A/N: Here's an one shot that I thought up the other day. Thanks to my great beta Debbie, you rock!
Disclaimer: I do not own Battlestar Galactica or lee and kara. Ron moore and scifi does.
LEGACY
Lee Adama stood looking at the grave with his granddaughter at his side. He had visited this grave ever since it had been made. This was the grave of his only true love, his granddaughter's grandmother. It had been a long hard road to just get to this simple scene. It had been 40 years since the war had ended and he lived in fear everyday that his daughter and granddaughter would face the same life he had. Even though the cylons had been decimated along with the Galactica in the final fight, he still lived in fear. It was a fear that the ones that came after him couldn't understand and the ones that came before understood all too well. He glanced over at Lilly who stood at his side, she was twenty and looked more like her grandmother everyday. She was leaving soon, away from this small town just like her mother before her. With one exception Lilly was heading for the stars. No one understood his fascination with this small town and his porch swing. It was completely different from the worlds of his youth. Maybe that's why he liked it so much. It was a new place, a new start if only that was true. The memories of the life he led still plagued him to this day.
"Granddad, why did you bring me here? We should get back to my farewell party." Lilly said touching his shoulder.
"I want to tell you a story."
"Okay is this where it begins?"
"No this is where it ended. 43 years ago the cylons nuked my home worlds, only—"
"Only the battlestar Galactica led by your father, my great grandfather survived. I've heard this story before Granddad numerous times."
"But not this story. You know my war story, you don't know my love story."
"Love story. There was someone before Grama? Does she know."
"Yes, your Grama was one of my fellow crewmates and she lived it."
"Why tell me now?"
"Because it's something you need to hear."
"During the war I was one of the lucky ones because I had family aboard, my father and my best friend."
"Who?"
"Starbuck."
"You've never talked about him before"
"Her."
"Excuse me?"
"Starbuck was a girl."
"But I've heard all these stories about the fearless viper pilot that knew no fear. Is it not the same person?"
"Nope, same person. Most people tended to forget that Kara was just has human has the rest of us. And she did have fears."
"What were they?"
"You."
"Me?"
"A family scared the crap out of her. She was one of the constant things in my life. You've heard most of the stories, but this is one that you haven't. Kara was so unattainable I think that's what attracted me in the first place. She was so fierce and loyal and a pain in my ass but I loved her anyway. We had been best friends for years but during the war we both developed feelings for each other. Something you need to understand about Kara was she never did anything easy. We fought it for so long, at one point we had even married other people. But near the end we gave in, she was my other half, I needed her to survive. When we reached Earth I thought we had got our bright and shiny future. For a short while we were happy. We had a cabin and a porch swing."
"A porch swing? What was so important about that?" Lee laughed as she asked.
"At the time, everything
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"She got sick, she fought it for so long but I finally made her go to the doctor. He told us she had acute leukemia with months to live. She fought so hard but it proved to be too little. After everything we had done, everything we had survived, one simple virus is what took her from me. But before she died she gave me something that I will never be able to repay her for."
"What?"
"Your mother. Kara went off of the medince to have your mother. I begged her not to I was willing to sacrifice the baby to keep Kara but she went behind my back and did it. She died right after giving birth." He wiped a fallen tear away.
"Why tell me this story, why after all these years. Why am I the one that gets the truth?"
"Because I see Kara in you. I won't be around much longer and I thought you should know your true origins."
"But Grama—"
"Maggie knows the truth, she lived it. Kara handed your mother to her. Kara knew she didn't have a lot of time left so she made sure she left me and your mother in capable hands." He looked down at the grave and back at his granddaughter.
"Why marry Grama, if you still love Kara?"
"I will always love Kara she's a part of me. But I love Maggie in my own way."
"And she's okay with that, knowing she will never have your whole heart."
"She's fine with it because I don't have all of hers. During the final attack she lost someone. Kara haunts me like Hotdog still haunts her."
"No one but you and your grama knows the truth. Your mother couldn't handle it. I didn't want her to have the burden of knowing her mother died because she was born. I didn't want her to live with that guilt. I told you because you're about to go out into this universe and see all it's wonders. But I don't think I'll be able to share any of those adventures with you. I've lived my life and it's my time."
"Grandda--"
"Ahh—let me talk. My time is up, and I will be with Kara soon. But I wanted you to know whom you came from. You are so much like her, more then you know. You are strong Lilly, so strong. But I think you're a little too strong. On all your journeys just remember love will save you. I learned that the hard way me and Kara danced around each other for six years and in the end we only had a year together and most of that she was sick. You may think you can go it alone but you can't. And if you do this world will be cold and empty. I wanted you to have these", he said placing a pair of dog tags around her neck.
"Those tag symbolize mine and Kara's lives, your legacy. I want you to remember me and your grandmother everyday okay? Make sure you tell your children our stories. Okay?"
"Okay Granddad. Can I ask you one thing?"
"Sure."
"Do you regret it?"
"Regret what?"
"Falling for Kara."
"Not for one minute. She may have made my life hell on more then one occasion but it was a happy hell and Gods, when we were actually honest with each other, it was the best days of my life. So no I don't regret Kara, at this point I have no regrets because at this point nothing can be changed. But I can stop you from repeating our mistakes.
Seven years later Lilly Adama-Agathon stood at that same grave. She had went off and seen the Universe. But when she came home her granddad was gone, they said he passed in his sleep about two months after she left. But she had been in space so she didn't get the news till a year later. She had followed in her grandparent's footsteps and became a viper pilot.
"Hi Granddad and Grandma. I'm home at least for a few days and then it's back out into space. But I love it out there. Granddad you would be proud to know I'm not living my life alone. I met Kris and we got married a few weeks ago. Thank you for telling me the truth about who I am. I miss you both everyday, but at least I know you're happy now."
She looked at the dog tags in her hands; they glittered in the fading sunlight. She laid them in between the two graves, she didn't need the tags to give her strength. She had inherited that strength from her grandparents, Kara Thrace and Lee Adama. She glanced at the graves one more time before she walked back to her car. This would be her last trip for a while she was leaving for the new Battlestar Galactica. She was continuing the legacy that those two dog tags held. Once again an Adama was going to be the CAG on Galactica but this time the Adama had her grandmother's blood.
A/n#2: thanks for reading, please review.