Harper and Beka had been traveling on the Maru the past few days running an errand Dylan had sent them on, usually Harper tried to turn these little "business trips" into vacations, but this time he was hardly in the mood for having fun... he really had not been acting like himself ever since Trance made that time jump, losing her purple skin and bubbly, cheerful attitude, it seemed that at times he even doubted that it was Trance at all.

It was very late but since they were almost back to the Andromeda Beka lay awake in her bed, Harper was near by on a hammock, also awake,













He started looking at what seemed to be a picture, but he could scroll threw several albums on it using a touch screen.














Beka knew something had been bothering him, and it was pretty obvious what... or rather who that something was.

Beka
“So... what are you looking at?” she asked, even though she pretty much knew.

Harper looked over at her as if being jerked from his own thoughts abruptly.

Harper
“Oh... its nothing really, just some uh.. old pictures, ya know... “ He said attempting to hide his feelings with a fake happy tone and a smirk.

Beka raised an eyebrow.

Beka
“Mm hm,.. let me see.” she said reaching over gesturing for him to hand her the album. Harper swallowed and hesitated before handing it over, but he might as well give it over, after all she would get it from him anyways, no reason to put up a fight.


Beka grabbed it and began scrolling threw the images.













Beka
“Harper...” she looked up at him “There is nothing but pictures of Trance in here.” She said giving him a look that clearly wanted an explanation.

Harper snarled a little bit.

Harper
“Heh..well there still old pictures.” he said trying to defend himself.

Beka sighed.

Beka
“It wasn't even that long ago... what you mean is that its “the Old” Trance.. don't you?” She said tilting her head a bit and raising both her eyebrows.

Harper sighed heavily and looked away.


Harper
“You got me boss....” He said giving in. “I just keep thinking about her, about the last time I saw her... that moment just seems to be haunting me.” He spoke in a calm slightly saddened voice as he finally opened up to Beka about the matter.

Beka's interrogation voice changed and she switched to comfort mode, which was almost the same but not quite as intimidating.


Beka
“I know... I think about her a lot too.” she admitted.

Harper looked over at Beka as she spoke to him, he knew Beka missed her too.


Harper
“There is just so much I wanted to tell her... so much I should have said... but was always to much of a coward to say it...” he said his voice trailing into a slightly higher tone as he got irritated with himself.

Beka
“Look... Harper... as much as I want to agree with you and jabber on like we are reminiscing about the dead... lets face it... the last time we saw trance was on Andromeda just a few days ago.” she stated plainly as she reasoned with Harper... and kind of herself as well.

Harper looked at her with slight pitifulness.

Harper
“ah... come on Beka you know it ant the same.” he said frowning and looking back at the picture of Trance that he was holding.

Beka's eyes squinted with a little bit of upsettness, though not really for Harper... just in general.

Beka
“No... no more, we cant keep being so selfish. Lets think about Trance for a minute.” Beka said snatching the picture back from Harper and facing it toward him.

“You see this picture Harper, this was the day Trance grew up, yes not the last time we saw her, not before she left... no... when she grew up. She said she came from a bad future, what if we weren't even around? Heck what if we were dead!? You don't know what she went threw, what I do know is the look in her eyes when her best friend that she had not seen for who knows how long pretty much rejected her. I don't blame you... don't get me wrong... it feels off to me too.... but we need to move on.” Beka's voice calmed as she looked at the picture of Trance when she was young. Harper just stared at her as guilt set in.














“Truth is... Trance remembers that day... she remembers when this picture was taken, she remembers when she first met us... and all those years we were together... she remembers we were the closest thing to a family each other had.” Beka said with slight sadness.

Harper was speechless... the thought had raddled around in his mind before... but she was just so different and it was all so sudden. He felt selfish... even though it wasn't his fault and it wasn't like he was mad at Trance... he was just so confused . It made him sad imagining her on Andromeda, alone, with her plants... all innocent and feeling unloved.

Finally they returned to the Andromeda, after Harper said goodnight to Beka he went to his quarters and laid down on his bed. He started looking at those same pictures of Trance again,













only this time... he was wondering what Trance would think of these pictures now, would she even remember?













Harper had no idea how long ago it was for her. he began to realize all this time he had spent needlessly missing her when he could be with her all the time, just like before... well almost. He thought how silly it was, here he was acting like unless he could bend the laws of the universe and bring her back from the dead he would never see her again... when in reality she was just a short walk away.

Harper left his room and wandered around the empty corridors of Andromeda.













Although he seemed to be walking aimlessly,
he just so happened to go to the one place he found Trance the most, Hydroponics.

Coincidence? Not likely.

He saw Trance walking around.














Harper pretended he didn't see her as he poked at a device in his hands... as if he was doing something important... which he wasn't.













Trance saw him, and looked a bit surprised that he was just wandering around her usual spot at this time of night.













