Starbuck and Apollo waved to their son as he left for his classes at the Academy. When Boxey was gone, Apollo sank into a chair and sighed. Starbuck seated himself on the arm of the chair. "Feeling old?" he teased. "Aren't you?" Apollo retorted. "It just seems like yesterday when he was running around after Muffit." "Wasn't it?" Starbuck asked. His mate laughed. "No. Believe it or not, Muffy has been deactivated for a few yahrens now." Then he turned serious again. "Everything is changing, Star. Nothing stays the same." "Like what? What's changed?" "Everything," Apollo said again. "Boxey is going to the Academy. Soon he'll be a warrior." "We'll have to stop calling him Boxey," Starbuck observed. "We're allowed to call him whatever we want. We're his parents." "So what else has changed?" "You and me," Apollo replied. "Our relationship has certainly changed. We went from being friends to being lovers, life mates. And Boxey's not the only one getting older. My father seems to have aged a deca-yahren recently. Athena's married. Boomer and Dietra have children of their own. The Cylons...." "Don't tell me you miss the Cylons!" Starbuck exclaimed. "No, I don't miss the Cylons. But I miss having something to fight, if you can believe it. Since they've been gone, we haven't had much in the way of challenges for the new cadets, or even for the established warriors. But I don't miss the constant threat hanging over us." Starbuck moved from his perch on Apollo's chair and kneeled on the floor in front of him. Taking both Apollo's hands in his, he said, "I can tell you at least thing that hasn't changed." Apollo was surprised at Starbuck's sudden move. He knew that his best friend and life partner loved him, but Starbuck had never been one for romantic gestures. "Something hasn't changed? What is it?" he asked. Starbuck kissed one of Apollo's hands. "My love for you. It hasn't changed, and it will never change, except to get deeper and stronger every day." He kissed the other hand. "I love you, Pol. I always have, and I always will." With a smile, Apollo pulled the one he loved into his arms. "I love you too," he answered. "And that will never change." END