CHAPTER 6

The party was more than wonderful, her new family getting their well-deserved rest. She finally seemed to fit in, and that was more than she ever expected from life. Trance's garden was peaceful, just what she needed to relax a bit.

"Do you need anything, Lexa?" Adromeda's voice interrupted her.

"No, thank you. Oh, wait. Could you notify me if anyone wants to come in, please?" Lexa decided to make herself comfy.

"Of course.", Andromeda's voice could be heard before the beeping sound that marked the end of the conversation.

"Thanks." Lexa said before unfolding her wings, gazing at the stars. The Universe seemed so beautiful, even with all the danger lurking from the shadows. As she was contemplating this one peaceful moment, her thoughts were spurned as Andromeda's voice came to life above her.

"Beka would like to enter, should I let her in?"

"Yeah, sure!" she said hiding her wings just as Beka came in.

"Hey. Can I join you?" Beka asked casually with her hands in her pockets.

"Can't sleep?" Lexa guessed.

"Yeah… I guess I had too much Sparky." Beka told her as she made her way to Lexa.

"Well, by all means! It's plenty of room." Lexa gestured around as Beka sat right beside her, looking rather suspicious at Lexa for a couple of seconds. Trying to block her thoughts, Lexa broke the silence. "Now that you made yourself comfortable, why don't you tell me the real reason you came here?" Hearing her, Beka looked stunned at Lexa for a couple of seconds.

"You're good, gotta tell give you that." Beka said, shaking her head. "Well, since you brought it up, I thought it would be a great time for us to know each other a little better, since you're part of the family, that's all."

"Ah… T.T.T." Lexa said casually, making a puzzled Beka frown her eyebrow.

"What?"

"The trust test." Lexa enlighted her. Beka couldn't help but smile, seeing her so honest.

"Yeah, sort of. Let's get down to business, shall we?" Beka added with a smile. "First of all, how do you know Harper?" Beka started without a second thought.

Lexa smiled, pleasantly surprised by Beka's straight-forward character and started recounting her life, with a few exceptions.

"Well, we grew up together. Harper and my brother are the same age, so, after I was born, I spent most of my time with my brother and his 'gang'. Seamus' cousins, my brother, Seamus and me. Do you wanna hear more?" Lexa asked Beka, seeing her so absorbed in her story.

"Sure, why not?" Beka added nonchalantly, trying to mask her interest.

"OK. When I was 10, my parents we killed. They were babysitting Seamus' twin cousins when the Magog attacked." Lexa added with sadness. Beka's eyes widened in shock, feeling ashamed for making Lexa recall painful memories.

"Oh… I'm so…"

"It's OK, it was a long time ago." Lexa tried to smile, but it didn't fool Beka. She kept going. "After that, my brother, Luke, Seamus and Brendan, the twins' older brother, were all the family I had left. After a while, Seamus' parents died on a Nietzschean attack. They came to save me after they kidnapped me, wanting to send me on a slave planet. Seamus barely escaped alive, trying to save me. We moved in together, all four of us, and kept each other alive. When I was 14, Luke found out they were planning a massive slave trade and their plan to take me, again. Some sort of retribution for the first unsuccessful try. So he decided it was best to leave Earth. We wanted to take Seamus and Brendan, too, but they stayed to protect the rest of the rebels. And, so, they were left alone. Well, not really alone… You know what I mean." Lexa stopped to let Beka understand everything she heard.

"The family left, but they stayed, right?" Beka asked in a hushed voice.

"Exactly. Well, it seems the shock of leaving the planet was too great for me. I had a break-down that erased my whole memory. My childhood and life on Earth, gone. My brother had the hard job of convincing me I had other siblings and that I wasn't in any danger. And so, after a few years we found Trance on planet Floris. Luke found a job as a cargo-ship pilot and we ran deals on Floris every other week 'till one day, when she was attacked by some ugly aliens and we helped her escape. She did wonders with medicine and drugs, so we let her stay. In time she became like a sister. She seemed to be my age, so Luke never stopped treating us like children, with curphews and all of that." Lexa stopped to take a glimpse at Beka, and resumed her story.

