840: Old Friends: One

by Jariel Camen
90328.1500
During and after Dude, Where's my Chair?

-=USS Serendipity=-

Jariel Camen yawned and stretched. When he first cracked open his eyes, he expected to see the familiar natural wood of the orphanage at Altaan. The modern design and colors reminded him instantly that they had returned to the Serendipity.

Their quarters were a bit of a mess. With little time to do any unpacking, on top of their exhaustion from the trip, they had simply dropped their belongings in the center of the room. Pace and Tress shared one bedroom for now, and Jariel and Le Marc the other.

Camen had already put in a request to engineering for the full size second bedroom to be split, so Tress and Pace could have separate rooms, but with work still going on aboard the ship, it was going to be a few days.

Tress was sleeping sound now, but it had been a battle during the night. When Fleur got up, she wanted Camen. When Camen got up, she wanted Fleur. So when they both got up, Tress demanded her brother.

Such was the life of a young girl brought aboard a starship for the first time. At some point Fleur had managed to get her to fall asleep, and stay asleep. Camen wasn’t sure what time that was, so as he awoke and saw her peacefully sleeping in a cocoon of blankets besides him, he carefully slid out of the bed to avoid waking her.

If she only knew how happy he was to see her there beside him. If she only knew how much he needed to make her understand.

He placed an ever so gentle kiss upon her cheek. Just enough for her to know he had done it, but not enough to wake her from her sleep. There was a mumbled I love you in return.

Camen left her behind in the bedroom, and walked out to the living room to check for messages. There were two waiting for him according to the terminal. The name on the first made him grin from ear to ear.

Azalea.

The second, was also from Bajor, but the sender was unknown. He opened the message from Doctor Adams first. Her image appeared on the screen, and he watched the recorded message

Camen,

I just wanted to make sure you all arrived safely. Didn’t I ask you to let me know you made it? I should have if I didn’t. I also wanted to let you know that I’m putting some of my botany skills from the Academy to good use. I’m taking Milea out for a hike today, looking for some flora that can used for medicinal purposes, so we only dip into the supplies when we really need to. She wanted me to say hi, so hi!

Timal looks better every day. He’s eating like a horse.

Give my best to everyone.

The screen flickered to the Starfleet logo. Jariel immediately recorded a message back to her.

“Yes, Azalea, we all made it here fine. Tress’s first night on a starship was a rocky one, but I can sympathize. It’s a big change to get used to when you’ve lived planet-side all your life and never had any training.

“I just found out my dearest friend is expecting a child soon, I cannot even begin to describe to you what fantastic parents February Grace and Dabin Reece are going to be. Tress is already going to have a little playmate.

“If you could only have seen the state my arboretum was in when I got here. It was immaculate, and cared for the entire time I was absent. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such caring people. I hope you are well, and please stay in touch. We miss you.

He tapped the panel to stop the recording, and dispatched it to Bajor. Curious now, he opened the second message. It was text only, or, to be more precise, it was a handwritten note on stationary, which had been scanned and sent to him.

He leaned in closer to make out the small letters, and as he read, his mouth slowly grew wider in surprise. When his mouth could grow no wider, his eyes did. And when they could grow no more, his head simply shook from side to side.

It was perfectly, simply perfect, and he knew exactly how he would use it.

“Computer, can you transfer the image of these pages onto real paper in the replicator?”

^Affirmative.^

“Thank you. Can you do that please for me?”

The computer chirped, and a moment later the letter was replicated on the same stationary it had originally been written on. Camen folded the letter up and tucked it into his clothing. He thanked the computer once again for its help and returned to the comm panel to make a few more calls.

He kept his voice hush as he spoke, so as to not awaken anyone. Just as he wrapped up his calls, there was rustling from the next room. The doors hissed, and a groggy Gillan Pace entered the living room with an impossibly wide wake Tress.

[[Well, good morning both of you.]] Camen signed. Tress cooed for him, extending her hands to be held.

[[Food.]] She informed him immediately after Pace handed her off.

“Another hour, sir?” Pace requested.

“Please, Camen, call me Camen. And yes, it was a long trip for all of us. Please, get your rest.”

“Thank you,” Pace said gratefully before retreating. Perhaps someday the boy would be ready to call him Camen. Around here sir was the name of your superior officer, not your adopted parent. If Pace ever chose to refer to him as father that would be his choice, but sir just wouldn’t do for long.

Camen set Tress down and walked up to the replicator.

[[Eggs?]]

Tress nodded and looked around, probably wondering where the kitchen was. Fleur would likely be mortified if she knew Tress was taking food from the replicator, but sooner or later you had to on a starship. Now was as good a time as any to find out if she’d take them

“Computer, scrambled eggs in a child’s bowl and orange juice in a sippie cup.”

