Looks like most of you are enjoying Finding Family. Thank you guest reviewers. And I am not sure where you think the story is going but you are probably correct. Let me know if you are right. I have added my own twist in this chapter. I had a little passage in a previous chapter between Kat and Beverly about who Wesley's biological father is (my twist) and in this section there is a conversation between Kat, Wes and the Captain.

Now on to the story, Hope yall enjoy!

We meet up with the Captain and the others about thirty minutes before we are scheduled to leave. "Captain where would you like us to put our belongings?"

He looks to both of us, "Wesley, just load them in the back of the shuttle. Once Guinan and Ro Lauren join us we will leave."

I look over to Katharyn and then pick up our bags. I know she is excited to see her parents. I know I am looking forward to seeing my mother.

"Why are you staring at me, Wes?"

"I am just admiring your beauty. And I was enjoying how excited you are. Sometimes it's nice to know how you feel. Then I can enjoy it with you."

She walks onto the shuttle and takes a seat. I follow her and go over to the Captain who is already sitting down. "Do you need me to do anything, sir?"

"No, Mister Crusher. Go on and have a set next to Miss. Riker." I wonder at the change in the way he addresses us, from informal too formal. I look back towards the entrance to the shuttle and realize why the change. Keiko, Ro and Guinan have joined us in the shuttle. The three of them sit down and the Captain and Ensign Ro Lauren proceed with the pre-flight checklist.

We are finally ready to take off. Keiko and Ensign Ro have been mostly quiet, not bothering to ask about Kat or myself. Guinan, however, wasted no time is talking to us.

"Wesley, it is nice to see you. It has been a while since I have seen you."

"It is nice to see you too." I say to her.

Guinan then looks over at Kat. "Hello, I don't believe we have met before. My name is Guinan. I work in ten forward."

Kat looks at Guinan and smiles. "Nice to meet you. I am Katharyn Riker."

I see Guinan raise her eyebrows and she looks over at me. Katharyn notices as well. "Yes, my parents are who you think they are."

"So what were the two of you doing on Marlonia?"

"Kat and I are on break from the Academy. We decided on Marlonia because of the archeological digs. I really enjoy Archeology and I convinced Kat to join me. We found some amazing pieces of pottery. When we get back to the Academy, I want to piece together what I have and see if I found a whole piece."

"You can have mine to see if they fit or make a whole if you want, Wes. I enjoy other extracurricular activities, like reading ancient texts and playing music. Acting and singing. Among other things."

She nudges my shoulder and I know exactly what she is thinking. I can feel my face heat up as I blush. "Kat! I really hope the Captain doesn't catch your meaning." She just laughs softly.

The Captain loudly clears his throat, "I found a few pieces of pottery as well. I found these in the tertiary level of the dig. They are typical of Marlonian cookware. Early second century it looks like. These markings as very similar too early Taguan designs, but have more intricate patterns making them closer to Buranian."

Guinan looks to the Captain and then back to us. "You three take shore leave on the most beautiful planet in this area and you spend it in a cave?" She then looks to Kat, "Please tell me you got Wesley to do other activities?"

I blush again and Kat smiles, "Of course I did. We did several activities."

"Did you just wink at Guinan?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Well I found it to be a very rewarding experience myself. Just look at these fragments, they are in near perfect condition. Kat, Wes, how do your pieces look?"

I answer before Kat can. "Near perfect condition just like yours. Which is great considering they are around seven hundred years old."

Guinan looks at the Captain, "So is my father."

Kat looks up to Guinan, "Really? What species are you?"

I tune them out and listen to the conversation between Ensign Ro and Keiko.

"Is that a Draebidium Froctus?" Ro asks Keiko.

"Actually, it's an Draebidium Calimus. You can tell by the shape of the leaves. I didn't know you were interested in plant biology."

"I took a class at the Academy. I don't remember very much though."

I look at Ensign Ro, "Don't worry, I don't remember much either. Captain Sprout was a bit monotone and it was hard to stay awake."

