Deep Shadows

Posted on Thu Feb 27th, 2020 @ 10:33am by Lieutenant Commander Meslina Amakawa & Lieutenant JG Rachael "Ripcord" Yamaguchi-Cullen & Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 17: The Drug-Dimmed Tide
Location: Various Locations - USS Roanoke
Timeline: 1200Hrs - December 13th, 2390

Rachael Yamaguchi who still looked a little flustered because of recent events as she sat at the dinner table with her mother and arguably one of her best friends as they ate a good sized dinner between the three women. Torilla was eating for three and Rachael was eating for two.

It didn't help that Rachael had been assaulted the day earlier and had spent the night in sickbay under the tender care of Lieutenant Furban and it had left bad memories of a sleepless night for both Rachael and Torilla.

"How are you feeling Rachael?" Torilla asked her daughter

"I've been better..." Rachael admitted.

"It'll be okay hon..." Torilla gently rubbed her daughters arm

Meslina listens to the two talk while eating just a small salad, since she wasn't that hungry and she had some other things on her mind. "Hmm..." Meslina's interest peaks a little at the exchange. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Well suffice to say... the story in a nutshell... Rachael and Phoenix were running the Air wings Squadron Commanders through a series of tests, all but one passed, the guy who flunked, snapped... he tried to kill Rachael and Lt Commander Wukari... he failed as Commander Teval shot him dead." Torilla explained.

"Jeez," Meslina just shook her head a little at the news. "Well I just hope you are okay Racheal, if not you have a few people to whom you can talk to here," Meslina grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, then goes back to picking at the salad a little more.

"I was wondering..... how come you never talk about your family?" Torilla inquired.

Meslina stops and kind of glance's up, "uh... yeah I rather not talk about that."

Torilla raised an eyebrow. "Its just the three of us here... I'd like to help... if I can..."

Meslina kind of gives her a blank stare, it wasn't until she was touched by a concerned Rachael that Meslina seemed to come back to the table that they were at. "It's a very hard subject for me to talk about still, even though it's been over 14 years now. My father James Amakawa was a Diplomat so he was traveling a lot and hardly home, but when he was it was like he had never left. He would always try to make time in his day for me even if he was tired, and I never had any brother's or sister's since my mother had a difficult pregnancy with me and when I was born both my parents as well as the doctors agreed that she shouldn't try to have any more children."

Meslina stops in her story to pick up the grape juice that she had been sipping on earlier and took a deep drink. Putting the drink back down she continued the story. "Now my mother on the other hand was a micro biologist which also meant that she was busy and sometimes it also meant that she would leave with my father to go to some distant planet where she could find some new species to study. I never had a problem with it since they would leave me with a friend of theirs who was also my hand to hand master, he was kind of like a grandfather in a way though of Klingon heritage. Anyways both my parents had left to go to a new planet and half- way to their destination a group of raiders and high-jacked the shuttle they were on, I didn't get the news until later while I was sparring though they didn't go into detail I knew that they were killed when the raiders didn't find anything of value."

Torilla suddenly understood. "I'm Sorry Sweetie..." she said quietly as she regarded the woman who was almost the same size as her youngest daughter but was similar in age to herself.

Tears started to well up in her eye's suddenly and she had quickly rubbed them away. "It's okay like I said it was 14 years ago and I've gotten over it for the most part, but being on the ship kind of reminds me of the raiders slightly. Yes I understand that this is still a federation ship but sometimes it feels like some of the people here act no better than the raiders that killed my parents."

For Torilla, those words were shocking, her mouth opened as her eyes widened. "I've only started on cleaning up the act of the crew...." the taller woman admitted.

Meslina nods, "I understand and I'm not blaming you, I hope you realize that. However it's still there in the back of my mind. Just know this I do value your kindness and friendship that you have shown me and I love you and your family as if they were my own but I've been alone with no family for so long that I've almost forgotten what it felt like to have a family."

Torilla regarded the smaller woman in silence as she smiled. "Well.. you'll always have a place at my dinner table.... you don't need to knock, just come on in..." as she gently took the smaller womans hand in her own. "You are not alone.."

Rachael nodded. "No... you're not."

