Goodbye Trill Sister

by evenstar8705

Set right between Season 6 and 7. Odo and Kira have a last dinner date with Worf and Jadzia Dax. Kira and Dax discuss their relationships a little and Kira reveals to her a bit about what happened when the Dominion took over the station.

Jadzia Dax was exhausted from hours of staring at a computer screen in Ops. She had been working overtime for weeks. There was so much to analyze and correct after the Dominion had occupied the station. She was paranoid they had left traps embedded in the more advanced software. Miles was a good engineer, the best, but his specialty was more mechanical, moving parts and such. It was Jadzia that handled the subtle software and scientific data. Unsurprisingly, she found all sorts of bugs and spyware. She hadn't slept properly for days because her thoughts and those of her previous hosts wouldn't stop churning.

She was reminded of all those hectic cram sessions she had endured in the Initiate Program and at the universities on Trill trying to earn her PHDs. On top of attending lectures, labs, and grueling tests, she participated in sports that were just as competitive so that she would have a perfect body for a symbiont of her own. She drank so much caffeine and used so many stimulants that she hallucinated she had hosts already. She watched as other initiates had nervous breakdowns, succumbed to addiction, were caught cheating or removed entirely and put on suicide watch. She had almost quit the program for a second time. She had already made history by leaving the program, reapplying, and getting back on. Leaving would have been a humiliation beyond reckoning. Instead her hard work had finally paid off and she received the Dax symbiont. It had been Curzon Dax the previous host that drove her from the program in the first place and then accepted her back. It wasn't until later that she learned why. Curzon Dax had been in love with her and now he was part of her forever.

After she had been staring at the same graph for ten minutes without really seeing it, she returned to her quarters. Worf was waiting for her and wanted to spar in the holosuites. She wanted to join him badly. Her husband had been working hard, the entire DS9 staff had been, but his job wasn't as mentally demanding as hers. He didn't have other voices in his head harping different things at him. It seemed Worf knew exactly what she needed. He made a call.

"Worf to Kira."

"Kira, here."

"Are you busy? I would like to invite you and Odo to dinner."

"Oh, yes, please! Odo says he will make kava cookies!"

Worf wrinkled his nose, "Odo bakes? But he-"

"He finds cooking relaxing. I sample the food for him."

"Alright."

When their guests arrived, they all ate except for Odo, of course. Instead, he told entertaining stories. His cookies were excellent. Worf ate an entire handful of them and downed them with blood wine. Once he was finished, Odo asked if Worf would go over security details with him. They continued to talk in the dining area while Kira and Dax found a corner for themselves. Kira drank hot sake and Jadzia continued to quench her own thirst with more blood wine.

"Mmm, I needed this," she said to her best friend. "Relaxing with good food and good company. No monitors, no pressure. No Dominion War looming over our heads. Ok, that last one was a lie. I'll have to thank my husband for being so thoughtful."

"It's good to see that Odo and Worf are getting along so much better. Remember when Worf first arrived and refused to live on the station? He set his quarters up in the Defiant and seemed to hate everyone, especially Odo!"

"Both our partners seemed like the grumpiest and most inhospitable men in the sector! We knew better! They turned out to be the most lovable and deeply romantic men in the Alpha Quadrant!" Dax grinned.

"And perhaps the Gamma Quadrant! Once we broke down their walls and bypassed their bravado, that is! To us! Great minds think alike!"

They toasted and drank.

"WHAT?" they heard Worf roar from the dining room. "You think I couldn't take a Changeling! Are you out of your mind?"

"Not what I said!" Odo growled. "Repeat what I said, Worf!"

"I challenge you!"

"That would be a very bad idea," Odo was unphased. "You are drunk, fatigued, and stuffed full of food. I promise you that I would be no fun as an opponent. I would turn to liquid and just slide all over the place. You couldn't get a grip on me with your hands or touch me with a melee weapon. Have more prune juice!"

"Shape shifting is cheating!"

"Oh, please! I am a Changeling! You might as well try not to be a Klingon! Oh, and make sure your wife doesn't try to give Nerys alcohol poisoning like she did last time! DO YOU HEAR ME IN THERE, DAX?"

Jadzia and Kira giggled like schoolgirls. The Major slapped Dax's leg just above her calf and made her wince.

"There's a bruise there," she whispered.

"I'm sorry. Is it a bruise of passion from Worf?" Kira had a wry grin on her face.

"If you won't give me details about you and Odo, why should I tell you about Worf and me?" Jadzia wagged her finger.

