A Child's Lead
Part II
A little child shall lead them. Bible, Isaiah II: 6
The week passed quickly and Deanna and Will seemed to get along better with each passing day. Of course being with Lily helped that along tremendously. The little girl had so much love to give and gave it freely to everyone around her. She asked a million questions about engineering to Geordi LaForge, who had been promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander and was now a leading expert on warp engines. She also asked many questions to Lt. Mason who was Geordi's right hand man and learning to be a chief engineer as well, for when he transferred ships later in the year. Data proved to be a daily puzzle to her and she followed him around every chance she got, trying to learn as much as she could. However, she was also a fun-loving child who, when paired with Felisa Picard, could make trouble appear in an instant. They never did anything extremely dangerous, just childlike pranks and thing similar to that.
It was four days before the Legacy would be able to leave the starbase, when a message came through to Jean-Luc from Federation Headquarters. Jean-Luc asked Will to join him in the ready room where the private message would be communicated and when they reappeared on the bridge a half hour later, their faces were grim.
"All senior officers report to my ready room immediately." Jean-Luc said into his comm. badge and they waited while everyone filed in. Beverly and Deanna were first, sitting in their normal chairs and gave them confused looks. Geordi and Data were next with Lt. Mason alongside of them. Then came Lt. Sakar, half Klingon and half human male, who was the new security chief and damn good one at that. He knew every weapon system and weapon down to what chemicals and kind of energy it was made out of. On his heels was the first officer that had taken over when Will had left, Lt. Commander Teresa "Teri" Newman. Teri was a good officer and liked by the entire crew of the Enterprise. She was said to be a female version of Will, as if they were siblings, and trustworthy as anyone they had ever met. When she had met Will they had hit it off right away and he had known that he would be leaving the crew and ship in good hands.
"I think we are all here." Jean-Luc said and nodded to Will to explain. "Captain Riker, would you care to explain?"
"Thank you, Sir." Will said and turned to face his fellow peers. "There has been an extreme outbreak of violent attacks on the planet Thor 9 between the races of the Cataron and Silvarian. The Federation has requested that Admiral Picard and I send four of our best people to help keep the peace. We have agreed to go ourselves along with the people we choose." Will finished and he couldn't help but let his eyes find Deanna's concerned gaze. "I have already notified my crew members and they will meet us on the small ship Haven, which will take us to Thor 9."
"I have chosen Lt. Data, Lt. Mason, Lt. Sakar and Commander Gunner, from security, to accompany me. We leave at 1400 hours. That gives you all three hours to get ready. I am sorry for the hurry, but the feuding is getting worse as we speak. Commander Newman, you will be in charge of the ship until I return. If there are no questions you are all dismissed." Jean- Luc said and they all left except Beverly and Deanna.
"We'd better go tell Lissa and then I'll help you pack, Jean-Luc." Beverly said, her voice strong although she was aching inside and desperately didn't want him to go. She stood and looped her arm through her husbands. Jean-Luc leaned over and affectionately kissed the top of her head, then lead her out of the room leaving Will and Deanna alone.
"Is it very bad?" Deanna asked him watching as he walked over to one of the windows and stared out into the dark space.
"People...innocent people are dying, Deanna. It is as bad as it can get." Will said softly and she felt his anger and anguish at the injustice that was going on. That was one thing she had always loved about him, his compassion for others even if her hardly knew them. Without giving it a second thought she walked up behind him and slid her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his solid back. At first he stiffened at her touch, but then he turned around and wrapped her into his own embrace. They stayed like that, her in his arms and his chin resting on the top of her dark hair, until she sighed and moved to go. He stopped her, tightening his embrace and made her look up at him.
