Bound by Honor, Free by faith }{ (open to all)

[Ai Tsuchiya]

The quiet morning of the starting of a day was Ai's favorite time. She was out on a morning run over to and through Serenity valley by the orchards and the fields of flowers left for the dead by the living. This place had and does have a special place in her heart. Here love was born here on the day of his death. Yea you heard right. It's not something creepy but it was her job to heal anyone in her care, but the Alliance officials had other plans for this one.

After a few years and trial and errors they escaped and made for the stars. If anyone knew none was talking. Boid and her was having a time out of sorts he was to meet her here on Hera but he went missing four days before she got there and his current location was a mystery. No ship nor any records of a ship came or went from Hera. She was afraid that the Blue Sun group had found him and taken him back. But when she asked her siblings about people missing their response surprised her.

Others have went missing during the same time as Corran. So she could only wait and see what happens. He feared that he would have one of his spells and heaven help any and all those encountering him in that state. As for what she was doing she took up her old position as the local doc. The current young doctor Adam Warner was trying his best but the locals still kept him at arms length. Not so for Ai and her wonder smile which most felt comfortable.

Running back she waves at the locals, the women waved, the men stood and stared, but some tripped or smashed into a door frame or fell off their porch. Ai would turn her head and laugh as he headed for the hospital. Bouncing up the stairs and into the front entrance she smiled and waved at Adam and headed to the locker room of sorts that she had made on the previous visit and work time to shower and get ready. The sound of a medical tray hitting the floor made her giggle as she knew that Adam was not watching where he was going again. More likely he was watching her butt again. Young men what can you say about them...there still predictable even in their later life.

Showering and getting dressed took little time and now the day could be said was truly starting.

So Adam who's our first?

[Ned Middleton]

Ned still wasn't sure why she had wanted to go to Hera. Her brother hadn't even fought at Serenity Valley; he had died before the battle started and never had to see the Independents fall. She wondered if she ought to be happy about that. He would have come home -- if he came back at all to their Alliance-sympathetic parents -- broken and alone. Part of her thought that he would have had to come back if only for her, but then she remembered that he had left her.

It was a beautiful day, at least. She hadn't been able to pay for a place to sleep because she had spent all her money on transportation and food. She had a few days' worth of rations in her bag along with her pens and papers, but she doubted many people would want to buy poetry. Even if they were willing, she doubted she could do it justice.

"This is what comes from getting ideas," she muttered, smiling in spite of herself. "I got in trouble for running off, and I just can't find my way to any sort of solid ground."

[Ai Tsuchiya]

Wearing her tight low rise jeans and a sea foam blue top under her doctor's coat she stepped out side as he listened to Adam's list of to do items, most of which would need more help. For with just the two of them it was going to be more than their able to hands to handle for the next four days. Looking around the lonely streets she noted a young woman wandering around the streets. She had the look of some one lost with out any clear goals.

Um miss, Would you be looking for work? Cause we're lookin' and needin' help with a few items.

At the word few Adam chaffed and Ai waved him off. With a smile brighter than a twin sunset she walked over to the you lady who seemed to be near her age.

The pay may not be great but at least it's work, and that's more than what most will be willing to give here, especially one from the core. Here, come, let's get out of the sun and talk it over. Even if you don't want the work at least I'll have another female to talk to Adam here often gets lost around here.

Ai motioned just above her neck line with a smile.

Oh by the way I'm Ai Tsuchiya, Doctor Tsuchiya.

[Ned Middleton]

Ned glanced up at the words. "I could certainly use the money, no matter how little it is," she said with a smile. "I'm not sure how much good I would be, though. I've got some decent schooling, but I'm not much more than a poet."

She followed the woman out of the sun anyway. For all she knew, it would be work even an artist could do.

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Tsuchiya," she said, hoping she hadn't mangled the woman's name. It sounded Japanese, and her brother had always been better at the "tsu" than she had. "I'm Ned Middleton."

[Ai Tsuchiya]

Ned Middleton

Ai mulled the name over in her mind as she gathered the list of information from Adam.

Resupplying food stores, sending order for more meds, helping locals with the Serenity memorial decorations in the valley, check local water quality supplies, gather local wild medicinal herbs and check for new plants(valley area).

The tasks were not fully simple nor fast to deal with maybe except for the sending of the med list, but Ai knew the poet could handle a few of the items with help.

Ai pointed to the sending of the list for Adam as well as the resupplying of the cupboard. Turning to Ned she showed the rest of the list.

Well I think we could handle the rest, yes. The majority of the items are in the valley so I hope you have good walking shoes.

Tsuchiya giggled and looked at her own shoes. The knee high boots with impossible high heels may have looked great on her but the valley ate up people foolish enough to wear such foot ware.

I guess that goes for me too.

[Ned Middleton]

Ned glanced down at her shoes. They were regular walking shoes but durable enough to have stood up for most of her trip. They might have been blue once, but dust and wear had hidden the color. "If these can't last me on a walk through a valley, I don't know how they've made it so far already."

She looked over the list. There wasn't much that would call on her poetry skills, but she hadn't expected there to be. Once again, she wished she had studied something a bit more useful to people, like Eldon had. "I suppose I'll start with the water quality. Is there a testing kit I'll need to use?" She had never tested water quality before, but if there was any logic to the test, she'd be able to pick it up quickly.

[Ai Tsuchiya]

With a half turn Ai smiled and noded. Removing a set of bags and backpacks she walked past Ned and grabbed her shoes. Sitting down and making quick work of removing her boots and dawning her shoes she looked happy to be doing some thing.

I was afraid I was going to have to go to the valley by myself. The town's head water for their drinking supply is in the valley. So the fear of the locals and of me is that some lead ordinance or chemical weapon is still out there and can poison the water supply.

Getting up and grabbing one of the bags and backpacks Ai with a calm heart she spoke with a cheery heart. Walking to the door.....

Well the testing is not hard it's simple and fairly quick, once the hour hike to the valley and the quarter mile climb up hill the head waters. That's the only hard part of this journey. Shall we go...?

[Ned Middleton]

As Ai put on her shoes, Ned slipped her bag from her shoulder. It wasn't too heavy, but she didn't want to lug it around and the testing equipment. "Is it all right if I leave this here?" she asked. There wasn't anything valuable in it besides a change of clothes, a little food, and her writing supplies, so she wasn't worried about thieves as much as about bothering someone by leaving her things lying around.

Ned felt relieved when she heard that the test would be simple. She had been decent in her science classes, but a fair amount of her time had been spent writing limericks in her notes. For a moment, she wondered if her father had kept the one about the ideal gas law. It had been rather clever, at least for a seventeen-year-old.

She felt a bit shaken at the realization that, even after all these years, there could still be chemical weapons contaminating the land. The years after the war had blurred together when she started wandering, and she wondered if less time had passed than she thought. "Sure," she said. "Let's go."

[Ai Tsuchiya]

Ai led the way to the mid-reach of the valley. It was over half way from the exact center of the valley an located at a higher elevation as well. Turning to head up the short mountain range, one that the Alliance had their back against, Ai sighed. Going about 100 yards she stepped off the path to a tomb stone. Setting her pack down she brushed the top of the grave marker off and knelled to remove the dead flowers from the face.

Sorry hun....I didn't bring any new ones with me this time. Because I hope to find the high heather blooming at the 'glass spring'. If not I'll find some thing on the way back down. It's another year....and I miss you so much. I'll be right back so don't move you here.

Standing she wipes a tear from her eye smiles at Ned and takes off with her bag in tow.

As they got higher the air thinned a bit and the sweet smell of pine filled what was missing. Native birds chirped and sang as if their world was never disturbed since the Terra-forming. The sound of cold crisp trickling water soon could be heard. A brook trout splashed as it was startled from it's calm pool by a kingfisher hunting smaller prey.

The peace of the area was intoxicating. As they pushed through some Spanish moss that hung from the pines, the calm glass like pool reflected every detail of the surrounding forest.

It's almost a shame to have to disturb the stillness of the water to get the sample. Here let's get gloved and the containers ready. Only break the containers seal when we are ready to get the water. Any outside debris will contaminate the samples.

Ai then waited for Ned to follow her to the water's edge.

