=/\=
Neelix stopped by the Mess Hall while Icheb and Naomi were cleaning up from the party. "Tuvok, Tom, and I are taking the Delta Flyer on an away mission to the asteroid where the Talaxian life signs are located. I've got to leave now, so I can't spare the time to help you with the clean-up. You can go ahead with the 'after party' without me."
"We wouldn't feel right about that, Neelix. We'll have our special pierogi when you get back," Naomi said.
"Well, if you change your mind, you just go ahead and have some. I'll be back before you know it! Who knows? Maybe I'll bring back some of the Talaxians to visit us on Voyager!"
Icheb and Naomi agreed it would be very interesting to meet others like Neelix. Icheb could see how excited Neelix was by the prospect. As the two youngsters waved goodbye to Neelix, Icheb was reminded of his conversation with Neelix at Joe Carey's wake, about not having any family to go home to. He didn't want to say anything about that to Naomi, Neelix's goddaughter. As it happened, he didn't need to.
"I wonder if he's going to decide to stay with them?" Naomi asked sadly, crumpling onto a chair as soon as Neelix was on his way.
Icheb remembered that odd feeling he'd had when he'd first heard about finding Talaxians out here, so far from their home planet. That was what had bothered him, too. As he sat down next to her, all he said was, "I'm sure he'll stay with you and your mother. He just wants to visit with his own people." As soon as he said it, Icheb thought it was a silly thing to say. Naomi's skeptical expression told him she thought it was a ridiculous thing to say, too.
"Neelix was always very close to his family, especially to his sister Alixia. All of them were killed in the Metreon Cascade that destroyed everything on Rinax, Neelix's home. Mom told me that he was very different when he first came on Voyager with Kes. He was very cynical, she told me, and if Kes hadn't been so sweet, it's possible the captain would never have allowed him to stay on board. He was so jealous of Tom about Kes, or of anyone who became her friend, he caused a lot of trouble. Mom says he started to be less awful after he became my godfather, and after some things happened that she wouldn't tell me about. Except when Mezoti was here, she helped me sneak into the logs and I found out about what happened. He was involved with another Talaxian named Wixiban, who was a criminal. The captain's helped Neelix 'straighten out,' according to Mom, but after Seven brought him back to life, he wanted to die because he didn't see his family waiting for him in the afterlife."
Icheb nodded. "He told me about that once."
"Did he? I'm glad he can talk about it now. If Mom and I hadn't come to the Transporter Room to ask him to come and check my room for monsters, he would have transported himself out into space. He would have killed himself." Naomi sighed softly and looked away from him before saying, "You know, Icheb, I don't know my dad, because I was born out here and he's in the Alpha Quadrant. I've spoken with him a few times over Project Watson, but Neelix is really the only father I've ever known. I don't want to lose him!" Tears began to glisten in Naomi's eyes, and Icheb picked up her hand and squeezed it gently. She wiped her eyes with the other hand and said, "I guess you think I'm being selfish."
"No, I understand, Naomi." Icheb confided. "I wanted Mezoti to stay here with Seven and me. If it's selfish, then it is. It's the way we feel though. I still miss Mezoti every day. I was thinking about her when I walked into the party, when I saw you in your pink sweater. I tried to imagine Mezoti wearing one just like it."
She smiled up at him. "No, her sweater would have been purple. Really dark purple, too. And it wouldn't have been fuzzy. It would have been sleek and shiny."
He nodded agreement, and the two young people chuckled at the thought of Naomi in her pink fuzzy sweater, and Mezoti in a deep purple, satiny dress. Icheb dropped Naomi's hand then, since her mood had changed and she didn't seem to need him to hold it anymore. She began to rub her hands together, silent for a moment, before she asked him, "What should I do if Neelix asks me if he should leave or stay on Voyager?"
Icheb looked away from her. He gazed in the direction of the Mess Hall windows, but he wasn't aware of any stars. He thought about that last moment with Mezoti in the Transporter Room, when she'd had doubts about leaving, but left Voyager anyway. He still missed her very much, but there was only one answer he could give Naomi. "If he really wants to leave us, then it means he's found something he lost all those years ago, before he came on Voyager."
Naomi's eyes shone again with unshed tears, but she straightened her spine and nodded. "You're right. I'd have to let him go. If it comes to that, I hope I'll be able to do it."
