Romulus was once the heart of the Romulan Empire but now was in complete chaos after learning of the impending supernova of the Romulan sun. Panic had set as they began to evacuate, you could hear children crying, and adults pushing and shoving as they tried to be the first to the shuttles. Things were looking grim as they were about to lose their home, everything they had ever worked for was going to be lost.

USS Verity and the USS Odyssey the first of their class were sent to help with the evacuations of Romulus. Ritru and her family grabbed what they could and left their home, holding onto her little sister’s hand as they made their way toward one of the shuttles that would be heading to the Verity. 

Time seemed to stand still with no one moving when things were hectic, people running every which way. Things went from peaceful and quiet to pure chaos in a matter of hours, forced to leave their home that would be destroyed by the shockwave of the supernova.

Fear of the unknown began to sink around her, so many questions filled her mind as she wondered what would happen next, and where would they go. They had finally arrived at the shuttle and were about to board when she heard screaming and yelling from behind her.

Turning around blocking her sister she heard the sounds of phaser fire, “no!” she screamed as she witnessed her parents being murdered. Then they were directed at both her and her sister, but as she closed her eyes just as she heard the sound again but this time it came from a Starfleet security officer who took down the gunman.

Though she would never know their motives, she tries to run out towards where her parents were when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ritru looked at the officer who had a solemn look on his face. “It’s time to go,” he replied as she took a moment more to look in the direction of where her parents were.

She looked at her sister who was hysterically crying, picking her up she walked onto the shuttle tears running down her face. Now it was her responsibility to raise her younger sister as they took their seats and the shuttle lifted off heading for the ship in orbit.

“No!” she screamed as she sat up in bed breathing heavily and sweating profusely. She looked around the room to have realized that it was all a nightmare. T’Prel woke up at the sudden scream to look at her.

“What is wrong?” T’Prel asked as she placed a hand behind her back to try to comfort her.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them placing her head on her knees as she sat there in bed. “I what you would call a nightmare,” Ritru said tears running down her face at the sudden memory. It felt real as if she was living it all over again, even though it was just a dream it felt so real.

T’Prel sat up in bed looking at her, “care to talk about it?” T’Prel asked as she placed a reassuring hand on hers.

Silence filled the room as she sat there looking down at the bed, thoughts running through her mind as she tried to center herself. She wasn’t sure where to begin, from the beginning or when her nightmare started. She tried to keep her dark past in the past, now it seems that it has come back to haunt her in a way.

“Where do I even begin,” she finally replied as she tilted her head towards T’Prel looking at her. She wiped the tears from her eyes as her vision had gotten blurry from the tears welling up in her eyes. “Guess I better start at the beginning,” she replied taking a deep breath before she continued.

“At an early age, I knew I wanted to leave Romulus and take to the stars, though I took an unlikely avenue and decided I wanted to join Starfleet,” Ritru said as she adjusted in bed to become more comfortable. “I knew I would have a long road ahead of me but once I was old enough I found a transport heading for Mellstoxx III and left,” Ritru said before pausing to collect her thoughts once more.

“After many months of fighting I was finally accepted and joined Starfleet, I graduated from the academy and moved onto my first posting where I would spend the next few years moving up in rank and position,” said Ritru.

“In 2384, I got a call from my father back on Romulus that my mother was getting sicker. I thought I never go back home, though I wanted to be there for my parents. I decided to take some leave and go back home.” She continued before pausing looking back down on the bed again.

“Going back home to Romulus after so many years away, people looked at me differently. Even though I could never hear them I knew they all talked about me behind my back, I didn’t care what they thought as my parents always supported me even when I decided to join Starfleet.” She said as she moved, getting out of bed she walked to the window and looked out.

“My sister was about thirteen at the time, though I will admit that I missed being out in space and away from here. I needed to think about my family and if anything would happen to them while I was away who would take care of my little sister.” She said standing there as tears began to fall down her face again.

“Things were going good until we learned of the impending supernova of our sun that would destroy Romulus and any planet in its path. We had to evacuate, at that time Starfleet had sent ships to assist with those efforts as you know.” She said before she paused her voice was beginning to crack, tears flowing by this time.

T’Prel got out of bed and walked up next to her, taking her hand in hers. Ritru looked over at her partner. “We grabbed all we could and made our way to the shuttle, you could hear the panic and sense the fear of everyone without even being a telepath,” Ritru said as she tried to press on.

“We had made it to one of the shuttles that would take us to the Verity, my parents were right behind us when we heard shouting and then phaser fire. My parents were murdered in front of us, if it wasn’t for the Starfleet Officer outside the shuttle he was going to kill me and my sister as well.” She finished as she looked out the window in silence.

“I had relived all that in my dream,” Ritru replied before looking at T’Prel who remained quiet the whole time she was speaking.

“I am sorry you had to go through all that,” T’Prel replied as she tried to be as sympathetic as any Vulcan could.

“To this day I don’t know what his motives were, yes I have my suspicions but no actual proof.” She said as she walked back to the bed and sat down wiping away her tears. “I returned to Starfleet shortly after, I raised my sister alone who eventually moved on to join Starfleet when she was old enough.” She replied.

“After that, I never looked back,” she finished.

“I am grateful that you are here now with me, we will get through this together,” T’Prel replied as she kissed her on the lips before moving away. “Tomorrow we will go down to Trill and have a picnic and enjoy our leave,” T’Prel said looking at her, she tried to do things that any normal Vulcan probably wouldn’t do as she cared for Ritru.

“Care for a cup of tea to help calm your nerves?” T’Prel asked as she started to head towards the kitchen.

“That would be great,” Ritru replied as she sat back in bed.

A few moments later T’Prel returned handing her a cup of warm tea and handing it to Ritru. Taking a sip she smiled, “you sure do know the key to my heart.” She said with a smile as it felt good to get that off her chest, she hadn’t told the whole story to anyone before. They chatted with each other for a while longer as they both drank their tea. Once they finished their teas they both settled back into bed and soon they fell back to sleep.