A Quiet Strength - Trial and Tribulation
by Anon Allsop

-Part Three-

-Twelve-

There was an earthy smell of Spring in the air, snow was melting and Aponi had noticed two birds of the like she had never seen before. There was a bird that she seemed enamored by, bright blue with a dusty orange upon its chest. Another was a bright yellow and had black feathers in its wings, a smattering of white downey feathers covering it's neck. Both birds were occupying upper and lower branches of the same tree, but each seemingly ignored the other.

She stood holding Machk, transfixed by their beauty when she felt someone come along beside her. "Those are the males, they sport great color to attract the female"

"They are gloriously beautiful." She sighed in awe.

"Unlike our people, their beauty is clearly with the males. Their female are dull and often ignored." Aponi glanced over to her mother-in-law, Machk was holding onto the older woman's finger.

Aponi chuckled at her comment about the males being so beautiful as the older woman continued. "It is good that it does not translate too much into our village that way."

"I'm not so sure that that assumption is correct." Aponi said with a laugh, "Etu still puffs out his chest when he sees me." The older woman shrugged her shoulder and laughed as Aponi continued. "His friend Kutkutuk often tries to make himself taller when I am around, and he already towers above Etu."

Etu's mother began nodding, "Yes, you know well, they all want to display for a pretty female...just like those birds." She giggled much like a younger woman and continued, "Although you, by far are their object of attention."

"There is only one that I want to attract, I believe you know who that is." Aponi gave her mother-in-law a knowing smile.

The two began to walk slowly down toward the lake where they carried on their conversation. As they spoke, Machk reached out to his grandmother who pulled him in. "You have given me a strong grandchild."

"He will be a very good man." Aponi smiled sweetly as she watched her son and his grandmother play. The older woman grew quiet and sat down upon a log that lay next to the lake, looking across the open water, there were areas of broken ice still floating. She sat Machk upon her knee and pulled her pelt covering around her shoulders.

"The boy's true father, was he a good man?" She squinted in the glare of the sun as she looked up at Aponi.

"He used to be, long before I was cast here." Aponi sat down and adjusted her fur cloak around the three of them. "He didn't become bad until the very end." She added the half-truth.

"What was he like, before he became bad?" She allowed Machk to suck upon her finger as she held him and kissed the top of his head.

Aponi grew quiet and stared out at the ice as it bobbed in the current, "Park was a kind man, he traveled among the stars, trying to create peace where there wasn't always any." Out of her peripheral she could see the older woman watching her.

"Sure he had a wandering eye, but what man doesn't?" Aponi glanced toward her mother-in-law to watch her expression, she saw none. "I always felt he was a very loyal man, loyal to his... chief and warriors." She put the men into words the older woman could relate to.

"How was he to you?" She asked without looking.

Aponi felt torn, she knew she wanted to defend the Parker she once had been. But that man was gone long ago, she replied the only way she could, and that was from the heart.

"He did not treat me as good as Etu has. Etu is everything to me, and more!" Her eyes drifted down to the ground below her feet, "The only good thing Parker gave to me was Machk."

Her eyes smiled as she looked upon her grandson, "He is a very handsome boy, was his father handsome?"

Aponi laughed, realizing that the line of conversation was making her embarrased. Especially when in essence, she was talking about her former self. "I always thought of him as handsome."

Aponi giggled as Machk tried to remove his grandmother's bottom lip. As she watched the older woman with her son,
she grew quiet and enjoyed their moment of play.

"Mother..." Aponi asked softly after a great lapse of silence.

"Yes child, what is it?" She turned toward the young blonde, recognizing a seriousness in her daughter-in-law's voice.

"I want to thank you for accepting Machk and I into your life so willingly." She smiled at Etu's mother. "Watching you play with Machk as you do, makes what I have to say much easier."

"You are with child, yes?" She interrupted Aponi as she was about to continue. The young mother nodded. "I thought as much, so how long have you suspected?"

"Not long after we had arrived, I realized I had skipped my cycle." Aponi confided, but realized that she had never really had a 'regular' cycle anyway. "I think I am in my second moon." Again she spoke using terms that her mother would understand.

The older woman smiled, "I have had a vision in a dream of this." She looked at Aponi, "You will have this
child when the fruit is ripe on the trees."

Aponi cradled her stomach, happy that finally she could confide in someone. "Did your vision tell you whether it would be a boy or a girl?"

