The BLTS Archive - The Day of The Dead
by texbkwrm (mbeshear@swbell.net)

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Disclaimer. I don't own the Paramont does. I am not making any money
off of this. Pg  Note

This story is set about a year after the episode End Game but instead
of returning to the Alpha quadrant that they had to detour back to
the delta quadrant.

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Starship Voyager Early in the Alpha Shift
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"Mommy, carry me," Miral said sleepily, holding her arms out to
B`Elanna. "Here Seven," B'Elanna said, handing the startled woman a
picnic basket and a large box.

"She's just not all the way awake yet," she informed the taller
woman as she adjusted the toddler in her arms. Before they had
made it half way to the holodeck the little girl had demanded to be
set down saying, "I'm a big girl. I can walk."

Seven just raised an eyebrow at her small companion's complete but
expected reversal.

B'Elanna simply smiled and took the basket from Seven. Seeing the
opening, Miral immediately stepped between them, grasping their empty
hands. "Swing me!"

Laughing, they began the countdown. "One, Two, Three."

Miral shrieked with laughter as her feet left the ground. As soon as
she landed, she shouted, "Again!"

Looking down at their interlocked hands, the small fingers wrapped
gently in her enhanced hand, Seven marveled at the acceptance and
trust the little girl displayed. Smiling, she squeezed the tiny hand
gently as they prepared for another lift off.

Entering the holodeck, B'Elanna said, "Torres program 1102"

Suddenly the blue screen changed to predawn in a small village. Seven
saw people walking through the village with flowers and candles.
"B'Elanna?" she started to question the smaller woman.

"I'll explain in a minute."

"Cempasuchil," B'Elanna instructed the  replicator. At her command
several large bunches of marigolds in purple, gold, red, and white
appeared around them.

As the stack of blooms appeared, Miral whispered in awe, "Mommy,look
at the pretty flowers." Bending, she buried her face in the pile of
blossoms.

Letting her daughter carry one of the smaller bunches, B'Elanna
quickly gathered the rest of the fragrant blooms into her arms. "Come
on," she said as she directed the group into the procession.

As the sun rose they entered the cemetery, It was quiet and the
rising birds could be heard chirping in the background. The place was
awash with the colors of flowers and there were thousands of small
candles flickering around the head stones.  The festive voices of
children and adults mingled as they milled about the graves and
arranged the papel picado (colorful tissues paper banners with
designs punched out of them) so that it fluttered in the light
breeze. Miral looked about in delight at the riot of colors.

Stopping before a plot, B'Elanna sat down her burdens. Instructing
Seven and Miral on how to place the flowers, she began to open the 
box she carried, pulling several votive candles out to place around
the stone.

Next, she pulled out a burner and placed on it the sweet smelling 
copal incense, lighting both it and the candles. A small body threw
herself down by her mother, as Seven stood awkwardly above.

"Sit down, Seven," B'Elanna said, patting the ground beside her
and with a look that said don't argue.

Pulling Miral into her lap, she said, "Seven, do you remember when you
were ill because of your cortical node and came to engineering?"

The other woman nodded, remembering the day vividly.

"You asked me about my beliefs about the afterlife. I told you about
my Klingon heritage and Sto-vo-kor, but I could not stop thinking
about it after you left. Even after you got better."

Seven said, "I remember and I remember you reassuring me that I would
be remembered."

Smiling, B'Elanna continued, "Thinking about it brought back memories
of a holiday that my father's family celebrated on Earth. I
deliberately blocked a lot of my childhood memories because of the
pain. This memory was of a very happy time. I must have been about
Miral's age and we went to my grandmother's. Several of my aunts and
uncles as well as my little cousins were there. I remember walking
with them to the graveyard, carrying the flowers and thinking that we
must have every flower in the world with us.

"We were celebrating Dia de las Muertas." Translating for Miral, she
explained, "The Day of the Dead. The Mexican people believe that on
that day the dead return from Mictlan, a place of peace and rest, to
visit with their friends and families. They eat-" She pulled a small
plate of food with some fruit and the pan de muertos, bread of the
dead, from the box and set it around the make shift altar. "And they
drink-" She poured water into a glass and placed a bottle of tequila
beside it. "They enjoy their families." And, as some one began to
strum a guitar, she said, "And they listen to music."

"In Mexican culture there are three deaths. The first happens when
your body ceases to function, the second happens when you are returned
to the universe, either buried in the earth, in the ocean, or into
space, but the third and most terrible is when you are forgotten. So
on this day they gather to remember and to tell stories of their loved
ones."

Brushing off the headstone, B'Elanna read it aloud for Miral.

"Lieutenant Thomas Paris Beloved Husband and Father."

Placing a holopic of Tom on the altar, she then pulled out a jaunty
calaveras, a hand crafted funny looking skeleton made to represent
the deceased, dressed in a Captain Chaotica uniform.

Pointing to the picture and the little skeleton, Miral piped in.
"That's my daddy."

"Yes, it is," B'Elanna agreed.

For the next hour or so B'Elanna told her daughter stories about her
father. Funny ones about him and his love of holograms. Bittersweet
ones of about when he first held Miral after her birth and how he
would read and sing to her. Proud ones of how good a pilot he was.
Seven even telling about how he was one of the first to try and be her
friend when she came onboard Voyager.

Finally the little girl's attention was pulled away by the other
children laughing and singing and she ran to join them.

Watching how quiet Seven had become, B'Elanna asked her, "What's the
matter, Benal?"

"I was just wondering if Tom would be upset about us." She looked
down shyly, not being able to meet the gaze of her wife of only two
months.

"Oh, Seven." B'Elanna pulled her wife into her arms. "If Tom was
here and he could speak to us, he would tell you he was happy I had
found someone to love Miral and me." Kissing Seven and stroking her
hair, she added, "Of course, knowing Tom, the next words out of his
mouth would be - could I watch?"

Laughing in agreement, Seven kissed her wife.

The rest of the day was spent laughing and eating, celebrating the
life of a friend, a husband, and a father. As they carried a very
tired Miral back to their quarters, both women gave thanks for the
gift he had left them.

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The End