This weeks prompt is from Springie:

Ooooo, I am looking forward to seeing what prompts arise from this image.

Hmmm, I'm getting the impression they're crying tears of joy, maybe they are reuniting after a long time seperated?

I agree, KT. They look more happy than sad. Or not ????

BTW, Springie, I loooooove your Eagle!

I am thinking, this is what Ken SHOULD have done at the end of the Flowers episode, not slapping Jun. Or maybe this is Ken's reaction once he lets go of the Eagle persona ....

Thanks, KT! I called this one "Happy Tears"- just not sure why they are shedding "Happy Tears"- it seems to lead me to think something serious happened. Bonus points to anyone who can think of something silly that fits this pic- it would be challenging (IMHO)!

Originally posted by clouddancer Ooooo, I am looking forward to seeing what prompts arise from this image.

You know, CD, it is comments like this that make me feel like poking you. Oh that felt good. I haven't used the pokey stick for awhile! But in this case, you deserve it, CD! Why don't you submit something for this picture? It seems like you have plenty of good ideas!!!! And for good measure, I'll throw in a

Originally posted by Transmute Jun And for good measure, I'll throw in a

What, no ?!?!?

Such a lovely pic! I agree that those are more "happy" tears than sad ones!

Very sweet pic.

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Oh KT! That was so sweet! I hope Joe didn't mind that she was wishing he was gone instead of Ken! LOL!

Very sweet, KT< and very appropriate! I love that Jun was the first one to welcome him home!

KT -- ditto

KT: Aw .. sweet reunion, which will probably turn into 20 questions as she wonders just how long he's been home and who that was leaving the place.

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Amethyst: Intriguing, can't wait to see more of this story. I suppose with all the country songs it's gotta be tearjerky, heh heh. Nice to see one where they don't end up together and yet Princess is happy.

Ame - this is obviously a sequel. Have the team moved on with their lives, and this is a reunion many years later? I get the impression Mark is regretting the way he treated Princess while they were in the team, and if not wanting to pick things up where they left off, then at least have closure on the whole episode. I'm interested to see the rest of the story too, hope you'll be posting the first part soon.

Thanks, Chris. Having grown up listening to all sorts of music, but with both sides of my family, and DH's, listening mostly to country, it does affect my writing. Though, one day, I'm going to have to go through my library and see if some of those morose themes are really more predominant in country music, or if it is just the slower pace makes it seem that way. KT, all five are set to be post-canon. My best guess at this time, is this piece takes place about 20 years after the war. The first part will be about 10 years, the second will cover the time right after they defeat Spectra up to about 5 years, the third will be about 5-6 years, and the fourth part will be back to about 10. I originally pictured these as individual stories in a series, but I think they will work better as five acts in a whole. Hopefully, I'll have more time to work on this, but I do have two other stories that need to take precedence.

Ame: Yes, you do. I'm expecting to beta another wedding scene ...

Intriguing, Amethyst! Usually it's Princess pining for Mark...but this time she's settled happily with a family and he's kicking himself for letting her go! Oh, how I love the angst!

Amethyst, that's an interesting coda and now I want to know what led up to it! Very sweet... For my part, this is lame, but it's all I could think of that was silly! (and Springie did want a silly explanation for the pic, didn't she?) 88888 "Hey, Ken, come on in and join us!" Ryu called from the pool. "The water's great!" Jinpei added, splashing around. "We'd love to have you." Jun smiled. "I can't." Ken replied. "I promised Dr. Nambu I'd get some work done." "At the pool?" Joe arched an eyebrow. "I might as well be in the sun." Ken replied, shrugging. "Stick in the mud!" Jinpei muttered. "Never has any fun." "We can make him have fun." Joe's eyes gleamed. "If we get him wet enough, he'll just have to jump in." "I don't think he'd jump in just because we got him wet." Tiny said doubtfully. "But it would be fun!" Jinpei's grin was a mile wide. "Let's get him wet!" "All right." Ryu agreed. Immediately, he, Joe and Jinpei began splashing water in Ken's direction. Unfortunately for them, their leader had settled himself far enough away from the pool that the water droplets didn't reach him. In fact, Ken barely noticed their hjinks. "I can do it." Jun declared. "You can get him wet?" Joe scoffed. "You can't splash the water any farther than we can!" "I can get him wet." Jun repeated confidently. "You're on!" Jinpei gave her a high five. "Okay." Jun smiled, splashing Jinpei full in the face with water. "Hey, no fair!" the boy cried, splashing back, sending a wave of water after a quickly departing Jun. She jumped lithely out of the pool, picked up a nearby blue towel and dropped it over her shoulders, running over to where Ken lay stretched out on a lounger, papers in hand. "Ken!" she cried, thoughtfully giving him a chance to toss his documents aside. He dropped his papers, standing up in surprise as she ran into his arms. As she entered his embrace, Jun let the towel fall aside in front, pressing her soaking wet body against Ken. "They're being so mean to me!" Jun cried. "Ganging up on me! It's so much better when you're there too." "It's okay, Jun." Ken smiled, not minding in the least that her wet bathing suit was creating a distinct dampness across his own clothing. "You can just stay with me." "I was planning on doing just that." she purred, before turning back to stick her tongue out at the three boys remaining in the pool. "You gotta admit is, she's the master!" Tiny grinned.

