Chapter 3: New Home, New Emotions
A/N: Okay, Ch2 was officially the longest chapter I have ever written! Hope it was worth it! Right, I will post a list as part of the next chapter of what (hair) colours go with what emotions, just to clarify for everyone. I need feedback peoples, much appreciated! Also, I am slightly annoyed that despite the fact I always post chapters around 11pm, my stories still end up nowhere near the top of the list. Stupid international time difference, grr. Anyways, I'll get on with it: Enjoy! G-4077.
It had been a week since my Mama's funeral, and the funerals of all 198 people who had died. Although my mother had originally planned to be buried in her home town in Italy, I found out she had later decided to be buried (hopefully one day with my Papa) in the Starfleet Cemetery, back in California. It was weird (and slightly depressing) to think that my parents had actually, at some point, thought about where they'd be buried when they died. Why they would want to think about something like that though? But their untimely deaths put my argument to rest. Another twinge of sadness ripped through me as I thought of them. I hadn't understood much of what was being said at the funerals, especially because I sobbed through most of it, especially at the menton of my Mama. And then there were all the other people I knew who were also gone; friends I'd never see again. I still hadn't opened the box of my parents' possessions. Most thought it was because I was unable to face the further pain, which was partially true. But it was mainly because there was no word about my Papa, and I didn't want to disturb what he and Mama had shared. It seemed sort of….disrespectful to them. That was probably my Galactrian respectfulness kicking in. Well, that was one more thing I'd inherited from my father.
Since last week, it was hard to shake off the permanently dead and empty feeling of loss. To match my morbid moods, my hair was either a dark blue, or indigo. I was always either very sad, or unable to react to a situation properly anymore. I was truly grieving. But it couldn't help it. All I could think about was Mama and Papa. I missed them so much, it was nothing short of unbearable; how much it hurt. I didn't know what to do, except quietly wish I had my parents back. Like that was going to achieve anything, the other half of my conscience said.
I stood holding Amalie's hand at the airport. I was going to live with Pavel and his family, in Russia. I was still getting used to the fact this was actually happening. I did not know that much about Russia or Earth-civilisation for that matter. I had spent my whole life either on Galactria, or on a Starfleet ship. Earth life would be something very new to me. The few possessions I owned had been packed away in a large box, leaving me with only a few items in my backpack, including my PADD and the box of my parents' belongings. Just because I hadn't opened the box yet, didn't mean I was going to let it get left somewhere where I didn't know it was safe. I was very protective of the things I owned, and this box was no exception. All stuffed neatly in my backpack, and that's where my things would stay. I had hardly let go of Amalie's hand this whole morning, because I was nervous, and I knew I wouldn't be seeing her for a long time. It was hard to think of life without her. I had known her nearly my whole life, and now I had to let go of practically everything I had lived in my life.
We walked to the Terminal where we were to meet Victorivich and Pavel. I had only seen Pavel briefly, the day before Mama's funeral. His appearance lifted my spirits slightly, but other than that, my hair had remained in the deep blue or purple category. Though now, it was now maroon- for nervousness, occasionally flickering to the worried khaki. We saw the two of them waiting for us, both smiling. Although even from a distance, Pavel's lopsided grin was stretching wide across his face. I managed to give a little smile as I approached him and his father. Amalie and Vic greeted each other in a friendly manner, as we got to where they were standing. Vic smiled down at me.
'Hello Tess. How are you today?' he said kindly. I held back a scowl. I would've thought it was obvious how I was today. I was scared, nervous, still grieving. Usually my hair says it all. But I guessed he didn't know all of my colour/emotions. Oh well.
'Okay, I guess.' I replied quietly. Amalie squeezed my hand. I squeezed it back.
'Hi Tess!' said Pavel excitedly. I didn't know what he was looking forward to more: going home to his beloved Russia, or the fact that I was coming with him.
'Hi Pavel.' I said.
'Are you looking forward to seeing Russia?' he asked. I shrugged.
'I guess so. I haven't been on Earth very long, I don't know much about how everything works here.'
'That's okay! I'll show you!' he said encouragingly. 'Thanks.' I couldn't help but smile now. My hair went a bit more golden-brown, showing I felt a little more comfortable with Pavel and Vic now. They all smiled at me. It seemed I was getting a little more social again. But that was just with a few particular people. Coping with the rest of the world was going to be harder. But I figured I could trust Vic. Heck, I was going to live with him- I had to trust him.
There was a call on the PA for our flight to start queuing up. I sighed; my hair went back to dark blue. This was it. Oh heck, this was it. This was the first step to starting my new life. I unconsciously held Amalie's hand a lot tighter than I usually would have, but let's face it; this was no "usual" situation. Amalie squatted down, and looked straight into my cold grey eyes, as I looked into her chocolate brown ones. She put both her hands into my smaller ones, and smiled.
