By Elizabeth Ann Lewis

Part 2

Chapter 4

"She knows," Ximenn continued, too agitated to let Delenn speak. "No Minbari would speak of it to a Human -- why bother? -- but she knows. She described it as though she were there."

"Do you speak of Mingala Chang?" Delenn asked quietly.

Ximenn didn't seem to hear her, caught up in his own turmoil. "She told me the tale of Olwenn, a tale I'd known for as long as I could remember, but without the names, and without the understanding. She doesn't know who stands beside her in the garden, doesn't know the *meaning* of what she sees... but she knows."

Delenn rose to stand before him, placing one hand on his shoulder. "Calm yourself. Perhaps she heard it somehow, somewhere. Perhaps Humans have a similar legend. It's possible."

"She *knows*," Ximenn said fiercely. "There can be no question of it."

"What do you wish me to say? I have no answer for you." Delenn clenched her fist and hid it in the folds of her robe. ~I cannot tell him, I cannot explain. He may understand... or he may not. And if he does not...~

Brwyn, in her accustomed place on Ximenn's shoulder, mewled and began nibbling gently on his ear, trying to alleviate the upset she could sense from him. He closed his eyes. "She was attacked tonight, by a gang of Drazi. I stopped them. Ironic, isn't it? She was frightened and alone and confused. And I couldn't bear to see her that way. Why do I protect her?" He laughed shortly, bitterly. "She asked me that question as though I were a monster."

"She does not understand." Delenn turned away slightly.

"Help me, Delenn. Answer me. How did she know a story that all Minbari children are told?"

"I... cannot say." There was a wealth of regret in her tone.

Ximenn was silent for several long minutes. "There can be only one answer, can there not? She believed that the images she saw were of her past, of a time before her soul was born in this flesh. The only way she could remember... was if her soul were Minbari." Saying the words aloud made him both of them recoil, but Ximenn refused to back down. "It's true, isn't it? She remembers because she was there. She remembers standing in the garden holding the flower in the palm of her hand, *because she was Olwenn.*"

"Enough!" Delenn ordered. "Do not say anything more." But by not denying his words they both knew she was tacitly confirming them.

"I understand now," he said, stunned. "I understand. You -- the Grey Council -- knew. And we surrendered. I understand."

"You cannot tell anyone," Delenn warned him. "If our people knew..."

"It would tear a rift in our world that would let the shrieking hoards of chaos free," he supplied wearily. "I know."

"It is a secret. Only the Grey Council and a few -- a *very* few -- Humans know."

"And now so do I."

"Their roles in the coming darkness make it necessary. No one else can know. You cannot tell her." Delenn's voice was implacable.

He closed his eyes then, unable to allow her to see what those words did to him. But for a moment, anguish shone through, and broke Delenn's heart. "I will not. But it will be hard," he continued. "You see... I remember." He opened his eyes and looked at Delenn. "I remember standing beside her."

Mingala woke to the gently beeping sound of her communicator. It politely informed her that she had a prerecorded message. She was happy enough to abandon her bed. Dragons and flowers and people whose faces she could not -- had never been able to -- see had wandered in her sleep. With such a crowd in her head, she could not rest. Rising, she brushed loose tendrils that had escaped her braids out of her face, and seated herself before her communicator. "Audio only," a pleasant voice told her.

"Ms. Chang, I will be unable to continue our negotiations today." Ximenn's voice was as flat and emotionless as it had been the night before. "If you have no objection, we will continue tomorrow morning."

She sat for several moments staring at the Babcom logo on her screen, seeing nothing. When the communicator flickered back into life, signaling a call, she jumped, startled. Recovering, she tapped it to accept the message.

"Ms. Chang." Garibaldi's face appeared, looking concerned.

She cleared her throat. "Yes?"

"I was informed that you were attacked last night. Is that true?"

Mingala nodded. "I was walking back to my rooms. Four Drazi surrounded me. Ximenn happened to be close by, and frightened them off."

"Yeah, that's what he said. Did you want to press charges of any kind?"

Mingala laughed, the sound bitter. "They were Drazi. You could line fifty of them up in front of me and I couldn't tell the difference. What good is a witness who can't testify on her own behalf?"

"Yeah, I understand." Garibaldi sighed in frustration. "Look, be careful, will you? Stick to the safer parts of the station."

"I'd never been to the unsafe parts before you took me yesterday," she pointed out dryly. "And I was attacked in one of the 'safe' parts."

"Yeah, well, the chances of another attack happening in Green Sector are about nil. There's too many security cams. You can wander around there, but don't leave it alone, OK?"

"All right, Mr. Garibaldi. And... thank you."

Garibaldi looked like he was about to say something. Instead, he merely nodded and broke transmission. Mingala recorded and left a message for Talia, just in case Ximenn hadn't been his usual meticulous self and had forgotten to inform her that the negotiations would not be going forward today. Then, at loose ends, she prowled her rooms.

She didn't understand the Minbari. No Human ever had. How could you explain a people who had been within a hairsbreadth of victory -- and surrendered? How could you ever trust that they wouldn't change their minds as capriciously as they had decided to surrender, and attack again? She had done her research. She knew the extent of the EarthForce's capabilities. She had read the reports on Minbari technology. Minbar could destroy them by merely wishing to.

