He would not look up. Years of service, heartbreak, study, and still he would not look up. He had, once, Delenn thought sadly. He had been able to look into her eyes, before. She saw John out of the corner of her eye, looking solemn and rather worried. She could not let the moment drag on. It was time.

"Lennier. You must look up."

It was as if his slow intake of breath lifted his head. Lennier sat there, obedient to his Entil'zha. But the breath had not lifted his spirit.

Delenn could see the dejectedness of his soul. Not even Kosh's encounter suit would have been able to hide that. She smiled to reassure him.

"Lennier, I have called you back...because I... we... need a favor of you."

"Of course, Entil'zha." Lennier noted Sheridan's immediate discomfiture at the response he had uttered. The matter must be serious, Lennier thought with some dread. It was not like Sheridan to show his emotions in that manner.

Delenn shook her head. "No, my dear friend, it is not a matter of the Anla'shok. The favor required is one for John and me. We need you to understand, to understand that this favor will ask a great deal of you."

So it has come to this, Lennier realized. A remote posting, or perhaps a hazardous mission, something to remove me from Delenn permanently. He closed his eyes, his own words swearing service to her still ringing in his mind. He opened his eyes, and simply nodded at her.

"Of course, Delenn. I would be happy to serve. Understanding is not required, only obedience."

There. Lennier saw it again, the unease on Sheridan's part. And this time, Delenn and Sheridan traded glances, as if uncertain how to proceed. The President frowned, and seemed to choose his words carefully.

"Lennier... what we need to ask... what I need to ask is, well--"

"Delenn knows that I would die for her, Mr. President."

Sheridan shook his head, and looked at Delenn, pleading in his eyes. She remained silent, a sympathetic smile her only response.

"Please, Lennier," Sheridan began again, "it's not a favor for the Alliance. It's not the President who is asking. It's John Sheridan who is asking."

Sheridan paused, his heart racing. Hell, Lennier was making this hard, whether he intended to or not. Did Lennier really think he'd send him off to die somewhere, just to get Lennier out of the way? Yeah, well, John, he told himself, aren't you the one who wisecracked 'Three's a crowd?' It's not about possession, it's about service.

No, it isn't, he corrected the voice in his head. It's about devotion.

Sheridan looked at his hands, and rubbed his sweaty palms together.

"I went to Z'ha'dum, and I died there. Lorien brought me back, figuratively and literally. He gave me some of his energy, to keep my body going, for a while, maybe even twenty years."

Lennier could see the pained expression that passed over Delenn's face.

"Dr. Franklin checked me over. My body works, I can live and breathe and eat, it works...in all but one respect." Sheridan stopped, collecting his thoughts. "My reproductive system isn't.... doesn't.... well, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sterile."

Lennier looked at him, uncomprehendingly. Then a suspicion came to his mind, and grew, and horror lit his eyes. He was unconscious of the movement of his hand to the pike he wore at his belt. Anger made his voice brittle.

"Sheridan," Lennier hissed, "what you suggest is an abomination! You forget that I've studied your Earth history. Apparently you humans think nothing of--" Lennier spat the word out "--inseminating your women in the same manner your animal breeders inseminate cattle. What your race does is its own business, but to contemplate degrading Delenn in that fashion--"

Delenn's fingers tightened about Lennier's wrist, and with infinite care she drew his hand away from the pike.

"Lennier." She had to repeat his name, sternly, to get his attention. "John is not suggesting that. I am not suggesting that." She continued in a soft voice, one of entreaty. "He is suggesting tei'sha'la."

"Then he is suggesting the impossible!" Lennier shot back in Adronato. "Delenn, tei'sha'la is practiced within families. At worst, within clans, when there are no other surviving family members-- Delenn, tell him! What does *he* know of ritual and tradition? Tei'sha'la does not use mechanical devices, it is a holy joining of soul and body! If humans want to breed themselves like cattle, let the wrath of the Universe fall on them, not on us. In Valen's Name, Delenn, make him understand!"

"Do you love her?"

