Homegoing

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

08/26/1999:

I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to hide a smile as I
watched Oria pull her sports bra over her head. The dusky grey
fabric was soaked with her sweat, produced by the hard training
that Ravindar had just put her through.

She dropped the wet clothing on the floor, and walked towards
me, her legs wobbling with each step, clearly stiff from the
workout. The fur on her upper body glistened with a sheen of
perspiration, small beads of sweat hanging from various strands
of fur.

With a huff, she dropped down on the bed, falling onto her
back, her chest rising and falling with each of her long
gasping breaths. "I didn't think I was this out of shape," she
whimpered.

"I think you are in fine shape," I said, reaching over and
running my fingers over the small pudge of her belly, which had
reduced in size over the last few weeks. Then, when she was
relaxed, I tickled her navel.

She giggled, and batted my fingers away. "Fox, you would like
how I look even if I weighed five hundred pounds," she said as
she caught her breath again.

I bit my lip slightly. She was completely right, but I wasn't
about to tell her that, at least not at the moment. Later on,
though... Instead I leaned down and kissed her softly on her
lips.

"No fair!" she protested as I pulled away. "I'm too tired to
kiss you back."

I played at pouting, and crossed my arms. "Well then, I guess
we'll have to save it for later."

"How much later?" she asked with a smile.

I shrugged, "A day or two," I replied, stroking my finger down
her side, to the waistband of her workout shorts. The fabric
had also been soaked with her sweat, and clung to the curves of
her hips.

She sighed and nodded as she remembered what my plans were. "I
suppose if I have to wait it out, I'll wait it out."

I smiled, "I know, but it will be fun when I get back," I said
as I tugged her shorts down slightly. "We better get you
cleaned up, Love. We don't want the sweat to dry in your fur."

Oria let out a pained whimper and shook her head against the
bed spread. "I don't want to get up," she said.

"I'll help," I told her as I slipped off the bed, and offered
her my hand.

She reached up, grasping it tightly in her paw. With a heave I
lifted her up off the bed and onto her feet, then using my
other hand I held her steady as she got her legs working again.

"Come on, Love," I said, slipping my arm around her back, and
started to walk her towards the bathroom. "Let's get you into
the shower."

She let out a soft yelp after her first step. I gave her a
curious glance, and she blushed at me. "I think I pulled
something in my leg," she admitted.

I nodded as I opened the bathroom door and helped her over the
threshold. "It will be better once you get used to the training
again."

"Ravindar is training me differently than Marn ever did," she
said, a little distaste creeping to her voice at the mention of
the vulpine's name. "I'm doing things that I'm not used to
doing."

"It was your choice," I reminded her as we came up to the
shower. Opening the glass door I reached inside and turned on
the water, dialing it to her preferred temperature. "And you
can always stop if you want to."

She shook her head, slipping out of my arms and wiggling out of
her shorts. "I can't stop, Love. I need this, I need to learn
these things again."

I sighed and nodded, my eyes drifting over her nude form before
returning to her face. "Just don't get me or the children
involved, that's all I ask."

"I know," she replied, leaning forward to kiss the tip of my
nose. Then she stepped backwards, into the spray of the shower.
A purr escaped from her as the falling water rushed over her
damp fur.

I leaned back, watching her as she let the water work it's way
through her fur. "I would have thought what happened with Wrend
would have changed your mind about the Guild."

Her tailed dropped slightly at that, the water running down its
length and soaking into her tail tuft. "It did," she said in a
soft voice.

"And you did what you had to do," I said with a soft sigh.
"Love, I need to get my things together for the trip. I'll be
leaving in about half an hour, so be there so I can give you a
proper kiss before I go."

She smiled at me, and turned around under the shower's spray,
wiggling her tail in my direction. "I'll be waiting," she said
with a purr.

I smiled and nodded, "I'm counting on that," I replied and
slowly closed the door to the shower. I paused for a moment,
watching her silhouette through the smoky glass as she cleaned
herself, before finally leaving the room.

Once I was back in the bedroom, I pulled my old backpack out of
the closet and threw in a few things: A couple changes of
clothing, three PADDs with paperwork for the shipyard that I
had been avoiding for the last week, and the book I was
currently reading. Walking to my dresser, I opened up the top
draw and pulled out a small bank. Opening it I fished out a few
large bills in US currency. They were from my Earth, but would
hopefully work just fine for where I was going.

Tucking the bills into my wallet, I returned it to my pants and
slung the pack over my shoulder. With one last look around the
room, I ran through a checklist of what I needed. Satisfied
that I had everything, I left the room. Ravindar was waiting
for me in the hallway, talking softly with Santhara. He looked
clean and well rested, no sign of the workout he just gave my
wife.

