From Mmturner@aol.com Sun Aug 4 01:40:21 1996 Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:19:08 -0400 From: Mmturner@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: submission I hope this one works. I'm submitting a story "Reunions" Really sorry about the gobbledegook last time, I hope this one is better! Hi all, This is my first story for the creative list. It's set about a decade in the future, after the end of the war (My version of who lives and dies, anyway), so I guess it might contain some spoilers - I don't know. I'd really like feed back and critiques. Hope you enjoy it! Slush factor = M. Legalese: These characters, etc all belong to Warner Bros./PTEN/Babylonian Productions etc. -- REUNIONS by Mary M. Turner mmturner@aol.com "I appreciate your seeing me, Ambassador." She looked at the frail, impassive woman seated on a crystal bench before her. The stillness, the rigidity of the woman was daunting. "Please call me Delenn. I have not been an Ambassador for many years." "Not since the war. I know. In fact you withdrew from public service - indeed from public view - as soon as the war was over. Could you tell me why?" "My role was finished. I was no longer needed." "Amb - Delenn, surely you can't expect us to believe that. Recently many details of the war have been released. We now know just how pivotal your role was in defeating the Shadows. I can't believe you just turned your back on all your friends and allies." "I did not turn my back on them. I - merely came back to Minbar." "Rumour has it that you have had no contact with any of your old friends since you returned here." "That is hardly true. G'Kar of the Narn was here just last year. Miss Randall, I am sure that you have other, more pertinent, questions. I understood that you wished to discuss the War and the role of Prophecy in the defeat of the Shadows." Deftly Delenn steered the conversation away from areas she could not, would not discuss. If the Grey Council had no insisted... After two more hours of increasingly pointed questions, Delenn rose. Even standing she was much smaller than she had appeared on the vids of the war. "I'm sorry, Miss Randall. It is now the first hour of meditation." "Oh. Well, thank you very much. This has been most enlightening. I guess I'll see you at the ceremony." "The -- ceremony?" "Yes, the Re-Dedication. Babylon 5. Next month. Surely you can't have forgotten." "No. But I will not be attending." "But your government guaranteed that you would be there. Everyone who was a major player will be there." "Those who are still alive." "Well, yes, of course." * * * Delenn was unsuccessful in her meditations that evening. * * * *************** * * * Two days later Lennier came to see her. "Delenn." He bowed to her. "It's good to see you, Lennier, but I am unhappy that the Grey Council has chosen to make you their errand boy." "They know that I am merely a placeholder for you until you choose to exert your right to lead the Grey Council and Minbar." "Lennier, you live in a world of dreams and fantasies." "No, I live in the world of the Grey Council. They need you, Delenn. You must claim your birthright." "No." It was an old argument, one they'd had many times before. "They must acknowledge me." "They vacillate. They hesitate." "Yet they do not hesitate to guarantee - guarantee that I will go to this re- dedication ceremony." "I see. You are angry." "I will not be manipulated or used, Lennier. That part of my life is over. That is why I came here." "Delenn, you know I would do anything for you. Any thing. But, I have to tell you that you are wrong in this. John Sheridan did not manipulate you or use you. You -- over-reacted.' "We are NOT discussing John Sheridan." "It's time, Delenn. You're going to see him very shortly. You're going to have tell him why you will not respond to his communications." "I do not have to explain my actions to anyone, least of all, John Sheridan." "Delenn, it's time to forgive him and yourself." Suddenly her mask cracked. "I cannot, Lennier. By Valen, I cannot," she whispered, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. "Forgive him? Or yourself?" She stiffened and the mask slipped back into place. "He doesn't want my forgiveness. It was all over between us a long time ago." She bowed her head to Lennier, rose gracefully and departed. Lennier sighed and activated his vid-comm. Ivanova's face appeared. "Any luck?" she asked. "It is -- difficult. She is difficult. I will try again tomorrow. And you?" "He's as stubborn as an old mule and as ornery as a billy goat, but he'll go because I'll tell him he has to." "Does he still...?" "Still. And Delenn?" "One of your philosophers said that love and hate are two sides of the same coin." There was a little pause and the sound of fingernails tapping against the comm case. "All right. I'll see you there." "Till then." * * * *************** * * * Lennier executed the docking maneuvers neatly and glanced at his companion. It had been a largely silent trip. "It's time," he said gently. She took a deep breath and smiled at him. It will be all right, Lennier. I