: Posted by Lieutenant Kyle Greggs (Chief of Security) in Earth- Ayla and Kyle
: : Posted by Lieutenant Ayla Sharise (Counselor) in Earth- Ayla and Kyle
: <snip>
: : Ayla squeezed Kyle's hand and gave him a smile. "What a crazy day, huh?" she said tiredly. "First Edward, then Taigen and a mad chase. I need to go back to San Francisco and talk to Marianne and Taigen. Did you want to come along or wait for me here? I can just transport over. I won't be too long, just a couple of hours. With any luck, Taigen will be with me."
: :
: : Sharise, CNS
:
: Crazy wouldn't even begin to describe the day. But this is what would happen if he were still back in the darkness. "Be careful. Watch everything. I have to stay here for the moment. There's still something to handle."
:
: COS

Ayla nodded. "I will be careful, promise," she said, kissing Kyle's cheek lightly.

* * * * *
Twenty minutes later, Ayla was back at the centre, and stepped through the door. Marianne came over with a surprised look on her face and threw her arms around her friend. "You had me worried. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes," Ayla replied. "I'm sure."

"I wasn't expecting you back so soon. what's up?"

Ayla allowed a soft smile to come on to her face. "I want to take Taigen, as a foster child."

Marianne's face lit up. "Oh Ayla! That's wonderful! I'm so glad. I know you and he will do wonders for each other and I can't think of someone better to guide him right now."

Sharise did look a little uncertain. "Well, it'll be a challenge for both of us. Do you think he'd be willing to come live with me on the Saracen?" she asked. Obviously Marianne was out of options for keeping the angry and sometimes violent teenager around the children's centre, but Ayla wouldn't force Taigen to come with her either.

"Wait, you mean on an actual starship?" the voice of the Lumerian boy called out as he poked his head around the corner from the stairs.

Ayla had known someone was there and guessed it was Taigen. So she didn't look surprised. "That would be the idea. That were I am assigned and while it may not be the best place for children, there's plenty of people around that you can do studies with and learn whatever you're interested in.

"Can I learnt to do that crazy move you used on me?" he asked hopefully, still a little awed at how fast the woman had moved to immobilize him from his attempt to strike her.

"If you can show that you are committed to learning the discipline, then yes," Ayla said honestly. Self-defence was an important thing on a battle cruiser like the Saracen. There were too many unknown hostile situations that they could get into and she did want Taigen to be able to help himself. But first they needed to deal with his anger.

"Cool!" he said. "So uh… when would we go?" he asked more quietly.

Ayla looked at Marianne. "Obviously the situation isn't ideal, but I won't be back this way for awhile. We're going to Tantalus after Eartha and then back to the Saracen."

Yes, definitely not ideal, but Marianne trusted Ayla immensely and knew she would handle Taigen at Tantalus with care. Marianne looked at Taigen. "Looks like you're leaving now… better go pack!" she said with a laugh.

An hour and a pot of tea later, Ayla and Marianne caught up some more while Taigen got himself ready to go. Not that the boy had many belongings, but Ayla didn't want to be in any rush. She shared the development of her and Kyle's relationship and Marianne expressed how wonderful it was. She hadn't seen her friend so obviously happy in a very long time.

After a slightly sad goodbye, Ayla and Taigen headed back to the Dawson residence in New York. They entered the house. "Hello? We're back…" Ayla called out, Taigen warily looking around.

~Ayla and Taigen