Meslina looked at the two of them then let the tears that she was trying hard to hide fall finally. "Thank you, though I don't know how I could repay all the kindness that you have shown me I will try and be a better person and hopefully my parents where ever they may be now are happy with everything that has happened."

"Meslina, don't try to be a great person... just be yourself.... and let history decide the rest.." Rachael commented, as she paraphrased Zefram Cochrane

Torilla smiled. "You owe us nothing..." she commented. "People I considered family owe me nothing.... you never did."

Meslina smiled then a little with the tears still falling but a bit slower now, "thank you again, and now I have a little sister to look after."

Rachael smiled slowly, it was clear that she did not mind someone else watching over her. "I don't mind..." she responded.

Now finally starting to notice that something was really bothering Rachael she snaps her attention to the younger girl. "Okay so enough about me and my past troubles what's been bothering you Rachael and then I can help you out."

"I flew my heart out in the sims, flying at Phoenix's wing... and I got the everliving shit beaten out of me for it by a deranged excuse of a lardass pilot who's now dead.." Rachael responded. "He was going to kill me because I shot him out of the sky eight times..." she explained

Meslina looks at her then to Torilla, "is that right? What the hell? Now this is the kind of shit I'm talking about, I hope you're fine as well as the baby. That's the last thing I would want to see."

Rachael nodded. "We're both okay.... Siaxx checked us over along with Saki a couple of times each..... I've never had so many well wishers or admirers in all my life..." the teen explained.

Torilla nodded. "Lets just say the offender is dead... the Captain called it an accidental discharge of a weapons system" but the wink that Torilla gave the smaller woman indicated that was not the whole truth.

"I understand, let's just leave it at that." Meslina accepted the lie as a truth. "Well you should know that you are loved by a lot of people and those who do love you of course would want to wish you well and the baby as well." She told Rachael.

Rachael smiled. "Since I got out of sickbay... I've had dozens of notes of encouragement and support from all of the various pilots and many others as well." the teen commented. "My inbox is full."

Torilla nodded. "I've had more or less the same issue...." she commented. "I had to upgrade both of our inbox's so they are ten times the usual size.."

"That's somewhat impressive," Meslina said with the hint of surprise in her voice. "Well again I'm glad that you are okay, but I may have to excuse myself soon I have some plans with someone else this evening and I want to make sure that I have everything prepared." She told the other two women that were now looking at her with questioning eyes.

Rachael slowly smiled. "I hope dinner goes well.." she commented as Torilla grinned. "Have fun..."

"Wait, what?" Meslina asked. "How do you know about that?"

Torilla simply smiled. "I didn't." she commented. "You just said as much.." she paused. "is he or she hot?"

"But I never said anything about dinner, I just said that I had plans with someone else this evening. But to answer your other question she is not too bad looking though she can be a little wired it seems, however she is nice from the little time that I spent with her before." Meslina told the other two as she smiled at the memory of Tienn and her first meeting.

"That narrows it down to about half the ship." Torilla smiled. "Well I hope you have a good time at dinner.."

Rachael raised an eyebrow. "So... who is she?"

Meslina sighs slightly from walking into the bait that her two friends and now adopted family had done, "her name is Tienn she is the Head nurse."

Rachael smiled. "Tienn Iteela." she responded. "She's a nice lady..."

Torilla regarded her daughter and then she looked over to Meslina. "As long as you're both okay with things... you'll both be fine.."

Meslina thought about it, "I don't know how things will play out, but I don't think that there will be any problems with us two." Meslina gave the two a reassuring nod. Looking back to Racheal, "and just know hun that I will always be here for you too if you ever need me to listen."

Rachael reached over as she gave Meslina a hug. "Thanks you so much..."

"Anytime hun," Meslina gave her a hug back and then mouthed to Torilla a 'Thank you' for having kind of adopt her into the family, even after she found out that she was bi-sexual.

Torilla looked at Meslina with a soft smile as she gently reached into the other womans mind as she thought. ~Your're always welcome in my family Meslina.... as kin.~

"Okay that just felt kind of weird and cool at the same time" Meslina said out loud to Torilla, then laughed. Getting up she gave the other two women a gentle hug and turned to leave, "I'll let you know how things went later, wish me luck." She said trying to give a smile but it turned out to look more nervous than what she had hoped for.

Torilla and Rachael both watched the smaller woman up and leave.