will behave. And it is only for three days, after all." He wasn't sure if she was reassuring him or herself. They walked down the long tunnel that led from the docking bays to the station proper. Once out onto the main concourse, they had to run a gauntlet of media before three members of station security closed in around them. "This way, ma'am, sir. Ambassador Delenn and Lennier of the Minbari, right?" The tallest of the trio said, consulting a clipboard. "You're in Green sector, level 12, suite B. Your old quarters. Escort 'em, boys." Once out of the noise of the landing area, Lennier said to Delenn, "I had no idea this would be such a major event." "You bet, sir." One of the guards, a human, responded. "Biggest thing in the galaxy, 'way I hear. Lots of big-wigs, even the President of EarthGov and half his cabinet are coming. Here we are folks. Here are your keycards." Then he handed them each a folder. "This contains a list of dignitaries, room locations, events schedule, general info, who to call, history of the station. Guess you don't need that, though. Enjoy yourselves." He and his fellow guard saluted smartly and departed. Inside their quarters, Delenn sank to a couch. "Humans. I had forgotten how - breezy - they are." Lennier looked around. "Our quarters are just as I remembered. Time seems hardly to have passed here at all." The door chime sounded and Lennier hurried to open it over Delenn's small protest. Susan Ivanova stood there. She and Lennier exchanged the briefest of glances and she winked at him, before entering to greet Delenn. "There's a small reception in the garden. I came by to see if you wanted to go. Not everybody is here yet." * * * *************** * * * She had thought that she was prepared. Ten years. Ten years of meditation, of concentration, of planning, misery, and remembering. She was sure that the shell around her heart was deep enough, hard enough, strong enough to protect her. She was wrong. * * * She knew that as soon as she turned around in the garden and saw him. She'd seen so many pictures over the years. She knew how he'd changed, what mold of craggy determination his features had settled into. She'd seen the aging that the cares of state had imposed on him. She'd forgotten, though, how penetrating his blue gaze could be. And suddenly he was looking at her across the heads of his security people. Their gazes locked and she knew that ten years wasn't enough. Ten hundred years wouldn't have been enough. * * * She hasn't changed, he thought. She's still the loveliest woman I've ever seen. Those green eyes, so mysterious, so calm, so remote. Had they ever responded to the passion I felt? Had it all been a game? * * * Ivanova and Garibaldi exchanged glances. "So far, so good," she whispered to him. "Now all we have to do is get them in a room alone together and lock them in till they settle this once and for all," he replied, "That's not going to be easy." She said. "You know the kind of security he has surrounding him these days." "I ought to, since I'm responsible for most of it." "That's our ace in the hole. And the worst of it is, that she seems to have taken a real dislike to even discussing the old days. Lennier had a very difficult time persuading her to come here. Even with the pressure from the Gray Council." "I know, but it has to be done. They're eating their hearts out and it's wrong, dammit. Look at them." * * * Delenn didn't linger at the first reception. Seeing Sheridan, even across the garden had shaken her badly. Suddenly she needed to get away. "Lennier," she whispered, "It seems my years of isolation are telling on me. I am very tired. I would like to go to my quarters and rest before this evening's banquet." "Of course, Delenn. I will escort you." "No, there is no need. I know the way. Stay. There are many old friends here for you to see." She bowed briefly to him and escaped. * * * In her quarters her thoughts were a wildly swirling morass, and she was unable to concentrate enough even to perform the most basic meditations. Not for the first time she cursed her transformation, and her own arrogance. 'I was going to fulfill the prophecies. I was going to unite the races. I was going to rescue Minbari souls. Now look at me. I run from a social occasion simply because one man is within a hundred feet of me. I have failed myself, my people and my world.' * * * She was gone. Sheridan didn't know exactly how he knew she was no longer in the garden, but he was sure of it. Suddenly the whole event bored him. "I have some comm calls to make," he muttered to Ivanova. "Make nice for me." "I'm not the diplomat, remember? You are." "Yeah? Why did I make you Secretary of State for Earth Gov, then?" "Didn't I blackmail you? Oh, right, that was to get OUT of being Secretary of Defense." "Did you see her?" He couldn't have explained where the words came from. "Who?" "Delenn, dammit." "I stopped by earlier to pay my respects." "She was here." "With Lennier. Of course." "She looks -- the same." "She's thinner I think. It's hard to tell with those robes." "Did she -- mention me?" "No." "Oh." "John, maybe