Tasha guarded her feelings tightly. She always had, because sometimes, feelings could get you killed if the wrong person knew about them. So it was no surprise that she was wary of Deanna when they first met. No matter how tightly wrapped she kept herself, the soft-spoken Betazoid would always, always know what was underneath.

And for a time they maneuvered a careful dance around each other, as Tasha cautiously learned that Deanna would not betray her, and Deanna gently urged the other woman to not simply trust her more, but trust herself with her own emotions as well.

It came to a head on a completely average day. There had been no aliens, no Q, no red alerts… nothing perceptible to trigger such an event. But Tasha had shown up at the counselor's office, trembling head to toe, and, as soon as the door closed behind her, collapsed into Deanna's arms, crying out years of grief and pain.

After that, the two were nearly inseparable off-duty – they went to the gym together, shared a table in Ten Forward, even took their holodeck time with each other. And then, on another totally innocuous day, in an empty corridor as they took as walk, Deanna felt a quick blast of nerves from Tasha, before her face was gently cupped, and the sweetest, most sincere kiss she'd ever experienced was pressed to her lips.