Different Paths
By: Lauren and Julia

Part Eleven
By: Julia

Julia's Thoughts: I first want to thank Lauren for helping me write this
and having so many great ideas. At first, this was just going to be a fluff
piece of mine, but she convinced me otherwise. I want to thank the Ites for
all their death threats about how they would kill Scott, don't ask me why
anyone would want to do that. I want to thank Roxann Dawson and Robbie
McNeill for being so wonderful at portraying their characters. This isn't
for anyone in particular, but a great bear hug goes out to Little Miss
Merry Sunshine. Hi JoAnna!


He would wake up at night when she cried and he would get up. He would sit
in the rocker he had painted just for her and stare at the half done sketch
of his daughter. 
Lindsay would smile and gurgle up at him before falling asleep. He would
fall asleep there in the chair or on the couch when he held her there. 
She first walked at a year on her birthday. There had been a party earlier
and then both father and daughter had retired to their quarters to hold a
private party and mourning session. B'Elanna had been gone a year.

***

Scott Meherrit stood in the shadows of the room, watching his daughter
sleep. So innocent. So young. 
The girl stirred and rolled over, her dark raven hair falling over her
pale skin. Her brow ridges were small niches on her forehead and gave her a
more exotic look. 
Lindsay yawned and sat up. Her dark brown eyes looked around the room and
she ran hand through her hair, before lying down again and going back to
sleep. 
Scott stood there for a few more minutes before slowly turning and going
back into his own room to spend the night alone once more. For she was gone.

***

"Come on, Lindsay, try and concentrate." Harry Kim said gently. He leaned
back in his chair and scratched at his beard.
"I am!" The thirteen-year old exclaimed. She brought the clarinet up to
her lips again and played the measure over again. Looking at Harry, he
nodded and she went on. He grinned.
"That's my god-daughter! Now lets take it from the top, and don't rush the
second movement."
The lesson lasted another hour and then Harry was due on the Bridge.
Lindsay carefully tucked her clarinet back into its case and picked up her
music folder. 
"Good job, Lindsay! See you tomorrow at ten hundred hours." He gave
Lindsay a hug as they parted at the Mess Hall.
Lindsay entered and waved to Neelix behind the counter. 
"Lindsay! Hello!" He tossed her a purple looking vegetable. "Saved one
just for you!"
She grinned. "Thanks, Uncle Neelix! Seen my dad around?"
"No, actually, I have not. But, don't worry, you can eat with your Uncle
Tom today!"
Lindsay's smile disappeared and she faced Neelix. "Stop trying to force me
to recognize him! I'm not forgiving him and I don't want anything to do
with him." 
She muttered something unpronounceable under her breath as she sat down in
a corner, taking out a PADD and scrolling down to the third chapter of
Woman Warriors At The River of Blood. 
"That was a favorite of your mother's." A voice said from behind her.
Lindsay  turned her head to see Tom Paris. He smiled kindly at her. "She
was engrossed in it one day and I caught her reading it."
"Yeah, I'm sure you did." Lindsay said harshly, biting into the purple
fruit and going back to the PADD.
He cocked his head. "Can I sit down?"
"I don't care." She didn't look up. Tom sat down facing her. She looked up
and met his gaze. "What?"
"You just look so much like your..." 
"Mother, I know. You tell me everyday, and I didn't even know her thanks
to you, so just deal with the fact that I look like her and get over it."
Lindsay stood up and turned to go. 
"I need to show you something." Tom stood up and tried to pull her back.
Lindsay whirled around, slapping his hand away.
"I don't care what it is. Just leave me alone." Lindsay glared at him and
left the Mess Hall.

