TITLE: We're In Heaven
CHARACTERS: Nero, Ayel, Mina, little Nero, Idina, Rai, mentions others
PAIRINGS: Nero/Mina, Ayel/Idina
NOTES: Felt like these two needed to have another story written. Maybe it's that I have a soft spot for Nero, and that my Nero muse can force my hands to write himself and the love of his life, Mina, often. Little Nero is the child that Mina and Nero were to have before her death, who she had in the afterlife plane that I believe she lives in. Idina is an OC, I guess you could say. She is the past wife of Ayel, and Rai is their daughter. Both of them also died the same way Mina did, because of the explosion on Romulus. Please keep that in mind when reading!
DISCLAIMER: Nero, Mina, Ayel, and any others are not mine, nor do I claim that they are. The others you do not recognize are mine.
'Baby, you're all that I want, when you're lying here in my arms.'
Nero sat completely still in his chair while his crew ran around, trying to stabilize the Narada. He knew that this would be useless. The red matter was erupting around them. The ship was being destroyed. Mina had told him this would happen, in his dreams. She had told him the night he met his son that a young Spock and Captain Kirk would defeat him, but he knew his plan was done. He had destroyed Vulcan first. And he relived that moment now, a smile forming on his normally angry face. She told him that he was to join her in defeat, and they could be together for always. The Narada was being sucked into a black hole that had formed in the center of the ship. He would be destroyed by the very anomaly that had given him the chance to ruin Spock's life. It was then that the Enterprise decided to contact him. He snarled as he allowed them up on his screen.
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Your ship is compromised. You will all be destroyed without assistance, which we are willing to provide.' The cocky, blond captain grinned at the screen. His Vulcan accomplice stood next to him. He turned quickly, and the two of them exchanged words for a few short moments.
"I would rather suffer the destruction of Romulus a thousand times over! I would rather die in agony than accept help from you!" Nero barked back. He wanted to die. He wanted to die now. He knew that it was imminent. He would be returned to Mina if they would just allow him to die now.
"You got it." Kirk replied, smirking smugly. He turned back to his crew. "Lock phasers! Fire everything we've got!"
Nero could feel the Narada bucking as it was practically annihilated by the phaser attacks of the other ship. He gripped his staff in one hand and the armrest of his chair in the other. His screen cracked and darkened as the ship was hit. The crew was shouting somewhere below him, trying to save them from their deaths.
"Captain! What do we do?" Ayel shouted from one of the computers. "We've lost power, and there's no way we're going to escape this black hole!" He gasped when the computer in front of him burst into flames. "There's no chance that we'll survive this time, we're not going to get the chance to go further back in time!"
Nero was silent. His eyes were focused somewhere else. His mind was on Mina. 'I'm coming home, Mina. Soon, we'll be together again. Me, you, and little Nero can have the family that we always wanted. The family we deserved.' His emotionless face betrayed none of his thoughts.
Ayel bit his lip as he looked around. None of the rest of the crew was on the bridge now. He and Nero were alone. He moved toward the throne that Nero sat on. "Captain Nero, we will not survive. Why aren't you giving orders? Why aren't we doing something?" He hissed, trying not to let the despair he felt creep into his voice. "I don't want to die." He let out in a whimper before he could stop himself.
Nero's eyes locked on his second-in-command. He looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "I'm sorry." He whispered back. His voice held a small amount of sympathy. He felt for Ayel. He knew how much it must scare him, the impending doom of death and darkness. "I'm sorry, Ayel." He repeated, setting a hand on the other Romulan's head. He let a sad smile drift onto his features. "This is how it was meant to be. We were all meant to die in this final battle."
Ayel could feel tears in his eyes. He let them fall easily. Only his captain could see him now. "Captain, please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I'm…I'm scared." He admitted the last part almost silently. "Nero, please. There must be a way."
Nero leaned back in his chair, hand still loosely gripping his staff. "There is no other alternative." He replied. "Were you not also married on Romulus?" He asked. They had little time remaining, less than five minutes were left before the entire ship would be sucked into pieces. "Idina?"
Ayel nodded, tears still streaming down his miserable face. "Idina was killed in the destruction of Romulus, as Mina was." He shook his head. "Why are you asking me to relive her death now? Do I not already have too much on my mind?"
Nero simply smiled. "Remember her. Remember Idina. This will only hurt for a few moments. And then you can be forever in the company of Idina, and of Rai. Do you remember your daughter, Ayel?"
Through his tears, Ayel managed a small smile. "I remember. My daughter, my wife. I've missed them for a very long time." His tears were renewed. "Why must I relive this, Nero?"
Nero's face was soft. "Are you ready to see them again?" Without an answer, he continued. "We will be back with them in moments."
Before Ayel could react, an explosion ripped through the bridge of the ship. His and Nero's screams of pain were heard over the fire. The Narada had disintegrated to pieces. It was destroyed. And all of the crewmen were dead.
Nero felt awareness of his body once more, after feeling as if he had been floating on a sea of cold fire for hours. His eyes slowly opened. The world he was in was bright. He looked down to see his clothes, now in perfect condition, were the same as they had always been. What had brought him back to reality was the warm hand of Mina on his brow. "Mina!" He gasped, reaching up a hand to bury in her soft hair. "Mina, you were right. You were always right." He let out a breathless sounding laugh. "Oh, Mina. This is it, isn't it? This is where we'll be forever?"
Mina smiled, helping her husband to his feet. "It is. Nero, you did exactly as you were supposed to. You did everything perfectly." She kissed both of his cheeks. "Oh, Nero, I missed you so much."
Nero grinned, looking to his right at the sound of a happy cry. Ayel was there, embracing his dark haired wife. He was crying. His daughter was older now, a teenager. She had her tattoos. They matched with her mother's. She joined the hug between her parents. Nero turned back to his wife. "Where is young Nero?"
Mina bit her lip happily, moving aside her skirt to show off a child. He was not more than five. His shaven head was adorned with tattoos that mimicked his father's. His green eyes brightened at the sight of Nero. "Daddy!" He cried, leaping at his father.
Nero caught his son and hoisted him into the air. "Son!" He replied. Tears nipped at the corners of his eyes. "Oh, Mina, he is perfect." He hugged his son close. "What is this place?"
Mina moved close, her hands on either side of her husband's head. She ghosted them back. They smoothed over his soft, partially-grown in hair and toyed with both of his pointed ears. The right one was repaired now. "I know you will not believe me when I say this. Nero, welcome to heaven. That is where we are. It is where we will remain." She pulled him in for a soft kiss. "And now we will be here forever, you and I and our son."
It was then that Nero let a real smile cross his face. He kissed his wife possessively. "I would not have it any other way."
'I'm finding it hard to believe we're in heaven.'