you should..." she faltered to a halt. Even she didn't know what to say to him any more. "Should what? Leave her alone? Turn back the clock? Refuse command of Babylon 5? Just what should I do, Susan?" "I'm sorry. I know how this eats at you. I should keep my mouth shut." He took her arm and began to stroll towards the doorway. His guards trailed after them. They had been ostentatiously not listening. "You know, it's a funny thing, Susan. I had almost convinced myself that I was over it. That it was all a nostalgic longing for the days when I could do more than push papers. That's one reason I finally agreed to come, you know. I thought it would prove my cure. I'd have a civilized conversation with Delenn, we'd acknowledge the past, and I'd go back to earth wondering what the devil I'd been mooning over for the last years. And one look. One look was all it took. One look, dammit." *************** * * * Lennier did not like what he was doing. He had sworn devotion to Delenn a great many years ago, and even though he knew that she was not destined for him, a small part of him had taken comfort in the way things had fallen out after the war. However, he could no longer tolerate the misery that he saw eating away at her being. Still, the intrigue he was embarked on felt dishonest to him. He disliked deceiving Delenn, even for her own good, and he was still not convinced that this was all for her own good. Nevertheless he joined Ivanova and Garibaldi at the small table in the Zocalo and joined the debate about how to bring the two of them together in undisturbed surroundings. It had all seemed to simple when they'd discussed it on the comm links from Earth and Minbar. Now their options were rapidly dwindling and each idea they considered had flaws. Little did they know that events were about to be taken out of their hands. * * * "I say, the sooner the better. We need to get this over with so they, and we, can enjoy the ceremonies." Ivanova declared. "You're right" Lennier said. "Delenn is behaving so oddly that I'm afraid she may decide to skip most of the events and stay in her quarters until the actual re-dedication." "Okay. How's this?" Garibaldi said, "after the banquet tonight, we all sort of meander back to my quarters. Lennier, you have to make sure that Delenn comes too. Then we'll just kind of drift out." "She'll suspect. He'll suspect. And where will you go?" "Oh. I'll toddle along to Sheridan's suite. With any luck, he won't need it." It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all they had and after several refinements, it was agreed to. After Lennier bowed to them and left, Susan and Michael continued to talk. "It must be hard for him." "Lennier? I know. This kind of plotting doesn't come naturally to a Minbari." "No. I meant with the way he feels about Delenn." "What do you know about how he feels?" "Marcus told me that he once confessed that he loved her. It was part of that rebirth ritual." "Well, it's nothing I didn't suspect. How is Marcus, these days?" "I don't get to see him much. He's out on the rim." "Absence making your heart grow fonder?" "Actually, yes." "Well, I will be damned." "Probably. And speaking of my love life, what's happening with yours?" * * * *************** * * * In his quarters Sheridan paced. Nominally he was going over the speech he was to give that evening, but in reality he was revisiting the last days of the war. Where had it all fallen apart? The tide had turned in their favor after so many defeats and so much heartbreak, and so many, many deaths. The Shadows' advance had been slowed, and then Delenn had come up with the strategy that gave them their victory. It was a desperate gamble, made by desperate men. He remembered that at first he'd been doubtful. It seemed like such a simple ploy, but she had done so much research in the ancient legends that he had to believe her when she said that it had worked before. Still he'd only agreed with the proviso that he was to be the staked goat that attracted their prey. They'd argued, gone 'round and 'round on the matter and in the end, she'd given in. At least he thought she'd given in. * * * In truth Delenn intended to be the bait in their trap, and it had driven him nearly mad with worry when he realized what she'd done. 'I should have suspected when she gave in with only a token struggle when I wanted her to wait at the station for me,' he thought. 