Kat taps my back, "Wes, I still don't understand why you took that class. You couldn't tell a helpful plant from a poisonous plant if your life depended on it. And let's hope it never does." Everyone got a laugh out of that one.

"Enterprise to shuttlecraft Fermi."

"This is Fermi, go ahead Enterprise." Ro says.

"We have just received a distress signal from the Starfleet science team on Ligos Seven."

Captain Picard assumes command and is now all business. It never ceases to amaze me how he can go from laid back and relaxed to all business in a moment's notice. "Can you identify the problem?"

"No sir. The call was cut off mid-transmission."

"Lay in a course and prepare to engage at warp eight as soon as we are on board. We also have two visitors with us. Have quarters prepared for them."

"Aye, sir.

"We will rendezvous with the ship in three minutes, sir." Ensign Ro tells the Captain.

All of a sudden we enter a blue vortex. I have never seen anything like it before. Ensign Ro starts reading instruments, "We are caught in some kind of energy field."

"Hard about, full impulse."

"Aye, sir." She tries making the requested adjustments but nothing changes. Kat grabs my hand and holds on to it tightly. I can feel fear coming from her and I know she can feel the same coming off of myself and the others.

Ro and the Captain keep trying to contact the Enterprise but they are getting no answer.

"There is too much interference. I can't contact the Enterprise."

The Captain is still trying to help get us out of the vortex. "Transfer auxiliary power to the inertial dampers."

We hear the shuttles warning system. "Warning. Structural failure imminent."

Great. Just what we need. At least I have complete faith in the Captain's abilities to get us out of danger. I hope the Enterprise can get a lock on us and beam us aboard before the shuttle breaks up.

Finally, we get beamed aboard the Enterprise. I can see Commander Riker and Mr. O'Brian in the transporter room. They both have a surprised look on their faces.

"Thank you, Mister O'Brian. Another moment and…" The Captain stops. I look over to him and then Kat. I then look to the others and see they all look like children. I face palm, and shake my head. Oh, no!

When we materialize in the transporter room on the Enterprise, I see my father standing in there. He has a surprised look in his face. I look around as the Captain starts to speak and realize why. We all look like children. I don't want to be a child again. It wasn't great the first time around. I was very lonely.

I watch as the Captain gets a worried look on his face and Wesley face palms and shakes his head.

My father looks at all of us, "Captain, I think we should head to sickbay and see if Doctor Crusher can figure out what happened."

"Of course, Number One."

I see my father raise his eyebrows, he doesn't seem comfortable with taking orders from a child.

We get to sickbay and the Doctor comes in. She notices the Captain, Ro, Keiko and Guinan first. "What happened?"

"The shuttle was enveloped in a blue vortex and when the Enterprise beamed us aboard we became children." The Captain tells her.

I look over at her, "Please tell me you can fix me. I really don't want to be a kid again. It wasn't great the first time."

She finally notices Wesley and I when I speak. "Wes, Kat, what are you doing here?"

"We were on leave from the Academy and ran into the Captain. He invited us back to the Enterprise. It's nice to see you mom. I just wish I wasn't a kid again either." Wesley tells his mother. She then walks over and gives him a hug.

"Don't worry. I will figure out what happened and fix all of you. I just need to run some tests first."

She runs her test as my mother walks in.

"What happened?" She asks my father not yet noticing me. It amazes me how I can blend in still. It was my favorite thing to do as a child when there were still people on Ganzetpeer. I could blend in and observe what was going on around me.

"There was some sort of transporter malfunction. When the six of them were beamed aboard, they were turned into children. Doctor Crusher is performing scans of each of them to see if she can figure out what happened."

"Six of them? Who are the two extra?"

"The Captain ran into Katharyn and Wesley on Marlonia. He invited them here so they could visit."

My mother then notices me. She walks over to me and wraps her arms around me. "Oh, Little One. We will get this figured out. I am glad to see you though."