The woman closed her eyes, as if trying to recall an old memory. "You will have a daughter, she will be most beautiful."

"A girl..." Aponi whispered gleefully. "Etu will be so happy."

"Her hair will be darker than yours, but still long and pale. Young braves will flock to woo her attention." She grew quiet and tipped her head slightly, and quickly opened her eyes.

"What is it?" Aponi noticed the reaction of her and naturally wondered aloud.

The older woman shrugged, and patted Aponi's leg. "It is nothing, just an old woman's attempt at trying to read a vision."

"What did you're vision tell you?" She watched her mother-in-law stand, still holding onto Machk. "Is it something I need to worry about?"

She held out her hand and assisted Aponi from the log, "Even I don't always understand my visions, child."

Seeing the worry cloud over Aponi she finally stopped along the trail and collected her thoughts. "There is another female. A daughter but not a daughter.. that I see."

"A niece perhaps?" Aponi offered.

"No. She is of your blood, but not of your blood... it is quite confusing for an old woman." She shook off the vision and again shrugged. "Sometimes it is not for us to know until we are ready... and we're not ready."

Aponi walked the path somewhat bewildered at what she had been told. She knew enough of their visions to trust them, but as a science, they were still unprovable. Her thoughts danced as she began to think of ways to tell Etu of her news, he would be so happy!

-Thirteen-

Max sat quietly in his living room and watched Elise play with the infant. She had her laying upon her back and was leaning forward, allowing her long hair to tickle the young one on her face. He smiled at the sound of the
youngster giggle.

"You are a natural." He said to her, "She has taken to you quite well."

"She's beautiful..." She lifted the infant's shirt and softly blew on her stomach. "Though I can see Parker in her, through her eyes and nose."

"And of the mother?" He asked without thinking.

Elise shrugged, I imagine the auburn hair could be hers, Parker's was more of a dark brown."

Max took a sip of his drink, leaned forward and gently stroked the child's hair, already longer since they had taken her in.

"Papa, Do you think we'll ever find the original Parker?" She began to change the child's soiled diaper as she spoke. "I mean, it'll be alright if we can't...I don't mind."

"Are you taking a shine to the little one?" He said with a knowing smile.

"I think so papa, I've never really wanted to have a child but...now that I have her..." She began.

"Honey, we have to try and find..." He interrupted.

"Why? The girl that the original Parker became, knows nothing of her!" Tears filled her eyes as she attempted to reason with her father. "She will be neither mother OR father to my little girl."

"Elise, it has only been a couple of months..." He sighed, "You knew all along that we were going to try to put her with her genetic father."

"But that's the thing papa, the only genetics that they share would be between a sister or brother!" She scooped the young girl in her arms and leaned against her fathers couch.

"Doesn't she have a right to make that decision? What if she doesn't want to know!" Elise cried into the child's shoulder as she hugged the young girl.

Max scooted closer to the edge of his chair and watched his daughter with the girl, it didn't take anything amazing to realize that she had already bonded with the youngster. Sighing he leaned against the arm of his chair, "I knew this would happen."

She looked up toward her father with sorrowful eyes, tears clinging to her bottom lashes. "Please papa, don't take her from me."

Max grew quiet, his heart torn from what he thought was right, and pleasing his own child. "Motherhood isn't going to be easy for an unmarried woman."

She smiled, "Papa, you know very well that women have been raising children by themselves since time began. Besides, her grandfather will be right there to help her."

"You going to ever give her a name then?" He asked, knowing that his battle with her was already a lost cause. "She can't live out the rest of her life as, 'girl'."

"Mama's name was Rebecca, wasn't it?" Her father nodded and she continued, "We can name her that and call her Becca for short."

Max smiled, gently reaching out to touch his daughters face lovingly. "Your mother would be honored."

At that time, his com began to buzz. Max stood and moved out into the hall. "Max speaking."

"Okay, I had a buddy trace when Leslie got on and off her father's star-ship while it was out on it's mission. Using those coordinates we can pinpoint exactly where they were on the star charts..."

Recognizing the voice as he spoke, "Mike..." Max attempted to interrupt his friend.

"Then the cool thing, I located a young officer that was on the ship...they noticed an anomaly as if someone was trying to transport off the ship..."

"Mike..." He again spoke, trying to break in on his friends excitement.

