It had been a long day. Naomi Wildman and Bailey Paris were now
stranded on Kovos IV, far from the starship Voyager, their home. Naomi was
now thinking about the days when she was 3 years old instead of 23 years
old. She looked at Bailey, the son of Tom and B'Elanna Paris. His eyes
were blank and expressionless. Bailey had lost his sight in the shuttle
crash two hours ago. Naomi, though she was a medical student, couldn't
determine why. Bailey looked so forlorn. It seemed as if he had aged from
19 to 50 in the crash. He still looked like a vital nineteen-year-old
cadet in his second year at Starfleet Academy.
"Bailey, let's go down to the beach and build a fire, it's getting cold, and it's almost sundown. I don't want to get stuck in the quote- unquote 'woods' after dark with no way to get warm. If we go down to the beach, we can build a fire with driftwood and we don't have to worry about catching everything else on fire. How does that sound?" She looked at him, hoping to see something close to his old self. He smiled.
"Okay, Naomi. I could hear the waves, but I can't. I can't. describe it to me, please," he asked, not wanting to talk about his "condition" with her.
"Sure. We are sitting in a grove of trees, and on the ground there is dirt. Plain, boring, everyday dirt. If you walk 15 meters or so away from here, you hit sand. The light tan sand continues for about 20 meters then it melts away into a beautiful blue-green oasis of ocean. All you see is water, along the horizon. Whitecaps form here and there, occasionally crashing onto the beach. Is that a sufficient description?" Bailey's eyes popped open after being closed during Naomi's description.
"'Is that a sufficient description?' what are you, Seven?" They both laughed at the thought of the old Seven of Nine.
"Look, we have to go now, or we'll die tonight." She looked at him. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Naomi helped Bailey up and took his hand. She led him through the trees to the beach. "Ooh! Sand!" Bailey yelped as they hit the beach. "Next time tell me when there's a change." Naomi laughed, lightheartedly.
"Okay. Oh, Bailey, the sunset. I don't have words to describe this for you. I just noticed it now," she looked at the sun setting to the water. "Come on!" she pulled him, running, and then stopped. "Here's the best spot to see the sunset."
"Please, describe this to me."
"Alfred Noyes said, in his poem Epilogue, 'All the shores when day is done, fade into the setting sun, so the story tries to teach, more than can be told in speech.'" She stopped talking and looked at the sunset.
"Showoff. Please, I want to know what it looks like. Even a bad description is better than this darkness." Bailey looked, through unseeing eyes, to the ground.
"Okay. The sun is a bright yellow-orange orb of light, slowly moving to the sea, as if centimeter by centimeter. The sky is an array of colors from pink to red to yellow to blue, a beautiful, clear blue, like your eyes." Naomi trailed off her description. She closed her eyes as a single tear fell down her face, soon followed by one from the opposite eye. Bailey put his hands on her shoulders, as she shuddered from her tears. "What is it, Naomi? I can't see you, but I know you're hurting."
"I. I can't. I want you to see this, but you can't. And, and, it's so beautiful. So very beautiful. You deserve to see this, Bailey, and you can't because, because."
"Because, what, Naomi?" she had turned to him, and he still had his hands on her shoulders, but looking very distant.
"Because of me! I was flying the shuttle! I killed Lieutenant Barnes, and I've almost killed you! Bailey, this was my fault!" He pulled her to him, letting her weep onto the shirt of his cadet uniform.
"Naomi, this was not your fault. The ship was malfunctioning. You didn't kill Barnes, and you haven't killed me. You said yourself that when we get back to the ship, the doctor will be able to fix my eyes. Even if I could see this beautiful sunset, I wouldn't be looking at it, I'd be looking at you." She looked up at him, and then grasped him harder. "Naomi, I love you. I never had the courage to say it, but now I do. I love you Naomi, with all my heart and all my being. Please say you love me too." He pulled her away from him, and if he could see her, he would look at her.
