To Everything There Is A Season

~A Report ~

The sun was just kissing the horizon with gold as the men started exiting the kitchen for the morning's work assignments. At not quite 6:30 in the morning the day was already promising to be hot and humid. Nathan waited impatiently outside the kitchen door for Owen. He needed to find out the reason why he'd suddenly been dropped from the group that was heading back to base. He'd spent his evenings working on a trade proposal and had been looking forward to presenting it to the base elders. Now he was being left behind with no explanation as to why.

"Owen, wait up." Nathan said as Owen left the house striding towards the garden, "I have a few questions about the trip back to base."

Owen paused before nodding and leading the way towards the picnic table. The pair sat facing each other across the table. Nathan watched as the man he considered his leader and older brother gathered his thoughts. The morning quiet was broken only by the distant sounds of the other's getting started on their day's work assignments.

"You want to know why I dropped you from the return party." Nathan nodded, Owen met his eyes before continuing, "Initially I wanted you to return and present your trade idea, it is a fantastic plan and I know how hard you have worked on it. Then I realized how valuable you are here. You have the depth of practical knowledge that is required to thrive in this new world. Kota is close to you in ability, but the extra six years of survival training with your father makes you uniquely qualified to help the other men find their stride, as well as being a true help to miss Sang."

Nathan nodded slowly, "I can see that. I suppose the years of dealing with my father's obsession is finally coming in handy but I'm still not sure what that has to do with dropping me from the mission. I would have thought that expertise would be a benefit for convincing the council that trade was a good idea."

Owen took a deep breath, "You are correct. Your experience would help to sell the trade idea. Which is why I initially wanted you to go. Over the last few days, I've realized that while you are thriving and finding your place here others are not." Owen paused; Nathan could see his brother was struggling to put into words what he wanted to say next. "Four of the five members who are going back, are struggling to adapt. I am completely lost as to how I fit into our new lives; I'm hoping one of the elders can give me some direction. Victor is struggling to find a new direction; music and computers are all he knows and now only his ability to play music has any kind of value. It was pure luck finding a working computer here and the need to retrieve the data on it is keeping him going. I want Luke to go back for one reason only, he's excited about something for the first time in six months, if he can find new recipes to introduce miss Sang to, he'll hopefully stay engaged with us long enough to start healing. Sean needs more medical supplies and to talk over some concerns with Dr. Roberts. He is also trying to figure out how to be a doctor without the tools he trained on."

Nathan sat silently and let Owen's words sink in. He could understand the reasoning behind who was going, he just hadn't realised that Owen was also struggling. "Owen, we need you. I know this is outside of what you know. You have always been the one we come to when life got crazy, now it's your turn to lean on us for a bit until you find your footing. You have always loved plants maybe Sang has some idea of where that love of growing things would be best used?"

Owen remained silent clearly thinking about what Nathan had just said. "Thank you, Nate. I needed to hear that. I am so used to being the one that solves problems that not being able to fix grief or make obsolete skills relevant again has left me lost."

"Believe it or not, you having the answers was never why we listened to you. It was because you always took our thoughts and feelings seriously and worked with us to find a solution. When life with my father got to be unbearable you listened to me and we worked out a plan to remove my father from the picture with as little fuss as possible." Nathan told Owen. "When Gabe was dealing with Pam and her addictions, you were there. He knew he could come to you and you would listen, without judgement. It was always his choice on how involved the Academy got in his home life and you backed him all the way. We all have stories about the time you were our shoulder. Maybe it's time for you to lean on us for a bit and let us take the weight until you find your feet again."

Nathan stood and prepared to head towards the curing hut to turn the meat from the day before, "Thank you for telling me your reasons for changing the away team. I think you're right. Take the time the four of you need to find where you belong again. Just remember we are family and we will always be here to help you."

Owen watched the quietest of his brothers walk away. Nathan had grown up while he wasn't looking. He had matured from the angry teen who struggled with his body image into this self-assured young man. Owen was so proud of the man Nathan was growing into.

After a couple more minutes of sitting at the table and thinking Owen slowly rose and looked around the yard. He could hear the voices of miss Sang, Gabriel and Luke in the kitchen talking while the three worked. Across the yard Kota and Victor could be seen moving the animals from the barn to the grazing pen. The pair looked to be engaged in an intense conversation. Victor was holding the gate, while Kota attempted to move the cows into the pen...it wasn't going smoothly. In fact, Kota's lack of success was making both laugh and fail even more. Owen shook his head his lips lifting slightly at the sight. From the other side of the yard he could hear swearing and the sound of metal hitting metal. That could only mean that North was in the machine shed working on another antique farm machine. Sean and Silas were in the cotton field. Owen would be joining them shortly. In this moment his family was busy and happy. He would worry about the future later.

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So very sorry this took so long. Hopefully the next chapter won't take forever to write.