Chapter Text
Prologue
********
Sometime in 2329
Arvada III Colony
Sunshine. Trembling leaves ablaze in red, orange and yellow. Light filtered through the branches, while droplets from last night's rain dripped from above.
The woman watched the exuberance of the young child skipping ahead of her along the path. The colorful dress fluttering, her red hair reckless in the autumn breeze. She smiled and thought about the new knots that would have to be carefully worked through this evening.
The girl stopped to stare at the forest floor. She bent down to her knees, balancing on her fingertips just enough to lean forward... just enough to dip the edge of her new dress into the puddle-marked ground.
Annoyed, the woman scolded, "Beverly!" No reaction, and she quickened her pace. The air around her suddenly felt thicker.
The girl looked up at her approach, blue eyes holding another question. She whispered, "Nana, what's wrong with it?"
A small bird lay on the ground. Felisa stooped down as well, watching the pack of ants milling around one side of its body. She hoped that Beverly did not notice them.
It was a delicate topic for one so young. Almost two years ago, the girl had to be content with the explanation that her parents had gone to sleep and could never awaken. The subject had not arisen again until now, with the anxious eyes of a five-year-old bearing down upon her.
She looked down at the little animal. "It's a bird, my dear. It's dead."
"You mean... it's sleeping?"
Felisa shook her head. "No dear. It can't ever wake up."
The child's head dropped. "Like Mommy and Daddy," she whispered, and Felisa noted with sadness that it wasn't a question. She stood and reached over to her granddaughter, urging her to rise.
The girl remained where she was, then challenged, "Why can't you fix it?"
"Beverly," she sighed. "The bird is dead. It can't be fixed."
"But *why*?" she insisted, looking up at her grandmother. "You're a healer!"
"There are some things I can't fix, even if I wanted to.” Felisa smoothed the girl's disheveled hair. “Everything dies, Beverly. Just like that bird."
Beverly turned back to look at the bird. Trying to understand what had happened here… what had happened to her parents. It was a lesson she would learn many times throughout her life.
She bent down quickly before her Nana could object, reaching out to touch the bird, one finger traveling slowly across a soft wing feather. Then she stood and trudged along the forest path.
Felisa shook her head slowly, watching the metamorphosis of her granddaughter's mood. The sun slipped behind a stray cloud, and she pulled her shawl tighter across her chest. She worried again about one so young, already prone to taking too many burdens upon her small shoulders.
***
Sometime in the year 2373
Uninhabited planet in Alpha Quadrant
She held him in her arms, allowing herself this one last embrace before she too left to join him in unconsciousness. And then...
She tried not to think about that but her Nana's words flooded back to her now, as clear as on the day they were spoken.
"There are some things I can't fix… even if I wanted to. Everything dies, Beverly. Just like that bird."
She looked down upon his face, his pale lips, his closed eyes and labored breathing. Then she leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the forehead, and whispered, "Just like that bird..."