Sheridan's words hung on the air. Lennier realized that Sheridan had spoken them in Adronato, accented but recognizable Adronato. They were the first four words of the tei'sha'la ritual. They were also the words Lennier had asked himself each day since he had left Babylon 5, the answer buying the pain of another day's worth of devotion, of service in her cause.

Lennier could see the naked and honest question in Sheridan's eyes. There was no jealousy there, no hidden motive. Sheridan's soul was open to him in that moment. Lennier's answer was simple and direct.

"Yes."

Lennier was not prepared for the honest and appreciative smile on Sheridan's face, and perhaps it had been years since he'd seen such transcendent joy lighting Delenn's eyes. She took Lennier's hand, and pressed it palm-open on her cheek, trapping a single tear in the contact of their flesh. The bitterness, the desperation, the sorrow that he'd tried to escape from in Ranger training, tried and failed because he'd carried it within himself, those sadnesses were destroyed by that tear.

Delenn kissed Lennier's palm lightly. Sheridan's expression did not change; he continued to look pleased, almost exuberant. Delenn reached over to the table, and lifted a data crystal from within a small velvet-lined box. She gave it to Lennier with deliberate ceremony.

"This is how tei'sha'la will be satisfied," Delenn told him, gesturing at the crystal reader on the desk in the far corner of the room. Lennier looked at the data crystal, then at Delenn. Her smile reassured him.

"Understanding _is_ required," she said lightly.

Lennier's thoughts were troubled as he sat down at the reader. If tei'sha'la was to be satisfied...it would mean that Sheridan would become a member of his clan? Lennier's heart sank. Had Delenn used her status as Entil'zha to force the Fain to induct Sheridan as a member of his own clan? The Religious caste was certainly more open than the Warrior caste about adopting new members into their circle, but...'Starkiller' as a member of the Third Fain of Chu'Domo? Sheridan knew nothing of the history, the service of his clan. The repercussions would tear the clan apart. Lennier inserted the crystal into the slot, and began to read.

Sheridan's face was a mask of worry, and Delenn watched him fidget while Lennier read the crystal's contents. She had known it would be a difficult wait, more so for him, and to that end she had asked John to sit with his back to the reader. At least this way, she mused, John could not stare at Lennier and make him feel rushed.

The sound pulled Sheridan to his feet. Delenn relished his bewilderment, his uncertainty, and then, at her nod and loving smile, his joy and relief. Sheridan hugged Delenn, and together they listened to the sound, the reply they'd dared not hope for.

Lennier was laughing.

...

The choice had been theirs to make, and the choice was Tuzanor, not just because it was now the home of the Alliance, but because it spoke of devotion over countless years. The last light of the day was fading, but the candles and lanterns bestowed a glow on the ancient stone walls that no daylight could match. The temple had patient echoes; some said that if you listened well enough, you could hear Valen's own words still alive in that place.

The Elder spoke in gravelly Adronato. "Who are you?" He directed his question to the infant in Delenn's arms, but it was Lennier who answered.

"He is David Sheridan, born to Delenn of the Religious caste and John Sheridan of the Alliance."

The Elder continued, "And what do you seek?" still addressing his words to the infant.

"He seeks to join the Third Fain of Chu'Domo, to serve with honor and obedience," Lennier responded.

Slowly the Elder turned, his wizened features stark in the candlelight.

"What are you to this child?" the Elder intoned.

Lennier smiled proudly. "Through tei'sha'la, I am birth father to David Sheridan."

"And your name, birth father of David Sheridan?"

Lennier looked with pride at his family. The laughter had never really stopped, which was just as well, since it was born of joy and relief and the knowledge that he could love Delenn honorably and be by her side, and at the same time share her love for her soul mate, John. As always, Delenn was right. Three was sacred. Lennier smiled as he replied to the Elder's question.

"I am Lennier Sheridan, adopted son of David Sheridan, adopted brother of John Sheridan, and member of the Third Fain of Chu'Domo."

Three is Sacred © 1998 Cathy Faye Rudolph