Starbuck gazed at the countryside around him. "I can't believe we actually
have shore leave," he sighed to Apollo. "And on such a beautiful planet!" 

Indeed, the planet was lovely. It had three suns, each of which was at a
slightly different level in the sky, meaning that the planet had three sun
rises and three sunsets every day. Each of those suns shone brightly down
on them now, illuminating the flowers and trees around them.

"You know," said Apollo thoughtfully, "it might not be such a bad place to
stay." 

Starbuck's heart stuck in his throat. Surely Apollo wasn't thinking of
leaving the Galactica! 

"You don't mean that, do you?" he asked slightly nervously.

His friend smiled at him. "No," he said. "My father would never hear of my
leaving. But sometimes I wonder ... is life on the Galactica really what's
best for Boxey and the other children? For any of us?" 

"We don't exactly have a choice, do we?" Starbuck pointed out. "Not like
anyone would take kindly to a group of aliens suddenly deciding they
wanted to live on their planet." The inhabitants of the planet they were
currently visiting had welcomed them as visitors, but Starbuck was certain
they didn't want the Galactica personnel as anything but temporary guests. 

"How do we know the Earth people will be any different?" Apollo asked him. 

"They're humans, just like we are," Starbuck responded. "I'm sure they'll
be surprised to see us, but it's not like we're an entirely different
people. And speaking of Boxey," he added suddenly, "where is he, anyway?" 

Apollo smiled. "Learning period," he answered. "Athena's taking the kids
on some sort of field trip to gather plants for the agro barge." 

The two warriors continued walking through the lightly forested area
they'd discovered and eventually came to an open field. "Look, Pol!"
Starbuck whispered to him. "What's that in the sky?" 

"It's called a rainbow," the Captain told him. Actually, there were three
rainbows: one for each sun. 

"Have you ever seen one before?" the blond man asked.

"Not for a long time," Apollo replied. "They're not a common occurence in
space, after all. And I only saw them once or twice when we lived on
Caprica." 

"What causes them?" Starbuck wanted to know.

Apollo explained the science behind the creation of rainbows. "And of
course, there's myths and legends about them, too." 

"Like what?" Starbuck was curious.

"Well, some people say that there's gold at the end of the rainbow." 

"Well, why didn't you tell me that before? Let's go look for it." And
Starbuck was off. Apollo followed him, thankful that all three rainbows
combined into one, and therefore probably ended at the same place. 

Eventually, the warriors arrived at the end of the rainbow, Starbuck in
the lead, Apollo close behind. Starbuck looked around him at the site
where the rainbows vanished into the atmosphere. 

"I guess there's no gold here," he told Apollo when his friend caught up
to him. 

Apollo stood and just looked at Starbuck. The sun was glinting off his
hair. It shone brightly - just like gold. After what felt like a yahren to
the Lieutenant, Apollo stepped forward and entwined it around his fingers.
"There is," he said. "There most definitely is gold here." 

And he kissed Starbuck for the first time. But it would not be the last. 

END