Sounds of crying were coming from the bundle of people as tears upon tears streamed down their faces.  Never in her life was she so happy…never had she realized just how much she loved her home…

She was home…and that's what mattered now.  She was going to spend time with her family now…to hell with anything else…

It was cold.  Very cold.  Then again, it was February in southern Wisconsin.  Winter was cold here…and snowy.  She looked around at the snow, smiling at child hood memories of Janesville.  It had become a sprawling metropolis long before she was born, and so she could enjoy every feature of a metropolis in the twenty fourth century…

The driver of the flying vehicle didn't seem to pay any attention to it, he probably drove around this city for the past five years or so.  There was Monroe elementary…that school held a history.  It was one of the only elementary schools in the city that survive the Third World War back in the early twenty first century…

She hadn't been home since…after her posting on the Enterprise.  She didn't come home when she was first assigned to the Dragon…she simply went straight to the Dragon, anxious to see her first hand.  Now she sort of regretted it…

They turned down another road…a road she realized they shouldn't be on.

"Hey…what's going on?" she asked the driver, wondering why he wasn't taking her home.

"Sorry, ma'am," he replied.  "I was told to take you to the civic center, no matter what you ordered me to do."

She frowned at him, then shrugged and looked back out her window.  Why not go along with it…  The Civic Center?  Why would they want her to go there?  It could only mean that her brother…

Oh brother she thought as the Civic Center came into view.  The huge glass building was just as it had been…but floating above the main lawn was a holographic note.  "Welcome Home Sissy!"

She rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth in annoyance.  Only her brother would leave a message like that…

The driver pulled the small vehicle into the main driveway.  Underneath the main lawn…was probably every person she ever knew in Janesville.  Not just her family, but every friend and probably even every acquaintance. 

"Well this was a bad idea," she thought.  She felt kind of odd, being the center of attention in a crowd so huge.

After he reached the exact center of the rounded drive, the driver came to a stop…and pressed a switch to open Kalia's door.  Immediately, the cheering she had only seen flooded into the vehicle, making it very difficult for her to hear herself playfully cussing at her brother, who rushed to the door and started pulling her out.

She complied…only to give him a playful shove, causing him to slide across the frozen sidewalk.  He laughed and looked at her defensively, then grabbed her hand and held it high in the air, eliciting another loud cheer from the large crowd.

"I see you've been busy!" she shouted to him.

"Least I could do for my now-famous sissy!"

She shoved him again playfully when he called her that, but instead of shoving back as she expected, he simply smiled at her and motioned for her to go in.  "We're throwing a party, and you're the life of the party this time!"

"We'll just see about that!" she shouted back, shaking her head.  "You know I don't like parties!"

He simply grinned.  "Not this time, you better not!"

"So?  How does it feel to be home?"

Lieutenant Commander Vendar Perkins looked around the living room of her parent's home, taking it all in.  Even during vacations during the academy, she had never come home…  For her, it had been over seven years since her last visit...

"I know it's been a long time for you," Rear Admiral Claire Perkins stated, a very large grin on her face.  "So how does it feel?"

Vendar looked at her and smiled back, the joy in her increasing with every moment.  "It feels…good.  I know that while I'm here…well, there isn't going to be any red alerts called, that's for sure!"

Her mother laughed and patted her on the back.  "So then I take it things aboard the Dragon were quite active?"

She paused at the question, then decided to answer with an example.  "Imagine being the only Federation starship in a galaxy where humans are hated and despised…"

Her mother laughed again and nodded.  "Right, stupid question, I guess."

Vendar laughed with her…then looked around again.  "Where's Dad?"  Her Father was part of Starfleet security…so where was he?

Her mother frowned and shrugged her shoulders.  "I'm not quite sure.  He was assigned to some top secret mission right before the Dragon came home…and even I don't have enough clearance to find out just what he's up to."

Vendar also frowned, then shrugged.  "I'm sure it's important, then."  Half joking, she added, "Who knows, maybe he's doing something that will make our family even more famous!"

They both laughed, hoping it would be true, but somehow knowing it wouldn't be.  Something top secret usually doesn't make someone famous…

Vendar then eyed her favorite chair and quickly moved to it, not letting her mother sit in it.  She all but jumped into the chair and lifted the footrest out of it.  A moment later, she was sitting comfortably with her feet up…

This was a feeling she had not felt in a long time.  A true sense of being home.  This was her home, where she had experienced so many childhood memories.  It was a place where she belonged…

The past three years melted away from her memories as she started to remember those childhood memories.  All those get-togethers her and her friends had…the birthday parties her family threw, primarily with her family.

