Zelda's Goodbye

Posted on Mon 15th Feb, 2021 @ 3:38am by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Purulence Addams

1,206 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Denouement
Location: Quays, Secure Docking Bay, Starbase 109
Timeline: Le jour des morts, 0735

Purulence glanced at Ischemia. "Hey, did Zelda get the package that Starfleet guy left for her? I think it was a going-away present."

Schemy shrugged, "I don't know. You've probably seen her more recently than I have. You were doing that character drawing from her memories. What Starfleet guy? I don't know when she'd have had time to meet anyone who wasn't investigating her." Mulling over the last few months of investigation and defending the rights of a multiple personality persons-of-interest, she added, "Since she is going home with the family, she should be here. You can ask her yourself."

"The same guy who brought you the thank-you gift last night. Dark-haired guy. I'll ask Zelda when I see her," Purulence said.

"Oh, him," her sister said. "He actually was one of the investigators. Nice enough fella, for all of that, though. He didn't brow beat anyone, and that's a nice change for Starfleet investigators. You say he brought her a package, as well? I wonder if it's the same as mine. Chlamy, did the Ildaran fellow bring you a gift ... a shawl perhaps?"

"Hmm?" Chlamydia replayed the last few moments of the conversation in her head. She'd been paying more attention to Six and Papa. "No; I imagine making him vomit was not the way to his heart. Though, you know... gift is the German word for poison." She moved away from her sisters, toward Papa.

Purulence flicked a glance at Ischemia as Chlamydia moved away. "I...guess that's one way to treat an upset stomach?" she muttered to Schemy.

After a moment, Ischemia shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, if Zelda's going to leave with them," Ischemia nodded her head toward her parents, "she better get here soon."

The two of them meandered down toward their parents and others leaving with them. An Addams goodbye was generally a bit protracted, and often memorable.

As the three Addams sisters walked through their relatives, giving and receiving hugs, or only exchanging handshakes, Zelda Alegari came shyly into the area near the ship. She was accompanied by Damion Ildaran. "You're sure I should go with them? They don't know me; I don't know them. Maybe I should find a place by myself and hang out here on the starbase for a while, until something comes up that I want to do."

Damion thought about how to answer that. It was, frankly, an encouraging sign that her alters were allowing Zelda to feel nervousness and anxiety about traveling with people she didn't know, rather than trying to protect her from the feelings.

"Yes, I'm sure, Zelda," he said firmly. "This starbase is too close to the man who tried to hurt you. It could easily be in his long-range sensors. Dr. Addams' family are not your typical Earth humans, but I had a good, long talk with Mr. and Mrs. Addams. My read of them is they are strange, a bit macabre, but underneath it all, they are good people who will take you in as one of their own and stand by you. You wouldn't have that help if you stayed here." Damion met Zelda's gaze. "I want you to be with people who will care about you and for you. I don't want you to be alone."

Something about the investigator always calmed Zelda. Maybe it was that he was a plant person, too, that he'd tried to take care of her plants and replaced what he could of those which died. She nodded, "All right, that's good enough for me," she said. She turned toward the crowd of people standing outside the ship. A few were beginning to head inside the entrance.

"They do seem to care about each other," she said wistfully. She'd never known that kind of caring from her father. She watched the littlest Addams clinging to her boisterous grandfather. "They touch a lot. Do you think they expect me to hug and hold hands, too?" It was unclear whether she welcomed that more than she dreaded it.

"Oh, I doubt it," Damion said. "They know you don't know them; they won't expect you to hug them. But once they know you better, they might casually slip an arm around your waist, like this." He demonstrated. "Or they might take you by the hand sometimes. But you'll be traveling with the adults; Six is staying here, I think."

He nodded toward the Addams great-grandmother. "The old lady is Dawn Addams, and she is a right corker. She might well prank you something fierce, but it's all in good fun. That tall, dark-haired lady over there is Mrs. Gloriana Addams. She has a wicked set of fingernails on her. She and Mr. Pubert Addams seem quite in love with each other. Then there's Ms. Cookie Munster, who I am told bakes all manner of marvelous things. I'm told you should not let her sloppy appearance fool you." Damion glanced about the assembled family. "The three adult sisters you already know."

"Well, not know exactly, at least not the darker one so much. The one with the longest hair sort of scares me, but Ischemia was quite nice and reassuring. I'm glad to be going off with her family." Zelda took a deep breath and let it out again.

"Speaking of which, I think we should probably get on with it. Do you know where I'm to go aboard the ship?" Little feathers of butterfly fingers danced on her stomach as she contemplated boarding a ship filled with strangers. "The only ones I know are staying behind."

"I'm not sure which cabin you'll be staying in, but let's see if we can find out," Damion said. He walked over to Gloriana Addams, as Pubert was occupied with Six and Dr. Addams. "Hello, Mrs. Addams. I've brought Ms. Zelda Alegari with me. We sent her luggage ahead earlier this morning. Do you know if it arrived?"

Gloriana's large inquisitive eyes focused on the woman with the handsome intelligence officer. She held out her hand, almost as if she expected someone to kiss her ring, but took Zelda's and shook it. "Miss Alegari, charmed to meet you. I'm so happy you're going to be part of our lovely family for a while. I've heard such marvelously fascinating things about you."

Dropping the woman's hand, she said, "Yes, your luggage arrived, and it's been neatly unpacked and stowed by a steward. I believe in Cabin 3 Forward. Shall we go and see?" Looking at the lieutenant, she said, "Thank you so much for bringing our lovely guest. I look forward to seeing you if you ever visit Earth."

"I would enjoy that, Ma'am, thank you," Damion said with a nod.

Turning away from him, Gloriana put her hand on Alegari's arm guided her gently toward the ship. Although Gloriana could be delightfully intimidating and richly frightening, in this case, she chose to be helpful and supportive, which she could also do when required. As they entered the ship, her voice floated back toward the man who'd brought Zelda. "I do hope you'll enjoy your stay with us. If there's anything at all that you need ...."

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