21 - A Final Farewell
Posted on Sun Nov 10th, 2024 @ 7:52pm by Patin & Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Mission:
The Beginning of the End
Location: Bajor / Temple of the Prophets
Timeline: Time is a Concept
***If they would let me trade
I'd give a year for half a day
Just curled up on the sofa with you
We'd wander down to Cottesloe
Eat fish and chips in the final glow
I'd hold my breath for, I forgive you
Sometimes I feel you with me in the dark
And your face is in the faces of
the strangers walking by me in the park
And reflected in your eyes
Is all my love and all my lies
Is all my promise and my pride
Is all my fear and all my fight
Is all my dread and my denial***
"Um, there is one more small thing, if you will allow it. I would like to say goodbye, proper like?" Patin asked yet another favor of the Prophets.
Being non-corporeal was odd, as was being in the Temple itself and not on Bajor. She was aware of things she had not even contemplated before, yet all seemed surreal. This was different to what she had anticipated though, she seemed to be waiting. The Prophet that had ascended before her was nowhere to be seen, as were the rest of them. It seemed as though she were alone in an eternal existence.
"Ahhh...Anybody home?" It seemed odd to have to garner attention this way but she had little idea what else to do.
" The Patin has argued for your continued linear existence"
"Her argument was compelling" The disembodied voices of the Prophets wafted in as though a zephyr.
"Really now? Well I'd like to talk to THE PATIN myself if I may?" She emphasized the name of one of her best friends.
"Is that right, Nozzie?" Patin spoke into the void before walking out of the mist that made up the void, stopping face to face with Rhenora. She looked around briefly then back at Rhenora. "Nice place you've got here, very... minimalistic."
"Wait... what are you doing here?" The confusion in Rhenora's voice was evident. "You're not supposed to be here, you're supposed to be there, helping raise the young one"
"Really? Well, I thought I'd come up to Heaven and give them a piece of my mind. Gave em' a proposition they couldn't refuse." She was casual, playing coy. "Besides, taking care of your young one is your job. Not quite my thing, as it were." Patin was staring at Rhenora knowing this would likely be the last time she would ever see her and she wanted to end their existence together as it began, with a bang.
"Unless I'm mistaken though, I'm dead. I don't even think the Prophets are capable of undoing that." Rhenora was deadpan. "But if I'm dead, I know you're not, so again, why are you here? And why do I have a feeling you're bargaining" her eyes narrowed slightly. "What have you told them?"
"Therein lies the rub. You died, I was injured, but you know I'm too stubborn to die and by my count I owed you one last favor. And yes I'm counting that thing at Phact Bay." She shook her finger no, "But not, not that time you saved me in G'harrat. That doesn't count." She was looking smug even though she knew Rhen would be mad. In the end though she would concede as she had many times before.
"This is not a FAVOUR!" Rhenora exclaimed, almost shaking with anger. "You don't deserve to die, let alone willingly give your life. I don't care who owes who from how many years ago. This was my path, I knew it a long time ago. Your path continues"
"Nozzie, Nozzie," Patin began as she closed the distance and placed a friendly arm around the corporeal form of Rhenora. "I may not be a philosopher. I've never understood knowing the path and walking the path. More like, I like forging my own path."
She took her hand and made a wiping motion in front of them which pushed the white mist away revealing the scene below inside the cabin. "Besides neither of us DESERVED to die, but if it had to be either of us, I was the better offering. Just look at what you're so ready to give up on down there. A man who is clearly, hopelessly, devoted to you and babe fresh from your womb."
She gave Nozz a squeeze and a side eye, "Or would you rather I take your man and raise your baby to be like me? I mean the idea is appealing." She gave a playful smile before releasing Rhenora. "Look, they need you, not me." The image widened out to show Jenna, Zio and Kira intermixed with floating images of other members of her crew, Savar and Dean, Aurora, Kit, Thriss etc.
"Path's be damned, I've done my bit." She chuckled as a memory popped into her head. "You remember how you found me, lost and alone, perpetually drunk, in that cabin in the South? I had almost given up on, well, everything. But there you stood, asking for my help, saving me from another enemy. And it was fun while it lasted, just one last adventure with an old friend. But you, you my friend have a big adventure down there that still needs you."
It was hard to argue but Rhenora felt she needed to. Patin had been a lost soul when they'd found her a few months back in a snow filled valley barely scraping above the poverty line. She'd come a long way, particularly during her time aboard the Sunfire, making new acquaintances and even the odd friend or two. Rhenora had a feeling deep down how hard it was for her, to be away from Bajor, but she had nothing left to go back to on the planet. "They need US" she stammered, knowing she had already lost the argument and what the outcome would be. "Please don't do this, there has to be another way"
Patin smiled and released Rhenora, "Still trying to change my mind eh Nozzie? I would have thought you would have learned that lesson by now. Honestly, I had my mind made up long before the battle. Remember that night in your quarters when I had a fight with Jenna? I wasn't drunk, well maybe a bit, and I wasn't passed out, at least not completely." She paused to show her contemplation.
"I was coming to terms with my decision. Funny enough I was realizing how much I was going to miss the taste of alcohol." This caused her to sniff back a tear then chuckle. "But I saw then as a I do now. They didn't need me, you did. 'They' need you and if I can give you back to them, then that is my duty and my pleasure."
Patin turned to see the sorrow in Rhen's eyes. "Listen, don't do that, okay, don't cry and make this harder than it needs to be. I'll be here watching over all of you. Making sure you take good care of that youngin'. And if you ever need me all you have to do is ask. These guys seem pretty open to meddlin' in the affairs of others, so I'm sure they'd have no issue with a small helping hand now and again" She gave Rhen a look that said, chin up, let's not cry or fight but accept what is and find a way to move on.
Rhenora nodded and kept her head low, unwilling to let Parin see the tears that flowed freely. She reigned in the emotion ad much as she could before lifting her gaze and meeting the determined one of Patin. "I guess this is it then." She said simply, moving towards her friend for a last embrace that threatened her emotional reserves.
"Keep them honest, and don't take their non-interference bullshit" the words were spoken with a hitched breath. She fought back the tears again. "I'll miss you, I didn't realise how much I needed you until recently. You keep it real"
"Of course I did. Wouldn't have it any other way." She too knew how much she needed Rhenora in her life. "And you know me, I don't take bullshit from anyone, let alone a God. For what it's worth, never stop being you. Your ability to care so much, to constantly save those who deserve to be saving, is why I've always loved you."
Patin wrapped her arms around Rhenora's frame gently, "You will always be my Sister but you should know, I've never had to do this next part before, so this may twinge a bit." Before another word was spoken Patin spun around and pushed Rhenora out of the white void, back towards the Planet at what felt like warp speed.
In the darkness she could hear Rhenora screaming her name and it made her smile, even as she turned back into the emptiness to embrace her new beginning.
***And though we cannot be together
I know that I will carry you, wherever I go
I will carry you
Lord knows
I will carry you
I will carry you
I will carry you***
Missy Higgins - Carry You
TBC
Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Commanding Officer, USS Sunfire
Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer & Mission Advisor, USS Sunfire
Remal Kajun
Counselor Aide, USS Sunfire
Husband of the Captain
Played By Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Patin
Friend of the Captain, USS Sunfire
Played By Commander Jenna Ramthorne