'Well Tessie, I guess this is it.'
'Will I ever see you again?' I asked, hoping with all my heart she'd say yes. Amalie gave me a sad smile.
'Yeah sweetie. Of course you will.' My hair lit up a peachy pink- my sign of relief. Amalie continued. 'I'll still be working for Starfleet, but I promise I will try and visit. And I promise I'll contact you on the PADD when I can, okay?'
'Okay.' I replied simply, happy she'd said everything I'd hoped she'd say. Amalie hesitated for a second, before pulling me into a tight, loving embrace. That just brought the tears back- for both of us.
'Oh Tessie, I'm gonna miss you so much my darling.' Amalie said, choking back sobs. I was quietly crying too.
'I'm gonna miss you too. Hey, Amalie?' I said after a few seconds.
'Yeah honey?'
'I love you.'
'I love you too Tess. Always will.'
'Thank you for everything.'
'Oh, that's okay honey. I loved looking after you. And we will see each other again, okay? Keep safe, be good, make your parents and me proud.'
'I will.' I said sadly. I guess I didn't really understand that part, but I wanted to make people proud of me. I knew I'd do something when I was older, something great. Then, I'd really make them all proud. We hugged until another call came for our flight to start boarding. We eventually let go of each other. Amalie hugged Vic, and gave him a small peck on the cheek, giving him a brief thanks for what he was doing.
'Take care of her Vic. Or there'll be trouble.'
'Yes Amalie, I will. I believe you.' he chuckled the last part. Amalie turned to Pavel.
'See ya Pavel. Be a good boy alright?'
'I already am.' Pavel said sort of proudly. Vic and Amalie laughed at this. She swooped down to give me one last kiss on the cheek.
'See ya kiddo. Have a good flight!'
'Bye Amalie!' I called as we started walking towards the queue. Even when we were at the front of the line, ready to go in, I could still see Amalie when I turned around, just to make sure. And she was there.
When we got on the plane, the three of us were seated on a window side of the plane. I sat closest to the window, cause I liked looking at Earth from the sky. Not that we were going out of orbit this time, but I found it interesting. Vic and Pavel had insisted I take the window seat. Either they were both being very gentlemanly, or it was Vic's polite way of keeping me slightly entertained. 13 hours on a plane could be very tiring for a kid. Pavel sat next to me, with his own PADD, and a few other items in his backpack. And his father sat next to him, on the end of our row, already busying himself with work of some kind. As we took off, I was a mix of being excited and scared and still kinda upset. Goodness knows what my hair was displaying. I wasn't going to see Amalie for a long time. I wasn't going to see my mother ever again. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see my father again, but now- I guess I had a new family. But that didn't mean I was going to forget the family I had before. After a few minutes, once we were flying fully horizontally, and safely, I turned to see Pavel smiling expectantly at me. I had a faint idea of what he was going to ask me.
'So.' He said 'What do you want to do?' I paused for a moment, thinking about what I wanted to know since we'd last talked. I smiled.
'Can you tell me about Russia?' I asked. The grin on Pavel's face only got wider. So, he told me about his family back home, his mother (who I was yet to meet), her amazing cooking, and his older brothers who sometimes picked on him, but were pretty smart too. "Though I think I'm smarter sometimes." He had quietly boasted. He spoke of how cold it got, and how beautiful the snow was in winter. Then he asked me about Galactria, and I told him what I remembered of the beautiful planet. I explained how every family had different markings on their skin, representing their ancestry. And how everyone's hair changed colours, though adults were more controlled. Pavel then questioned me more deeply over what the colours meant, so we decide to make a list on his PADD (I'd made a list on mine ages ago.) we got to about 16, and then stopped. I knew there were more, but they hadn't happened to me yet, Mama said I'd experience new feelings as I got older. I had always wondered what they were. I was still to find out. We discussed languages, and most of what we had been saying on the flight was in Russian, because Pavel still had trouble understanding English. And vice versa with me Russian. I promised I'd teach him some Galactrian in addition to English. He got very excited at this.
We eventually got tired of talking about our homes and such, so we began exchanging quantum theory equations and other complicated anomalies (not normal for an eight and nine year old I know, but I admit, it was rather nice to be in the company of another 'wunderkind'.) We had Sodoku battles, played all sorts of brain-teasing games, ate some lunch, before we both; finally exhausted from all that energy and brain-power, fell soundly asleep next to each other, pillows at odd angles behind our heads, or on our shared armrest. It seemed Vic had noticed, because I could swear on Einstein's relative dimension theory, that I heard Vic's throaty chuckle as he noticed the pair of us drifting peacefully into innocent slumber. And barely a second after I had heard that laugh of his, I fell asleep.