"I know you will get it figured out. I'm not worried. I would just rather I not have to grow up all over again. It was difficult enough the first time."

She releases me and they both walk over to the Doctor. I move closer to Wesley. He stands behind me and puts his arms around me. There is now a bigger difference in height between us than there was. I kind of like being able to tuck my head under his chin now. I can hear as his mother talks to my parents about all six of us. We all listen in even though the adults don't think we are listening.

"According to the bioscans, their DNA structure is now consistent with those of preadolescence. But as far as we can tell only their bodies were changed."

"Their individual intelligence and their behavioral responses are exactly the same as they were before the accident." Deanna tells Beverly and Will. She looks over to Wes and I, "They definitely still have adult responses. We might need to watch those two until we get them all back too normal. Preadolescence and then adolescence urges, while ok as adult aren't ok before then."

I see her looking at us and catch what she said. I roll my eyes at her and watch as she smiles.

The Captain chooses now to speak up, "What happened to the shuttlecraft, Number One?"

"The shuttle broke up just after we beamed you all out of there. Mister Data is coordinating the salvage efforts now. Sir." I can feel how uncomfortable my father feels addressing a child, listening to a child. It is very hard for any adult to accept a child telling them what to do, especially when their own child is right there.

"What about the energy field the shuttle passed through?" Wesley asks. Until now he had been very quiet. He was trying to figure out what happened.

"We have been trying to scan it, but we are running into a lot of interference. It will take some time." My father answers.

The Captain jumps off the lab table and adjusts his uniform, "We can't afford to stick around any longer. The distress call for Ligos Seven is top priority. Leave a class four probe behind to gather information on the vortex. Doctor, let me know when you have further information. Number One you are with me." He starts to walk out of sickbay.

Doctor Crusher stops him, "Captain, I need to run additional tests."

He turns to her and nods, "Of course. The five of you will remain as needed to assist the Doctor." He turns back around and walks out of sickbay with my father following behind him.

I watch them walk out and them look to the others. Guinan and Ro are sitting on one exam table, Keiko on another and Wesley and I standing between the two. Guinan keeps staring at Ro.

Ro finally notices, "What?" She asks Guinan.

"You know, you make a pretty cute kid."

I laugh out loud which earns me a glare from Ro before she turns back to Guinan.

"Great. Just what I want to be, cute."

I shrug my shoulders, "Hey at least it's better than being ugly."

"Were you this much fun when you were a kid?" Guinan asks Ro.

"I was in a refugee camp. Fun wasn't in my vocabulary."

"At least you had other's around to talk to and for company. I had no one. Everyone on the planet died from radiation leaving me all alone." I told Ro.

Guinan looks from Ro to me, "What about now? You aren't in that camp anymore." She says to Ro. "And you," she says turning to me. "are not alone anymore."

"Fun is being back at work in my own uniform." Ro replies.

I consider both of their words. "Yes well we obviously can't work right now so we might as well enjoy ourselves right?" I ask all of them. Looking at each of them in turn.

I look all around sickbay to see where all the adults are. My mother and the Doctor have walked over to the Doctor's office for a moment. I them smile mischievously at Wes before I tap his shoulder and run off. "Tag! You're it!" Guinan and Wesley chase me out of sickbay.

We run down the corridor tagging each other as we run, not caring about the rules. We know we shouldn't be running but where is the fun in following rules.

I was facing Wes and Guinan basically running backwards, "Come and get me! I bet you can't catch me!" I quickly turn back around to run a little faster. Only instead of running faster I bump into something solid and fall backwards, hard on my butt.

"Oof." My wall says. Hmm…walls can't talk. I look up and see my father.

"Oops. Um…sorry Daddy. I didn't see you."

"No, I bet you didn't. I find it hard to see what's behind me as well. Not to mention you aren't supposed to be running in the corridors."

"Yes, sir." I reply.

"Don't let me see it again. Now, Guinan, you should return to your quarters. Wes, go to your mother's and Kat go to your mother's."