***

"Sweetie?" Scott poked his head into his daughter's room. She looked up
from fingering something on her clarinet. "Guess what?"
Lindsay didn't even blink. "What?"
"Voyager's going home."
Her eyes went wide. "Home... how? When? Why?"
Scott laughed and his smile went to his eyes. Lindsay couldn't help but to
smile back, she noticed his smile only lit up his eyes when he smiled at
her. He sat down on her bed and fingered the blanket Lindsay had been
wrapped in the day she was born on the desolate moon. 
"Q, actually. It will happen tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure, I guess
Aunt Kathryn struck a bargain with him some how."   
"Sounds like Kat." Lindsay said, using her old nickname for her Aunt.
Scott stood up. "And... when we get home, I'm resigning from StarFleet."
Lindsay looked at him blankly for several moments. "Why?" 
He tweaked her nose. "Because your going into those crazy teen years, and
I want to be close to your grandparents and aunt. You'll love England."
Lindsay looked up at the painting of the home by the sea. "I already do."
She stood up and hugged her father. He was still several inches taller then
her and Lindsay had almost reached her full height. She drew back. "Are you
going to contact K'Tarna?"
Scott nodded. "Only if you want me too. But we can decide that later."

***

Lindsay walked down the corridor, a towel slung over her shoulder. Her
hair was wet and the recycled air felt cold on her skin. She pressed the
call for the turbolift and studied her feet.
The door opened and she entered. "Deck 9." She glanced at the other
occupant. It was Tom.
"Good day, Lt. Commander." Lindsay said politely, though she didn't mean
it at all.
There was silence. "So, are you excited about getting home?"
"It should be very interesting, sir." Lindsay stared at the dull colored
wall.
"Lindsay, I do need to show you something. I can't change the fact that
B'Elanna isn't here... I wish everyday I could-"
Lindsay turned to him, her hands on her hips. "Why? Do you think that just
because you delivered me that she'd leave my father and run to you? Do you
really think that I could ever have accepted you as a father? Is that what
you think? Are you actually blind enough to believe that my mother would do
that? I'm sorry, *SIR*, but my mother was not a cheater like you, she loved
my father and she loved me. She wouldn't deny me a right to have my own
father to love me and raise me as God damn well as he has!"
The turbolift arrived at Deck 9 and Lindsay charged out. 

***
       Lindsay was silent at dinner that night. She played with her food and
excused herself quickly. Scott stopped her before she left their quarters. 
       "Go to the Holodeck and search for programs under B'Elanna Torres for her
daughter." He turned away and went back to his desk. Lindsay shrugged and
left for the holodeck. 
       "Computer, search data banks of B'Elanna Torres for any holoprograms for
her daughter."
       "Program ready."
       Lindsay entered the holodeck.
       The sky was black with a few yellow stars glittering above. Lindsay stood
above a calm pond, the water so clear she could see all the way to the
bottom without a ripple. Lindsay took off her nightshirt, she still had her
swimsuit underneath. She slipped into the water and leaned back, looking at
the sky.
       The water didn't even ripple and was warm to the skin. A soft harp with a
soft wood flute played from somewhere not in sight and colors seemed to
reflect off the bottom of the pool. They were like the Aurora Borealis in
Alaska on Earth. 
       Lindsay sat there for several hours, staring at the sky or the swirling
colors. Her skin didn't wrinkle, the water didn't cool. 
       A figure emerged from the darkness. It was B'Elanna. She had chin length
hair and her eyes were the same dark brown as Lindsay's. B'Elanna slipped
into the water and sat across from Lindsay.
       "Hello, Lindsay."
       Lindsay studied the figure of her mother. It was like looking in a mirror
at her older self.
       "Hello."
       "Scott tells me your going home tomorrow. That's good."
       "Dad comes here?" 
       B'Elanna nodded. "I asked him if anything ever happened to me, he would
inform this program about your life. I guess I am gone."
       "You were killed by Tom Paris."
       B'Elanna shook her head. "No, I wasn't, Lindsay."
       "He was the pilot. He was responsible and he let you die."
       B'Elanna shook her head again but didn't say anything else about the
subject. "Just pursue your dreams, Lindsay, and never stop loving your
father."
       "Do you love him?" Lindsay wasn't sure what possessed her to say that.
       B'Elanna nodded. "Of course."
       "But you also love Commander Paris." She stated flatly. "And if you had
lived you would have left Dad for him." She stood up. "Computer, end program."