OMG! You did it! I should've known you would! Haha...jJun sure is a sneaky little temptress, isn't she? And she's a great actress...not many people can cry on cue like that!

Oh, Jun's good at crying on cue and running into Ken's arms...

Thought I'd throw my hat in the ring for this one: --- "Are you sure?" She looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears. "I'm sure." He clasped her to his chest, his lips brushing her hair. "We'll get through this, Princess, I promise." She melted into his touch. "Does Chief Anderson know?" At mention of their mentor, she pulled away again and shook her head. "He doesn't even know that we're dating." Princess started to cry again. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tightly. "Well, he's about to find out. We'll tell him together." "Mark, I ... I don't know if that's a good idea." Princess faltered. "Once he finds out ..." She stared at the ground. "He'll have to answer to both of us." When she didn't reply, he touched her chin and raised her eyes to his. "Do you want to do this? Because if you're looking for a way out, just tell me now." She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I want to do this, Mark. I just don't see how ..." "Well, I want this baby, too." He fought to keep his voice level, but the tears crept in anyway. "I love you, Princess, and I love that you're having our baby." He patted her still-flat stomach and drew her close. "We'll make it work."

TJ: She better be careful, one day she'll be the girl who cried wolf. (Like Ken's complaining!) jublke: Aaaw, so sweet. I feel a little for the Chief, having to go right to "I'm pregnant!!!!", but I doubt that he has no idea they're dating.

Oh ... I knew that Springie's picture would have led to so many Eagle/Swan awesome and fluffy stories! I love them so much! KT ... so sweet! Jun having Ken's spare keys at her own disposal makes me think that they have a stronger relationship than that we know about in canon and which someone like me always dreams about! Ame ... such an intriguing piece! I'm so longing to read and know more! The only fact that we're seeing how the years, and their own maturity, affected their relationship differently from what we always take for granted is most interesting! Even though I can still feel a kind of connection between them! TJ ... thumbs up for Jun! Yup ... it takes a manipulative Swan to solve such a situation! Guess Ken's unrefrained tears were simply out of joy just because he had had the unexpected opportunity of feeling Jun's wet body against his! Jublke ... couldn't get sweeter, and such a plausible story abiding with the picture! The Chief now really has quite some mind-jumbling news to digest, especially if this is happening whilst the Team is still operational!

Short of time, so .... *** Princess threw herself into Mark's arms, tears of joy welling in their eyes after having witnessed the scene in front of them. "Finally ... we're totally free and exclusive to each other!" the Swan sobbed with relief, whilst Mark nodded in unanimousness, rocking her in their tight hug. "That pile of metal junk and bolts will never get between us, again!" he promised her firmly, as he angled his head to capture the messy heap of bits and pieces, which once formed Zark, at the corner of his eyes. "I knew the day would have eventually come when that tin would have pissed off someone to the point of no return!" ***

Jublke...LOVED IT! That idea fits so perfectly...and it's good that they both are going to the Chief as a United front. Marie...Bwahahahaha! Perfect! I wonder who blew up the tin can like that? Oh who am I kidding? It doesn't matter...Zark is gone!!! ( breaks out into song: "Ding, dong the Zark is dead..." )

Originally posted by Springie I wonder who blew up the tin can like that? Oh who am I kidding? It doesn't matter...Zark is gone!!! ( breaks out into song: "Ding, dong the Zark is dead..." )

I didn't point a finger at anyone cause there's a tremendous list of persons just dreaming of destroying Zark from which to choose! Like you, Springie, I simply like the end result! I'm glad you liked it, too!

Marie, I agree, that's perfect!!!!!! As for my fic, I was interpreting the 'tears' as 'water droplets' from a wet Jun. Jublke, wow, now *this* is a story I want to see more of!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun As for my fic, I was interpreting the 'tears' as 'water droplets' from a wet Jun.

As long as the water droplets came from a wet Jun, I'm sure Ken wouldn't have argued about them dropping anywhere on his body! *giggles* ... now, I'm also hearing him sing an edited version of "Raindrops are falling on my head!"!!

Okay, let's do this in order, so I don't get confused ... Jublke -- I still have the last bit of the one you just finished beta reading, if you are in a big hurry. Springie -- When this is finished, this piece will not seem as angsty as it does now, but there will be angst TJ -- Thanks, as I was writing this, I thought that this would be a nice closure, hopefully when I'm done, it will not feel forced as many epilogues do. That was a fun piece. I could easily see Jun or Princess doing that, either on a dare or just for fun. Jublke -- that is not an easy position to be in. I'm curious how the Chief will react. Marie -- Thank you. It's very rare for people to be in the same relationship they were in at 17/18 when they are in their 40's. Even if they are they are not the same as they were then. It is looking like this fic will explore some of those changes, and how they occur. Another Perfect End to Zark! It would be fun to guess who, but as you said the list of possible suspects is endless. Apologies if I missed anyone.

Ame - I'll take you up on that. With twisting my neck and two of my kids coming down with strep this last week, I could use some good reading material. Chris, Ame, Gatchamarie, Springie & TJ - thanks for the comments & encouragement. I'll have to see if I can come up with a creative twist on that plot line.

gatchamarie: LOL, wonder just who did Zark in. *grin* jublke: I figure even if my brain won't cough up any new writing, at least I can cheerlead those who are producing!