With nothing but the clothes on her back, she fled from the alley, finding herself on an unknown street corner in an unknown, but extremely LARGE city. Eyes wide, her gaze finally came to rest on the church across the street. Instinctively knowing that she would be safe there, she entered the door... and came face-to-face with a man who would come to save her life more times than she cared to count in the years that followed.

Breaking down in his arms, she poured out the precious little that she knew about herself. He patted her blond braids and promised to do everything within his power to keep her safe and to help her determine who she was. He lived up to his words, too. He allowed her to live in the church, but never forced his religious beliefs on her. He had several doctors examine her to make she she was physically well. One doctor declared that her physical state was above average, while a second declared her mental abilities were above average as well. The doctors were able to determine her age to be about 12 years old, and she and Father Darius declared her birthday to be the day she first wandered into the church-- June 12.

She graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and spent two years switching majors at college. The week of her eighteenth birthday, she took the train back to the city where Father Darius still worked, intent on explaining to him that she didn't want to continue to attend college because it would be a waste of money. As she stepped off the train, she stumbled, feeling suddenly nauseous and disoriented. She ran to the nearest phone and called the church, but received no answer.

She ran through the streets as fast as she could, but knew what she would find before she ever reached the church. The entire street was blocked off, and crowds pressed in to get a view of a body being wheeled into a waiting ambulance.

She approached one of the uniformed policemen and asked if the dead body was that of Father Darius. The policeman confirmed it, and asked if she were a member of the church family. Suddenly overwhelmed with fear again, she shook her head at the officer and replied only that she had known him once. She then turned and melted into the crowd.

Returning to college to collect her belongings, she found in her mailbox an envelop addressed to her which contained only a key and a single slip of paper. On the paper was an address, not too far from the school, and a box number. When she arrived at the location, she discovered that it was a storage unit. Opening the box indicated by the letter, she found inside a letter, written in Father Darius' handwriting, a second envelope, containing a statement from a bank account, and, wrapped in two pieces of cloth (one, a thick green velvet, the other, a royal blue silk), a set of ancient Japanese swords. The scabbards were of black ebony, with an intertwined dragon and tiger etched in silver on the blackness. The eye of the tiger was an emerald, while the dragon had a sapphire eye. The silver hilts were wrapped in blue thread and the only ornamentation was a single emerald in each of the three swords.

Opening the letter, she read the following words:

Dearest Grizabella-- my child in so many senses of the word. You have received this package because I am no longer on this earth to guide your path myself. I have received an indication that my life is now in danger, so I have entrusted this letter and this package into the hands of one I have known for many years and know will not fail me.

When you first stumbled into my life so many years ago, I sensed in you an air of innocence combined with strength. I have tried to help the latter flourish while hoping the former will also remain intact. You have grown into a beautiful young woman and I am very proud of the things you have accomplished-- and the things you will accomplish. You have the ability to do anything you set your mind to, and I pity anyone who dares to stand in your way.

I know you have seen these swords before. I have seen you standing before them in my private office, gazing at them with a sense of wonder. I had to smile the first time I saw the expression on your face-- it was the same expression I had the first time I saw them. You said once that you didn't believe in magic, so I won't try to convince you that these blades are magical, but I will say that there is a power in them that is inexplicable. Their history is apparent every time the sunlight glints off the silver. These swords have been in my family for almost two thousand years. They have protected us and given us a sense of stability through the generations. As you know, however, I am the last of my family line, and have no biological child of my own. In so many senses of the word, however, you have been a daughter to me for the past five years. I can think of no other person I would rather pass these swords on to.

Take care of them, and listen to their stories. There is future in the past. Take care of yourself, as well, my beautiful child. The world is waiting for you. I love you.

Grizabella folded up the letter, slipping it into the pocket of the long skirt she was wearing. She opened the bank statement, gasping to find that it had been opened five years earlier in her name, and contained almost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Picking up the swords, she left the room and wandered back to the small apartment she had lived in for the past year.

A few days later, she packed up everything she owned, withdrew some of the money in the bank account, and left for New York City, taking with her only the bank book, the swords, and one suitcase of clothing... and taking as her last name the name she had only heard Darius speak once as that of his mother. For almost five years after that, Grizabella Lailing worked on the stages of New York as a dancer. Reviews invariably referred to her inner passion conflicting with the underlying innocence, and many people wondered how she could put so much expression into simply moving across the stage, but Griz was very closed about her past.

She tended to be very quiet in general, listening to people more than she actually lead conversation herself, and never told anyone things that were told to her in private. For this reason, she earned the fierce devotion of the few people she allowed close enough to her to be called friends.

After five years of working on New York, the show she was working on closed in order to begin a touring production. Tired of staying in one place, Griz joined the tour, hoping to be able to escape from the feeling of emptiness that had filled her heart the moment she stepped off the train five years earlier. After only three tour stops, Griz realized that she needed to get away. She quit the production and left the building, once again only taking with her one suitcase and a bag containing the swords, which she always carried with her.

As it happened, the last show had been on Furry, so that was where she found herself. She found a house that she fell in love with and bought it, inviting a friend from New York City to come stay with her as well.

A few months later, alone, as usual, Griz was sitting in the Cafe reading when she felt someone looking at her. Glancing up, she found herself looking into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. A fox was standing by her table and asked if he could join her. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, Grizabella began to spend more time with Denver, and he finally received clearance for her to come aboard the starship he worked on as a Mecha Pilot. She spent her free time wandering the ship, falling in love with its design and becoming friends with many of the members of the crew.

Not too long after that, Denver proposed to her, giving her a ring of emeralds and jadestones surrounding a solitaire diamond. One night, purely by accident, Grizabella glanced up at Denver from one of her daydreams and was shocked to find that his form had changed into that of a black panther. The very image she had been daydreaming about. This happened again a few nights later, and Griz realized something was horribly wrong. When it happened a third time, she felt a presence in the room. Glancing around, she was stunned to find a third person leaning against the far wall. She had met this female once before, and from that experience, she suddenly knew exactly what was happening to her. This creature had godlike powers of control over the forms of other creatures. She could change them at a whim. Griz suddenly realized that those powers had been passed on to her for some reason. Once she realized this, the creature disappeared, and Griz hasn't seen her since.

She has, however, discovered a few other powers that were given to her as part of the package. One of these is the ability to pull images from other people's minds. She can't really read their minds, but is able to pull fairly detailed pictures if the person is concentrating on something specific. She is also empathic, although that skill has always been a part of her personality-- it was only enhanced. And, she has recently discovered, once again, by complete accident, that she can speak telepathically-- at least to a few people.

After being a guest on the USS Nighthawk for several months, the captain of the ship offered her a counselor position on board, working as an assistant to the head counselor, who would also help her to understand her new-found powers. Believing it to be a way in which she could be of use, as well as a chance to learn more about herself, she accepted the job, and, for the first time in several months, she removed the swords from their cloth wrappings, hanging them on the wall in her office. She stared at the light reflecting off the silver hilts and smiled.

"There is future in the past," she said aloud. "Here's hoping I can find out more about my past by planning for the future." She pulled out a datapad and began to research the histories of the command staff of the USS Nighthawk.