Homecoming
CW: Severely ill loved one
After tracking down and treating the people we'd lost to the Borg, and attending a victory celebration in the Krenim Commonwealth, we consulted with former drones who had manned the transwarp network to find a way back home. The conduit we chose spit us out in Dominion space. It wasn't long before we were traveling through the Bajoran wormhole connecting the Gamma and Alpha quadrants.
I should have been keeping an eye on sensors and gathering data, but I couldn't keep my mind on work, so I watched my crew mates instead.
Tom was giddy, bragging about how he could now say that he had flown in all four quadrants of the Milky Way.
B'Elanna scoffed and shook her head at Tom as she directed engineering from the bridge, though I caught her briefly smile to herself and rest a hand on her second-trimester bump.
Tuvok's attention was fully on his station, taking up the slack for those of us who couldn't seem to focus for shit.
Harry tried to keep his attention on work, but his mind bounced around from systems to the wormhole to reuniting with his family and seeing Earth again.
Sisko was stoic, gazing out at his celestial temple from the back of the bridge.
Annika, like Tuvok, was busy taking readings and organizing data.
Chakotay sat in his rightful place on the bridge, face full of wonder and fingers laced with Janeway's.
Captain Janeway kept a rigid posture and firm jaw, but apparently she couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes—or perhaps she wasn't even trying to.
Within minutes of leaving Dominion territory, we emerged ninety thousand light years away into velvety black space pocked with distant, shining stars. In the middle of it all was Deep Space Nine, looking as if it was hanging from an invisible string in front of a glittering tapestry.
This was the place where Voyager's journey had begun.
The next few hours were a whirlwind—docking, disembarking, shaking hands, smiling for the press, directing assistants to places where they could collect cargo and download logs and do the other hundred things they needed to do. Sisko and our senior staff were quickly shuffled off to initial debriefings that lasted late into the evening.
One memorable thing from the day, however, was meeting Colonel Kira Nerys, who had taken command of the station after Sisko joined the Prophets. She smiled as she shook every bridge officer's hand and congratulated us on our victory over the Borg. She then informed us that our crew's families had been invited to a homecoming reception to be hosted on Bajor in three weeks.
I breathed a small sigh of relief. Bajor was not a member of the Federation and would be a more neutral place than Starfleet headquarters would have been. Who among the higher-ups had the foresight and empathy to respect those among our crew who weren't Federation citizens this way?
The question had barely formed in my mind when Kira looked directly at me and gave me the answer—my father.
Kira was almost exactly as I remembered her from Alixia's visions, albeit younger and with shorter hair. It was only because of those visions that I noticed the slight wobble in her knees when Sisko finally emerged from the docking port, and that her professionalism was on the verge of cracking when she shook his hand and welcomed him back to Deep Space Nine.
The next day's debriefing was much more difficult than the first. While the first had mainly focused on the war with the Borg and the fallout afterward, this one focused on my history with the Maquis and a particular report that Dr. Schmullis had made the night before—one about my status as a genetically enhanced person.
After I told them what I'd learned about Section 31, however, they left my future with Starfleet up in the air pending further investigation.
Three days after arriving on Deep Space Nine, I was finally allowed to venture out on my own. For whatever reason, I was drawn to visit the station temple. I'd never been before. The only temple I'd gone to was the one Aunt Aradne attended in Ashalla—a massive building that had burned to the ground when the Cardassians invaded and was rebuilt by Starfleet and Bajoran teams fifty years later.
Deep Space Nine's temple was small and quite different from Aradne's. It was odd seeing Bajoran sculptures, faith symbols, and a shrine so carefully arranged inside Cardassian architecture, but I could tell it was a well-loved place.
Past the sanctuary was a hallway lit by candles and soft overhead lights. I moved slowly, examining the relics and icons on display, until I reached the centerpiece at the end of the hall—an ornate ark containing the Orb of Contemplation. It was protected by a forcefield and could only be interacted with under the watchful eye of the station vedek, but there were candles and incense on either side for people to offer prayers to the Prophets on their own time.
This was where Jadzia had been murdered.
"Why were you here, Zee?" I asked no one.
"She and her husband were trying to have a baby," Sisko said behind me, making me jump and swear.
"Cursing in a temple." He raised his eyebrows. "You should know better."
I clutched my chest, willing myself to calm down. "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry." His expression turned sad as he came up beside me. "Jadzia had just gotten the good news that her body was responding to fertility treatments, so she decided to thank the Prophets in person."
"She wasn't religious when I knew her."
"She wasn't religious when I left the station in her command, either. I used to torture myself wondering why she came here after so many years of skepticism about the Prophets and my role as the Emissary. It wasn't until I worked up the courage to ask Ezri that I finally got an answer—it was an impulse."
I shook my head. "That isn't a very satisfying answer."
"No, it isn't." He stared mournfully at the ark. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret leaving the station. If I had listened to the Prophets, she'd still be with us."
I wasn't sure what to say to that, so instead we stood in silence.
After a few minutes, Sisko said, "I have news from Cardassia Prime. They found your mother."
My gut dropped. "Is she…"
"She's alive, but she has severe brain damage. For now they're keeping her in a coma to protect her brain functions. They've got their best doctors on the case."
"You mean…" I swallowed hard. "They're keeping her on Cardassia Prime?"
"For now. No one else knows how the technology they used on her works. They have the best chance of undoing the damage."
Tremors shook my hands. I clenched them into fists and released them. He was right, of course, but that didn't mean I had to like it. "Any idea when she can come home?"
"That's all I know."
It wasn't nearly enough information, but that wasn't his fault. I blinked back tears and muttered, "Thanks."
He nodded. "I also heard you're meeting Ezri for lunch on the promenade."
I frowned. "Yeah…?"
"Don't get the gumbo. Quark swears it's authentic." He scowled. "It's offensive."
Despite everything, this made me smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