"I love you too, Bailey," she whispered, then clenched onto him again. She pulled back a little; then, she reached up, took his head down, and kissed him. "You don't need to see for me to kiss you, or to love you," she said after the kiss.
"When did you know, Naomi? You avoided me for the past four years and before that you ignored and ridiculed me."
"I. I guess at your nineteenth birthday party last week. I saw you there, realizing that you had grown up. I realized that all those years I ignored you were wasted time that could have been spent getting to know you." She was embarrassed, spilling out all her feelings at once. Then she hugged him again.
The sun had gone down, they didn't have any firewood, so they decided to go back to the grove of trees. Bailey lied down, and Naomi was in his arms not too long after. They slept soundly, wrapped about one another.
=/\=
When they returned to the ship, everyone was perplexed. They hadn't told a soul about their feelings for each other, but everyone noticed all the time they spent together. Naomi waited patiently outside sickbay while the doctor completed the complicated surgery of Bailey's eyes. Tom, B'Elanna, and Haley (Bailey's sister), all were waiting with her.
"So, Naomi, what happened on the surface? Did you do some 'bonding'?" Haley asked, like a typical 13-year-old.
"None of your business, Haley. Bailey and I will tell everyone what happened when we are ready," Naomi answered nonchalantly. The doors opened. "You can come in now, everyone," the good doctor announced. All four of them rushed passed him. "I don't get enough credit, around here, anymore." Bailey was sitting up on the bio-bed; he looked at his parents and his sister. Naomi was hiding behind them.
"Mom, Dad, Haley!" He hugged them all getting kisses and hugs. Naomi was standing, silently, waiting for the right moment. Bailey got up, off the bed, walked past his sister, and looked at Naomi. "You've never looked so beautiful." He kissed her, right there, in front of everyone. A passionate, deep kiss, much like the one on the beach.
"Bailey, I was so worried," she whispered into his shoulder.
"I knew it! I knew it! You two are in L-O-V-E, love!" Haley said. They looked at her, and smiled. Bailey went over to her and gave her a nuggie.
"It's about time!" Tom said. He had told Naomi several times before that they deserved each other, now he was right.
Within ten minutes, everyone on the ship knew about their romance. Within a year, they were married. After their marriage, Naomi finally understood what it was like to see a person, as if for the first time.
"Bailey, let's go down to the beach and build a fire, it's getting cold, and it's almost sundown. I don't want to get stuck in the quote- unquote 'woods' after dark with no way to get warm. If we go down to the beach, we can build a fire with driftwood and we don't have to worry about catching everything else on fire. How does that sound?" She looked at him, hoping to see something close to his old self. He smiled.
"Okay, Naomi. I could hear the waves, but I can't. I can't. describe it to me, please," he asked, not wanting to talk about his "condition" with her.
"Sure. We are sitting in a grove of trees, and on the ground there is dirt. Plain, boring, everyday dirt. If you walk 15 meters or so away from here, you hit sand. The light tan sand continues for about 20 meters then it melts away into a beautiful blue-green oasis of ocean. All you see is water, along the horizon. Whitecaps form here and there, occasionally crashing onto the beach. Is that a sufficient description?" Bailey's eyes popped open after being closed during Naomi's description.
"'Is that a sufficient description?' what are you, Seven?" They both laughed at the thought of the old Seven of Nine.
"Look, we have to go now, or we'll die tonight." She looked at him. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Naomi helped Bailey up and took his hand. She led him through the trees to the beach. "Ooh! Sand!" Bailey yelped as they hit the beach. "Next time tell me when there's a change." Naomi laughed, lightheartedly.
"Okay. Oh, Bailey, the sunset. I don't have words to describe this for you. I just noticed it now," she looked at the sun setting to the water. "Come on!" she pulled him, running, and then stopped. "Here's the best spot to see the sunset."
"Please, describe this to me."
"Alfred Noyes said, in his poem Epilogue, 'All the shores when day is done, fade into the setting sun, so the story tries to teach, more than can be told in speech.'" She stopped talking and looked at the sunset.
