Important Conversation

Posted on Tue Mar 15th, 2022 @ 11:13pm by Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Lieutenant JG Kassandra Selin

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Cabin 300 - Captain's Quarters
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1900
977 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

After Dinner, they seemed to wander from the table. Kassandra waited until Andrei and Mika had Ivan distracted and then turned to face Yana. "Mrs Petrova, May I speak with you in private please?" she asked softly.

Yana, now sufficiently wined, stirred her fork around in her unfinished baked alaska, having seemed to lose her apatite before the meal even started. She was wearing a pink flowing dress that suited her still quite attractive frame, as she didn't look her age. She eyed the younger woman with a dry suspicion. Then, after several seconds of uncomfortable silence, she stood up.

"In here." she said simply, taking long strides towards the bedroom she and Ivan shared.

Kass took a breath and followed Yana. When the door slid shut she chose to speak first rather than wait. "Yana, I know this is not the best situation, and you have every right to be mad and upset. And to be forced to have me in your home is understandably insulting to you. I apologies for that. I have never understood why you were the way you were to me but the relevation, helped me see. Your marriage vows should have been respected and my mother did not respect them. She didn't respect her own vows to her husband. I cannot go back and not be born, I cannot change the past. But I do not want to affect the present or the future."

Yana watched Kass as she spoke, her jaw tight the entire time. When the girl was finished speaking, Yana cast her eyes out of the windows before them. The alien array sat there in space in front of the ship, incrementally firing bursts of energy into the distance. She was silent for quite a while. When she spoke, however, she did so quietly, with anger in her voice.

"Twenty years ago, my Ivan was strong inside and out. Powerful...smart...competent...fabulously rich....successful in his military career..and kind. I was hardly the only woman in noble society who wanted him." she said, her jaw still set. "I was training to be an opera singer....he saw one of my shows and came backstage to meet me. When he asked me to marry him, almost all of the women who wanted him decided to leave him alone. Not your mother, however."

She turned to Kass, fire in her eyes.

"There's a special place in Hades where they send women who open their legs for other people's husbands. I imagine your mother is burning there right now." she said, and then she stopped, closing her eyes. She looked down, lucidity and shame. "But that is Ivan's fault, and you didn't do anything wrong. I have no right to treat you badly for being alive."

"I don't remember her Yana. I was three, and I had no one to tell me of her, not even Ioason. You have a family. Your children have you. They are lucky to have you." Kass said softly. "I am sure my mother suffered for her actions. My.. step mothers would have seen to it."

Yana said nothing, but merely looked down at the floor. Her face was stone, but in her eyes were a sea of feelings. As tears began to escape, she still refused to move or flinch, even to wipe them away. Silence was Kass' only reward.

Kass considered it then she slowly gave the woman a hug. "I am sorry Yana." She said softly. "I am so sorry."

Yana didn't hug Kass back, but she didn't snap or move away either. Instead, the tears flowed and she stood awkwardly still until it had ended. Sitting, she continued to look at the floor, refusing to show Kass her eyes or her reddened face.

"Your father is a good man...who made a mistake 23 years ago. He apologized when he found out about you and I know he meant it. I can't judge him...I've done much worse."

"To protect your family." Kassandra replied. She gently pulled back.

She shook her head at that, a greater sign of emotion than she had shown the entire time.

"No, to protect my ego." she said. "Pride is an interesting thing. A person will do anything they have to do to defend the image they have of themselves."

Kass nodded. "And now?"

"Now I want to defend something real. And pay for my sins." Yana answered, without hesitation. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted; she always did.

Kass nodded "Then I shall speak with the Captain and we will work out a way to keep me away."

"That's not what I said." Yana said, a tone which somehow communicated both irritation and meekness. "You need to be around if I'm going to pay it back in full. Isn't that obvious?"

Kass studied her. "You want me here?" She asked softly. "I am sorry Yana, why?"

"If I'm going to pay back what I owe...if I'm going to atone, I need you here." Yana said, her eyes now flicking up to meet Kass' again. They were dry now. "Because you don't have a mother...and you need a mother. Every girl needs a mother..."

Kass knew the woman before her well enough not to argue. "Ok... thank you Yana."

Yana nodded and didn't move for several seconds. Then, all at once, the older woman got to her feet and threw her arms around Kassandra, pulling her into a hug. It wasn't obvious if it was sentimental or rhetorical, but the hug was intense and warm all the same.

Kass closed her eyes and leaned into the hug. She returned it moments later.

After many long moments of embracing, Yana let her go and offered her a smile; perhaps the first one she'd ever given Kassandra.

"Let's go back."

"Yes Ma'am. " Kass stood.