Title: Visions of Tomorrow Rating: PG Disclaimer: I only own one character in here, all the rest are lovingly borrowed and will be returned as soon as I'm done messing with their lives. Visions of Tomorrow part 1 by Cassie Kirk A young woman sat up quickly in bed. Her breath came in quick gasps and her heart pounded as though it would leap out of her chest. She shivered violently despite the sweat pouring off her face. She ran a hand through her long, thick, tangled hair. Taking several deep breaths, she tried to calm herself and slow the wild beating of her heart. The dream had returned. Only, it wasn't a dream. It was another vision. One that disturbed her deeply. She had no way of knowing whether it would be within the next yahren, sectar, centon, or micron. Her grandmother had told her the Virgon Legend of "The Visionary", and how only one Visionary would be born every thousand yahrens. As a child, she had been able to 'sense' things. She had known things that she couldn't possibly have known, and had never been told. She clearly remembered the first time it happened. ***** "Pschye, I'm so glad your grandfather brought you with him." an eight yahren old Athena bubbled. "We don’t get to see each other that often." "I know." giggled Psyche, also eight yahrens. "Avus thought I might like to visit with you while he talks to your father." The giggling girls raced off to Athena's room, nearly bumping into Athena's two older brothers, Apollo and Zachariah, and Apollo's friend Starbuck. Apollo grabbed his sister and started tickling her. "Apollo, put me down!" Athena laughed. "Psyche and I want to go play!" Zac grabbed Psyche and began tickling her as she wiggled to get out of his grasp. Starbuck just looked on in amusement. "Come on, Brats. Mom just made some cookies. She told us to come find you two," Apollo said as he dropped Athena unceremoniously onto the floor. Zac released Psyche and she fell to the floor still laughing. Zac, Apollo, and Starbuck rolled their eyes as the girls just rolled on the floor giggling. "If you girls don't knock it off, we'll have to eat all the cookies ourselves," Apollo said with mock seriousness. "Don't you dare!" shouted Athena as she jumped to her feet. She helped Psyche to her feet and they leaned on each other for support, still giggling softly. They took one look at the guys and raced off ahead of them to the kitchen. Three young men quickly took off after them, yet they allowed the girls to reach the kitchen ahead of them. The girls turned around and stuck out their tongues. "Haha! We beat you!" "Only because we let you," Zac retorted. Athena put her hands on her hips and glared at her older brother. "So?" "So, I think you'd better not start an argument in front of your guests," Ila called from the kitchen. "Awwww! Mom! That's no fun!" Athena pouted. Psyche giggled. "I wish I had a family like yours." "No you don't! You have no idea what I have to put up with from those three." Athena gestured toward Apollo, Starbuck and Zac. "It's no more than we put up with from you, Brat," Apollo grinned. "That's enough! No more arguments," Ila scolded. "Now, all of you, come have a snack." The five of them walked into the large, inviting kitchen and sat down at the table. Ila set a large tray of cookies on the table and handed out napkins and glasses of milk. Ila walked over to the counter and sighed. She wiped her hands on a towel and smiled over at the group sitting at the table. Apollo turned and saw her. "What are you thinking about, Mother? You look like you're metrons out in space." "I was just thinking about how much I love my three children." Ila said, with a smile. "Four," Psyche replied around a mouthful of cookie. Ila paled. Her hands began to shake. "What did you say?" Psyche took a sip of milk before answering. "I said 'four'." "Why did you say that?" Ila's voice sounded ragged. "You said you had three children. I was correcting you," Psyche said matter-of-factly. Ila relaxed. "But, dear, Starbuck isn't my son. Even though he's over here often enough it feels like it." She smiled at Starbuck who returned the smile. "Oh, I wasn't talking about Starbuck," Psyche said as she reached for another cookie. Ila fainted. Apollo jumped up and raced over to his mother. "Zac, go get Father and Sire Adar. Quickly. Athena, go find me a pillow to put under Mother's head." "What can I do to help?" Starbuck asked as Athena and Zac raced off to do as Apollo asked. "Help me get Mother into a more comfortable position." Adama and Adar came racing into the room. "What happened?" Adama demanded. "I didn't mean to hurt Siress Ila!" Psyche burst into tears. Adar hurried over to Psyche. "Of course not!" Apollo looked up at Adama who bent down to help his fallen wife. Athena and Zac hung back watching the scene with interest. Ila began to regain consciousness. She saw Adama and reached for him. "Are you alright?" Adama asked, gently cradling his wife in his arms. "I'm a little shaken, but I think I'm alright," Ila replied, trembling slightly. "What happened?" Adama asked. "Psyche said Mom had four children." Athena supplied. Adama turned to the still crying Psyche. "Why did you say that?" "I don't know!" Psyche wailed. Adama sighed. He looked down at Ila who nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "Yes, it's true." "Father?" Apollo asked, confused. Adama helped Ila to her feet before replying. "Sit down Apollo. Your mother and I have something to tell you." He waited until everyone was seated around the large table before beginning. Adama held Ila's hand tightly in his. "Before Apollo was born, Ila and I had another child. He was very small and only lived for three sectars. We didn't want to tell you, until Athena was old enough to understand. We just didn't want to upset you." "I'm so sorry," sniffed Psyche. "It's all my fault you had to tell them." "Ila reached out to her. "It's all right darling. But, how did you know? We never mentioned anything about our little Pyramus to anyone." "I don't know," Psyche sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Somehow I just knew." ***** Psyche reached for her robe and put it on as she got out of bed. She had to tell someone what she "saw". Before it was too late.