Chapter 10

Lwaxanna Troi opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was her daughter's concern-filled eyes looking into her own. Looking past Deanna, she saw a ceiling the color of sky on a clear day overhead in muted shades of blue. She focused on herself and felt her heart beating evenly and took a deep breath. Under her she felt a mattress with just the right amount of give; neither too soft nor too hard.

Deanna said, "How are you feeling Mother? Do you know where you are?"

Lwaxanna felt her mattress adjust and she found herself slowly rising to a sitting position. Looking around, she saw a cup of water on a table next to the bed she was in, picked it up and sipped it slowly, feeling the pleasant coolness quench a mild thirst. Taking another small sip, she set the cup back down on the table and said, "Obviously, I'm in a hospital room but not on a ship. As to how I feel, I feel rested. How did I get here and how long have I been here?"

Deanna said, "What's the last thing you remember Mother?"

With a short sigh, Lwaxanna said, "I remember coming down from the Titan with William at the helm of the shuttle. I remember you shutting me out empathically which was very rude by the way; and I remember meeting your Jedi Master, Cilghal, wasn't it? After that, all I can remember is an overwhelming sense of mental pressure."

In a voice heavy with emphatic concern, Deanna said, "Your memory is fine thankfully. Will carried you here in his arms after he hit you with a hypospray a second or two before your empathic shields collapsed from the weight of the entire mental presence of Coruscant; Master Cilghal spent a day and a half rebuilding your shields and you've been sleeping in the Medical Center at the Jedi Temple for another day and a half. Why didn't you spend time reinforcing your shields like you were supposed to? Did you forget that was one of the first things you ever taught me? Always, always, always reinforce your mental shields before going into a new environment. That's what you always said."

Lwaxanna instinctually went to slap Deanna's face for impertinence, but her hand was caught a hairsbreadth from contact by Deanna's Force-enhanced reflexes. Taking her hand back, Lwaxanna spat, "I will not be treated like a child by anyone Deanna Troi, much less by my own daughter. I am the Daughter of the Fifth house, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed!"

Riker came over and stood next to his wife and said, "I think she's back to normal Deanna."

Deanna heaved a sigh of her own and said, "Mother, the sacred chalice sits in the back of a closet with mold inside of it and the holy rings are little more than a rusty wind chime on the back porch of the house back on Betazed. When will you stop trying to use those things like some kind of talisman to ward off treatment that is more often as not, justly deserved? You knew that you were coming to a new planet in a new galaxy. You knew that its population numbered in the billions and those billions each have their very own mental presence, just as you knew that your shields should have been reinforced until you could get a handle on things! Were you trying to turn yourself into a vegetable?"

Lwaxanna took another sip of water from the cup at her side, counted to ten mentally and said, "And so the Mother learns from the Daughter. The circle is now complete. I can feel that you're allowing me to sense your emotions. Your emotions tell me that your verbal chastisement is fueled by love so I'll give you a genuine answer Deanna . . . I'm stubborn."

Deanna threw her hands in the air laughed and said; "Now you finally admit it. But then, you are a daughter of the fifth house."

Lwaxanna chuckled this time. "I truly apologize for scaring you like I did Deanna. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't handle the overall situation. I hope you can forgive me my stubborn pride."

Hugging her mother tightly, Deanna sat back and said, "You wouldn't be my Mother if you didn't have that stubborn pride. At any rate, Master Cilghal says you'll be fine now but she left a PADD with some mental exercises for you so that your shields won't collapse again. These exercises come from the Force and are usually taught to the younglings but can be applied just as easily to adults. I had to become proficient myself before I could truly feel the Force so I know they work. Will you please do them as directed? If for no other reason than for your daughter's peace of mind?"

Lwaxanna realized that there would be no swaying Deanna in this and said simply, "Yes, I will Deanna. Thank you for your concern."

Deanna and Will both waited for the inevitable conditions but when none were forthcoming, Riker said, "That's it? No conditions, no 'If I get around to it', just 'Yes'?"

Lwaxanna looked at her Son-in-Law and said, "You seem surprised that I can be swayed by simple logic William. If I never listened to truly knowledgeable advice, I'd have never joined the Federation Diplomatic Corps, or met Deanna's father in the first place. I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid."

Riker said, "I never meant to imply that you are, it's just that I'm surprised is all."

Lwaxanna said, "That's good. Should the day come when I can't surprise you or any man for that matter, that's the day I retire. How long will I need to be here Deanna?"

Deanna answered, "If you're up to it, you can leave today. This whole situation has thrown a hydrospanner into the works. Once we get to the Diplomatic Corps lodging facility, there's a bunch of things you need to be brought up to speed on, or you can return with us to the Titan, whichever you're more comfortable with. There's been an incident involving Admiral Picard and one of the Jedi families here on Coruscant. Both Master Skywalker and Will in his capacity as Captain of the Titan think it could be the harbinger of something else much larger and potentially dangerous. We'll all need to be more cautious for the foreseeable future."

Lwaxanna said, "Let's go back to the ship then. There at least we'll be in more familiar surroundings and be in a better position to act."