'It wasn't like her, but I thought it was nerves and exhaustion. I should have known her better'. He could still remember the cold fist seizing his heart when Ivanova awakened him from those damn slanting Minbari beds with the news. "Captain! You've got to wake up. Delenn launched her flyer from Babylon5 ten minutes after we went through the jump gate. She's ahead of us." "How can that be?" "She's burning out her coils to red-line her acceleration. She looped around us in hyper, since she has less mass in that flyer than we do in the warships, and she'll be in target range two hours ahead of us. SHE intends to knock on the door first." "Stop her!" "All due respect, sir, how? We can't exactly launch a starfury squadron to shoot her down, can we?" "Oh, my God. She planned this." "Yes, I expect she did, sir." * * * And then the battle had fallen apart. The Narns never learned to take orders properly, and they shambled along trying to hang on to their assets instead of risking them on the all-out assault that Sheridan had planned. The Minbari fought like demons, though, once they realized that Delenn was captive, as had the Rangers, and the motley assortment of troops he'd gathered from a dozen different worlds. In the end it had been enough, but just barely, and it had taken much longer than they had planned. Then he'd finally been able to land on Z'ha'dum and find her in that blood-soaked chamber... * * * Even ten years later, he had bad dreams about that rock-walled room. Garibaldi kept trying to hold him back "in case". Now he realized that Garibaldi had meant something quite different than he thought at the time. In the end they'd found the cavern, led there by the echoing screams. As they approached, though, the sounds died down to agonized whimpers and then faded altogether. As they entered, it was a scene cut from horror. Delenn was tied to a series of metal rings that jutted out from the rocky wall. She seemed clothed in a crimson robe, that Sheridan realized with sick terror was her blood coursing over the remnants of her garments. She hung limply, surrounded by a writhing chorus of shadow puppets. On the rock opposite her stood two people still vaguely recognizable as human. One was Morden, frantically trying to communicate with the remaining shadow ships. And the other - the other was Anna Sheridan, wielding the flail. She was spattered with blood and tiny globbets of flesh. "You're going to die anyway. I can make it more painful, or easier. Just tell us what their exit vectors are to be. It's a simple thing. We still have a chance. What loyalty do you owe him?. He sent you here, didn't he? And what is he to you anyway? He's not even that good in bed. I expect you know that by now, though, don't you dearie." She smiled obscenely. "You talked enough when you arrived, and we believed you because those lies were bought with blood." Anna turned to the machine in front of her. " Now I want truths," she snarled as she stabbed buttons and power arced out to lash at Delenn's frail body. Without even realizing what he was doing, Sheridan brought his pulsar rifle to firing position, but Garibaldi was a fraction of a second faster, and it was his plasma bolt that shattered both Anna Sheridan and the machine she was using. "Sorry, Cap, couldn't let you do that" he muttered and without hesitating Sheridan turned to Morden, blasting through him to the rock beyond. The shadow-hordes swiveled wildly, looking for the source of the unexpected attacks and for the next ten minutes, the cavern exploded in gunfire as Garibaldi and his troops shot their way steadily through the hail of electric fire and shrieking mind-weapons that the shadow-hordes threw at them. Sheridan ignored the battle raging around him and fought his way to Delenn's side. He couldn't tell if she was still alive, but he was desperately afraid that a stray shot might hit her. He sawed at the cords binding her to the rings, cutting through them at last, and pulled her into his arms. "Delenn," he called. "Please, please, Delenn" Incredibly, she managed to open her eyes. "John. What kept you?" and then she was still. For one horrible instant he thought that she was dead, but his groping fingers found her pulse. It was weak, but constant. Her recovery had taken months, and he had been consumed with the aftermath of war. The known galaxy was in a shambles, the Centauri government a disgrace, and EarthGov had ceased to exist. The peace was nearly as bad and nearly as hard to enforce as the war. What little time they had had to spend together after she emerged from the coma was constantly disturbed by urgent messages, and nursing attendants, and they had no time to talk about their past or their future. Then he'd been recalled to Earth by the insurrection, and by the time that had been put down, she was gone. Back to Minbar. Out of his life. She even refused his calls. It had taken Garibaldi three years to track down the reason - a group of military 'patriots' who had come to see her and tell her that she had no place in his life. That Earth needed his services in the government and that bringing a Minbari 'freak' home would ruin his chances. Sheridan smiled savagely, recalling the cashiering he'd arranged for those men. