The Enterprise arrived at Kanis Four. The nanites were offloaded, as were Dr. Stubbs and his research. And Elle received a large shipping crate.
"Shipped all the way from Earth," Chief O'Brien said, shaking his head. "Whoever sent this must have major connections to get it here so quickly."
"Admiral McCoy," Elle said, smiling at the shipping label.
He set it on the floor of her quarters and turned off the antigrav dolly. "What is it?" he asked.
"Hopefully, my stuff. Thank you, Chief O'Brien."
"No problem."
A press of her fingerprint opened the box. Elle lifted the lid. The first thing on top was a PADD. She turned it on.
"Hey, kiddo," it read, and Elle could almost hear Bones' voice. "Hopefully this reached you at Kanis Four, if not, I'm going to go and pull some young commandant's ears. I can do that now, I'm older than everybody but God and Spock."
Elle choked back a giggle.
"This is everything you had in your quarters, as well as some things we picked up for you through the years. We all knew you would come back at some point, and I'm glad to see we were right. Everyone sends their greetings. I'm pretty sure Spock is working on getting the Enterprise to Vulcan for a spell so he can see you in person. Take care of yourself, Elle, and if you need anything at all, we're here for you. And don't forget that this new crew is there for you too. Of course, you always know that better than I do. Love you, darlin'. -Bones."
Elle lifted the protective wrapping paper and started to unpack her things. Her clothes, still in style eighty years later. Her knick-knacks from planets and bazaars all over the galaxy. Her holocamera. Her books. And- "Simba?!"She lifted the stasis chamber out of the bottom of the box and read the attached note. "Simba's great, great, great grand-progeny. Commander Satel from the Intrepid kept Simba's lineage alive (he single-handedly runs the tribble industry on Vulcan, it's hilarious) and offered one from the newest litter..."
Elle laughed so hard she started crying. "Oh, Simba," she said, wiping her eyes. She opened the stasis chamber.
The tribble inside, of the same coloring but with a white patch on its belly, immediately started purring when it smelled Elle.
"Hi," Elle whispered, smoothing its fur. "I'm going to call you Simba the Third, okay? Simba the Two-Hundred and Fortieth is a little too long." The answering trill was a good enough answer and she picked up the tribble to cuddle it.
Just thinking of putting away all her stuff and remaking her quarters made her desperately homesick. She put Simba the Third in the little environment that also came in the box and picked up one of her paper books. She needed to get out of these gaping, empty quarters.
There were a few scattered groups of people in Ten-Forward. Elle approached the bar hesitantly.
Guinan smiled at her and offered her a cup of chai. "That corner back there is good for contemplation," she said, nodding to a quiet alcove near the window.
Elle quirked a smile. "Thank you." She went to that alcove and sipped her tea, staring at the cover of her book with blurred eyesight.
-/\-
She sensed more than heard Captain Picard come into Ten-Forward. People's conversation dipped slightly and then went back to normal, at a slightly more subdued level. It was the erstwhile 'captain on the deck' filter that made Elle desperately wish for Captain Kirk to walk in the door, Spock on his heels. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
Elle had stayed here for a while, hoping no one would come and talk to her. But sure enough, after a brief conversation with Guinan, the captain headed directly for this corner. She stood up.
"As you were," he said, motioning her back to her seat. "May I join you?"
"Yes, sir."
He sat down across from her, tugged his jacket down, and gestured to the book in her hands. "What's this?"
Elle smiled down at the faded faux-leather cover. "They kept all my things," she said. "Captain Kirk, he made sure I would get my books." She traced the signature on the inside, the firm, decisive scrawl. "They were his first, but when I showed up, he got two copies of everything we read together." She held it to her chest. "Do you know, before I came to the twenty-third century, I had never really read paper books that weren't about Little House on the Prairie? Or my Star Trek books?" she said, smiling wistfully. "Everything was online. But here I was, in the future, on a starship, in the sci-fi section come to life, and Captain Kirk made the time to hunt down some paper copies for me so I might feel more at home." She held it out to this new captain to inspect.
Picard took the book with proper reverence and smiled as he read the title. "Swiss Family Robinson?" He handed it back.
"The story of a family that ends up in a new place, alone, and builds a life," Elle said softly, flipping to one of the illustrations. The treehouse. "I almost managed to convince Scotty to build me a treehouse," she said, grinning. "He would've, too."
"What happened?"
"Klingons, I think."
"Ah." Picard shifted awkwardly.
She closed the book. "I can, uh, I'll leave you to your spot," she offered.
"What other books did you read?" Picard asked. "Have you read Shakespeare?"
Elle smiled. "Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite. Oh that I were a man, I would eat his heart in the marketplace." She grinned self-consciously. "A rallying cry for women, hundreds of years later."
Picard tilted his head. "You have three centuries worth of experience," he said. "Have you seen any progress?"
She leaned her chin on her hand. "Well it's like Counselor Troi told Mark Twain," she said, "the Federation's as close to utopian as possible. But do people still have internalized misoginy or personal bias? Some people. And that's not even taking into account other cultures that haven't reached this level of self-actualization. There were a few of those we met."
"Very true," Picard said, visibly impressed with her answer. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and held up a finger. "Did you say Mark Twain?"
Elle bit back a giggle. "Sorry. Spoilers." She couldn't help glancing at Guinan.
The Listener smiled at her across the room and winked.
Elle and Captain Picard continued their lively discussion about literature and it wasn't until Elle mentioned something about her class schedule that Picard showed any amount of discomfort.
"You just remembered I'm a teenager," she said, smirking as his shoulders tensed up.
"I, well," he said.
"It's okay," Elle said, grinning at him. She stood up and picked up the book. "Good night, captain."
"Good night," he said. He reached out to touch her sleeve. "Dr. Crusher is having a reading of The Merchant of Venice next week. I encourage you to go. We might discuss the play."
She beamed at him. "That would be awesome, sir. Thank you."
"And Elle?" he said.
She paused and turned back. "Captain?"
"We have holodecks now," he said, glancing at her book. "If you still want a treehouse."
Elle smiled. "Yes, sir." She left Ten-Forward and went back to her quarters.
She spent the rest of the evening rearranging her quarters and putting her books and knickknacks where she wanted them. She artfully arranged a blanket on the sofa (read as: threw the blanket and let it slide halfway off).
"Perfect."
She and Simba the Third spent a delightful hour and a half reading Merchant of Venice and that night, Elle actually managed to fall asleep.