Flora Pike walked quickly through the halls of Roddenberry Elementary school dressed in her green hospital scrubs and a bag in hand. The tall brunette was urgently making her way to her daughter's kindergarten classroom. Upon entering the room, Flora was immediately met by Felicity's elderly teacher, Mrs. Cooper, whose eye brows were knitted in a worried expression.

"Mrs. Pike, thank goodness you're here," said Felicity's teacher. "We're so sorry that we had to call you at the hospital for this, but she just won't come down."

"It's completely all right," said Flora adjusting the shoulder strap of her bag. "Where is my daughter?"

"This way," Mrs. Cooper directed Flora to follow her. "There was nothing out of the ordinary with her before lunch." Mrs. Cooper said. "Her behavior was perfectly fine. She was smiling and laughing. Then, after lunch, her mood changed." said Mrs. Cooper walking Flora outside to the school's playground. " She had a temper tantrum and threw bits of cookies all over the place. We reprimanded her for it and then..." Mrs. Cooper pointed to a long purple tube that doubled as a slide situated in the center of the playground connected to a jungle gym. "Felicity climbed to the top of the tube." Mrs. Cooper looked back at Flora. "She said she wouldn't come down unless we got her father and we can't do that…"

"Because he is off planet," said Flora in complete understanding. "Say no more, Mrs. Cooper, I'll get her down."

Flora walked over to tunnel slide noticing the mass of cookie crumbs that lied on the bottom of the structure. Flora wiped the crumbs away planting herself on the space and putting her upper body in the tunnel.

"Felicity? Honey? Can you please come down?" Flora spoke up into the tunnel hearing her own voice echo in the dark space. Flora received no response from her daughter. Flora spoke again. "Felicity, please come down," Flora pleaded in the darkness. Still, she garnered no response except for her own voice. Flora tried one more time.

"Felicity?"

"I want, Daddy," Felicity's five year old voice echoed down.

"Honey," Flora said in disappointment. "You know, we can't get Daddy."

"I don't care."

"Please, Felicity?"

"No."

Flora emitted a long deep breath. Flora and her husband had already explained to their daughter the circumstances regarding her father's role in Starfleet. She should be able to understand their family's situation by now. Mrs. Cooper had said that Felicity was perfectly fine prior to lunch. Something must have changed during that time. It must be something else, Flora thought. She removed her bag from her shoulder placing it on the mulch covered ground. She then climbed the latter attached to the play set fitting herself into the cramped space of the tunnel. She crawled into the tunnel until she saw the familiar frame of her daughter of whom was curled in the fetal position against the tunnel wall.

"Felicity," Flora whispered to her daughter. "What's the matter, dear?"

Felicity's voice was barely audible from her face being smothered between her knees. A muffled sound came out instead.

Flora leaned closer to her daughter. Positioning her left ear so she could hear what her daughter was saying. Luckily, Flora was able to translate Felicity's muffles into words.

"'Nothing'?" Flora repeated surprised to hear that word no matter how inaudible it was. "Come on, Felicity it is definitely not 'nothing'. Mrs. Cooper said you were fine before lunch. What happened?"

Another couple of muffles erupted from Felicity's curled up frame in response.

"'Cookies'?" Flora heard from her daughter. "What do 'cookies' have to do with this?"

Felicity picked her head up from her knees with a tear stained face, "They have everything to do with it," she sniffled and used her hand to wipe her eyes. "Marisol had better cookies than me."

"So?" Flora asked, not understanding what the issue was.

"'So'?" Felicity said in frustration. "Brandon chose her cookies over mine. Now he doesn't want to be my boyfriend anymore. At lunch he saw Oreos and they were Marisol's. I had Chips' Ahoy.. He went over to Marisol and didn't come back to sit with me. He stayed with Marisol the whole time. After I went up to him and asked him why he didn't sit next to me he said it's cuz he doesn't like me anymore. He likes Marisol's Oreos. He said my cookies stunk. And, he's right…"

"Oh…," Flora said softly. "I see…" This whole thing was about a boy.

"Honey," Flora patted her daughter's head. "Its all right."

"No," Felicity shook her head letting her pigtails swish back and forth, "No, its not all right." Felicity sniffled in between breaths. "No, boy likes me. No boy will ever like me."

" Felicity," Flora said instantly. "That it is not true." Flora looked at her with empathy in her eyes. Flora remembered when she was a young girl and developed a crush on a boy for the first time. At that time in her life, if a boy didn't like her back it seemed like the end of the world. And, now, it was possible Felicity believed in that same thing. Oh, to be five years old again, reflected Flora.

Flora opened her mouth to speak,"I couldn't tell you how many times I thought no one would love me. There were plenty of boys who chose other girls over me because of the-" Flora cleared her throat thinking of the appropriate description to use, "Treats they had." Flora then began to brush the tears off her daughter's cheek, "That was before I met your father of course."

A calm exterior began to replace Felicity's distressed appearance. "When you met, Daddy?"

"Yup," Flora said before an idea unexpectedly entered Flora's mind. Flora pulled her necklace out from underneath her collar. "If he didn't love me he wouldn't have given this to me. He certainly wouldn't have put a special message inside. Letting me know how much I matter to him."

Felicity had seen the locket necklace many times. Since the first time she saw it, Felicity had decided that it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Well, next to her mother of course. But, she hadn't known that there was something hidden within. "What does it say?" Felicity asked.