"Come with me to tell Lily? I have never been away from her for more than a few days her entire life. This could take as long as a month." His eyes asked her to help him and she nodded, unable to say anything. They found the little girl in the arboretum playing with the kittens by the children's pond, Spot watching her every move with a cautious eye. A female scientist was watering the plants while keeping an eye on the child as well. Ensign Sarah Roberts nodded to the two senior officers and since she had heard what was going on, left them alone with the child. Lily looked up as Will and Deanna came over and she grinned at them. Jumping up she raced over to where they were and grabbed Will's hand.
"Daddy, Data says that I can have a kitten if it is okay with you? Is it okay? Can I please have a kitten?" The girl could see her father hesitate and decided to switch tactics. Turning to Deanna, she wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and pouted up at her. "Tell him I would be good with a kitten. Help me convince him, Aunt Deanna."
The adults laughed and Lily smiled, knowing that she was going to get a kitten. Then Will grew serious and gently tugged Lily off of Deanna.
"Come here, Princess. We need to have a talk. Captain to First Officer." Will said and sat on the stone bench nearby, Deanna behind him, hand on his shoulder for support.
"What's wrong, Daddy?" Lily asked as he pulled her to sit on his knee. She knew that he only called her his first officer in the most serious times.
"You know what a war is, right?" Will asked her and Lily nodded.
"It's when people don't agree with each other and start to kill each other because of it. Sometimes they are fought for good reasons and sometimes for bad ones." Lily said, her voice sad as she thought of it.
"That's right, Princess. I had almost forgotten how smart you are. Well there is a bad war going on right now and the Federation has decided to send a group of people to help stop it, including Data, Geordi, Lt. Mason, your Uncle Jean-Luc and...me. We have to leave in a few hours." Will told her and she frowned. "Do you understand? This means Daddy has to go away for a while."
"Are you going to meet me on our ship on Friday?" Lily asked and Will took a deep breath as Deanna squeezed his shoulder to urge him on.
"No, Princess. You won't be going back to the Legacy for a quite sometime." Will said and Lily looked confused.
"I don't understand, Daddy." Lily asked and she shook her head. "Does that mean I am going with you?"
"No, you are going to stay here, on the Enterprise, with Aunt Beverly, Aunt Deanna, and Lissa. I am going to be gone longer than I have ever been before. At least a month." Will told her and as understanding dawned in the child's eyes she began to shake her head vehemently.
"No, Daddy! I wanna be with you." Lily begged and threw her arms around his neck. "Please let me go too. Don't leave me."
"Please try to understand, Lily. I need you to be Daddy's brave little officer. People are dying, Princess. People who don't deserve to die and they need our help. I can't do that if I am worried that you are unhappy." Will said and held Lily close, letting her cry on his shoulder. He felt a tear slide down his own cheek and felt as if his heart was breaking with each sob his daughter let out. Deanna just smoothed her hand over Lily's head and with he other, kept her grip on Will's shoulder. Truth be told, she felt the same way Lily did. She didn't want him to leave either and knowing that he had to go wasn't helping her conscience any. They had just been getting back to the point where they were joking and talking like the old days. After a while Lily's tears slowed and finally stopped, with only a few small sniffles still escaping her. With a great sigh, she leaned back to look her father in the eye.
"I'll be okay now, Daddy. I promise." Lily told him and gave him a kiss. "I'll be brave for you and you won't have to worry about me."
"I love you, Princess." Will said and Lily smiled at him.
"I love you too, Daddy." Lily replied and wiped a stray tear off his cheek as if she were the parent and he the child.
"You need to pack and that could take forever." She added and he laughed realizing that she was indeed his daughter to be cracking jokes at a time like this.
"You are right." Will said and stood, settling her on his hip. He turned to Deanna and took her hand. "Let's go."
It only took them a short bit to pack with all three of them helping, but as his travel bag was being closed Deanna told him to wait. She had something for him in the living room. She ran in to get the small model of the Enterprise she had replicated for him and was about to reenter the room when Lily spoke up.
"Tell me our story, Daddy."
"But it's not even time for you to go to bed yet."
"Please?" Lily's voice pleaded and Deanna heard Will sigh in resignation.
