Packing didn't take very long as either of the possible scenarios Dax could think of for her meeting with Kahn were likely to be brief. She figured that Kahn would either show no interest and refuse to talk to her, or she'd agree to go with her and they'd have to leave swiftly due to exile as the declared punishment by Trill law for the re-association of symbiont's, in an attempt by the Symbiosis commission to ensure that hosts and symbiont's didn't merely repeat their lifetimes and experiences. She made her calculations and reckoned that she'd only be there a week, two at the utmost. Having finished all her preparations she sat by her computer to check her messages, finding one from Commander Sisko she put it up on screen.
"There's a transport ship leaving for Trill in the morning, I suggest you use some of your shore leave and sort out this situation with Dr Kahn, leave a message if you're going to be on it. Good luck Old man!" Dax grinned, seemingly her friends knew her better than she did she left a brief message for Benjamin before signing off, grabbing her bag and making her way over to the correct docking station.
Some 37 hours later, a slightly dishevelled and tired Dax disembarked with the crowd of bodies emerging from the ship, she managed to step quite easily out from the steady stream of Trill's, Bajoran's and Human's surrounding her. She stood for a moment gazing over the sea of heads at the landscape of her home world, if nothing else was to be gained from this trip, at least just seeing the view would make it worthwhile she conceded. She had forgotten how peaceful she often felt amongst her own people. She shook herself out of her brief reverie and realised she had to work out how to locate Kahn, first though she'd find somewhere to stay and then…her mind broke off mid sentence as her brain tried to register what her eyes appeared to be seeing, hoping that it wasn't just an illusion created by a tired mind. As the crowd cleared she could see Lenara Kahn trying to make her way over to where Dax stood transfixed by the approaching sight. Dax's face broke into a grin as she moved towards Kahn. "How did you…?" she started to ask when Lenara was in hearing range, only to be halted mid-sentence as Kahn threw herself into Dax's arms, who caught her reflexively folding her arms around her.
"Oh Dax, I am so sorry, so sorry" she half cried into her shoulder.
Dax grinned contentedly, only to find she was jolted back to reality by being jostled by a fellow passenger, to her great disappointment it seemed that in her exhausted state, she had only imagined Kahn coming to meet her, she shook her head to clear it slightly and stared blankly at her surroundings and sighed heavily. Having been shoved by yet another harried traveller she decided to go with her first plan of action, lodgings then Lenara. She hitched her bag more securely onto her shoulder and set off at a brisk walk, her long legs fairly eating up the terrain, Starfleet issue boots causing the gravel to crunch rhythmically underfoot. Knowing the locale well, it didn't take her long to reach her destination; she looked briefly out at the familiar landscape surrounding the house, before going down the shallow flight of steps to the front door, she knocked on the hard wood and stepped back slightly as she waited, though she didn't have to wait for long. A tall woman though smaller than Dax, with similarly dark hair greying at the temples, and with the same startlingly blue eyes, in azure blue tunic and trousers emphasising the sparkle of her eyes opened the door and stood there for a moment regarding Jadzia quietly.
"Mom" said Dax in a small sad voice
The woman, Kela, smiled up at her tall daughter "Jadzia what a surprise…are you coming in?" she asked concernedly
Dax shuffled her booted feet slightly, "Actually I was wondering if I might stay for a short while, I have something to attend to here on Trill."
"Of course Jadzia, you know you're always welcome!" replied Kela holding open the door for Dax to enter, who had to stoop slightly so as to avoid cracking her head on the door jamb.
"I don't miss having to do that!" she semi-muttered though her mother overheard her.
"No dear, I'm quite sure you don't" she replied with an amused smile before changing the subject "What brings you to Trill? You seem so happy in all your communications…" she trailed off leaving the conversation open for Dax to fill in.
Jadzia turned and faced her mother "It's great to see you Mom" she replied her eyes twinkling in happiness, she paused the light partially fading from her eyes "Mom? I need to talk to you about why I'm here…I'm not sure you're going to like it" she added
Kela regarded her eldest daughter's face carefully, seeing the mixed combination of seriousness, fear and sadness inside the ancient blue eyes looking down on her, then nodded "Very well, go put your bag in your room and I'll make you some of that Klingon coffee you seem to be so fond of"
Dax smiled "Raktajino…and thank you, that would be lovely" she answered as she left for the childhood room; she'd once shared with her sister, Ziranne.
She cautiously gave the bedroom door a shove to open it; it was exactly as she remembered it from her last visit, several years ago now. The two beds stood one at either side of the room, hers sitting just under the window so she could lie in the dappled sunlight of early Trill mornings, as Ziranne had hated that time of day preferring to be submerged in complete darkness for as long as was possible in the morning. The mobile of their solar system hung over her bed still a relic of childhood dreams and desires, despite having always been a fairly serious and hardworking person, she had loved the calming effect of the gently spinning planets, knowing that one day her hard work would pay off and she would leave the planet and explore space for herself. Dax sighed and gave the mobile a tap with her fingers, causing the planets to spin wildly for several seconds before they found a more natural rhythm, rotating round each other. She dumped her bag unceremoniously on her bed, gave one last look around the room and left, making her way eagerly towards the enticing smell of freshly made coffee emanating from the kitchen area.
Two cups of the strong coffee later and Dax had finally finished telling her mother what she now wryly termed 'The saga of Kahn and Dax' Dax watched her mother over the rim of her cup, who was giving the matter some consideration. Finally Kela looked up "It's against Trill society, and you know it!" she began in a gentle but stern voice.
Dax sighed heavily she should of known her mother would take the traditional view, she opened her mouth to argue her case further, only to be stopped by her mother continuing "…but if you love her like you say you do, I mean you came all this way just to talk to her, you obviously haven't given up. Then why are you still sitting here talking to me about it? Shouldn't you be out there 'getting the girl' so to speak?"" she queried her eyes twinkling in a way similar to the way Jadzia's often did, evidence of their familial resemblance.
Dax looked up in shock "But mom…" she trailed off momentarily before changing tack and continuing "If she agrees I probably won't be allowed on Trill again…" she allowed the thought to trail off unfinished, both she and her mother were fully aware of the laws and penalties for breaking them, and there was little need to repeat the point.
"That's likely, yes" her mother agreed "but we can always come up and visit you on that space station of yours now, can we not? That doesn't come under our laws…which are horribly outdated in some respects" she added in a mutter to the tablecloth
Dax drained the last of her Raktajino and stood, as ever mindful of the beams. Her mother regarded her "If I'd have thought my daughter would grow so tall, I'd have suggested we make the house bigger" she said humorously
Dax rolled her eyes good naturedly "Sure mom…I'm off to the science labs, see if Lenara's there, after that I'm not sure where else to try, but if she's as much like Nilani as she seems to be then she's probably the same workaholic." She hugged her mother "Thank you for being so understanding!"