Second Chances: Chapter 48

Stardate 51640
September 2374
Hilo, Hawaii, Earth

Izzy was in a mood, and B'Elanna could hardly blame her. Moving to another planet was a lot to take in for anyone. Especially quarter-Klingon preschoolers.

Owen had made good on his promise to have her transferred somewhere where she could work on figuring out how exactly the Dominion communication network: the Communications Research Center. They didn't know exactly how she was going to fit within the group; engineers had a place in the Center, but she wasn't going to be in the Communication Engineering section. She would be sitting with the Dominion Communication Group, but wasn't assigned to them. Technically, she was assigned to the Pathfinder project. Owen's pet project to find Voyager.

And now, her pet project to find Voyager.

It was everything she wanted, but came at a cost, and that cost was packing up everything she owned—and Izzy owned—the week after she finished her thesis, and moving to Earth. Everything. Including that dissembled S-class shuttle and all of its component parts, which was currently on a cargo transport bound for a work hangar she managed to find in Alaska.

It had been easier to find a two-bedroom apartment in Hawaii than it had been to find a shuttle hangar and workspace anywhere on Earth.

It had been a week since their move back to Hawaii, a week of unpacking and trying to get settled and Izzy not being able to fall asleep, despite the fact that her new room was set up exactly the way her old room had been. They both needed a break, and fortunately, B'Elanna had unpacked Izzy's hiking boots that morning. "Do you want to go for a hike?" B'Elanna asked, holding up the boots. Izzy brightened for a split second, and then remembered that she was supposed to be upset, and instead gave her mother a glare. "We can see a waterfall," B'Elanna added, and that was enough to convince Izzy.

The last time they lived in Hawaii, Izzy was too young to be doing any hiking on her own power, but B'Elanna still spent a lot of time exploring trails around Hawaii with Izzy in a pack, and had a pretty good idea of which trails would be appropriate for her three-year-old. She knew where all the crowded hikes and waterfalls were, and she also knew which ones were accessible by a three-year-old and granted said three-year-old enough room to run around without having to deal with too many other people.

Izzy's bad mood faded almost as soon as they hit the trail, and it was only a few minutes later before she was her usual happy and hyper self. "Izzy, don't get too far ahead," B'Elanna warned as Izzy again ran up ahead, and then she sighed as Izzy tripped over a root and went sprawling to the ground. "And watch your feet," she muttered.

"I'm okay!" Izzy cried out as she scrambled back to her feet. Of course she was; B'Elanna was half-convinced that Izzy was mostly made of rubber, for as easily as she bounced back.

They made their way to the pool under the waterfall, and for a few glorious minutes, Izzy was mesmerized by the falling water. She loved water, but had lived on Mars for more than two-thirds of her short life. There were no waterfalls on Mars, and no large bodies of water to speak of, so getting to see such a spectacular display was new for her. And it wasn't even that spectacular of a waterfall, compared to some of the more famous ones.

"It's pretty," Izzy said, her voice heavy with awe, and B'Elanna smiled at seeing the world from her daughter's eyes.

And then Izzy got too close to the edge of the pool, and fell in.

Izzy didn't know how to swim. There were no large bodies of water on Mars, after all, and swim lessons hadn't yet been a priority.

B'Elanna dove in to get her, only a few seconds behind Izzy, and easily grabbed her and lifted her head above water. In all, she had only been in the water for about fifteen seconds, but that was enough to panic Izzy, her small but strong body fighting against her mother's help. "Calm down, Izzy," B'Elanna pleaded as she made her way back to the edge of the pool.

Izzy was still sobbing as B'Elanna pulled her out of the water and onto her lap. "It's okay, baby girl," B'Elanna murmured. "It's okay." She repeated the words, rocking the pre-schooler, not sure if Izzy heard her over her sobs.

After a few minutes, Izzy began to calm down, but still clung to her mother in a way she hadn't done in years. "You're okay, baby girl," B'Elanna assured her. "I fell in the water, too. When I was a little bit older than you and visiting Qo'noS. My mother had to save me, too."

Izzy sniffed a few times. "Scared?"

"It was really scary," B'Elanna confirmed. "My mom was scared, too."

"Your mommy?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Where she?"

