The Last Time We First Met - Part Two by: Denise Underwood c. 2001 "Tea?" Triona offered from the forest green and gold tapestry settee of her sitting room at the Keep. The room looked much as it had when she and her family had taken up residence in the anachronistic nineteenth century Montana estate just before the Third World War. For that matter, so did she. Taking his attention from the portrait that hung above the mantle, he replied politely, "Yes, please," he said, accepting the cup she held out. "Imladrin Blue, I hope?" "Would I serve you anything else?" she asked archly, a smile in her eyes. Picard smiled in return and took an appreciative sip of his tea before turning back to the portrait. Triona getting up, went to stand beside him. "When was this done?" he asked. The portrait was of Triona sitting on a bench under a maple tree, surrounded by autumn leaves. The light of sunset made her hair, and the leaves surrounding her, a riot of golds and reds. "LaCroix commissioned it as a birthday gift for me. It was just before...." She shook the memory away. "Before a momentous change in my life. "And what birthday would that be?" "Back to my age again, are we, Jean-Luc?" Triona looked him straight in the eye. "My thirty-second actually -- the autumn of 1996." She smiled slightly at the look of shock that her companion quickly tried to suppress. "I did warn you, Captain." "You did. I don't know why it's so much harder to accept than meeting you the evening of First Contact not far from this very spot in 2063." He sighed. "I know you couldn't tell me, but it was such a shock!" "What's another seventy years, after all?" Triona led him back to the settee. "I never told anyone I'd met you. But it gave me such hope for the future! Especially once I'd convinced Zefram to tell me all he knew about the starship from the future." What Triona didn't tell Picard was that *convincing* Zefram had required more than a friendly chat. The genius that had invented the Warp Drive had also proven to be something of a resistor. It had taken all of Triona's considerable skill to work the story out of him. "I knew we'd meet again; and that you'd have a special place in my life." She took his hand. "And you've been all that to me. You've given me the greatest gift -- a child of my own. A dream I'd given up by the time that portrait was finished." "The baby, she's well?" Picard asked, squeezing Triona's hand. "She's fine. The surrogate's pregnancy is going wonderfully. In fact, she's here at the Keep. I decided I wanted Lucia born here on Earth." "Lucia? You've named her then." "Mm-hmm, Lucia, after you and Lucien. Serendipity at its best," she said lightly. "Lucia Nora MacAlpine. Nora, after my mother. I thought you might like to add your mother's name to that?" "I would very much" He smiled warmly. "But, Triona, I want you to know, you've given me a gift as well," he said earnestly. "My family is dead. There's no one to carry on our line. And I'm too much a wanderer of the stars to ever settle down to raise a family. Lucia fills a void I've felt for some time now. I'm honored that you chose me to fulfill your dreams." She smiled softly. "Some things are meant to be, Jean-Luc." Triona stood up and walked to look out the window, changing the subject. "So, I'm here to answer your questions. Where'd you like me to start?" she asked, taking a deep breath before turning once more to face him. "From the beginning. I suppose that's always the best place," he said, smiling reassuringly. She didn't return the smile. "Jean-Luc, I'm sorry, but I must have your word, on your honour. What I'm about to tell you could have... repercussions. Both our lives could be endangered without the proper assurances. Once Lucia is born, you will be family and that should suffice. But still, knowledge can bring danger from many sources -- not just from my own people." Triona knelt next to where Picard sat, placing her hand on his arm. "I don't need to tell you that Imladris sits on a precipice. There are many who would kill to discover our secrets." The room became silent as Picard absorbed her words. Triona could hear the sound of the wind whistling around the gables and the hiss of the fire in the grate. She could even hear the beat of her heart as she waited for his decision. "I'm willing to take the risk that knowing the truth offers. And I give you my word of honour that what you tell me will go to my grave having never passed my lips." "Even if that conflicts with your oath to Starfleet?" she asked gravely. "I would not have you forsworn, Jean-Luc." "Is anything you tell me likely to put me in that position?" She shook her head. "Not than I can foresee. But one can never know the future with certainty." "If it ever came to that, I would resign my commission before I would betray you -- or my daughter." Triona didn't try to hide the tears that slipped down her face. "I would never ask that of you, Jean-Luc!" "You aren't. I offer it freely." He pulled Triona up to sit next to him. "Now, more than ever, I realize that what you and your family preserved from the war helped to pave the way for the very existence of the Federation and for the fleet I serve. The very least I owe you is my silence." Searching his face, she reached her own decision. "Very well then. From the beginning." She settled herself more comfortably and took a sip of her tea. "Would it surprise you to learn that mankind has shared the planet with a variety of other races? And still does? Vampires, Immortals, Demons -- until the Great Sundering at least -- and probably ones I've never discovered?" "Surprise me? That would be one way to put it...." he trailed off, trying to take in what she'd told him. Getting up, Triona strode over to the mantel, pulling a dagger out of an ornate wooden box. Before he had time to react she said, "I'm an Immortal," as she sliced her arm open in one smooth move, hissing at the pain, "and this is the easiest way to explain." Picard watched in amazement as the wound healed before his eyes. "I really hate that part," she grumbled, "but it's effective." Finding his voice, Picard asked, "Are all your family... Immortal?" "No, some of them are vampires. I am as well. But that's complicated and I'll get to it later. LaCroix is a vampire -- my Master, my creator." She saw the look of distaste that flickered across Picard's face at the term. Triona had never really had to explain her relationship with LaCroix to a mortal before, and felt on unsure footing. How could she make Jean-Luc understand something that was so integral to her very being? All she could do was tell him the truth and hope he could accept it -- and her. "Don't judge, Jean-Luc. Vampires are not human. We start out that way, but we have our own laws, our own culture. He is my Master -- I chose to accept his gift, to become what he was. Yes, I know, it sounds like ownership. And at its most basic, I suppose it is. But it's so much more than that," she said passionately. "We have a bond that no mortal could fully understand. A bond born of blood and love. His presence is always in my mind, my heart, as mine is in his." "LaCroix, the Governor.... What happened with the alien probe on the Enterprise. It was all real, as I suspected. Wasn't it?" "Yes. It was all pulled from his memories. He was that Roman general. He was brought across as a vampire the night Pompeii erupted in 79 AD." She grinned lopsidedly. "He still *is* that general, truth be told. You can take the boy from Rome, but you can't take Rome from the boy." "My god, the stories he must tell! To have witnessed over two thousand years of human history." Picard had an almost rapturous expression on his face at the thought. "Be careful, Jean-Luc. That temptation can lead you on a dark path," she warned only half in jest. "Was that your temptation? Knowledge?" he asked in a soft voice. She considered. "In part, I suppose it was. But my getting involved with vampires came long before I met Lucien. I suppose I can blame my poor judgment on wanting something more than my life offered at the time. To feel like I belonged somewhere. It all started one night on a business trip.... Denise * ithildin@ondragonswing.com* Ith http://www.ondragonswing.com Dragon's Hoard Fic Archive http://www.ondragonswing.com/vortex Drop by to read, or to submit a story!