"Showoff. Please, I want to know what it looks like. Even a bad description is better than this darkness." Bailey looked, through unseeing eyes, to the ground.
"Okay. The sun is a bright yellow-orange orb of light, slowly moving to the sea, as if centimeter by centimeter. The sky is an array of colors from pink to red to yellow to blue, a beautiful, clear blue, like your eyes." Naomi trailed off her description. She closed her eyes as a single tear fell down her face, soon followed by one from the opposite eye. Bailey put his hands on her shoulders, as she shuddered from her tears. "What is it, Naomi? I can't see you, but I know you're hurting."
"I. I can't. I want you to see this, but you can't. And, and, it's so beautiful. So very beautiful. You deserve to see this, Bailey, and you can't because, because."
"Because, what, Naomi?" she had turned to him, and he still had his hands on her shoulders, but looking very distant.
"Because of me! I was flying the shuttle! I killed Lieutenant Barnes, and I've almost killed you! Bailey, this was my fault!" He pulled her to him, letting her weep onto the shirt of his cadet uniform.
"Naomi, this was not your fault. The ship was malfunctioning. You didn't kill Barnes, and you haven't killed me. You said yourself that when we get back to the ship, the doctor will be able to fix my eyes. Even if I could see this beautiful sunset, I wouldn't be looking at it, I'd be looking at you." She looked up at him, and then grasped him harder. "Naomi, I love you. I never had the courage to say it, but now I do. I love you Naomi, with all my heart and all my being. Please say you love me too." He pulled her away from him, and if he could see her, he would look at her.
"I love you too, Bailey," she whispered, then clenched onto him again. She pulled back a little; then, she reached up, took his head down, and kissed him. "You don't need to see for me to kiss you, or to love you," she said after the kiss.
"When did you know, Naomi? You avoided me for the past four years and before that you ignored and ridiculed me."
"I. I guess at your nineteenth birthday party last week. I saw you there, realizing that you had grown up. I realized that all those years I ignored you were wasted time that could have been spent getting to know you." She was embarrassed, spilling out all her feelings at once. Then she hugged him again.
The sun had gone down, they didn't have any firewood, so they decided to go back to the grove of trees. Bailey lied down, and Naomi was in his arms not too long after. They slept soundly, wrapped about one another.
=/\=
When they returned to the ship, everyone was perplexed. They hadn't told a soul about their feelings for each other, but everyone noticed all the time they spent together. Naomi waited patiently outside sickbay while the doctor completed the complicated surgery of Bailey's eyes. Tom, B'Elanna, and Haley (Bailey's sister), all were waiting with her.
"So, Naomi, what happened on the surface? Did you do some 'bonding'?" Haley asked, like a typical 13-year-old.
"None of your business, Haley. Bailey and I will tell everyone what happened when we are ready," Naomi answered nonchalantly. The doors opened. "You can come in now, everyone," the good doctor announced. All four of them rushed passed him. "I don't get enough credit, around here, anymore." Bailey was sitting up on the bio-bed; he looked at his parents and his sister. Naomi was hiding behind them.
"Mom, Dad, Haley!" He hugged them all getting kisses and hugs. Naomi was standing, silently, waiting for the right moment. Bailey got up, off the bed, walked past his sister, and looked at Naomi. "You've never looked so beautiful." He kissed her, right there, in front of everyone. A passionate, deep kiss, much like the one on the beach.
"Bailey, I was so worried," she whispered into his shoulder.
"I knew it! I knew it! You two are in L-O-V-E, love!" Haley said. They looked at her, and smiled. Bailey went over to her and gave her a nuggie.
"It's about time!" Tom said. He had told Naomi several times before that they deserved each other, now he was right.
Within ten minutes, everyone on the ship knew about their romance. Within a year, they were married. After their marriage, Naomi finally understood what it was like to see a person, as if for the first time.