Author's Note: Kenneth and Mae were so much fun to write in 'Afterlife', I thought they deserved their own little chapter in this series. So...here you are - this is how Keith's parents met.

Also - Keith's full Galra heritage is revealed here. I've been wanting to write this moment for ages. :D

She'd been out stargazing, the night they met.

It really wasn't lonely, though of course no one else at the Garrison believed her when she told them that.

She'd brought out her charts and maps, but she'd left them in her car. Sometimes, she just liked to sit outside, deep in the desert darkness, and gaze up at all the lights in the sky, up at all the hundreds and millions of lights, and imagine what other people might exist out there.

Did they have families? What were their cultures like? Did they ever look out at the stars and see a blue planet, and wonder what kind of person might be looking back?

The others at the Garrison all called her strange. Sweet, quiet, kind, and smart - but strange. In a way…they turned out to be right.

Mae was strange. She married a man from the stars.

His ship had crashed into the desert sands the night they'd met. At first, she thought the shimmer and sparkle of the shuttle had been a shooting star, one amongst the hundreds that fell that night. But then one fell to the ground, nearby, where she could see it, and it glowed and burned like no star could.

She had run straight towards it, as fast as she possibly could, completely disregarding any known protocol or procedure, because she knew it had to be a dream, that stars didn't just fall from the sky, that ships weren't capable of inter-spacial travel yet - they were still years away from even testing something that could go through an atmosphere and not be completely obliterated -

Fire flickered over something that glimmered in shades of blue and grey and black - all the shades condensing into something that could only be a ship as she came nearer to it.

No, she told herself. I'm crazy. This can't be happening.

Then someone had - had broken through a section of the ship, tumbled down the front of it, over the hull, to the ground, and then he staggered to his feet.

It was a tall person, almost a full head and shoulders above her, and she froze in startled astonishment as he looked at her. His skin was dark, as dark as the night sands about the ship, and his eyes glowed yellow.

The sound and crackle of the fire behind him restored Mae's sense of urgency. He wasn't really moving away from the danger. Maybe he'd been injured in the fall, hit his head, but whatever the cause, he was certainly confused and disoriented.

"Come on!" she said, coming forward, grabbing hold of one of his arms, trying to pull him after her. "We've got to get you away from here - it can't be safe - "

She was a tiny woman - always had been small, even as a child - but the person followed her. He seemed to be limping, and she was just able to pull him behind an outcropping of rock before the ship burst entirely into flame, fragments of metal and wires flying out in a series of small explosions.

"Holy shit!" Mae exclaimed, once the sounds of the explosion had died away. "It just - what - how - oh, God! You're bleeding!"

The figure looked down at his torso. Dark purple blood was dripping down onto the sand.

"Huh…" he said, seeming strangely calm at the realization that he was injured.

Mae just assumed it was a 'he'. It was something about the voice. "Guess she did get me, then."

"Wait - someone shot you?!" Even as she spoke, Mae was taking off her jacket, folding it up, using it as a temporary bandage, pressing it down, against the injury.

The figure shifted its weight, trying to lean against the rock outcropping more comfortably.

"My mother. Long story."

"Some mother," Mae said under her breath. "So - wow - um - obviously you just crashed in a space ship -"

"…yes…"

"How can you speak our language?"

The man pointed to his neck. "Universal translator. I'm just glad it's working - wasn't sure it would, after the crash - "

He saw the small woman's eyes go wide in fascination and sudden, intense interest. She peered up into his face, and even though he was pretty sure he had some sort of head injury, he still thought it was nice to see something other than fear or hate in her eyes as she looked at him - especially given what he was.

"Amazing! You - you have a device that - that allows you to understand and speak any language?!"

If she hadn't been holding her jacket on his side, he had a feeling she would have peered at his neck in complete awe, trying to figure out how it worked and why.

As the woman spoke, he realized she was taking all of this remarkably well. He didn't know the name for her race yet, but he thought he was going to like them.

"WOW!" she said, still staring at his neck. "That's - that's amazing!"

He couldn't hold back a smile. "Well - it is pretty useful-"

He broke off, hissing in discomfort, and Mae felt something stutter in her chest. Concern, obviously. But also a disquieting sense of - uncertainty.

"Um…" she said. "Not to sound - rude, or anything - but - um - how did you come to crash on our planet?"

The man looked at her then, and she caught her breath. His eyes were still a deep, deep yellow color, and she suddenly realized he had fangs and - and was that purple skin?

Mother of pearl, yes it was. He had purple skin. And fangs. And yellow eyes. What was he?

"You really want to know?"

She snorted. He thought it was a loud sound, considering how small she was. "Wouldn't have asked otherwise…sorry, what is your name?"