Flora opened the locket and read aloud the lines engraved on the silver. "It says, 'Distance is just a test to see how far love can travel.' You're father gave it to me as a wedding present."

"Wow," Felicity said in awe, eyes sparkling. "It's so pretty. Daddy must love you so much Mommy."

"Yes," Flora gave a soft smile thinking of her loving husband. She hoped he was thinking of her too... wherever he was in the galaxy. . "Trust me, Felicity," Flora spoke affectionately. " You're going to find someone that'll love you like no one else. I promise you."

Felicity looked at her mother with eyes full of hope, "You think so?"

"Yes," Flora insisted. It may have taken her a while for Flora to find the love of her life, but it wasn't impossible. Flora could see the same thing happen for her daughter, although, it may take a while. "Now, honey," Flora whispered. "Why don't you slide on down and I'll take you home."

Felicity nodded in agreement with her mother, but she hesitated in sliding down the slide.

"Well, go on," Flora advised her daughter playfully.

"I will, "Felicity smiled brightly."But, you need to be there to catch me, Mommy."

Flora glanced at her daughter presenting a wide smile, "Of course, I'll be there to catch you, Felicity. I always will."

Felicity instinctually clutched her locket after she was abruptly awoken by the uneasy landing of the shuttle. Ever heard of a smooth landing? Felicity thought resentfully. It took a moment for Felicity to remember where she was after sleeping for quite some time. Once she looked down at her red uniform and noticed all the cadets who were filing out of the vehicle she finally remembered. Felicity quickly unbuckled her seat belt and rushed inside of the cockpit. The excitement she felt caused her to accidently bump into one of the pilots. She offered a quick apology before getting absorbed into the sight before her. Through the shuttle's windshield, she finally saw what she had been yearning to see for days. Finally, Felicity saw the tall buildings of Starfleet Academy. Finally, Felicity saw the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Finally, she saw the grass green lawn and the sea of red cadets upon the grass. Finally, Felicity was home.

"Remember," said her father as he stood in the entryway of the cockpit. Once again they had the cockpit all to themselves as the pilots filed out. "You still have to go through new student orientation, despite the fact, you've been on this campus hundreds of times."

"I know," Felicity said, continuing to stare at the sight in front of her.

"You also should have already synced all of your textbooks to your datapadd. If not, then be sure to do that when you get to your dorm room. The same with your schedule."

"I already have."

"If you have issues with anyone or anything. My office is always open and my communicator is always on. And, even though you have a place to stay on campus-"

"'You shouldn't hesitate to come back to the apartment,'" Felicity said, reciting her father's initial words of advice. Felicity smiled and walked over to Christopher. Felicity knew that was this was his way of secretly showing how much he wanted her back home. He was doting on her the way a father should when his child goes off to school. It was incredibly sweet. She reached for his hand gently squeezing it in reassurance. "I know, Captain Pike. I'll be all right."

"You're right," he said looking down at the floor as if he was trying to convince himself to not be so worried. In the past, he never had the opportunity to be there for his daughter on her first day of school. And, now he finally got the chance. Christopher felt both pride and sadness. The event was bittersweet. Now, he knew what Flora felt. "You will be," he then gave Felicity a faint smile.

"Now," he managed to say clearing his throat. "You can do sightseeing later. Go on and get to your orientation group. You're orientation leader is Cortez. I wouldn't wanna push her buttons any further today if I were you. She had trouble with a cadet this morning."

Speaking of troubling cadets…Felicity thought remembering the "Genius level-Repeat Offender" her father had faith in. "What about-" she started, before choosing to close her mouth.

Admittedly, there was a small part of her that wanted to bring up Kirk. But, she remembered that Kirk wasn't on the shuttle when she first got on. What if he never made it? Should she risk bringing it up and potentially rubbing salt in his wound?

"'What about'?" Christopher asked with a smile.

"Never mind," Felicity said holding back her tongue. Her father looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I should be going," she said awkwardly.

Her father nodded and watched as his daughter made her way out of the shuttle. When Felicity descended on the grass, more and more cadets began to arrive from their shuttles and make their way to their designated orientation groups. Even if Kirk was there, she couldn't see him if she wanted to. There were too many cadets. Within minutes, Felicity's orientation group began to make their way to their designated classroom. She looked around once more getting a glimpse of a cadet dressed in what looked like a black leather jacket.

Could it… Felicity thought.

"Cadet Clark, follow along," called out Lieutenant Cortez.

Felicity felt her ears burn red and turned herself forward. "Sorry, Ma'am." To her disappointment, Felicity had no choice but to follow.

*A/N

Dear Readers,

First off, thank you for following and reading my story. I really appreciate it.

Secondly, this week I just started school again so that means I'll be busy and will most likely be lacking in updates for the next three months. School is being very especially annoying for me this week as I am desperately trying to get my classes in order while school staff are choosing to not give me a break. So, I'm having a bit of a crisis of all things. But, I was lucky to write this chapter down when I could. I was able to get the first half done before break and the second during whatever time I could this week so there is probably a noticeable change in tone or writing style.

Thirdly, I also welcome criticism, feedback or any ideas you, my readers, have for this story. If this chapter isn't up to par I'm sorry, I have been emotionally worn out this week. None the less, thanks for reading, following and being interested in my writing.

Sincerely,

Fearless by Past