A/N Hello! I swear I didn't abandon this story! I've just been insanely busy at work. Next weekend I'm hoping to finish the story! The end is near! I also want to give a big thanks to those who have taken the time to review and sign up for alerts. It means a lot to me that peole genuinly enjoy the story and it's very motivating.
She ran.
Behind her, smoke billowed and heat clawed at her back as the wildfire raged on. She could hear it crackling as it took everything in its path in a wave of all-consuming destruction. She followed the path as it veered right. Before her, she noted with breathless pause, was her childhood home. Beyond her home, a swirling wall of brown darkened the sky. A sandstorm. Glancing over her shoulder at the fire, she took her chances and went inside.
The house was darker than she remembered. The hallways and doorways were dark and foreboding as she struggled to see in the kitchen beyond the living room. Outside, debris began hitting the house with soft "plinks." A layer of ash from the fire smudged her white robe dishwater gray. The oppressive silence in the house loomed over her, making her freeze in the entryway.
She took a tentative step forward and stopped again. She listened. Silence.
Swallowing her anxiety, she took a few more steps, now halfway into the living room. A loud think against the window made her jump. Annoyed at herself, she strode forward before she lost her nerve.
Before she crossed into the kitchen, a hand shot out from the darkness and pulled her close before spinning her and pinning her with her back against the wall. A steely grip on her arms made her gasp in pain. He leaned close to her, bringing his face down into her neck.
Instinctively, she panicked and brought her knee up and, as hard as she could, rammed it into his groin. His grip loosened in surprise, and she wrenched her arms free and bolted for the stairs. The house shook as debris hit with greater intensity. Smoke began to cloud the inside of the house and the temperature steadily rose
She went up 5 steps before a hard yank to her ankle threw her off balance and she fell hard on the steps, her chin catching the edge of a step. Slightly dazed, she didn't react immediately as she was roughly pulled back down. Blood smeared on the wooden steps as bright green contrasted against them.
He turned her over to face him. The smoke in the house was thick, making her breathing come quick and shallow. He halfway straddled her on the stairs now as pain radiated from her jaw. As her head cleared, she finally got a good look at his face. Avarok looked down at her, his face clenched in anger.
She went up 5 steps before a hard yank to her ankle threw her off balance and she fell hard on the steps, her chin catching the edge of a step. Slightly dazed, she didn't react immediately as she was roughly pulled back down. Blood smeared on the wooden steps as bright green contrasted against them.
He turned her over to face him. The smoke in the house was thick, making her breathing come quick and shallow. He halfway straddled her on the stairs now as pain radiated from her jaw. As her head cleared, she finally got a good look at his face. Avarok looked down at her, his face clenched in anger.
She made it up 5 steps before a hard yank to her ankle threw her off balance and she fell hard on the steps, her chin catching the edge of a step. Slightly dazed, she didn't react immediately as she was roughly pulled back down. Blood smeared on the wooden steps as bright green contrasted against them.
He turned her over to face him. The smoke in the house was thick, making her breathing come quick and shallow. He halfway straddled her on the stairs now as pain radiated from her jaw. As her head cleared, she finally got a good look at his face. Avarok looked down at her, his face clenched in anger.
The smoke was choking and next to her, flames began to lick the banister. The heat became unbearable. Everything was burning
"Nia."
She tried to shake her arms free, to lift him off her, but his position left her no room to move and she couldn't match his strength. She tried to yell as the flames closed in on them.
She was burning.
She jolted up with a scream stuck in her throat, threatening to spill out. It took a moment to realize she was on the floor of her room. A light touch made her jerk her arm back to her chest. Beside her, T'Mir kneeled beside with clear concern on her face.
It had been a nightmare.
Nia took a deep breath and released it slowly, shaking a little. Something warm trickled down her neck and coated the collar of her nightgown. Her hand came back green. Once she realized she was injured, a stinging emanated from her chin. Beside her, T'Mir offered a cloth.
"Are you alright?" T'Mir asked quietly, almost as if she were afraid to startle her.
"Yeah." Nia mumbled as she pressed the cloth to her chin. How had she managed to cut her chin? She glanced back and realized she must have rolled out of bed and caught the edge of her nightstand. "Just a bad dream."
"I'll be back with your father." T'Mir announced and stood, walking quickly towards the door.
"I'm fine, really." Nia protested. T'Mir ignored her.
