Kindled Anew
Posted on Tue Feb 22nd, 2022 @ 4:47am by Commander Jek'Lar Son of Koss & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Edited on on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 @ 2:02am
1,619 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 12 - Risin' To Risa
Location: Quarters of Alyssa Maren - Deck 2 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 2300 hrs
Just seeing her in The Breakers had sparked a lot of emotions within Jek'Lar. Klingons could deal with a lot of things but emotions were not one of them. However, he knew that for good or bad he had to clear the air. When he had accepted the assignment on Empok Nor he had not dreamed that he would find Alyssa here. Yet here she was and there he was in front of her quarters as he pressed the door chime.
Alyssa was trying to get her mind off a certain Klingon. She refused to think of him by name because she hadn't quite gotten over what happened. She had managed to go days, sometimes weeks, without thinking of him. She was even to the point where seeing another Klingon didn't immediately bring him to mind. She was healing--or so she thought--until Tremble's promotion party.
Late 20th-Century rock from Earth played through the comm system while she worked on a painting of a sunset over the desert. She hoped that these reminders of her home would help her get back on a more stable footing and off her emotional roller coaster. She'd tried swimming, but that brought back memories of Mozart--and him.
When the chime sounded, she put her brush in a cup of turpentine, wiped off her hands, and stood. "Come," she said, moving to the center of the room, expecting it to be one of the scientists with more ideas for the new garden cube.
Jek'Lar ducked his head into the quarters. He was impressed by what he saw. By all accounts Alyssa had only been aboard the Pioneer for a short time, and yet no one would have known that. The secret that all Klingons harbored was about to come out in full force. Klingons, particularly male Klingons fancied themselves warriors and the like in the public eye. However, in private and in relationships the women had the lead.
Jek’Lar saw her standing there in all her splendor, she was as breathtaking as she ever was. All at once he wanted to take her in his arms, all at once he wanted it to be like it was, and yet that would have to wait and see what happened. "Alyssa how have you been?"
"I..." Her eyes roved over Jek'Lar, hungry to see him again. He still looked...incredible. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I've been good." Did her voice sound as shaky as she felt? It was not a complete lie, but she couldn't tell him the truth, couldn't let him know he still affected her. To give herself a moment to regain control, she took off her smock and draped it over the stool in front of her canvas. Her red tank top and black leggings were clean and helped her feel a little better about facing him. "And you?" She wondered if he was on one of the other ships docked at the station.
He smiled in that way that men often do when they tried to conceal their true feelings. "I have been well..." Actually I have been lost without you, but to admit that is not the way of the warrior. "...The fleet has kept me busy. I hope that this is the last stop for a while. Glad to see you back out there doing what you do best." Klingons were notoriously bad at small talk. Yet Jek'Lar tried his best, Alyssa did not help much, as her beauty had him at a loss for words.
She wasn't sure what to make of his words, and her emotions were in such turmoil that she couldn't read him. She vacillated between wanting to cry and wanting to yell at him for not telling her he wasn't coming back. She looked past his left ear and asked the question she most dreaded. "So, you and your wife are on Empok Nor?"
She never did beat around the bush. Jek'Lar thought. He spoke stoically. "I never married. I returned to Qo'noS to fight against the arranged marriage. While I was there, I was assigned to the embassy. Once things settled with my family. Who no longer speaks with me. I came to Empok Nor." The first sentence had a small tone of hope in it. Something that he hoped could be, Jek'Lar knew that he wanted Alyssa back. But he also knew that he would have to wait and see what was on her mind.
It took a moment before she could look in his eyes. He was telling the truth. Some of the heartache that resurfaced after seeing him again eased, to be re placed by anger. She paced across her small room and turned. "When I hadn't heard from you for several weeks, I tried to contact you. Someone from your house told me you'd gone home because of an arranged marriage and I would not be allowed to speak with you again." That didn't explain why he didn't try to contact her, especially after he left Qo'noS.
Jek'Lar grunted as he thought of the lengths his family would have gone through. "Yes, my family wanted to see me wed to their choice, so when you called, they hoped they would scare you off and force me into a marriage..." He paused for a moment to allow the air to settle as it were. "I did not try to contact you as I had thought you moved on. But the fact was I missed you, and still do. On my honor you are the only woman that I have ever loved."
That took the proverbial wind out of her sails. She sank onto the couch and buried her face in her hands. For the past year she'd almost convinced herself she was moving on. At least during the day. And now... She was afraid to believe it could be this easy, and she was afraid to let him go. "I didn't move on," she admitted in a whisper. She'd been fooling herself to think she had.
Jek'Lar took the cue and had a seat near her but not next to her. He knew that there were some ways to travel in that regard yet. The idea that she had not moved on hit him hard. Like most Klingons he assumed without thinking. "I am sorry... I just assumed that you moved on. It was not the best of times clearly. I would be lying if I said that I was not glad that you did not move on."
Alyssa laughed, once. It was a harsh, mirthless sound. "I tried." She sat back and stared straight ahead; afraid she'd start to cry if she looked at him. "I stayed on the Archimedes for several months. Then Mozart got sick and died. I couldn't stay after that so I volunteered to help set up a research facility for a planetary survey team. After sixteen months there, I convinced myself I was doing okay...and then I came here and saw you." She'd never blamed Jek'Lar for what his family did, but the anger helped. For a while.
"I am so sorry. I know he meant the world to you..." Jek'Lar truly felt sorrow at the news that Mozart was gone. It seemed that her world came tumbling down all at once. "I tried as well... Tried to bury myself in my work. Tried to serve with duty and honor, like a true Klingon. But I could not stop thinking about you. I believe it is perhaps fate that I am here and you are as well. I will not push what should not be pushed..." He rose and took a step toward her. "I am here if you want me to be here."
Was it fate? Alyssa wasn't sure. She'd been so hurt and angry when she saw him in The Breakers. A second chance was the last thing she expected. But she couldn't deny that he'd been as manipulated by his family as she had. Without thinking, she stood and turned toward him. "I've missed you."
The usually reserved Klingon threw caution into the wind and embraced her. He hoped she did not rebuke him. "And I you..." he whispered.
Alyssa wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. They'd both changed over the past two years. Time would tell if it would work out, but she couldn't let him walk away a second time.
As they stood there in each other's arms Jek'Lar smiled. For the first time in a long time things felt right. He believed time healed all wounds and he was going to have to see if that held true for himself and Alyssa. He spoke softly without breaking the embrace. "Just know that whenever the Pioneer leaves Empok Nor, I will know where you are and I will keep a light on for your safe return to this station and my arms."
"I would like that." But as much as she wanted to believe everything would be okay, it had been two years, and he didn't try to find her. Then again, she had no idea how long he'd been on Qo'noS, either. Rebuilding a relationship when she only came to the station for brief stops and shore leave would be difficult. Still, she was willing to try. Alyssa hugged him tighter. She needed to try.
A Joint Post By
Commander Jek'Lar Son of Koss
Chief Strategic Operations Officer, Empok Nor
Lieutenant Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
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