85: Had a Wonderful Time

Had a Wonderful Time, Wish I Was Still There
Lt. February Grace
80113.13
Soundtrack: We Go On from Disney's Reflections of Earth
A short time before Instinct (Current time)

--=Personal Quarters of Grace and Reece: Deck 3, USS Serendipity=--

Half awake, February rolled over in bed. Her hand searched instinctively for Reece, and came to rest in a tangle of his hair as he slept soundly beside her.

The alarm was about to go off.

As she fought the haze between sleep and waking consciousness, she opened one eye lazily.

She heard a rustling sound and her attention was immediately directed toward it. Sparrow was pawing at the pile of overstuffed shopping bags and suitcases that lay strewn haphazardly around the room. He sniffed at them, and finally gave up trying to find anything interesting inside and began batting at the handles, instead.

February's eyes moved back toward the bed, and she caught sight of the glimmering, gold circle which was now decorating Reece's left hand.

She smiled.

She drew her own hand back toward her. Her thumb folded under and back across her palm, gently rotating the gift he'd given her.

She knew the instant that he'd gone through with getting her a wedding ring- after only thinking about it briefly as they trudged through the snowy wasteland that was Yensul V- that she wanted him to wear one, too.

She checked the time and then slapped the console on the bedside table to prevent the chronometer from ringing. As she watched the seconds of the last free moments of her honeymoon shore leave tick away, February remembered how much fun it had been, giving Reece his gift.

--Flashback- --=Late last night: Worlds Showcase, EPCOY Center=--

What had once been an inspirational theme park dedicated to the future of centuries gone by, was now preserved as a historical tribute to the past. EPCOT had become the Experimental Prototype Community of Yesterday- a reminder to peoples of all kinds, from all corners of the quadrant, just how far they'd come since the turn of the century.

After a day of fun and exploration- and more shopping than Grace had done in all of its combined previous lives- they found a spot down by the Worlds Showcase Lagoon and prepared to watch the last fireworks show of their trip.

The same show had been running nightly, continuously, since the year 1999 when the famous Millennium Celebration had lit the park up and turned a visit there into something truly transformative.

The combination of music, lights, and the Tapestry of Nations Parade (Which had been re-named the Tapestry of Planets in late 2063, months after Zefram Cochrane made first contact with the Vulcans. Around that same time, the Vulcans opened up the first official, off-world pavilion in the newly pluralized "Worlds Showcase".

"They kept talking about discontinuing this show," Dabin explained, as they found a vacant bench to sit upon that offered a direct view of the waterfront. "But public protest was so strong that they decided they'd better think about leaving it alone, at least until the next millennium started."

"I'm glad. If it's as amazing as you say, I hate to think I might have missed it."

Music started to play, accompanied by the sound of many clocks ticking. The Sage of Time began to narrate. Then, young people from every represented planetary system appeared, dressed in towering, marionette-like costumes made of fabric every color of the spectrum.

As they began to dance and march to the music, February realized this was unlike anything she'd ever seen anywhere before. This was not actually a parade, but an interactive experience she knew she would never forget.

Dabin put his arm around her and held her close, and they smiled watching the parade participants pick young children from the crowd and dance with them. February felt her eyes tearing up more than once at the sight, overcome by the emotions inspired by the combination of sights, sounds and music.

After the parade had finally ended, the lights in the park dimmed to almost total blackness. The silver geodesic sphere known as Spaceship Earth the only source of light, until the first rockets launched and pure, bright white fireworks lit up the night sky.

The show was simply incredible.

As it wound up toward it's finale, the sweet singing voice of a woman echoed all around them.

February reached into her pocket and pulled out the gift she'd bought for Reece earlier in the day, at the Earth Pavilion when he was too absorbed watching a performance of street-theater actors to notice.

She slid the ring onto the third finger of his left hand, and Dabin turned away from the spectacle lighting up the water and looked at his wife, his expression indescribable.

He said nothing, but one clear thought echoed through his mind and into hers as pink, purple, and gold fireworks filled the sky overhead.

*Kiss me, February.*

So she did.

As the heavens exploded into a million sparks of light brighter than day, the couple embraced, suddenly fully aware in this time and place of the significance of all they'd gone through, fought through, to get to this moment of pure joy.

It was a feeling that neither would ever forget.

After the show was over, they held hands and reluctantly walked to the exits as slowly as they could, not wanting to leave behind the surreal beauty of the place.

