Thank you for reading, reviewing and adding as favourite story :o) And thank you to my Christmas Angel, darkin520 for checking through (should have said Christmas sausage - we know what I mean!)

Chapter 36

It was so good to hear laughter coming from the central area of Med bay. At one point, very recently, Kristin thought that she would never hear it again. But now, the scene of a family sitting, chatting, and laughing together, even though it was in a medical unit, made her feel so pleased. Kit was sitting on Cara's bed, and Freya was sitting on Michael's. Lucas was on his side facing them, and they were talking about Freya's party on Bridger Island. No one really wanted to talk about the last few days, not yet, especially when the mood was so light.

After a while, Dagwood came to find Kit and asked if she wanted to go to have something to eat with him. She hopped off the bed and went to hold his hand.

"Are you coming, Freya?" she asked.

"Yes, do you know I'm really hungry? I can't remember when I last had something to eat."

"Does anyone want me to bring them something?"

"It's alright, Freya," responded Kristin, "I've arranged for something to be brought here."

"I would like to go and have something to eat with Freya," said Lucas and Freya's face lit up. Cara and Kristin noticed this immediately, but Michael was completely oblivious to his daughter's reaction.

"Not this time, Lucas, perhaps tomorrow, when I'm sure that you are strong enough," replied Kristin.

"But…"

"No, Lucas – and before you start, I have your dad's blessing on when I think you should be up and about."

Lucas was going to argue, but Kristin's reference to Nathan being Lucas's dad made Lucas realise that he was safe, back with his family and that normal, every day life and rules were now going to be a part of his life once again, and for this time, he would just feel comforted by that fact and not want to argue against authority.

As they walked in to the dining area, Freya spied Tim and went over to sit with him.

"I know what you did to help, Tim. Thank you so much. Can I come and join you?"

Tim immediately agreed. He was so pleased to see that Freya was up and about, and despite the bruises on her face and her black eye, she seemed is very good spirits. Freya went to help herself from the food bar and sat next to Tim. They chatted and laughed, and Tim was telling her about when he first arrived on seaQuest and all the funny things that had happened to him.

By the time Freya had finished, Kit and Dagwood had already left, and so, Freya made her way back to Med bay. Her mum and dad were sleeping, so she went over to them to kiss them goodnight. Lucas was still awake. Perching on the end of his bed, she smiled.

"It feels good to be back, doesn't it?" she asked, smiling at him.

He reached over and held her hand, "Yes it does."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but I'll be fine in a day or two."

"He hurt you a great deal, didn't he?"

There was no point in lying to her. Why try to hide something that she knew had happened? He was tired of hiding. "Yes, he did, but…"

"What?"

"It's hard to explain, but this time, I do feel that there is closure. Even last time, when we were rescued, I couldn't really settle as I just had a feeling that my father wasn't finished with your mum or me, and as you know, he hadn't. Now, I don't have that feeling of dread….I just feel relieved," he explained and looked straight at Freya, "and happy."

She could feel herself blushing.

"Lucas, I think…"

He began to panic. Had he said too much? Had he read the situation wrong? Had he just made a fool of himself?

Freya saw the look in his eyes.

"No, Lucas, everything is fine. We do need to talk about…us, but at the moment, let's just be happy and think about when you will be well enough to take me to the cinema and how to cope with all the seaQuest crew knowing we are going on our first date." And with that, she leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, "Goodnight."

Lucas just lay back contentedly and watched her leave Med bay, with such a smile on his face that even her father and uncle couldn't have missed had they been watching. He drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in months, everyone had a good night's rest.

The next couple of days involved Cara and Lucas becoming stronger and Michael making a rapid recovery. When Kristin was satisfied that they were all strong enough to leave, there was much hugging and thanking and, in Lucas's case, a very rapid exit. He went straight to his room and found that Tony had left it remarkably tidy. Without thinking, he switched on the laptop in his room and connected up to the internex; with the result that he found himself engrossed for several hours and did not notice time passing; it was good to catch up with some friends that he hadn't been in contact with for a while.

Michael and Cara had gone back to their quarters and found that the girls had made everywhere look warm and welcoming. As they came through the door, Freya was carrying in a pot of tea, and Kit had mugs and milk. They enjoyed their first, relaxed family talk for a while.

All the Bridgers were pleased to find out that Lucas and Cara did not have to go back to the UEO hospital. A house had been found for Michael, Cara, Lucas and the girls so that Dr. Palmer could visit them. At first, Lucas was disappointed that he was going to miss some routine maintenance on the computer systems of seaQuest especially as he found out that seaQuest was actually leaving the docking area and going out on patrol for six weeks. However, once Nathan explained that it was living in the house or going back to hospital, Lucas soon agreed. He was also pleased that he would be able to spend some time with Freya.

