Velkommen til Det Nye År

Posted on Fri Jan 3rd, 2025 @ 4:48pm by Captain Nycolas Temple & Emilie Temple

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Earth - Copenhagen, Denmark

ON:

[Earth, Denmark - December 31st, 2392 - One Year Earlier]

In the crowded Sydhavn park on New Year's Eve, the Temple family stood huddled together as they watched the New Years light show. Beams of colored lights were projected into the night sky as small drones whizzed around making various patterns and words. It was only 8pm at night, not the main countdown event as yet, as the city liked to put on a show at a more family-friendly hour for the kids. Nyx had William up on his shoulders, the young boy amazed by the view of flashing colors in the sky. Emilie and Katrine were next to him, everyone wrapped up warm to brave the Danish winter evening cold.

When the show concluded, the family moved slowly with the crowd as they exited the park together.

"Zoooom! POW!" William was imitating the effects of the drones, reminding the others of what they had just seen.

"I'm going to paint it." Katrine declared. She had turned into an avid young Impressionist recently, thanks to a set of brushes and tools given to her by Julemanden. "The lights in the sky over the park. At night. It was so beautiful."

"That would be wonderful, darling." Nyx said enthusiastically.

"I've taken plenty of pictures for references." Emilie added, indicating to the PADD in her hand. "That'll help you recreate it."

Katrine nodded with a smile, "Will you hang it up for me when it's finished, Dad?" She was really asking if she thought her parents liked her work but chose a less direct way of asking.

"Of course." Nyx said firmly, pulling his daughter in closer to reassure her. "Right over the bookshelf, I think."

"Yes!" Katrine pumped her fist. "I will work on it SO much!"

"You can start tomorrow," Emilie said firmly, "It's too late to start tonight."

The crowd had reached the end of the park, and the Temples turned to continue down their street. Nyx was about to step forward when someone suddenly dashed in front of him, pushing past them as he did. Nyx saw the man was wearing a black jacket, hood raised up over his head. The man didn't stop, despite clearly making contact with them, and he continued walking ahead without looking back. Nyx reached up and made sure William was still secure on his shoulders, the boy having been jostled about in the brief collision.

"Hey!" Emilie called out after the man, to no avail. He continued walking into the crowd and disappeared.

"Rude." Nyx mumbled. "You okay up there, buddy?"

"POW!" William called out, completely unaware.

Katrine looked to Nyx and shook her head, "No manners, daddy!" She complained.

"Agreed." Nyx nodded. He looked over the crowd and could no longer see the man. He sighed and they kept walking.

****

Not long after, the Temples had arrived home to their townhouse. The winter snow had managed to hold off but there was still a chill in the air. They were grateful to be back inside to the warmth. Nyx had managed to get William to go to bed, after just three more times reciting the light show in great, enthusiastic detail. Katrine had insisted on watching a recording of the event for her painting inspiration. She had initially claimed she was too excited to sleep, but before long was curled up in bed dozing off, the recording playing silently and filling her dreams with canvases of colors.

Downstairs, Nyx was helping to clear away their dinner dishes. Emilie was on the couch, having poured out two drinks and cut up slices of a traditional Danish marzipan cake. With the chores done, Nyx re-entered the living room and joined Emilie on the lounge.

"Hmm." He said warmly as he saw the Kransekage cake, he picked up the plate with both hands. "Nothing beats the old favorites, huh?"

Emilie smiled a little, "I must admit, I did miss this when we were on the Pandora. The town gathering together, in the winter air. Coming home to some cake and whiskey. It's hard to replicate that feeling when you're on a starship."

Nyx nodded as he chewed a mouthful of cake. "We tried to make it work. What about when we were crossing the nebula, and we had that impromptu Christmas party in the bar? That was nice."

"Oh that was nice. Not quite the same as the real experience, though." Emilie replied.

As if on queue, Nyx's PADD, which he had left on the dining table nearby, chimed with a message tone. The couple looked over to the PADD, both knowing what it was. After a moment, Nyx simply returned to eating his cake.