I woke nearly 8 hours later to Vic gently shaking my shoulder, and doing the same to Pavel. He softly murmured for us to wake up, saying something about landing soon. As I blearily opened my eyes, I noticed the lights were dimmer in the plane, and many other people had fallen asleep too. As Vic started packing up some of his work items, I lightly poked Pavel in the shoulder as he reluctantly shifted his position. He opened his eyes fully at me and smiled tiredly. We got our things together and waited for the plane to land. When it did, I saw the beautifully lit runway highlighting the deep navy sky. Lots of stars were out and twinkled down on everything. Distantly, I saw what I suspected to be mountain ranges. Yep, this was Russia. I exhaled deeply, taking in the unfamiliar landscape. Even from the window, everything Pavel had said was true so far- the place was beautiful. Once the plane had stopped, we all got off; holding each other's hands to stay together. With our backpacks of essentials, we made our way to the terminal bay to collect our luggage. I was starting to get nervous, and my hair began to turn maroon again, receiving some strange looks from the people behind me. I had no idea what to expect, despite all I had been told of life here. I started to question again whether I was ready for this. Well, no turning back now.
'Papa? Is Mama waiting for us?' Pavel asked brightly, seeming to skip some of his steps. He was so happy that he was returning home, to everything he was comfortable with in life, and now he had one more thing- a true friend. Vic smiled down at his son.
'Yes Pavel. Mama is waiting for us. She's probably found our luggage. You know how good she is at finding things. She notices everything.'
I noticed they had been conversing in Russian ever since they got off the plane. Man, this was going to be weird. I had no problem speaking in Russian; I understood the language generally quite well. There were a few fine points I had to master, but otherwise I could handle a pretty average conversation. I much preferred to speak Galactrian or English. I felt Vic's eyes on me all of a sudden, noticing I hadn't spoken a word since waking up. My worried hair shade probably didn't to back up the identical expression on my face.
'Tess? Are you feeling okay?' he asked in English, with concern. I looked up at him, poorly attempting a smile.
'I don't know. I think so.' I said, stumbling over my words. Vic nodded as he turned his head forward again. He smiled.
'Ah, look Pavel, it's your mother.' He said in Russian. Pavel and I looked up ahead. A thin, pale woman with beautiful blonde hair stood not too far away. She had a loving smile on her face made her look friendly and kind, which reassured any preconceptions I'd had about her. She wore simple clothes, appropriate for the autumn weather. It was kind of cold though. She had a light blue jumper on with a long dark blue skirt. She was very pretty. Pavel grinned so widely this time, I was worried his mouth might detach itself from the rest of his face from his enormous smile. 'Mama' He broke off from his father, and ran straight into the waiting arms of his mother. 'Pascha!' she responded with equal enthusiasm. She picked him up, embracing him closely. I estimated it had probably been a few months since they'd last seen each other. Another twinge of sadness dented my heart. I'd never be hugged like that again- not by my mother anyway. I continued to walk at a steady pace with Vic. When we got to Pavel and his mother, Vic briefly let go of my hand, leaning in to kiss his wife. They whispered something to each other that I didn't understand, and then they both turned to me. I was really freaking out now. But I kept it to myself, my hair remaining a worried maroon. I looked up at the two of them, mainly taking the sight of the woman who I would be living with for an unknown period of time. She continued to smile down at me. Vic spoke first:
'Alina, this is Tess Moretti. Tess, this is Alina Chekov, Pavel's mother, and my wife.' I remained silent.
'Hi Tess, how are you?' her voice was soft, almost like music. Even in Russian.
'Um, o-okay. Nice to m-meet you.' I stuttered out the sentence mumblingly. I felt so stupid right now.
'I've heard a lot about you. Pavel has not stopped talking about you since he found out you were coming to live with us. We're all very excited to have you here.' I looked at Pavel, who was blushing profusely. Alina got down to my level. 'And really,' she said quietly. 'I'm very happy to have another girl in the house. We can show those boys how much better it is to have some girls around the house.' My smile widened slightly at this, my hair going slightly goldy-yellow. She didn't glare; obviously Vic had warned her of my constantly changing appearance. I was really starting to like this woman. Vic took my hand again, and Alina took Pavel's. He yawned involuntarily.
'Well now, let's not stand here all night. Let's go home everyone.' He put some emphasis on that last sentence, I noticed. Home. Really? This was going to be my new home? With a family I didn't even know that well, in another country, another planet for crying out loud. Yes, this was my new life. Little did I know how this would affect me in future…..
Okay, I hope this chapter was okay. Took me two days to complete. Just finished this last bit while reading a Star Trek Fanfic (ironic huhu?) And listening to Phantom of the Opera, Garage Hymnal and Wicked. Kinda nice I'm ending this while listening to "For Good" heehee. Expect update in no less than 3 days. I'm determined to stay at the top of that list! R&R's appreciated. Thanks for subscribing! G-4077 :D