The Girl Who Ran Away

Posted on Fri Sep 4th, 2026 @ 7:39pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant Commander Ryuuji Takasu

1,795 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: Takasu-Aisaka Residence, Japan, Tokyo, Earth
Timeline: April 5th, 2397

April 5th, 2397. Today was known across the entire Federation as a national holiday. 334 years ago, First Contact between Earth and the Vulcans was established by Zefram Cochrane after the launch and successful first warp flight aboard the Phoenix. The Phoenix had once been a nuclear missile, built to wage war and bring devastation and nothing but death upon its targets. It was ironic that such a weapon had been used to usher in the current era of space exploration and peace.

In a matter of a hundred years, the wars, famines and diseases that had once plagued humanity would become part of the history books. It paved the way for the exploration of space, the exploration of the Human species and eventually the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

All across Earth people celebrated the holiday, with parties and meet ups. Starfleet Headquarters would host a fancy banquet where Captains and Admirals would make lengthy and boring speeches, along with fancy buffet food that never truly filled your stomach.

However, it wasn't like this for everyone. When the majority of the population was celebrating this day, Taiga wasn't. In fact it was the last thing on her mind as she paced the main room in their small house. A single PADD sat on the table in the centre of the room. It contained invitations to the banquet at Starfleet Headquarters. However it was being simply ignored by both Taiga and Ryuuji.

The small woman walked to one side of the room, then turned on a heel, walked to the other side and repeated it over and over again. Her arms were crossed and her face was scrunched up as she walked back and forth. Every now and then she let out a small sigh as she continued this routine of going between the walls.

"Taiga, you're going to wear out the tatami mats..." Ryuuji's voice said. He had entered the room carrying a small silver tray. Upon it sat a brass kettle, still warm from being on the stove. Tiny wisps of steam escaped its spout as he set the tray down on the table. Next to the kettle were two simple ceramic cups with no handles and slight ridges around the edges. Each of them had Kanji on it, the Kanji for Taiga and the Kanji for Ryuuji.

"I can't stop thinking about it!" Taiga exclaimed as she stopped and faced away from Ryuuji. Both hands went up to her head, fingers pushing roughly through her hair in frustration. "I just can't! Not since she brought it up!"

Ryuuji let out a sigh as he began to pour out tea into the cups. "It really is eating you up, isn't it?" he asked softly as he watched the tea pour carefully into Taiga's cup. He looked up briefly at Taiga. Her stance had changed, her hands were now firmly placed upon her hips and she was staring out of the window at the spring day outside.

"Well duh! Why would she even bring that sort of crap up?!" Taiga snapped back.

A sigh escaped Ryuuji's lips as he poured his own tea. "In her defence, she had drunk a lot of sake..."

"Still..." Taiga replied as her arms dropped to her side. She remained faced away and looking out of the window. "I hadn't honestly thought that this was a bridge I would have to cross." She turned and looked back at her husband. Her eyes were soft and weepy. Her breathing was short and quicker. Her right hand was starting to twitch slightly and shake.

"Taiga." In an instant he moved quickly to her. He placed both hands on her shoulders and steadied her. Just in time, her knees gave way and she found herself crouched on the floor with her head resting upon his chest. He ran a hand through her hair as he embraced her gently. "Try to remain calm. It's going to be alright. Both Riko and I are here for you." His voice was soft and smooth like freshly melted milk chocolate.

He remained there holding Taiga for several long silent minutes. Eventually, Taiga pushed away from him. Her hazel eyes glistened in the light from the tears that she had silently shed against his chest. A small wet patch where she had buried her head against him sat upon his chest. However, she looked up at him and gave him a brave tiny smile. "What do I do?"

Keeping both hands on her shoulders, he put a little distance between them. "You do what you need to do."

"But..." Taiga looked over at the moses basket. Riko had been asleep most of the morning, and had not been much bother for both of them. "What if I turn out like her?"

Ryuuji placed an index finger on her forehead and pushed it sharply.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"You're not going to turn out like her. But I believe what Yasuko said does need addressing..." he said to her. "However, it needs to be on your terms, Taiga. You need to be the one to do it. You need to be the one to extend that olive branch."

