As the Phoenix Feather fell Down

Chapter 9

'HOWEVER, SHE WAS MORE than just a captain; she was a daughter, a mother, a wife and a wonderful friend.' Fujita looked at the faces in front of her that filled the audience. Delia had never wanted a very elaborate funeral. If the funeral had been public, there might have been hundreds, maybe even a thousand people – Delia had been famous enough for that. Now, there were only some three hundred of Delia's crew of the Frudael, a few of her and Fujita's other friends, and of course Saith Mithras – Delia's husband – and Matthew Kirk – their nine year old son.

'I won't bore you with any of her childhood stories', Fujita made an attempt at a smile and looked down, 'but there is one thing I will tell you. One time – she was about ten years old back then – I decided to give Delia her first taste of captaincy. I put her in my chair and let her give the orders. For two hours she sat there, her oh so beautiful blue eyes beaming with barely containable pleasure.' Fujita chuffed as she remembered the beautiful day. 'I'd known for so long that she was a born captain, but at that moment, I promise you there hasn't been a prouder mother in the entire universe.' She shook her head with a small smile. 'To see her sitting there, the chair way too big for her, but giving orders like she did it every day; she was so beautiful.' Fujita fell silent for a moment, her eyes focussed on the sky and her thoughts wandering away. 'I've always been so incredibly proud of her, I suppose she hasn't always realized. We've had our share of problems – most of you undoubtably know that – but it never seized to amaze me how good a captain and a person she was.'

Fujita sighed. 'This is one of the darker days of all our lives. Of course, not all of you knew her that well, but she meant something to all of us in our own way. Whether that is as family, as friend or as commanding officer. Today, we share the same pain. But let us not just be sad. I want to ask you all join the banquet we organized and to share stories of the live of our beloved daughter, mother, wife, friend and Captain.'

---

'That was beautiful', Kathryn Janeway said, pulling Fujita into a warm embrace. 'I'm so, so sorry.'

Fujita awkwardly accepted her old friend's hug, and she heard the quiver in Kate's voice. 'It's alright', she said.

Kate pulled back. 'No it's not! How can you say something like that?'

Fujita shook her head and looked at the sky behind her friend. 'Talking about how horrible it is – as you all tend to do – doesn't make it better.'

'Neither does bottling it up.'

Fujita looked at the fellow Admiral again. 'Kate, I deal with things on my own way. You know that.' She sighed. 'Let's get some food.'

Both of the women walked over to the tables filled with delicious food at the far end of the crowded room. Fujita looked around, taking in the faces around her. She saw the Vulcan T'Vrell – who had been Delians chief science officer on the Frudael – deep in conversation with her husband Simon Jameson – the ship's chief pilot. A bit to the left of them, Fujita saw her friends Will Riker, Deanna Troi, Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher all gathered together, having a drink. As Fujita scanned the room some more carefully, she saw more and more familiar faces; Christopher Anderson was there of course, but also Kennelyn McIntyre – who had been seen around Delia quite frequently while the Captain had been on the Starlight – Captain Chakotay from Voyager, Syria Whiro and Tyler Benson from the Frudael, even Admiral Owen Paris had come.

Then Fujita spotted her Bajoran friend Kira Nerys standing near the drinks. The woman must have noticed that the Admiral was looking at her, because she turned around. 'Fujita!' she said loudly, walking over to Fujita and Kate.

'Fujita, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to catch up with you earlier, I-'

Fujita interrupted the woman. 'It's alright, you're here now', she said softly, and she pulled her friend into her arms – to the great surprise of both Nerys and Kate, and frankly of even Fujita herself and mostly everyone in the room who saw them.

---

Christopher sat in the crowded Square, waiting for the show to start. Row upon row of simple chairs had been set up, filling most of the room. The only empty spaces were the bar and the podium at the front of Ten Forward, where bright spotlights lit up Kenna McIntyre's red-blue hair. The woman was waiting for the loud round of applause to die down, so she could announce the first act of the evening.

Christopher was seated on the first row with the rest of the senior crew. Diru had been opposed to the idea of advantaging the senior crew like this – she found that the rest of Starlight's crew was just as important – but in the past few months, the senior crew had all claimed their own chair at the front of the audience, and the rest of the ship's personnel had respected this. However, the chair next to Christopher's was empty.

'Where is the Captain?' Counselor Aridiya Neriouix – who was seated on the other side of the Commander – asked.

'She won't be attending, I assume', Christopher responded. He figured his commanding officer had other things on her mind at the moment than seeing her crew perform.

'Oh, of course', Neriouix said, 'I'm sorry, that was a stupid question.'

'It's alright, Lieutenant', Christopher stated, turning toward the Trill next to him. 'I suppose we all hoped to see her here today.

Neriouix looked up dreadfully. 'It's probably not my place to say this, but I think we're all worried about the Captain. I don't know her as well as I'd wish, but I have noticed she doesn't go out as much as she used to.'

'That's true', Christopher sighed. Then Kenna started talking, and all eyes went up to the petite bartender. The first act was announced and the show started. Now was not the time to worry about their grieving captain, Christopher found.

---

Fujita's eyes darted through her darkened room, seemingly looking for something she had was lost, but not knowing what that was exactly. The Admiral was lying on her bed, her head resting in her hands and on her pillow. She was not particularly cold, but the grey blanket was folded over her legs.

When Fujita had gotten off duty earlier that day, she had – as always – token a shower and put on some more comfortable clothes. Then she had sat herself down on her couch with a steaming cup of cranberry coffee and a good book, her dog Seyvah laying merrily at her side.

However, Fujita had not been able to concentrate on the novel she was reading and had decided to call it an early night. She knew that most of her crew would be in the Square by now, where the monthly open stage was about to start. Normally, Fujita enjoyed these shows immensely – although her crew's constant begs for her to perform on the piano could be rather annoying. Today, however, her mind had not been at it.

Suddenly, Fujita was reminded of those worriless nights on the Enterprise and the Frudael all those years ago, where she – yet unmarried and childless – would laugh the night away with her friends Jim, Bones and Spock – though the latter was the only one not visibly laughing, of course. They would sing and dance on old music, would eat the weirdest but most delicious foods and would play tri-d chess. It had been such endlessly joyful times, when Fujita had freely played the piano in front of her crew, occasionally accompanied by Spock on the Vulcan lute or by the singing Nyota Uhura. The crew had been like an actual family, despite the hard work, they were always having fun. Fujita's life had been richer than it had ever been, having the best of friends, the freedom of a ship and an infinitely vast universe, and her entire life still ahead of her.

A thought came up in Fujita's mind, and she made a decision. She got up and looked around her silent quarters, at Seyvah who was still sleeping on the couch, at her family picture with Delia and Jim on her desk. Then she walked over to Ten Forward, to Kenna McIntyre, who managed to arrange every open stage so magically. She knew she would be just in time.