บท 123: Back to Normal
A/N: The song is "Sing for you" by Tracy Chapman, and I would totally recommend you listen to.
~~~~~~~
"Sweet and high at the break of dawn,
Simple tune that you can hum along too,
I remember there was a time,
When I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"Knew all the words to the popular songs,
With the radio on full volume,
I remember there was a time,
When I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"Forget the chorus, you're the bridge,
The words and music to everyday I've lived,
There's nothing, I wouldn't give,
For one more time, when I can sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"Oh Yeah...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"Soft and low when the evening comes,
Holding you, sleeping in my arms,
I remember there was a time,
When I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"I used to sing for you...
"Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
Do do do, do do do,
"I used to sing for you..."
I sat next to the bed while strumming my guitar and softly singing Tracy Chapman's "Sing for You" absentmindedly. I had been sitting here for several hours, cycling through different songs, as I waited for Raven to wake up. She had been there for me numerous times when I woke up from nearly killing myself, so I felt it was only fitting that I did the same.
"Your voice is still as beautiful as I remembered," a soft voice from my side spoke.
I put the guitar aside, almost too hard due to my eagerness, and shifted over the bed. There were still signs of tiredness in her eyes, no doubt that her Soul Power was still weak, but she should have enough strength to move around, albeit slowly. I helped her sit up, and she noticed the change in her body. It was not just her skin color, hair, and ears that had changed, but her bone structure and musculature had been refined to be more 'elf-like' in a Tolkien sense.
"How are you feeling, aside from the lethargy?" I asked.
"Surprisingly light," she replied with a weak smile.
I chuckled, but before I could say anything else, the door opened, and Katye, Echo, L'Naan, and Filigree walked in. Everyone was smiling, but it was the little fairy that drew Raven's attention.
"Filigree?!? How did you get so big?" Raven could not help but ask.
"It was due to my Telo transformation," Katye explained.
"Oh, wow..." she breathed as she was entranced by Katye's mystical eyes.
"There is a lot that we need to fill you in on with what has happened in your absence, including a new member of the crew," Katye said, nodding her head towards L'Naan.
"How can so much change in less than two years?" Raven asked with true surprise.
"It's been longer than that for all of us," I replied with a light sigh then added when I saw her confusion, "We'll get to that while we catch you up on things."
"Are you hungry? I can make something special while Becca helps you wash up," Katye offered.
"That sounds nice," she agreed.
Katye smiled and nodded her head before she left with Filigree and L'Naan.
"It's good to have you back, Raven; you've really been missed," Echo said.
"It's good to be back."
Echo gave a slight nod then followed the others out of the room. Raven sighed lightly and leaned back against the headboard then quickly straightened back up, pulling her hair so that she could see the ends. I gave a weak chuckle as her confusion was easy to understand; somehow, her silver hair was truly metallic.
"Katye called your new bloodline a Miohan Elf, specializing in Metal, Mental, and Order magics as well as Golem creation," I explained.
That information, of course, made her reach up and feel her long, pointed ears.
"How about we go to the bathroom, and you can see all of the changes yourself," I suggested.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," she agreed.
I hopped off the bed and made my way to the other side as Raven swung her legs over the side of the bed. There was a bit of a wobble as she stood up, but I steadied her and helped her walk to the bathroom. We had dressed her in a set of loose clothes after her body was restored, so it was not difficult for her to take them off and examine her whole body in the full mirror.
"Wow... I look so different, yet I still see me," she said softly.
"And still just as beautiful," I replied.
She smirked, shaking her head, and looked back at me. Although there was a light smile on her face, I could see the deep trauma buried in her eyes which broke my heart as it was my fault for everything that she went through during her time with the Borg. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her gently.
"I'm so sorry for everything you've gone through," I apologized when we broke our kiss.
"I know, and I don't blame you for any of it," she replied, laying her head on my shoulder. "I've followed you willingly since our first night together, no matter what crazy mess it drags me into."
I chuckled weakly and ran my fingers through her cool, yet surprisingly silky, metallic hair. "And sadly, there are more to come, I'm sure."
"And I still don't regret my decision to join you."
I kissed her forehead then instructed, "Fae, start the shower on Raven's settings."