"Starfleet again." Emilie spoke softly. "How many times is that now?"

Nyx shrugged a little. Of course, he knew the answer. He just didn't want to say it.

Emilie frowned, "Eventually they'll stop sending messages and start showing up here, Nyx. You can't ignore them forever."

"I'm not trying to ignore them." Nyx protested softly, "But the Pandora is still being fixed at Luna Shipyards, so I can only imagine they'll want me to take another command instead."

"A different ship?" Emilie asked, furrowing her brow. "And forget the Pandora?"

"Could be." Nyx replied, "Or they don't want me to captain anything at all. Shove me off to the Academy to become a trainer or something."

Emilie could see how much he hated the idea, but she tried to be positive. "Hey at least you'd get to stay on Earth. And you're just a short shuttle or transport across the ocean. Better than being across the galaxy."

"It'll mean I failed as a Captain." Nyx said firmly, "I already... Sometimes..." He sighed, "Sometimes I already feel like a failure."

Emilie immediately moved over to her husband, wrapping her arms around him. She leaned in gently and pressed her forehead against his.

"You are not a failure, Nyx." She whispered.

After a moment, Nyx leaned back into her, closing his eyes. "Thank you." He said softly.


[Earth, Denmark - December 31st, 2393 - Present Day]

In the same park in Sydhavn, Emilie wearily held onto Katrine and William as they made their way through the crowds of people gathered for this year's New Years Eve family event in the park. The light show had been the same as last year, the same crowd of people from the neighborhood had come out to see it. But William complained the whole time because he couldn't see as well. Without daddy's shoulders to sit on, he wasn't high enough above the other people to see the lights properly - this caused him to pout, cry, and miss most of the show in tears. Katrine likewise wasn't in a good mood. She had finished the painting from last year, but it never got hung up above the bookcase, instead it sits on the floor waiting.

"But I didn't see it!" William protested, believing the light show organizers should repeat the performance again just so that he could watch it.

"Next year." Emilie sighed, her mum patience wearing thin. "We'll just have to wait till next year."

"That's so long!" William pouted.

"Stop crying!" Katrine angrily growled at her younger brother. "You're so annoying!"

This set off an ugly bout of bickering between the siblings. Emilie tried to quiet them down, promising they would be home soon. Other parents and kids gave the Temple trio a side-eyed glance, Emilie feeling embarrassed by the noise they were making. As they hurriedly made their way out of the park, Emilie quickly turned and started towards their street. Just then, a man brushed past them at a jogging pace. Emilie was caught off guard and almost lost her footing, pulling the two kids back with her as she did. The man, wearing his black jacket with hood up, just continued jogging on without stopping or looking back.

"Hey!" Emilie called out, feeling a strong sense of deja vu.

"No manners!" Katrine yelled at the man.

Emilie paused, furrowing her brow. She felt a strong sense of familiarity pass over her. Finally, she shook her head, and they kept walking.

****

The kids had taken longer than usual to get to sleep. Kat had told William there was another light show at midnight, and the boy had promptly demanded to go see it, despite it being entirely too late for him to be out. He sat on his bed, arms folded, determined he was going to stay awake until 12. He didn't last more than half an hour before falling asleep. Kat meanwhile had decided to abandon all of her painting supplies in the hallway, along with the picture she had painted last year. Another artist deemed to be unappreciated in her time, like so many of the greats before her, she had forsaken her craft in a bout of anguish.

Emilie was glad to have finally gotten them both into bed. She slumped down on the couch, trying to ignore the dirty dinner plates still on the table, begging to be cleaned. She knew there was some cake in the kitchen too but felt entirely too unmotivated to cut herself a piece. She merely sat on the couch and thought about how tired she was.

She was about to close her eyes when she heard the door chime. For a moment she hoped it was Nyx but then realized he wouldn't be ringing the chime if he did return home. Slowly, she raised herself up again and walked over to the door. As she opened it, she was glad to see Magnus waiting on the doorstep. He was wearing his work attire, snow starting to cover his shoulders and head.

