SIM:Ens. Maria: Open your eyes

((Sickbay, USS Indepenence))

::The small terran/betazoid laid completely still in the biobed, eyes closed and almost looking peaceful as the drip fed into her arm and a small blip of a heartbeat sounded every so often. Much as this looked like a peaceful sleep the readings showed otherwise, life signs nearly gone as they had been for days. The counsellor/science officer was carefully monitored for any change in her status, with a nurse constantly watching for the faintest trace of life.::

:: Suddenly the levels of one particular reading shifted and started to rise, setting off an alert to the person watching as her brain activity rose, despite a lack of change in her other life signs. The reading emerged slowly, then sharply banked up to reach a level higher than it should have been normally. The face however was immobile, the provesses happening behind it unseen and unexplained.::

((Goodness knows where, Cara's mind))

::Blackness... rolling endless blackness washed over her as she floated through nothing, idly noting the sensation as she spun upwards, arms spread like wings. She had no idea how long she had been flying/floating/existing in this blackness, but it was cool, and it asked nothing of her, at times she didn't even realise she was floating, just gone, others she recognised the void.::

::Slowly her eyes opened onto a scene that was completely still. Golden evening sunlight was slanting through a window and falling onto pale cream walls, sending it reflecting, giving the entire room a surreal glow of warmth as Cara stepped forwards. The dark wood glinted as waxily as the glass fronted cabinets, plates clean and untouched in front of her on the smooth table. She turned, feeling like she moved through the water-wind material to see the dark wooden door closed behind her, the glass panels either side showing only darkness behind it.::

oO So you want to play that game again... Oo

::In which case the door led back into that unconscious state, she knew what it was now and was thinking perfectly clearly, too clearly for someone who hadn't known reality, of even this silent surreality in a while. The perfect clarity of a dream.::

oO Time to see what my subconscious is offering me this time. Oo

::Cara took a breath and turned back to where she had been facing originally. She knew what her mind was trying to show her of course. She'd been here before. A few steps forwards and sharp, sorrowful eyes looked down at the perfect table as she traced her hand across it. It hadn't been like this before, this time it was eerily perfect as the older woman looked blankly around, knowing exactly what was going on.::

::Her gaze followed the light that was falling in the free standing mirror edged in gold, tiny ships of broken glass withing shining white in the sunlight with shards scattered over the carpet in front of it. Cara carefully knelt and sat on her heels looking at the broken mirror thoughtfully, a gentle hand reaching out... a child's uncertain hand touched the blank board behind the mirror... There was a flash of white light and Cara jerked her hand away in shock, staring at the mirror.::

oO That mirror really is me, talk about finding a symbol and clinging to it... this room, this mirror... it's my memories, myself... I need to be careful. Oo

::The counsellor looked down as the glass around her knees and saw a large piece she hadn't noticed before. She hesitated, then reached out and gently lifted it from the floor as it caught the light...::

::A face moved straight over the glass' surface, Cara recognised the girl as she moved out of sight, blonde/brown hair and lively chocolate eyes smiling.::

Maria: Charlotte?

::Cara was silenced by the regal face that appeared next to her former friend, ice blonde hair and pale skin of a scandinavian heritage before the hair slid to reveal the ears of a quarter-Vulcan.::

Maria: Ilisa?

::Suddenly Charlotte and Ilisa were standing there again, ghosts in the glass, the tall part-Vulcan with a hand on her shorter friend's shoulder. Still taller than Cara though, even if you could only see their heads.::

::The starfleet officer nearly dropped the piece of glass as two more faces materialised behind the two girls, clutching the glass in order not to drop it, it couldn't shatter! Wouldn't shatter! She didn't notice the unreal blood seeping down her palms as she stared in shock at the two smiling faces who had joined her old school-friends.::

Maria: Sidney? ::She paused:: Salak???

::The woman waved at her, a part terran unlike the stern male Vulcan that stood at Ilisa's shoulder. Odd, one vulcan hybrid and a full vulcan with one terran hybrid and a terran, odd how things worked out... Cara stared at those she called friends and felt her control cracking slightly and feeling a wealth of emotions well up.::

::Now she knew why she was here. Her hands shook as she placed the large chunk of glass in the frame. An important building block of herself, her friends. Her friends, she had friends...::

::Cara teetered on the verge of tears as she sat back, looking at the other shards around her, seeing other parts of faces in them for a split second. That was Cody, Mar, Makno, Culan, Cox... the crew of the independence were unaware of the betazoid watching them before she picked up the small shards and replaced them in the mirror urgently, but with the utmost care, speaking to each as she went.::

oO You'll grow, and you'll make the structure more solid, you're my crewmates, my friends, my... my extended family. Oo

::Cara's vision blurred into a blinding white as the shards of the mirror fused together and reflected the sunlight as they merged in a mesmorising dance of growing ice. A single tear slid down Cara's beaming cheek, feeling happiness as a cool joyful release spreading through her body even as she curled up crying.::

oO I have... I have friends! Oo

:: Her body straightened to look up into the light as she gurgled a watery laugh, the last thing she recognised before the whiteness claimed her the pale tears of pure joy coursing down her cheeks.::

((Sickbay, USS Independence))

::After half an hour of stable high brain activity her other functions seemed to stir, raising themselves as if they were volume controls on a music desk being pushed up steadily. Her high brain activity slowly started to lower after a last spike and stabilised around the right level.::

::The steady beat of her heart returned to normal, breathing deeply, but calmly, the entire woman's being seeming to be an ocean of calm as Cara opened her eyes.::