Masquerade

Posted on Sunday, 2 April 2023 - 5:57am by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Commander Soral

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Unknown (Alternate Reality)
Timeline: Current (after Drunk Talk)

ON:

Pale moonlight provided the only illumination as the solitary figure sat before the grand piano. The soft light spilling in through the large windows casting an ethereal glow as the haunting melody of each note seemed to echo into the darkness of the night. There was only darkness and light as the young woman continued to play, lost in the moment as her eyes were locked not on the single rose which rested on the lid, the petals not red or white but instead emerald green and dark purple.

If the music she played had a name, she did not know of it. Or at least, she did not remember. Yet she had heard it before. At one of the grand masquerade balls Soral had been known to host whenever he secured a great victory.

A small smile played at her lips as in her minds eye the room was transformed, becoming a magnificent ballroom full of light and colour and beauty. The soft notes of the piano joined by other instruments and life. As the piece of music came to an end she continued to play, this piece of music one she knew intimately for she had composed it herself, when her teachers had insisted she master an instrument. And of course she had composed it for him, long before she had ever known where their lives would take them...

The soft melody floated around him like a silk scarf pulling him in. It was calling to him, crying out to him, mesmerizing him. He followed the sound to a room that was both foreign and familiar. His footsteps echoed on the floor a familiar sound, a moment of peace before the room was full he was sure of it. An Echo of a past and perhaps a dream.

He'd played music here, the piano was now occupied but he'd played it yet a part of him had never seen it.

The figure at the piano remained indistinct the music weaved through those gathered. An energy filling the air, almost electric. A hand brushed against his own, guiding him towards the middle of a grand dance floor.

Soral let out a breath that he had been holding. "From a different time," He said as he followed the familiar dance partner.

“A perfect stolen moment,” Lexi whispered in his ear. The celebration to end celebrations… when they had first taken to a dance floor like this they were newly wed, recently bonded following the death of Evesta by Lexi’s own hand and they had an exciting future together in the palm of their hands.

Soral held onto her. The feel of her in his arms, the sent of her hair, the timber of her voice felt both wrong and right at the same time. "Indeed a stolen moment before a glorious future."

“You seem sad,” she said quietly, a hand on the side of his face as she studied his eyes. “Dance with me?”

"Always, even when time ends." He lead her further onto the dance floor enjoying a moment he knew was just a dream. "Lexi. It has been so long, another life time."

“Shhh,” she said softly as she touched a fingertip to his lips. “I’m always with you. Nothing can ever change that. Here…”

The music shifted, slowing. “Tonight we dance, just us.”

"I wish I could seek your council."

“You may,” she grinned, “provided you dance.”

He did dance. This was an illusion but one he happily allowed himself to sink into his alternate self oddly quiet as if observing and feeling along with him. "I have missed you."

“Entirely logical,” she teased. “So much perfection in one person … it’s impossible not to be enchanted.”

He laughed. "I think this occasion calls for something."

“Oh?”

"On your Earth it is customary to give nicknames. Perhaps to celebrate your beauty and the beauty of the moment I shall call you Bella. The italian word for beauty."

“Bella,” she repeated, testing it, “it’s a very beautiful name.”

"Then that is what I shall call you for eternity."

She laughed as they twirled around the dance floor, her form taking on more substance beneath the layers of the chiffon dress which swirled around her as they moved. “Bella and Soral,” she smiled, “an indestructible force.”

"A dance tonight but a universe some day."

“You promised me a galaxy of wonders,” she reminded him as the moved in perfect unison. “And I promised you the stars. Now, enjoy the music and tell me what troubles you?”

"Lexi...tell me where we are in this very moment."

“We are together, that’s all that matters,” she told him, her voice serene. Yet clearly it did, for his disquiet did not pass. “You are still finding balance, to become one…”

As the moved to others around them shifted, leaving them and the music. “This is the home of the First Prime of Betazed. As a child you brought me here to heal, far from Evesta’s influence or those who had attacked my colony. You filled a room with books, art, music and one of my favourite paintings was of Paris, of beautiful gowns and a room which seemed full of gold and treasure. A masquerade ball. All of those were lost when Betazed fell, but you hosted such a ball for us. For me. But in our home, not this palace.”

He smiled. "It brought you so much joy. What is balance without you? You were always my balance as she is his. Now you are both lost to us."