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't Delenn. * * * *************** * * * Delenn napped fitfully in her quarters, dreaming, remembering the first days back on Minbar. At first she hadn't believed what those hateful generals had told her, hadn't believed they came from John, but when weeks passed, and no word from him came, she began to give up. Eventually she'd returned to her homeworld and retreated into the temple. It had been even more difficult that she had expected, but Lennier had protected her, and eventually she had been - not accepted, no, but ignored. It was the best she could hope for. * * * ****************** * * * The banquet was elaborate, spectacular, and long. Those on the dais made stilted conversation with the new commander of Babylon 5 and his officers and tried to ignore the tension between the former Captain and the former Ambassador. Delenn was simply thankful that the seating had been manipulated so that they were placed at opposite ends of the table. Conversation between them was an impossibility. Still she was aware of him with every fiber of her being, and though she avoided looking at him at all, he lingered at the edge of her peripheral vision. His guards stood at parade rest behind him like implacable statues, so still that they seemed a part of the decor. People relaxed as the evening wore on, and even Delenn laughed at some of the more improbable stories that Londo Mollari delighted in regaling his audience with. * * * Then in the blink of an eye, everything changed. Some fraction of movement caught her attention and she knew instinctively that Sheridan was in danger. Without conscious thought she was on her feet and moving even as the security guard on the right shook the deadly needle gun down into his palm. He stepped forward a single pace and in the same moment brought his hand up behind Sheridan's ear. "John, look out", she screamed even as she launched herself at the would-be assassin. Reflexes honed in a thousand skirmishes kicked in and Sheridan twisted to the side as his killer punched home the deadly venom. The needle caught uselessly in his sleeve and the liquid sizzled as it splashed on the cloth. The guard still sought his prey and a long blade glittered in the air. Then Delenn reached him and the knife arced away to land harmlessly at the feet of the Pak'ma'ra representative. The killer punched her and tried to shake her off as Sheridan, Garibaldi, and the other guards all landed on him. * * * In the resultant tangle there was the sound of crunching bone, and by the time Ivanova and the remainder of the President's honor squad reached them and sorted out the mess, Sheridan had a broken arm, and Delenn's shoulder was already beginning to ache from the blow she'd taken. * * * *************** * * * It was much later when the chime sounded outside the Minbari suite. Lennier answered the door. The man standing there, looking much the worse for the wear, bore little resemblance to the formal portraits of the President of EarthGov. Lennier bowed formally to him, gestured him inside and slipped away before the door closed. * * * The interior of the room was dark, lit only by two or three candles scattered about on the tables. "Who is it, Lennier?" a soft voice called. * * * Sheridan literally couldn't answer, his voice caught in his throat. * * * "Lennier!" Delenn sounded alarmed. "He's gone. Had to run an errand, I guess." "John?" "I know it's late. I won't stay long. I just had to come see how you are. And to thank you." His eyes were adjusting to the gloom and he made out her slight figure on the couch across the room. He managed to make his way there without doing more than bang his shins on a low table. "May I?" He gestured to the couch. She didn't answer him directly. "How did you come here?" "The usual way. Transit tube to Green sector --" "No, no. I mean, where are your -- protectors?" "Ditched 'em." "Is that wise? After this evening..." "Yes, my guards did me a lot of good, this evening, didn't they? If it hadn't been for you..." He dropped onto the couch, recognizing that she would never be able to invite him to sit with her. "What tipped you off?" "Tipped...?" "What alerted you?" "I don't really know. There was just a gesture that should not have been there, and - I knew." "This makes -- what? The nineteenth, the thirty-seventh time, you've saved my life?" "You have a saying. 'Old habits are difficult'." "What? Oh, 'old habits die hard'. Yes, I guess they do. Delenn, what happened?" "I thought you knew. One of your guards --" "No, no, not tonight. I meant -- with us?" There was a long silence and he thought she wasn't going to answer. Finally she said , "Lennier says I over-reacted." "Minbari don't overreact." "I am only part Minbari now." There was a depth of anguish in her voice he couldn't understand. "I tried to find out, you know. When I came back and you were gone, I nearly took the station apart. Garibaldi had to slug me and the doctor sedated me before I could move. Later, when I was - calmer, I sent message after message to you." "I know. It seemed best not to reply." They sat in silence for a time, bathed in the faint glow of the candles. Then he burst out again. "How could you believe the lies those fools told you? I thought you knew me down to the depths of my soul." "I was vulnerable -- and I hadn't heard from you in a very long time. Not since you left. They seemed so sure..." "It took Garibaldi a long time to track down what happened. Everybody was scattered. I didn't know that SEPs had been to see you till nearly three years after it happened." "SEPs?" "Simple Earth Patriots. A fringe right-wing group determined to