She walked up closer as he walked away from her... it was an all to familiar sight now for Trance... but she somehow knew he came here to see her, so she reached out and touched his shoulder pulling gently for him to turn to her.













He did so and looked at her... but not in the way she had become accustom to since the time jump, no for the first time he looked her in the eyes... as if captivated by his thoughts of her... and slightly confused by his own emotions as well.














Trance
“H..harper?” She said unsurely, sensing a change in his feelings toward her. His expression brought back memories... it had been so long since he had looked at her this way.

“You... use to look at me like that a lot..” She said breaking the silence.

Harper blinked unsure of what she meant.

Harper
“Wha... Like what? I am just... uhm.” Harper searched for an excuse.

Trance smiled a little, he was just so cute, all unsure and nervous.

Trance
“You use to look at me all the time... when you thought I couldn't see you.. but... I could feel it.” She said closing her eyes and smiling as she remembered the feeling it would give her when she knew he was staring at her.













Harper blushed a little, he never knew she noticed.... maybe he didn't even notice he did it...

Harper
“I still do..” he said starting serious but quickly feeling a little embarrassed ” 'I still do'?? What the hell was that? Oh man that was so predictable...” Harper thought to himself.

Trance couldn't help but be amused by his expression. But she was also touched by what he said.

Trance
“I really missed you.” She said her eyes filling with tears.













Harper felt so guilty... he wanted to kick himself, there was his best friend and he had treated her like a stranger and rejected her the moment she needed him most. And on top of it all he thought "how could i reject someone with a face like that? ...Trance is so beautiful... and yet.... she seems so sad... is it because of me?" he ended his thoughts before they became even more unbearable.

Harper
“Trance... look... I realize I've been kind of a jerk... well not kind of-” Harper's sentence got cut off by a very upset trance.

Trance

“That's not true!" she raised her voice with sincerity.













Harper stepped back for a moment and realized how much she was still... well Trance... that expression... heh it was all to familiar.













He caught himself being distracted by her looks and tried to focus on what she said.. which he didn't really agree with... even if he knew deep down she was right... after all wasn't she most of the time?

"I was never mad at you Harper..." Trance continued "I know it must be hard for you... I may be the same person but I realize I am very different, not just the way I look.” she said looking down trying not to cry.


Harper
“No... no, no! You didn't... you won't... errm... Trance don't act like its okay, cause you know, just as well as I do that you didn't deserve it and I need to start actin' like a real friend and not some loser wannabe...friend.. person... whatever!” he caught himself rambling a bit and changed his tone. “I'm sorry... don't... say anything... please just accept it and don't act like you don't need an apology because... cause its what you deserve.” he looked at her trying to smile for her but to upset with himself to do it fully.

Trance listened to his request and didn't say a word... she simple leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, then turned around and walked away.

Harper froze for a second... that feeling was all to familiar... he had wanted to feel that sweet kiss again for so long. He snapped out of it and trotted after her.

Harper
“Nah... not this again.. why do you do this to me?” he said frowning cutely. Trance turned to him and looked a little confused.

“Don't you remember? The last time we were together when you were... uhm... purple? You kissed me on the cheek.” He said pointing to the spot she had just kissed him moments before. “And then walked off leaving' me hanging.” Harper got a little closer to Trance.

“I have thought about that moment every day... just wishing I had gone after you... well not again... this time you ant getting away!” He shouted with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.













Trance froze and was surprised, he had never held her this way... and as precognitive as she was most the time she didn't see it coming. After the shock wore off she gently embraced him. She felt like crying again, but it was only because it felt so good to be held by him.

Hearing her sniffle he lifted his head from her shoulder and pressed his cheek slightly against her's and in a attempt to make things more cheerful he said.

Harper
“Your still my Sparkling purple babe.” he then grinned as he pulled away, still having his hands on her waist. He then looked her up and down “Only with.. more Sparkling and... no purple...... either way your still sexy, maybe even more so.” He smiled deviously at her.

Trance thought he was so cute when he got all flirty and way over did the complements.

Trance
“ 'More so'? She gave a fake frown. “I wasn't as sexy before?” She said teasingly.

Harper felt stupid, but he knew she was just messing with him so he had to make some kind of come back.

Harper
“Well.. no.. pfft of coarse not! Your Just..” He searched for words to describe her as he looked her up and down again.

“Just a new color... and uhhh... your hair... ahhh! Your just something else... something.” He said as Trance's voice trailed into the end of his sentence.

Trance
“Something... different..?” she said with a smile, tears still in her eyes.














Harper looked at her and wiped her tears gently with his hand as his silly face turned into a more serious expression, as if he had realized something in that very moment.













Harper
“...Maybe even... something better.”[/B][B][B][/B][SIZE=1][SIZE=1]