Family Matters 2

Posted on Sunday, 28 March 2021 - 4:40pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: USS Standing Bear | Alex and Soral's Quarters
Timeline: 2394

ON:

A peaceful silence had fallen whilst everyone slept, the minutes slipping past unnoticed in the darkness. Until the smallest member of the household was disturbed.

Having curled up on the couch, finding a spot both warm and comfortable, the puppy was reluctantly pulled from his slumber. Sleepily stretching out, the curious pup wondered what had woken him. He sniffed the air and peered around him but all seemed -

“No!” Beside him, Alex awoke from a fitful sleep, eyes wide as she sat up suddenly, causing Bones to scurry away to his usual bed before she fell back into her troubled dreams. “Soral?!”

At the sound of his name Soral sat up at the sound of his wife's voice. He looked around, finding Alexandra not beside him he bolted for the main room. There on the sofa she tossed and turned her brow stained with the sweat of panic. He knelt by her and grabbed her shoulders. "Alexandra! Wake up!"

Her eyes flew open at his voice and for a second she could only stare at him as if unable to believe he was there. And then in the next breath she threw her arms around him, trembling as she clung to him.

He held her to him. "It is alright. You are here with me, safe. I will not let you go. Just hold onto me." He turned his head to the side and kissed her cheek.

It was just a dream... just a bad dream. He was right beside her. It was just a dream. Yet either the lingering remnants of the dream or more, she couldn’t let go.

"What has happened? What has stolen your peace mistress of my heart?"

At first she could only shake her head until she could speak, “you were ... I couldn’t save you, every time I tried she would be there, stopping me from getting to you. And then it was too late-“

"It is alright." He knew who the she was. "Show me." He pulled back and lightly touched her temple. It wasn't a bond but it would be a mind meld where he could just touch her mind briefly and she his to bring them both some comfort and peace. He knew that he shouldn't but he had to.

She closed her eyes, making no move to stop him but steeling herself. She tied to be calm, even as she now tried to focus on what she could remember.

He felt the brush of her mind in his, "I see it. Sara..." The nightmare replayed in his mind but this time he manipulated it so that Alex did get to him. He filled her mind with comfort and love. "You are stronger then your fears my love."

Tears of a different kind stung her eyes as he drowned out the fear. She had longed to have this closeness back, fearing it would never happen. “Soral...” his name left her lips even as she tried to cling to his presence in her mind. Tried to show him happier times. Soral, waiting at the alter or guiding her through caves of crystals and rock pools, watching a movie with the children on the beach, and the first kiss they shared on the holodeck. She wanted to cocoon them both in those perfect moments and forget the bad and painful ones.

Yet she felt also something else. A discomfort, growing more intense the more she tried to focus on the link with him. She tried to ignore it, wishing to give Soral no excuse to pull away. Any pain was worth having even a few moments like this. I love you...

I love you too mistress of my heart He could feel that it was time to leave her mind. Slowly he pulled away. "That is all we can do for now. You are still healing." He rested his forehead against hers.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She wanted to be stronger than this, better so he had no reason to pull away. He would say she was being unreasonable and they’d go around in the same circles as ever. So before he could answer she kissed him as her headache screamed for attention.

Soral allowed himself a moment to get lost in that kiss, one that never failed to steal his breath. He pulled away stood and lifted her into his arms. "Your head hurts," He simply said.

“A little,” she admitted, resting her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. “It’ll be okay...”

"I know you will my wife." He hugged her close. Gently he took her to the bedroom and laid her in the bed. He slipped in beside her and brought her into his arms so that she could rest her head on his chest. "Listen to my heart as it beats Alexandra," he said stroking her back. "It beats only or you my love."

She wrapped herself around him, listening to his voice and his heartbeat as his warmth seemed to radiate like the sun. Slowly she was lured back to sleep and the relief it offered.

Soral remained awake. Her nightmare disturbed him. He'd seen the sheer terror she'd felt at loosing him and it mirrored his own at loosing her. She was asleep. "My wife," He said. "Sometimes I think that you were gifted to me by the Gods to keep the darkness in my soul at bay. I am so very grateful for you."

In his arms she stirred, murmuring what sounded vaguely like his name as her hold on him tightened.

OFF