The water started as I helped Raven over to the shower. After she was inside, I quickly undressed and joined her. There were no 'stolen touches' during the shower, making it very unique for us, but it was understandable after everything that she had been through.
Drying off was a simple matter, and a bit of mana to remove the water still clinging to our bodies, and then we got re-dressed before entering the main room where everyone was. Katye was dividing up seven portions of grilled meat, no doubt some of our special stock, while there was a giant bowl of alfredo pasta, three loaves of garlic bread, and a plate of brussels sprouts cooked with prosciutto. Raven smiled instantly, noting all of her favorites of Katye's cooking, and we hurried over to the table. While I gathered a plate of food for Raven, Echo happily filled her glass, and the rest of ours, with strawberry Spirit Wine and Katye brought over the meat on seven hovering plates, and settled one in front of each person.
"To reunited family," I toasted with my glass held up.
"To reunited family," everyone else exclaimed, knocking their cups with my own.
After drinking our shots, all of us dove into the food. While Katye's cooking was always amazing, those of us who knew were excited to have the special, mana-enriched meat, while Raven's eyes went wide with her first bite. Needless to say, we all scarfed down the food quickly and enjoyed the happy atmosphere for the rest of the night.
We still had a few more days off after Raven woke up which we all used to spend time together with limited usage of the Mind Linker. We regaled her with stories of what we had been doing while she was separated from us. The three and a half years that Echo, L'Naan, and I spent in Sancu's twisted game were a big focus of the conversation as it was how L'Naan joined us and when we learned how to use Weapon-Force; Raven also found the change in Ishu's, my ghostly summon, personality amusing as she remembered him well from our days back in Eden.
While all of us appreciated Raven's new look, she had Katye help her make an enchanted ring that would hide her transformation, much like the one that I had used during the events of "Future's End". Even if she could smile and relax around us, it was clear that she was still carrying a heavy emotional burden from her experience, so it was not surprising that she wanted to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Of course, coming back from the Borg after over a year away, people would be excited to see her again, but I still understood her thinking.
Eventually, we had to return to the universe outside our little ship, though I secured Raven time off as long as she wanted it. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, Raven and Seven became quick friends as the two of them bonded over their... 'history' with the Borg. When she did leave the Fae Dragon, Neelix, of course, offered to throw a big party which she politely declined. She was still the busybody that she had been before the Borg, so a week after we returned to our duty shifts, she asked to return to her position in Engineering, though she asked to be on the graveyard shift with L'Naan as she was still not the most comfortable around other people.
During this time, an episode popped up, but we avoided the limelight. There was not much danger to Voyager or the crew, but poor Ensign Eager, Harry Kim, took the center stage of this one. We spent two weeks with an alien vessel that was having engine issues which turned into structural problems. The aliens were xenophobic, so it was a credit to Janeway's talents as a diplomat that the crew had been allowed to interact so much with them... so much that Harry managed to start a secret relationship. It started off as a simple fling, but when Harry started glowing while working with Seven, the relationship was exposed and both he and his girlfriend got in trouble, told not to see each other again. Of course, that did not happen, and they snuck in a few more visits before the minor danger of the episode appeared.
A group of the aliens had sabotaged their own ship in order to split it up into individual ships. By the time that everyone found out what was going on, it was too late to reverse the damage, so Voyager could only reinforce their structural shields to ensure that the ships separated safely. A large group of the individual ships decided to stay together, but there were plenty that decided to go on their own to different places, Harry's girlfriend among them.
With his fling leaving with a few of her close friends, Harry had to deal with the effects of breaking their "alien" bond; Katye compared it to the lowest form of a Soul-Bond which required a dozen or so years worth of work to have any permanent effect on the parties. He would just feel miserable for a few weeks to months, but who didn't after a broken heart?
After that event, things quieted down quickly. We worked our duty shift on Voyager, trained in our pass time, and enjoyed each other's company. It was nice and peaceful, almost like our days in Eden with Madi when the next episode came…
A/N: If anyone knows the show, they should be able to guess the next episode after 'The Disease', or wants to look it up, can understand why it's only these two chapters this time. I've finished one chapter, and have started the next, but it isn't the easiest to write and I did not want to leave anyone on a month-long cliff hanger than this small level.
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