Flashes of her nightmare appeared with clarity every time she closed her eyes. She took the rag off for a moment to see the damage and was surprised to see a decent amount of blood on it. With a sigh, she pressed it back to her chin. Outside, the sun had just begun to peek over the horizon.
Her door swung open and her father walked in, still in his sleeping robes. He quickly kneeled beside her and she moved her hand before he even asked.
"Keep applying pressure." He instructed once he had gotten a good look. He turned and gave a gave a command to T'Mir in Vulcan that Nia hadn't understood, but T'Mir nodded and left the room. The two were left alone, and the previous awkwardness resurfaced.
"Are you alright?" her father broke the silence first. Nia pretended to adjust the cloth before she spoke. She had the distinct impression that he wasn't talking about her cut. She reflected on the day of the attack and her discussion with her father — if she could call that a discussion. She'd been hurt initially by his words, but further reflection and a discussion with Torin had lent her clarity into the situation and more of her father's perspective. She realized what his intentions had been, and he'd been afraid for her. She hadn't quite realized the danger she'd been in until she reflected on Torin asking her what she should've done if he hadn't been there. It had given her pause as goosebumps broke out. She hadn't responded to him, but she didn't need to. It was clear what would have happened.
"I thought so." She sighed eventually. She felt weirdly nervous talking to her father now and took a moment to compose her thoughts. Despite her conversations with Torin, she couldn't shake her anxiety that he would become like Avarok.
"I think…" she began slowly, "I think I'm afraid of what happened more than I thought."
"I assumed as much. I regret you had that experience." He paused and rested his hands on his lap. "I regret that I was not able to adequately prepare or protect you. " Nia sensed he had more to say as he hesitated to continue. "It's not always that way. If two are bonded, they know. They feel it coming. It can…. be addressed before it gets out of hand." He quietly explained. She nodded and, intellectually, understood what he was saying. But the little experience she had made her wary.
"And I regret my words." He added. Nia looked up at him now.
"I'm sorry too. I know you were worried. Scared. I don't know why I said those things, but I understand what you said. I should've been more cautious." It felt good to finally admit her feelings and speak freely with him again. Her nervousness faded.
"I understand why you said those things, Nia. A lot has been thrown at you. Your whole identity had changed so quickly. My goal was to protect you, but perhaps I have been sheltering you too much. I have not given you the freedom to make more decisions on your own. It's difficult at times to accept you are nearly an adult." He paused and pulled out another rag, holding it out for her. She took the clean cloth and pressed it to her chin. The sting was lessening now, and the blood seemed to slow down.
"I only ask you to exercise caution and do not rush. I hope you are comfortable speaking with me about anything you may have questions or concerns over." He added.
"I will. I don't have plans to rush into anything anytime soon." Nia assured him. "I'll talk to you if I have a problem, I promise."
The door swung open and T'Mir walked in with their grandmother, T'Lona. In her hand was a bag with, Nia assumed, medical supplies. She kneeled down slowly before Nia and surveyed her injury.
"Did you hit your head?" She asked asshe began rifling through her bag and pulling out a small bottle.
"No."
T'Lona sprayed something onto her chin that stung at first, but soon spread into a cool and numbing sensation. There was a strange prickling, almost like pins and needles, before the pain completely disappeared.
"There. It will heal quickly." T'Lona tilted her head and watched the injury for a moment. Satisfied, she stood. Her father spoke to her in Vulcan for a moment. Nia lightly touched her chin and was surprised to find the wound had completely stopped bleeding and started to scab over.
T'Mir skirted around the adults to sit beside Nia.
"Are you in any pain?" She asked quietly.
"No, I'm alright. It's already healing." Nia smiled. Hearing the door open again, T'Lona had gathered her bag and left.
"Are you finished packing?" Her father turned to her again.
"Yes." Nia stood and went to the rolling bag sitting at the foot of her bed, packed and ready to go to Earth. Her heart skipped a beat in anticipation.
"When you are ready, come downstairs. We must leave soon." The tension was easy for Nia to spot as he spoke, but it was reassuring to know she wasn't the only one nervous about the trial. He had assured her that it wouldn't be a problem and would be an easy win, but an irrational fear of being taken from her father persisted. Without another word, her father left to get ready and Nia stood to grab her clothes from the closet.
"Nia?" T'Mir spoke up as soon as the door had closed. "I wanted to apologize." Her clothing momentarily forgotten, she turned back to her cousin.
"For what?" Nia asked.
