What You Take With You
After watching the series finale of Deep Space Nine, and how Julian and Ezri got together, I couldn't help but wonder what happened after that magical night. Did they stay together? Did they get married? This helps to offer some possible answers, from Julian's point of view.
The end of war was a mixture of emotions. I was relieved that Miles, Ezri, and I made it out alive; happy that Ezri and I weren't going to be separated, and sad that Miles was leaving. On the same token, I was happy for Miles, since he was going to be able to spend more time with Keiko and the kids. I knew that the Dominion War put a strain on their marriage, and I was a little concerned that Miles would lose her as a result.
Meanwhile, my relationship with Ezri was developing at an amazing rate. We found ourselves spending more and more of our free time together, and waiting for the work day to end, so that could happen. We also spent many nights together. Some nights we made love, some nights we just slept together. Either way, I relished every moment we got to be close to one another. I missed her the nights that we spent apart, and even went so far as to sleep with Kukalaka those times, pretending he was Ezri.
This fact became much more so as the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Then the idea of marriage came into my head. I kept finding myself thinking, It took me this long to admit how I felt about her. I shouldn't beat around the bush any longer. One day, while I was working, I decided that I was going to propose to Ezri that evening. After I finished for the day, I told her to meet me at my quarters when she did.
At about 1830, she came. We sat and chatted about how the day went. After a while, Ezri told me she was curious about why I wanted to see her.
"Why? Can't a guy want to see his girl after a long day at work?" I asked her, laying my arm over the back of the couch.
"Well, of course, I'm just wondering if there's a special reason", Ezri explained.
"I was hoping you would ask", I told her. I turned to Ezri and took her hand.
"You know how long we tried to deny how we felt about one another, what felt like an eternity. I was extremely happy when we finally admitted it, and acted on it. Now I would like to act on it even further". I rose up off the couch, got down on one knee, took out the small velvet box in my pocket, and opened it.
"Ezri, will you marry me?" I asked her, with a pleading look in my eyes.
For a minute, she looked as though she was going to cry. I thought she was going to turn me down. I felt a huge weight come down on my chest as I awaited her answer.
"Yes. Of course, Julian", Ezri told me tearfully, "Of course I will marry you". She then leaned down to hug me, and cried against my shoulder as slid the ring onto her finger. I kissed her forehead, and wiped the tears from her eyes
The next morning, we made calls to the people who were closest to us. The first person I called was of course, Miles.
"Hi, Julian," a little girl's voice replied. It was Molly, Miles' daughter.
"Hi sweetie, how are you?" I asked her, wondering how my best friend's little girl was doing.
"Good, how are you?" she asked me.
"I'm just fine. Listen, is your daddy there? I would like to speak to him about something", I told her.
She went to get Miles, who had the day off from work, "Hey, how's the station treating you?" he greeted me.
I told him that everything was great, and that we all missed him, "How have you been doing?" I asked him.
"Well, teaching at the Academy is great, but I still miss hanging around my favorite mischievous medic. What's the occasion? Did something really good happen?" he asked me.
"Yes, and you'll have to guess what it is", I told him.
Miles' first guess was that I made a new friend, to which I told him no. He guessed that I hadn't gotten promoted yet, and and that I hadn't gotten sent to be stationed with him. "Does it have to do with Ezri?" he guessed.
"Yes", I told him.
"Is she pregnant?"
"No, I don't think so".
"Are the two of you getting married?" Miles finally guessed.
"Indeed we are," I replied, grinning from ear to ear.
"That's great. I haven't seen you so happy since the morning of the final battle. So I take it that you haven't decided on a date yet," he replied, congratulating me.
"No, we haven't. I just proposed to her last night. You're the first person I called. I would also like you to be my best man, if you don't mind," I asked him. Miles told me that he didn't mind at all, it would be an honor.
We then moved on to how his family was doing. Molly was doing very well in school, Kirayoshi was growing by the second, and Keiko was much happier, which meant that Miles was pretty happy. However, Miles still found himself throwing darts at a board or batting around a racquetball when he missed me. I told him the same thing.
"I'd love to talk longer, but Ezri and I have some work to do, so I'll let you go," I told him.
"All right, I'll talk to you later. Tell Ezri and everyone else that I said hi".
"I'll do that. Tell Keiko and Yoshi I said hi," I told him.
With that, we said good-bye, and went about my day getting ready for work. It was pretty slow at the infirmary. I helped Nog deal with a bad case of insomnia. I asked him if he had been drinking any more coffee than usual, he told me no. However, Nog told me that was still on edge about the war. I gave him some sedatives and relaxation techniques. Just as he hopped off the bed, he said,"Before I forget, sir, congratulations on your engagement with Lieutenant Dax".
"Thanks", I replied,"I hope you sleep better. If you are still having problems, let me know."
Such has been the goings-on in the infirmary since the end of the Dominion War. I've been mostly dealing with common ailments such as influenza, fractures, sprains, and a dislocated shoulder. The last one was due to a female ensign helping to lift a heavy piece of furniture and doing so improperly. Little did I know that a few weeks later, I would have to deal with another medical issue.