OOC: This is pre-sim to make it make sense that Sair’s son and mother are on board.
IC:
The simple fact of the matter was that Sair had never been away from Koro outside of daily work. Her time away from him had been measured in hours, not days, or (as it had been recently) weeks. The messages they had sent back and forth had been mostly her parents filling her in and Koro’s chubby-cheeked face appearing when he’d sit still. Only once had they managed to do a live call and it hadn’t lasted very long, but it had been something.

All of this had meant that Sair was more than eager to see her son and yet trying to appear measured about it. She was still settling in and figuring out how she fit in here. But regardless, she knew that having Koro here would make everything better, even if his presence was an added variable she had to take into consideration. It was why her mother had offered to take time off work to not only bring him to the ship but also stay for a little while to help them settle in. Sair was more grateful than she had words to express.

The ship had docked at Event Horizon and having made her way down to the airlock she tried to not pace. More than once, the security guard on duty had asked her if she was okay. All Sair could do was nod her head. She couldn’t explain to those around her how hard it had been to be separated from Koro. For a Kobliad to be separated from their child at all. She missed her parents for this same reason and while she fully believed that being out here was the right thing for her (and her son), the generational trauma of shortened lifespans and suffering had led to a deep rooted separation anxiety. Knowing it was there was one thing. Having it take hold of her body right now was quite another.

At last the doors cycled open, allowing a connected passage way between the ship and the station. A couple crew passed through, checking their credentials.

And there they were. Koro slipped his hand out of his grandmother Kel’s, and raced towards Sair, his little legs longer than she remembered, his sturdiness much improved. He had changed so much already but it mattered little as she scooped him up, holding him tight, whispering words of love into his ear.

Kel stopped at the security checkpoint to show her boarding approval, letting her daughter have this moment with her son. It had been hard all around and a part of her still couldn’t quite understand why Sair wanted to come back out into space a second time, but even she could admit that her daughter’s well being seemed much improved over the last few weeks. The change in place and pace had done much for her overworked grown child. Try as she might she couldn’t shake the desire to protect Sair from all the hurts even when she knew it wasn’t good for her to do that. But she also hoped that being here herself would help her understand what drew her daughter out here in the first place.

Setting Koro down, Sair turned to her mother and enveloped her older look-alike in a hug. It was a joke at the hospital that it didn’t matter which Songz health professional you spotted, either could help, but the purple haired one was usually the one you went to first. And it used to be mostly true, even though Sair had been a doctor and her mother was a nurse, they had revolved around the same circles at the hospital, at least until Sair had changed professions.

“I’ve missed you,” Kel said, fighting back tears.

Sair’s own eyes were misty as she pulled back and rested a hand on her mother’s cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come on, let’s go get settled. I have guest quarters arranged for you, but if you want to can stay in mine tonight until we’re a bit settled?”

Kel nodded. “Sure, let’s just see how things go. This place is huge!” she said wide-eyed.

Reaching out, Sair took Koro’s hand and the trio walked together, meandering to Sair’s quarters.

{to be continued}

~Sair Songz, CNS & Family