them.
As she reached the door a symbol appeared on it, glowing bright gold. A face appeared through the symbol, a nightmarish creation drawn from myths and nightmares. Delenn, who had seen more in real nightmares than any fake ones, simply stared it down, and it faded. The door swung open.
'Come in,' said Vejar's polite tones from inside. 'I've been expecting you.'
Without any trepidation she crossed the boundary, and everything became dark. Hesitating, her heart thumping in her chest, she nevertheless moved forward. She could see nothing, but there was little here to be afraid of. Not any more.
A light appeared around her, and she discovered Vejar sitting before her. There was an empty chair opposite him. She sat down and looked at him. He appeared unchanged, still looking as young and fresh–faced as when they had first met. On the inside, however, she knew he was a very different man.
'Who are the effects for?' she asked softly.
He smiled, sadly. 'A little art. A little power. We have existed always through trickery and deception and illusion. I suppose, in my last days, I could not entirely divest myself of all that we are.' He paused, and looked directly at her. She could see into his eyes, and she knew that for all the power, all the wisdom, all the knowledge there, he was alone. So very alone.
'Yes,' he said. 'So you have met him. I wondered.... when I heard from Proxima about what had happened. The First One. The Eldest. We speak of him in hushed voices, wondering always if he was real, or not, if he still lived. He is real, then.'
'Yes,' she said simply.
'Ah. Well, that is good to know. One mystery solved. Many more still unanswered. Such is the way of all life, I believe. I suppose you wish to have me killed.'
'No.'
'Ah. I betrayed you, Delenn. You came to me in a gesture of trust. You needed my help for a great purpose, for a great sacrifice, and I betrayed you. I would not blame you for hating me, for wishing me dead.'
'I do not hate you, Vejar. I do not wish you dead. I made the choice you spoke of. It was hard, it was painful, and the cost of it will remain with me always. Sometimes.... I still dream....' Dream, of a heartbeat that was not hers, but a part of her. Dream, of the cold black vastness of death. 'But dreams are all lies. I live, and what was done....
'I do not hate you, Vejar.'
He sighed, and genuine relief showed on his face. 'I see.... Thank you, Delenn. You have learned a lot since last we met. More than I ever have. I owe you a great debt, Delenn.'
'I could show you. The things I have seen, Vejar, they all come from one simple understanding. Vejar, I have seen the power you wield. We both know what you can do. Help us. The war is almost over. Help us finish it all. Help us to build a better world, a finer world.'
He shook his head. 'I cannot do that.'
'You said you owed me a debt. This would erase that, would erase all debts.'
'That was unfair! Delenn, please, listen to me. Who are you fighting for? Who are you? What do you want? Can you answer those questions? I know who you are fighting for, and I will never fight for them. What will your peace bring you, Delenn? What will be the result of your war?'
'The war will bring us peace. And peace will bring us joy.'
'You do not see, Delenn. Oh, I am sure you believe that, but you are blind. All of you are. You fight this war, and you will win. The Shadow will be gone, but another will be cast over you, one greater and more powerful than the last, all the more so because it will look like the light. You will win, Delenn, and doom yourselves in doing so.'
'The Vorlons are not the Shadows. They are not our enemies.'
'They sent you to die, Delenn.'
'They had their reasons.'
'Yes, they did. They are not your friends. They are a greater threat by far than the Shadows could ever be.'
'Then help us! Help us defeat the Shadows! Help us create a better world without the Vorlons! You have power, great power. So use it!'
He shook his head. 'You do not understand.'
She rose and turned. There was nothing more to say. She was angry, and the sound of her own heart beating pounded loudly in her ears, an echo of another heart, one much weaker, just behind it. 'It is strange,' she said finally, as she left. 'The Vorlons say the same thing. I think we all understand much more than either of you gives us credit for.'
Vejar said nothing. The beating hearts almost deafened her as she left.
Delenn knew what G'Kar was going to say. She had listened to him in the months since her return, listened to his pain and his grief. She had seen the battles between the Narn and the Centauri. She had felt G'Kar's anguish over watching his people fight to the death against his oldest friend.
And it was all the worse because the war was being fought in his name. A jihad. A holy war.
She thought of the Blessed Delenn and a dark cloud passed over her.
There was no other option. G'Kar had to go to Narn, had to go to the Kha'Ri himself. He had to tell them.... to tell them.... to show them that there was another way, that the war must end now.
'Are you sure about this?' she asked softly, looking at him across the table. He would be, she knew that, but she had to ask.
'Yes,' he told her. He paused, deep in thought, and she nodded. The war had to be finished. The Shadows had to be defeated, yes, but not at this cost. This was only performing their task for them.
'I have waited too long,' he continued, 'afraid to confront my own errors. But now there is no time for fear, and no more time to wait.' Delenn knew there was something G'Kar could not say, something he wished very much to keep to himself, something G'Kael and Na'Toth were also hiding. She did not pry.
'The war will soon be over,' he whispered. 'But what will the peace bring?'
'It will bring what we make of it, surely,' Delenn said, hoping she could believe her own words.
'So there will still be no rest.' G'Kar shook his head and rose from his chair. 'I have missed you, Delenn, those long months you were gone.' It seemed for an instant as if he was going to say more, but then he stopped himself and paused, beginning again a moment later.
'I am glad you have returned to us, Delenn. I wish we had more time together.'
'As do I, but we will see each other again, G'Kar.'
'Will we? I wish I had your faith. Sometimes I think.... a dark cloud is putting out the lights all across the galaxy. There are very few left shining now.'
'The war will soon be over.'
'That was not what I was referring to.' She shivered.
It was of necessity a meeting that had to be held in private. It was not that either of them did not trust the other, but that both were very much aware of the shadows that lurked everywhere, darkest and most terrifying where it seemed to be lightest.
Vizhak and Taan Churok had never been close. On opposing factions during the last transitional period, a mutual animosity had arisen between them. Vizhak was a career politician, a man willing to work for the good of his people, to represent the Drazi abroad and to profit them all from his actions. Taan Churok was a bartender, a man interested only in his own concerns, but who had been forced by fate to take a more active hand.
However, as the Drazi representatives on the Alliance Council they had been forced to work together, and a tentative alliance had arisen, although it had taken far longer for these members of the same race to learn to trust each other than it had those of radically different peoples.
'When did you return?' Vizhak asked. It was he who had been invited here, and the unfamiliarity of it irritated him. He was no stranger to intrigue, but his experiences had largely been of the legitimate world. It had been something of a revelation to learn that criminals could evade and conceal just as much as politicians.
'Returned yesterday,' replied Taan. 'Came in secret. Not want others to know. Not yet. Time not right.'
