1921 PD

"I don't know how to be without him."

"Eloise, I -"

"Please." She reached for him, jerked her hand away, let it flutter above his arm. "I think I might break."

He was the only one, now. The only one she could ever say that to. The other man who could see this - who could see Eloise, not the President, not the Commissioner, not the Aprilist, but Eloise - was gone forever, living only in their memory and in the star nation they would build for him.

So he reached for her hand. He made the move she couldn't, took her hand in his and let her crush it, let her crumble, let her cry.

"Whatever you need, Eloise. Anything."

He didn't know what 'anything' meant. And he didn't care.

1922 PD

"He would have loved to see this."

They stood in the observation dome of HMS Imperator, surveying the combined might of the Havenite, Manticoran, and Grayson fleet. Hundreds of superdreadnoughts, reflecting the starlight, the finest in the galaxy. The finest in the history of humanity.

The Grand Alliance, they called it.

She turned to him, and something very like desperation burned in her eyes.

"Don't you think he would have, Tom? Don't you think so?"

"I think it's the best memorial you could ever give him, Eloise."

This time she was the one to take his hand, and her grip was slightly gentler.

1923 PD

"I can't believe it's been two years."

"But look what we've done with them, Eloise. Look at the miracle we've made."

"We have, haven't we? And it is a miracle. Still, sometimes I -"

"Sometimes you what, Eloise?"

"Sometimes I turn to show him, to say, 'look, we made it after all,' and he's not there. He never is. I'm so alone, Tom."

He took her hand, and then, not sure why he dared, he held her close, folded her into his arms. Someone so lovely, so seemingly fragile, shouldn't have to carry the galaxy on her shoulders.

"You may be lonely, Eloise. But you're never alone."

She rested against his chest, and just for a moment, the grief seemed just a little lighter.

1924 PD

"Oh, they look so happy!"

"Yes," he said gently, as Admiral Michael Oversteegen kissed Captain Abigail Hearns, Miss Owens, in the splendor of King Roger's Cathedral. "Yes, they do."

But he wasn't looking at the couple by the altar, however striking a picture they made. He was looking at the woman next to him, whose face glowed with happiness for the first time in three years.

"Look," she said with a misty smile. "He's looking at her like -"

She stopped, and turned to stare at him, the light of recognition dawning in her thunderstruck eyes.

"Like what, Eloise?" His voice was impossibly gentle.

"Like you look at me," she whispered, with something very much like awe.

"Don't," he said warningly, too afraid to hope. "I know you'll always be Javier's."

"Yes," she said unflinchingly. "I will. And the last thing he would want - the very last, Tom - would be for me to walk away from someone who loves me, who could make me happy - when he's no longer here to do so." Then, very quietly: "You do love me, don't you, Tom?"

"Yes." There was no use fighting it. He was sworn to her, always. "Yes, Eloise, I do."

Shyly, she placed her hand in his.

He took it, and kissed it, reverently, as he looked into her glowing eyes.

And then he kissed her.

This was 'anything'.

1925 PD

"I think he'd be so happy, if he could see this."

"I think, President Theisman, that he is happy he can see this."

"What would you have done?" Gently, she smoothed her wedding veil away from her face. "If he'd lived?"

"I would have loved you," he said simply. "Whether I had you or not, Eloise, it was never about that. I would have danced at your wedding and stood by your side, and meant every word of congratulations."

"I'll always miss him." Her voice was wistful, but for the first time since Javier died, she wasn't grief-stricken when she spoke of him. "And I'll always love him."

"I know that." Gently, he enfolded her in his arms. "You loved him, Eloise, with all your heart. That's who you are. That's one reason I love you. I wouldn't ask you to stop."

"And that's why I could love you." Wonderingly, she touched his face. "He's a part of me, now."

"I know. And that means he's a part of me, too."

"Look." Smiling mistily, she kissed his hand and held it tight as they surveyed the flag bridge of RHNS Javier Giscard. Sonja Hemphill and Shannon Foraker were bent over the tac console, Admirals White Haven and Harrington looking on, intrigued. In another corner, Queen Elizabeth III waved her hands about in an animated conversation with Lester Tourville. And, married only a year - still newlyweds, really - Michael Oversteegen and his wife Abigail had eyes for no one but each other as Protector Benjamin surveyed them proudly, Elaine in the circle of his arm.

"Look, Tom. We did it."

"Yes." He didn't try to check the tears. "Yes, Eloise. We did."