"Once upon a time on a planet far away there lived a princess who was beautiful inside and outside. She was very happy for she lived in a large white castle with her mother the queen who loved her very much. One day a young, handsome, and brave prince came to the planet and fell madly in love with the princess, but she thought he was rude and very full of himself. However she got to know him better and realized that he was just young and could be very shy. Soon she had fallen in love with him too and they vowed to get married one day soon and have adventures together. But the Queen knew that they were too young to know what they really wanted. She also didn't want the daughter to be hurt like she had when her husband and the princess's father, the King, had died. So she met with the prince in secret and told him that if he really loved the princess that he would leave her alone to marry a prince that wouldn't break her heart by dying in battle. He was angry and upset at first, but he thought that maybe deep down he didn't deserve to love her the way he did. So he got into his royal spaceship and left without saying good-bye to the princess, leaving part of his heart behind forever." Will told his daughter as Deanna leaned just outside the doorframe listening.
She had figured out a few lines into the story ago that it was their story. Hers and Will's. Only he had transformed it into a fairy tale for his daughter. She realized that he was continuing and strained to hear the rest.
"The princess was heartbroken for a while, thinking that he had just forgotten about her and that he really hadn't loved her. The Queen had never told her the truth out of fear that the princess would hate her. Eventually the princess grew stronger from the experience and left her home planet to seek out the adventures she had said she would have. One day, much later and when they were older, the prince and princess met up again on the royal spaceship that they would live on for a long time. At first it was hard for them to be together because of their past, but they learned to be friends again. They were best friends for a long time until one day the King of the flying kingdom said that he wanted to give the prince a chance to rule a kingdom of his own. The prince went to the princess and asked her to come with him, for he had realized that he was still in love with her and always would be. The princess was very scared to leave all the people she had come to know and love like her family, but she knew she loved him too and said yes. They were married by the King and went to live on their on flying kingdom, seeing all their old friends as often as they could. The princess's mother realized she had been wrong all those years ago and asked the new King and Queen for forgiveness. It was given immediately for both the new King and Queen loved her dearly knowing that she had only been trying to protect them. In fact the old Queen was the first one they told when they learned the new Queen was going to have a baby. A year later Princess Lily was born and all their lives were complete."
"And they lived happily ever after because they were imzadi." Lily finished for him and sighed deeply. "Daddy, is there really such a thing as imzadi?"
"Oh yes, Princess." Will told her and Deanna sensed his thoughts were fond and warm, if not a bit nostalgic. Deanna wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked at the clock on the wall. Seeing what time it was she hated to break up the moment, but she knew they would be late otherwise.
"It's time to go, you two." she called into the room and Lily jumped off the bed, followed by Will.
"I wanna wear my new hair ribbon that Aunt Deanna gave me. I'll be right back." Lily cried and ran into her bedroom of the suite. Will took one look at Deanna's face and knew she had heard everything.
"Deanna..." Will started, but she placed her fingers over his lips and shook her head.
"I know, Imzadi, I know." Deanna said and pulled him to her, lips brushing softly against his. She paused and looked into his eyes, then their lips met again with more force. They kissed with fervor, relishing the feeling of being in each other's arms again after being apart for so long. Finally they broke off to catch their breath and just lay their foreheads together. "Come back to us, Will."
"Always." he said and softly kissed her lips again as if to seal the deal.
"Daddy, I'm ready." came Lily's voice behind them and the two adults broke apart quickly. Lily eyed Will, then Deanna, then back at Will again. She frowned as she walked over to take Will's right hand. Deanna couldn't read the child's emotions and so she waited for a reaction. Lily hesitated for a minute and then placed her other hand Deanna's left one and corrected herself. "We're ready."
Deanna let out a sigh and met Will's smiling face. He grabbed his bag from the floor and led the way to the transporter room.
"Will," Deanna said as they headed down the corridor.
"Yes?" He replied and looked at her quizzically.
