Justice Will Prevail

Posted on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 1:21pm by Commander N'Garzi Zora

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Starfleet Judicial Centre
Timeline: MD06
1428 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

THEN

"Mamá, stop!"

Ignoring her son's pleas Necole continued to flatten his hair. She had been fighting with it for the better part of twenty-two years and now, on arguably the most important day of his life, it wasn't the time to quit; she would prevail. "I didn't raise you to be sloppy hijo, and especially not in public," she said as she tucked a particularly long, dark curl behind his ear.

"I know," he responded sullenly, his eyes roaming the gathering crowd. "But it's fine the way it is."

He tried to pull out of her embrace, but Necole cupped his round face in her hands as she studied the man he had become. His light brown eyes with their flecks of grey and green; his slightly crooked nose that may or may not have been broken at one point though she truly couldn't recall; his thin pink lips that formed the same goofy grin as his papi; and his hairless chin with the dark bean shaped mole.

In many ways, he hadn't changed much from the boy she had held in her arms when a hug was all he needed to make all of his problems vanish. She longed for those days again, to be all he needed the way he was all she needed. But he wasn't her little boy anymore, he was his own person, a man, making his way into the universe just like she had at his age. He had changed so much in the last four years, he was more confident and headstrong. He had fallen in and out of love, made new friends, and chosen a path with such absolute certainty, Necole wondered if she really knew the person in front of her anymore. She pushed that thought away as quickly as it formed, she did know this version of him, she had met him thirty years prior and now she was staring at his double; the spitting image of her late husband.

Mateo tugged even harder and managed to escape his Mamá's vice grip. He wasn't sure what had gotten into her lately but people were beginning to stare and this wasn't the way he wanted the day to go, he was nervous enough as it was. He took an unconscious step back but instantly regretted it as tears filled her eyes. "Mamá... I..."

She shook her head, carefully wiping away the tears and trying not to smudge her makeup. "I'm being silly." She smiled weakly. "He would be so proud of you hijo."

Mateo tried to look sad or sympathetic or something but wasn't quite sure he was managing it correctly. He was Mateo's papi, a man who had died before the young man was born. Mateo had seen photos and holorecordings, and he had to admit the resemblance was uncanny, but apart from that he wasn't quite sure how to feel. At times Mateo felt connected to the man who had died at the hands of the Breen during the Dominion War and at other times he felt nothing at all. It wasn't easy to live up to a legacy, one he had never asked for but was thrust upon him. "I wish he were here," Mateo said, not truly knowing if he meant it or not.

Necole cried harder, her makeup streaming down her face. She kissed her son on the forehead and surprisingly he didn't resist.

"I really should get going," Mateo said.

Necole noticed that his forehead was creased the same way it did whenever she mentioned his papi. She understood, growing up knowing everything about the man who created you but also knowing nothing at the same time would be a lot for anyone to get their head around. Ironically, the detail made him look more like Rion, making her equally happy and sad. "Of course. Wait! We need a picture."

Mateo rolled his eyes but knew this was one argument he stood no chance of winning. He called over the Bolian with the holocamera as his mamá sorted her makeup. He took the opportunity to push his hair out of his eyes and straighten his uniform, she deserved one good photo. After the photo was taken, he thanked the Bolian and turned to Necole. "Now I really have to go, see you after?"

"Yes, yes, go," she said, not wanting to start crying again. "I love you hijo."

"I love you too."

Necole sat with the other guests all of whom were buzzing with excitement. Her polished nails danced across her leg as she pretty much vibrated with anticipation. She looked around for Mateo again and had to remind herself that he was backstage, waiting to give his valedictorian speech. She was nervous for the boy who had hated speaking to large groups of people however, she was unsure if the man had the same anxiety. She hadn't had a chance to ask him before the ceremony and she wished she had, not that he would have told her. He wouldn't even give her a peak at the speech, instead wanting her to hear it alongside everyone else.

She waited for the Captain to wrap up his speech. "The only thing I fear is losing the dream of the Federation; compared to such a loss, I do not fear any enemy we yet face." She clapped with everyone else, not for the bald man, but because her hijo, the star of the day, of her universe, was next. She watched as he stepped onto the stage but waited patiently in the back, waiting to be announced. He looked out in the crowd and her heart told her he was looking for her; her head told her he was looking for his friends.

She shuffled forward to the edge of her seat, knowing that she would stand up the moment he took centre stage and started the speech she had been longing to hear; the speech she would never hear.

As the crowd ran for the exits, stampeding to keep themselves alive, Necole had only one thought on her mind: Mateo! She fought to reach the stage, pushing and clawing past the bodies threatening to carry her away from her only child. Her makeup was long forgotten as liquid black ran down her face, her voice horse from screaming his name over and over again. She fought with every last bit of strength she had but it was in vain; she never made it to the stage and she never saw her son alive again.

NOW

Necole sat in the courtroom and listened to the opening statements. She stared at the back of the bald man's head, the man she had thought was so charming and eloquent during the ceremony, the man who had been so inspiring and the embodiment of the institution that she believed in above all else, the man who had killed her son.

There was a hole inside of her chest, a hole that he had created, blown apart when he had set off that bomb. The hole would never be fixed or filled, she knew that. It was a part of her and only grew larger as the minutes, hours, days, ticked by. This man had taken everything from her, in one flash her universe had died; a reverse big bang. When Rion died, she had their baby growing inside of her, the bright light she knew she had to protect with her very being. She failed. Her light was gone; Mateo was dead!

She sat in the chilly courtroom feeling nothing. She wanted to hate the bald man, she wanted her chest to burn with rage and vengeance. Instead, the hole grew larger, the dark eclipsing the light. She was a husk, devoid of feelings and warmth. Her makeup-less face was as emotionless as the Vulcan judge, stoic and cold. At least he had logic to guide him, what did she have?

Her chipped fingernails clutched the holophoto of her and Mateo, the last photo they had taken, or ever will again. She held it tightly to her chest, trying with all of her might to fill the hole that wouldn't allow her to feel. It didn't work, nothing worked. The best she could hope for was that the man would be found guilty and she would get some closure, maybe then she would cry. This courtroom was her only hope of feeling again, feeling anything. Justice will prevail, it has to!