Fond Memories and Future Plans

Posted on Sunday, 12 December 2021 - 1:18pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Mirror of Madness
Location: Personal Quarters | USS Standing Bear
Timeline: Current

ON:

Soral sat down in the shuttle's co pilot seat. He was content to leave the piloting to his... Romulan acquaintances. All of them men and women of questionable background to whom he'd promised a trip to the mirror verse, a place they would be more at home in.

Things were getting hot on the planet and Stillwater was fast on his tail so the time was right for an exit.

He looked over at N'tal. "Ready?"

"All is ready Lord Soral."

Soral smiled slightly. It had been a long time since he'd been called that. "Get ready to lift off. We're heading to the Standing Bear. Once my wife is in my arms and the ship is secured we will travel to the mirror verse. Ensure all the men are dressed in Vulcan Robes I do not want to arouse suspicion until we are ready to take the ship."

Soral vacated the seat and walked over to the back where he'd have some privacy. Alex and Lexi should be woven together by now; Lexi, no doubt, would be the dominant one.

He sat down and stared out the small port hole into the stars. He remembered how he'd woven the two, Alexandra and Lexi Kingsley together in one night of passion. He smiled. He wondered if it bothered his current self that Alexandra had joined with his mirror self.

The night had been magic....



=/\= After the away mission days past=/\=

The single flame burned brightly, the candlelight dancing and flickering as the door opened and light briefly spilled into the room from the corridor as Alexandra Kingsley entered her quarters. She hesitated mid stride, realising a second too late that she had walked in on her husband’s attempt to meditate.

She was torn as she stood in the now almost total darkness. Leave and give him room for much needed meditation or just finding a seat to wait? They both knew meditation was not her forte, she was exceptionally bad at it. Too easily distracted was how Soral had put it. Which, she argued, was usually his fault.

Soral's eyes opened and he looked up. "You always did have trouble meditating." He stood unfolding himself from the seated position.

Bones, who had been hiding under the table not liking this new visitor in their quarters, bounced out barking and running around Alex. This was not his human. He had to warn her.

The comment from Soral, while entirely true, caught her by surprise. Why, she didn’t know. Because through the bond he would be well able to pick up on her mood and train of thought if he wished. Before she could even dwell on it for a heartbeat, Bones came running at her, barking as his little legs covered the space between them. Alex frowned as she scooped him up.

“Bones, no,” she admonished him gently, holding him as she rubbed behind his ear, “keep barking and people will complain. What’s gotten into you lately?”

It was true, the pup was far more excitable and a lot louder the last few days. She honestly worried if it was down to being on the ship or maybe he was picking up on Soral and his need to visit the healers on Vulcan. Maybe both. Glancing at Soral she frowned, “I think he worries about you. I can take him for a walk, let you meditate some more?”

"Perhaps he would benefit from staying with Mackenzie a few days. He always was known as the dog whisperer." He stepped closer to Alex. Within her arms Bones became agitated and let out a few growls then, like a Vulcan, he raised his head and tilted it to the side as if saying, I know you yet I don't.

Soral spoke, "If you will take him to Mackenzie and Haru I shall prepare dinner. You have probably not eaten you tend to...not eat when work is available in plenty." He looked at her for a long moment as if drinking in that she was really here.

"Dinner actually sounds good," Alex admitted, heading for the door but picking up a few of the puppy's 'must haves'. Hopefully Mac and Haru wouldn't mind some company. "I'll be back soon. Besides, Mac still owes me for that nerve pinch he pulled..."

With that, she was gone from their quarters and leaving Soral on his own in the sudden silence that followed their departure.

Soral stood there a while. She was his Lexi yet not... He shook his head to clear the melancholy that had settled there. He went about preparing Lexi's favourite food awaiting her return. He brewed some tea. Tonight he would have his Lexi back and soon they would be one their way to the mirror verse … after the Vulcan vote.

After some gentle persuasion and a promise to owe them one, Alex left Bones in the care of Mac and Haru. It was already like a second home to the puppy anyway, who already seemed much calmer. Haru seemed especially pleased to see him which was nice. Along with many people, she had worried about Haru a lot. Yet he didn't seem so lost now, for want of a better word.

Entering their quarters the smell of food was mouth watering. The table was already set, the illumination provided by just a few candles. "If I'd known a romantic dinner was on the cards I'd have been home sooner," she confessed. It was way better than trawling through debris in her department. Or what was left of it.

"I understand it has been a difficult time for you...With the ship that ruined your lab," He covered quickly. "I thought it would be enjoyable to share a meal together and reconnect. It's been...so long since we have been here, a life time, perhaps."

"Then at least let me help," she offered after a moment, "just nothing I can burn..."

Soral smiled. Lexi always used to worry about burning things, at first, then she turned into a better cook then he was. "You will one day learn to cook great meals." He motioned to the board. "Perhaps cutting the bread to start?"

"And they say you have no sense of humour," she teased lightly as she slipped past him, using the bread knife to begin cutting the bread into something close to even slices before plating it up and carrying it to the table. "Have you had confirmation of when you will be leaving for Vulcan?"

His trip concerned her. Not the voting part of it, but his need to then see the Healers. And his consideration of forgoing his consultation with them entirely so that he could then go to Risa to be with Severine, Soval and N'Vek.