"It's hard to say."

"What, you don't remember?" She peered up at his head then, seeming concerned. "Oh - shit - if you have a head injury - "

He couldn't hold back a laugh. Stars, she was funny. That, and he was probably concussed.

"No - no - it's hard to say. I don't know if you could manage it -"

Despite the strangeness of the situation, Mae laughed too. "Oh - well - okay then. How about I give you a name?"

She saw his eyebrows rise in confusion."What, like a pet?"

She beamed back at him cheerfully.

"So you do have pets! How nice - we're already finding similarities between our races - "

"Um…actually..."

"-but no, not like a pet, you're obviously a person, so - more like - something I can call you. Other than 'Stranger' - which is just too western."

He blinked, confused again. "I - 'western'? You'd call me after a direction?"

She shook her head from side to side. "It's an Earth thing - don't worry about it - but really, I have a good name for you, if you'd like."

The man sighed and shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Okay - how about - Kenneth?"

He seemed okay with it. He nodded his head and seemed curious. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know if it really means anything - I just - you know - you crashed into the desert and I just saw a movie like that and I just thought of this name a few seconds ago and - ooooohkay, you're still bleeding - right - how about I get something to help - with that?"

She got to her feet, reached down for one of his hands, and lifted it to the jacket. "Keep - pressure here - and I'll just - " As he gripped hold of the fabric, she saw he had claws. Really, really sharp claws.

"Oh my," she said. "I think - um - maybe - I think I have something in the car we can use - let's not take you into a hospital just yet. That might - you know - cause panic. Wouldn't be helpful."

The man nodded, looking at her, and kept his words short. The pain was starting to get to him. "…sure - Kenneth is - fine - um - "

"Mae. I'm Mae. Nice to meet you, Kenneth."

"Likewise."

He looked back over his shoulder at the remains of his ship and sighed, almost resignedly. "Well, looks like I'll be staying here for a while," he said.

Mae was already racing back towards her car. "Just a second!" she called back over her shoulder. "I'll be right back!"

Kenneth looked after her and wondered what a 'second' was. Hopefully something like a time slice…

She was back quickly, and she managed to stop the bleeding. Then she said something about getting her car closer over here so she could take him somewhere he could rest. Then she was off again, and he remembered that Thrace probably thought he was dead.

Quiznak. He couldn't let his friend think that.

Kenneth had managed to keep his comms unit when he crashed, and he hoped it was still working. It flickered and buzzed, but it was still - barely - functional. He fumbled it out of the pack at his side, and managed to tell Thrace that he'd made it out of the ambush, but he'd crashed somewhere and been injured.

"How badly?!"

"Well, there's blood…and I'm feeling dizzy. That's pretty much all I know right now."

Thrace cursed. "I'll track your ship - I'll come get you -"

"Ship's - destroyed. Not sure - you can track me."

Thrace swore. "Are there natives? Are they hostile?"

Kenneth felt his mind wander. "No, she's Mae."

"Quiznak….are you concussed?"

"Most likely - but she is nice."

"Stars, you had better not die on me -"

"Oh, come on, Thrace, like I'd die from some head injury - that's just insulting - you've met my mother, remember - "

Then Kenneth heard Mae calling to him. "I'm coming! Just a second!"

"Look, Thrace - I don't know if this comms unit will work much longer. Just - I'll try to contact you, okay? Whatever you do - don't blow your cover."

"I'm not about to, am I?! Not after you took the heat for that!"

"You'd - better not - "

"Listen - I will be fine. You focus on living. All right?"

"…right…"

Kenneth heard the comms unit sputter and crackle into silence as Mae reappeared. He held up the dead comms unit towards her, feeling dizzy and suddenly, very tired.

"Sorry…" he said. "My friend was worried. Had to let him know I - met you, you know?"

"Oh - dear," Mae said. "Oooooooh, dear. Listen, we have to get you out of the cold. Like, right now. Come on, the car's not far."

Well, at least this night wasn't a complete disaster, Kenneth thought to himself as she helped him get to his feet and stumble toward a vehicle of some kind.

True, Kenneth had barely managed to escape with his life once Haggar realized he'd delayed her precious quintessence-draining experiment by at least fifteen years.

He'd destroyed as much of her instruments as he could before she had realized her own son had betrayed her, and then he'd decided to just run. Run, and live, and infuriate Haggar with the knowledge that no matter what she said, no matter what she did, that he would never be the same as her.

A shot of lightening to the side was worth it, if it held off her rampage of death and destruction just a little while longer.

In the end, Thrace's cover had not been compromised, and so the rebellion still had an agent in place at the heart of Zarkon's empire.

Small victories, Kenneth told himself.

They could lead to winning the war, if there were enough of them.