"I suppose that's fair. Just promise you won't tell any others! I know if I don't make you promise the entire station will know and repeat everything tomorrow night! It's a chance to dispel some of the myths. Odo and I have heard some truly vile rumors about us flitting about the station. I do hope you had nothing to do with them."

"Why, what did you hear?"

Kira pulled her hair teasingly. Dax used her pinkie to swear she wouldn't tell a soul about what they both said to each other and Kira complied. Then Jadzia squealed with triumph and delight. She had been waiting for this day!

"Does Odo change shape with you a lot?"

Kira groaned, "Can I change my mind about this?"

"No!" Dax clutched her face. "Nerys, you are like my sister! I'm not asking for graphic details. I'll tell you something about Worf in return. Come on!"

"Ok. Sometimes Odo will change, but it's nothing like you think. He doesn't become other aliens or animals. He's not a toy. Jadzia, you have to understand that for Odo, it is about passion and romance, not so much lust. Don't get me wrong, he has a healthy dose of that. It's about closeness and sensuality. It's like he has the mentality and feelings of a woman but the body of a man. Changelings are not technically male or female. They can be whatever they want to be."

"It makes perfect sense. Thanks to the Dax symbiont, I know exactly what that can be like. I have been male and female. I can have the thoughts, feelings, and cravings of both at the same time. The symbionts crave variety and are genderless beings like Changelings. To this day, it can be very hard not to feel tempted by an attractive person. It manipulates my hormones and makes me hyper sensitive o the pheromones of others. It's especially bad when it's a species that the Dax symbiont has never encountered. Odo was an exception. He doesn't have pheromones and, no offense, looks a little odd to me. I almost ran away with another Trill woman once."

"I remember," Kira squeezed her hand. "I am sorry she didn't care for you the same way. It was for the best in the end."

"You are right. We had been married in a previous life. We had our chance. It was done. I was just being selfish. If we had run off together, it would have ruined our lives and doomed both our symbionts. I would have missed out on Worf too."

"I've benefited greatly from having a friend with the perspective of both male and female. It was well worth the occasional awkward moment," Kira winked at her.

She remembered when she had been with Shakaar especially, Kira had relied on Dax. She had been a soldier all her life and was dating the prime minister of her planet. She had to dress for high society no matter where she went with him. She needed Dax to approve of every part of her outfit and every style of makeup so she wouldn't get crucified by the reporters and socialites. Kira was a bit clueless with those sorts of things and hated it. She had turned out to hate being with Edon Shakaar. It wasn't entirely because of Edon. It was just that their relationship had turned out to be entirely different than what she had hoped.

Edon gradually changed when he became prime minister. He was almost too busy for her and when they could be together, they struggled to find time, privacy, or romance. She suspected that he only wanted her around to be an oasis from his newfound stardom, a nostalgic callback to his simple soldiering days, and one of the few people he knew that had survived the Occupation and the fighting. She also couldn't help but remember what Dukat had told her: That Edon Shakaar had a reputation for being a womanizer. She hated Dukat, but he had planted doubt in her, just as he had intended. Edon was still humble and not a pandering politician, but she hated the fame more than he did. She was annoyed that being the almost wife of Shakaar was what the headlines and holo images focused on. They mentioned the color of her dress and where Edon had taken her to dinner and what gifts they had exchanged. They never mentioned her own merits of helping to run the DS9 station, being a personal friend of the Emissary, or, you know, a Resistance fighter that had fought for Bajor for almost twenty years and now in the Dominion War.

She had complained about all this and more to Jadzia at the time as they tried on clothes. It had taken all of Dax's control not to tell her about Odo's feelings. But Dax had doubts about Odo. She was ashamed of that now, but a part of her thought that Kira was just something Odo had gotten stuck on. He could be one of those men that loved the chase, not the girl. Maybe he was only projecting his desire to be humanoid on Kira. How wrong she had been!

"How does this lipstick look on me?" Kira had asked.

"Very sexy," Dax said with a strange and unfamiliar tone of voice. "I like it very much!"

Kira looked puzzled for a tick, then said, "Oh, uh, hello Curzon. I guess that means the men in there approve, but what do the girls think?"

Jadzia blinked and her voice returned to normal, "Sorry, Curzon couldn't help himself for a moment. The color is sexy, but not quite what we want if you and Shakaar are going to the temple on Bajor. Let's try something more traditional."