close off earth and protect it from the 'alien-freaks' out in the galaxy. They were military. When Garibaldi had everyone's name I wanted to court martial them, but he finally persuaded me that interfering in the love life of the Chief Executive wasn't a military offense, and that I couldn't shoot them for it." "Ah." "Turned out that they had been interfering in my communications too. Intercepting messages from me to you and from you to me. You did send me messages, didn't you?" "When you were gone? Of course I did. At least until..." "I never got them. I never heard from you from the time I left the station till I found out you were gone. At first I thought, 'well, she's ill', then I thought 'it's the war, our communications are screwed up', then I thought 'it was all a game. She held herself out as bait, to entice me into battle, then once her objectives were accomplished, she ditched me.'" "John, no!" She straightened on the couch and turned toward him, facing him directly for the first time since he had entered the room. "I love - loved you far too much for that. I thought you knew me better than that." "And I thought you knew me better than to believe a lot of jingoistic fools who presumed to speak for me." "Ah." She turned away from him for a moment, and then forced herself to face him once again. "Your arm." She gestured at the sling he wore. "Is it broken?" "Yeah. Guess I'm not as tough as I like to think. The doctor said you took a bad pop in the shoulder." "It is sore, but it will heal." "What about us, Delenn? Do you think we can heal, too?" "I - I do not know. We no longer know each other. You are the head of your government. That does not leave you a lot of time for personal matters." "Believe me, I will make the time. And you? What is your role on Minbar. I've tried to discover it from the intelligence reports, but, as always, the Minbari are way ahead of us." "I am outcaste" she said without thinking and then wished the words back. "Outcaste! Outcaste, as in, without caste? Delenn!" His researches on the Minbari culture told him just what a serious position she found herself in. A person without caste on Minbar, essentially did not exist. "How do you live?" "As always, Lennier has been kind. He is Grey Council, now you know. Without his protection things would be more difficult." "How can the Minbari do that to you. Don't they realize what they owe you?" "As much as your SEPs hate alien freaks, there are similar factions on Minbar who hate everything I represent." He took her hand and held it tightly. "Once again, it seems, you have sacrificed everything you are, everything you have for me. Please Delenn, let me make it up to you. Come back with me. Come home to Earth. We'll take some time together. Get re- acquainted. See how we feel about each other." To himself, he thought 'As if I need to think about it.' She smiled at him "That would not be a wise course of action. There are still many factions on your earth who resent the Minbari, and fear us. It would cost you much political support." "To hell, with politics, dammit. Haven't we given enough to politics and governments? When is it our turn?" He still held her hand and in a single swift movement, he used it to pull her closer, and then his mouth was on hers, and all the years fell away before the passion of their kiss. It was awkward though, his sling got in the way, and when he tried to slip his good arm around her, she cried out in pain when he touched her sore shoulder. "What? Did I hurt... Oh, your shoulder. My God I can't even kiss you without some reminder of politics." "No, no, I'm sorry, I did not mean -- and what of your arm?" She slid away from him for the moment, trying to put some space between them. The kiss had made her dizzy and she couldn't think. Desperately casting about for some topic of conversation that would let her recover her equilibrium, she asked "Do you know why that young man tried to kill you?" "Politics. He belonged to a splinter fringe who dislike the idea of earth making alliances with the Minbari." "You see. I told you." He put a finger on her lips. "You didn't let me finish. They also object to the Centauri, the Narn, the Pak'ma'ra, the Brakiri. Hell, the only people they don't object to are the Merkab." "But they no longer exist." "Exactly. So I say, to hell with pleasing people and governments, let's please ourselves. Come here Delenn." He circled her shoulders again with his good arm, being careful not to exert pressure that might hurt, and the distance she'd been so careful to put between them disappeared along with her resolve. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers, and then all the world melted away. * * * ######## Mmturner@aol.com ########### * * * --PART.BOUNDARY.0.2470.emout12.mail.aol.com.837735545-- -- One of the causes of the Revolutionary Wars was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps. During the War, the Red Coats and Paul Revere was throwing balls over stone walls. The dogs were barking and the peacocks were crowing. Finally, The colonists won the War and no longer had to pay for taxis.