"You look nice…" Caleb greeted as Eli came out of the girls bedroom. She had changed into a dress that had been given to her by one of the crewmembers and had drawn her hair gently back with hair combs and a small flower. The gold bracelets and necklace actually looked like they went with the outfit.
"I feel very nervous…" Eli admitted. "The clothes are all an act, I never thought I'd ever meet my Father."
"You are lucky that you still have one alive.." Caleb reminded.
"I know, and for that I feel guilty for that as well."
"Of all the emotions to have Eli, guilt at having a parent still alive isn't right." Caleb reminded and went closer to Eli to comfort her but the door chimed.
"Come in." Eli called out and the door slid open to reveal Deanna in the corridor.
"Are you ready?" Deanna asked and sensed that she had interrupted something but Eli nodded her head and came forward.
"As ready as I will ever be." Eli shared and took hold of Caleb's hand and squeezed it. "Caleb was just sharing some words of support." Deanna paused and waited for them to finish their moment before taking Eli away. She lead them through the corridors of the ship and came to a door that opened into a darkened room, illuminated only by the stars and the backlight of some artwork on the one wall. Eli looked further into the room and saw a man standing close to the back of windows, it was Commander Riker, her father standing, looking just as anxious and nervous as she felt. Deanna put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and then left.
"Hi." Eli started as she came into the room and waited for Will to turn around.
"Hi." Will returned and watched as Eli came into the light and he was surprised with how grown up she looked now, she no longer looked like the injured waif that they had found only a week before. She still was quite thin, but she had a new energy about her. "So.. It looks like I'm your father…"
"So I've been told." Eli returned. "I like the fact that you don't beat around the bush."
"Too much time has been wasted for that." Will admitted. "I'm not one to have unrealistic expectations, but I just want you to know that if you mother had told me about you, I would have been in your life from the start."
"I know." Eli sighed as she came closer to him. "My mother was always very mysterious about you.. I was only 7 years old when she died, so I barely new her either. My Aunt had promised me that when we were done with the five years on Heathro that she was going to help me find you. She just wanted to experience the five years." Eli sat down as Riker offered her the chair across from him. "I wasn't old enough to make any choices."
"Yet you paid the ultimate sacrifice." Riker admitted as he reached out and fingered Eli's bracelet. "We are going to get those off you all."
"I know, Caleb has been offering himself as guinea pig to your team assigned to figuring out how to get them off." Eli shared.
"I know." Riker smiled as he responded in a similar way as her. "I do have one questions though. Why do you go by Eli, when one hears the name one thinks of a boys name, yet you are very much a young woman."
"Grandma was a believer of a higher power. She enjoyed reading the Christian Bible and reading about Eli the wise priest… He had other issues, but Grandma always thought I was smarter than the average kid, so she started calling me Eli from when I was very young. She was the only one that called me that, but when we were taken and placed into Servitude, I didn't want them to know my real name as my only form of control I told them to call me Eli. The others just went along with it and I became Eli."
"Do you like the name?" Riker asked.
"It's made me who I am… So it sort of stuck." Eli looked out at the stars. "Why haven't we left orbit yet?" Eli asked.
"We've been ordered to stay and see if we can learn about Georgians… They are a very little known society. We are unsure why they destroyed your colony and killed all the adults."
"Power." Eli whispered as she continued to look out the windows.
"Excuse me?"
"Power, isn't that what any society does when they take the strong and remove them, and leave the weak so they can keep control over. That is what the Georgians did." Eli looked back to Riker.
"I'm not the most loveable person." Eli admitted. "I hope that you don't think I'm just going to be a quiet and meek daughter."
"I never would have suggested it." Riker looked at the young girl and couldn't help but see his eyes, and the way she carried herself reminded him of his mother.
"Do you want me to stay here on the Enterprise or are you going to send me to your extended family, your parents?"
"No, you will stay here until you are ready to move onto the next adventure of your life. I would hope that you will go on to further your education." Riker suggested.
"Once I catch up with the five years I've lost first." Eli returned softly.
"We have some excellent teachers here on the Enterprise, I don't think you will have any difficulties catching up." Riker paused. "I don't want you to think I have any hidden ideas on how we will develop into our relationship as Father and daughter. As you and I are both aware, I haven't been aware that I've been a Father for sixteen years. You've been through a lot and haven't had a relationship with a father in your life so I don't expect us to go down this road without any challenges. I just want to know if you are interested in going down this road at all."