Kira smiled with relief. Luckily, she knew her friend well enough to know exactly when she was herself versus the collective Dax. It was on that trip to the temple that Edon had proposed to her. Instead of saying no right away, she insisted they ask the Prophets if they were meant to be together. Shakaar had been reluctant to do that. In the end, he understood her faith less than Odo, and Odo was not even a believer. The Prophets had said no and that was that. Even if the Prophets hadn't intervened, Kira still wouldn't have said yes.

"How is Worf?" Kira finally turned the tables on her friend. "And have you really settled down happily? I hear that he even wants to try fatherhood again! Do you really plan to have Half-Trill Half-Klingon babies?"

"Well, since you mentioned rumors, I have to clear the air here like you did about Odo. Worf and I don't try to kill each other when we mate. A good ninety percent of the time our injuries are from sparring in the suites and not in the bedroom. I know that's what you all were thinking!"
"Yeah," Kira sounded skeptical, "but isn't sparring Klingon foreplay? "

Dax blushed, "Irrelevant. Warf is actually very gentle and considerate. He is used to having partners more fragile than himself. They were all mostly human girls and one half Betazoid. The only Klingon woman he ever had was only half and the mother of Alexander. She resented her Klingon heritage. I honestly think a full Klingon woman would eat Worf alive and he wouldn't enjoy that sort of relationship as much he thought. I think he finally realizes that now. I'm not Klingon, but I think I understand them better than he does!"

Kira laughed and ruffled her friend's beautiful long brown hair that she envied so much. Dax tickled her nose ridges.

"What about Odo?" Jadzia whispered. "Did he have any experiences with his own kind when he returned briefly to his own planet? Is Linking the same as sex?"

Kira's expression went sour, "It is not the same and the answer is yes."

"Yes to what? Yes to Linking or to the sex?"

"Both."

Jadzia was surprised, "Odo gets more action than I imagined then! A human girl and other Changelings! He must enjoy humanoids more if he's with you!"

"I shouldn't have even answered your question," Kira looked guilty. "It was one Changeling and it was not while on his home planet."

"Who?"

Kira really didn't want to answer, but Jadzia thought for a moment. There was one Changeling that had been on the station. The Female Changeling. She reeled with shock.

"He slept with her? Nerys, how could he do that?"

"He hated it. She treated the whole affair like some oddball experiment. It was cold, passionless, and clinical. She laughed at him for even suggesting it and then made him go through with it anyway. I'm convinced she wanted him to think the very idea was silly and childish too. He became disenchanted with her immediately after. Logically, mating with her should have been amazing. Instead, his one night stand with a human woman had been far more meaningful and magical. He learned the difference between Linking and love-making versus manipulation and pointless sex. That's a hard lesson to learn for us and even more complicated with Linking involved. I was angrier that he broke the promise we made that he shouldn't Link with her again. I could tell she was corrupting him and lying to him about what the Great Link really is."

"I would have been far more upset! That would have been like you sleeping with Dukat! Wait! That didn't happen, did it?"

After what Kira had told her about Odo, Dax could believe just about anything now. Kira shook her head.

"He tried to seduce me, and it was scary how close he came to succeeding, so I can easily forgive Odo. We were fighting, he wasn't himself, it was another Changeling, and he had been so lonely for far too long. I should have talked to him sooner or something."

"What? Dukat almost succeeded? With you, Nerys?" just when Dax thought nothing could surprise her! "This must be some of the things that you and Odo hashed out together in my closet at my bachelorette party!"

"Among many, many things, Jadzia. There's a reason we didn't sleep that night and talked for nearly twelve hours straight! So much happened when the two of us remained here on the station as the Dominion took over, it almost ripped us apart. I wanted the Resistance cell we cobbled together to be more active. Odo wanted to play a more subtle game. He began to fall under the spell of the Female Changeling and I was harassed by Dukat. Captain Sisko, you, Garak, Miles, Bashir, and all the rest of the Federation was gone. It had been just me and Odo, Jake and the Ferengi brothers. My rock had always been Odo, and he was slipping away from me."

"I'm so sorry, Nerys. You know I would have been there for you!"

Dax clutched her shoulder and allowed the symbiont to give her a tiny little jolt, their special way of communication. It was something she did only with those closest to her. Nerys didn't understand the message, but she understood the meaning. Her Trill sister was showing her support. It made her smile. She squeezed Jadzia's earlobe, a Bajoran religious custom.

"Your pagh is pure and strong, Jadzia," she said. "But Sisko needed you. The Emissary."

