May 2381

Epilogue

"Mommy, Daddy, look! It's my name!"

B'Elanna watched Tom kneel next to Miral, giving her a hug from behind. "It is," he said, pointing at the rest of the inscription. "Can you read the rest?"

Miral scrunched her nose as she considered the words on the marble shrine. "No."

"Puqbe' L'Naan," Tom read, his finger tracing the carved letters as he spoke.

"Do you remember your full Klingon name?" B'Elanna asked as she walked up behind her husband and daughter.

Miral turned at her mother's voice. "Miral puqbe' B'Elanna!" She then turned back to the wall. "Why is my name on the wall?"

"It's not your name," Tom explained. "It's SoSnI' Miral's name. This is her shrine."

"Oh." Miral nodded, though B'Elanna wasn't sure her three-year-old understood the significance of the place.

Three years… had it really been that long since they'd gotten home? She could remember holding Miral as an infant in her arms, discussing with Tom when a good time to go to Qo'noS would be. But then months – years – had passed, and something new would throw a hurdle between her and making the trip to the Klingon Empire: the prospect of traveling with an infant, the uncertainty about their futures in the Alpha Quadrant, her enrollment in a master's program.

But all that was behind her now. She supposed late was better than never.

They'd arrived on Qo'noS yesterday and made their way to that house B'Elanna had lived in all those years ago. They were staying in a different part of the compound - one of Dar'Rok's daughters lived in the house that was once hers. But for this she was glad. She didn't know if she could have stood staying in that house, with the ghosts of her mother and grandfather haunting her.

Tom rose, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. Even though they'd waited until evening to come to the shrine, it was still unbearably hot. "What do you need to do?" he asked.

B'Elanna set down the bag she'd been carrying on her shoulder. A puff of red dirt swirled up from the ground. "I have to light some candles and say a prayer. That's it." B'Elanna knelt, pulled the Var'Hama candles from the bag and set them before her mother's name.

"Miral, come here," Tom called. The little girl had wandered to the other side of the shrine. "We are going to honor SoSnI' now."

B'Elanna heard the patter of her daughter's footsteps across the dirt. She could remember doing this prayer with her mother, at this shrine, after her SoSnI' had died. Miral had knelt, arranging the candles and picking up a match before turning to B'Elanna. "Do you want to light them?" she'd asked. B'Elanna had nodded. Her mother had struck the match, handing it to B'Elanna, who'd lit the candles while Miral had begun the prayer.

B'Elanna now turned to her daughter. "Do you want to help me light the candles?"

Miral nodded, a huge grin on her face, as she trotted over to B'Elanna. Holding Miral's hand on the lighter, B'Elanna lit the two large candles, and then sat back on her feet, holding her daughter against her chest.

Would Miral do this for her one day? The Lament of the Daughter? Would she hold her own child in her arms and say the words, honoring B'Elanna and wishing her glory in the Eternal Battle?

B'Elanna could feel a lump in her throat and tried to swallow it away. "I come here today," she began in Klingon, "as the daughter of a great woman, Miral, daughter-" Her voice caught. She hugged Miral tighter. "Daughter of L'Naan. I come today to speak of her honor-" her voice snagged again, and she could feel the tears welling in her eyes. No! she yelled at herself. Keep it together! Your mother did this without breaking down, so can you!

B'Elanna took a deep breath. "Her honor and her deeds so-" a sob shook her body, and she hastily wiped at the tears. "So my mother-" she tried again, but felt Tom's hand clasp her shoulder.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. The tears she hadn't cried for her mother in six years flooded out. B'Elanna's chest heaved, and she clung to Miral, pressing the little girl against her chest.

Miral squirmed in her mother's arms. "Mommy? Why are you sad?"

B'Elanna tried to respond, but couldn't get any words out. Tom dropped to his knees and took her in his arms.

"Mommy's sad because she misses her mommy." Tom was rubbing B'Elanna's back as he spoke to their child.

"Oh," Miral replied. "I'm sorry, Mommy." B'Elanna felt her daughter give her a kiss, which only made her cry harder.

"Just let it out," Tom whispered, holding her tight. "I've got you."

"I don't know why I'm crying," B'Elanna finally got out.

Tom kissed her on the side of the head. "Because you miss her."

B'Elanna buried her face against Tom's neck. Was that it? She'd lived eleven years without her mother's presence and had never cried like this. How could 'missing her' be why she was sitting in the dirt, sobbing like a child?

"I wish she could see me now. I wish she could see what I've become and that she could meet Miral." She bit back another sob. "Why couldn't she see me graduate? Why didn't she get to see any of this?"

Tom rocked her gently. "I don't know. But I know she would have been so proud of you."

"Even while blubbering in the dirt in front of her shrine?" B'Elanna sniffled, pulling back from Tom.

Tom let out a little laugh, reaching out to wipe a tear from her face. "She'd be happy you were saying the Lament for her."

B'Elanna took a breath, trying to compose herself. Tom was right. She would be happy. Miral would be happy her daughter had returned home, ready to say those Klingon prayers she'd rejected in her youth. Her mother would have smiled at B'Elanna teaching her own daughter Klingon and the importance of their customs. And she was sure her mother would have been overjoyed they had named Miral for her.

She grabbed Tom's hand, pulling him close as she turned back to the shrine. With the other arm, she drew Miral against her chest.

Tears still falling from her eyes, B'Elanna continued the Lament.

The End

End notes: I didn't come up with the name Isela, it's from First Impressions by Ruchira (which is available on FFN and you should go read it). Several other stories I've written were referenced in this one, specifically: Letters Home, The Sea of Gatan, and The Flying Buttress.

Many thanks to all who have (or will) left me a comment on this work. It's much appreciated! :D