Moving On - Chapter 1
By Katrina

Rating: PG.

As Apollo climbed down from the Cylon Raider, he quickly scanned the landing bay. His father was running from the turbo lift towards him, followed closely behind by Boomer, Cassie, Boxey, Athena and Sheba. Sheba. Thank the lords she was okay. A micron later, Apollo was greeting his father.

"Apollo, What happened? We started to activate the laser turrets. If it wasn't for Boomer figuring out you were waggling, I don't want to think what might have happened," Adama said gruffly, the relief evident in his voice.

"I dropped the transmitter as we were climbing out of the core. We stayed as far away as we could from the battle until we thought it was safe to come back to the Galactica. Starbuck told Boomer if we lost the transmitter, we would waggle," Apollo stated as he picked Boxey up in his arms and hugged him.

"I told Apollo we didn't need any of that electronic felgercarb," Starbuck said as Cassie threw herself into his arms.

Boomer just shook his head and gave each of them a look, wondering what he was going to do with them. "You two are incredible," he said.

"I'm glad you're back Dad," Boxey said happily.

"Sure Dad. See you later." Boxey agreed rather reluctantly. He wanted to spend some time with his father, before staying the night with his grandfather.

After putting Boxey down, and watching him slowly make his way towards the turbo lift, Apollo looked around. Sheba was gone. Where did she go? He turned back and hugged Athena to him.

Athena laughed and punched Apollo in the arm when he let go of her. "Don't you dare do that to us again," she said blinking the tears from her eyes.

Apollo smiled "I'll try to be more careful from now on. Did you see where Sheba went?" He tried to sound causal.

Athena looked around her; surprised that Sheba had disappeared. Then she smiled. 'He's noticed that Sheba is missing already. Maybe Apollo is finally ready to acknowledge his feelings for Sheba. One can only hope,' she thought.

"She was here a centon ago. Maybe she went to check on Bojay once she saw you and Starbuck were okay," Athena said slowly, trying to gage Apollo's reaction.

"What happened to Bojay?" Starbuck interrupted after shaking hands with the Commander.

"He took a minor hit and Dr. Salik is checking him out in the Life Center," Cassie quickly replied hugging Starbuck tighter, much to Starbuck's discomfort.

"Hey Cass, squeeze any harder and you'll break a couple of ribs. Then where will that leave us?"

"Sorry Starbuck." Cassie replied, her face red, as she loosened her grip.

"So, shall we join the celebration in the Officer's Club? There is a grog with my name on it," Boomer asked everyone gleefully, rubbing his hands together.

"I'll catch up with you all later," Apollo said quickly as he dashed for the landing bay turbo lift. He needed to find Sheba. He had a lot he wanted to talk to her about. Apollo chuckled to himself; that wasn't all he wanted to do. He wanted to kiss Sheba senseless too, but first he had to find her.

Starbuck watched and smiled as Apollo headed towards the turbo lift. "It's about time buddy," he whispered.

Starbuck turned his attention back to Cassie and smiled. "I'd better go clean up. How about I meet you in the O' Club in 20 centons?"

"That sounds great. I need to check in with Dr. Salik and make sure he doesn't need me for anything. Boomer, I'll see you later. You too, Athena," Cassie said as she waved and headed off to the Life Center.

"Catch you later, Cassie," Boomer yelled after Cassie, as Athena waved good-bye

Starbuck turned and said "Boomer, I'll see you in the O'Club. Hope to see you there Athena. You too, Commander." Then he headed to the men's locker room.

Boomer looked over at Athena. "So how about you?"

"I'm looking forward to a grog myself. Can I meet you in the Officer's Club? I want to go to my quarters and change first," Athena smiled at Boomer.

"Sure, I'll meet you there," Boomer told her. "How about you, Commander?"

"Well, I just might stop in and have a drink myself. But first, I'm going to go and check up on Boxey," Adama told the two of them. "Ride up with me?"

Athena, Boomer and Adama walked over to the landing bay turbo lift and stepped inside when it opened. "They deserve a medal for this mission," Athena told her father as the doors closed and each had pushed their deck level.

"Yes and I am going to make sure they get them," Adama stated firmly.

