Work Text:
Pairing: Sarina/Julian
Timeline: The last season. Set during Chrysalis (7.05)
A/N: I've always loved Sarina's character. Granted, the way Bashier reacts to her makes him look like a moron, but she's great. And have you heard her sing?
A/N2: Credit twiztv.com for the short part of Sarina's dialog.
Beta: Insane Vampiress (http://www.fanfiction.net/u/293946/)
Disclaimer: Not mine. I play with other people's toys.
~*~*~
It's incredible. It's more gratifying than she ever imagined it could be. To be able to speak, to be able to talk to Jack and the others, it's like something right out of a dream.
It's like a miracle, being able to open her mouth and say what she's thinking. She knows she sounds odd, a little off, lacking the emotion the others express. But she believes Julian when she says she'll be talking properly soon. He's already done what even the best doctors at the institute thought was impossible. He has given her the best thing she could have ever wanted. He's given her the world.
She feels guilty that her friends risked getting into trouble, and therefore nearly getting Julian into trouble as well. She knows he could have been forced to resign from his position at Starfleet when it got out about his genetic alterations, and such obvious reminders are sure to make him uncomfortable, no matter how well he hides it. But while Sarina feels guilty, she can't bring herself to regret it or wish it hadn't happened.
It is such a wonder to tell her friends what they mean to her. And to sing! It's like proof that she's actually alive, making her voice soar along with Lauren's, it is more precious than anything she's ever known. To be able to communicate with people, to have the ability to express how thankful she is to everybody around her for what they've done for her. The gift of being able to tell her friends that they are exactly that.
With practice, she sounds right, just like Julian said she would. She wants to say how much she admires him, a genetically engineered "mutant" who made it, who lives his life like a normal person helping people, not locked away in an institute because he can't live by the rules of society. She wants to say how grateful she is, and how he gave her her life, but she knows that it would embarrass him, so she asks a question instead.
"So, what's a genetically enhanced girl supposed to do when she wakes up from a long sleep?"
But what she means is "I owe you everything. Just tell me how I can repay you."