Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari ~ Step one, Don't freak out. Step two, ignore step one.
Roxanna Dorion
((Timeskip, Several Hours Later, Corridor en route to Conference Room, Deck 1))
For the past few hours, Talia had focused on confirming the DNA readings. And confirming again. And Again. Amelia was a mother, as was Talia, and Connor was the father of Talia's future child. Which was confusing and a whole handbag full of emotions she couldn't name. The one that scared her the most felt an awful lot like longing.
But she had shoved that one so deep down she may never feel it again. A mother. Talia hadn't really thought about children. She assumed they would find her however the Gods deemed them to be. But...she had assumed it would be years. Which...given the whole time jump issue, she guessed it had happened that way.
Now, she was standing in the corridor, latched onto Connor as if physical contact would somehow give her the answers they both so desperately sought.
Dewitt: I haven’t stopped thinking about it either. And the truth is… I don’t know what to feel. There’s part of me that wants answers, another that’s afraid of them. I keep reaching for logic… alternate timelines, reality shifts, anomalies… but what if it just our future. ::pause, stopping, taking his hands into hers:: What if this is how it starts?
Her focus followed his, their latched hands. The urge to jump back was strong. She did love Connor, he was one of her best friends. But that is all it was. Ayemet was her best friend, and when she stood next to her at the altar, all she felt was love, platonic love, for the two of them and the future they would make together.
She had hoped perhaps if the Gods saw fit to grant it, she and Nolen would be a part of their lives and be able to see it first hand. She hadn't even verbally expressed how she felt to Nolen, and now she was looking at the father of her child. Future child. He stepped back, breaking the connection. She was a mix of relief and confusion.
Ohnari: And you love Ayemet. Completely. Neither of us would ever....which might mean....::a fresh wave of terror rolled over her, both hands latched on his forearms tightened:: Connor what the hell is going to happen in forty years...?
She was empathic. She felt how Connor and Ayemet loved each other. And when Connor had thought she was lost to the Lattice Alliance? His aura had felt incomplete, like he had left a large part of himself someplace else. It was agony experiencing it even second hand. And now? Now they were looking at a future where Ayemet and Nolen....weren't. It wasn't outlandish to think if they had lost their partners, after time, their connection could have morphed into something more.
And that more would create a child. Who was aboard. Right now. As an adult.
Dewitt: Holy…
It felt as if a weight dropped, tearing vital organs along with it. For a moment, she couldn't find breath. A mix of her own terror and what Connor was now feeling. It took everything she had left, and it was a very low reserve, not to turn tail and run. Lock herself in her quarters, using her CMO override to quarantine herself.
But at the same time...Kael. Kael. She just wanted to see him. Maybe touch him, hug him?
Dewitt: Talia, what if we’re standing at the start of it? What if everything we do from this moment on… is how we get there? What if seeing him, hearing him call you ‘Mom’… what if that sets something in motion? What if just knowing about him is enough to change us? To change how we look at each other? To change the timeline?
Ohnari: But...::glancing up wide eyed:: If now that we know he could exist...
She couldn't finish. It had only been moments, but she would lay her own life down for the dark haired male who called her mom.
Dewitt: What if Ayemet and Nolen disappear because we can’t stop thinking about what’s supposed to happen? What if I make one wrong call… and that’s the thread that unravels everything?
It seemed like Connor was in a downward spiral, and she wasn't much further off.
Dewitt: What if he’s not supposed to exist yet? What if he is, and we’re the ones who made it possible? Does that mean we chose to lose them? Are we going to start accepting it today, because we know it’s going to happen?
Ohnari: Connor, slow down. oO Easier said than done...Oo there is still so much we don't know. I think we should at least...talk to him? Forty years is an awful long time...we shouldn't jump to any conclusions on how or why he was created. Not yet.
His eyes found hers again, desperate, glassy.
Dewitt: I don’t even know what I’m feeling. I’m scared. I’m furious. My brain is exhausted. And I look at that kid and I feel… something I can’t name. And that terrifies me most of all.
Ohnari: ::brittle smile:: Like a part of you has left your being and is now walking and talking all on its own...?
Dewitt: How the hell are we supposed to walk forward knowing we might already be living a future we didn’t choose? ::pause:: How are we supposed to look Nolen and Ayemet in the eyes, tell them we love them, when we might already be accepting a path that ends with losing them?
Ohnari: We don't have any other choice. I love you Connor, but not in that way. And I know your feelings, ::placing her hand over her heart:: I feel them. I know Ayemet is your love. We still don't have answers, but I don't see any future where you willingly walk away from Ayemet, ever. She's my best friend, and I know I would never purposefully cause her pain in such a way.
Dewitt: Response
Ohnari: ::quietly:: I haven't said out loud to Nolen that I love him. ::laughing without humor:: Isn't that pathetic? He has met my future son, with you and I have never said those words to him. ::chewing her lip, her eyes became unfocused in thought:: All three of them, they have a shadow to them. Connor, ::her voice began to wobble:: I think something truly terrible happened in their timeline...they've been living in survival mode. Did you see his clothes...? They are patched in places and too short in others. Tori's was the same.
Dewitt: Response
And they both were far too skinny. With confidence she was absolutely faking, she straightened her spine and let out a deep breath.
Ohnari: Here is what we are going to do. We are going into that conference room, we're going to meet our son and his companions, and we're going to listen to what they have to say. We are not going to freak out until we have all the information. Then we can freak out...deal?
Dewitt: Response
TAG/END for Ohnari
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Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Khitomer
C239205ME0