"An Old Friend - Part One"

Posted on Mon Feb 24th, 2014 @ 10:40am by Lieutenant JG Paul Harrison

2,287 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 85 - Q-uality Time Aboard Starbase 400
Location: Near the Infirmary - Starbase 400
Timeline: Concurrent with present mission

"An Old Friend - Part One"

Paul Harrison
Civilian
Starbase 400

Cadet 3rd Class Gabriel Yamaguchi
Tactical Student
Starfleet Academy - Earth

Soundtrack: Edwyn Collins - Girl like you

***** Near the Infirmary - Starbase 400 *****

The new father was worried about his wife and child as they were still in the infirmary and he wanted to bring his son home but the medics said that Celeste would be released the next day so he turned his attention to other matters so he was heading home as he spotted someone he knew from a long time ago on the starbase.

"Paul Harrison....you're still here..." he narrowed his eyes as he picked up his pace to catch up with the other guy, he was three inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier then Paul Harrison was but from what Rachael had told him, the man was no pushover. "Paul!" Gabriel called.

Paul stopped and turned around, "Hi."

"Hey... Its been a long time..." Gabriel greeted the other man. "Don't tell me, Elizabeth was hitting on you again?"

"Doesn't she always?" He sounded down in the dumps, "I suppose Rachael said something to you."

"Nope, Rachael didn't tell me anything... I guessed.." he narrowed his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Paul shrugged, "Not really. Rachael and me had a fight."

"Ahh.." Gabriel nodded sagely. "Then let me walk with you to your destination." he commented. "Its good to see you Paul... Rachael sings loudly of you're praises, she thinks your the best thing since artificial gravity was invented...." he paused. "but you don't think so?"

"Ever since she started developing her abilities, she's changed. She acts like that now she can do certain things, she has to be the strong one, the brave one. She doesn't need me anymore."

"Paul... you forget I've been in your situation except for me, it was a friend at the academy right after Celeste told me she was pregnant, you think I was prepared to be told that before either of us would graduate that we were going to be parents?." he smiled. "No... it was a serious shock..." he looked off into the distance.

"I don't get why you are telling me this. It's not the same thing."

"The point of why I'm telling you all this is because we all make mistakes and yes Rachael told me of what happened while she was looking for advice on what to do, she truly thinks your friendship is over.... I've never seen her so devastated..." Gabriel explained as he raised a hand to stop Paul's certain to be angry retort. "Paul... I told her to look on this as a life learning experience."
he explained. "Celeste spent more time reassuring her that everything would be alright while Mom and Dad are not going to get involved." he paused. "Beth is another matter.... depending on her mood, you may need to make nice with her to get to Rachael..." he sighed. "those two have so much in common, it can be sometimes hard to tell them apart, despite their age differences."

"Isn't Beth much older than her? "

"Ahh yes... Elizabeth lost almost half her power when her bloom ended." he explained. "it weakened her drastically so she had to develop and hone her skills to keep what she had left... that said she is a formidable presence but nothing like Rachael..... who will also fade when her bloom ends... by how much?, we can only guess..." he sighed softly. "It bothers her..." he admitted. "but the question you need to ask here is.... does Rachael still mean anything to me?"

"Of course she does." He seemed a little peeved, "I was hoping that I could sort all this out in my head before, well, you know."

"Well you had to know you'd run into one of the other Yamaguchi's soon enough and secrets do not survive in my household." he commented. "Can you make time for lunch?. " He inquired. "Come on...the lounge on the Courageous does a hell of an Irish stew and you could do with getting away from here for awhile."

"Okay. I guess I can spare a moment."

"Good.." Gabriel replied as he turned right at the next intersection and twenty minutes or so later the two men walked into the Lounge on the USS Courageous as the barkeep waved. "Cadet Yamaguchi, the man of the hour!" his voice boomed as every head turned his way as Gabriel took a seat at the bar. "Two bowls of your Irish stew. and two glasses of Orange punch"

"Done." the barkeep said as he looked at Paul. "Do you want anything special?

"No thanks." Paul sat there, looking kind of defeated.

Gabriel turned his attention to the younger man. "Okay... Let me hear whats on your mind..." he commented quietly. "I'm not going to judge but I know you need to speak about it..."

Paul exhaled, "I'm not sure if I am the right guy for Rachael. Her abilities make me feel uneasy. For example, there was a dinosaur where we were and instead of letting me get us out of there, she does some stupid ass thing and attacks the dinosaur. It wasn't necessary. We weren't in immediate danger but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was fight the creature. I'm supposed to be the strong one in the relationship but she won't let me and it makes me feel bad. It's bad enough that I still get treated like a kid. I'm almost a man."

Gabriel listened in silence as he looked at the smaller man spill his feelings on the matter. "Its a simple matter of give and take my man..." he commented.
"Rachael is headstrong because of her abilities but it won't last long."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want her not to use her abilities. But I want her to think before she jumps into danger."

"You two will find a way around it.... it was the same for me and Celeste.." he commented. "and look where we ended up. married with a child in her arms." he smiled. "Do you see your future with Rachael in it?" he inquired. "because if so then you better go talk to her before what happened gets any worse and if you don't then tell her straight to her face that she has no space in your life..."

Paul thought about it, "I do see her in my future but I'm kind of scared."

"That's to be expected." Gabriel answered as their food arrived. "You've never dealt with people like the Yamaguchi's have you?" he inquired.

