Luna Cross, wife of Seth Cross; a well known Maquis fighter, was on her way to rendevous with Freedom, her Maquis freighter when her Maquis raider was shot down over Romulus by a patrolling warbird. She crashed on the plains of Aihai just outside of Ra'tleihfi and was severely injured.
A Romulan patrol was sent, by Admiral D'Nal Jarok, to investigate the crash since the patrolling warbird was under his command.
The injured human, discovered to be a female, was brought before the Admiral who would decide her fate. He turned her over to the Tal'Shiar where she, once healed, was tortured and later sent to a prison camp; having been found guilty on charges of being a federation spy.
Luna would spent a year being a nameless face amongst the crowd. She was only one of a handful of humans in the camp and the only female one. The other humans, all Starfleet officers, took it upon themselves to protect her from those around them that would use her for their own personal pleasure. She was entirely grateful for their kindness and they all became close friends.
Unknown to the Maquis captain, she was being watched. Admiral Jarok had taken a instant liking to the young human female so he had pulled some strings and called in several favors to get his post reassigned, temporarily, to the prison camp.
D'Nal watched her for over three months before, disguised as a Romulan prison guard, he made himself known. He spent another five months gaining her trust. They interacted daily during those five months. He brought her meals and they spent a growing number of hours together.
Soon a rift had formed between her and the Starfleet officers that had taken her under their wing. They didn't like the attention given to her by the Romulan guard. They feared for her because of this attention. Having been there longer, they saw many females of other species take Romulan guards as lovers and most had gotten hurt because of it. They didn't want this to happen to their friend. They tried to get to listen to their fears and worries but she was already smitten with D'Nal.
Two months later, D'Nal and Luna became lovers. Still she didn't know his true identity. She knew him only as D'Nal; the man she was in love with. Him being a Romulan didn't matter to her.
Luna had been raised by two Starfleet parents. Her father was a Captain on board the U.S.S. Dauntless during her childhood and by the time she reached Academy age he had been promoted to Admiral and was stationed on Earth. Her mother was the chief Medical Officer on board the Dauntless and later retired to pursue a career in art. She started out hating Captain Gregory Reed. She found the man to be a pain in the ass and annoying as hell. But the hate turned into love and they were married.
Luna was born a year later followed by twins Justice and Mason and finally Kennedy. The Reed children were raised strictly but fairly. They were always encouraged to follow their hearts and do what they thought was right.
Remembering what she was taught, Luna slowly let herself fall in love D'Nal. In doing so she lost her Starfleet protectors. Two months after becoming lovers, they became deyhhan and ailhun (husband and wife).
D'Nal managed to get the conviction against his wife dropped and after two years, Luna was free. She left the prison camp and moved into D'Nal's house, only then did she find out who he really was. It was by accident. She had overheard a conversation between D'Nal and another Admiral. Her faith and trust in him had been shattered. He lied to her.
Divorce and separation weren't options even before she found out she was pregnant. Once she found out about the baby, she tried to forgive D'Nal. She tried to understand why he did it but she couldn't. Even before the baby was born, their marriage was beginning to crumble.
As fast as she had fallen in love with him, she had fallen out of love. And was beginning to feel guilty for her actions. She had a husband and son whom she just forgot about as soon as she met D'Nal. The birth of their paenhe(daughter), Rhian, didn't help her mood any. Her guilt doubled with each accomplishment her paenhe made. Rhian's first steps and first word reminded her of what she missed with her son, who was only a newborn when she had crashed on Romulus.
Rhian was two when Luna refused to have anything to do with D'Nal. She refused to acknowledge their d'anna (marriage), sleep in the same room with him, or bare him any more children. The guilt had finally overwhelmed her.
She could barely look at the child without feeling ill or hatred for herself. So Rhian spent most of her time with her father who took it upon himself to teach the child the ways of the Romulans. He taught the toddler to be proud of her name and heritage. When she was old enough, he taught her about devotion and loyalty to the Empire. And he taught her that someday she would be his eri'hfirh(heir). Needless to say, that day would never come.
Seven years after the crash of the Maquis raider that brought Luna to Romulus, Starfleet demanded the release of all Federation citizens that were being kept in prison camps; these were brought to Starfleet's attention after an imprisoned Starfleet officer escaped. This officer was one of the men that took care of Luna when she was first brought to the camp. So she wasn't forgotten. She was included in those that the Federation wanted released.
D'Nal fought tooth and nail to keep his daughter on Romulus. His ailhun had fallen out of love with him years before, and he accepted that, but he never expected her to take their paenhe away. She couldn't even look at the girl. He worried that Rhian would not be cared for. But there was nothing he could do. Since her mother was a member of the Federation, that meant that Rhian was too. It seemed that being half Romulan didn't matter to the Romulan government since they ordered D'Nal to let the girl go. They didn't want anymore trouble.