Camen picked up the cup, which was shaped like a rabbit a straw protruding from between its ears. “Now that is too cute for words.”

[[Would you like to take a walk to the arboretum while you eat?]]

Tress once again nodded. She had no idea what an arboretum was yet, but she certainly liked the sound of taking a walk. Once she arrived where they were yesterday with February, she would certainly learn that arboretum meant place with pretty plants soon enough.

Camen took her cup in one hand, and held her up on his arm with the other. Tress held her bowl and spoon to eat as they walked.

He heard the frantic beeping of a PADD before he heard the footsteps approaching rapidly. Camen stepped aside so he wouldn’t obstruct whoever was coming around the corner.

That someone was Zanh Liis.

She was completely engrossed in her PADD as she walked. Jariel paused and grinned. He knew her well enough to know she would never ignore a crewman in the corridor, so he waited for her to look up.

When she finally looked up, she stopped in her tracks.

“Good morning, Captain,” he said, suddenly realizing for the first time that he didn’t know if she wished to be addressed as Zanh or O’Sullivan.

“Vedek Jariel, and…” She hadn’t seem him in some time, but after taking a certain comfort in the fact that he looked well despite the fever he'd had, she couldn’t help but look at the child in his arms.

Tress’s eyes lit up, as she caught sight of the ridges on Liis’s nose. She pushed her bowl towards Jariel and clamored to be put down.

Camen grabbed the bowl and set her down on the ground. He offered Zanh Liis two words of explanation for how Tress had come to be here with him. “The Plains.” The Captain nodded knowingly.

[[Bajor! Bajor!]] Tress signed frantically at Zanh.

[[That’s right.]] Liis signed back. “Can she hear?” The Captain asked next.

“The fever,” Jariel answered. “I don’t know how much Dane, Lance and Micah shared with you, but it is a long story.”

Tress instinctively threw her arms around Zanh’s leg, and Liis hugged her back. It was then that Jariel got his first good glimpse of the rings on her finger.

[[Name?]] Tress asked as she released the Captain.

Liis spelled out each letter one by one Zanh Liis O’Sullivan.

[[T-R-E-S-S]] The child signed back proudly. [[Papa,]] She continued, patting Jariel on the knee. [[Mama sleeping.]]

[[She runs the whole ship, The Captain,]] Camen informed Tress.

Tress mouthed the word wow. This ship and its halls seemed to go on forever to Tress. And this was the person in charge of it all?

She clamored for her cup, wishing for a sip of orange juice, and wandered off to look at the pretty lights on the computer panel.

What could have been an awkward silence was broken immediately by Jariel, with something she wasn’t expecting to hear.

“I am so proud of you. You look different Liis. You look happy,” Liis averted her eyes for just a moment, a rare display of shyness.

“You too.” She could see the pride he had in Tress, and that same sense of love for Fleur that she felt for Keiran.

“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you don’t deserve the happiness he brings to you, because you do.”

“I don’t know why,” She said with a shrug and a small smile.

“It does me good to see you this way. I’m glad you found what you needed.”

“We found,” she corrected him.

“We.”

“You certainly look like you’re in love. She takes care of you?”

Jariel simply blushed and looked at the floor.

“Good,” Liis said, poking him in the chest with the edge of her PADD. “Reece is putting a bit of a gathering together for tonight on Holodeck one. Will you be there?”

“Reece is putting it together? I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Excellent. Have a good day, Vedek.”

“You too, Captain.”

Liis returned to her PADD, taking one quick glace back at Tress as Camen hoisted her into his arms. He walked the rest of the way down to the arboretum, and upon entering, found a soft spot in the grass where Tress could sit and finish her breakfast.

She hummed a bit, a song Camen did not recognize. He wandered about nearby, checking on the flowers. They were all so perfectly groomed it was almost a disappointment that they didn’t require any attention.

When Tress was finished, she waddled slowly up to Camen.

[[Water.]] She stated, then pointed at the flowers. Camen agreed, and tracked down his water can, which was right in his alcove where he had left it, of course. He filled it, and held the can by the bottom so Tress could tip it to pour on the flowers.

[[Not too much. It can rain.]] Jariel said, pointing up at the ceiling. Tress nodded, looking at the artificial “sky,” which, by her logic, could of course rain, because to her it appeared real. [[Mama?]] He asked.

Tress smiled and bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement. Camen took her back to their quarters, where Fleur was now awake.

[[What have you two been up to?]] She asked, with an expression of mock skepticism.

“Just taking a walk in the grass over breakfast,” Camen answered.

“Anything planned for today?” She asked. They had all been so tired the previous night that no one had really discussed what they were going to do the next day.

“Fleur, I don’t know how long until we leave Earth. Today, can you show us Paris?”

“Of course,”

*******************
Jariel Camen
Ship’s Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012