Having finished "Weyoun and Mia: His Enemy's Daughter", now comes the second in the Vorta Brides Trilogy. :D The irresistible Vorta this time is Keevan, portrayed by the amazing Christopher Shea, from season 6 and sadly only appeared in episode 2 "Rocks and Shoals" and episode 10 "The Magnificent Ferengi", the latter in which he met an unsatisfactory end. Hilarious, but unsatisfactory. There was something about Keevan that struck me as arrogant and emotionless yet sexy - but perhaps, like Weyoun, he harbors more than anyone else knew, including the woman I created for him, whom we introduced at the end of the last story. And for those of you who haven't read "Weyoun and Mia: His Enemy's Daughter", I HIGHLY recommend that first before anyone reads this to avoid confusion.

This second tale is named after yet another Harlequin romance novel of the same name, by Maisey Yates. Annora O'Neal is the newest leading lady, a childhood friend of Mia Sisko and the niece of a recurring guest from the show. She is a young Starfleet journalist keeping in touch with what's going on during the war, and a bit of a renegade when it comes to following orders - but then she'll find more than she bargained for when she meets Keevan. As it goes in the trilogy: loving a Vorta might be the best kind ever, but it is NEVER easy business.

Disclaimer: I own only Annora and Mia from the first story, and a couple other characters. The rest belong to Star Trek and Paramount.

Prologue

The Story of a Lifetime

Having dedicated her whole life to adventure and stories to write and share to those around her, Annora Ross was stationed from Earth to Starbase 375 not long after becoming a journalist and published author. She was born in New Orleans and lived there her whole life until she was accepted into Starfleet Academy, where she met her future husband, Jeffrey O'Neal, aspiring to become a Federation science officer.

Annora was an only child, the daughter of Dr. Eleanor Ross and the distant Starfleet officer James Ross; other relatives were William Ross, her father's younger brother. Never one with massive ambitions, the young girl from New Orleans was often pressurized by her parents to become like what they were, or anything that she wasn't - even when she rebelled when she knew it was the right thing to do, she was severely punished for it. No matter the level of the gravity of the crime, their daughter had to be taught in the lessons of discipline. As she emerged into womanhood, Annora Ross came to despise none more than her own parents, not once contacting them upon acceptance into Starfleet Academy, where she had a very small direction towards her own destiny.

Before getting into Starfleet, she had an awkward social life because she was the girl who always wanted to read a book or write a story as a hobby instead of engaging into the gossip and shopping activities other girls her age would, but upon meeting Amelia "Mia" Delgado when both girls were nine, a few years following the family relocating from Puerto Rico and before the death of the mother, the two became fast friends and inseparable. Just like Annora, Mia had high intellect and a knack for fun - parties which wasn't on Annora's agenda until she was first brought out to the dancefloor at the start of high school - although she, too, lacked a direction for her own life in the future.

In terms of following the rules, both girls knew their times to break them to do what they knew was right, but unlike Mia who knew her limits, Annora was the more brash of the two. As a result, besides both her parents, her relationship with the Sisko family - the neighbors and friends of Mia's family - was the opposite of good due to her rebellious nature, and would remain so into adulthood. She wasn't called a bad influence by any means, but for some reason, Benjamin Sisko never trusted her as much as he did the young girl who later became his adopted daughter.

Starfleet Academy in San Francisco - which happened to be where Benjamin Sisko attended - accepted both Annora and Mia, but Mia unfortunately wasn't lucky to last long after losing her father in the battle against the Borg. Her meltdown forced her to leave the academy and join the Sisko family, therefore leaving Annora without her one true friend. Nevertheless, during her first year and remarkably so, she stayed and continued with what she loved doing: writing stories, until one day she was approached by one of her instructors and offered a scholarship if she agreed to publish her stories and news reports. Enthusiastic and honored, Annora submitted her first collection of shorts and then accepted an assignment on the aftermath of the destruction of the USS Saratoga and the defeat of the Borg.

Despite still being in school, Annora Ross, niece of Captain William Ross, became a published novelist and journalist.

During her second year, she met Jeffrey O'Neal, her eventual husband who was studying for a position as science officer. She had long ago given up the idea of love at first sight, but Jeffrey was her first boyfriend she ever had and understood her better than anyone. In terms of realism, the one who became the one you searched for to spend the rest of your life with was the one right in front of you and not the one you fantasized since you were a young one. Therefore, Annora and Jeffrey were married by the following year, her uncle attending as well as some of their fellow students and professors, without a fear of future consequences - an action she would regret later on in her life.

Two years later, Annora and her husband graduated and were stationed on Starbase 375 in the Alpha Quadrant which was where her uncle, now appointed admiral and head of Starfleet forces, was also stationed. Jeffrey O'Neal was science officer under Admiral Ross, being appointed as the youngest Lt. Commander on the record. He was a fine officer of Starfleet, but in terms of his marriage, their passion was beginning to cool because Annora's own career had her traveling off-planet to other worlds in all four quadrants of the Milky Way for the "story of a lifetime".

But by the time the Dominion-Cardassian alliance sent the Federation presence into retreat and thus began the Dominion War, her traveling was at its limits when the death counts and destructions of fleets began to rise - and she would get her reports and ratings, indeed.

Horrified by the amounting catastrophes, Annora delivered the word while longing to pick up a phaser and fight against the enemy despite not being an enlisted officer - but she did possess prowess from training in combat and Klingon arts. Annora O'Neal might be a journalist and passionate careerist - and the wife of a Federation officer as well as the niece of one - but her fear and concern for the galaxy she had grown to love was ever greater, and despite her limitations she often refused to acknowledge, she was determined to help the Federation she belonged to win the war, even if it meant overcoming old differences and breaking more rules than ever.

So, Annora Ross-O'Neal is very much like her childhood friend from the first story, but while she has a heart and fierce courage like Mia, she's more of a boundary breaker to get anything done. That will be one of the reasons why Keevan is attracted to her, because he's one himself. ;) And her husband is sort of named after Jeffrey Combs, who plays the other Vorta we love, Weyoun.