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eponymous_roseA little ficlet for the fantastic ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
babylon5_love month!
Title: Flashpoint
Author:eponymous_rose
Rating: PG
Characters: Delenn, Susan
Word Count: 750
Spoilers: Set shortly after "Sleeping in Light".
Summary: It was a quiet place, touched by death.
They were standing under a cold, clear sky, surrounded by the fragile husks of burned-out trees.
The silence was broken only when Susan stamped her feet, shivering in the early morning chill. "This was a bad idea."
Delenn chose not to dignify that with a reply, striding forward, letting herself kick up a little dust on this alien world. Strange, how donning the mantle of the president of a vast alliance of planets had kept her from setting foot on any of them. "It is summer, here?"
Susan snorted. "You wouldn't know it from the frost, but yeah, it's summer. Late summer."
"I see." Delenn paused, rested a hand against the brittle bark of a spindly trunk. "I suppose I am accustomed to warmer summers."
Again, Susan gave a short, sharp laugh. There was no humor in it. "We get that a lot. Welcome to Russia."
Bark flaked away between Delenn's fingers, cool to the touch. "A fire?"
Susan shrugged. "Lightning or something. We're far enough off the beaten track that they probably don't monitor that sort of thing here until the fire's spread a bit."
They were silent for a moment, and Delenn dusted idly at a new smudge of soot on her sleeve, without success. Her impulsive decision to have Susan show her the lesser-known sights of Earth had been less instructive than she'd expected; the wind bit through her cloak, and the weight of the ashes in the air was settling around her shoulders. This should have been an escape, if only for a few fleeting moments, from the endless responsibilities of her new position. Instead, it felt like a reminder of just how much was dying around her.
Her lips curled in a wry smile. Perhaps, in a place like this, Susan's fatalistic stance was contagious.
She'd turned to admit that now might be an opportune time to return to Moscow and resume their more staid sightseeing, but the words froze in her throat. Susan was watching her, and Delenn thought she read pity in her friend's eyes.
After a moment, Susan turned, shrugged off the weight of the moment. "I used to walk in this forest, when I was younger and needed... needed some time. It looked different then." She nodded toward the horizon, where the blacks and greys were replaced with a sudden, shocking flush of green. "At least the fire didn't spread far."
"It's so fragile," Delenn said, and was surprised when the words came in a whisper. "Our cities are crystal. Our forests stand for centuries. Here-" She became aware of Susan's eyes on her again, the same knowing look, and faltered. "-here, nothing stays."
Susan grimaced, and Delenn wondered if she'd ever really found peace in this place. "I knew it was a stupid idea to come here. You're beginning to sound as pessimistic as me."
"No, no," Delenn said, even as the ashes scratched at the back of her throat. "It is good to see-" She paused, tried again. "The universe puts us in places where-"
"Hang on." Susan was staring at the ground. Dead branches crackled under her feet as she crouched down, picking away at the charred debris underfoot. After a moment's hesitation, Delenn joined her.
"What is it?"
Susan had unearthed a small, scraggly plant with flowers of a shocking, vibrant purple. She rested back on her haunches for a long moment, and then, with a suddenness that made Delenn jump, she burst out laughing. "There's your message from the universe, Delenn. Not exactly subtle. Look." She pointed again, and Delenn saw another little shoot poking its way through the rubble, and another beyond that. "Fireweed. It'll survive anywhere, pave the way for regrowth."
Delenn couldn't help smiling. "Life among the ashes," she said. "That certainly does seem apt."
"Of course, it's also a stubborn, annoying pest of a weed. What's that make us?"
Delenn made a show of thinking that over. "Stubborn? Annoying? Certainly. And very definitely pests."
"Flatterer."
Delenn dusted the little plant off again. It seemed all the brighter for its bleak surroundings. "Resilient."
Susan made a thoughtful noise; when Delenn looked up, she was staring at the horizon, at the divide between the fire's edge and the untouched life beyond. "Yeah. Resilient."
