Las'Tai looked down at the plate of food she had assembled and arranged. She knew her mother had declared her death to the people, making it impossible to ever return to her home. But she was still her mother. If she had learned anything from the Terrans, it was that the bonds we have with the people around us must be carefully maintained. Family bonds, more than most. And she wanted her mother to know that she would always be her daughter. no matter what she or anyone else said.

She had been in more than one heated debate with the TA soldiers after she cleaned them out playing poker, but Jesper had intervened, stating that no one should bet anything they were not willing to part with. After that, the betting had been slim, but she had managed to scrounge enough delicious food together over the last 2 days to present her mother with something that resembled a peace offering. She had even managed to convince Eirik to let her mother take a few hours with her, in the jacuzzi on Eirik's ship. Under guarded supervision, of course.

Hopefully, her mother would listen to reason.

She slowly approached the makeshift prison that had been made after the latest attack. the number of surviving Kloxna was low, but they still numbered a few hundred.

It would be another 2 days before a Terran fleet arrived and could take possession of the planet, and the prisoners could be handed over. Jesper placed the TA soldiers in charge of watching the prisoners. Initially, there was a bit of grumbling, but when he showed them the eastern approach and the close to 10000 dead Kloxna littering the field, those voices were quickly silenced.

Taking a deep breath, Las'Tai made her way into the prison and headed for the cell she knew held her mom. She had already been by several times when Tai'Tanu was sleeping. For all her faults, she was till her mom, and she missed her. She stopped in front of the cell, the plate in her claw covered with a piece of cloth.

For a moment, Tai'Tanu did not register anything beyond someone standing at the door. Then her brain recognized that she had seen a Kloxna outside the cell and she slowly turned to her to see her daughter standing there, holding a plate covered with cloth and looking as healthy as ever.

She was wearing the same type of combat uniform as the rest of the crew from Eirik's ship, had a handcrafted blade on her hip, an empty pistol holster on the other side, and she looked more content than she ever had back home.

She buried the happiness and pride she felt and resigned herself to the choice she had made regarding her daughter. She was dead to her.

"Hello mother," Las'Tai said. She had never called her that before she was kidnapped, but after she joined Eirik's ship, she had started calling her that instead of using her name defiantly.

"Las'Tai." She acknowledged while pondering the irony of the role reversal.

"We are going for a little walk. I wish to talk privately." Las'Tai said as it became apparent that her mother insisted on sticking to her choices.

10 minutes later, accompanied by 3 of Eirik's crew, they made their way unto Eirik's ship and headed for the jacuzzi room. Outside the door, Las'Tai handed over everything she had on her that could be used as a potential weapon, had the plate inspected out of sight of Tai'Tanu, and was finally ready.

"Is this where I get executed?" Tai'Tanu asked in a calm voice.

"No, mother. This is where you take a bath." Las'Tai responded dryly as she swung the door open and pushed Tai'Tanu inside.

________________________-

Tai'Tanu stumbled as she was pushed through the door by her former daughter. and flicked her tail angrily in her daughter's direction. She stopped in stunned silence as she realized it was not hurting anymore. Not in any way, shape, or form.

"Doctor Knud removed a lot of bone fragments that were left inside your tail after EIrik chopped the tip off. Whoever you hired as a doctor is not very skilled. According to the doctor it was, and I quote *A surgery he would have executed the responsible doctor for having performed*. I think you should offer him your thanks before you are exchanged." Las'Tai's voice rang out behind her.

"...Wh...Why did he do that for an enemy?" Tai'Tanu slowly asked.

"The Terrans do not believe in the suffering of others. Even their enemy. Surely you must have noticed the other prisoners being given plentiful food and medical care!" Las'Tai explained.

"They are low caste. Attention to their life and needs is beneath me. You know this, Las'Tai! I taught you better than that!" Tai'Tanu snapped with the disapproving motherly tone she had used so often when Las'Tai was still living at home with her.

"And yet I already hear them talking about surrendering to the Terrans, out of fear of losing something as basic as access to enough food to not go hungry!!" Las'Tai spat at her mother but stopped and took a deep breath. "I did not bring you here to fight the same old battles as always. Go, Get in the shower."

Tai'Tanu did as directed, though she took her time, until Las'Tai told her that the time she could reserve this area would not be extended, no matter how long she dragged it out.

Las'Tai had to help her get into the water. The injuries from being beaten to a pulp with a blunt object were still taking their toll. When she sank into the warm water there was an audible sigh of relief from Tai'Tanu and Las'Tai moved over to the wall near the door.

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"Do not be surprised, mother." She said, and as Tai'Tanu opened an eye and looked at her she flicked the switch to turn on the bubbles.

Tai'Tanu squeaked, but remained in the water and seemed endlessly pleased with the addition of the bubbles in the water. Las'Tai took the plate she had put on the floor and removed the cloth, handing it to Tai'Tanu.

"What is this?" Tai'Tanu asked as she looked over the plate. there were pieces of jerky, some fresh fruit*, a small package of honey, 3 thick strips of bacon, and quite a few frikadeller**, her newest food craze from the Terrans. She had managed to bribe Old Pan with a bottle of Whiskey she had won in a high-stakes poker game. She did not enjoy the Alcohol herself, but the old cook would go a long way to secure any bottles he could. Not that she had ever seen him drink from them, but what did she care. He traded them for food, and she was happy.