"My mother?" B'Elanna realized she had never told Izzy about her mother. "She's in Sto-vo-kor," she finally said.

"Where that?"

"That's the Klingon word for heaven," B'Elanna said. "She died, before you were born. Her name was Miral."

"Like me!"

"Like you," B'Elanna confirmed.

"Was she nice?"

B'Elanna resisted the urge to snort derisively, but just barely. "She loved me," she finally said. "And she taught me a lot about how to be a mother." And how not to be a mother. "You know, when I fell in the water, she taught me about Sto-vo-kor." And then B'Elanna did the same for Izzy, starting with Kortar, glossing over how he killed the gods, and explaining how he now spent eternity ferrying the dead to Gre'thor. It was a bit of a dark story—as all Klingon stories were—so she ended with explaining redemption to Sto-vo-kor and spending eternity in glory.

"Just Klingons?" Izzy asked uncertainly. Mars Station—and the daycare at Mars Station—was very diverse, so Izzy didn't necessarily view herself as 'different' from the other kids, but she was at the age where she knew that she and her mother didn't look like the rest of their family. After their month on Qo'noS, she knew who Klingons were and knew that she was like them, but also not like them. But she was also at the age where she didn't know what to do with any of that information, so she just didn't process it.

"No," B'Elanna said quickly. "Sto-vo-kor, heaven… those are just different words for the same thing. It's for everyone you love."

Izzy thought about that for a minute. "Granpa and Granma?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Ainsley and Kajsa and Navi?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Granpa John?"

There was a beat of hesitation, and then B'Elanna said, "Grandpa John, too."

"Is Granpa John your daddy?"

'Daddy' was a new concept for Izzy; they had told her stories about Tom her entire life, but as far as B'Elanna knew, he wasn't a real person in her mind, and she didn't understand what a father might be. "He is," B'Elanna confirmed cautiously, and Izzy seemed to think about this new piece of information.

"Where's my daddy?"

B'Elanna took a deep breath. She had known since Voyager had disappeared that she would someday have to have this conversation with Izzy, but she still found herself unprepared for it. "Your dad is lost," she said. "Grandpa and I are trying to find him. That's why we moved back to Earth."

"Is he on Earth?"

"No," B'Elanna replied. "He's far, far away."

Izzy thought about that for a minute. "Earth is far away," she said.

"Earth is far away from Mars," B'Elanna agreed, "but your dad is further away than that."

"Where?"

B'Elanna sighed. There was no easy way to explain the Milky Way galaxy quadrants to a three-year-old. "When it gets dark tonight and we can see the stars, I'll show you," she said.

"He's in the stars?"

"Mm-hmm."

"How?"

Her usually hyper girl was still curled in B'Elanna's lap. It was so unlike her to sit so still for so long, and B'Elanna wondered if she was still scared from her impromptu swim. "Do you remember when Grandma and all your cousins came to Mars before Christmas last year?" Izzy nodded. "Remember when Drew got lost?"

"Yeah."

"And you went out in groups to look for him."

"So we don't get lost, too!" Izzy said, excited to know that answer.

"That's right," B'Elanna replied. Really, Alicia had commed UP security as soon as she realized she was missing a grandchild and they had given her Drew's position in less than a minute, but she had grouped up her grandchildren and sent them out on search parties, mostly to keep them occupied. "Before you were born, there was a ship that got lost in space," B'Elanna began. "And they had to send another ship to look for it. Your dad was on that other ship. But then they got lost, too, and now we need to find them."

"Are you going to get lost?"

"No," B'Elanna said. "Grandpa and I are going to be searching from right here. From Earth."

Izzy seemed satisfied with that answer. "And then I'll have a daddy?"

B'Elanna wanted to explain that Izzy had always had a father, that Tom loved her very much even before she was born, but that was far too abstract for her. "You will," she said instead.

"Is it fun?"

"To have a dad?" B'Elanna asked, and Izzy nodded. "Your dad is a lot of fun," she said. "You're going to like him a lot."

"Will he play soccer?"

B'Elanna chuckled at the question and kissed the top of Izzy's head. "I'm sure he will," she said. "You'll play soccer, and play on the holodeck, and someday, he's going to teach you how to fly."