"How is Oriana?" he asked falling in at my side as we walked
down the hall.

"Tired, but recovering," I replied, pleased that he was finally
showing her the respect I thought she deserved from him.

"That's good," he replied, sounding a little concerned. "I was
concerned I had pushed her too hard, but I believed that she
could handle it. I'm pleased to see that she can."

"Honestly, I can't say that I am. I'm not to keen on her going
back to the Guild, and I doubt that I ever will be."

He nodded, saying nothing.

We continued to walk in silence for a few more moments before
we arrived at Samantha's closed door. Waving for Ravindar to
wait outside, I gave it a quick rap with my knuckles.

"Come on it," she called.

I stepped inside, closing the door firmly behind myself as I
did so. Samantha was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed as
she flipped through a book in her lap. It was one of the things
we had picked up from her old home the week before, along with
a few other items. Nothing particularly interesting on the
whole: her guns, and some scattered pieces of clothing, but the
most surprising item was an old worn plush rabbit that she had
brought with her when she had been taken from Earth. Somehow
she had managed to keep it through all her adventures, and now
it rested at the head of her well-made bed.

"How are you doing?" I asked her as I pulled out the chair from
her desk and set it by the bed. Dropping my pack at my side, I
settled down.

She shrugged, "Doing better. My arm is almost back in shape."

I nodded, "That's good. The regen tanks are useful if you can
use them."

"And you can't?" she asked, quickly picking up what I wasn't
saying.

"It would kill me. Luckily the prosthetics on this world are
top of the line, to the point that you can't tell they aren't
real. I'm just glad you didn't need one yourself. They are
nice, but not something you would want to live with."

She lifted her eyebrows, her clothing tail flicking behind
herself. "I take it you have one?"

"Had," I said with a smile, "It's to long a story to go into
now." I thought about saying more, but decided to get right to
the point. "I've been talking to your doctor, he said you're up
to a bit of excitement."

"Stuff the doctor," she replied, snapping her book closed and
dropping it onto the bedside table. "I've been ready to go out
and do something for days."

I smiled, "Good, because we're about to take a little trip. Get
your things packed, we're leaving right away."

"And where are we going?" she asked, slipping off of the bed
and looking down at me.

"Oh, it's a surprise," I replied with another smile, "and
things should be safe enough to go unarmed."

"No such thing," she said with a laugh as she walked to her
dresser. Picking up one of her smaller guns, she double checked
the clip. "I'll still take one, just in case."

I nodded, not objecting. I already had my clutch piece strapped
to my ankle. I wasn't planning on taking any risks I didn't
need to.

She collected a small travel bag from next to the dresser, and
put a few spare pieces of clothing in it and an extra clip for
her gun.

"Anything else?" she asked, as she put her bunny into the bag,
and zipped it closed.

"Not a thing," I replied, picking up my bag as I stood up, and
motioned for her to follow me as I started for the door.

She jumped forward, grasping my arm in her fingers and pulled
me to a stop. "There's something we need to talk about first."

"And what is that?" I asked, recognizing the look of
seriousness on her face.

"I've been speaking to my doctor as well. I've seen the reports
done on me when I was in the tank," she said, a frown crossing
over her face as she let go of me. "I assume you've read them?"

"Yes," I replied.

She nodded, and flicked her tail in annoyance. "So you know
about my tail. Great," she shook her head, a mix of anger and
worry on her face.

"Does it matter that I know?"

Samantha paused, her tail dropping dead behind her. It was, for
the moment, nothing more than the cloth it was made from. "I
guess not. I just don't like people knowing about it. It's a
limitation on my telekinetic power, a weakness I don't want my
enemies to know about."

I nodded, "I understand all too well. Only Oria and I know, and
we'll both keep our mouths shut."

"I suppose," she replied with a sigh, her tail slowly coming
back to life.

"You're a friend, Samantha. I help my friends," I told her.

She nodded, and saying nothing opened the door. Together we
stepped out into the hallway. Ravindar joined us as we walked
towards the fold room. Oriana was waiting for us there, her
hair and fur still slightly damp, but she looked refreshed, and
smelled better too (not that I would ever say that to her
face).

I wrapped my arms around her, and gave her a long and proper
kiss, holding her close to me as we melted into each other for
a few moments.

We finally broke apart, both of us gasping happily for air,
matching smiles on our faces. "Stay safe, Love," she said.

"I will," I replied, and reached past her to type in the code
to unlock the door.

As the heavy steel door slid open, I felt Ravindar's heavy paw
on my shoulder. "Where are you going?" he asked sounding a bit
annoyed. I had neglected to tell him about this little trip.