"Indeed, when we are back at the station I shall leave that evening." He had learned of the trip briefly during his mind meld with his mirror self, one that his mirror image needed badly but alas was never to take. "It will be a busy time. I shall return as quickly as I can...perhaps you can join me?" He knew that was impossible for the moment but he would find a way to bring the Bear to Vulcan...his speech would do it, he was confident of that.

Soral slid in behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her right shoulder. "Perhaps I can skip the healers and stay here, finding comfort in your arms."

She grinned, sliding her hand over one of his as she leaned back against him, "as much as I am always willing to do that, I need you well, Soral. And if that means I have to survive a few more days without you, then I'm going to have to deal with it. But I'll miss you, every minute."

"As I have you, Lexi." He whispered. He pulled back. "Let us eat. I know you are hungry and there is a chocolate cake with...I believe fudge icing for you."

His whisper was so soft she almost didn't hear it at all, to the point where she was certain she must have misheard him. And then he mentioned chocolate cake and her attention was quickly elsewhere as they sat down at the table to eat.

"How are repairs going?"

"Slowly, but we've mapped out repairs and upgrades, so it will be better than ever by the time the repairs are done," Alex enthused as she ate. It was the one silver lining in the whole mess.

"I am sure Hayashi will assist with all they can. Do not be afraid to keep them busy." It was in Soral's best interest. Their run in at the sickbay was … unnerving then again Hayashi had always unnerved Soral. The mirror Hayashi had been ruthless and a most trusted ally.

"Don't worry, it will all be fixed by the time you come back," she vowed.

"You never did like them. What you fail to see is that Katra sharing that they and I went through is part of their personality. They possess part of Soral and Soral, that is I, possess a part of their soul. Perhaps you are uncomfortable with their part of me?"

"I'm uncomfortable that you kept it a secret," she reminded him. "I know you had a life before me, I get that. But you always manage to keep secrets..."

"Years of being V'shar." Lexi figured it out. "Perhaps a dose of fear, full trust has not served me well in the past but...you are the person I have always trusted most. Sometimes I forget that."

"I know you have been hurt so many times," Alex said, her food forgotten as she took his hand, "but not by me. I wanted us to have our bond back and have a fresh start. But right not it feels like there are so many walls up around you... and I know a lot of the time you do it because you think it is what is best for me, to protect me. But I don't want that. I want you to be able to tell me anything."

"Indeed...perhaps it is time for me to let go. My fear...has always been abandonment, something I experienced from a young age when I came home and found that my family had left and I was...alone."

"You aren't alone anymore, you never will be unless you choose to be," she pointed out. "You have me, Severine, Soval, N'Vek... and I know my mother can be a bit much sometimes but she thinks of you as her son. And then there is Mac, Haru, Hamura... and T'Lanna. We all care about you, just obviously in different ways," she added the last part with a grin as she leaned over the table and kissed him.

Hunger, sorrow, it was all in his kiss. He'd missed her. In one swift move he pulled her from the chair and into his lap. "I have missed you so much." He said. He just held her. "I wish us to mind meld tonight if you wish it too. I want us to share our thoughts and souls again."

His shift in mood had taken her off balance. He seemed so... sad. "Just don't get impatient when I fail the first three thousand times," she reminded him, keeping her head on his chest.

"You can never fail in my eyes Lexi." He stood lifting her. "Perhaps...cake in bed?"

She frowned even as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, "maybe later. But ... why are you calling me Lexi?"

"Because Lexi implies your strength, your beauty, your intelligence, you have a soft and gentle spirit and a ruthless love. You are grace, beauty, strength, and so much life and thirst for life. Lexi is all that and so much more."

Alex rested a hand against his cheek. This was a side to him even she did not see much of anymore and she didn't know if she should be thrilled or concerned. "Soral..."

He smiled at her. "Indeed, You, my Lexi, are my rock, my balance." He carried her to their room and laid her down gently. "I give you my mind, and heart and everything that I am."

"Whoever said Vulcans don't have emotions was an idiot," she decided as she kissed him. "I've never regretted taking a chance on us, Soral. And I never will. I love you and nothing will change that."

"I know this and it is how I feel about you." He kissed her gently.

That night they joined their minds and bodies and for the first time since his loss Soral felt complete. Lexi...was home and soon she would weave all that she was around Alexandra Kingsley and he would have his family back.

In the aftermath of their lovemaking he held his wife. It had been the connection that he had with Lexi and he'd felt it that night. "Perhaps some chocolate cake?"

Coiled around him, Alexandra shook her head, exhausted. "That would mean moving," she whispered, feeling sleep pull at her. A name was playing on her lips, one she did not know but was important somehow. It escaped on a breath so low that only her husband and his hearing would ever have picked up on it. A sign of hope for her husband.

"Aria."

"Yes...rest now. Things will be clearer in the morning." Soral's heart soared. Lexi was coming through.

Her grip on him tightened possessively before sleep claimed her and she relaxed in his arms, soon lost in vivid confusing dreams borne of memories not her own.



=/\= Current time =/\=

Soral's head snapped up. He hated being drawn from such a pleasing memory. "What?"

"Stillwater is close. He's only an hour away."

"Then lift off. We are better gone before he finds us."

"Yes Lord Soral."

And so it started the journey for him to, once again, take the Standing Bear as his own.

OFF: