Going through the motions

Posted on Fri May 22nd, 2026 @ 3:17am by Lieutenant S'hib & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea

Mission: Season 6: Episode 7: Crossroads of Destiny
Location: Promenade
Timeline: MD1
1617 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

It was loud today in the Promenade, S'hib thought, but in a different way from the noise. It was the energy, the way the air seemed to buzz with excitement and anticipation from everyone.

Everyone except S'hib... He was only here because of Slee; she was the only reason he ever left his quarters anymore. And right now, she was held ten feet off the ground, grabbing at branches with flowers on them.

"Almost! Grab it, you've almost got it!" He snorted, extending his arms further.

It was impossible to miss S'hib holding Sle'anna up near a tree branch as her daughter reached for it. Despite their differences, she still cared for him and worried about him. She still felt a touch of fear from when he shoved her. It hadn't been the actual act that scared her; it was the fact that someone whom she trusted and had loved had done so, yet she was eternally grateful that he was able to protect and care for Sle'anna during the recent attacks. She walked at a slower pace towards them as she watched the two together, as Sle'anna managed to grab and pull a flower.

"Good job!" she complimented, giving a congratulatory clap and smile.

S'hib almost jumped at the clap, the sudden surprise and ping of pain at hearing Naxea's voice making him lose his grip somewhat on Slee before catching her tightly in his grip.

"Nax... I..." He inhaled and frowned before hastily putting his daughter down, her mouth already chewing on the large white flower. "Slee, go say hello to your mother."

He turned somewhat, letting his daughter trot quickly over to Naxea, unsure what to say to her after all these weeks. That and the rumours he had heard.

Naxea knelt to Sle'anna. "That's a pretty flower you're munching on. Go and sit by the tree. I want to talk to your dad, ok?"

Sle'anna nodded, still munching on the flower as she turned and made her way over to the tree. She stood back up, watching Sle'anna before turning her gaze back to S'hib. "Hey. I was just walking to try to destress. How are you?"

"Tired," S'hib said matter-of-factly. "She naps for an hour, and then you could replace the warp core with her."

He paused, looking at her with sad eyes, hanging over a forced smile. "Keeps me busy though, keeps my mind off things... It's why I haven't dropped her off much lately, I uh... I need the distraction."

She looked at him and knew he was putting on a front--she knew him too well. "What's bothering you?" she asked.

"There wouldn't be much point in talking about it." He said, his tone flat but still filled with sorrow.

He looked at Naxea after he spoke, but his eyes seemed to focus... elsewhere. If he was quietly accepting or simply avoiding the grief, he wasn't sure.

"You've moved on." He said as she flashed back into focus. "And I'm still a mess... which uhh, reminds me."

He paused, rubbing his eyes and squinting his face before looking over at Slee.

"I need you to look after her for a few days. I'm going to go planet side when we arrive... no Orions in this Galaxy, so I figured it's probably safe to go for a walk."

"S'hib. Yes, I have moved on...I was...am, still a mess too," she sighed, closing the distance some. "But it doesn't mean that I don't care for you." She would personally rather deal with Orions than the hostile aliens in this galaxy.

He stepped back and raised a hand. "Don't..." He uttered, his stiff and harsh gesture melting until his hand fell back to his side. "Just don't, Nax... please, just send someone to pick her up later."

"No," she said sternly. "I'm not sending someone else to pick up my daughter when I am perfectly able to. Look, if you want to talk, I'm here, but you're not going to run away and avoid issues in front of Sle'anna. She needs us both, and that means not fighting in front of her."

"I needed us both, too!" S'hib snapped, jabbing a stubby hoofed finger into his chest as his deep voice thumped out across the Promenade, attracting the eyes of those nearby.

He paused, letting the air leave his lungs weakly. "But you didn't..." He said quietly, his deep booming voice soft and scared.

"So don't you dare give me hope, telling me we can talk... talk about what Nax? What could we possibly talk about when you've moved on?"

