Katianna and Kitty laughed over cups of tea and salads in Kitty's quarters as they spoke together. Daniel sat happily on a blanket nearby on the deck playing with some toys. The women looked over to him as he put a toy in his mouth, pulled it out and then giggled at them. Kitty smiled serenely, as her hand caressed her bulging abdomen.
"How's the pregnancy going?" Katianna asked.
"So far so good," Kitty replied. "I'm in my sixth month and no complications so far, knock on wood I believe the expression is. My father use to say it on occasion."
"That's good to hear. And how's Zac and Arianna doing?"
Kitty took a sip of her tea. "Zac is progressing very well with K'Tag's tutoring in the Klingon Martial Arts. And Zac loves K'Tag like an uncle. He keeps telling me he wants to grow up and be a Klingon now."
Both women smiled at the thought. Not that it would be hard for a Tanzaran. Just shift into a Klingon. But the Klingons wouldn't appreciate that necessarily, they knew. Zac would learn as she grew and with K'Tag as his teacher, he was sure to do fine, they both knew.
"Arianna on the other hand, is just discovering her Tanzaran abilities..."
Speaking of the little girl with the dark blond hair and green-brown eyes, she walked into the room with an arm full of toys. Pikachu was right behind her. She took the toys and put them down near Daniel.
"Daniel play with these too!"
"Honey, Daniel is a baby," Kitty tried to explain to her daughter, "Your toys are more for bigger kids... I don't think it's a good idea he play with them."
"But he told me it okay!" she replied confused.
Kitty raised an eyebrow and turned toward Katianna. Kat just shrugged.
"Don't worry," Kat replied. "I'll keep a look out in the corner of my eye, okay?"
Kitty, trusting Kat's motherly instincts nodded and took a bit of her salad. She could hear the kids playing. Then Katianna started laughing and the sounds of "Pika, Pika!" "Pika, Pika!" "Pikachu..." continued over and over again. Daniel was giggling as well. But what got her attention was that it sounded like more than one Pikachu. And as she turned around, she was greeted by the sight of two Pikachus! One stopped and waved at her. "Pika! Pika!" it said excitedly.
"Arianna, I'm happy that you've been able to catch onto your shapeshifting abilities, but lets only have one Pikachu in here, or else it's going to get awfully confusing!" Kitty said.
Instantly one of the Pikachu's forms melted back into that of Arianna. "Momma..." she said with a hint of a whine.
"Arianna..."
"Okay..." Arianna replied reluctantly. Suddenly Pikachu hugged her and Daniel threw a block up into the air and giggled. Arianna immediately forgot about being sad and started giggling with Daniel. They all began playing with the toys.
"Kids are a wonder!" Kitty smiled.
"They certainly are!" Katianna agreed. "Speaking of, and I know this was suppose to be just friends getting together, but I didn't necessarily want to make this an official report unless you wanted to make it one."
Katianna produced a PADD and slid it across the table to Kitty, who put her fork down and picked up the PADD that was on offer. As she read it, her brow arched.
"This is a report from your daughter?" she replied incredulously.
"What can I say? I guess instinct runs in the family," she smirked. "But my report is there as well, along with statements from Tara Carmichael, Kassia and Jovani Burgos. We can all vouch for the fact that we would be dead without her intervention."
"What about Kara?" Kitty asked.
"It was Laurissa that talked her into it. Laurissa was the one who was the driving force behind the rescue," Katianna replied, her green eyes dancing.
Kitty finished going over the PADD and put it down thoughtfully. "That's quite a tale you guys have spun... Though I don't doubt for a moment that it happened," she replied. Then trying not to laugh, she looked Katianna in the eyes. "So three Starfleet Officers and one Civilian adult had to be rescued by... a five year old?"
Katianna trying to keep her own composure. "Yes, Captain. That's the jist of it. And I thought something as extraordinary as that could use some special recognition..."
Kitty was quiet for a moment as she thought about it, the nodded. "Okay, Commander, I'll see what I can do for your little hero!" she smiled.
"Thanks, Captain," Kat replied.
Kitty lifted her tea and took a sip. "Isn't life amazing?" she asked as she watched the kids and Pikachu play.
"It's amazing..." Katianna replied. "So are you looking forward to your newest little one?" Katianna asked with a soft smile.
Kitty nodded. "Very much." Tenderly she stroked her growing abdomen. "It's hard to believe that not long ago I just wanted my life to be over... Now look at me! I have everything! It goes to show you reversal of fortune in action..."
Something about Kitty's words made the hairs on the back of Katianna's neck prick up and an uneasy feeling settled over her. But she just said nothing about it and her and Kitty enjoyed the rest of their lunch.
Katianna picked Laurissa up from school. As soon as Laurissa saw her mother her green eyes lit up.
"MOMMA!" she yelled and ran to her, practically leaping into her mother's arms.
Katianna laughed as she hugged her daughter close. "How was school?" she asked.
"It was okay, not a fun as being with you!" she replied. Then she leaned into her mother's ear as her mother held her close. "Don't worry, Momma, I didn't tell anyone what we did. That's class- classified!"
Katianna smiled, kissed her daughter again and put her down on the deck. "That's right," she replied with a wink. Laurissa laughed. "Now I have another surprise! We're meeting Kara and Daniel at Harry's for Ice Cream and then we're going to HoloPursuits."
"Really??" she said excitedly.
"Yes, and I was thinking of maybe taking all of us to the circus! Or a Zoo! Or better yet, a Marine Park from 20th Century Earth," he said.
"I vote for the Marine Park!" Laurissa replied gleefully as they headed off toward the eatery.
As she tucked the kids into bed, the uneasy feeling had left. She wasn't sure what was going on. Was she afraid that all hell was going to break loose? she wondered. The good feeling that she'd initially had when they had managed to get off of Cardassia was fading and all it took were the words Reversal of Fortune. Shouldn't she have had the reversal of fortune? Her daughter had saved her life. They didn't find the codex, but that just meant they could make their own destiny... Or did it?
She tried to banish the thoughts as she shifted into a nightgown, grabbed some tea and then went to bed. As she was reading, involuntarily her eyes began to close, carrying her into peaceful sleep... Or was it?
Where was she, she thought as she looked around slowly. As if her senses were only just coming to her. It was dark, yet there was light flickering from a distance. Like fire, she thought... As her eyes finally came into focus, she realized she was in a ruin of an amphitheater. There was a fire burning. The columns were casting eerie shadows. At her feet Kassia lay dead... blood was pooling around her. But as she looked to the fire, she saw Amojen, the demon, with Daniel on an alter in the center of the amphitheater!
"NO!" she screamed trying to run to him, before the demon could carve more strange symbols on him, bleeding him out. But as she realized there was no noise issuing from her child, she was sure he was already near death. But just as she took a step a hand came around her throat.
"Sorry, can't let you play in this game," came the voice. It was Kalimar. As she looked at him, his eyes just stared at her with amusement. "Well, it's been fun, Kat, but your time's up."
Just as she began to feel pressure in her neck, her eyes flew up and she leapt out of bed. Her nerves were on end. Her heart raced... She put her hands to her throat just to make sure it had just been a dream. Then she dashed to Daniel's crib. He lay there sound asleep. Adjusting the blankets around him, and tenderly caressing his face, she left his room almost in tears. Her only thought... Kalimar and Amojen were going to kill them all... But not if she could help it... Not if she could help it. The only Reversal of Fortune would be that of the demons, she vowed... and prayed.