“Never lost,” she said softly, kissing him. “Where you go, I go.”

He smiled again. "Is this what you call soulmates?"

“I imagine so,” she grinned. “Above all else, I want you to be happy. Even if that is not with my other self. You always sacrificed for me, for our children.”

He stopped and took her face in his hands. "Those were not sacrifices. You all were my world." He meant every word.

“And you mine,” she assured him. “Where you lead, I follow, remember?”

The words suddenly echoed in his mind. Someone else said those words to him, recently. He staggered a little.

Her hands steadied him, “do not be so troubled,” she urged, a soft kiss pressing briefly to his lips. “What the future brings will never change what we had my love. You deserve someone at your side who loves and respects you and who can see you, as you really are. You will find that again.”

"I...he had this with Alexandra but...he is uncertain anymore. I have been trying to push him to keep trying...perhaps because selfishly she is you in a way."

“Did he? Did they? I think it pales to what we shared. I saw her, how she knew he kept things secret. Occasionally sharing. Does he even know the only reason he was found at all is because she did the same as I would have done and used the last of her strength to initiate the distress signal? I was surprised she had it in her. And when you must compare to me, well, a someone little more than a child cannot compare. You need someone yes with emotion, but training. A quiet mind to guide and support you. You taught me how to master abilities she cannot even imagine.”

"Perhaps she can be shown the ways too? " He sighed as he walked to the window. "I have met someone that ... reminds me of you. She has your spirit I see it in her but...I war with myself on it."

“What troubles you?”

"She is not you." He turned and took her hand. "He loves Alex. Can i take control? Yes but is it right?"

“Such a quandary,” she couldn’t help but smile. “Another has your eye, and his. I think that is your answer. You cannot cling to the past, not if you wish to have a meaningful future. It’s a kindness really. She is young, she will recover. It’s best for everyone really, if you think about it.”

He took her hand and then pulled her into his arms. "May I confide in you my wife as I have always done?"

“Of course, we have never had secrets,” she assured him.

When he and I merged it reset his clock. He does not realize this yet, I am still good at keeping secrets, but he will be going through Pon Farr. I had thought it a way to join you my wife.”

Lexi smiled in delight, “well, this shall be fun to watch. Whatever will he do?”

Soral laughed. "You take so much pleasure in his pain."

“Mostly hers, she is too nice,” Lexi lamented. “I would never have been so consumed by guilt and fear and insecurity… damn those priestesses…”

"In a way she is you.." Soral paused and closed his eyes. "My counterpart...is trying for more control. I have news my wife."

“Oh?” Lexi asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Thanks to a Bajoran friend, one who has escaped our verse for this one our children from our verse will be arriving here and will have a safe home on Betazed shortly."

Lexi almost squealed in delight as she threw her arms around him, “I knew you would find a way to protect them.”

He smiled. "Indeed. They will have a better life here. Something I failed to give them and you." He stepped back and walked over to the window staring out. "He and I are not so different. Neither the best of fathers."

“Lies,” Lexi told him with a sharp tone. “You always cared for them, we’re a constant presence and guiding hand. This other you, he is a stranger in comparison. Keeping them at arms length for fear of something… while bemoaning that he makes nothing but sacrifice. You are not alike in this my love.”

He looked at Lexi. "There are no words as to how much I love you. I hope that our children will have good lives here and I hope to assist the other me in becoming a bit more involved...does that make me weak?"

“No. Our bond, our family has always been our strength,” she reminded him. “Here, there is nothing like the danger that lurks around every corner, if it were, these versions of us would be either dead or far more like us than they are. You are many things, to many people, but weak? Never.”

He studied her. "You are my center. Perhaps I should just fade away, join you."

“Absolutely not!” Lexi retorted, fury in her voice. “You must protect our children, our legacy. Have you considered the dangers they face even in this Federation? I was inside her head, I have seen what they are willing to do to silence abilities like mine. Imagine, then, what they would do to our children. The boys, our baby… all of them will inherit at least part of my genetics. You must ensure they are kept safe by those you and this other you trust the most. And you must never give up. On them or yourself.”

A fierce love washed over him. The depths of his grief slammed into him like a fist. He pulled her into his arms and for the first time in a long time he wept for what he'd lost.

OFF