Joint Log | RAdm Sadie Stanton & Capt Sarah Deco | "An Unexpected Reunion" [1/2]

Posted on 241709.25 @ 10:44pm by Rear Admiral Sadie Stanton

Mission: Non-Plot Log
Location: Earth, Earth Spacedock

=/\= Earth =/\=

The moment the doors of the transport opened and the bright blue sky was revealed, the sense of apprehension she was feeling rose to new levels. It had been what? 5 years? 10 years? since she'd set foot on Earth. A long time ago. A lifetime ago. Quite literally. All it took was dying on one occasion and cracking her skull on another. Now, at last, she was home again. Or was it really still home? The life she'd lived in between had been very much her home for all of that time.

She'd never found a companion to share the rest of her life with, but she'd made friends, she'd made a life for herself. Right until the moment where she'd been hit particulary hard during a tournament. She'd never sensed the blow to her head coming, but her helmet had dislodged and the full blow of the stick had hit her temple. When she woke up a few days later, the life she had known, was over. Or rather, her old life was back again. Apparently, she'd been Captain of a starship before all of a few days before it had been hit by a shock wave. Tossed around like a rag doll, she'd died right there on the Bridge of her ship. She'd remembered this only a few months ago, when her memory had returned. All she could surmise, is that somebody managed to get her in an escape pod before the ship had exploded. Starfleet records show that her ship had exploded 7 minutes after the impact of the shockwave. On the planet where she'd crash landed, she had been told that she'd crashed in a very small space craft. Most of what had happened, would forever remain speculation. Twelve escape pods had been recovered by Starfleet. All other hands had been considered KIA a few years after the explosion. She'd mourn them later. As soon as she had figured out who she was again.

Now, Sarah Deco had returned to Earth. It was the only place where she could start her search of herself. Of her lost life. Searching an answer to the question whether or not she could ever pick up that life again. Piece it back together to a point that was acceptable for everybody involved. She'd never had much besides Fleet life those days. And in that Fleet life, only a few people were truly important to her. Figuring it was as good a place as any to start, she'd made a few inquiries and learned that one of her very best friends was on Earth. As she had no other place to go to, she headed straight over.

At this moment, Sadie and her children were walking through the park. Although Sadie and Darien had chosen to make their permanent home on Earth Spacedock, she made her way down to the planet frequently to let her kids have a chance to enjoy Earth. It was a place that she'd never been able to enjoy at their age--and even though Betazed was a beautiful place, she'd never been free enough to enjoy it--so she made a point for their sake.

Little Sarah was chasing a butterfly, not trying to catch it but trying to not lose it, while the teenage Ian just kept a watchful, big-brotherly eye on her and his mother watched him. He looked more and more like his father every day, and those eyes... "You were never quite so interested in the pretty insects," Sadie teased him. "You liked all the really dirty ones, though. If you had to cover yourself in mud to find it, you were interested."

Nearly as tall as her by now, he laughed. "Sounds about right," he said simply, and they kept walking and watching the little one's carefree ways.

After a few hours of searching, Sarah had finally made her way to the park as well. She'd been directed up at Spacedock because that's where the Johnston's were living. It had taken her a while to ring the chime - only to discover that nobody was home. Inquiring a bit with passers by, she'd learned that Sadie would often take the kids (Plural? She didn't know that) to the park. So, here she was now.

For the past ten minutes, she'd been watching from afar. A child she had never seen, chasing butterflies. A teenager (her godson, she suddenly realized with a jolt) she hadn't seen since he was about the little child's age or even younger. Ian was still kind enough to accompany his mother and sister to the park, but had obviously long grown out of chasing bugs.

And then Sadie. So much the friend she remembered, and yet so different. She'd been transfixed on watching her friend. Once her best friend. Now.. something to be seen. Gathering up the courage she'd worked up on Spacedock again, she closed the last of the small gap that had still separated them. "Hello, Sadie," she spoke quietly, not wanting to startle the woman, but not sure how she could avoid it either.