"It was fun while it lasted. She found a job on planet Saireius as a doctor, she loved doing it, but Luke and I had to go. It was the most difficult thing in the Universe, letting her go…" Lexa sighed. "We all thought it was the best for her, since the Nietzscheans found me and started hunting me. We left Trance in a safe place so we could deal with them. We had to separate three years ago and I'm trying to find my brother ever since. I just hope he's safe and I'll find him someday…" Lexa finished and a heavy silence fell into place.

"You know…" Beka broke the awkward silence. "That's the same reason I kept Trance on the Maru after I saved her from Saireius. She helped me with Harper when I was in a tight spot. She's a great doctor, even though she looks so young." Lexa looked puzzled at Beka.

"How did you save her from Saireius? When we left her there, it was heaven. Literally."

"When Harper and I got there, it was a living hell. Drug dealers, thieves, rapists, criminals, the whole deal of evil. I guess all worse for the best, right? I met Trance, that makes it worth the while."

"Yeah, I guess…" Lexa answered, pondering on what Beka just told her.

"You know… I'm sorry…" Beka interrupted her inner thoughts.

"For what?" Lexa looked surprised at Beka.

"For pointing a gun on you back on the Maru…"

"Can't blame you for trying to protect your family and friends. I know the feeling." Lexa smiled.

"Speaking of feelings and friends…" Beka ked at Lexa with an understandable something's going on between you and the lovely engineer.

"Huh? Oh… Oh, no, it's not what you think!" Lexa said with a blush, waving her arms in defense.

"But I'm not thinking about anything!" Beka added with a smirk. "I couldn't possibly think about you and Harper…" She added, nudging Lexa in the ribs. "And spare me the denial, I've seen the way he looks at you. And I can't say you don't do it, either."

"Do what?" Lexa asked, innocently.

"Oh, you know… THE look. Like you can't live without looking at each other every five seconds. Like you expect to wake up from a dream and he would disappear if you don't check if he's still there. THAT look. I bet something was between the two of you back on Earth." Beka smiled, satisfied she unsolved the mystery.

"I was… too young to do anything… of… what you're thinking right now." Lexa smiled a bit embarrassed, waving he finger at Beka.

"But I'm not thinking about anything!" Lexa added a "Hmph!". "Honestly!" She added smirking widely. "C'mon!" Beka surprised Lexa by grabbing her hand and pulling her through the door. "I have some funny fruit on the Maru. I'll make a cocktail." Beka said, putting her arm though Lexa's.

"OK." Lexa added with a smile, seeing Beka so loosened up after all that though girl act. She saw why Seamus trusted Beka so much. A kind girl who'd do anything for her crew, her friends… Her family. She was contemplating Beka's attitude towards her while Beka dragged her to the Maru, when Beka suddenly stopped, bringing her back from her reverie.

"What's wrong?" Lexa asked as Beka pulled the gun from it's holder.

"Shh. There's someone on my ship." Beka eased inside the Maru, with Lexa close behind her. They tiptoed to the bunks room, where Beka moved silently and opened the door swiftly. "Hold it right there!" Beka put the gun down after seeing who 'raided' her ship. "You guys… I almost shot you!" She said to a surprised Trance.

"You were saying something about a cocktail…" Rommie added with a hint from a hammock.

"It's not nice to snoop around, Rommie." Beka told her, taking a seat on a free hammock set like a swing.

"I don't snoop around!" Rommie said offended. "I 's a difference." She added with a smile.

"Suuure it is." Beka nudged her on the elbow.

"Soooo, how about that cocktail?" Trance asked innocently after a moment of silence.

"If you help me, you'll get your cocktail Trance." Beka got up and headed from the door.

"Looks like we, girls, have a place of our own." Lexa said as Trance and Beka were about to exit the room. Beka stopped in her tracks to look back, scanning the room.

"Yeah, I think we do. Welcome aboard, Lexa!" Beka added on an official tone, shaking her hand. "Welcome aboard Andromeda and my Maru."

Lexa smiled warmly as she felt welcomed and sure on herself and her bright future on the Andromeda Ascendant.

TBC