"I know you'll do the right thing," Icheb said with a smile. "And now, I think we need to finish cleaning up. When we're finished, do you want to have some of those special pierogi after all?"
"No. We should save them for Neelix, for when he comes back - no matter what he decides to do when he does."
=/\=
A few days after the party, Icheb was leaving the Mess Hall when he saw Naomi accompanying a small person who had to be the Talaxian youngster Neelix had brought with him from the asteroid colony. When she saw him, Naomi called out, "Hi, Icheb. Meet Brax. He's visiting Voyager with his mother."
Her smile was bright - perhaps a little too much so. This was her competition for Neelix's affections, he realized. It wouldn't do to be anything but polite in this social situation. He extended his hand, as he had to Q, and said, "Hi there. Nice to meet you, Brax."
Unlike Icheb's first meeting with Q, Brax took Icheb's hand immediately and shook it enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, too. That's right, isn't it, Naomi?"
"Yes, that's exactly right," Naomi responded, and her smile became much more natural. "We're going to play Kadis-Kot in the Mess Hall, Icheb. Would you like to join us?"
"I can't, Naomi. I just finished my lunch. Seven expects me in Astrometrics. Have a good game, Brax. Be careful about Naomi. She's really good at playing Kadis-Kot."
"Oh, I'm sure she'll let me win a game or two, like my mom always does," Brax answered brightly. He waved goodbye to Icheb as he followed Naomi down the corridor to the Mess Hall doorway.
Icheb moved on to his assignment, too, wondering what would happen if the colonists were forced to move out of their asteroid. Nocona, the leader of the miners extracting minerals from the asteroid field, had given them an ultimatum: leave, or have their home blasted away from around them. It seemed illogical for the miners to do something so radical. Couldn't they find another way to get what they wanted out of the asteroid? Maybe the Talaxians could help them from inside the asteroid. Some of the veins must be internal. Maybe they'd even be in the Talaxian's way as they expanded their colony.
A bigger question was what Neelix would choose to do. Icheb had heard that Brax's mother Dexa was very pretty, and she was a widow. Would Neelix decide to stay with them? It wasn't any of Icheb's business, of course. Neelix would decide what was best for himself. Still, Icheb couldn't help feeling a little bereft. They'd lost Joe Carey only a little while ago. And now they might lose Neelix, too. He'd never gotten over losing Mezoti. How many more members of his Voyager family would he have to say goodbye to before the ship reached the Alpha Quadrant?
=/\=
For a while, Icheb hoped the result of the ultimatum would be that Voyager would help the five hundred Talaxian colonists move to an M-class planet not far away. The crew had helped the Klingons they'd encountered get to their new home. Unlike the Klingons, the Talaxians were unlikely to want to take over Voyager. According to Tom, the colonists were unwilling to come to their own defense. They feared being too aggressive. Tom didn't know if that had been a factor in the war between the Haakonian Order and the Talaxians. If it was, that might explain their reluctance to defend themselves now. If the colonists chose to be transported to a new home planet, would a few of them choose to remain on board Voyager afterward as members of the crew? Maybe Dexa would decide to stay, along with her son Brax. Once Icheb saw her, he thought she was a very pretty woman, and perfect for Neelix. It would be nice to have another child around the ship, too. Brax seemed to be a smart and nice kid.
In the end, another solution was found. Neelix helped the colonists set up a system of shields, preventing the miners from blasting away their asteroid home. Neelix came back to Voyager after that, but when Icheb met him and welcomed him back, he saw how ambivalent Neelix was about his future. That sinking feeling came back to Icheb's stomach as he realized his friend might very well leave Voyager.
The night after Neelix came back on board, Naomi came to Borg Central. She was crying, and Icheb didn't have to ask her why. This had to be about Neelix.
When she'd calmed down enough to speak, she said, "Icheb, he came to see me tonight while I was doing my homework. I think he was still trying to decide what to do. I thought about the talk we had after the First Contact Day party. You know, about maybe it was selfish to want him to stay with us instead of being with his own people, and I think I fooled him. He offered to read me a story, like he did when I was little. He even asked me if I wanted to be tucked in for the night. I told him . . . I told him . . ." She began to struggle to keep from crying again, but finally she was able to continue. "I told him thanks, but I wasn't a little girl anymore. I could put myself to bed. So he left. And I came here so . . ." Naomi's brave front completely broke down then. Icheb put his arm around her and let her cry her heart out.
