She squared her shoulders, smoothed down her dress, picked up the microphone, looked into his eyes and started singing.

You and me

We used to be together Every day, together, always I really feel that I'm losing my best friend I can't believe this could be the end

The room and the world contained inside it slowed down at the point for her. The noise, the chatter, the clinking of dishes and the good natured laughter all stopped as she looked into his eyes, desperately hoping that no-one would see who she was addressing her song of the night to. 'Karaoke night', someone had said. 'Great for morale'. And it was in its own way.

It looks as though You're letting go And if it's real, then I don't want to know

Don't speak I know just what you're saying So please stop explaining Don't tell me 'cos it hurts Don't speak, I know what you're thinking And I don't need your reasons Don't tell me 'cos it hurts

Their last conversation before tonight, had taken place in her quarters. He'd hopefully managed to sneak in before anyone could see, but from the minute he had stepped into the room, she knew there was something wrong. His broad shoulders had seemed uncharacteristically hunched and she could feel the tension coming off from him in waves.

Once she had grasped the gist of what he was saying, she had almost shut down. She remembered wanting him to stop, stop whatever was coming out of his mouth. She couldn't bear what he was doing, what he was saying to her.

'This can't work, you know it can't.'

'Are you breaking up with me?'

'I can't do this anymore.'

'Do what? You can't love me anymore?'

'No, that's not it.'

'What, you've had your fun and now it's over?'

'Hoshi, stop this.' He had grasped her arms and stared at her intently, trying to calm her down. 'You know how I feel about you. But this can't work. Look at where we are.'

'We're together. Or we were.'

'We're too different. And you deserve someone better.'

'I want you.'

'I can't give you what you need.'

'What I need?'

She shook her head and focused on her song.

Our memories, they can be inviting But some are all together mighty frightening As we die, both you and I With my head in my hands I sit and cry

Out of nowhere, she remembered a morning they had both managed to spend in bed together, miraculously both off shift together. Cramped in a small bed, its white sheets crumpled, they had lain in each other's arms, and had barely spoken a word. She ached, remembering the smell of his hair, the drawl in his voice, his curious expressions and the way he smiled at her. 'Hold it together, girl.' She reprimanded herself severely. She had always thought she would be the last person that this would, could happen to.

Don't speak I know just what you're saying So please stop explaining Don't tell me 'cos it hurts No, no, no, Don't speak, I know what you're thinking And I don't need your reasons Don't tell me 'cos it hurts

It's all ending We gotta stop pretending who we are

You and me I can see us dying Aren't we?

She remembered accusatory glances, jealous fits and screaming matches on both sides, surprised that the rest of the ship hadn't heard and the equally furious way they had made up later on. Passion equalled on all sides and every aspect of their relationship. She spat the last verse out.

Don't speak I know just what you're saying So please stop explaining Don't tell me 'cos it hurts No, no,, Don't speak, I know what you're thinking And I don't need your reasons Don't tell me 'cos it hurts Don't tell me cos it hurts I know what you're saying So please stop explaining Don't speak, don't speak, don't speak Oh, I know what you're thinking And I don't need your reasons I know you're good, you're good, you're real good Don't Don't Hush, hush darling, hush hush darling Hush hush, don't tell me 'cos it hurts Hush hush darling, hush, hush darling, hush, hush Don't tell me 'cos it hurts.

She finished her song, blurry eyed, waiting for someone to say something, anything but all that happened was a few people cheering and clapping. She smiled and walked off the makeshift stage that engineering had put together, towards the punchbowl that she'd seen somebody spike earlier and away from him, just as he looked at her, his brown eyes sparkling.