Hearing her name, Sadie turned to see who had said it. Nothing processed at first, almost like looking at a stranger. She even went so far as to say, "Yes?" when the familiarity struck her and her face lost what color it had, like she'd seen a ghost...which she thought was exactly what she was doing. "S... Sarah?" she asked, not believing what her eyes and her senses were telling her.

"Yes, it's me," Sarah replied just as quietly as before. She understood Sadie's reaction. Her own had been pretty much the same. Having learned who she was after all those years. Ghosts from the past coming back to life, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to confront them again. Eventually, the thought of seeing her friends again, had made the decision for her.

"How?" Sadie asked hoarsely, taking a shaky step forward before stopping. Wondering if this was an illusion. Or a dream.

Little Sarah had stopped and turned to watch what was going on, sensing her mother's confusion. Ian was silent, but kept close to his mother's side. He'd been old enough to remember Sarah Deco somewhat, but it had still been a long time ago for his young life. Both children followed their mother's lead.

Sarah sighed and turned to studying her feet for a moment. This moment was a moment she'd been dreading for weeks now. How could you reconnect with somebody who'd thought you dead for so many years? Was it even possible to reconnect? Well, time would tell. Time was a weird thing. "It's sort of a long story..." she began. She knew Sadie deserved the full story, and she didn't mind telling it. She just thought that this first moment in the park wasn't the time for it.

Sadie's mind still didn't want to fully reconcile what she was seeing. She moved herself forward the remaining steps between them and slowly, tentatively, reached out to put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. The contact ignited her Minaran senses and forced her brain to accept the truth before her. This was Sarah, returned. Emotion choked in her throat and she hugged her friend.

Realizing what Sadie was doing, Sarah made no move to stop her. She stood quietly as Sadie's hand reached for her shoulder. She wasn't prepared for the initial force of the hug though. Wanting to take a step back from the sheer force, she was held back by the hug itself. A moment later, she smiled to herself and returned the hug.

Eventually, they broke apart and both took a small step back to look at each other once more. "You've got a little girl," Sarah spoke eventually, motioning at the girl who was hiding somewhat behind her mother. Her eyes kept a curious gaze focused on Sarah though.

Sadie laughed softly, swallowing hard. "Yes, yes..." She shook herself a little and gestured Ian nearer, and Little Sarah around. "You remember Ian. Now..." She held her hand up, gesturing at how tall he'd gotten. "And this...this is Sarah Johnston. Sarah," she said to the smaller one, "meet...Sarah. The friend we named you for."

Sarah tilted her head at the introduction. "Hello, Sarah," she smiled gently at the girl. "And hi, Ian. It's been a long time," she continued once her look had reached all the way up to his face. "I'm sorry for just showing up like that," she finally ended the round of introductions. The last statement not directed at anyone in particular.

"Don't apologize," Sadie said with a half-smile. "I'm...not sure there was any other way to start this." She took a deep breath and looked around. "Let's find ourselves somewhere a little better to sit and talk than the middle of the park. Assuming you have the time?"

As she didn't even have an assigned guest quarters yet, she definitely had the time. It was something she'd have to take care of soon. She made a mental note and shrugged. "I have all the time in the world. Pick any place and I'll follow. I've been to the door of your quarters on Spacedock, but besides that, I only arrived on Earth this morning."

Sadie was still fighting a feeling of...unreality. She wondered if maybe she was dreaming. "Right..." she said with a nod, trying to commandeer the rear admiral in her mind once again. The children fell in to one side of their mother, peering around her curiously at the woman they had heard about but either barely remembered or had never met. Sadie let them walk a while in silence.

The questions raged. She wanted to know what happened! Where had she been? How did they think her dead when she wasn't? But it was clear that this wasn't the place for that story, so she had to wait. "It's...really good to see you again, Sarah," she settled for saying instead.