***

       "It has been a long journey. And we have lost many good people. But we
have survived. And we are going home. We are a family. And we will continue
to be. Janeway out." Lindsay looked around Seven's quarters.
       Baby toys were spread everywhere and boxing crates stood on one wall.
"Seven?"
       "Yes?" Seven came out her room, bouncing baby Capri on one shoulder. She
smiled. "Good afternoon, Lindsay. I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in."
       Lindsay grinned. "That's okay. I was just here to say goodbye. Dad and I
are staying on Earth."
       "So are Capri and I."
       Lindsay looked confused. "But.. I thought after Kataracky died... you
said Voyager was your home."
       Seven cocked her eyebrow in Borg fashion. "I was mistaken." She said in a
cold, metallic voice before relaxing and touching Capri's cheek softly. "I
thought about it a lot, and I want to find my relatives, if I have any.
Capri deserves to live on a planet and not be put in danger."
       Lindsay nodded and took Capri from Seven. She was already almost seven
months old. The black lines of the Makashyi around her eyes and across her
forehead showed up slightly.
       The Makashyi were a race Voyager had met when Seven was eleven. Seven had
fallen in love with a man named Kataracky and he had come with Voyager when
they left. 
       A year later, Seven became pregnant with Capri. The Makashyi were distant
relatives of the Ocampa, the males died shortly after their child was born. 
       Lindsay kissed Capri's head and shook her hand with one finger. "Tell me
where you are on Earth and I'll be a baby-sitter!" Lindsay handed Capri
back to Seven and gave her an awkward hug.

***

       "There's someone here for you, Lin!" Scott tapped on the bathroom door.
       "Out in a minute!" The door opened a second later. "Who?"
       "Go see." Scott said and turned back to packing his art supplies. Lindsay
checked the mirror quickly and entered the living area. Tom sat uneasily in
one of the chairs.
       "May I help you?"
       "I need to show you something, Lindsay."
       "Go, Lindsay!" Scott hollered from the room. Lindsay glared at Tom and
left her quarters.

***

       "B'Elanna wanted me to give it to you the day we got home. She recorded
it after you were born."
       Tom took down a small wood box from a shelf and opened it up. Inside
there was a rusty tricorder. A small red light beeped.
       "You can listen to it at my desk, I'll be in the other room." Tom set the
box down on the table and left.
       Lindsay stared at the box for several moments before picking it up and
touching a few buttons. She took the small disk out of the tricorder and
slid it into the slot at Tom's desk.
       B'Elanna's image appeared. "Hello, Lindsay." She looked tired and she
looked down at something she was holding. "I'm sitting here holding you.
And you are so beautiful. I know I won't be there for you, but I hope Tom
does what I asked him to and gives this to you when we get home. You mean
so much to me and I hate that I'll never see you walk, or talk. I'll never
get to spy on you with your first date or take long walks with you in my
Central Park program. But I guess Kahless wanted it this way."
       "Your father will raise you wonderfully, I don't have any doubts. I hope
you always pursue your dreams, and please, when you find out about how I
was killed, don't blame Tom. He loves you."
       Lindsay sat a little straighter and watched her mother swallow. Her eyes
were glassy and her breath was coming in short gasps. "You didn't do this
too me. I gave you life. I wish I could meet see your Aunt Lindsay one more
time, she would be so honored to have a niece named after her."
       She took a ragged breath and seemed to almost stop breathing before going
on. "I can probably tell you are going to be a musician and a swimmer. I
was a swimmer. And these hands look like musician's hands. Don't feel bad
if you can't draw, I can't either."
       She looked past the screen and then averted her eyes back. "Its getting
harder to say this, so I'm ending it. I love you, Lindsay. Don't ever
forget me, please."
       The image blurred, there was a moment of static and it went blank.
Lindsay reached forward and deleted it.
       Tom entered the room a few minutes later and all Lindsay could do was
stand up and hug him. "Thank you," she said quietly and left his quarters.

***

       Three days later, Voyager reached Earth. Seven, Capri, Lindsay, and Scott
were the only ones that stayed. Scott and Lindsay were reunited with their
family and moved in with their family. Seven and Capri found Seven's
grandparents and moved to Alaska to be closer to them.
       Tom visited every month on the second weekend for several years
afterward. Lindsay had forgiven him and had accepted the fact that B'Elanna
loved both Tom... and Scott.

DISCLAIMER: All characters on Voyager are Paramounts, but Lauren and I
claim the story, the idea, Lindsay Meherrit, Scott Meherrit, Capri, the
Makashyi, and Kataracky.