

Yep. Hugs. All the hugs she wants.

I'm-still-free

Eventually she calms down. It takes a while, though.

Still hugs.

"Welcome," she tells the others. "Erika's told me a lot about you two."

on-the-horizon

"Never something I like to hear from a girl's mother," snorts Sargon. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"You helped keep my baby girl alive. As far as I'm concerned, that means more than anything else ever could."

on-the-horizon

—he smiles, at that, a real genuine smile.

"Hey, anytime."

"I'm glad to hear that. It's good to know she has people like you at her back." She sighs. "And vice-versa, of course. Come on in."

on-the-horizon

He steers Anwar into the house.

(She is sad about Anwar. She would have liked to meet him before Cardea died; she is not sure if she will ever be able to meet the man her daughter described so admiringly in her letters. She hopes so, but--

someone needs to be thinking about what to do for Erika and Sargon if he never gets better.)

"I didn't know if you would be hungry when you arrived, so I have something set to come out of the oven in a few minutes, but it won't suffer if it sits on the counter for a while. Guest room's up the stairs and to the left, or there's an air mattress in the closet if the three of you all want to stay in Erika's; her bed's not big enough to fit three--"

I'm-still-free

"Mom."

"--but we can probably work around that if you want. Or you could and leave me out of it altogether, if that's more comfortable."

on-the-horizon

...Sargon laughs.

"I like your mom," he says to Erika.

I'm-still-free

"She's the best when she isn't discussing my sex life, honestly Mom--"

"I didn't say a word about that. There are plenty of non-sexual reasons for three traumatized people to want to be as close as possible in vulnerable moments.

That being said, since you brought it up, if you do get up to anything like that, just remember that this isn't the most soundproof building in the world, and your father is a light sleeper."

I'm-still-free