"Dad, we were just playing. I don't want to go to mom's quarters. I will be bored."

He looks down at me with a stern look. "Katharyn, your mother and I don't want you going anywhere alone with Wesley until we have you both back to being adults. Certain activities are not appropriate for you now."

"We aren't alone, Guinan is with us. Can we go to the holodeck?"

He sighs and rubs his hand down his face. "I guess. Just stay together, understand."

I smile at him, "Thank you daddy." I hug him and we walk off while he continues on his way.

As soon as he is around the corner, we start skipping down the corridor.

"Wes, Kat, I am going to go find Ro Laren. She needs to loosen up." She skips off to go to Ro Laren's quarters.

I look to Wes. "Well we aren't supposed to be alone. Let's go find Jean-Luc."

"Why?" Wes asks me.

"Because I have some questions for him and I think it would be good for him to spend some time with you. Maybe he will see something that your mother hasn't told him about yet."

He shrugs his shoulders. "I guess. If you want to."

I smile, "Of course. Computer, where is Captain Picard?"

"Captain Picard is in his quarters."

I grab Wesley's hand and drag him off to the Captain's quarters. When we get there I push the door chime.

"Enter."

We both walk in. "Jean-Luc, would you like to go horseback riding on the holodeck with us?"

"Jean-Luc? I will be addressed as Captain."

"No offence but you are currently twelve years old like Wesley. Therefore, you are Jean-Luc. Now, horseback riding?"

He looks to me considering what I said. "Aren't you twelve as well?" he asks me.

"No, I'm closer to ten or eleven. I went through puberty early so preadolescence would be ten or eleven for me. Doesn't really matter. Are we going?"

He looks to me and then to Wesley who had been quiet this whole time. "Wes, what do you want to do?"

"I would like to go horseback riding as well."

"Ok. Let me grab my saddle and we will head to the holodeck." He changes and gathers what he needs and we head to the holodeck.

When we get to the holodeck, Jean-Luc calls up a program and we enter. I can see a beautiful, thick forest with beautiful mountains in the background. There is a clear blue sky with a few wispy clouds here and there. We walk up to the horses. Two of them already have saddles on them and the other only has a blanket on its back. Jean-Luc puts his saddle on its back and tightens it down. After the saddle is on the horse he mounts it and we do the same with ours.

I have only been horseback riding once last summer. Wesley took me to a beach where we could ride horses in the surf. But this is nothing like the surf, I soon find out. There are a few trails going different directions. Jean-Luc chooses one and we follow him. The path is a little bumpy and I occasionally feel like I am going to fall off.

Everyone is silent as we pick our way through the path. I don't know where it is leading nor how long we are riding. I just know that this is a very peaceful ride. I look at the two boys in front of me. From the back they look identical. Their hair is the same color. They hold themselves in the same manner. From the front I know I could tell them apart. There are some similarities between the two of them. I don't think Jean-Luc would notice it unless it was pointed out. Their noses are set the same on their faces. They both chew their lip when they are deep in thought like they are now. Even when they are adults, they chew on their bottom lips. I had seen Jean-Luc do it when he was at the hearing at the Academy last September.

I, myself, am deep in thought. So deep in fact that I don't realize that we have gotten to a clearing in the forest. My horse had been following Wesley's and Jean-Luc's horses so when they stopped, mine did as well.

I look around me at the clearing. The clearing has soft, green grass in the middle. The trees surrounding the clearing are very tall, but the branches don't form a canopy at the top. You can see the blue sky and the clouds.

"Let's stop here. I would like to just lay down in the grass and watch the clouds." Jean-Luc gets off of his horse and lets him loose to graze. Wesley and I do the same with ours. We watch as Jean-Luc goes to the middle of the clearing and lays down in the grass. We follow suit. We all lay with our heads in the middle, almost touching, on our backs.

Wesley points to a cloud. "That one looks like a puppy."

I angle my head to one side trying to see what he was seeing. "I think it looks more like a cat."

