JP Lt. Pond and LtCmdr. Shayne: Goodbye for Now.

[Jarred Thoran]

@KriJBa @Randal Shayne you guys, made me have feels

Quote

((Outside Shuttlebay))

::This was it. Isabel walked down the hallway, travel bag on her shoulder, handbag in the hand. Starfleet officers travel light, even if it is a one-way trip. Well, one-way-ish. It seemed quite inefficient, flying out to the Athena, weeklong slipstream journey, just to tell them to come back with them. That’s how Isabel understood the mission, anyway. Maybe there was more to it than the eye meets.::

::But that was not Isa’s main concern. She looked at her bags. Her whole life fitted in there. Well, her whole life that she could take with her. It was quite a sad sight, to be honest. Most of the things, she just left there with Randal. Their glowing Bolian fish, for instance. And of course the cosy togetherness.::

::The doors to the shuttle bay opened. There it laid, the USS Aceso, standard runabout, medical version. A couple of people had found their way to here. Probably even quite a lot of people. But Isabel had only eyes for one person. Somewhere in the back, as she would have expected, he stood.::

::On her way there, she shook some hands, said thank you to some good wishes. In the end, she did not remember any of them very clearly. But she’d always remember the look on his face.::

::The Trill built herself up in front of him, arms stretched behind her back, trying to look cute for him a last time. She didn’t want to hug at the beginning, as she probably couldn’t bear it to break it twice.::

Pond: ::silently:: Hi…

::He refused to cry. That would be an indignity that no one could absolve him of. And besides, it wasn’t like he had more tears to shed. Call him whiney, call him weak. But when he’d heard that he would no longer being seeing his beloved on a daily basis, he had a bit of a breakdown. A private, dignified weep. He was confident Isa hadn’t seen it, but his red, swollen eyes might have given it away just as well.::

Shayne: Hi. 

::His voice cracked, and he felt his throat closing painfully. How badly did he want to avoid this?::

Shayne: Are you...are you alright?

::Isabel was as strong of will and mind as he had ever seen, but he’d known her too long- loved her too long- to ignore the loss in her eyes.::

Pond: ::applying a smile bellow sad eyes:: Everything’s gonna be okay.

::Words refused to come forward. He swallowed hard, attempting to clear an obstruction that wasn’t there. Somehow, his body found the means to send another wet, salty tear down his cheek. If he didn’t do it now, he never would.::

::Reaching behind himself, he unclasped the small box from his waist. It was quite flat, with a beautiful wooden body. With trembling fingers, it opened.::

::When Isabel spotted the box, she obviously thought what every girl would. She knew about earth customs regarding proposals and this very much looked like one. She wanted to scream, tell him not to do it, not in this entirely unhappy moment. But she stood still, accepting her faith, with her thoughts racing to find an answer.::

::Held within was a single combadge. It was obviously old, but it was clear that, despite it’s scratches and signs of use, it had been immaculately cared for.::

Shayne: You remember our first kiss, the night you were promoted? Well, um…

::He cringed inside at the sentimentality, but it was too late to stop now. Nor would he want to. This meant everything to him.::

Shayne: This was the combadge I was wearing that night. I’ve kept it ever since. I want you to have it.

::It wasn’t what might come to mind when thinking of something to give a significant other as they departed. But his possessions were few, and and even fewer carried the same emotional meaning for him. The picture Isa gave him would stay on his bed stand for the rest of his days. He prayed like never before that she would take it as it was meant.::

::What utterance the Trill produced was a huge sigh of relief, which turned seamlessly into a sound of admiration. She took the box very carefully, looked at it for a moment and pressed it against her chest.::

Pond: That is so very considerate of you. And I have got you nothing.

::Isabel looked at Randal with big eyes that must be glittering from all the water that is held in there solely by its own surface tension. For a moment, she felt bad for not getting him a present. It probably was because she had to deal with her own departure. It was a lame excuse. However, that feeling was swallowed immediately by the all surrounding ocean of sorrow.::

Shayne: I don’t need anything- except, perhaps, to know that I will see you again soon.

::He hammered his thigh with a fist to keep himself from dissolving into a sorrowful mess.::

::Isabel stood there, perplex. There was nothing she wanted more than to promise to see him again soon. But she couldn’t. Her next stop was the Gamma Quadrant. Yes, she would be back, in a couple of weeks, in the same region as the Blackwell. But soon wasn’t a couple of weeks. For lovers, soon was tomorrow. She shook her head.::

::The time was slipping away, but as it ran out, he just thought of more things that he wanted to say. How worried he was, how lonely he felt already. How proud he was of her. He’d said it a dozen times, but it was never enough. He longed to hold her and never release, but that was preposterous. So he said the only thing he could.::

Shayne: I love you.

::He embraced her tenderly, but firmly, as if trying to burn the memory into his mind.::

::Isabel returned the embrace, just as tender and firm as he did. The metaphorical floodgates were open now, the tears wet her cheeks, before they fell unto Randal’s back. It was a silent cry, no sobbing, no shivering. There was no way to know what was happening if one did not stand behind them.::

Pond: ::silently:: I love you, too.

::They remained in this position for a long while. Only when the a slightly louder hum gave away the starting up of the shuttles systems, Isabel knew it was time to go. While breaking the hug, she dried her eyes at Randal’s chest.::

::While turning around, she briefly brushed over his arm, before stepping with determined steps up to ramp, not looking back.::

End...or is it? 

Lt Isabel Pond
Chief Medical Officer
USS Atlantis
D239212IP0

and

Lieutenant Commander Randal Shayne
Helmsman/Ops Officer/Second Officer 

USS Blackwell 
NCC 58999
G239202RS0