"This way," I replied, and twisted out of his grasp. Casually I
walked through the door and across the room, heading towards
the shelves on the far wall. Fishing through one of the boxes,
I removed a spare chip controller.

Ravindar grunted, following just a few steps behind me. "I
would appreciate knowing some of your schedule in advance. It
would allow me to plan for these trips of yours," he said,
bring up a good point. I had a tendency to forget about my
shadow, leaving him unprepared for where I was going. It had
gotten worse over the last few weeks, and many times he had
gotten left behind.

I moved down the shelf to pick out a Matrix Chip, and slipped
it into the controller, then turned back around and smiled up
at the large white tiger. "I know, I'm sorry about that. I
can't tell you where we are going just yet, but you'll need
this," I said, holding up the controller.

A puzzled look passed over his face as he took the controller
from my fingers. I think he was surprised that he was coming
along, since he had been forced to stay home on my last dozen
trips through the fold. "What is this?" he asked as he strapped
the watch-like device to his wrist.

I took his paw, and touched the control stud. "Program, male,
human. Activate," I order the controller.

There was a flash of light, as an illusion fell down over the
tiger, cloaking him with fields of power and light, making him
look like a perfectly normal human; more normal than me, in
fact.

"There, now we're ready to go."

A look of surprise crossed Ravindar's face, as he looked down
at his paws, now hands, flexing his fingers as he watched the
illusion move with him.

I smiled, and reached out with my mind and opened the fold to
Samantha's Earth. "Come along, you two, we have a lot of work
to do," I said, and walked through the portal.

It was just before sunset on the other side of the fold, a warm
August evening that filled the park where we had landed with
fading sunlight. Taking a few steps away from the portal, I
glanced around, happy to see that no one had noticed our hardly
subtle arrival. A few moments later Ravindar followed, with
Samantha close on his heels.

Once they were safely in the park, I snapped the fold closed,
and started walking though the freshly mowed grass.

"Where are we?" Ravindar asked, still looking down at his
illusion-covered paws.

"That's for me to know," I said, casting a look back at
Samantha, "and for you to figure out."

A look of curiosity crossed her face as she glanced around the
park. Soon we came to a sidewalk, and I turned to the left,
walking towards the setting sun. I had taken the time to scout
out the park, and the surrounding area, a few days before, and
for the moment, knew where I was going.

"Fox, what is going on?" Samantha asked.

I shrugged, "A few things. You'll see in a short time," I said,
waving my hand as a familiar yellow taxi drove past. It came to
a quick stop a few feet away, and we all hurried over to it,
climbing inside. I gave the driver the address of a nearby
hotel, and we took off.

The trip only lasted a few minutes, in which I deflected all of
her carefully posed questions, most of which I had suspected
that she would ask, and I had prepared answers for. Still, she
managed to work in a few that surprised me, but I managed to
answer them without giving too much away. By the time we
reached our destination, she still hadn't figured out what was
going on.

We got a room in the hotel, one with only two beds. This
brought a few snide comments from Samantha, but I promised her
that I would order an extra bed. We dropped our things off in
the room, and we all piled into a second cab.

We settled into the car, Ravindar in the front seat, and
Samantha and I in the back. Turning slightly to face her, I
smiled as I asked. "Would you care to tell him where we are
going?"

"How would I know?" she snapped.

I shrugged and leaned back in the seat, adjusting my seat belt
slightly as I watched her with a smile. I didn't know her well
enough to guess how long it would take her to work it out, but
I was hoping it would be soon.

"I don't even know where are we," she protested, "so how I
would know..." she paused, her voice trailing off as excitement
started to grow in her eyes. "Oh, you son of a bitch," she
shouted, punching my shoulder. Then leaning forward she rattled
off an address for the driver. She said it so fast, that he
made her repeat herself twice before speeding off.

Once we were on our way, Samantha leaned back in her seat, a
smile on her face. "I'm home! How did you find it?"

I shrugged, rubbing my arm where she had hit it. "It wasn't too
hard. I got some of your blood, and ran your native universe
number. It wasn't in the database, but it did match up with one
of my friends. We worked together, tracked back to his fold,
and then Jadith tracked down the rest on the planet. There was
just the one in California."

"I wonder if my parents will be home" she said with a smile,
then frowned sharply. "Oh shit, I've been trapped out there for
years! They probably think I'm dead, or worse!" She shook her
head, her hair fluttering over her shoulders. "I can't let them
see me like this," she said, looking down at herself, picking
at her clothing.

"Surprise," I said with a smile.

She glared at me, shooting daggers from her eyes. "You could
have warned me," she said, her magic playing out over her
fingers. Her clothing subtly changed, getting neater as her
hands moved over them. Her fingertips brushed over her face,
and added a light layer of makeup that highlighted her eyes.