She took a step forward and pointed a finger at him. "I did try to talk to you. You pushed me away, literally. You left me when I needed you the most. And yet, all this time, not a single apology or even remorse from you. You don't ever lay hands on those you truly love. You expect me to simply wait around for someone like that? Be the man I fell in love with in the first place!"

"I-" He stuttered, the words coming out all at once across his face instead. "I don't know how to talk to you anymore. I look at you, and all I see is how scared you were of me."

"Being near you hurts... because I hurt you."

He turned to look over at Slee, still blissfully unaware of the conversation unfolding with her parents.

"Being around her hurts too, Nax," He laughed, a painful chuckle as he palmed the moisture out of his left eye. "She reminds me of you... It's her eyes."

"And I just- It's all I think about... Nax, you're all I ever think about, and I'm just stuck going through the motions while you're... not."

He turned back, frowning but not at her. "What would an apology accomplish now anyway, you're in love with someone else... why would I try and take that away from you?"

Naxea sighed, placing her hands on her hip, looking down at the ground as she thought of what to say and to calm herself. "S'hib," she began, looking up at him. "I can't afford to just go through the motions. I have too many people depending on me," she paused, thinking of Sle'anna, the Marines she lost, and those remaining, as well as her duty to the ship, fighting back tears. "I don't have that luxury...and I still love you, S'hib. You're Sle'anna's father, and nothing will change that."

Those two words stung worse than if she had just hated him; it might somehow have been kinder, too, he thought.

"Nax I- I need to go..." He stuttered as he turned towards Slee, his hooves moving uneasily as if his legs had lost the will to support his immense weight. "I'm sorry, I can't... I just- Slee, come say goodbye to your mother, we're going home!"

"You need to stop running every time something gets hard," she said softly but firmly.

He stopped and watched Slee trot by, her arms outstretched, holding another flower like the one she had eaten, its white petals browning slightly at the edges.

“I don’t know how…” He said, his voice full of regret.

Everything had eaten away at him since arriving in this sand-forsaken galaxy, eaten away at his confidence, his pride, his relationships, leaving him hollow and scared. So he hid away, holding onto the last thing he had, Sle’anna.

"S'hib," she said softly, approaching him. She hated seeing him like this. "You still have me. As Sle'anna's father, I will be there for you. Because look at her," she gestures to their daughter. "She needs a strong, brave father. One to teach her about being Sequus."

He looked down at his daughter, watching her stubby tail flick about excitedly in silence for a moment.

"...No," He uttered sternly, the first thing he had said with any conviction in quite some time.

"She needs to be brought up differently than I was, away from my people and their teachings."

He looked back up at Nax, his eyes still hot with emotion. "I don't want her to be like me; you shouldn't either."

"Well, she should still know about her people. One day she'll ask. Just like she should learn about Bajorans. S'hib..." she paused, taking a breath and looking up at him. "You are a good man. But you hold on too tight to everything. And when you hold on that tight, you lose your grip. It's happening now, and Sle'anna deserves the best version of you. The one that I married."

And she was right. Of course she was, he thought. But still, hearing those words, the sting burned through to his core regardless.

"If I find him, I'll let you know..." He said sourly before turning and starting to walk away, finding the idea of her just upping and leaving the man she was now in love with, ridiculous.

"Come on, Slee, let's get you back home, you'll see your mother again tomorrow."

Naxea watched him go. She wasn't sure what to do, to be honest. Something had to change, and soon. She couldn't deal with this for the rest of their trip back home. Sure, they were divorced, but she still couldn't help but care for S'hib and seeing him like this bothered her. "Have fun, sweetie," she smiled and waved at Sle'anna. "See you later, S'hib."

He didn't say anything; he just kept walking as a whirlwind of emotion gripped his chest, barely noticing the tiny hand grasping one of his cloven fingers.

This whole conversation, seeing Naxea, had been nothing but salt on an open wound.