"I have been… distant." T'Mir stood now and walked to her side of the room to sit on the edge of her bed, hands folded on her lap. "I'm ashamed of my behavior. My actions led to you being attacked." T'Mir looked steadily at Nia as she spoke.
"What?" Nia asked incredulously. "No, you didn't." Nia walked over and sat next to her. "That wasn't your fault. He would've done it anyway, I'm sure. It wasn't-"
"No," T'Mir interrupted her with a shake of her head. "I should not have left you alone. I was selfish. If Satok and I had been there, he would have never gotten close enough to reach you."
Nia didn't know what to say. T'Mir was correct that if they'd been there, it was very unlikely Avarok would have been able to reach her.
"T'Mir, I forgive you." Nia said finally. Though, she'd never been upset with her to begin with. T'Mir instantly relaxed and seemed relieved she'd been forgiven.
"Thank you… I must admit, I missed speaking with you." T'Mir admitted quietly.
"Me too." Nia smiled. After a moment, T'Mir stood and cleared her throat.
"Now, I will leave you so you may finish cleaning up. I will be downstairs with Stalek." As she spoke, realization dawned on Nia.
"Oh. He's going on his kahs-wan today."
"Correct." T'Mir confirmed. Standing up quickly, Nia grabbed her clothes from the closet to change.
"I'll be down in a few minutes to wish him luck." She called from the closet. Since receiving her translator, she'd grown closer with her younger cousins. They were surprisingly playful and sneaky and loved to play pranks on each other. She still laughed over Senak moving Stalek's rug over a few inches to make him think she had moved the rest of his furniture. But the thought of him going off to survive in the wild desert left her anxious and worried.
After pulling on her robe, she hurried downstairs with her bag in tow. The anxiety grew into a heavy pit in her stomach she couldn't shake.
Rounding the corner, she saw the clan surrounding Stalek. A view that should've warmed her, a family gathering together to support another in a pivotal moment in his life, instead left her feeling sick as she thought of the possibility that this would be the last time she saw him. Pushing down her own feelings, she took a deep breath as she made her way to him. The bright look of happiness, a slight crinkle in the corner of his eye, warmed her, though no smile graced his face when he saw Nia approach. She took in every look before she left.
It wasn't long after Stalek left that Nia and her father departed. She'd only choked down a few bites of breakfast beforehand. Her father had sent a knowing look her way as she refreshed her screen again, hoping for a reply from Torin after letting him know they were leaving. He'd said nothing, but she'd flushed green nevertheless.
Now, they sat on a ship on their way to Earth. Her father would meet the woman who took his daughter and she would face the woman who raised her. There was a strange dissonance that she couldn't reconcile. She couldn't not think of this woman as her mother, yet she didn't think she could ever call her "mom" ever again. The anxiety compounded with her worry about Stalek's kahs-wan and she was already ready to return home. Bouncing her leg, she briefly reflected on the irony of feeling like she was leaving home when she'd spent so much of her life on Earth. Needing a distraction, she refreshed her screen again. No new messages.
Biting back her irritation, she took a deep breath and tried clearing her mind. It helped somewhat, but the occasional shudder of the ship mixed with the light conversation of the other passengers made it difficult. Giving up, she tried reading on her tablet instead. One hour down, twelve more to go.
It wasn't until she and her father landed that Torin finally responded.
'You are prepared and will do well. Remember to breathe. I look forward to hearing from you.' Simple, but the message put a smile on her face and chased away her anxiety for a moment before exhaustion and jet lag replaced it. Turning towards the window of the hotel room, the view was beautiful. Vehicles flew through the night sky and tall buildings lit the night. Despite the beauty, she was wistful for the open landscape and star-lit sky of the clan house. She already missed the mountains and howling sehlats that roamed them.
Closing the curtain and blocking the light of the city, she climbed into her bed. The hotel was pretty average, but she wished the blankets were softer. Her father emerged from the bathroom in his sleeping clothes as she punched her pillow into a more comfortable form.
"Tomorrow will go well. It will be difficult, but we will return home once it's over." Her father assured her as he sat on his own bed. Nia nodded, but bit her lip anxiously.
"I'll be ready to go back home. I miss it already." She said after a moment.
"You see it as home?" He asked, somewhat surprised.
"Of course. It's difficult and I'm still learning, but I have friends and family there who accept me. It's my home now." Her father covered himself up and turned off his lamp. Nia moved to turn off hers as well.
"It is… reassuring that you feel that way." He said quietly. A pleasant warmth spread through her chest and she smiled in the dark. Soon, she was asleep.