Post 400: Sachal

Stardate:70818.2230
Title: Sachal
Author: Vedek Jariel
Scene: Conference Room, USS Independence
Time: Following "Act Two, Scene Two"
---------------------------------------------------
"Simon wait, please." Bru asked.

Ensign Biggs was about to leave, his portion of the zhian'tara complete, but February was going to need his help for one more thing.

"Vedek Jariel is coming in next. I would appreciate it if you could stick around and provide a voice for him?" She asked.

"No problem, Bru."

Rigin and Jariel Camen entered the room to begin the memory transfer. Many orb experiences had given Camen knowledge of how something like this would work, and he was eager to experience the zhian'tara.

Rigin, Camen and February took their places around the alter. A few moment later the process was complete.

"Sachal, are you there?" Rigin asked.Simon prepared himself for the signing, but was quite surprised what happened next.

"I am here. Where is here?" Sachal spoke loud and clear from Camen's body.

"You can talk?" February asked incredulously.

"Of course I can, why wouldn't I?" Sachal looked around the room and quickly realized this was a zhian'tara. He hadn't experienced one since Deveral Grace, and that had been a mess.

"I guess we can handle this from here Simon." February said.

Simon and Rigin took their leave from the room, leaving Sachal and February alone.

As soon as he was clear of the room Simon tapped his badge, knowing someone would be quite interested in what was happening right now.

"Biggs to Captain Zanh."

[What can I do for you Simon?] Came the reply.

"Captain, you aren't going to believe what just happened..."

Meanwhile in the conference room, February introduced herself to Sachal, and he to her.

"Paint! Do you have any?"

"Paint?" February asked, "I suppose we could replicate some. Whatever for?"

"What's left of me inside Grace doesn't get out much, I don't want to miss a chance to paint a little while we talk."

February stuck her head out the door and sent McKenna on an errand to fetch a pallet of paint and an easel.

"He'll be back soon. Sachal, In the meantime, please, tell me about you. Due to recent events in Grace's life, I'm afraid I don't remember you at all."

He shrugged. "Not much to tell I guess. My life wasn't all that interesting."

He wrung his hands and stared at the floor as he spoke. "I'm not surprised you don't remember much about me. That's Deveral for you. His personality tends to squash everything in its path."

"Well there must be something you can tell me. What kind of work did you do? Any hobbies? You liked to paint right?"

Sachal chuckled. "I liked to paint, not sure I was ever any good. Played a little music I guess too."

He shifted his gaze from the floor to the window and rubbed his palms against his pant legs nervously.

"As for my career, I was a bagger at the local organic food market. Real impressive huh?"

McKenna arrived in the room with the easel and paint, and Sachal finally came alive, smiling for the first time.

"Thank you so much..."

"Dave."

"Yes. Dave, thank you."

Sachal pulled the easel closer to the couch, grabbed the pallet, and began mixing colors. He selected a brush and began making strokes on the canvas.

February could not see what he was doing, but was pleased that he at least seemed to be enjoying himself now.

"What made you want to get joined?"

"I wanted to help the symbionts, like anyone else. I worked my tail off to get accepted for joining. When the day finally came, and I saw the world as Sachal Grace for the first time, I realized I didn't want to waste my life away at some boring job. I got the job at the market to pay the basic bills and spent all my free time dabbling with art."

"Was there a Misses Sachal?"

"Oh, no of course not." His cheeks flushed. "Women aren't interested in guys who fiddle around with paint and music all day."

February found that hard to believe. It was obvious just how shy he was, and she felt she probably knew him better then she realized. "Tell me more about the music Sachal. Did you write or play?"

"Both. I played any instrument I could find. Jack of all trades and master of none I guess you could say. My home was littered with half done paintings and compositions. He probably didn't even mention me, did he?" Sachal sighed.

"Who?"

"Deveral."

"No, sorry. He didn't."

"I'm not surprised. If I was good at anything it was probably the guitar. Deveral got everything he knew from me, though I doubt he even knew it. I tried to explain it to him during his zhian'tara but he was so drunk I doubt he heard a word of what I said."

"I had no idea!"

"I'm sure you didn't. I supplied the playing ability but Deveral provided the charisma to turn the music into a career."

February felt more and more as if Sachal's influence had touched her greatly, but had simply been hard to see underneath the rest of her hosts, especially Deveral.

She peeked at the canvas and saw the beginnings of a landscape of a rocky cliff with a lighthouse atop, overlooking a deep purple ocean of Trill.

"It's lovely, you are quite good."

"No, it's not, but thank you."

"Were you always so modest, and shy?"

"I guess so." He shrugged, not wanting to admit it. "I'm sure you are as popular as Deveral."

February laughed, "No, I'm more of a wallflower like you Sachal. I'm not noticed much either. You've hardly so much as looked me in the eye since we began."

He looked over at her quickly, then back to the canvas, his cheeks turned red again.

"There is something wrong with me isn't there?"

"Yes there is." Sachal said.

"I knew it. What is it? It's my hair, isn't it?"

Sachal took a deep breath, summoning up the courage to tell her the truth.

"What's wrong with you is nothing is wrong with you. You are sweet, smart and just... breathtakingly gorgeous, and knowing I'm going to be leaving this body soon is the only reason why I have the guts to say that to you.

Guys like me don't tell women like you they feel like that because they know they are going to get laughed at. Maybe I should just go now. You must think I'm pathetic." Sachal stood up to leave and find Rigin.

"No! Wait. You couldn't possibly mean all that."

Sachal returned to his canvas, turning it slightly to provide a little bit more of it between him and her.

"Of course I can. You've spent your whole life wondering what is wrong with you, haven't you? No, dear February, it is not you, it is us. We men are just too plain afraid to make a play for a woman like you. Even if we know passing up that chance is something we'll regret for the rest of our lives."

Sachal cast his eyes up towards the ceiling. February could see the sadness in his face.

"You may think mister right has already come and gone, but I'm sure the time will come when you will know for sure that someone is the one. Just promise me if you think he feels the same way, and is too scared to tell you, that you will say it to him instead. Don't just walk away and leave him wondering for the rest of his life what it would have been like if he had just said 'I love you'."

February sat quietly, watching him paint, and thinking about what he and Deveral had said.

About how many fish there were in the great purple sea; about the futility of carrying a torch for Gilmore when it seemed obvious it was not meant to be, and how when she found the person that was truly right for her, she may need to stand up and speak even if he couldn't.

"She would have been lucky to have you, you know." February brushed the hair back away from the earring Camen wore, and patted his cheek gently.

"Who?"

February smirked at him, as if to say, "You know exactly who."

"Maybe." He said, as he set the brush down and lifted the canvas, spinning it towards February. "For your quarters, if you want to look at it all day long, that is."

"Thank you so much, I will treasure it." She took the canvas and read the inscription at the bottom.

For February. May the light guide you through the storm, to the safety of the shores. ~Sachal Grace.

**********************
Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Independence NCC-90791