The lift stopped and Athena stepped out into the corridor. "I'll see you soon."

Athena headed towards her quarters, which she shared with Rigel. 'First a quick turbowash, then a change of clothes. I also want to stop in the Life Center to see how Bojay is doing. Then I'll head to the Officers Club. I fully intend to celebrate this victory tonight,' she thought happily.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Apollo was starting to think he was never going to find Sheba. Where in the frack did she go? Apollo stood in the corridor, hands on hips, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, he knew where to look for her. The Celestial Dome. That was where he'd find her.

Apollo took off down the corridor that led to the engineering section and the way to the celestial dome. He grabbed a pair of ear protectors as he headed for the lift that went to the engine room. Apollo tapped his foot restlessly as he waited for the door to open.

"Come on and open up!" Apollo said as he banged on the door. Just then the doors opened and he stepped inside, pushing the top button quickly.

"She's got to be up there. I've looked everywhere else on this battlestar. Besides, she knows this is a special place and if she wanted to get away for awhile, the Celestial Dome is the place to go." Apollo said rather loudly as he waited impatiently for the lift to stop. As soon as the doors opened, Apollo headed quickly down the corridor, an eager smile on his face.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Sheba sat alone in the quiet of the Celestial Dome. The faint humming of the thruster engines the only sound to stir the quiet. She loved it here. Apollo's private place. He had shown it to Starbuck, Cassie and herself just last night cycle. He had called it "The Hand of God."

Yes, that was a good name for it.

Sheba felt as if she could just reach out and touch the stars. They were so close. The stars that twinkled back at her as if to say they knew something she didn't.

Sheba could remember many nights growing up on Gemon when she and her father would lie outside in the backyard of their home and stare up at the stars. How Sheba would tell Cain that one-day she would be flying through the stars with him, exploring the vastness of space. If she closed her eyes, Sheba could see the backyard, the far off lampion flickering in the dark of night from the back porch. She could almost feel the soft, cool grass on her back and the warm breeze off of the southern ocean on her face. 'I wonder if my father is looking out at the stars now, and remembering those nights. I wonder what he would say if I told him that I was in love with Apollo?' she thought.

Sheba opened her eyes and looked out the dome. She came here from the landing bay after seeing for herself that Apollo and Starbuck had made it back safely. Sheba didn't know what to say to Apollo after their one-sided conversation in the raider where she told him, in around about

fashion, how she felt. So, she came up to the Celestial Dome to think.

She had seen the surprise and possible confusion on Apollo's face after she had kissed him. She also saw something else that she couldn't identify. This was the reason she fled the landing bay. Sheba was afraid. Afraid she had destroyed their chance for a relationship because she had acted so impulsively. "Why couldn't I just have waited, dammit." Sheba's soft voice filled the empty dome as she stepped down from the platform of the control station. But she knew why. Because it

might have been her only chance to tell him that she cared.

Sheba walked to the front of the dome and traced her finger along the cool, smooth surface of the bubble. She wondered what other adventures lay ahead of them. "Hopefully, no more Cylons to deal with or crazy missions for Apollo to volunteer for," Sheba whispered.

Just then, Sheba heard the hatch door to the dome click and open. She had her back to the door, but knew who was coming up through the hatch. Apollo. Sheba was suddenly afraid to turn around, so she just stood there staring out at the stars.

As Apollo climbed through the hatch, he saw Sheba standing with her back to him. He quickly closed the hatch door, then took off his ear protectors, laying them down on the platform of the control station.

Apollo took a deep breath and said, "I've been looking all over for you. I finally figured out you were probably up here."

Apollo walked over to where Sheba was standing. She still hadn't turned around. Apollo reached out his hand and gently, but firmly turned her to face him.

Sheba refused to let anything show on her face. If he was going to yell at her for what she said in the raider let him. But he wasn't going to see how much she loved him, not if she could help it.

"What do you want Apollo?" Sheba voice sounded strained. She was a bundle of nerves inside.

"We need to talk. I've done some thinking and there are a few things we need to discuss," Apollo said, never taking his green eyes off of her brown ones.