"Will they be back for my birthday?" asked Kit. If Freya had had a birthday on Bridger Island, she certainly wanted one there too.

Cara knew exactly what Kit was thinking, not through telepathy, but the fact that Kit was a younger sister and did not want to be outdone by her sister; Cara knew that things were getting back to normal. "Yes, of course, they are due to come back at least ten days before your birthday."

"I would really like to have a fancy dress party," she announced.

"I'm sure we can arrange something," replied Cara.

The next day brought the return of Miguel, Piccolo, and Darwin.

Piccolo and Darwin arrived together at Lucas's room, one through the door and the other in the aqua tube. Lucas greeted Tony and then went straight to the moon pool where Kit was also waiting.

"How did you know?" asked Lucas.

"Darwin told me." Lucas was desperate to know how Kit did the things she did, but a promise was a promise, and he would not let Cara down.

At that point, they were both soaked by a stream of water from Darwin, and they both laughed.

Lucas turned on the vocoder and asked how Darwin was. Darwin answered that he was fine and Malcolm had taken good care of him.

Lucas could still see the brand clearly on Darwin's body. For a moment. he felt a clinching of his stomach, but Kit slipped her hand into his and smiled, and his worry seemed to fade away. Kit and Lucas spent an hour talking and playing with Darwin and both ended up getting into the moon pool with him to play an impromptu game of ball.

As Nathan finally managed to get away from his meeting about the imminent tour, approaching the moon pool, he could hear laughing and shouting from Lucas and Kit and lots of splashing. It made him feel so satisfied to see the three of them just playing and having a good time. He made sure he wasn't standing too close when he first said hello as he didn't want to be soaked.

"Good to see you again, my friend."

"BRIDGER COME AND PLAY," demanded Darwin.

"I can't at the moment as I am in the middle of negotiations with a new colony that has only just allowed the UEO to patrol in their waters. We are hoping to take seaQuest for the first time, but I just wanted to say welcome back."

"BRIDGER PLAY LATER?"

"Yes, of course, I'll be back when I can, but I can see that you are in good hands."

"DARWIN GLAD TO BE BACK WITH POD. WE PLAY. DARWIN BEAT LUCAS AND KIT. DARWIN GOOD AT PLAYING WITH THE BALL."

"I'm sure you are; I'll see you all later." Even with that short visit, Nathan felt much better for seeing Darwin back to his old self.

The Bridger family that was staying on land said fond farewells to the crew of seaQuest.

Cara had promised Kristin that she would start to think about arrangements for the wedding and would contact people to find prices, and what they could do. Kristin would have liked to get more involved, but she trusted Cara and also thought it would be a good idea to give Cara something to work on.

"I don't want a huge celebration…." started Kristin.

"But you want it to be special…" continued Cara.

"It's also dependent when Cynthia can get away, and trying to contact her is really hit and miss, depending where she is, and what she is doing."

Cara knew that Kristin's daughter often risked her life saving children from brutal regimes all over the world, and that Kristin was so proud of her, but wanted her to be at her wedding more than anything. Cara really liked Cynthia, and always saw so much of Kristin in her when they had met on the rare occasions Cynthia had managed to get away.

"So, Lucas, when are you taking Freya out and getting smoochy?" Piccolo asked with a grin on his face in front of all the people in the launch bay.

"I…I… thought…" started Lucas, trying not to give Piccolo the satisfaction of seeing him blush. It wasn't working.

"We are going out next week." Freya replied.

"You are?" said both Bridger brothers together; Nathan looking at Lucas and Michael looking at Freya.

Cara and Kristin both wanted to laugh out loud but gave each other a knowing look.

"Yes, we are," continued Freya, and she slipped her hand into Lucas's.

Both women gave their own Bridger brother a, 'not now' look, so nothing more was said.

Dagwood went over to Kit and knelt down so he was looking into her eyes, "I will miss you, Kit."

"I will miss you, Dagwood, but here is my book about the Enchanted Forest. Tony can read it to you every night instead of me, won't you Tony?"

"Well…I'm kind of…" Piccolo began.

"Great! Thanks Tony!" And Kit went up to Piccolo and gave him a hug.

It was Lucas's turn to smile at Piccolo and have the last laugh as he and the rest of the family boarded the launch to take them back to land.