"So what did Dukat do? What could he have possibly said to tempt you?"

"Oh, it was one of the most confusing and bizarre episodes of my life!" Kira sighed with exasperation and a little shame. "One moment, Dukat was cornering me in Sisko's office, blocking the exit, implying creepy things and making promises. He touched my cheek and I threw his hand away like it was a venomous spider. He finally let me leave, but I didn't dare turn my back on him as I left. I was half-convinced that he was going to grab me from behind and assault me!"

Jadzia invoked the Klingon gods, "Nerys, why didn't you, of all people, report this?"

"Who was I going to tell, Dax? Weyoun? The Female Changeling?"

"You could have at least told Odo!"

"No! Tell Odo? I told him Dukat was gloating! I left out the harassment until we spoke about everything in your closet. He almost lost his mind! He said he wished he had known! He might have turned into a Klingon beast and torn Dukat to shreds for threatening me! We needed to focus on our Resistance cell and the Dominion War not some idle and vague threat! I knew after Dukat let me go that it was only because he couldn't afford to harm me. The Founders don't understand that sort of crime, but they punish it severely."

"So what was it that almost changed your mind?"

"Ziyal," Nerys looked as though she would cry at the sound of that poor girl's name. "He brought her to the station just days after that. It was painfully obvious she wanted Dukat and me to play mommy and daddy for her. It was Dukat being far too clever. He knew I loved that girl and couldn't resist her. I had practically adopted her and she was old enough to be a little sister to me. He took advantage of her naiveté. She invited me to dinner and Dukat jumped at the chance to place it in his quarters. Before I could refuse, they walked away. A part of me thought I could use Dukat just as we thought Odo was using Weyoun and the Female Changeling. We both got too close to the Enemy, far too close! "

"You didn't sleep with the Enemy though, Odo did!"

"He saved my life and all our lives! Don't judge him like that again, Jadzia!" Kira couldn't help herself. "I understand how he fell into that trap. It's hard to believe now, but I dined on Cardassian food and drank kanar. I sat on his couch with his daughter between us, looking at her beautiful water colors. She got up to bring dessert after we fawned like proud parents. As soon as she removed herself, Dukat moved closer to me. I felt his leg touching mine and I wasn't repulsed. I barely noticed it. He wasn't trying to flirt. He was being sincere and charming. He told me he knew I loved his daughter and was grateful that I had taken care of her and advised him to take her to Bajor. I had advised him so well in his guerilla war against the Klingon Empire. He was alive and back in good graces because of me and owed me so much. It was like we were a divorced couple truly raising a child! I wish I could use the excuse that he drugged the kanar or something sinister like that, but the Dominion had poison testers everywhere. I felt butterflies in my stomach. I felt heat and electricity where his leg touched mine. I started to wonder…"

She looked tortured. She felt she had betrayed her principles, her people, her Odo. Jadzia could see all that in her eyes. She took her hand.

"Don't be ashamed, Nerys. There was always an obvious attraction between you two. I saw it and never judged. If love is blind, lust is an ugly and two-headed clumsy beast! You didn't act on it and that is what is important. You are stronger than most."

"He sent me a beautiful and expensive dress and invited me to a banquet in honor of Ziyal. The sight of the dress woke me up, much like Odo. I realized Dukat was slowly transforming me into his next Bajoran mistress. He wouldn't even have to hide me because the Dominion didn't care and he was leader of Cardassia. No one would dare say he couldn't have a Bajoran mistress or wife! His Cardassian wife and family had vanished. There were rumors he had them killed, but I think that sort of thing is too evil even for Dukat! He simply forgot them, perhaps never cared for them in the first place! I saw every step of his plan like it was my own! He was going to dance with his daughter and she was going to comment on the dress I wore. She was going to insist that I dance with her father. It would make her so very happy. She just wanted to bring people together and have everyone get along. He was going to dance with me closely and intimately. They were going to drown me with kanar until I got light-headed and the party ran late. Dukat would have brought me to their quarters. Ziyal would always be around so that I felt safe. She promised me the first day she would make her father behave himself. She would have sprawled herself between us on their bed so that we all slept together like a real family. She would beg me not to leave. Rinse and repeat until I was hopelessly in love and bearing him a dozen Half-Bajoran and Half-Cardassian children!"

"I must admit," Jadzia whispered, "it does almost sound romantic."

