Rating: G
Spoilers: I dunno...none, really...well, up through "Max in the City" I suppose. I don't know if something really does happen to Tess, but in any world of Dani's Future Arc, she doesn't really exist. *g*
Summary: As a father tells his son a story, on another planet in another galaxy, an old man recounts the legends of his youth.
Author's Note: This is an alternate version of the Future Arc. In this version, Kyle was shot in Destiny, and he knew long before Jamie was eleven that Max and the rest are aliens. Nothing else has changed. The children are still the same, the marriage partners are still the same. It's just that the events getting to the future as we know it were a little altered...

"Someday," Aerin went on with a bold sweep of her empty hand, "I shall be famous in legend and story--"

Teka, holding the skirt to the light as she made deft invisible stiches around the patch, said quietly, "I never doubted it, my dear."

--The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daddy, tell me a story, the young boy asks, curled up at his father's side.

But, Grandfather, what about the heroes? What about the great war? You promised you'd tell us the story, the young girl persists, as she sits at the older man's knee.

The father smiles, kissing the top of his son's silky brown hair. But it's a sad smile that creases his youthful face. The little boy doesn't see the lines that edge his daddy's eyes, or the sorrows deep within. Already, bear, I'll tell you the story. But only this one story, and then it's time for bed.

The older man sighs, looking down at the cluster of children around him. Grandchildren all, sons and daughters of his sons and daughters lost in the war. These children have known nothing but peace, but they have known no childhood either.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away, the father starts, his blue eyes staring off out the window at the heavens.

...there was another world, much like ours, crawling with life in the seas, in the forests, life that had just reached the stars... The grandfather studies the night sky, his gnarled hand tracing the sweep of constellations. See that yellow star there? It was under that sun, my children...under that sun...

And in this galaxy, there were five planets, little bear. These five planets were ruled by five families, and those families didn't like each other much, so they fought a lot.

Like me and Nikki, the little boy says wisely, nodding his light-brown head. Me and Nikki fight all the time. Teacher says it's because we can't oc-cupy the same place.

As the children look up at the yellow star, the grandfather continues. And on this planet, there were many tribes, and many nations, much like among our five stars. The people who lived there were very similar, yet different enough that they couldn't see that they were all part of one whole, and one destiny. Much like our planet. How similar we were to these people we thought were so barbaric, and so young...

So when the fighting got too bad, the king and his sister the warrior princess-

Like Xena? The little boy's voice pipes up.

Yes, bear. Like Xena. So the great King, and his sister Xena, and the wise general, and the great King's wife all died, because the war got too bad. And because they died...

We sent them to that star. We sent them, not knowing what awaited them, with four guardians, because it was all we could do. The grandfather swallows, remembering...remembering those days of waiting in exile, wondering if all their hopes, all their plans had borne to fruition. We sent them, armed only with faith...

So the great King, and his sister Xena, and the wise general, and the young bride landed on Earth. They sat and sat and sat in their pods for almost fifty years...

What's a pod, Daddy?

The father smiles. Like a cocoon, bear. The four slept inside their cocoons for years and years and years until they were ready to hatch, so that they could survive.

The boy nods. Until they were ready to turn into flutterflies, right, Daddy?

And the pods burst open. But when the podlings hatched, they didn't come out at the same time.

To this day, it bothers the grandfather, why the fourth hadn't opened. What mistake had science made, to cause the delay? The pod carrying the young queen to be had hatched two weeks later, and that alone cost so many lives...

Because young Ava's pod hatched late, the other three were reborn without her. They moved on without her and were raised without her, not knowing of their identities, or their destiny.

So the bride lady had to grow up all alone, daddy? The little boy's voice quivers. She hadda grow up all alone without her brothers and sisters?

The father is quiet for a very long time. Yeah, bear. She grew up all alone, without anyone else like her, and without a mommy or a daddy to care for her.

The little boy cuddles closer. I would've loved her, he announces, his stubborn chin sticking out just as his daddy's had at the same age. I would've loved her and taken care of her, just like you and mommy take care of me.

The father closes his eyes, resting his head against the wall. I would've too, bear... And the lord knows I tried...

Raised apart, Zan, Rath, and Vilandra had no idea of who they were, and what they were to be. But in their tenth year under the yellow star...

...The war happened.

Was it a big war, Daddy?

Again, the father is silent, knowing that his son can never comprehend how large the war really was. It was bigger than elephants, bear. Bigger than whales.

Bigger than the stars, Daddy?

Yes, bear. Even bigger than the stars.