"You'd better not let my mother hear you call her the 'Old Queen' or you'll really get it." Deanna said and Will laughed loudly, making Lily look up at the two of them oddly.
Reaching the transporter room they saw that Jean-Luc, accompanied by Beverly and Lissa, had already arrived. The rest of the officers were there too, with their families waiting to say good-bye as well.
"Admiral, whenever you are ready, sir. The starship Haven has requested transporters engaged." Ensign Lower said, and Jean-Luc nodded.
"Acknowledged" Jean-Luc said and along with all the other officers went up onto the platform. Will stood next to Jean-Luc and stared down at where Deanna held Lily's hand.
Keep her safe, Imzadi Will thought to Deanna and she smiled then nodded. I love you
I love you too, Deanna mouthed and he smiled then winked at Lily. The little girl looked like she was going to cry, then took a deep breath and stood up straight. Her face broke into a smile and she saluted him. He smiled at her and saluted right back.
"Engage." Jean-Luc said and he gave a small secret smile to his wife and daughter. Then with a last look at their families and friends, they disappeared in a shimmer of blue light. Lily couldn't do brave any longer and with a small choking sob turned her face into Deanna's thigh, wrapping her arms around her leg. Deanna lifted the girl into her arms and let Lily cry softly on her shoulder.
"It'll be all right, Little One. He'll be home soon." Deanna whispered and Lily nodded her head, but kept her arms tight around Deanna's neck. Deanna closed her eyes and whispered more to herself than the child, "He'll be home soon."
It was late at night when Deanna felt the bed shift and another's presence next to her. Without opening her eyes, she reached out and pulled Lily in closer to her. The little girl snuggled into her chest and with a small sigh, went back to sleep.
This little ritual had been happening for the three weeks that Will and the others had been gone. Lily was living with Beverly and Lissa, but late each night she would find her way to Deanna's quarters and upon entering by the command that Deanna had taught her, she would crawl into the bed with her. The first time it had happened had been the night after Will left. After yelling with surprise and slight fear, Deanna had been about to scold the child for leaving so late, but she had felt the sadness and loneliness and had stopped herself. After all she couldn't blame the child since she felt the same way herself. She had contacted Beverly immediately, which was good, since the woman had been frantic upon finding Lily missing from her side of Lissa's bed. Ever since then Lily had done it every single night and Beverly now knew where she was.
This time was different, however, for earlier that morning Beverly and Deanna had discussed the whole situation. They had agreed that Lily should stay with Deanna, only because it seemed obvious that the little girl wanted to be there. When they had told Lily of their discussion, the girl had been relieved, but had politely hid it from Beverly.
"It's not because I don't love you, Aunt Beverly. You have Lissa to take care of and that helps you not worry about Uncle Jean-Luc. You help her too, you know." Lily had said and walked over to sit on Beverly's lap. She had placed her arms around her neck and smiled at her warmly.
"I help her?" Beverly had asked and Lily had nodded.
"She told me that whenever she misses Uncle Jean-Luc she comes over and gives you a kiss. Then you give her one back and she just pretends that it was from him too." Lily had said and Beverly's eyes had filled with tears slightly.
"She has been doing that a lot lately." Beverly had confessed and Deanna had smiled at that.
"Aunt Deanna knows how much I miss Daddy cause she misses him the same way I do. The way you and Lissa miss Uncle Jean-Luc. " Lily had looked up and given a sweet smile to Deanna and then looked back at Beverly. She then had laid her head lovingly against Beverly and said, "Are you angry with me?"
"Of course not, Sweetheart. If this makes you happy, then I am all for it. Besides it doesn't mean we won't see you. We are what...three decks and two doors down?" Beverly had said and Lily had nodded excitedly.
That had been the end of the discussion and now Deanna lay with a small little girl curled up in her arms. She stroked her soft child-fine hair and ran her eyes over the doll-like child. She loved this little girl so much and knew that she would do whatever it took to convince Will to make them a family.
TBC