Jaya and Tyran were walking hand in hand through the downtown sector of Serenity City. Everything seemed so new, she thought as she looked at her surroundings.
"Do you know where the museum is?" she asked Tyran, not seeing the Natural History Museum.
"Yes, just down that street, to the left. There you'll see a mall, and it's across from the mall. I have been there a few times before," he assured her.
"Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing the new exhibit, Ancient Cultures from the Alpha Quadrant. They'll have some spectacular pieces of history on display," she replied enthusiastically.
"Like?" he asked smiling at her enthusiasm.
"Like ancient pottery and mosaics from all over the quadrant. Statuary... Jewelry made millenniums ago... Parchments... Even ancient make-up utensils."
"Oh yeah that's interesting." He rolled his eyes. "Make up from old history. Even I may have some old stuff in my apartment."
She laughed. "Some of this stuff is a lot older than you are," she replied.
"Some yes, but not all." He smiled and rounded the corner with his arm around her waist.
As if she had always done it, she rested her head on his shoulder. To everyone they looked like the happiest of lovers.
They were just walking by a row of little specialty shops where sounds of a man's voice got Jaya's attention. It was around one of the corners, near an alleyway.
"Wait," she said to Tyran, as if suddenly, her whole tensed at the intrusion.
She stepped away from his embrace and headed toward the loud, demeaning voice.
"You little whiny brat! I don't know why I take you anywhere! Your mother should have just kept you at home! You don't belong out in public!"
As Jaya rounded the corner, she saw a tall man with dark hair yelling at a little girl no more than six years old. The little girl's aqua colored eyes were filled with tears making them look like little oceans.
Suddenly, Jaya watched the man backhand the little girl across the face. "I said stop crying!"
Without another thought, Jaya swiftly went up behind the man, grabbed his arm and threw him into the alley. He fell into a wall, but turned to look at the red-headed woman that had dared to interfere.
"You want some of this, bitch?" he growled, his grey eyes trying to stare her down.
"I'm a better match for you that a little girl. Or are you scared of me?" she hissed back.
"I'm not scared of any woman!"
At that, he moved and swung at her. She easily deflected his strike and landed her own strike to his temple. For a moment, he was seeing stars. Then he went after her again.
Thrusting her hand into his solar plexus, she knocked the wind out of him and tossed him again into the wall of the alley again. This time, there was blood on his lips and a red mark on his cheek.
He turned to her and growled in rage as he tried again to attack only to be thrust against the wall again; this time his back to it and a knife at his throat.
"You so much as even think about hurting that little girl again, I'll finish this," she said as she pressed the knife into his neck just a bit, causing a small trickle of blood to run down his neck.
There was fear in the man's eyes.
"Do I make myself clear?" she hissed into his ear.
Her desire was to kill him. She wanted to... anyone who abused their own child deserved to die, she thought with contempt.
"JAYA, STOP!" Tyran yelled. He had the scared girl in his arms.
"Daddy! Daddy!" She was crying.
Finally after a moment, Jaya let him go. The man was afraid to move from the spot he'd been.
"What has gotten into you!?"
"We're taking the little girl to the police," she said calmly as she tossed the man another look.
She then approached the little girl and knelt before her, having already put her knife back into her boot. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she said softly. "But no one should ever talk to you that way or hit you. Especially not your father. We're going to take you to some people who'll protect you and see that you get back to your mommy. Okay?"
The little girl's eyes were big as she looked at Jaya. No one had ever taken on her daddy and won. She loved her daddy, but what had happened was a commonplace occurrence to her.
"I want my mommy," she said softly, still crying.
"We'll get you to her," Jaya said. "I promise." She then looked at Tyran. "Where's the Security around here?"
"Come with me." He took her to the museum. Around the corner was the security station. "There... that was something that made me shake."
"I'm sorry," Jaya replied, not meeting his gaze. "I couldn't let that man continue to hurt this little girl," she said, as she gazed at the sweet little child that walked with them so quietly.
Soon they were at the Security post. She made her report and left the little girl with them and walked out with Tyran after he had given his own statement.
As soon as they were outside, Jaya sat down on a bench and sighed placing her face in her hands, then running her hands over her face and through her hair. Her emotions were all twisted up inside, though outwardly she seemed calm, yet disturbed.
"Why?" was all Tyran asked.
"Children are children," she said. "They can't defend themselves... and especially when it's the people they love who are the ones hurting them. That man didn't deserve to live," she said quietly.
"But you have no right to kill him, Jaya Bourne." He swallowed. "I have seen a different side of you, and I do not know if I can act like nothing happened. Or if I can accept that."
She was quiet as she looked off into the distance. "I don't know if I can accept myself... If you can't, don't feel bad." Slowly she got to her feet, ready to walk off. She couldn't give him an explanation, or explain the pain she felt inside.
"Jaya, pain is something everyone feels. Did you react to that man, for something someone did to you?" he suddenly asked, stopping her.
Her green eyes misted as she held her emotions in check. "My past is complex to say the least. Yes... I was abused... when I was very young." She paused and tried to collect herself further. "But that's the past and this was about that little girl. She shouldn't have been treated that way. It's not the first time that man's done that to her either. He's the type of man that only feels like a man beating up on those he thinks are weak. Like women and children. It gives him a sense of power. I know the type all too well..."
"Still, you used your anger for your reaction to him. Jaya, please listen to me. Don't put your past aside. It will destroy you sooner or later."
She took his hand and gazed into his eyes. Words came to her. Explanations, but she couldn't say them... She couldn't tell him. "I can only live one day at a time," she said softly. "I can't do more than that..."
"We have time," he said calmly.
He enveloped her in a warm embrace, one that comforted her. After all, she didn't want him to be afraid of her, of any part of her. But she knew he had no way of knowing just how dark and deep her dark side was.
"Are we still on for the museum?" she asked softly.
"Yes, the distraction will do us good." His eyes reflected love. Her one outburst had scared him for a while, but it wouldn't chase him off.
She smiled gently and laid her head on his shoulder once again. Trying to forget the man and the alley... if only for a little while.
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