"Commander Thatcher, it has a nice ring to it." Geordie teased as he greeted his friend at Ten Forward. The young woman smiled and brushed a piece of short hair behind her ear.
"I could say the same thing to you my friend! Commander Laforge has a sweet sound to it as well and also a secondary promotion to head of engineering! That is so exciting!" Anya gushed. "I'm almost thinking that I'm not going to be worthy of being your friend any longer!"
"We've been friends since our second day of the academy, somehow I think a few promotions isn't going to get in the way." Geordie assured as he lead Anya over to a table were they put their drinks down and watched the rest of the crowd assemble to await the start of one of the weekly performances.
"I'm glad to know that Geordie, you truly are a good friend and I do treasure all the experiences that we've shared over the past years." Anya smiled warmly at her friend.
"So, am I going to meet your mysterious new friend tonight?" Geordie asked as they waited.
"I think so. Kyle is accompanying the strings tonight. He's been practicing for a few weeks with them." Anya smiled.
"Remind me how you met him again?" Geordie asked as he looked over at his friend and realized that although they shared a friendship, nothing more was going to come of it. He always was just the friend to people. Geordie was a little sad to realize that as he found Anya smart, funny as well as hard working and driven, she wasn't interested in him like that. Anya was interested in this Kyle though as she blushed just talking about him.
"I was teaching a botany lesson to a group of tenth years. Kyle teaches music and languages. We ended our class at the same time and we sort of found each other in the corridor. He's only been on the Enterprise for about a month. He hasn't decided if he will renew his civilian teaching contract at the end of his term. He's very talented, and the students really enjoy him."
"What does he think of you?" Geordie asked.
"I think he likes me." Anya sighed.
"Well then, I hope things work out."
"Me too." Anya then looked over at the entrance to Ten Forward and noticed Kyle and the other musicians coming into the room. The lights dimmed a little and the music started.
"Are you serious?" Kyle asked as Anya handed him the information from her family. "You'd leave the Enterprise for me?" Anya stood in her blue uniform in front of him and nodded her head, somewhere along the way the important part of her career that had driven her throughout the past six years was suddenly not as important to her, if Kyle wasn't interested in staying then she would leave too. It surprised her what her love for this man was about to do.
"You have always wanted to live on a planet. I can continue to do my research and my colony needs teachers. I could be closer to my parents and I know that Bruderholf would be a great place to raise a family."
You are willing to leave all this?" Kyle asked again. They hadn't been married for very long, but Anya new that the Enterprise was more her home than his, and like any good relationship sacrifices needed to be offered to help develop a stronger relationship.
"I am." Anya admitted. "If you want to go, I will go as well."
"Let's subspace tonight." Kyle suggested and Anya nodded in agreement.
"I will miss you!" Geordie shared as Anya cleaned the last of her lab space.
"I will also miss you my friend!" Anya looked at the man and sighed. He was the only one that understood her feelings. Kyle was as well, but in a different way. He wasn't aware of all the history behind why Anya had chosen to leave her colony, but Geordie was. She had shared it with him over the years.
"Will you stay in touch?"
"Someone needs to look at my research before I submit it!" Anya Smiled. "Although I'm not sure how much research will be done right away. It looks like teaching will be my new work for a while. The deacons feel that I shouldn't make too many waves with my research, as it doesn't really fall into the philosophy of the colony, but I have a friend on the medical team and they are willing to provide some space for me in the clinic."
"Anya, you're so talented! Don't you feel like your gifts are going to be wasted?" Geordie asked.
"I'm going to be teaching children…" Anya started. "I will be home where I can try out some of my ideas that I've started here in the growing labs and I will be able to move them to the real ground with actual sun and rain and bugs and animals that will eat, or burn or flood them out. It will be good to try… I will have my family close by and I will have Kyle and he will be happy."
"Will you be happy?" Geordie asked.
"As long as I have Kyle I will be content. Happiness is something that you have to find in everything." Anya returned. "I hope that you will continue to enjoy your successes and find happiness as well." Anya hugged her friend and Geordie sighed as he watched her leave.