"No I see a wolf." Jean-Luc points out. We all laugh and continue pointing out what we see in the clouds.

After a while we get quiet. We just lay there, looking at the sky. A song comes to mind and I start singing it.

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time
Chasing clouds
Around the sky

"Kat, it's chasing cars around our heads, not clouds around the sky." Wesley states interrupting me.

"I know, but we aren't chasing cars, we are watching clouds so I changed it up a bit."

"You know, Wes, I was thinking the same thing. I also noticed something and I am not quite sure what to make of it."

"Well, great minds think alike." Wesley says to Jean-Luc. "What did you notice?"

"Well, I noticed a few things about you. You see, you were fifteen when you came to the Enterprise. I hadn't seen you in ten years. I never paid much attention to who you looked like as a child. If you looked more like your mother or your father."

I tense up slightly and then relax. This isn't a bad thing. It would be great for Jean-Luc to find out about Wesley without us telling him. "I notice that you both have the same hair. Your noses look the same and you both bite your bottom lips when you are thinking. Oh and when you both stand up, you fix your uniform in exactly the same way."

"Thanks Kat. But I think I noticed that myself over the years. I just never questioned it. But now I can't help but question it. Other's might question it as well if they see us together."

He stops and sits up. Wesley and I sit up as well and we all turn to face each other in our little circle. "Can you see it Wes?"

Wesley looks at him and then at me. I can see the question in his eyes. I don't have to read his mind to know what he is thinking. I nod my head and grab his hand. I squeeze it to give him strength to tell Jean-Luc what we found out. "Last term, Kat and I were taking a Genetics course. For part of the course we have to take our DNA and match it with our parent's DNA. It's a good place to start because we already know our DNA would match our parent's. Well in my case it turned out to not be true. My DNA matched thirteen alleles from my mother but none from my father. Kat and I got to talking about it and she started asking questions about my childhood and who my mother's friends were. When I mentioned how close you and her are she figured out how to get your DNA and ran it with mine. We found that thirteen alleles matched meaning you are my biological father. Kat confronted mother about it when she came onboard back in September. Mother didn't deny it, she only asked that we not say anything to you. And we didn't. You asked us."

They sat there staring at each other for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. I just sat there picking at the grass waiting for one of them to say something, anything that would let the other know what they were feeling. I could feel what they felt. Wesley was relieved that he had finally been able to talk to Jean-Luc about his findings. Relieved that he didn't have to hid it anymore. He wanted to get to know Jean-Luc as his father and not his Captain.

Jean-Luc was slightly confused but also felt hurt because Beverly never told him. He would have been there for her and Wesley. He now understood why he always felt protective of Wesley. And why he felt he had to be hard on him sometimes to get him to do what is right.

"Wesley, if I had known, I would have been there for you."

"It's ok. It's not your fault she never told you. She never told me either. At least now I know why I felt the need to make you proud of me."

They both laugh. "And I have always felt protective over you Wes. First thing, we help your mother figure out how to reverse this, second, we have some father/son bonding time. I know quite a bit about you but I want to spend more time with you whenever possible. We can go horseback riding again, we can read ancient texts, go to dig sites, anything you want to."

Awe this is so sweet. I can only hope that I get this chance with my own father.

Our little bit of fun gets interrupted by my father walking onto the holodeck. "Katharyn, Wesley, Captain it's getting late. Katharyn, you and Wesley need to return to your respective quarters for the night. The three of you can play together tomorrow."

I smile at his choice of words. They didn't bother me or Wesley but Jean-Luc wasn't very happy at the choice of words but he politely ignores them. He looks to the both of us. "Good night, Kat, Wes. See you both after breakfast. Wes, could you let your mother know that I still want to see her at breakfast?"

"Yes, I can."

I watch as Jean-Luc walks off to his quarters. I turn to Wesley. "Good night Wes." "I love you."

He smiles. "Good night, Kat." "I love you too."

I smile and start walking off. My father shakes his head and follows me to my mother's quarters while Wes goes to his.