A/N: Neither the characters from Blake's Seven nor Darkover belong to me. I just like to play with them!

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Everything packed and secured, the small group rode on toward Avilla and home, Avon and Vila, with Serran between them, in the lead.

Avon reined his horse in. "Vila, I'm going back to talk to Val and make sure Ian is doing all right." He nodded up the trail they were following. "You and Serran go on ahead. We'll catch up."

Vila urged his own animal forward. "Come on, then, Serran. Let's spend a little time together, just the two of us."

"I'd like that, Uncle Vila," she said, smiling.

When they were out of hearing, Vila reined in slightly. "I was hoping for the chance to talk to you."

"What about?" she asked, tilting her head. Vila had always loved that questioning tilt on Cally and was immensely pleased to recognize the same gesture in her daughter.

"Serran," he began, not meeting her eyes, "Has Lady Gwenneth talked to you about…sex?"

She giggled. "You mean like what you and father were doing last night?"

Vila's face turned the red of Darkover's noontime sun. "Uh, well, sort of, but…there's more to it than that."

"I know, Uncle Vila. Lady Gwenneth told me all about it."

"All?" Vila squeaked.

"You know, about what happens when two people make love. I hope you don't mind that she did," the girl inquired anxiously.

"No, of course not." Vila dared to glance at her now. "Just what did she tell you about it?" Since Serran didn't seem the least bit embarrassed, Vila decided he should be at least as mature about it as he listened to her answer.

"Well, I already knew some of it, so I just asked questions and she answered them. You know, like how babies are born and stuff like that. She explained how people on this planet, the telepaths, are different in the way they act with each other."

"Did the two of you talk about…love?"

"A little. We talked about you and father and the way you feel about each other. But I already knew a lot of it from mother."

"I suppose you did," Vila mused.

"Uncle Vila, did you know you and father area kind of a local legend?"

"We are?" he replied, his fair eyebrows rising.

"Of course."

"Well, I haven't really thought much about it," Vila told her.

"Last night, when you and Father were in the tent and Val and I were talking by the fire, he said the same thing. He asked me what it was like, growing up with two people like you."

"And what did you tell him?" he asked curiously, brow furrowed.

"That I loved you both very much and couldn't imagine growing up any other way." Serran seemed to hesitate, considering her next words. "But you and Father had a big fight, didn't you?"

"Yes, we did, but it's mostly over now."

"Just mostly?" she said, worry creeping into her voice.

"Well, there are still some things we need to settle, but, yes, I think you could say it's mostly over."

"Sure sounded like it last night," she laughed.

He suddenly remembered she'd said she had sat up by the fire with the foreman's son the previous evening. "Um, I hope we didn't embarrass you with Val."

"Well, maybe a little," she admitted, "but I didn't mind, if it meant you and Father were back together again. You were jealous of Verness, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was, Serran, but for all the wrong reasons."

"I didn't like him either, but Father said it was because I was just wishing you were still here as my tutor. He said there wasn't anything he could do about it, so I'd have to just live with it. But I think Verness wanted to take your place with Father in more ways than just as my tutor."

He made a motion, as though to pat his daughter on the head, then checked as he thought better of it. She was growing up so fast. "You're too perceptive by far for someone your age, Serran."

"No, I'm not. I watched him and saw how he acted, even if Father didn't."

"You didn't say anything to him about it, did you?"

"I started to, a couple of times," she said, her face set in grim lines, "but I wasn't sure how to say it. Nothing made sense when I tried to put the words together. I wish I had, though."

Vila could tell the girl was blaming herself for what had occurred, unfairly, he knew. "Serran, what happened between Avon and me, this fight, was unfortunate and Verness may have seemed responsible, but that wasn't all there was to it. There were things that had been going on between us, things we didn't even realize, that had to be settled. Verness was just the catalyst for all of it. But now, things will be getting back to normal, I hope."

"So do I," she said fervently.

They rode in silence for a time, each lost in his own thoughts, until Vila asked, "Serran? Didn't you ever wonder about your father and me, about how two men can be a bonded pair?"

"Well, maybe a little, but Lady Gwenneth explained that to me, too."

"She did?" That startled Vila a bit.

"Let's see. I'm not sure if I can remember it all. It was kind of strange."