How could she ever believe that her people would be safe if they continued to consort with the enemy?

She would be a fool to base an opinion of a people on only one of their number. Ximenn had rescued her last night. But more than that, he had been generous enough to stay with her in the aftermath of one of the most horrific events of her life, to watch her, to calm her, to tell her stories and generally protect her. But to ask Ximenn to be the sole representative of his people was unfair. She would never have the courage to present herself as the representation of the best Humanity had to offer.

But the fact remained that Minbar had created a man capable of the kindness and sympathy that Ximenn had displayed the night before.

The communicator beeped one more time, commanding Mingala's attention. This time, when she sat herself before it, it was Gideon's face that shone out. "Morning, my dear. How did you sleep?"

Mingala smiled ruefully. "Badly. The negotiations are suspended for the day."

"Perfect, then. I've arranged to have you interviewed by ISN. I thought it would have to be tomorrow, but if you are free today--"

"Interviewed?" Mingala interrupted. "Why?"

Gideon shrugged. "It was Julian's idea. The papers at home are losing interest in the negotiations. They want immediate, unrealistic results. Putting your face on an interstellar broadcast would drum up interest again -- and notoriety is never a bad thing."

"I'm sorry, Gideon. I... I can't."

"My dear," he said with worry, "whatever is wrong? You've spoken on ISN before. You aren't afraid of the cameras."

"That isn't the problem," Mingala said evenly.

"Then what is?"

Mingala recognized the thread of steel in his voice. Gideon never let her get away with a faulty argument or a pat answer. He'd pare her down and make her admit... what? She didn't even know what she would admit if he pushed her.

More than anything, that was what frightened her.

"All right. When and where?"

Gideon smiled comfortably. "This afternoon. And I think Ms. Tenatta said something about the Observation Dome..."

Garibaldi leaned back in his chair, deliberately casual as he watched the Minbari seated in front of him. "Tell me again," he invited calmly.

"I was walking through Green Section, I heard the sounds of a fight," Ximenn said, as patient as he had been for the first three tellings. "When I turned the corner, Ms. Chang was attempting to fight her way free of four Drazi. I approached and engaged them, they ran off. I then walked Ms. Chang to her quarters to ensure that they would not return."

"What were you doing in Green Section? Your quarters are in Red."

"Exercise," Ximenn said blandly. "I enjoy walking."

"And you just happened to be in the right place at the right time to save Ms. Chang?" Garibaldi's voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"Odd, isn't it, the patterns of fate that surround us?"

Garibaldi couldn't read anything in the light eyes of the Minbari that sat in front of him. He hadn't really expected to. Ximenn had been the one who alerted him to the attack. After checking the security cams and realizing how convenient the Minbari's entrance had been, Garibaldi had -- politely, of course -- requested that Ximenn come in for a little chat. And the more he questioned him, the more he was convinced that there was quite a bit he wasn't telling. "Do you think you could identify the Drazi?"

Ximenn nodded to the freeze-frame on the monitor behind Garibaldi's shoulder. "You've got their pictures. You should be able to find them."

"I would like your help." Amazing that his tongue didn't burn off. His teeth were in serious danger of being ground into nubs, though...

"You can't have it." The words were blunt and short to the point of rudeness.

"Why the hell not?" Garibaldi demanded. "What have you got to hide?"

"Let me put it to you this way, Chief: You dragged Ms. Chang into a situation that she was not prepared for. She has, after her first day on the station, been keeping a fairly low profile. While... disturbances have been disrupting the station while our negotiations continue, she was rarely seen.

"In one stroke, you stripped that anonymity from her and not only exposed her to races who have no reason to care for her, but set her up as a symbol and a target for their anger and hatred. Or did you think it was a coincidence that she was attacked less than two hours after you displayed her to a rioting crowd?"

"That was never our intention," Garibaldi argued.

"Intentions aren't relevant to this discussion, Chief. Reality is."

Ximenn was furious, Garibaldi realized. The Minbari hid it well, beneath layers of tranquility and banal politeness. Remove the layers, and he would take the Drazi who had attacked Mingala Chang apart with his bare hands, and then start on the ones who had set her out in front of the firing squad.

And toss in a few kicks on his own ass for good measure... and for what? Not being able to stop the attack completely? He was Mingala Chang's enemy, not her protector. Why was he so angry on her behalf?

"Thanks for your help," Garibaldi said, rising, and got a grim pleasure from seeing one moment of shock on Ximenn's face at being cut free so easily. "If I've got any more questions..."

"I'll answer them to the best of my ability," he said, composure recovered. He bowed politely and exited Garibaldi's office. Garibaldi sat back down, leaning back in his chair and thinking.

"Well?" Sheridan asked as he entered. "What did he say?"

"Frankly, it's what he *didn't* say that interested me. Hate to tell you this, Captain, but I think there's more here than meets the eye."

Sheridan rolled his eyes. "Tell me something new and different. If *anything* went as expected on this station..."

Garibaldi rose and clapped Sheridan's shoulder on his way out. "Hey. Admit it. If everything went as expected here, you'd be bored stiff."

Chuckling, Garibaldi stepped out into the corridor leading to the Zocalo. Behind him, Sheridan muttered irritably, "But I don't have to like it."