Counselling the Counselor

[knlwtchr 0]

The room was dark.

 

But the cautious Ensign stepped inside anyway, trying to let her eyes focus quicker than they were actually able. She let her hands lead the way inside the small meditation dome, built on the outside of P'Jems Monestary.

 

Andrea was sure to see to her crew members getting to the places they wanted to be first. After landing the shuttle craft, many of the crew members knew right were they were going and made a b-line to their destination. Some wanted counsel. Others did not. Ensign Knlwtchr did not want to make her fellow crew mates seek guidance. After all, Moose's orders were to make the monestary available.

 

And Andrea agreed.

 

But when Andrea finally found a moment for herself, she sought that which she was trained to administer. Nor was she unaware of the rare treat their captain had made available to his crew. The Counselor had always wanted to check out the Monestary, but never had a chance. Who would have guessed she would have this opportunity?

 

As her fingertips found what appeared to be a stone bench, she sat quietly and adjusted her civilian clothes. Andrea found it almost ironic that she was sitting in a dark room, after what she had recently been through. Sure, their encounters on Arcady were unusual and disheartening, but none as disheartening as the lose of her father.

 

Ensign Knlwtchr closed her eyes and decided to try to relax. The smells of the room and the dampness about the atmosphere made for a distant feel. Images in her mind became three dimensional as they swirled in her head, causing the Counselor to catch herself from dozing off several times. Finally, an image that had burned in her memory remained, and she was forced to relive it again.

 

Andrea began to tear up as she remembered, in a very real way, kneeling over her father, taking him in her arms, and giving him an ardent embrace. She remembered the warmth in his as he returned the jesture. Andrea could still feel his heart beating rapidly, smell her fathers smell, and hear his voice in her ear as he said he had loved her. And Andrea returned the sentiment with more adoration she had ever felt.

 

And then she kissed his cheek.

 

As she released her hold on him and straightened up again, she looked down on her declining father and choked back sobs. In her mind, she knew he was going, she just wouldn't let her heart believe it.

 

And when he breathed his last and passed away, Andrea felt her inner core, shaking with grief, resonate clear through to the skin. And she collapsed....

 

 

...and fell out of her chair to her knees.

 

"Oh, father. I love you so much. Goodbye, father. Goodbye."

 

The Vulcan counselor let loose of his grasp on Andrea and opened his eyes. Then he rested a hand on the grief stricken counselor's shoulder.

 

The elderly vulcan raised a brow. "Your grief is derived from not having said a proper goodbye to your father."

 

He stood. "But it is not too late. You can say goodbye now and still remember your father honorably."

 

Andrea got to her feet and considered the elder counselor through a teary haze. She nodded slowly and took in a deep breath.

 

"That's what I want, Counselor." Taking his hand now, "thats what I want."

 

And they melded again.