Brushing her hands through her hair, she gulped. "We're almost
there," she said, starting to look pale.

In a flash, she had her head between her knees, trying to catch
her breath. I could hear her muttering, "Oh god," over and over
under her breath.

I reached out and placed my hand on her back, she jumped,
snapping her head up to look at me. "Oh, Fox, what am I going
to tell them?"

"Whatever you think they should know," I answered.

"Oh god, all the things I've done, the people I've killed," she
wrapped her hands over her face, breathing hard. "I don't know
what to do! The last time they saw me I was a girl trying to
escape her boring life, now look at me. I'm not that person
anymore, I barely know her anymore!"

I pressed gently against her shoulder, trying to hold her panic
down. "You're you," I told her, "that's all anyone could ask."

She gulped at the air, trying to calm herself down. "I don't
think I can do this," she said.

As if on cue, the taxi came to a stop in front of a brown split
entry house. There was a Jeep parked in the driveway, and a
second car that was visible through the windows of the garage.
The lights were on in the front room, and I could see people
moving around inside. The mailbox on the edge of the street
said, "St. Claire," in large white letters, almost invisible in
the last dregs of sunlight.

"We're here," I told her.

She nodded, gulping again, "I don't think I can do this," she
said, I could see her shaking.

I stepped out of the car, and walked around to her side,
opening her door. "Yes you can," I told her, offering her my
hand.

Samantha took my hand in hers, and held it for a few seconds
before pulling herself out of the car. Looking shaken, and more
than a bit worried she stepped up to the curb.

"Ravindar, you'll stay here for the moment, I'll be back
shortly." I said in Prid Standard, and then turning to the
driver I told him the same thing, this time in English.

Together, Samantha and I walked up the driveway, towards the
front door. She followed nervously, pulling at my hand, but not
pulling away. She came to a stop at the front step, shaking her
head. "Fox--" she started to say.

I pulled her onto the porch, and moved her to the side, out of
view of the door. "Stay here, I'll take care of this," I told
her.

She grabbed my shoulder, and pulled back away from the door. In
a quick move she shoved her gun into my hand. I took it from
her, sliding it into my pocket before pulling away from her.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door.

Inside I could hear someone coming down the steps towards the
entryway. I had no idea how I was going to handle this; what's
the proper protocol when bringing back someone's lost child?
This was going to be a big shock for all of them.

A moment later I lost all time to think as the front door
opened, and I found myself looking at a fairly pretty middle-
aged woman, who shared many of Samantha's features, and who was
clearly her mother.

"Yes?" she asked.

I took a step forward, "Um..." I said, biting my lip, trying to
work out what to say. I could see the annoyance growing in her
eyes as she looked me over. "I'm from Intergalactic Lost and
Found," I blurted out. "I'm here to deliver a package for you."

She blinked in confusion, "What?"

"Intergalactic Lost and Found. We're the people who make sure
you always lose your socks in the dryer." I adlibbed, not
having a clue about what I was doing. "It's come to our
attention that you lost something a few years ago, something
that wasn't suppose to be lost. We arranged to retrieve it for
you, and return it to you."

"I don't understand," she said, confusion playing over her
face.

I smiled, "It will all make sense soon," I said, patting my
pockets. I wished I had a pad of paper with me, or even a PADD,
but there wasn't much I could do about it.

She watched, the look on her face making me think I only had a
few seconds before she shut the door on my face. Reaching over,
I grabbed Samantha by the shoulders, and pulled her in front of
the door. "Here's your package ma'am."

The two women stared at each other, surprise and panic playing
over the elder's face as she registered who she was looking at.
"Oh, my god, Samantha!" she cried, almost exploding out of the
door and wrapping her daughter in a tight embrace.

"Mom," Samantha managed to say, returning the hug, both of them
were starting to cry.

With the sound of pounding feet, Samantha's father ran down the
stairs, apparently having over heard his wife's cry. He saw
Samantha and let out a gasp, pushing his way onto the porch and
joining the group hug.

"I'll be in town for a couple of days," I said, smiling at the
reunion. "Give me a call if you need anything, and you know how
to get back, if you want to." With that said, and unsure if any
of them heard me, I turned around and walked back down the
driveway, towards the taxi.

No one called out after me, but that was fine by me. It was
their time now, and I would just get in the way. Settling back
into the car, I smiled at Ravindar. "Back to the hotel," I told
the driver.

The last thing I saw, as we pulled away, was Samantha's parents
pulling her back into the house, tears in everyone's eyes.

-----

This story is copyright 2004 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy reprints
limited to one per person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of
the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.