"In the End"

[Kestra 0]

(OOC: This takes place prior to the last sim.)

 

 

"In the End"

 

starring Simon Ljungberg and Kestra Miral

 

 

She sat at her table, running her finger lightly over the fruit in front of her, not really thinking about food. A slight smile played on her lips despite the serious tones of the conversation around her.

 

Simon entered the mess hall. He was in a bad mood after his fights with Kestra and Captain Jalil and the little incident with Dr. Vio. All he wanted to do was have lunch and be left in peace for a while. As he turned from the replicator and looked for a table his gaze fell on a familiar figure sitting alone at a table. He walked over to her, hoping she'd give him a chance to apologise. "Hey, Kes. Mind if I join you?"

 

She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course you can, Simon." Pushing out a chair with one of her feet, she motioned for him to sit across from her. "I was hoping to run into you."

 

He looked at her, his expression a mixture of surprise and skepticism. He couldn't believe that after their fight she'd be glad to see him. There must be something else. "Thank you," he said as he sat down and put his tray in front of him. "Any particular reason you wanted to 'run into me'?"

 

"I just wanted to apologize. For our argument." She could sense his skepticism but continued anyway. "It was silly and immature, and unnecessary. I think we've just all been stressed out lately. All the tension from the fighting out there. Not knowing." She glanced out one of the windows before looking back at him.

 

Simon's jaw dropped and he had stopped moving his fork towards his mouth. " I couldn't have said it any better." He finally managed to say after a moment. "Listen, I didn't mean to say all these things. I have to apologise, too."

 

"Oh no, please don't," Kestra interrupted him. "Tell me how things are in sickbay."

 

He raised his eyebrows at the abrupt change of the topic. He pushed his tray away from him suddenly not feeling hungry anymore. "Alright, Kes, what's going on?" Simon simply couldn't believe it. Here he was ready to apologise, something that didn't happen often, and that was one thing Kestra had accused him of, and she changed the topic. He was getting confused and he was sure she could sense it. Did she enjoy playing games with him, he wondered.

 

"What’s going on?" She watched him slide the tray to the side and made an effort to keep his confusion from affecting her.

 

He exhaled audibly and closed his eyes briefly. "I was trying to apologise for what happened and you ask me what's going on in sickbay. Kes, I might not be able to sense what you feel but I know you long enough to be sure there's something else. And please don't try to play games with me. I'm not up to that right now." His frustration and anger was getting the better of him and he just didn't manage to keep either out of his voice. It didn't matter anyway since he was sure Kestra would have known anyway.

 

She reached out to hold his hand for a moment to calm him. "I'm not playing games. It's just that all that suddenly doesn't seem important." Kestra withdrew her hand and looked at him, wishing for a moment that he was empathic. That she didn't have to sit here and explain anything to him. "Simon, I think I'm going to leave after this."

 

At her touch his heart started beating faster. He squeezed her hand gently. When she withdrew it he wished he could have held on to it. "I've got no idea what you're talking about Kes." He leaned back and looked into her eyes. Almost pleadingly he went on. "Please, Kes, don't tell me you're leaving this ship already."

 

She simply nodded at him. "The crew seems great, but ... we'll be lucky to make it out of this alive. I don't really know what I'm doing out here." Another pause. "I'm leaving with Travis."

 

He had opened his mouth to reply when the last piece of information sank in. He just sat there staring at her for a few moments. A wave of emotions washed over him. The first thing he felt was anger closely followed by a feeling of betrayal and a sense of loss as he understood what she meant. In the end all he was left with was anger again. "What!?" What do you mean, you're leaving with Travis?"

 

She leaned in closer, her voice remaining quiet and calm. Perhaps he would calm down a bit as well. "We've worked things out," she said. It was hard to keep from smiling at the memory. At the thought of it. "My father's spent most of his life working against the UFP. Travis has spent his whole life doing the same. His parents were killed for it. I don't want that; I want to get out of here while I still can."

 

Nothing she said could calm him down now. Granted, things had not exactly gone right between the two of them ever since Kestra had come aboard but Travis? He got up, knocking over his chair. "It seems like you've got it all worked out already." He threw his napkin on the tray and glared at her. "Well, have a good life." With that he turned and stormed out of the mess hall, attracting quite a few curious looks.

 

She sighed quietly, watching him leave. At least she wasn't the one storming out of the mess hall this time. He was never going to understand it; his work was his life. It wasn't even about Travis. Kestra noticed a table of officers still looking over at her and whispering and she let herself take it all in for a moment.

 

There were massive fleets outside the ship, fighting, waiting. Some of them hidden. Other forces unknown. Simon was mad at her; people were talking about her. She ignored them, picked up the apple from her tray, and smiled again. It didn't matter. It would all be over soon.