InsaneJournal

There was something about Starfleet medical technology that bothered Lomea. It was better than being suspended in a Bacta tank, and yet… it all seemed to easy. While some things were nice to have come easily, others weren’t. Still, after being treated and then confined to the brig, she counted that as similar to the Bacta tank, only with less getting wet involved.

It had been an incredible struggle, and she was pleased with the outcome. Unlike Elsa, Marian needed to confront her abilities head on. They would destroy her otherwise. Her injury might still be a little sore (Starfleet medicine wasn’t perfect), and it was a reminder of what had happened. Perhaps a little break with Marian until she recuperated fully. They’d need to find less obvious ways to train, as it was.

She was torn between going to ‘her’ tree, or going to the lounge, and instead chose to visit the observation deck, in the hopes it would be empty.

It wasn't. But Lomea wouldn't exactly mind who she ran into there. Elsa didn't visit the deck often. But with a shore leave to a desert planet, she had no urge to disembark the ship. So she had to explore.

She didn't necessarily like it, surrounded by stars as she was. The young queen felt small and insignificant on the best of days. But it was something she felt she needed to get used to. And she was getting there. But as she'd been on the ship and away from Arendelle for the better part of a year, she probably should have been a lot closer to getting there than she was.

When she heard the doors shift open in that metallic way they did, she turned around, ready to leave. But then she saw the familiar face and smiled. “Hi, stranger,” She teased. “How are you feeling?”

If there was one person she didn't mind the company of, it would be Elsa. When she saw her, she smiled, and straightened her back, soreness or no soreness. She couldn't quite hide the grimace as she did so.

Lomea came to a stop alongside Elsa, shoulders nearly brushing. "The beds in the brig are incredibly uncomfortable. Someone should do something about that."

She could sense Elsa's mood, and hoped her presence might buoy her.

Elsa’s features darkened at the wince of pain on the regal woman's face. It was a very un-Lomea like thing to do. Which told her that the pain was even greater and that this was her friend's attempt at hiding her pain.

“The point of imprisonment usually is to be uncomfortable,” she reminded, half a smile on her face. It hadn't been so very long since her own imprisonment. The non self-inflicted sort. “Didn't the medics treat you?”

"They have. But it will take a few days to fully heal." Lomea nodded regally at Elsa, and clasped her hands behind her back. "I am supposed to 'take it easy' for the duration. And to refrain from such enthusiastic training sessions in the future."

She smiled, the expression unusually bright. "The view is splendid, is it not?"

Elsa’s head tilted, still looking concerned. She would have thought with all the fancy technology that they could have at least taken her pain away. “Have they given you anything to help your discomfort?” By now she knew not to call it pain in front of Lomea. The woman would deny any such thing.

When asked about the view, though, she simply turned and gave the sky in front of them a look. “How do you not feel like the most unimportant thing in existence with that view in front of you?”

"They had something in a hypospray, but I declined it." She wasn't a fan of painkillers. The idea of being out of her mind wasn't a pleasant thought to her. And speaking to Elsa while high would undoubtly lead to mistakes. "Your companionship is soothing enough."

Following Elsa's gaze, Lomea remained silent for a long moment. She unclasped her hand, brushing the back of it against Elsa's. "In all those stars, in all that empty loneliness, there is no one else out there who is exactly like you. We are unique, Elsa. And that is what makes us important."

Her cheeks flushed a bit at the compliment. As someone who had never been able to offer companionship before, the thought that hers would be sought after, even soothing, was almost out of her grasp.

Was being unique important, though? “All those worlds out there and you don't think there's a chance of someone looking just like you? Or being just like you?” She supposed it was unlikely to find another person with Lomea’s unparalleled power, or even her own gift of snow and ice. But the problem was, there were billions of lives out there they'd never meet. The possibilities were, literally, endless.

"No. I am me. All my life experiences have led me to who I am now, in this moment. There can be no other like me, for none have had those experiences, in that order." She watched Elsa, out of the corner of her eye. "Even an alternate reality, with Elsa the Ice Queen, would not be the same as you. By virtue of being an alternate telling of your story, that makes you unique from her, and she from you."

She hoped, some day, that Elsa would come to understand that. That she'd let out that steel that lay beneath and allow herself to be the unique and powerful woman she was. Maybe then, Lomea would allow herself to be open with how she felt about her. But until then, she valued Elsa's friendship too much to complicate things.