"I'm a little overwhelmed by all this." Eli looked at the man with tears in her eyes.
"So, am I." Riker admitted. "Is that a yes?"
"It's a Lets try." Eli nodded and Riker smiled a genuine toothy grin and Eli returned it with one as well.
"They're off!" Tobin cried as the last of his ownership jewelry was removed by a relieved looking Geordie and Worf. The group looked at the pile of necklaces and bracelets and rubbed their wrists. Jessa poked at the pile.
"What are you going to do with them?" Daisy asked as she looked at them like they were going to jump back onto them without warning.
"I don't know." Geordie returned.
"I have an idea." Caleb returned quietly. "Do you think we could get permission to return to the planet before we leave orbit?"
"I can find out." Worf allowed as he understood what Caleb wanted to do.
"Captains Personal Log: Stardate 48923.7. We have allowed the children to return back to the planet for a time of memorial, Commander Riker and Beverly Crusher have agreed to accompany them. When they return we will be set a course to starbase 475 to reunite the children with their remaining family members, Elizabeth Riker, will be remaining on board as requested and I look forward to learning how my second in command develops his skills as Father."
"So, we're just going to dig a whole and put them in?" Jessa asked in surprise.
"We're leaving them here." Caleb nodded. "We can't leave all our memories of what has happened here on Heathro Colony, but we can leave these physical reminders here so we don't ever have to see them again."
"We leave our family here as well." Eli admitted. "Although we are unsure where they are, but we know that their spirits will remain here."
"We leave the hard work and the servitude." Daisy added.
"We leave the cold and the rain, the ground we were forced to sleep on." Tobin contributed.
"With those things that we purposely choose to leave here, we also know that we are also changed by what we've experienced. We keep with us some of the memories, and hope that they will fade in time."
"We keep with us the relationships we have developed between the five of us. We remain closer than family, tied by our shared challenges and trail." Eli returned.
"We keep with Caleb the Brave, Eli the Wise." Jessa chimed in when she finally figured out what was being said.
"Daisy the Calm, and Tobin the Fearless." Caleb continued.
"And Jessa the Quiet." Daisy finished.
"Something I won't be any longer!" Jessa announced with pride. "Those things can't keep me silent any longer!" With that they lowered the box into the group and covered it with dirt, and then after a few moments of silence they chose to return to the Enterprise.
"You will make sure you keep in touch?" Eli reminded Daisy and Jessa as they prepared to beam over to the starbase.
"I will, I promise." Daisy nodded and Jessa also agreed. "I really like the subspace thing.. We can see each other no problem."
"Then we will see each other in six months." Jessa reminded. They had all decided that they would come together to discuss the changes.
"Absolutely." Eli agreed. Tobin had already left, his grandmother had come and he had left, ready for the new adventure. The girls hugged again and then they disappeared.
Eli had become more familiar with the ship and didn't have any trouble finding Ten Forward. She knew that Caleb was there, as he was planning to remain on the Enterprise until they stopped back to Deep Space 12. His Aunt had agreed to meet them there, but that wouldn't be for a few more weeks. He was so close to being 18 that no one really argued his choice, he might go and stay with Aunt for a while, but he was old enough to make his own choices on where he wanted to go.
"Are the girls gone?" Caleb asked as Eli sat down across from him.
"Yes, it was hard, but it was good at the same time. Jessa and Daisy still have the need for family to look after them. I'm glad they have family that is willing to step up to be there for them."
"So am I." Caleb them reached out a hand across the table and took hold of Eli's hand. "How are things working with Commander Riker?"
"Slow and steady I guess." Eli shrugged. "I'm glad he's interested, but I'm also scared to get to know him. I guess I just need to keep working on it."
"I think he's a good man Eli, just give him a chance." Caleb shared wisely.
"Maybe you should become Caleb the wise." Eli admitted and Caleb smiled shyly.
"I'd like to make sure we stay in touch too." Caleb started.
"I'd like that too." Eli admitted and blushed as she realized what that could mean. The two sat in quite silence. It was at that time the Commander Riker and Deanna Troi walked into Ten Forward and caught the last few minutes of two young people's private moment.
"How ready are you to have that birds and the bees talk?" Deanna teased as they stood there for a moment.
"What do you mean?" Riker asked for a moment and then raised his eyebrow when he noticed. "Isn't that what ships counsellor helps with?" It was then that Eli saw them and waved the two over to the table. No one would be left behind any longer, new challenges and relationships would be their reward.