Sheba glanced away; wishing the floor would open up and swallow her right now. Here it comes, the "Thanks but no thanks for your concern, see you around sometime" speech. "Fine, what do you what to discuss?" Sheba said as sternly as she could.

Apollo realized Sheba wasn't going to make this easy for him, but why should she. She had been the one to take the initial risk in telling him how she felt. Now it was his turn.

Apollo cleared his throat and very softly said, "While Starbuck and I were sneaking around in that baseship, I realized that life is too precious and time too short to waste it. Sheba, I'm tired of fighting my feelings for you and truthfully, I don't want to anymore. I love you, Sheba. I have for quite a while now. I just couldn't tell you."

Sheba's mouth dropped open and she couldn't believe that she had heard Apollo say he loved her. Sheba closed her mouth and looked at Apollo. Tears started to run down Sheba's face as she said, "I love you too Apollo."

Apollo reached out and pulled her into his embrace. He leaned down and captured Sheba's mouth with his own. When they broke apart, they were both breathless. Apollo looked down at Sheba and smiled. She was smiling also.

"We still have a few things to discuss," Apollo said as he led Sheba over to the ledge to sit down, her hand held firmly in his own. "I loved Serina. When we were sealed, I thought I would spend the rest of my life with her. But then she died on Kobol. I didn't know how I was going to survive. I definitely didn't want to fall in love with another woman, especially another warrior, but then I met you. You have challenged me from the very beginning. I thought I was betraying Serina by having feelings for you, but I know now that's not true. Starbuck helped me realize that she would have wanted me to go on with my life. Be happy and live again. I have accepted the fact that Serina is gone and I am now ready to move on."

Sheba searched Apollo's face to make sure he meant it. "Are you sure, Apollo?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I've been putting her memory away a little at a time since the day I met you. Since the day, you almost blasted me out of the stars." Apollo couldn't help reminding Sheba how they met.

Sheba smiled and looked down. "Definitely not love at first sight," she whispered as she looked back up into Apollo's green eyes.

"No, not love at first sight, but I definitely felt an attraction to you and started fighting it every way I possibly could. When Count Iblis tried to kill you, I realized I had fallen in love with you," Apollo told her as he brushed her soft golden brown hair away from her face.

"You are the most amazing person I have ever met in my life and I want to get to know all of you better. I want to give a relationship a try and see where we go from here." Apollo's voice was quiet, but determined.

Sheba smiled at Apollo and said, "I want to give a relationship a try also. I felt an attraction to you, as well, when we met, despite the problems we had concerning our fathers. But I didn't understand the conflicting signals I was getting from you. I knew that I loved you Apollo, when I thought Count Iblis had killed you. Athena told me about Serina and helped me to understand what you were going through concerning her death. That I needed to give you time to work everything out for yourself. But then you had to go and volunteer for that mission to the baseship and I panicked. I had to let you know I cared about you before you left." Sheba took a deep breath before she continued. "I want to apologize for that death wish remark. That was wrong of me and I'm sorry. " Sheba's hand caressed Apollo's cheek.

"No, don't be sorry. I can see how it must have looked. I consciously don't have a death wish. I have Boxey to think about, but maybe I wasn't quite as careful as I should have been when it came to 'volunteering' for everything." Apollo smiled reassuringly.

Sheba smiled and pulled Apollo's head down to hers, kissing him. When they broke apart, they were both smiling.

"I need to go and get changed. Do you want to meet me at the O' Club in about 30 centons for the party tonight?" Sheba asked Apollo when she could speak again.

"You bet," Apollo told her quickly. "Boxey is staying with his grandfather tonight, so I'm going to fool around up here for awhile, then I'll meet you at the party. Boomer installed a gamma frequency signal booster on the scanner before we left on the mission. Hopefully, I'll pick up another signal."

"You still think that signal didn't come from that baseship?" Sheba picked up her ear protectors to put them on.

"I have a funny feeling that it didn't." Apollo placed his hand on Sheba's face and gently caressed her cheek. Then he leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

Apollo let her go and pulled open the hatch when Sheba had her ear protectors on. "See you later," she shouted above the thruster noise.

Apollo nodded his head and Sheba went down the ladder.

END OF CHAPTER 1
To Chapter 2
Back to Athenafic