What happened? the young girl asks the grandfather. Grandfather? Wake up! What happened next?

The grandfather looks uncomfortable. Legends aren't supposed to have faults, and these heroes of the Great War were human, with all humanity's frailties, and all of humanity's vices. There was war, child. Long and bloody war. Many people died. Our Royal Four fought not only the evils without, but the evils within as well.

So the King and his brother and his sister and his wife lady fought each other too? The little boy's brow is furrowed with confusion. But they should've loved each other and trusted each other like you and mommy do, Daddy. They should've known, cause when you fight with the people you love, you can't take care of them very good.

The bride grew up knowing all about their destiny and everything, bear, the father reminds his son. The king and Xena and the general didn't know. They grew up human, like you and me, and they fell in love, and they were happy, and then the evil aliens came. And the humans got drawn into the war too.

If it wasn't for the humans... The old man sighs. The humans saved the day. The four from Roswell gave strength to our four, and allowed them to find that careful balance that they needed. We never thought that our Royal Four would have problems, since they were half Antarean and half human. But they struggled, and somehow...

They found balance. But it cost the humans. Two of them got shot and almost died. For a moment, the father can almost feel the bullet piercing his lung, the lead burning his flesh and all the fragile tissue that lies between rib and vertebrae. Sometimes, the humans wondered if it was worth it, since it wasn't their war. It was hard, because the four aliens changed everything in their world-everything they ever knew and loved...

But the aliens were people too, Daddy, the little boy pipes up again. The human people did the good thing, like my teacher always says to do, cause we're supposed to help other people in need. That's what Mrs. Sunday School Teacher says. Cause love is the golden rule, and you have to like your neighbors the way you want to be liked. And you can't hit Nikki, even if she makes you really mad and paints your nose purple.

The father chuckles, a dry, harsh sound. You're right, bear. And sometimes, the humans remembered that. But sometimes, when one boy in particular watched his family and friends disappear around him, wondering if he'd be next...

The human four showed an incredible bravery, the grandfather says grudgingly. When we first surveyed the species, we didn't think much of them. But the human foursquare-somehow, they managed to give our Royal Four the strength to turn the tide. They rose to the occasion. And they became heroes.

So they won the war, Daddy? The little boy yawns, his head resting on his father's knee. I'm glad they won the war. Even if it was really icky and long. Because I like living here, and sleeping in my bed, and having you and Mommy and Nikki and school and everyone around me. I don't wanna be a slave to evil alien people like in all the tv shows.

The father runs his fingers through the little boy's soft hair, wondering at the miracle of his firstborn. Me either, bear. I like living our life too.

And where are they now, Grandfather? What happened to the four humans? The little girl persists, rising up to peer into the old man's eyes. Did they die? Did they stay on earth?

Zan, Rath, and Vilandra married three of the heroes. They live under that yellow sun yet, loving, and raising babies. They have forsaken their heritage. Ava...the grandfather's face falls for a moment, remembering. Remembering his planet that has had to cope without a king, as his race learns democracy for the first time. At least Zan and his brother and sister had seen fit to give them that... The war cost too much, so much that sometimes we still wonder if it was worth it.

Long after his son falls asleep, the man still strokes the boy's fine hair off his forehead, wondering at the miracle of the child that lays in his lap. His son was fully human, the only human out of all of his cousins and friends. Maybe someday, the boy would learn what that greatest sacrifice had been-what the price of his life had been. Briefly, the father imagines that the boy's straight hair is lighter and has the slightest bit of curl, and that the stubborn chin is softened somewhat to a slight point. He loves his wife more than anything, but deep in his heart, there's still a spot reserved for a petite blond from out of town, who once needed a lamp trimmed. Briefly, the father dwells on the true cost of the war, and wonders at the karmic retribution of the universe...

Two small children sleep on the far sides of the galaxy.

Someday, I should like to meet the children of the heroes, the little girl whispers in her dreams.

Someday, I'll find the heroes and say thank you to them, because mommy says you should always say thank you, the little boy thinks as he drifts off to sleep.

Author's Note: Usually my fics are straightforward, but for this one, I figured I'd do a note, a la Dani... This is not the Future Arc as we know it, but one in which Kyle was shot, and knew all along about the aliens, and about Tess. In Dani's world, there will be a war, and our humans and our pod squad will all fight, and then they'll be allowed to live their lives as normal as possible. But the children will never know the prices that their parents paid for their future, and the children will never know who the great heroes really are on Antar. So that's the setting of my little story, if that makes any more sense... If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

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