"Dad, where's mom?" It had been a quiet summer this year. John was taking a few courses so he could catch up with Miral. He was a semester behind her so he had some work to do. They hadn't talked about the night at the park since it happened and Miral thought they never would. It was just a kiss after all.

Then why was it all she could think about?

"She took Owen and Karenna to visit their grandparents. They're taking him to the zoo. She'll be back in awhile. Do you need her?"

"No, I was just wondering. I'm kinda bored actually. John's in class and so is Ashley. I really need to make some more friends."

Tom grinned at his daughter. "Would you like to take some more flying lessons?"

Miral couldn't help but smile. She really wanted to be as good as her dad at flying shuttles, so, any chance to learn from him was a great idea. "That is a great idea."

-----------------------------------

A few moments later, Miral was behind the helm with her father in the co-pilots seat. They had had many lessons while Miral was growing up. She could remember being five years old and sitting in her dad's lap punching in coordinates. The Tom Paris school of Flight was the best flight school to go through. She knew all that he knew and more. She had the added bonus of also having an engineer for a mother. So she knew a lot about the inner workings of the shuttle, too. And now with her Medical training she knew about the inner workings of the pilot.

"Now, pre-flight has been taken care of and we are ready for take off. You do the honors." Tom knew that all of his kids had a knack for flying, even little Owen, but it was Miral who he had the most memories of. He remembered her first solo flight. He was so proud of her that day. Karenna loved flying too, even more than Miral. Owen wasn't as interested as either of them. He preffered to watch.

"So, Miral, a few more weeks left of this dreary vacation and classes start back up."

"Yeah. I'm not looking forward to it either. Some of the classes I have to take are really hard."

"You'll make it through."

"Not to mention my personal life. If I get to have one. Last year the dating thing didn't work out."

"Yeah, don't remind me. You shouldn't be worried about that now anyway. You have at least two years of the Academy left and then you'll be an Ensign on a starship or whatever. You'll meet someone. Give it time."

"I know." Father and daughter smiled at one another as Miral landed the shuttle.

"Effortless. A beautiful landing, Miral."

"Thanks, Dad."