Title: "We Are Klingons"
Author: Voy_Girl
Written: 26/1 2003
Code/s: T, Miral
AN: Based upon the views of Miral in "Barge of the Dead", and young B'Elanna Torres in
"Lineage".
Summary: B'Elanna returns home from her first day at school... A day that would mark her
forever.
Credits: Klingon language source: The Klingon Language Institute @ http://www.kli.org
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"We Are Klingons"
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"Mother?" Young B'Elanna Torres sniffed behind Miral's brutally turned back. It had only been
B'Elanna's first day, ever, at the local school. She already hated it. And she never wanted to go
back.
When Miral, after another silent moment, turned away from the row of raktjino cups she'd
sorted on a shelf, she noticed her daughter's crushed appearance.
"Tears, B'Elanna. Why?" She stretched the first word until she assaulted the center of it with
dismay. She gave B'Elanna a well-known look that made the sunlit kitchen floor sway
underneath the child's feet.
"When I was about to cross the school yard and go home," B'Elanna squeezed the handle of
the filthy lunch box with her sweaty little hands. She stuttered every now and then, and her
gaze roamed, but the tears had stopped dripping. "And Danny Byrd and his big brother came
behind me. They yelled things and snatched my box."
B'Elanna finished and swallowed hard, hoping that her mother's hard eyes were going to turn
on the Byrd brothers and not to her.
"Did they see you cry?" Miral kneeled down to her daughter's level, brushed a lost autumn leaf
away from the shoulder of her sweater. Then she gently coaxed the metal box out of B'Elanna's
hands and put it on the floor next to them.
"Did they?" She repeated. Watched her daughter's big, scared eyes search for her shoes.
"B'Elanna. You have tear ducts because your father is human. Those children don't see that.
They only see your ridges, and takes you as a full Klingon." She gripped B'Elanna's thin
shoulders. "And a full Klingon would be disgraced to show vulnerability in front of others."
"But..." B'Elanna trailed off, her lower lip shook almost indiscernible.
"tlhIngan maH! 'We are Klingons'!" Miral said forcefully. "You have your ancestors warrior
spirits within you. Be proud of them, B'Elanna. thlIngan maH! Remember it."
She let go of the wide-eyed child after giving the shoulders a shake and a squeeze. With her
head high, as usual, Miral walked out of the kitchen and in to the living room, where she
audibly began to search for something.
Left behind, stood B'Elanna Torres. Torn. Drying tears stained her cheeks, a slight tinge from
the memory her mother's palms made her squirm. Insecure at heart.
She clenched her little fists and suddenly kicked the grey lunch box, which still was next to her,
with the toe of her shoe. Watch it rattle and fall on its long side. As her enemies were meant to
do. thlIngan maH
Author: Voy_Girl
Written: 26/1 2003
Code/s: T, Miral
AN: Based upon the views of Miral in "Barge of the Dead", and young B'Elanna Torres in
"Lineage".
Summary: B'Elanna returns home from her first day at school... A day that would mark her
forever.
Credits: Klingon language source: The Klingon Language Institute @ http://www.kli.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We Are Klingons"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mother?" Young B'Elanna Torres sniffed behind Miral's brutally turned back. It had only been
B'Elanna's first day, ever, at the local school. She already hated it. And she never wanted to go
back.
When Miral, after another silent moment, turned away from the row of raktjino cups she'd
sorted on a shelf, she noticed her daughter's crushed appearance.
"Tears, B'Elanna. Why?" She stretched the first word until she assaulted the center of it with
dismay. She gave B'Elanna a well-known look that made the sunlit kitchen floor sway
underneath the child's feet.
"When I was about to cross the school yard and go home," B'Elanna squeezed the handle of
the filthy lunch box with her sweaty little hands. She stuttered every now and then, and her
gaze roamed, but the tears had stopped dripping. "And Danny Byrd and his big brother came
behind me. They yelled things and snatched my box."
B'Elanna finished and swallowed hard, hoping that her mother's hard eyes were going to turn
on the Byrd brothers and not to her.
"Did they see you cry?" Miral kneeled down to her daughter's level, brushed a lost autumn leaf
away from the shoulder of her sweater. Then she gently coaxed the metal box out of B'Elanna's
hands and put it on the floor next to them.
"Did they?" She repeated. Watched her daughter's big, scared eyes search for her shoes.
"B'Elanna. You have tear ducts because your father is human. Those children don't see that.
They only see your ridges, and takes you as a full Klingon." She gripped B'Elanna's thin
shoulders. "And a full Klingon would be disgraced to show vulnerability in front of others."
"But..." B'Elanna trailed off, her lower lip shook almost indiscernible.
"tlhIngan maH! 'We are Klingons'!" Miral said forcefully. "You have your ancestors warrior
spirits within you. Be proud of them, B'Elanna. thlIngan maH! Remember it."
She let go of the wide-eyed child after giving the shoulders a shake and a squeeze. With her
head high, as usual, Miral walked out of the kitchen and in to the living room, where she
audibly began to search for something.
Left behind, stood B'Elanna Torres. Torn. Drying tears stained her cheeks, a slight tinge from
the memory her mother's palms made her squirm. Insecure at heart.
She clenched her little fists and suddenly kicked the grey lunch box, which still was next to her,
with the toe of her shoe. Watch it rattle and fall on its long side. As her enemies were meant to
do. thlIngan maH