Even though they were returning to a bright future; a new home, a new life, with exploration and adventure just waiting beyond Utopia Planetia.

"Can't we just live here?" February sighed at last, as they took their last monorail ride back to the resort to retrieve their bags from storage.

They'd already checked out of the resort and would next head to the transporter hub, to beam up to the Sera, where duty awaited them both bright and early first thing in the morning.

"Someday, we will." Dabin promised, completely serious about the idea. "When we retire from Starfleet, I'll become a backstage tour guide in the Magic Kingdom."

"And I'll pilot a monorail, or try to become the first official female Ding-aling." February laughed through her tears. She couldn't believe that it had only taken her forty-eight hours to get so attached to this place, and knew that they would be spending a lot more time here during shore leave in the future.

"You're already an honorary one, so you're home free." He giggled back.

"Thank you," She whispered to him, squeezing his hand. "For everything."

---End Flashback---

"Dabin," She hated to do it, but at last she was forced to stir him..

"Mmmmmmph."

"Wake up, handsome. We're going to be late for our first day on the job."

"Shhh." he objected, putting his pillow over his face. "I'm dreaming."

"Of what?"

"The Great Millennium Walk."

"So will I, my darling," February whispered, gently pulling the pillow away. "Every day, for the rest of my life."

--=Half an hour later, on the Bridge=--

"Well, well, look who actually got out of the hotel room enough to catch some Florida sunshine."

February steeled herself for the teasing that she knew was to come. She walked briskly past TC Blane as he stood, smirking, at the Ops panel, pretending to be offended. He laughed.

"So much that I burned, actually," Bru admitted. Her face was a lovely shade of pink, and she winced as her uniform chafed against shoulders which were bright red beneath it. "I didn't use enough sunblock and I didn't have time to go by Sickbay yet. Did we miss any excitement while we were gone?"

"Only briefly," TC replied. "The safety protocols on the OHD's went down for a few minutes, and a bunch of characters from a holo-program, Cirque de something or other I think they called it, were able to escape the holodeck."

"You mean they used the system set up for the Long-term Medical Hologram?"

"Yep. They had to confine the poor Doc to Sickbay for a few days, while they worked the bugs out. He was not amused."

"Damn. And I missed it?" February mocked disappointment.

Blane laughed again. "The really funny part was seeing the looks on their faces when they suddenly went back to the deck."

"I take it they're finished testing all the really important systems, since we're supposed to pull out soon?"


"Trying to. There have been several glitches which have slowed the process down. That's why I want you to start running through the helm for me, check over everything again, so I can get with Kellyn and her team should anything be amiss. We may have missed something you won't."

"Working." February replied. "Where are we going right after dry dock?"

An unexpected, familiar female voice answered February's question from over her shoulder.

"We're going to take a spin around the system. I never take delivery on a new vehicle without at least test driving it around the neighborhood."

February jumped of her chair excitedly, grinning broadly.

"Don't let the glare from that new trinket distract you from your work, Lieutenant Grace." The Captain frowned, indicating her new ring. "I don't want you scratch the paint on my baby taking us out of the garage."

Impulsively, Bru threw her arms around Zanh and hugged her.

"Ooof."

"Arg!"

Both women groaned involuntarily; Zanh due to the pain in her back, Bru due to the fact Zanh was patting her politely on the back of her scorched shoulders.

"Captain!" Bru exclaimed, stepping back. She looked puzzled suddenly. "You're out of uniform, are you feeling all right? Will you be up to attending the dinner tonight?"

"I'll be there." Zanh replied. "I'm dressed for crew interviews in the arboretum between now and then." She wiggled her eyebrows at Bru, who nodded knowingly.

"It's so good to see you up and around, Sir."

"Thanks, Bubbles. It's good to be up and around."

Zanh headed back toward the lift, in a hurry to start her day. She had thanks to give to both Grace and Reece, but wanted to do it when she had more time to do it properly.

"So you went to Florida? I suppose that I'm going to have to put up with Reece's rendition of "It's a Small Universe" over and over again for the next three months, like the last time he went there. Until I threaten to hurt him if he doesn't stop immediately."

"Probably." Bru answered with a laugh.

Zanh sighed as the doors slid shut. "Very well. Carry on."

"She should look on the bright side," Blane offered as he continued his work. "It could be worse. Reece could prefer Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah."

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Lt. SG February Grace
Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

NRPG: "We Go On" : Music by Gavin Greenaway, Lyrics by Don Dorsey