Up until high school, Vendar hadn't had many friends…  Needless to say, it was her high school birthday parties that were crazy.  She mentally laughed at her seventeenth birthday.  Her and five other friends went to watch a holovid, one based on a very old Earth classic…called the Lord of the Rings, if she remembered correctly.  After the movie, a large group of guys started hitting on all of them.  They all took great joy in teasing the guys while tempting them by walking just right to get their attention.

It was something she usually never did…but that night, her mind was really free.  She truly felt alive then…for the first time in her life, she really belonged.  That was something she had never felt before then…and it was something she started to feel very often after that.

That feeling, more than ever, filled her when she came aboard the Dragon.  At first she felt almost out of place…but the more she got to know the crew, the more she felt like she belonged.  With it were people she trusted, people she cared about.  It had taken a while…but it happened.

She looked over at an old grandfather clock and noted that she had another five hours before she was supposed to go to Starfleet medical.  I better get some sleep, because who knows how long they'll keep me awake there…

The decision made, she looked back up at the ceiling and closed her eyes.  She sighed with content…before she found the dream world…

Her daughter cuddled up next to her and Rick's arm around her…she felt content.

Kara looked at the video screen again to see that another children's show was starting.  She looked at her daughter to see if she was enjoying it…but then she smiled as she noticed her daughter was asleep.

Thank goodness I didn't miss three years of your life…

"It's been too long since we all sat together like this," Rick said softly.

Kara looked at him and smiled.  "I know, far too long."  She looked down at the living room floor for a moment…hesitant…  "I'm sorry I wasn't more agreeable when I came back last time..."

When she looked back at him, he shook his head with a smile on his face.  "You had a lot on your mind.  It's not every day you're assigned to a state of the art ship like the Dragon."

She shook her head in return, a grim look overcoming her face.  "I would have rather remained on Starbase Thirteen…at least there, people didn't die every other day."

Rick frowned at her.  "Was it really so bad out there?"

Wide eyed, she looked at him and nodded her head quickly.  "You better believe it was!  Eight hundred seventy eight people died on the Dragon while we were there, four hundred twenty while under my care!  Not to mention the losses we all saw during the Vorkalai war!"

His eyes went wide as she stated the numbers and facts to him.  He probably didn't expect the numbers to be that high…

He finally snapped himself out of it and looked at her sympathetically…  "Look…I'm sure those that were lost under your care could never have been saved."

"Oh really?" she asked, anger at herself more than anyone slipping into her voice.  "That judge at our trial sure didn't seem to think so!"

"I saw that trial on the news," Rick replied, seemingly hurt by her harshness…but also understanding.  He always was very understanding…  "You explained to him that they weren't your fault…and now you're telling me they were?!"

That caught her off guard…  Then she realized just how hypocritical she was being now…

"I…guess you're right," she replied after some hesitation.

"I am?" he asked.  "I stated something?  Thought it was a question…"

She glared at him, then jabbed him in the stomach playfully.  "I see what your point was in asking that question," she corrected herself, venom giving her voice a clear edge.

They both went silent after that.  Kara thought about what she had been saying.  Maybe she was right the first time…maybe they weren't her fault…

"People die, Kara," Rick said quietly, as if reading her thoughts.  "You can't change that."

She looked into his eyes, knowing he was right…and wishing more than anything…that he wasn't.

"You know, I entered the medical field because…"

"You wanted to save lives," he finished for her.  They knew each other all too well…

She nodded her head.  Her eyes started to feel hot and moist…but before she could begin crying, she simply buried her face on his shoulder.  Then and there…she let her tears fall…

Everyone was finally settled in their chairs…and to Kalia's surprise, the entire amphitheater was filled to the brim.  She wondered just how many of those people she really knew…

Her brother waved her forward from the microphone.  She hesitated for a moment…then decided she might as well comply.  She moved forward into the bright lighting of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a hero born from this city, Kalia Tarkent!"

I'm going to kill you, Carl!  She felt her face go red-hot as the crowd stood up and began applauding.  The crowd was much bigger than the crowd at the courthouse, and made a much bigger commotion.