He would always remember the day that his ailhun and his paenhe were rescued from the enemy. It was the day that shaped him into a uncaring, heartless bastard. One of the most feared Romulans ever to serve the empire. He stood by as his paenhe was plucked from his arms by a heavily armed Starfleet Security Officer. The cries of Rhian would haunt him morning and night. He had been denied the right to claim Rhian as his eri'hfirh. He had been denied the chance to see her grow up.
Luna was reunited with her husband, after seven years, only to discover that he had turned away from the Maquis cause and returned to Starfleet and his old career as a Medical Doctor. He wasn't the man that she married. He had changed and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she didn't love him anymore. As strongly as she denied it to herself, it was true. A piece of her heart still belonged to D'Nal.
Her son was already on his way to following in his fathers footsteps. Something she didn't want. They had always agreed that any children that they had would be free to make their own choices; but the boy had already been raised as a Starfleet child. He was well behaved and already into his studies. Luna found that she didn't even know her own son.
Rhian was forgotten, by her ri'nanov, on the transport to Earth. And this terrified the child. She knew that her ri'nanov(mother) couldn't look at her so what was going to happen to her now that her di'ranov(father) wasn't around to care for her? She was surrounded by people speaking a language that she knew that her mother spoke but was never taught to her. They were all dressed funny, acted strange and tried to get her to eat smelly food. Before this she had never seen another human. Her di'ranov had encouraged her to be social with the other Romulan children and she was never lacking a friend. Now she was completely alone in a strange world. Rhian didn't like the man that greeted them once they reached Earth. He was kissing and touching her ri'nanov. No one was allowed to do that except her di'ranov. This brought out her protective instinct which only got her yelled at by her ri'nanov.
At first, Seth had been appalled by the child his wife brought back with her. The youngster was obviously Romulan or at least partially. Then he found out that the child belonged to his wife. But by the way his wife was acting, she wished she didn't. By these actions, he assumed that the child, Rhian, was the product of a rape. He voiced this to his wife and wasn't corrected. She couldn't tell him that Rhian had been created out of love instead of hate. It would mean her facing the guilt.
So the girl was brought home with them and Seth automatically started talking about adopting the rebellious child that didn't understand a lick of English. He had always wanted more than one child and when his wife disappeared, he feared that would never come true. He now saw Rhian as his second chance at being a father since he didn't want to push his wife into having more. Too traumatic, he had been told by several doctors he consulted a few months after his wife had been returned to him. He adopted Rhian, a year after they returned to earth, and decided that her real parentage should be kept quiet, his wife didn't protest this. So they changed her name to Kira and gave her his last name. All official documents listed her father as a Vulcan. It was needed to explain the way the child looked. In reality, he didn't want anyone knowing that he was raising a Romulan child, half human or not, it didn't matter.
Rhian, now known as Kira, spoke only Romulan for the first two years she was on earth, refusing to learn the language of her ri'nanov/mother . She wanted to go home and always voiced this; before in Romulan and after in English. She wanted her real father not the man pretending. But each cry went unheard by her mother and father. She reluctantly conformed to those around her, acting more Human than Romulan. But she never forgot the Romulan language; she always spoke it when she was alone to keep herself fluent, or what her di'ranov/father had taught her.
Seth died when Kira was fourteen. The ship he was stationed on, the U.S.S. Philadelphia, was attacked by a Rebel Romulan faction. He was amongst the fatalities. This began the decline of her relationship with her brother. He began to ask questions about the way Kira looked and each time the questions were left unanswered. All he had been told at this point was that they were half siblings; sharing a mother but not a father. And his sisters not wanting revenge against the Romulans just angered him more.
Kira had grown to care for the man that took her fathers place. He cared for her when her mother refused. He treated her like his own daughter. But she never grew to love the man as a father. He was more like an uncle that was always around. She grieved for him in her own way, never showing any emotions.
After the death of Seth, Luna returned to her Maquis ways, having put it on hold once she returned to Earth. Kira entered the Academy early. Seth Jr. headed into his sophomore year at the Academy and already knew that he wanted to be a Engineer; well on his way to making that happen.
The two Cross children began separate paths, neither including the other. Which was fine by Kira since she knew that Seth was the favored child. He was the real child of Luna and Seth Cross and she was an unwanted addition to the family . They never said this, of course, but she could sense it. They both loved Seth while they only cared for her. Or at least her mother only cared for her like one would care for a pet. The elder Seth did try to love her but she could feel the difference in his love. She never said anything about it, knowing nothing would change. Seth might have been the favored child but she didn't envy him. She never wanted to be like him. Or change who she was. She was proud of her heritage and that would never change. Just because she had to lie about it, didn't mean that she didn't accept it. She had accepted her Romulan side long ago. And no matter how much her parents tried to make her forget her childhood on Romulus, she never did. It was apart of her. It made her partly who she is and she couldn't just forget that.