"I saw right through it, though. A third moment of clarity, I guess. I refused to be entrapped like my mother and Ziyal's mother. I had no children to threaten like my mother did. I was not a helpless Bajoran girl sent to the mines of Terrok Nor, completely at his mercy. The Occupation was over and Dukat had no power over me! I was through playing nice with the Dominion and with the Cardassians. I refused to give them my heart or soul. I returned his dress and told him I was through. He dared to call me by my first name! I could see the dismay in his eyes! He thought he had almost got me! Perhaps he did. But I also had to sever ties with my Cardassian spirit-daughter. I hated him for that. I still do. Now she is dead. I am cursed, Jadzia!"

"What are you talking about, Nerys?"
"I mean everyone I dare to love dies! Everyone! It's another reason I decided I had to leave Edon. I didn't want him to die in some unfortunate accident visiting me at the station like Bareil! I was terrified to be with Odo for the same reason. Everyone I touch falls under the curse!"

"Odo's a Changeling. Maybe he's immune," Jadzia tried to cheer her up.

"No, I'm going to lose him."

She said it with such certainty, Dax was disturbed. When she thought about it, it was true. Kira really did seem cursed. Her entire family was dead. All of her friends in the Resistance, besides Shakaar, were dead. At least none of the DS9 staff was dead. That was a comforting thought. Or not.

"Why are you so certain you would lose Odo? He's crazy about you! Changelings outlive the known sentient races. I think."

"The Founders told him they imprinted it into his core: He will return to them some day. They won't let him go. I will lose him."

"I could lose Worf tomorrow," Dax reminded her. "I had to say goodbye to my parents and brother when I joined the Initiate Program and then Starfleet. I was too busy to have friends or lovers. Thanks to my symbiont, I know the pain of losing many people over many lifetimes. Nothing is certain and no one has an expiration date, Nerys. If the Prophets are real and they protect the souls of those you love, you'll see them again someday. Maybe you'll even see Odo."

"I want to believe that. I usually have such strong faith. I just don't know how much more death and grief I can take, Jadzia. You know, you remind me of a friend I once had. Sisica."

Dax had never heard that name before. She swallowed hard and didn't ask anything about her though. She got a sense she didn't want to know. Kira dropped the subject. She realized she was being dramatic and depressing. She heard Worf and Odo arguing still in the other room, but it was winding down. They were running out of things to talk about. She sensed it was about time to leave.

"It's good to unload on someone besides poor Odo," she said quietly and looked gratefully at Dax. "He and I are alike in many ways: We don't have many people we love and trust. Goodnight, Trill sister."

Dax zapped her again and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek before she left with Odo. Then she turned and gave Worf a big kiss.

"Thank you for inviting them over. She gave me a lot to think about."

"Did you poison her again? I don't wish to upset the Changeling."

Dax laughed, "Of course not!"

"What did you two talk about?"

"Too much. I'm talked out. I think we need to practice making babies."

Worf's eyes flashed and followed her to the bedroom eagerly.

Directly After Jadzia's Funeral

Odo didn't like it when Kira Nerys had silent spells. He knew it wasn't a good sign. She was a passionate woman so it felt entirely wrong when she was quiet and reserved. It was hard to believe that Jadzia was dead. Her funeral had to be hasty because the Dax symbiont was still salvageable. Bashir was given the unenviable task of helping to extract it from her body. It must have been hellish because he was one of many that had loved her romantically and as a close friend. He had been planning an operation but on the living Jadzia to increase her fertility and help she and Worf conceive a child. This was not what he had had in mind.

Worf didn't seem to understand. He had forgotten all about Trill symbiont procedure. All he had been thinking was that his wife was dead, murdered at the hands of Gul Dukat as he destroyed the Bajoran Orbs at the station, disrupting the wormhole and severing communication with the Prophets. Odo had come to care for Worf and wanted to keep vigil with him beside Jadzia's body in honor of Klingon custom, but Nerys was always his first priority. She needed him even If she was too proud to say it.

She had held herself together well at the funeral. She had her professional face on. Odo knew her too well. Her saw her clench her jaw. That meant she was biting her tongue or inside of her cheek to keep from crying in public. He saw her little fingers tremble whenever she reached out to grasp someone's hand in sympathy. When they returned to their quarters, she went straight to her shrine and began to meditate. He knew it was a matter of time before there was some outburst. The tension was driving him crazy. He waited and Kira made no sign. He knew better than to leave her alone so he sat on the couch to read one of his crime novels.

