"You knew about this?! Oh, do tell!" Weyoun rubbed his hands together. He was positively giddy at this new development. If Dukat had had his slimy reptilian fingers in this pie, then surely the events that unfolded were positively captivating. Weyoun felt as if he'd stumbled onto some mesmerizing novel or at the very least, one of those trashy gossip columns that the races of the Alpha Quadrant seemed so preoccupied with.

A deep sigh escaped Gul Dukat and he stared out the large window again in the direction of the wormhole. Weyoun suspected the other man was hoping the wormhole would open up and swallow up this whole conversation. The thought tickled him.

Weyoun leaned back in his chair and waited patiently though he was nearly mad with anticipation of discovering all the revolting, but no doubt juicy, details. Cautious himself, he could respect Dukat's need to consider how much information was safe to reveal. His gaze followed Dukat's as it lowered to contemplate the red laced, white sphere in his palm.

"The love affair showed a lack of good judgment on Damar's part to be sure," he admitted after a long moment.

"An interesting judgment coming from you; a man who specializes in affairs with women not of his own race."

Weyoun's mocking laughter earned him a dark glower from the Cardassian leader and his large, violet eyes widened in anticipation of the verbose and emphatic justification he expected Dukat to hurl in his direction.

"There was no way Damar and that girl could have stayed together even if the peace talks had been successful. She was Starfleet and he was an officer of the Cardassian Union!" Dukat spat with conviction, leveling a finger at Weyoun. "What I did was for Damar's own good!"

"My, my," Weyoun grinned. "You do have quite a talent for qualifying your meddling in the affairs of others. Even your most loyal lapdog's love life was unsafe from your slimy fingertips. And he's so dense that he's probably never suspected a thing even after all this time."

Weyoun reached for the datapad that Dukat had dropped onto the table, but Dukat was quicker.

"You've seen enough," Dukat said, with a hint of warning in his deep voice that didn't go undetected by Weyoun. "This is Damar's and I'll be returning it to him."

W*W*W*W*

Damar stopped in front of the door to Ziyal's quarters and pressed the chime. He reminded himself that, despite his very recent promotion to Gul, he was still Dukat's adjutant and that meant that quite often the more mundane tasks such as fetching Dukat's daughter for dinner with her father fell on him. On occasion, he was asked to join them. He liked Ziyal well enough as a person, but her mixed heritage stirred warring emotions in him that he couldn't quite identify. The inner turmoil churned inside of him every time he saw her.

He did appreciate her politeness and punctuality and knew that he wouldn't have long to wait before she answered the door. Tensing, he braced himself for the onslaught of uncomfortable, ambiguous emotions.

As expected, the door slid open a mere few seconds later to reveal the half Cardassian/half Bajoran woman and her radiant smile. Damar couldn't fault her for always looking forward to visiting with her father, but he wished she'd be a dutiful Cardassian daughter to Dukat in more ways than just spending time with him. Dukat deserved that.

"Damar, come in! I'll be just a moment!"

She motioned for him to follow her inside her quarters.

He stopped just slightly inside the door, noting the quiet hiss as it shut behind him. The delightful aroma of something wonderful to eat wafted from the dining area. It mingled with the equally pleasant scent of Ziyal's light, flowery perfume.

Damar watched intently as the pretty young woman trotted off into her bedroom to freshen up. He took the opportunity to learn more about her by looking around the living area. Some of her paintings hung about the dwelling and photographs sat upon various ledges and pieces of furniture. He had seen some of her paintings before so the photographs caught his eye first. A couple of them were of her and her father and her and Major Kira. One in particular on the coffee table appeared to be of Ziyal and another Cardassian woman not much older than her. When would she have had the opportunity to interact with other Cardassian women her age?

Curious, he picked it up for a closer look. The details of the background suggested Quark's bar as the location when the photograph was taken, but Damar couldn't recall ever seeing the other woman or having any civilian visitors from Cardassia since the Cardassians and Dominion had retaken the station.

Damar frowned in confusion. When had this been taken? Who was this other woman?

He stared at the unknown face as if willing it to produce the answers he wanted. He absorbed the details of her face and clothing for clues. Her dress was reminiscent of Garak's creations so that was of little help. Her scales were very similar to Ziyal's, not as pronounced as a full Cardassian woman's would be so Damar wondered if this girl was also only half Cardassian. No nose ridges, so not half Bajoran. In fact, there were no features of any other race in this girl, which only deepened his confusion and his curiosity. Her smile was every bit as radiant as Ziyal's, but it reminded him of someone he knew long ago. And her eyes… he could see himself in her clear blue eyes.

"But that's impossible!" He forcibly reminded himself, shaking his head. "She's been dead for almost 30 years!"

Hearing Damar sound so distressed all of a sudden, Ziyal exited her bedroom as she finished putting the last hairpins into place in the intricate, ebony updo she'd just created.

"What is?" She asked with concern as she joined him near the coffee table. "Who has?"

Craning her neck, she peered at the photograph in Damar's hands and then up at Damar in confusion.

"Who is she?! I must know!"

Ziyal shook her head. "I don't understa-?"

Damar's heart slammed against his chest as if trying to escape and his eyes squeezed shut with the effort not to snap at Ziyal for her hesitance.

"Please, Ziyal?!"

"Her name is Casara. Her mother is Human and the first officer of a Starfleet vessel I think. They were here for repairs several months ago and Casara remained here for about a month while that ship was sent to the front lines. Both of us being only half Cardassian, we became quite close while she was here."

All of a sudden it hit Damar like a ton of bricks. Why hadn't it been obvious before?! This was why looking upon Ziyal was so uncomfortable for him. She reminded him of the half Cardassian family he'd almost had.

"What was her mother's name?!"

He winced at the harsh impatience of his tone. He was pushing the confused young woman rather hard for information and offering no explanation. He knew she didn't deserve how unbelievably rude he was being, but he was desperate to learn what she knew. If this Casara's mother was who he suspected…

Ziyal searched her memory. She was flustered, obviously uncomfortable with Damar's growing impatience and she searched her memory frantically for the information he wanted.

"Her first name was Selena. I think the last name was… Lobos? Something Terran."

Damar's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief and he leaned against the couch for support. Everything seemed surreal at that moment as if this couldn't possibly be happening to him.

Ziyal touched his arm and he looked down at her, touched by the concern in her bright green eyes.

"Damar, what's wrong? Did you know Selena?"

He nodded ever so slightly and when he spoke, it was barely a whisper that Ziyal had to strain to hear.

"I knew her. It's been almost 30 years. I was in love with her. All these years I thought she was dead…"

Ignoring the surprise in her expression at his confession, he gathered his composure and stood.

"Grab your food and hurry. We have to see your father now! Or better yet, I'll do it. Try to keep up." Damar ordered as he scooped up the dish from the dining room table and strode out the door at warp speed with a bewildered Ziyal jogging after him.