A Dark, Distorted Mirror. Volume 4. A Future, Born in Pain

'What are you going to do now, John?' he asked. 'What next?'

'Rebuild, I suppose,' he said. 'Find a new cause, a new dream. Make right everything that once went wrong.'

'Remember us, please. We.... we did a lot of terrible things, awful things, but we did some good as well. We tried to do good. When you do remember us.... please remember the good as well as the bad.'

'We will,' Delenn said.

He looked at her. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'For everything I did, for everything we did.... I'm sorry. I just want to let you know.... I'd be proud to have you as a daughter–in–law. Very proud.'

He looked at John. 'I'll be meeting up with your Mum out there. Lizzy too. And Anna. All of them. They've been waiting for me. We'll all be waiting for you.

'John.... take care.'

'I will, Dad.'

The two men embraced.

* * *

Words spoken by thought, words spoken faster than light.

- Should we not warn them about the Vorlons? The balance will be broken.

- No. This is our fight no longer.

(Pause)

- Besides, in a very real sense, they have already been warned. The messenger is out there. Our faith in him will not be misplaced.

* * *

Z'ha'dum, the world formerly asleep, now wakened, made to sleep once more.

From his place overlooking the great fissure, the Pale and Silent King commanded the recall of all Shadow ships, of all vassal races. All who wanted would go Beyond the Rim with them. The Drakh, ever ready to serve their Dark Masters, agreed to do so in the next galaxy as readily as they had in this. Some, like the Zarqheba and the Z'shailyl, wished to stay, and this was granted. The Shadows had no power in this galaxy any longer.

Technology was taken quickly from hiding places millennia old. Some caches were inevitably forgotten, but that was no longer an issue the Shadows concerned themselves with.

And they assembled, one by one, shimmering in space above their homeworld, now lost to them forever.

They waited on just one of their number.

<You will not come with us, Eldest?>

'No. I have a duty here. Remember me, though. I will join you eventually.'

<We will always remember you. We served you as best we could.>

'I know. I have been proud to know you all. Do not think of this as a failure. In a very real way, for you, this is a victory.'

The Pale and Silent King ascended to his personal flagship, surrounded by the Heart Guards and the Seers of Stars, and he led the Shadow race to the next galaxy.

Among their number, beside the Drakh and the Zener and their servants and emissaries and agents, David Sheridan looked down at the Alliance fleet.

'I am proud of you, son,' he whispered. 'I'll always be proud of you.'

Then they left.

* * *

But first, there was one final conversation.

'It is over.'

'Yes, it is over.'

'You have won.'

'Yes, we have won.'

'Enjoy your victory. We will be waiting for you.'

'Waiting for what?'

'For you to understand.'

* * *

'So, that's a victory, hmm?' John said to himself, as the last ship left.

'The best type,' Delenn said. 'No one is dead, and we are all.... wiser. We have all learned something.'

'So.... I think Dad said it best. What now?'

'We take control of Z'ha'dum. We will have to stop anyone stealing technology from it. We will have to bring all the races together, make sure all the wars are truly over. We have to keep the Alliance safe and secure and build a true foundation for the future.

'But first.... we can go home.'

John Sheridan smiled. 'Good idea.'

Part 8 : Meditations and Introspections.

Thus ends the Shadow War, and thus begins the great peace, but it is a peace built on sacrifice and bloodshed and lies.  The terrible toll of the war is beginning to tear some apart, while others are already preparing for the future.  Sinoval has three most unexpected meetings.  David Corwin learns something about love and loss.  Talia Winters makes a terrible discovery.  And the Vorlons meet with the Eldest for the first time in a millennium.

All most of us have ever known is how to fight. Now.... we're going to have to learn something much harder. How to live.

Captain David Corwin.

* * *

And at last, after all these years, it was over. Not just one war, but all of them. All wars. All the wars that had been, that would ever be. They were all over.

The Shadows had gone, departed for a new life beyond the Rim. Z'ha'dum was a safe world now, one that would never again threaten the younger races of the galaxy. From far above the grim and dead planet, Vorlon ships waited, guarding the world, preventing anything from coming.... or going.

The Narn / Centauri War was over. Both races were now members of the United Alliance. Both races had ambassadors on Kazomi 7. The peace treaty had been signed. The borders had been fixed. Both armies would return home.

Above all, there was the Alliance. The United Alliance of Kazomi 7, protector of the galaxy, led by the Blessed Delenn and kept safe by the Dark Star fleet and their renowned General John Sheridan, the Shadowkiller.

The wars were over. All that remained was a little mopping up.

* * *

She had had a name once. A name that she sometimes still remembered, a name she sometimes heard in conversation. Her Captain spoke it to her often. She knew his name. David Corwin. He knew her name, but when he was not aboard her, she did not.

She was the essence of the Dark Star 3. The Agamemnon, one of the few ships of the Dark Star fleet to have a name. A name. It was not her name. It was the ship's name. There was a confusing separation there. Her name was not Agamemnon, she knew that, but it was the name of the ship.