DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: The Next Generation and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
PUBLICATION HISTORY: originally started March 1996; revised, completed and first published November 2012
A Moment in Time
by Hester (hester4418)
Starfleet Cadet Jean-Luc Picard slowly walked along the quiet street, taking in as much of his surroundings as possible. It was the last day of his summer break in the Arvada III colony and he wanted to spend it in the park with his friends, relaxing, drinking, maybe playing some ballgames. Tomorrow they would all be on their way back to the academy, to start their final year.
He stopped to look at a shop window, then continued on his way. Too bad the trip is over already. The day was hot, but a gentle breeze made sure that the heat did not become too oppressive.
Picard rounded a last corner and the park opened in front of him. It was very large, great open stretches of grass alternating with patches of trees to provide shade. Small ponds were situated throughout the area, and numerous children of all ages were splashing happily in the water.
He scanned the various groups under the trees. Most of them consisted of parents watching their offspring from a distance, but there were also several gatherings of young people about his age. Unable to determine which was the party he was looking for, he slowly advanced in the general direction of the closest group of trees.
Unexpectedly, Picard felt a light tug at his sleeve. Surprised, he looked down and directly into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. A small girl, no more than three years old, was standing by his side, looking up at him with eyes full of hope.
"Can you help me find Mommy and Daddy?"
For the first time in many years, Picard was at a loss for words. His thoughts raced, trying to find a way out of this impossible situation. Of all people, why did she have to pick him?
She continued to stare at him. "Can you?"
He had no idea what to do. He had always avoided younger children, since their presence made him nervous and uncomfortable. He had not even liked being a child himself. But now there was this little girl, looking at him as if he was her hero who would save her from whatever misfortune she had got into.
Just at that moment, one of Picard's friends spotted him and called out. "Hey, Jean-Luc! We are over here!"
Picard looked up and noticed his friends a little distance away. They waved at him, encouraging him to join them. His first reaction was a feeling of relief. Now he at least had an excuse to get away. He hesitated, however, when his gaze fell back to the trusting blue eyes before him.
"Picard! Are you coming or what?"
He was torn. He had been looking forward to this meeting with his friends, after all it was their last opportunity to check out the local bars and have a long night out, and he had no idea what to do with this child, anyway. But the girl eyed him with such a pleading look that he could not just leave her standing there. If nothing else, his duty as a Starfleet cadet demanded that he do anything in his power to help her. Smiling at her reassuringly, he called out to the waiting group of cadets. "You go on ahead, I have to take care of something first. Maybe I'll join you later."
The only answer he got was an assortment of dissatisfied grunts, but he did not care. The girl's eyes had lit up at his words, and she eagerly grasped his hand. He was surprised and pleased at her instantaneous trust, and his discomfort about her age lessened a bit.
He lowered himself to the ground and was now level with her eyes. "If we are to find your parents, you have to tell me a little bit about them. What do they look like?"
She chewed her lower lip, thinking hard. Then she extended a hand over her head. "Mommy is this tall, and Daddy is even taller. Mommy has blond hair and a braid and Daddy has brown hair and a basket for the – the –" She looked at him helplessly.
"A picnic?" he supplied gently.
She nodded furiously.
Picard could not suppress a smile. He was beginning to like this girl, and he really wanted to help her. He was also impressed at how calm she was, considering that she had lost her parents in the large park. "Can you tell me how you lost them?"
This time, she began to chew on a strand of her long hair. "Bobby wanted to play. I threw a stick and he brought it back, and I threw it again. But he ran off, and I wanted to go after him, but I wasn't fast enough."
"Bobby is your dog?"
She shook her head, still chewing her hair. "He belongs to Christy, but she lets me play with him sometimes. She lives next door." Her eyes pleaded with him again. "Can we go find Mommy and Daddy now?"
Picard caught hold of her hair and gently pulled it from her mouth, then tucked the wet strands behind her ear. "Sure."