Taiga shuffled on the spot, turning away from him so she was now facing the table. She stared at the two cups that remained on the tray. "But I don't even know her. I haven't seen or spoken to her since I was sixteen and ran away to the Academy," she said. "All because she got knocked up again. And she wanted nothing to do with me!" she added with a hint of frustration and anger in her voice.

"She was a crap parent to me! Always interested in her new man... whatever his name is again... and I was just baggage and a reminder of that useless sack of crap that is my father." She slammed her fist down onto the table lightly as she looked back at Ryuuji, fire in her eyes. "Why should I even consider reaching out to her again? What gives her the right to even know me? Or even know Riko! She has no interest in me at all! I was always just 'in the way' to her!" she turned away and held her nose up high into the air, then her head bowed as she looked down at the table. "It's probably why she decided to replace me with my..."

Taiga stopped. She actually never met her half-sibling. Nor did it ever cross her mind to look them up. Did she have a half-sister or a half-brother? The sudden realisation that she had never bothered to find out hit her hard. "I... Am I a bad person for not even finding out if that brat came out as a boy or a girl?"

"That was nearly eighteen years ago, Taiga." Ryuuji reminded her softly. "Her circumstances may have changed."

"Oh yeah. How exactly? You don't just become a good mother because you get a second chance!" Taiga snapped back.

Ryuuji let out a sigh as he returned to the teacups. They had cooled slightly so he lifted up his and took a small sip. "Think about it. Your mother and father divorced when you were very young; correct?" Taiga gave him a small nod before he continued. " Maybe she never had the support that she needed back then. She didn't have the stability that she needed... that you have... when she was raising you." He placed his cup down. Taiga was now staring at him; he could practically hear the cogs in her mind turning and clicking as she was assimilating this new information.

He held up a hand. "Just, for a moment. I want you to think about it from her point of view. I know you might think she's a nasty and selfish person, and I can't speak for her. Nor will I defend the actions she did to push you away. But try to imagine the underlying issues..." Taiga gave him a small nod as she continued to keep her eyes locked upon his for a moment.

"You have to remember that her marriage had failed. She had no one to lean on for support, and she had to rebuild her life from the ground up. All this whilst worrying about her daughter who was..." he paused for a moment as he ran a hand through his hair. "From what you've told me, fiery and little bit of a brat while growing up."

"Hey!"

"Sorry..." Ryuuji said holding up a hand. "But, seriously. What if she was trying her best? What if she simply couldn't do it? But when she met her current husband she relied on him as a safety net? Yes, it probably hurt when she got pregnant again. But, I don't think that was an effort to replace you."

Taiga blinked a few times in surprise. Her mind was flooded with a mixture of thoughts. The thoughts from eighteen years ago were now merging and mixing with new ones from Ryuuji's words. 'She abandoned me', 'She was struggling...', 'She replaced me!', 'She couldn't replace you...', 'She sees me nothing but a reminder of Dad', 'She needed a safety net', 'She never really wanted me', 'You were a little bit of a brat',. She could feel it starting to overwhelm her.

She closed her eyes and she could see herself, eighteen years ago. She watched as her sixteen-year-old self shouted some very harsh and mean words through the front door of the apartment. Then slammed it shut behind her, the suitcase being dragged along behind her. She watched herself storm off into the evening, heading towards the nearest subway station. It was then she noticed something else she had either forgotten about, or had blocked out of her memory.

Upon storming out of the apartment building... Sixteen year old Taiga was crying.

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up straight. It was like a jolt of electricity had just run through her body. She reached up and touched her cheeks, just below her eyes. They were wet.

"Ryuuji..." She sobbed. "Can..."

Ryuuji nodded simply. "I believe you can. If there is something I know about you, Taiga. You're a much stronger person than you were back then. You can do this."

Taiga looked down at the floor, allowing her hair to droop over her face. The cup of tea that Ryuuji had placed in front of her had now gone cold. Taiga didn't like cold tea, yet she reached out and took the cup in her shaky hands. She drank it anyway.

Posting by:

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Commander Ryuuji Takasu
Chief Stategic Operations Officer
USS Tokyo

RSS Feed