by Jariel Camen
81019.1700
continued from part one...
-=Takesian Plains, Bajor=-
81019.1700
continued from part one...
-=Takesian Plains, Bajor=-
An hour before lunch, Fleur left the site to prepare the midday meal. She entered a nearby building where the materials for lunch had been gathered.
Enough meat, vegetables and bread had been delivered to feed the entire workforce, and Fleur was assembling the food into sandwiches for everyone before the rush.
She spent extra care on one special sandwich, layering it with meat, vegetables, cheese, a dash of salt, and a very light coating of mayonnaise on the top slice of bread only. She wrapped it in plastic and set it back in the refrigerator for when he arrived.
As she did with every meal she prepared him over the years, she blew a kiss at the food before setting it aside. It was a habit she had that he never had any knowledge of, despite eating in her cafes hundreds of times.
“Do you need any help, Fleur?"
She looked up, seeing Camen in the doorway. “Vedek, you are early, lunch is not for another ten minutes.”
His shirt was stained with sweat and his hair matted down as well. She cleared her throat, and kept her eyes on her work. “I have everything under control. Your lunch is already in the refrigeration unit if you wish to begin.”
“Not before the others. Actually, the reason I came early was I was wondering if I could have a few moments of your time after the work for the day is done. I would like to show you something very special to me, before darkness falls.”
“Well, someone needs to prepare dinner for Tress later.”
“Delle can do it.” Camen leaned over the table.
The closer he got, the faster she set out vegetables on the assembly line of sandwiches she was preparing.
She wondered if it would be so horrible if she just gave in, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pressed her lips to his right now. But, she knew what she had said, and she meant it.
“Please, Fleur.”
The sound of his voice pleading with her crippled her.
“All right, Monsieur Jariel. What is it that is so important to you?”
“I’d like to introduce you to my family.”
She continued working as she spoke, “But, I thought your family,” her voice trailed off and she froze, a leaf of greens poised above one of the sandwiches.
“If the idea of being in such a place disturbs you, I understand.”
Of course it disturbed her. Wouldn’t it disturb anyone? Still, she said the only four words she could in reply to the plea from the man she loved. “I will be there.”
Camen opened the refrigerator, retrieved the sandwich made especially for him, and stepped outside to eat as the workers began to fill the kitchen.
-=Hours later=-
As they day drew to a close, Milea returned to Jariel. She needed to get back to the orphanage before Timal issued a planet wide alert seeking her out. Camen waved down one of the workers, and asked her to escort Milea safely to the transporter hub.
Camen and Fleur both ducked into a shower to clean up from the work of the day, before meeting in the street. Each wore a jacket, as the sun lowered in the sky, and the temperature was already beginning to drop. Hers, a dark blue pea coat, and his, a black, knee-length trench coat.
“I believe things went well today.” Camen said, as they walked. He slid his hands into the deep pockets, and Fleur pulled her collar closer around her neck.
“Yes, the progress was wonderful. Everyone has earned a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“The walls are all in place. None of the amenities are installed yet, but you could still get a game of Springball going on the court with what we already have. Have you ever played?”
“No, I have not. It is like tennis a bit, no? Or racquetball?” Fleur asked.
“I could answer that if I knew what those games were.” Camen laughed softly. “If we can find a portable light later, I could show you.”
“We shall see.” Fleur said. She was not sure how eager she would be for sport after what lay ahead for them this evening.
Camen gave their destination at the hub to the operator, and requested a communicator so he could call for a return transport later.
-=Altaan Province=-
The transporter deposited them both at the same spot, on the edge of the clearing, where Camen had emerged when he had walked to the burial site from the orphanage.
Fleur’s voice caught in her throat as she viewed the expanse of grave markers, each labeled with the Bajoran emblem and a number. They stretched on for as far as the eye could see, in every direction.
“Normandy.” She whispered. Camen was already a few steps ahead, once again counting out the numbers that would lead him to his family.
“I’m sorry?”
“Normandy, it looked so much like this. It is a beachhead in France, where thousands died in a great war on Earth many centuries ago. It looked so much like this but…” A tear escaped the corner of her eye, as the enormity of the Occupation became apparent, very quickly. “But, there are so many more here. So much suffering for Bajor.”
“And there are so many more who were not lucky enough to have a proper burial.”
She followed him through the aisles, until he finally settled over one location. She looked at the markers, and saw the fresh nail marks in the soil around the smallest one, where Camen had dug out around the stone just a few days ago.
He pointed at each stone, and read the names off, “Jariel Dralor, my father, Jariel Pomma, my mother, and,” Camen fought to get out the last words, “Jariel Relanna, my sister.”
Fleur’s head snapped up to look at him. “Sister? Camen, you never told me you had a sister.”
“That’s because,” Tears now formed in Jariel’s eyes. He knelt down once again, and placed his palm over Relanna’s stone. “I never knew. I had forgotten about her. She was lost, truly gone. Until I remembered.”
“The Sylph?”
“No, the memories were simply blocked, by the trauma. But now that I have come here and remembered,” Camen stood up, patting his hand against his chest over his heart, and faced her, “She lives again, in here.”
Fleur let her hand seek out his, curling her delicate slender fingers around his strong hand, which needed so much to be held right now.
She stood beside him, and let him weep.
She knew how important it was for him to face this, and how much more strength he would have to confront the sorrow if he did not have to do it alone.
“I loved them all so much. We were inseparable. We did as the Prophets asked, and never so much as hurt a fly.”
This was so unlike any part of Camen she had ever known. Fleur had seen him sad before, but never anything like this.
Camen was always everyone else’s strength. The quiet gardener that taught life lessons to the crew, and got them through the most difficult of times in their lives. But who was there when it was he who needed the quiet and steady presence to guide him?
Fleur was shivering, somewhat from the cold, but mostly from her desire to see his heart through this time.
He felt her hand trembling.
“You’re cold, here.” He began to remove his trench coat.
“Non.” She protested, shaking her head, but he did not listen. The coat that draped down to his knees came just below the calves on her.
He wrapped it around her shoulders, flipped the collar up around her cheeks, and cinched the tie around her waist. At last she felt warm, and the trembling ceased for the moment.
“But you are going to catch cold, this will not do.”
“Better myself than you.” Camen looked back down once again at the markers at his feet.
“I’ve never brought her here, you know.” He said, as the tears finally subsided.
Fleur paused, and asked a question she felt was silly, but needed to know the answer to.
“Her, uh, you are meaning the Fleur from the other time, or Zanh Liis?”
Camen hadn’t even thought of the distinction, but the answer was the same either way.
“Both. Zanh Liis had enough holes I tried to fill, or some mission to go on. I never wanted to bother her with such things. The other Fleur, well I would have believed she would not have been interested, but I don’t really know if that is true or not. That is only what I assumed.”
Camen rubbed his hands up and down his arms for warmth, as he continued,
“I didn’t even want to bring myself here, but Timal insisted, because he knew I didn’t remember my sister. I was thinking a lot about family today, and the things we keep hidden,” Camen looked up at her now, “The things we can only share with someone we trust our heart with.”
The sun passed the horizon, and the temperature continued to drop. “Come, Monsieur Jariel, we must head back before the darkness.”
***************
Jariel Camen
On Bajor
Jariel Camen
On Bajor