He straightened and she reached for his hand, slipping her small fingers into his larger palm. He felt terribly awkward and thought that everyone in the park must be staring at them, but when he looked around he only saw happy, laughing faces which didn't pay him any attention.
With the girl trailing along at his side, he began moving down the path, scanning for a couple that looked like they might be missing a child.
"Why are you wearing pajamas?"
The question brought him up short and he stared down into her innocent face. "What makes you say that?"
She frowned. "Well, it looks like pajamas!"
Picard laughed. He couldn't help it, he just threw his head back and laughed. Once he calmed down enough to look back at her, the frown was still there. He sobered quickly and got down on one knee again. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't laugh. You're right actually, it does look a lot like pajamas."
The frown lessened somewhat, but she was still waiting for an explanation. Sighing inwardly, he tried to find words she would understand.
"It's called a uniform. Do you know what that is?"
Her face brightened instantly. "You mean like a school uniform? Christy wears one."
"Yes," Picard replied slowly, thinking that the analogy was not a bad one. After all, Starfleet Academy was a school.
"But you're too old for school!"
And you're too young to be calling me old, he thought dryly but wisely kept the words to himself.
"It's a special school for adults," he patiently explained. "We learn how to fly starships, and how to build and repair them. Some of us also learn how to become doctors." He left out the SFA science track, unsure how he would explain that concept to her.
She was scowling now. "I don't like doctors."
Picard chuckled. "I'll tell you a secret: Neither do I."
A conspiratorial smile tugged at her mouth. "Mommy says I mustn't tell anyone, because doctors are there to make you feel better."
"Your mother is a wise woman." He straightened and grasped her hand again to lead her further along the path, but she stood rooted to the spot, her small face turned up at the sky.
"Can you really fly a starship?"
"Yes, I can." He decided that a little boasting would do no harm. "I will actually fly all the way back to Earth tomorrow. That's the planet where my school is."
She sighed longingly. "I want to go flying on a starship, but Daddy says I'm too little. What do the stars look like when you get closer?"
"They're all different actually. Some are red, some are green, some are very bright and some look rather dull." She was literally hanging onto his every word, and Picard warmed to the subject. He recalled how he had lain in the grass on his family's vineyard on many a night, studying the starlit sky and vowing that one day, he would travel to the most distant reaches of the galaxy. Just one more year at the academy, and the dream would finally become reality. "But they are all beautiful. Once you're old enough, you'll get your chance to see for yourself."
"Really?"
"I'm sure of it." He gently tugged on her hand and this time she followed, still looking up at the blue sky as if she could see stars even in broad daylight.
They continued walking in silence for several minutes, with Picard keeping an eye out for distraught parents but only seeing more of the smiling faces he had observed earlier. Gradually, he was beginning to worry. What if he couldn't find them and ended up being stuck with the girl?
But then they rounded a cluster of trees, and suddenly a small black dog streaked toward them at high speed, yelping affectionately as he danced around them.
"Bobby!" the girl exclaimed in delight and clapped her hands, then got down on her knees to catch the excited animal in a tight hug. A small red tongue licked across her face and she giggled.
Off in the distance, Picard saw a man and a woman looking in his direction and then starting toward him. He put a hand on the girl's shoulder and pointed them out to her. "Are those your parents?"
She looked up. "Yes!"
Bobby struggled to get free and she let him go. At once the dog raced back toward the couple, barking happily as if telling them that he had found the missing child.
The girl straightened and waved at her parents, then turned back to Picard and extended her hand. "Thank you for helping me find them," she said earnestly, locking her bright blue eyes once more with his.
He took her hand and responded just as seriously. "I am glad I could be of assistance."
She giggled. "Daddy always says that." One last smile, and she turned to leave.
He was almost sorry that he would never see her again. Suddenly it occurred to him that he knew absolutely nothing about her. "What's your name?"
"Beverly," she called back over her shoulder while running off across the lawn, bright red hair streaming behind her.
-==/ The End \==-