"My dad didn't let me socialize much and at my school, there weren't many kids from alien worlds their. I really didn't get any exposure until I came here. But I didn't even know about Rachael's abilities until recently. As for the rest of the Yamaguchi family, they are certanly different."

Gabriel nodded as he swallowed the mouthful of food in his mouth before responding. "Rachael, Elizabeth and I are half Halanian so we inherited our mothers psionic abilities, we will pass those along to our children..." he commented. "consider that if you and Rachael do make a serious chance at life together, you will face the prospect that your children will have Rachael's abilities.... its a lot to consider... but at least we don't have our mothers issue.... she mates for life... Rachael, Elizabeth and I don't have that issue.."

"Ah. You've given me something to think about."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Whats that?" he inquired.

"That I need to get used to Rachael's abilities because I'm going to have to deal with kids like her."

"Paul... you don't need to deal with anything if you don't want to." Gabriel commented. "Don't charge headlong into it if you feel you don't have to do it..." the larger male commented as he regarded Paul. "Rachael's children will have her abilities... same as my children will have mine." he commented.
"someday you'll have a family of your own but.... the question is.... are you going to rush headlong into it?" he inquired with a smile. "I know my Mom and Dad would not object to you being intimate with Rachael... because I can tell its come up in conversation at least once in the last few months.."

Paul got a little nervous, "I won't lie, we've thought abut it. How did you know?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he smiled at the other man. "I've seen you two look at each other... and I honestly am happy.... you make my sibling happy and for me, that's all that matters.... but she is headstrong, stubborn and arrogant... be patient with her. No matter what she says or does... stay patient... eventually she will come around.... and don't worry about the rest of the family... they will accept you soon enough."

"I'm not worried about that. But we are still young so I don't know if it'll work out between us but I'm hoping we will stay together."

Gabriel nodded as he listened to the other guy. "You don't need to worry about what I think..... never apologize for your thoughts of opinions..." he added as he raised an eyebrow. "Do you have faith things will work out?" he
added.

"I do but then again, I don't know anyone who has married the same person they dated when they were 16." He replied honestly.

"Fair enough.." he smiled. "But.... you do now." he commented with a smile. "I met Celeste when we were fifteen." he explained. "we went to the academy together and got married.... Gideon was a surprise."

"Ah. So then there is still hope for us?"

"Oh yes... if you truly love her and want her in your life... and are wiling to work for it then you'll find a way..... but you need to make her aware of your feelings..." Gabriel explained. "The best thing I can recommend... take it slowly and let her come to you.... she's going through some very serious changes and she is more sensitive then she lets on.... and never let her go,
if you are serious..."

"I am serious. I love her. And now that I understand what she is going through, I won't rag on her about using her abilities."

Gabriel smiled. "Alright... I can live with that.... Beth is overprotective of her though but... I've learned to let Rachael be herself..." he commented. "Just promise me one thing?"

Paul also took a bite and quickly swallowed, "And what's that?"

"Be carefull... and don't rush into anything.... take it slowly and enjoy your relationship." he ate another mouthful of his stew. "You and her might turn into me and Celeste a few years from now...."

Paul looked a little terrified, "A few years from now? Like you said, I'm going to take it slowly. I want to be sure that I am ready for marriage and a family."

"Good... " Gabriel commented. "Breathe in slowly..... then exhail slowly...." he commented. "Give Rachael time to come to you as well... its give and take Paul... its not all you or all her... if you want her,... then she will know but you need to make sure she knows without any doubt." he explained. "there is nothing wrong with having children though I do recommend you wait....Our parents would all be very displeased..." he chuckled softly.

"I guess I'll know how serious we are when we are apart. I hear that long distant relationships don't last."

"Some do... look at my parents.." Gabriel responded. "they are apart all the time..."

"I didn't say everyone, just some relationships. I can tell you that I will treat her with love and respect. Something that my father never gave my mother."

"I can see it... I've seen how you are when you're with her..." he commented with a smile. "I need not bother with the overly protective big brother routine... I'll let Rachael handle herself... and I owe you that as well."

He nodded as he smiled, "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Well before we go back... lets finish lunch.."

"Okay. Good idea." He went back to his food.

A few minutes later both men were finished with their food. "You feeling better at all?" he inquired. "If you need a place to get away from life and if the Courageous is in dock... let the guys at the gate know that you're looking for Commodore Yamaguchi and they ask, tell them that your part of the family... they'll let you aboard."

"If I need to, okay."

"Dad recruited a rather diverse lot on his crew... you'll find they are all unusual in many ways... serving on this ship means that the skipper considers you something special."

"I think that is great. Sounds like an interesting crew." Paul took his last bite.

Gabriel had already finished his food as he watched the other man finish his food. "Dad values his crew very highly, he knows them by name and that in itself is quite an achievement." he explained. "besides... the food here is good."

Paul laughed, "It is that...I mean...was...good."

Gabriel chuckled softly. "Have you met my son yet?" he inquired.

Paul shrugged, " Not yet."

"Well.. its time you did.. come on." Gabriel commented as he tapped his combadge. "Gabriel Yamaguchi to Celeste Yamaguchi.... you up sweetie?"

"Yeah... I want out of this insane asylum, I'm going stir-crazy here..."

"I know hon... Paul and I are on our way down."

One could almost tell she had cheered up. "He is?" she inquired. "well... come on in..."

Paul followed Gabriel in silence.

***** Here's where the fun begins - Anakin Skywalker *****

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