It had been a long trip to the outpost with two ship transfers and a long range shuttle. Somewhere between it all Seo Adrea had found a friend in a young ensign that was nervous about her first post. At first they had spoken quietly in little pep talks and Academy highlights. Then there was a great show of pictures on a PaDD detailing the ensign’s travels all over Earth. Somewhere around 0300 the blonde had started to lean and yawn, then quietly fell asleep on Adrea’s shoulder.

The doctor hadn’t moved her, just gently shifted her shoulder to where the woman wouldn’t wake up with a crick in her neck. She turned her head towards the viewport window and watched the stars blaze by silently, guessing at how many inhabited worlds they passed on their way to the outpost. There was only one other overhead light on in the cabin that belonged to to an older man lost in a book, so it was just her and her thoughts and the velvet glide of the engines.This was a new start looming before her. A new world. A place to put down roots perhaps and see what grows. The idea was a little daunting, but leaving a comfort zone was always frightening. Healing hurt, and she was still very much healing from the damage that she’d unwittingly done to herself in her grief. The outpost was exactly the kind of place that she needed to continue working on herself. Learning how to live again. To breathe and taste the moment.

There were people to meet that she’d mend and stitch while she worked on her own heart. Maybe there’d be shared interests and she could talk to them like she had as a child: free of all of the weight of her experiences holding her words captive in her throat. The woman on her shoulder didn’t know the gift that she’d given her by sitting there and sharing her story. It opened a door by being so open that Adrea could reflect off of her and be open, too.

Seo sighed and swept a lock of the ensign’s hair out of her face before taking a deep breath and centering herself. This was an adventure waiting for her. This was a chance that she’d almost blown. Houtman was the first time in a very long time that she could see a future instead of just the next day.

She was ready to make this work.