Yet another sequel my stories to The Cover of Shadows (and also There are Always Shadows).
This story makes a great leap of interpretation. After reading To Dream in the City of Sorrows and the spoilers for the comic series In Valen's Name (on the Lurker pages), I decided to give a slight twist to Delenn's comments that Valen's children were partly human.
Two years after the events of War Without End...or 998 years before that event--your pick.
In the book, "To Dream in the City of Sorrows", Catherine Sakai disappeared in the time rift at Babylon 4. Just what happened to her and did she find Jeff again?
It does help to know of the events covered in To Dream in the City of Shadows by Katherine Drennon.
JMS, Warner Brothers own the characters and the B5 universe, I'm just visiting.
Catherine pulled her hood tight around her head. She'd become a sort-of accepted figure on Minbar, but she preferred not dealing with the stares. She had places to be and really didn't want to get involved in another squabble with some arrogant member of the warrior-caste.
She chuckled quietly. Not much had changed between now and her previous life. Warrior-caste arrogance was one. There were other similarities she'd noticed since arriving in this time some three years earlier. Her Ranger training had been very useful--just not the way she had planned. Her ability to speak the three Minbari languages and to think like a Minbari had many advantages.
She stopped walking and looked around. Tuzanor was a beautiful city--even a thousand or so years before she had first seen it. There were some major differences: like the house where she and Jeff had lived wasn't there...
She had disappeared into the rift three years ago only to find herself near Minbar. It hadn't taken her long to learn that she'd arrived in the past. The fact that the second ship she'd seen had been a Shadow vessel had given her an idea of when. She wiped her eyes as she remembered the emotions she'd felt as she realized she was stuck in the past.
She'd considered returning to Earth--an idea she'd quickly abandoned as she remembered her history. So she became what she did best--an explorer and a Ranger. Only at that time, the Minbari didn't have Rangers...They didn't even know who Valen was. But they did know about Shadows. As did she. She knew that her chances of rescue were nil--so she had set out to create a new life.
She'd offered her help to the Minbari. When warrior-caste had (unsurprisingly) turned down her help, she had turned to the worker-caste and quietly formed ten of them into a smaller version of the Rangers. There were now twenty. The worker-caste had been more willing to accept her, and even a few had accepted her as a friend. She'd used her real past as her background story--only cutting the part about being from the future.
She started walking toward a crowd gathering in the plaza--curious what was happening. Her thoughts returned to the recent past. The workers were delighted to be seriously involved in helping their homeworld fight the enemy, even if it had taken over a year for the warrior-caste to accept that help. They used the information her Rangers brought in, but never acknowledged that help. The religious-caste was more tolerant of her and the workers.
She froze, then shook her head. She was thinking too much about the past. There was no way she could be hearing *that* familiar voice.
The past couple of years had been interesting. The war with the shadows had nearly turned disastrous; and finally Valen had appeared. She remembered the feeling of relief on learning that Valen was in this universe--maybe she was only in the past not another universe. She had for several days wondered if rescue was possible. But Ranger training and her work had kept her busy and she hadn't let herself think such thoughts.
The past few weeks, Minbar had been buzzing with the news that Valen was going to Tuzanor. She had to admit to being curious about the great Minbari leader, so she had come to Tuzanor to see him. Her first visit to the City of Sorrow since coming to the past. With this visit had come the memories she'd tried to banish.
She stopped again. That voice--it was incredible just how much it sounded like Jeff. There from that group of warrior-caste members. She staggered slightly when she bumped into someone. She muttered a quick apology.
"Jeff?" She said in English, a language she hadn't used in three years. She stared as one of the cloaked figures stiffened. The others turned to look at her. She watched as the one tightened his hood.
"Catherine? My god..." It couldn't be--but apparently it was.
"Jeff?" She took a step toward him, surprised he didn't turn to face her.
He spoke quietly to his entourage who reluctantly (she thought) moved away. He tightened his hood again and walked toward her. "It's good to see you again." He made no move to embrace her.
"How did you get here? Can we go back?" She tried to keep the excitement and hope out of her voice. There was a long pause.
"It's a long story--and no we can't go back." He started walking and she joined him. It was a silent walk.
They reached the top of a hill she recognized as the future home of Valen--where she and Jeff had spent those wonderful months. "OK, Jeff...What is going on?"
He hesitated, but didn't remove his hood. "After you disappeared, I returned to Tuzanor and reluctantly buried myself in training...I had wanted to return to B4 and try to find you--but no one had any idea where to begin." There was a sad laugh. "Or so I was told...The Vorlons didn't want me leave. I was important somehow, but never told how." He stepped away so his back was toward her. "I started researching the previous Shadow war--this war."
"There's something you aren't telling me." She tried to take his hand--surprised that he moved further away.
"I don't know how...You see, about a year after you vanished I returned to Babylon 4 with Delenn, Marcus, and Captain Sheridan. Our objective was to prevent the destruction of Babylon 4 and bring it to the past..."
There was a long pause as she processed the information. "So you brought the station..." She was having difficulty making sense of what her intuition tells her. "The station that saved Minbari...The station that appeared and marked the turning point in the war...Oh my...the station where...where...The dreams...You?"
He finally removed his hood, she stared in shock and understanding as his bone crest was revealed. He smiled at her. "I've wanted to search for you--but I had a war to fight. I've missed you."
She couldn't answer him as she realized just what had happened. "Minbari not born of Minbari...They knew?" She was referring to those annoying Vorlons and some of the Minbari.
"I think so...Or at least were very suspicious." He looked around. "It's a beautiful spot..."
"Yes, it is." She was whispering. "I can't believe it." She reached out for his hand to feel his fingers. "How?"
"I'm not sure of the process--Zathras might be able to tell you more--if you can figure out what he is saying." He clasped his hand around hers. "I'm very real..." He looked around. "I knew they wouldn't stay away." He nodded toward the base of the hill. "My aides--they are very protective."
She shook her head. "They won't like you associating with me." She let go of his hand and stepped back. "But I do have something for you...I have a small group who would be honored to serve Valen." She spoke formally. "I have their permission to offer their services to you and your Rangers."
"Catherine...I don't want you to go."
"I don't want to go--but we both have our work and a war to finish...And I don't think they--" She nodded her head toward his aides. "--would be happy if..."
"I don't give a damn..." He took her hand and pulled her into his arms. "I realize that there have been some changes--but I'm still Jeffrey Sinclair. And I still love you."
She reached out and touched his crest. "Some changes..." She smiled. "But..."
"But nothing. I shall build my home here--and here you will share my life...The Minbari will come to accept us and our family." He let her go. "If you..."
"Oh...Jeff...Valen..." She laughed, suddenly happy. "I don't think I can get used to calling you that."
"I hereby appoint you to the Anla'shok and graciously accept your offer of help. They need to learn to appreciate their own people more anyway."
"Like having the worker caste join the Gray Council?"
"Exactly." They both looked at the--even at this distance--obviously unhappy faces of his aides. "And they need to learn tolerance of other races--that intolerance is why we nearly lost this war, more than the destruction of our station." He took her hand. "Though I think we should only tell them about the newest members of the Anla'shok...The other is none of their business."
She nodded. It would be a long difficult road--she wondered if it was possible for them to even lead 'normal' lives.