"I had them check into it and the signature was not of Parker, but of Leslie! Do you know what that means, man?"

"Mike. Elise want's to keep the baby." Max spoke softly.

"What? Do you realize what the hell you're saying?" Mike was exasperated. "All of the work I've done..."

"Won't be wasted, Mike. Keep it and seal it." Max began.

"I've burned up quite a bit of your money trying to find out this much..." His friend groused.

"It will be fine Mike. When Becca turns eighteen, we'll give her the information. If I'm still alive and she
wants to find her, I'll foot the bill." Max reasoned with his friend.

"Are you sure Max, that girl belongs with her true biological parent." Mike was beside himself with concern, "She's going to be asking questions, Max, are either of you prepared to answer them... truthfully?"

"Every single one of them, Mike." Max walked over to a window and looked out across the city, "She may not even question it when the times comes, but if she does, I won't lie."

-Fourteen-
-Epilogue-

Tula spoke softly, as though she feared spooking an animal. "Mother, there is a girl in the woods, near the lake." She gently tapped her mother upon the arm.

Aponi looked down at her youngest daughter, named for her mother-in-law. The correct pronunciation was closer to TOO-laa but to Aponi, she was Tula... like the beginnings of a flower. The name in Oneida meant strength.

"It is probably your big sister, Onawa. Now that she has turned eighteen seasons, she is sneaking out and meeting with Kutkutuk's eldest son, Acahi." She stood and looked down at her youngest, and stroked her long brown hair. Already Tula was quite lovely in her own right.

"No mother, it isn't Onawa.. the girl I saw has hair as red as 'oskana-tu' the deer. Her skin is nearly as pale as yours, mother."

Aponi straightened up and glanced toward where her daughter was pointing. "Take me to where you saw the girl."

Aponi reflected on her family, her children were the only ones in the village that had pale skin. Machk's though was a very dark copper color, more brown than his fathers.

What did puzzle her was the red hair... her own was very blonde, almost white. Machk's was a light brown, while the girls was a deep brown, almost matching their eyes.

Tula led her to a bend of the trail and stepped off, taking a seldom used one toward the water. "I saw her there, mother." Aponi followed her daughters finger.

As the sunlight broke through the trees, dappling the ground she stood on, Aponi caught her breath as a beautiful young woman stood silently amongst the trees. Long auburn hair gently blowing in the soft breeze, her green eyes searching out the noise that the mother and daughter made as they approached.

"Wait here, Tula." She commanded as she slowly began to pick her way through the weeds toward the lone girl.

"Mother?" The female asked in the strange 'long ago' tongue.

Aponi froze, the girl was speaking a language that she had not used in many years. "I am Aponi." She spoke moving slowly toward the very pretty girl, "You are lost?"

"I am not lost, Mother." She held up a strange device in her hand, "I have been tracking your genetic signature, you are my.. family."

"Child, I cannot be your mother. I would remember having you." Aponi said with a laugh. Tula looked at her mother in amazement, she was carrying on a conversation in a language that she had never heard before.

The girl discretely looked at Tula, then again toward Aponi, "I know of Parker, and what Leslie did to him."

Aponi suddenly took a step back, shielding Tula with her body, "Why are you here?" Fear showed in the beautiful woman's blue eyes as she began to slowly back away from the auburn female.

Slowly the girl placed the device she had been holding onto the ground, backing away from it. "I wanted to meet you, and be able to know one of my 'real' parents."

"Child..." Aponi began.

"Becca. My foster mother named me." She interrupted as Aponi continued.

"Becca, how can I be your mother if I did not carry you in my own womb?" Aponi began to step cautiously forward, the item on the ground looked like nothing she had ever seen before.

"You once had the genetics of Parker.. my father."

As she spoke, Aponi felt her knees buckle. She slowly moved toward a log upon the ground. "You carry Parker's genetics?"

"In essence, he was my father." She hesitated before continuing, "You were once him, and now are the only link with my true origin."

Aponi could feel Tula behind her, the girl's small hands upon her narrow shoulders. "But I did not sire you, Becca..."

Becca moved closer and paused, "May I?" She indicated the log with a sweep of her hand. Aponi scooted over, slightly to allow the girl room.

"My true mother died in prison about a year ago, I saw her shortly before her death." She was staring into the weeds as she spoke, then turned to look up at Aponi. "She wanted me to apologize for her... ruining your life the way she did."