"I hope I'm not too late!" He smiled sheepishly. He held up a container of Kransekage and a bottle of whiskey.

"Come in," Emilie smiled, as she stood aside to let him pass.

Magnus stamped the snow off his shoes in the vestibule as he talked, "I was going to be here for the light show but you know the Palais. A vote ran over time because someone didn't like the wording of an article. A misplaced semi-colon allegedly changing the whole intent of the passage, requiring deep debate and negotation. I thought we were going to be there all night."

Emilie nodded as she took hold of the cake and drink, leading her brother-in-law inside the house. She placed his gifts on the table before she quickly grabbed the dinner plates and took them into the kitchen, trying to cover for her earlier laziness. Meanwhile Magnus got their dessert ready, cutting pieces of the Kransekage onto plates and pouring the drinks.

"I take it I've missed the kids." He was saying, "Still too young to make it to midnight?"

"They try." Emilie laughed a little, "William was determined he was going to see it tonight, but he's now asleep. As for Katrine, well, she's in a mood. She might be asleep, or still up there being angry at me."

"Oh?" Magnus asked. He waited for Emilie to stop cleaning and sit down, before handing her a piece of cake.

"Yeah at Nyx, really." Emilie sighed, taking the plate and just holding it. "Nyx was supposed to hang up a painting she was doing. But she took so long to finish it, he was gone by the time she was done. I could put it up myself, of course, but I know she wants him to do it so because he's not here, she's upset. It's a proxy argument for missing him."

"I see," Magnus nodded, "She won't let you put it up? Or me?"

"Maybe she'll let you." Emilie shrugged, "I don't know what to expect sometimes."

"Well, I'll try in the morning." Mangus said, "If I can make the Palais de la Concorde agree to an article wording in under three hours, I can surely convince your daughter to let me hang her painting."

Emilie giggled, "I admire your confidence. But... my daughter can be stubborn. Perhaps more so than the Federation government."

"She takes after her father," Magnus nodded, knowing he could rib his brother without Nyx having a comeback. "Only if you don't mind me crashing here tonight again?"

"Of course. But you don't have some fabulous New Years parties in Paris to attend this year?" Emilie raised her eyebrows, "You'd rather spend it sleeping on the couch?"

"I would." Magnus smiled, "Between holiday events and public appearances with the Minister, my social calendar has been overstuffed this month. Paris will have to bring in the new year without me."

Emilie raised up her glass as a toast, "Here, here."

Magnus did likewise and took a swift drink of the whiskey. He sucked the air through his teeth for a moment before he returned to the cake, "I believe Starfleet have been making progress on finding him. They can't tell me much but there's definitely signs."

Emilie considered that for a moment before she nodded, "If he wanted to be found, he would. I half hoped maybe he would show up for Christmas, though. We haven't missed one together in years. It was really tough."

Magnus heard the frailty, the weariness in her voice. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here more. That must have been awful."

Emilie tried to pull herself together, "I just miss him." She admitted softly, "And the kids do, too. It's hard doing this on my own." She wiped her eyes, preventing the tears from falling. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Magnus replied gently, "We'll get him back soon, I know we will. And my offer of assistance still stands. Please, consider it."

"It's hard not to feel like a failure." Emilie said, hearing the words she had been thinking for so long drop out of her mouth like anvils. "Lots of people are single parents, this is nothing new for them. But.. I... do need the help."

"Okay then." Magnus nodded, clapping his hands together, "We'll arrange it, first thing tomorrow. Someone to help with the house, the kids. You'll get it."

Emilie smiled faintly. "Thank you, Magnus. You're a good uncle. And brother."

Magnus returned the smile and said nothing more.

By the time the midnight light show started, Magnus was fast asleep on the couch and Emilie likewise was in her bed. The colors seeped through the window blinds, gently lighting the room with every shade of the rainbow as she slept. Only William was awake, having managed to crawl out of bed at the right time and open his blinds to watch the show from his window. He clapped and giggled with every explosion, so happy to see in the new year.

OFF