"Strange?" Vila inquired anxiously.

"Well, she said that everyone has two sides to their nature, a male side and a female side. That when people who are the same sex fall in love and bond with each other, it's because they're attracted to the opposite side. Like with you and Father. She told me there are lots of others here on this world like you, couples of the same sex and not just men and men, but women and women. It didn't seem so strange after she explained it to me."

"Hmmm," Vila pondered. "I never thought of it that way. I wonder if Avon has."

"You could tell him," she suggested, smiling.

"Maybe some day I will."

"Lady Gwenneth told me there are worlds where people like you and Father wouldn't be allowed to be together. But she didn't say anything more about them."

"That's true, Serran," Vila sighed. "Unfortunately, there are many planets out there where your Father and I could be arrested and punished just because we love each other."

"That's terrible!" she gasped, horrified by the very thought.

"I agree, but we were born on such a world."

"You mean, Earth?"

"Yes. Well, maybe not arrested for being in love, exactly, but certainly made to feel like second class citizens, if nothing else."

"I don't think I'd like it there, then," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh, Earth is a beautiful world, Serran. Not like this one, of course, but beautiful in a different way. There aren't any wild, untamed places the way there are here. It's all very civilized. However, we were born there and it is our original home.

"But you can't go back, can you?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Because you and Father sleep together?"

Vila laughed. "No, not because of that."

That puzzled her. "Why then?"

"It's a long story, Serran, and I'm not sure Avon wants it told just yet, not until he's had a chance to tell you his side first."

"But Mother told me about how you met and all and fell in love. She told me about the rebellion against the government and how you and Father fought and almost died."

"Did she tell you about Blake?"

"She told me he was your commander at first until Father took over. It sounded all very exciting, but she said it was more than that."

Vila drew in and released a great sigh. Apparently Cally hadn't told their daughter the whole story yet. "She was right, your mother was."

The almost-grown-up young lady vanished as the child admitted, "I miss her sometimes."

Reaching across, Vila stroked Serran's shoulder and down her back, as he'd done since she was a very small, very self-possessed, but very lonesome little girl. "So do I. But she has a lot of work to do. The rebellion isn't over yet, not until everyone on Earth and all the other worlds it commands are free. Not until all people who live as Avon and I do have the freedom to love openly and to say what we wish without fear."

Serran looked at Vila in wonder. He'd always been so easy going and anything but serious. This was a side of him she'd never seen before. "I've never heard you talk like that," she said.

"I've never had the chance."

"What will happen when we get back to Avilla?" she asked.

"Why should something happen?"

"You know," she insisted, "will you be my tutor again?"

Vila smiled happily at her. "I'd like nothing better."

"I think Father wants it that way again, too."

"Yes, I think he does."

"Uncle Vila, you're not going to go away again, are you?"

"No, Serran, I'm not going away again, not ever."

The girl looked into Vila's eyes, searching for any hint that he wasn't serious. "Promise?"

I promise. Unless you come with me…us, that is." He watched as she took in the meaning of his words.

"Could I?" she asked eagerly, her eyes shining.

"Someday. Avon and I decided that the next tour I make, no…WE make, you'll come with us. And it won't be until after you reach your majority, after your fifteenth birthday."

"That's a long time to wait."

"Yes, but the time will pass quicker than you think. And I promise not to leave until then."

"Uncle Vila? What do you think of Kieran Valentine?"

"Think of him?" This was an unexpected turn in the conversation.

"I think he likes me."

"Of course he does," Vila responded, wondering where this was leading.

"I think he'd like to see me again, but…"

"But…" Vila prompted.

"He's afraid of Father."

Vila laughed. "Well, he'll just have to get over that, won't he, if he wants to see you?"

"Uncle Vila?"

"Yes?" he said, wondering what other startling thing she was going to come up with.

"I love you."

Oh. That was okay, and didn't require any thinking on his part. "I love you, too, Serran."

"And you still love Father?"

"Very much so."

"Good."

They rode the rest of the way without saying much, in an easy, companionable silence.

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A/N: That ends this chapter of Thieves in Time. The story of Avon and Vila on Darkover continues in PAID IN FULL, when old friends and old and new enemies show up to disturb the peace of Avilla.