What she didn't know was that Old Pan was making quite a lucrative side trade selling the very same bottles back to the troopers who then lost them to Las'Tai when playing cards, if they didn't manage to drink them first. He found the addition of the gambling crazy foodie of an alien to be a blessing in disguise. Before she came, he had a hard time finding customers, since there was not a whole lot of gambling being done so people did not bet on things they wanted to replace, but she had changed that.

"It is the final piece of my bribe. The first part is a few hours in here, to yourself." Las'Tai said bluntly.

"And what are you trying to achieve with your bribe?" Tai'Tanu said slightly amused as she eyed the plate. As much as she hated to admit it, it looked and smelled heavenly, especially after having eaten "M.R.E's" as the Terrans called them.

"That you hear me out. And one small thing afterward that requires minimal effort or commitment on your part. That is all I ask, mother." Las'Tai said.

_________________

Tai'Tanu looked at the plate of food and took in her surroundings. She had no illusions about the number of hoops her former daughter would have had to jump through to make this happen in an active warzone. And for a prisoner, no less. That alone would have earned her the right to be heard. But Tai'Tanu was curious as well. What could Las'Tai have to say to her?

"I accept." She said as graciously as she was able to when the hot bubbling water made her muscles relax in a way they had not done since before the war. She was definitely claiming Eirik's ship as her own.

Las'Tai climbed into the tub after handing the plate to her mother who took her time sampling the different food items. "Mother, you are mistaken if you think the Captain convinced me to join his ship. It was my own choice. He offered me what you have always kept away from me." She said, wanting to rip the metaphorical band-aid off as quickly as possible.

"And what is it I have always kept from you? You lacked for nothing as a child!" Tai'Tanu retorted. She had ensured her former first-born daughter had everything she could need or want.

"You denied me the chance to live my own life. You had my entire life planned out before it was even born! What is the point of living if the life you live is not your own?" Las'Tai said angrily.

"PAH! You speak like a philosopher! Philosophy has no place in a warrior's life!" Tai'Tanu waved Las'Tai's words aside as though they were an annoying fly.

"It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war." Las'Tai recited, remembering Eirik saying them before.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Tai'Tanu said disgustedly.

"That it is better to be a trained warrior in a peaceful society, than a peaceful individual in wartime. It's a lesson to train for war to obtain lasting peace. It's a warrior philosophy as the Terrans call it. Quite the intriguing subject, mother. You should speak with the Captain some more. He comes from a people with a long culture of war and infighting. They just did it several thousand years before us, long before they even had industrialization. " Las'Tai looked distant as she spoke as if staring at a faraway mountain you were trying to reach but never arrived at.

"Why should I care about this? Thinking about it ruins my appetite!" Tai'Tanu sneered.

"Because it teaches us a valuable lesson about Terrans, mother. Unlike us, they had, and still have, plenty of natural resources to work with. but they found it easier to take it from each other. The historians of Terra have a saying about their earliest genetic ancestor. *The first thing Man killed was prey, to get the meat. The second thing Man killed was the hunter, to get the prey."

What does that saying tell you about the Terrans, mother?" Las'Tai explained patiently.

"That they choose violence first? I have no idea and this conversation is tiring, Las'Tai." Tai'Tanu complained.

"You are correct mother. The lesson is that they choose violence first. Now, think about this. For almost 7 months, Terra has done nothing but give ground and only offer symbolic resistance. You also know they choose violence first. And last, you are continuously poking the bear, especially with executions on public broadcast, as you like to do. It enrages the Terran civilian people, improves the support for the war." Las'Tai said slowly as if walking a student through a particularly tough subject.

"I fail to see any deeper meaning in what you are saying!" Tai'Tanu declared truthfully.

With a heavy sigh, Las'Tai got out of the tub again. "When they hit you back, mother, they are going to hit you like you have never experienced before. I would have thought that your 2 fights with Eirik proved this much to you. Or have you forgotten your own lessons and gotten emotionally involved in the fight?" Las'Tai knew she had, of course she had. She just wanted to know if her mother could at least be honest to herself.

If she could, there was still hope.

Tai'Tanu opened and closed her maw several times. "There is truth in your words." She relented. "I am emotionally involved in this. I lost my first-born daughter, my pride and joy despite her stubborn nature. She is now dead to my people and it would never have happened, had she not met that stinking primate! I will not relent Las'Tai. one of us must die at the other ones' claws.!"

She got out of the tub as well and get dressed. When they were both dry and dressed, Tai'Tanu looked Las'Tai up and down before she quickly reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her in for a hug, which Las'Tai was quick to return. The fast movement made her groan in pain but she didn't care.

"I can never take you back, nor can you ever return. This, you know. But you have grown under this primate's leadership, insane as it is. I am proud of what you have become and the potential that lies in you. I have no doubt you will command your own ship soon. I will always regret having done what I did, but our laws are as clear as crystal glass. But if we both survive this war, please smuggle in the vicinity of home so I can at least come and see you once in a while. I still do, and will always, love you...Daughter." She whispered in Las'Tai's ear before she pulled away again.

"What was the small thing you wanted from me?" She asked in a normal tone of voice

"...I wanted a hug from my mother," Las'Tai said, tears rolling down her face in a mixture of happiness and sadness. Her mother had confirmed what she had tried to prevent. But Kloxna people is a martial people. Death is never far away. So she steeled herself and embraced her mother once again, determined to make a lasting memory of this rare moment of love and tenderness between the estranged mother and daughter.