msilale wanawake

{ Give it to meeeeeeeeeee. }

That morning, Nyota had dreamt of home. Not out of homesickness, but nostalgia -- the topic at dinner had been home, and it had made her think of hers. The bustle of the market place, and the smell of salt and sweat that was the harbors, the sounds of home, her bibi's voice carrying across the street as she called all the children in for cookies. She dreamt of her mother, her voice carrying a song through the walls as Nyota lay in bed, trying to sleep in the summer heat. 

Perhaps that was why the old tune, one of her mother's favorites, had gotten stuck in her head. She hadn't been able to stop humming it to herself all day. It had been a constant in her life, ever since she was little. It had been almost a lullaby when she was a baby, she'd sung it for a school show when she was little, and it was her go to tune when dragged out for karaoke at the Academy.

That morning, it was so firmly rooted at the from of her mind, it hadn't even budged when they'd diverted route to answer the USS Malaurian distress signal. 

It had stopped during the attack on the ship, drowned out by the red alert klaxons. Yet when the small object, self-identified as Nomad, had stopped the assault, back the song had come. She'd caught herself singing it again as she scanned the space where the USS Malaurian.

Really, though, she hadn't thought much of it until the Nomad had appeared, demanding to know what she was doing. Even then, she didn't have enough time to think about it before he was in her mind, pushing around, and then a flash --

       ------------------------

She staggered back, eyes blinking against bright spots. There was a ringing sound from somewhere -- it took her a moment to realize it was her ears. Beyond the ringing there was another sound, loud and demanding. Someone grabbed her, but she was in too much of a daze to respond.

Slowly her vision began to clear, revealing the unfamiliar surroundings, and the unfamiliar face of a man who was holding on to her. She didn't know him. She didn't know any of them. 

She didn't know anything. Not where she was, the names to any of the concerned faces around her...not even her own name.