Merry Christmas, IGROCKSPOCK!
Title: Healing on the Holodeck
Author: katmarajade
Written for: igrockspock
Pairing: Sulu/Gaila
Rating: PG
Word Count: 533
Summary: Gaila visits the Holodeck after an Away Mission while she waits for word about Sulu.
Notes: Bonus fic for one of my favorite people, because she was beset with technical difficulties and other forms of chaos and didn't get a chance to prompt! Just something I wrote super quick. Mellow, a little sad, but ultimately happy and hopeful. More friendship than true pairing fic, but could be read either way.
It had been Gaila's first away mission injury and it has left her a bit shaken. She lies on her back on the soft grassy ground of Holodeck Two soaking up the imitation sunlight, wishing it had more of the benefits of the real thing. It was one thing to believe that you would probably risk your own life to save someone close to you, but it was quite another to have it confirmed. She'd tried to save Sulu, tried to jump in and push him out of the way, but he'd been hit hard and the last time she saw him, he'd been lying unconscious while Dr McCoy fussed over him. Considering how good Sulu was at keeping perfectly still, she had found it surprising how much it had disturbed her to see him so unmoving.
She's not a doctor and there's nothing for her to do. She was scraped and scratched but that had been fixed in no time. Now she lies here, still as Sulu had been, and she wonders what comes next. She had been jaded when she'd arrived on Earth, having seen so much death and cruelty and unfairness. That's not the case any longer and she's as shocked as anyone to realize it. She's gone soft living among humans. It hurts her again to see pain, hurt, or death. It hasn't hurt in a long time, perhaps longer than she can remember. Maybe, she thinks, it is not a bad thing.
The quiet of the sunny knoll is broken by footsteps. The person is quiet, stealthy, but Gaila always knows when someone is near; certain things you can never forget. She tenses briefly, reminding herself that she's safe onboard the Enterprise and this person intruding on her silence is not an enemy.
"Hey."
She jolts upright, hair flying as her face whips around to see Sulu standing there. He gives her a smile, the chill, quiet sort of smile that tells her that it's really him and that it's going to be okay. He's got the tired, puffy look of someone who's just had bruises and injuries healed by the medical staff and whose body hasn't quite caught up with the process yet.
"Hey," she says, sinking back into the grass. It's not the time for shouts and hugs. Perhaps later they will celebrate, tell the tale of how they escaped, add in a few flourishes to enhance the drama.
Now is a time for sitting, for thinking. Sulu joins her on the ground and she can feel his smile even though her eyes are closed. Her hand reaches over and clutches at his, grateful that his hand is there, warm, callused, real. She wants to remember not to take things for granted, simple things like hands and smiles that are not at all simple when one is faced with losing them.
She's glad to be living again, really living, not just surviving or escaping or proving herself. It's complicated and messy, and it's full of fear and uncertainty, but it's also full of joy and friendship and love, the things that get lost along the way when you're only surviving. It's good, she thinks. It's good.
Author: katmarajade
Written for: igrockspock
Pairing: Sulu/Gaila
Rating: PG
Word Count: 533
Summary: Gaila visits the Holodeck after an Away Mission while she waits for word about Sulu.
Notes: Bonus fic for one of my favorite people, because she was beset with technical difficulties and other forms of chaos and didn't get a chance to prompt! Just something I wrote super quick. Mellow, a little sad, but ultimately happy and hopeful. More friendship than true pairing fic, but could be read either way.
It had been Gaila's first away mission injury and it has left her a bit shaken. She lies on her back on the soft grassy ground of Holodeck Two soaking up the imitation sunlight, wishing it had more of the benefits of the real thing. It was one thing to believe that you would probably risk your own life to save someone close to you, but it was quite another to have it confirmed. She'd tried to save Sulu, tried to jump in and push him out of the way, but he'd been hit hard and the last time she saw him, he'd been lying unconscious while Dr McCoy fussed over him. Considering how good Sulu was at keeping perfectly still, she had found it surprising how much it had disturbed her to see him so unmoving.
She's not a doctor and there's nothing for her to do. She was scraped and scratched but that had been fixed in no time. Now she lies here, still as Sulu had been, and she wonders what comes next. She had been jaded when she'd arrived on Earth, having seen so much death and cruelty and unfairness. That's not the case any longer and she's as shocked as anyone to realize it. She's gone soft living among humans. It hurts her again to see pain, hurt, or death. It hasn't hurt in a long time, perhaps longer than she can remember. Maybe, she thinks, it is not a bad thing.
The quiet of the sunny knoll is broken by footsteps. The person is quiet, stealthy, but Gaila always knows when someone is near; certain things you can never forget. She tenses briefly, reminding herself that she's safe onboard the Enterprise and this person intruding on her silence is not an enemy.
"Hey."
She jolts upright, hair flying as her face whips around to see Sulu standing there. He gives her a smile, the chill, quiet sort of smile that tells her that it's really him and that it's going to be okay. He's got the tired, puffy look of someone who's just had bruises and injuries healed by the medical staff and whose body hasn't quite caught up with the process yet.
"Hey," she says, sinking back into the grass. It's not the time for shouts and hugs. Perhaps later they will celebrate, tell the tale of how they escaped, add in a few flourishes to enhance the drama.
Now is a time for sitting, for thinking. Sulu joins her on the ground and she can feel his smile even though her eyes are closed. Her hand reaches over and clutches at his, grateful that his hand is there, warm, callused, real. She wants to remember not to take things for granted, simple things like hands and smiles that are not at all simple when one is faced with losing them.
She's glad to be living again, really living, not just surviving or escaping or proving herself. It's complicated and messy, and it's full of fear and uncertainty, but it's also full of joy and friendship and love, the things that get lost along the way when you're only surviving. It's good, she thinks. It's good.