There's No Place Like Home

Posted on 06 Apr 2017 @ 4:13am by Commander Jayla Kij

1,127 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Cottage on the White Cliffs; Trill
Timeline: September 2388

The final leg of her journey was over and Jayla was standing on a platform in a rural area as the transport pulled away behind her. She was the only person to get off on this stop. From here, it was only a quarter of a mile walk to her parents house on the white cliffs that she had called home for so long.

Hefting her duffelbag onto her shoulder, she started out, passing through the gate- there was no station here, just the platform- and heading down the dirt road slowly. She could see the house from here, with the blue sky behind it and knew that the cliffs were just beyond. She quickened her pace, looking forward to seeing her parents again.

In no time, she was heading down the drive to their house and a figure stepped outside, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Dad!” she cried and broke into a run.

Sabro Gil didn't so much run to his daughter as he did hobble. He was quite a bit older, having waited until his late 40's to have children and as such, he wasn't as spry as most fathers with a 33-year-old daughter. Still, he hurried to her and scooped her up and twirled her around as she wrapped her arms around his neck and began sobbing. “It's alright, sweetie,” he said softly to her. “You're home now and it's all over.”

She couldn't reply. She was too busy crying. She had sent a letter home as soon as she could so that her parents were warned about what she'd been through and wouldn't be terrified about what was wrong with her.

At some point, her mother joined them, wrapping her arms around her daughter, and the three of them just stood there for quite some time, Jayla sobbing and her parents muttering comforting words to her. Finally, she had cried herself out and they all pulled apart. “I'm sorry,” she said, still sniffling. “I don't mean to ruin everything.”

“Nonsense!” insisted her father, waving her concerns away. “You've been through things we can only imagine. Can't even imagine. Have no hope of imagining! You should be crying still, if everything you told us about in that letter was true.”

“I've done nothing but cry for the past few weeks,” she said, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. “I'm surprised I've got any tears left.”

“Well, come on inside and I'll make some tea,” said her mother gently. “And we can talk about it, okay?”

Jayla didn't really want to talk about it, but she simply nodded, picked up her duffel from where she had dropped it and followed her parents into the house. “Jessa should be back any day,” she commented. “Just as soon as she gets approval to foster that boy she told you about.”

Jessa had promised to look after Neville until he was reunited with his father. Unfortunately, his father had been located among the dead. Both of his parents had been only children and no living relatives could be found, so Jessa was making good on her promise and had petitioned for adoption. For now, they were in the process of making her his foster mother, but she was no allowed to remove him from New Bajor until approval was granted. Hopefully that would be soon.

“That poor child,” her mother said, busying herself with the kettle. “I can't imagine what he's going through.”

“Yeah,” said Jayla, latching onto the subject immediately. “He was terrified. Didn't want to leave Jessa's side. The social worker practically HAD to grant her temporary guardianship. He'd have had a breakdown if they'd taken him.”

“I'm sure everything will work out for the best,” replied her mother, pulling three cups out of the cupboard. “But, never mind that. How was your trip?”

“Not terrible,” admitted Jayla. “A friend was on the same transport ship from the gamma quadrant. So, at least I had company.”

“That's good,” agreed her father. “Friends are good. Do you have any plans while you're here?”

“I have to go to the Symbiosis Commission,” Jayla replied. “Other than that, not really.”

“Symbiosis Commission?” asked her mother, sounding alarmed. “Is there a problem?”

“No, no!” Jayla assured her. “No, everything's fine. I just.... it's complicated, but I found out my mind is using a strange, but harmless defense mechanism to deal with some of the previous host's mannerisms and it sort of annoys me.”

“Annoys you?” said her father at the same time her mother said, “harmless?”

Jayla afforded them a small grin. “Yes, harmless,” she replied. “And yes, it annoys me. I was afraid that Belar might be taking over, but it turns out it's just my brain refusing to accept that I could act like him from time to time.”

“Jayla!” said her mother, reaching out to grasp her daughter's shoulder. “Are you sure? A previous host taking over is very bad!”

“I'm sure, mum,” Jayla reassured her mother. “If he were taking over, I would black out and suddenly find myself someplace else with no knowledge of what went on. I have clear memories of what I did. They feel like Belar's memories, but I definitely remember them. If he were taking over, I wouldn't remember them.”

“How do you know that?” asked her father, doubtfully.

“Gavara.”

Her parents both nodded and dropped the subject immediately. They knew how painful it was for Jayla to have to live with Gavara's memories all the time. They wouldn't force her to elaborate.

“I hear Chaldan is home for a visit,” her mother said after a moment's silence.

Jayla groaned. “Mum, that was almost twenty years ago!” she complained.

“He's a nice boy!” her father insisted. “I don't know why the two of you stopped dating.

“Kij,” Jayla replied simply. “In case you don't remember, I turned into sort of a complete bitch.”

“Don't talk like that!” her mother said, turning to pour the tea.

“Well, I was,” muttered Jayla. “I can't blame him for jumping ship. Even at the time, I thought he had a point.”

“But, that's all in the past!” her father explained, accepting a cup of tea from his wife. “Let bygones be bygones. Talk to him.”

Jayla sighed, realizing that her parents weren't going to let up. “I'll go by and see him,” she promised.

“Thatagirl!” exclaimed her father.

This time, her smile was a bit more sincere, but there was still sadness behind it. It felt good to be home. Maybe she could heal properly from everything that had happened and she could return to duty refreshed just as soon as the orders came through.

She had hope, anyway, and that was more than she'd had in quite awhile.

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