When she stopped crying, Icheb sat back and told her, "I'm proud of you, Naomi. It's not easy saying goodbye to someone you love, even if you know it's right for them to go."
"I know you know about that. I guess we both know." They didn't have to say anymore. Saying goodbye to Mezoti had been so hard for both of them. Now, saying goodbye to Neelix would bond them again in the pain of loss.
They sat and spoke a little longer about their feelings. It was good for Icheb to express them to Naomi, since Seven continued to struggle with such conversations. Or maybe, when she wanted to talk about such things, she now turned to Commander Chakotay. It was something Icheb didn't like to think about.
A short while later, Icheb accompanied Naomi to the quarters she shared with her mother. Sam was at the door when they entered, looking stern until Naomi told her mother why she'd visited Icheb so late. Ensign Wildman gathered her daughter into the comfort of her arms and nodded contritely to Icheb as he turned to go. She mouthed "thank you" to Icheb as he waved goodbye.
When Icheb returned to the cargo bay he shared with Seven, she wasn't there. He wished she was. He wouldn't have minded having Seven put her arms around him right then, either.
=/\=
Icheb brought the package to Neelix's quarters just in time. The Talaxian was just finishing his packing. "Here, Neelix. I brought you your share of our special pierogi. There's a small jar of your special red sauce, too."
"I thought you must have already eaten them," Neelix responded, but from the expression on his face, Icheb thought he was touched.
"No, we were saving them for our 'after party.' Now I guess you'll have it with Dexa and Brax. We counted them out. There were forty-one. We gave you half. Twenty-one, actually. Naomi and I will eat the rest. Maybe we'll share a couple with Harry, Tom and B'Elanna. Maybe."
Neelix accepted the package, which Icheb had thoughtfully placed inside an insulated bag. "I'll tell Dexa and Brax all about how much fun it was making these with the two of you. I'm glad you got to meet them."
"I'm glad, too, Neelix." Icheb stopped speaking. Neelix, usually so garrulous, didn't have anything to say at that moment, either, as he tucked the treats into the top of his duffel bag. The awkward silence reflected Icheb's roiling emotions.
Perhaps Neelix felt it as well, but he finally said, "It's hard to say goodbye to everyone, Icheb. You've come such a long way since I told you about our 'ghost' on Deck 12." Neelix laughed a little, and Icheb smiled at the memory of that strange and, now that he looked back at it, wonderful night. "And this isn't a permanent goodbye, you know. Thanks to the Project Watson equipment the captain was allowed to share with the colony, I'll be able to keep in touch with Voyager. According to Seven, we'll be able to communicate all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. That's why the captain recommended me to serve as ambassador."
"And I know you'll do a great job. Maybe we can play Kadis-Kot sometimes, when Seven is too busy to play it with you."
"I'd like that," Neelix agreed, and then fell silent again. Icheb found he had trouble finding words to continue their conversation, too. He knew it was time to actually say goodbye. He had to get into place along the corridor leading to the shuttlebay. The captain had planned a surprise for Neelix's last moments on board Voyager, and Icheb didn't want to miss it. He was about to say he had to go when Neelix spoke up. "Icheb, I'm sorry I won't be able to be that 'Typhoid Icheb' to the Borg now, if Voyager ever runs into them again."
"That's all right, Neelix. I hope the Borg never find your asteroid, but if they do, you'll use that means to protect your people. I'm sure someone else on this crew will volunteer to receive the serum one day."
At that point, Icheb really had run out of words, and Neelix apparently couldn't call any to mind, either. The Talaxian, who had become a good friend to Icheb, just as he had to everyone on Voyager, wrapped his arms around the Brunali adolescent and gave him a sincere hug goodbye. There was nothing else to do then but go.
Icheb managed to scuttle away to a different turbolift than the one Neelix was using. Icheb arrived at the shuttle bay entrance just as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok moved his feet in a subtle dance move, saying goodbye to Neelix in his own, very staid, yet personal way. Icheb saw the look of wonder on Neelix's face. Neelix and Tuvok had often had an adversarial relationship, but Icheb had always suspected the Vulcan's dour reactions to Neelix's over-enthusiasms did not diminish his respect for the person Neelix had become. Icheb was glad he was there in time to see the proof.
=/\=