[Ned Middleton]

Ned stood a little to the side as Ai knelt by the grave. She felt a bit odd and strangely lonely. She had never been told about how Eldon died, or where his body ended up. For all she knew, he had been tossed into a mass grave with dozens of other dead. She managed to smile back at Ai, but her thoughts were on some planet whose name she didn't know.

The beauty of the area calmed her as they walked. It was hard to believe a battle had been ever fought here. Ned hadn't been much of a camper when she was younger, but now she wished for a tent where she could wake up in the early morning and see the dawn. She didn't even mind the thinner air.

"I wish I were better at drawing," Ned said as she approached the water where Ai waited. She took the gloves from the pack and pulled them over her hands. "There's so much here that I want to put down on paper."

[Ai Tsuchiya]

(occ: Sorry for the delay rl and other things)

Ai looked to Ned and smiled. Reaching back into her back pack she brought out a leather album filled with new unused Vid-U post cards. Handing them to Ned her smile widened.

I always keep these thing for just such an occasion. Take as many as you wish. I can always get more. Places like this is why they were made for.

Ai turned and walk to the water's edge fifty feet away, then broke a seal and gently dipped water. Only a single wake rippled across the water's surface spooking small fry newly hatched just weeks before. A spring frog chirped loudly as a small flock of bright yellow canaries flew through a god ray that broke through the clouds above and touched the pool below. The pool blossomed with light and the life within shone with glorious colors.

Standing...What a place hmm? Who would have thought that hundreds died just a hundred yards away.

[Ned Middleton]

"Thank you," Ned said. She began taking pictures, starting with the trees. Her interest soon shifted to a group of birds, and she managed to catch fish moving through the water. There was too much for her to capture, but she knew that if she froze up she would lose the moment entirely.

When she thought about the battle, the air suddenly felt fragile, as though the serenity of the place could be disrupted with a single breath. Serenity... it was an apt name for the valley now, and she hoped it would continue to be.

"It's hard to believe," she said. "I'm not sure who could bring themselves to fight in a place like this." She sighed and realized that Ai had risen. "So, what do we do next?"

[Ai Tsuchiya]

Ai stowed the water samples back into her back and moved over to trim an odd blue-ish rose looking flower.

Well back down the valley through the High Orchard to the Level for the mid-year memorial. Their needing help putting up the solar lights I bought two years back when I was first asked to join. Every year I'm asked and every year I come back no matter what the cost or time it would take to come back.

Ai dipped a piece of cloth into the water and wrapped the flowers base. Moving to the trail she sighed the thought of the three mile walk had always made her sad knowing that with each step she was retracing the advancing fire storm that the bombing by the core frigates layed out and leveled every thing and killing all....or nearly all.
In a low tone......Corran how did you survive this nightmare? Was it the reaver influeanced
fits? Where are you love why can't I find you?

[Ned Middleton]

The serious look on Ai's face warned Ned from asking about the flower, but she hung back a little to look at it. It seemed to be a rose, but she had never seen a rose that shade of blue -- or any shade of blue, for that matter. It seemed to be important to the woman, though, and the little detail stuck in Ned's mind, waiting to come out later in a poem.

Ned wasn't terribly thrilled about the idea of putting up lights, but she didn't say a word. It was for a memorial to something her brother had believed in, and if nothing else, she would do it for him. She had gotten tougher over her years away from home, and a little physical labor would hardly hurt. Sometimes it surprised her just how soft and fragile she had been on Osiris.

Ai was saying something quietly, and Ned couldn't quite pick out the words. When the woman paused, Ned said softly, "It probably isn't my place, but... is something wrong? Is there anything I can do?"

[Ai Tsuchiya]

Ai sadden by her own thoughts spoke before her mind registered the subject.

Yes it's all wrong. My love is missing and all I get to comfort me is his grave marker. A month now and he's.........not ......here... yet. Nothing in the verse has ever stopped him before what's stopping him now?

Turning to Ned the realization of what she hit her hard.

Stumbling over her thoughts and words.....Pl ...pl......Please don't ......say what you heard to anyone. We need to stay quiet.....-like.

Ai scratched her head trying to think of the enumerable problems that could go wrong and will end and how bad it would get.