A loud crash startled him. Instead of lighting the mourning brazier as she had done when Bareil Antos died, Kira had lifted the sacred symbols from the shrine and smashed them deliberately against the wall. He rose to stop her from smashing something else. He clutched her in his arms, trapping her tightly to his chest.

"Let me go!" she was finally sobbing.

"No."

"You should. You really should. I'll get you killed too somehow. What was Jadzia doing in the temple!"

"She was getting murdered by Dukat!"

"Jadzia!

He felt her body going limp, but he held her up. There was anger and hatred in her voice now. Thankfully, it wasn't directed at him.

"That Cardassian took my mother from me when I was three! He let my little brother starve! He took Ziyal from Bajor to try to ensnare me and got her killed! He executed so many Bajorans and worked so many more to death! Now he is responsible for murdering Jadzia for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time! She went there to pray to the Prophets, Odo! She was going to pray for children because I told her they hear those sorts of prayers! She wouldn't have been there if I had kept my mouth shut about the Prophets! They didn't protect her!"

"I'm sorry but did Dukat kill her or did you indirectly do it? You know the sane answer is Dukat, Nerys!"

"I should have died on Gaia! I belonged there! I always knew it! If we had remained there, Jadzia and Worf would have had babies and raised them and lived long and happy lives together! We cheated them, Odo!"

"Stop saying that! When the crew put it to a vote, they said they wanted to go home and save your life too! It wasn't just Gaia Odo! Jadzia wanted you to live, Nerys! She loved you! If it had been you that died, she would have been saying the same thing. She would have said she cheated you and that her mistake cost her the best friend that she ever had! You know this! Why are you saying these things? If we had stayed, the Dominion War would certainly be lost now. Sisko is needed here now! You and I and the others are needed here now! Not on some planet playing farmers! You and I would have never been together like this!"

He clasped her hand and let it liquefy so that she could feel him through her skin. She hadn't been prepared for it and it made her shudder. He dragged her away from the shrine with its broken and jagged icons and made her sit with him on their bed. The sensation had pacified her, but only for a moment.

"I should apologize to Worf. We robbed him and Jadzia, Odo. "

"I told you that if we were on Gaia right now and we were having your funeral, Jadzia would have turned to me and said that she had robbed you and me."

"I loved her, Odo."

"I know. I was fond of her too. She was a lively, mischievous and intelligent Trill. Remember that Dax will live and so will she through the symbiont . I know exactly how Worf feels right now. I had to watch you die as Gaia Odo, remember? I hate to say it, but I am glad it is not me mourning the woman I love. I'm a selfish Changeling and you are not leaving this room until your madness over Jadzia has passed. "

Predictably, she tried to wrest herself away from him. They fell backward onto the bed and Odo chuckled.

"Do I really have to change myself into ropes and tendrils and tie you to this bed?"

Kira actually laughed for a brief and glorious moment. Odo flashed a glance at her and wiped the tears from her face.

"You might have to lock me in your security office with a barrier," she said. "Constable."

"The security office is cold and dark. This bed is soft, warm, and much more comfortable," on a more serious note, Odo said, "I will miss her, Nerys."

"I will miss her so much. She was my Trill sister."

They held each other in silence until she fell asleep. When she woke the next morning, she could smell fresh fruit and coffee waiting for her in the replicator. Odo was not directly by her side so she rose to find him. He was at her shrine. She saw that he had carefully repaired everything she broke and lit the brazier of mourning. She was surprised. Usually Odo ignored the shrine and saw her spiritual beliefs as entirely her thing. She hugged him from behind.

"I probably shouldn't have touched anything," Odo seemed nervous and gestured to the shrine. "I'm not a believer and don't know exactly what is permitted or not. It's just that I know how important your faith is to you. It didn't seem right to just leave it.

"Thank you, Odo," her voice was breathy.

He looked pleased, but he said, "You can break it again if you want. Is that what you want?"

"No. I was wrong to smash it in the first place. I should count my blessings. Worf might have been killed along with Jadzia: Sisko and his son, Miles and Keiko, Yoshi and Molly, Bashir or even you. Dukat could have murdered everyone on this station. Bajor could have lost the war. The Dominion could have remained on this station. I could have died in my sleep last night. Jadzia was right. Nothing is certain and no one has an expiration date."

"She was a wise Trill. Are you going to drink your coffee?"

"Yes. I'll add a little Klingon blood wine to my breakfast today too."

Instead of drinking the beverage, Kira offered the blood wine to the shrine and said a prayer in Bajoran to the Prophets.

"For my Trill sister," she whispered to the flame.