After a time, the strangeness of the moment passed. They returned to Moscow, and from there, to Minbar, to civilization and responsibility, to the whispered echoes of the past and the strident portents of the future, too stubborn to fall.
babylon5_love month!Title: Flashpoint
Author:
eponymous_roseRating: PG
Characters: Delenn, Susan
Word Count: 750
Spoilers: Set shortly after "Sleeping in Light".
Summary: It was a quiet place, touched by death.
They were standing under a cold, clear sky, surrounded by the fragile husks of burned-out trees.
The silence was broken only when Susan stamped her feet, shivering in the early morning chill. "This was a bad idea."
Delenn chose not to dignify that with a reply, striding forward, letting herself kick up a little dust on this alien world. Strange, how donning the mantle of the president of a vast alliance of planets had kept her from setting foot on any of them. "It is summer, here?"
Susan snorted. "You wouldn't know it from the frost, but yeah, it's summer. Late summer."
"I see." Delenn paused, rested a hand against the brittle bark of a spindly trunk. "I suppose I am accustomed to warmer summers."
Again, Susan gave a short, sharp laugh. There was no humor in it. "We get that a lot. Welcome to Russia."
Bark flaked away between Delenn's fingers, cool to the touch. "A fire?"
Susan shrugged. "Lightning or something. We're far enough off the beaten track that they probably don't monitor that sort of thing here until the fire's spread a bit."
They were silent for a moment, and Delenn dusted idly at a new smudge of soot on her sleeve, without success. Her impulsive decision to have Susan show her the lesser-known sights of Earth had been less instructive than she'd expected; the wind bit through her cloak, and the weight of the ashes in the air was settling around her shoulders. This should have been an escape, if only for a few fleeting moments, from the endless responsibilities of her new position. Instead, it felt like a reminder of just how much was dying around her.
Her lips curled in a wry smile. Perhaps, in a place like this, Susan's fatalistic stance was contagious.
She'd turned to admit that now might be an opportune time to return to Moscow and resume their more staid sightseeing, but the words froze in her throat. Susan was watching her, and Delenn thought she read pity in her friend's eyes.
After a moment, Susan turned, shrugged off the weight of the moment. "I used to walk in this forest, when I was younger and needed... needed some time. It looked different then." She nodded toward the horizon, where the blacks and greys were replaced with a sudden, shocking flush of green. "At least the fire didn't spread far."
"It's so fragile," Delenn said, and was surprised when the words came in a whisper. "Our cities are crystal. Our forests stand for centuries. Here-" She became aware of Susan's eyes on her again, the same knowing look, and faltered. "-here, nothing stays."
Susan grimaced, and Delenn wondered if she'd ever really found peace in this place. "I knew it was a stupid idea to come here. You're beginning to sound as pessimistic as me."
"No, no," Delenn said, even as the ashes scratched at the back of her throat. "It is good to see-" She paused, tried again. "The universe puts us in places where-"
"Hang on." Susan was staring at the ground. Dead branches crackled under her feet as she crouched down, picking away at the charred debris underfoot. After a moment's hesitation, Delenn joined her.
"What is it?"
Susan had unearthed a small, scraggly plant with flowers of a shocking, vibrant purple. She rested back on her haunches for a long moment, and then, with a suddenness that made Delenn jump, she burst out laughing. "There's your message from the universe, Delenn. Not exactly subtle. Look." She pointed again, and Delenn saw another little shoot poking its way through the rubble, and another beyond that. "Fireweed. It'll survive anywhere, pave the way for regrowth."
Delenn couldn't help smiling. "Life among the ashes," she said. "That certainly does seem apt."
"Of course, it's also a stubborn, annoying pest of a weed. What's that make us?"
Delenn made a show of thinking that over. "Stubborn? Annoying? Certainly. And very definitely pests."
"Flatterer."
Delenn dusted the little plant off again. It seemed all the brighter for its bleak surroundings. "Resilient."
Susan made a thoughtful noise; when Delenn looked up, she was staring at the horizon, at the divide between the fire's edge and the untouched life beyond. "Yeah. Resilient."
After a time, the strangeness of the moment passed. They returned to Moscow, and from there, to Minbar, to civilization and responsibility, to the whispered echoes of the past and the strident portents of the future, too stubborn to fall.