"Leslie is dead?" Aponi whispered.

"She, as Parker had beaten my mother up so severely that she nearly died. Not knowing that she once had been a female, they turned her into a woman and as a result of the change, was impregnated with her former body's seed, Parker's during transformation. Fearful of her harming me, I was taken by my foster mother and raised as her own. When I became of age, I was given the information to find you."

"But dead?" Aponi whispered, still reeling from the news of a former love.

"She had been sick for a long time." Becca spoke without any sympathy. "My mother told me what Leslie had done to you, she and grandpa wanted me to come and seek you out, and see if you still lived." She nodded in the direction of the strange device, "That is what helped me locate you."

"I will not go back with you, Becca. My life is here with my family." Aponi's voice trembled as she spoke, so fearful that they were going to try and force her to leave.

Tula leaned near her mother's ear and spoke in the Oneida tongue, "What are you two talking about mother? I can't understand a word you are speaking!"

"Give us some time to talk, Tula. Go wait on the trail for us." Aponi whispered quickly to her daughter.

As she picked her way to the trail, Becca smiled, "She is a lovely girl."

"Her name is Tula, in our language it means Strength." She watched her daughter as she stopped on the trail.

"You have other children then?" Becca asked, her long reddish hair falling off her shoulder, cascading and spilling down across her chest. "One would be older than I am, the one that happened as a result of your initial transformation.

"You speak of Machk, my eldest. He is married now, expecting his first child."

Becca grinned, "You are soon to be a grandmother?" She raised her perfectly formed arches, "You don't appear old enough to be a grandmother."

"I would be fourty-eight... If I counted them." Aponi said with a laugh.

"You still look as though you are in your twenties, I hope I am as lovely as you when I reach your age." Becca observed. "So is Tula your only other child?"

"I have another, a daughter your age named Onawa. It means wide awake in your language. She is aptly named, she kept her father and I awake for long hours nearly every night."

Aponi sat in silence for several long moments, only the breeze blowing was the sound heard. "Becca, you came such a long way..why?"

Becca looked into her hands folded in her lap. "I came to find you... to ask..."

"Ask what?" Aponi asked, glancing back to watch Tula still on the trail.

"I want to learn.. to stay." She quickly looked up, trying to judge Aponi's reaction. "Forever."

"Forever is a long time, Becca." The blonde reminded the girl.

"My foster mother loved me, but as I grew older, she became more interested in... others." Becca frowned and looked away, tears were clinging to her lashes.

Aponi placed her hand upon Becca's shoulder, "The life we have here is hard. What of your grandfather?"

Becca nodded, turning slightly toward Aponi. "He saw that I was unhappy, he insisted that I try and find my one true family. Aponi, I want to belong.. I want a family too, I want to experience the love that a real family brings."

"The Oneida are a simple people, they war against their enemies... and men die. Do you want to put yourself in that sort of life? This life I live isn't a game, men love and love hard. Women must accept their role and embrace it."

"I am prepared. I never want to return to that world, I am here to stay." Becca stood and moved toward a small tree. High above her head was a fork in the branches, there she placed the strange device that she used to find Aponi and wedged it in tightly.

"Are you sure? Once you enter the village, you will be fair game to all the young braves." Aponi could not understand the youth, nor her conviction.

"My life was spiraling out of control out there, I need the guidance of family. I need you, Mother."

Aponi slowly stood, "You will have to learn the language.. everything."

"I will learn if you teach me." Becca sighed deeply, more certain that this decision was the right one.

Aponi nodded, "Come daughter. I will teach you Becca, come with your sister and I and meet your family."

******

The motorized saw bucked in the hand of the line man, "Jesus, that had to hit something!"

As they worked around the great limb, they watched it fall to the ground from the height of nearly ten feet. "Hey Cap? We hit something!"

He glanced at the center of the splintered log, "What the hell is that?"

"I'm not sure but it's trapped in the center of this tree. It'd have to be several hundred years old!" He began to pick at it with a screwdriver, as he did it started falling apart. "It won't come out unless its in pieces."

"The motorized saw tore it up considerably, that's too bad." He rolled it off and onto the ground, "It'd be interesting to know how it got inside that tree."

As the two linemen stood looking at the strange object trapped inside the log, their boss walked past. "You two going to marry this job... come on, get back to work and let's get it done!