Disclaimer: I own nothing ST: TNG. Latika Sarin is my own character.
A/N: The song that Latika sings is from "Santa Claus is coming to Town."
Dr. Soong's lab was covered in all kinds of materials scattered around the room. Dr. Soong was sitting at his desk, working on part of Data's brain. Data sat in a chair on the opposite wall, half completed. Much of his inner workings could be seen. He was conscious, but unable to react to his surroundings. There was a knock on the door, and a very young Latika entered. Data watched as she quickly ran to the doctor's side, standing on her toes to watch him work. She began asking him all kinds of questions with all the English she knew, which was slightly broken. "Hello, Dr. Soong. What are you working today? What is that? I see? He done? What is that?" she continued until the doctor hushed her.
"Latika, I would like you to meet someone. I think you will like him very much," Dr. Soong said as he picked her up and walked over to where Data was seated. Latika had watched Data through every stage of his creation, but he was never conscious. "Latika, this is Data, the android I have been working on all this time. Go on, say hello. But know that he can't respond to you quite yet. That's the part I'm working on over there," he said as he pointed back to his desk. But Latika wasn't paying attention to the doctor anymore .She and Data had their eyes locked.
"Hello, Data. My name Latika."
Three months later, Data was completed. Since his completion, Latika had come to visit every day to help the doctor teach Data the many things he needed to know to be human. A couple of days later, Dr. Soong was teaching Data how to walk. The doctor was trying to teach him, but he was not doing a very good job of explaining it. Eventually, Latika moved him out of the way. She took Data's hand and started to sing a song that she had seen in an old movie from earth. "Just put one foot in front of the other!" she sang to him while showing him the moves. Soon after, he began to walk on his own with grace.
As the years went by, Data and Latika became very close friends. Every morning, Latika would go to Dr. Soong's lab bright and early, sometimes before the doctor even woke up, to pick up Data. They would spend the entire day together, exploring, playing games, teaching Data, and anything else they could think of. The two of them would play until Dr. Soong or Latika's older brother, Adil, came to fetch them. They hated to say goodbye to each other, but then one would remind the other that they could see each other the next day, and they would be okay.
Dr. Soong and Adil would often meet while Data and Latika were gone to talk. "It is so strange," Dr. Soong said, "how they react together. I have never seen two beings act in this way. It's like they are drawn to each other. Each one understands the other perfectly. I didn't think Data was capable of this when I was creating him." Adil nodded in response. Unfortunately, Adil did not know as much English as his little sister. Dr. Soong nodded as well as he began to ponder, "I wonder how Latika will react to Data's plan of leaving to join Starfleet. She probably will not be very happy. But who knows? She may be excited for him," he said with a smile. Adil nodded again, but he didn't really agree with the doctor. He started to think of how Latika would talk about Data non-stop when she was home, and how excited she was each morning when she would rise early to go to the lab. He feared that Data's departure would not end well.
A few weeks later, Data was preparing to leave for the nearest Starfleet base. As he was packing, he was thinking of ways to break the news to Latika. He had not told her yet because he didn't want to displease her. He hated seeing her unhappy more than anything, but he knew he would have to tell her eventually. Right at that second, Latika came rushing into his room, laughing as she ran over to him and gave him a hug on his waist. "Data, Data! I'm so happy to see you! What are we doing today? Ooh, you have a packed bag. Are we going camping? That would be so much fun!" She giggled as she started to look through his bag. Before she got too far, Data picked her up and sat her on his bed and hushed her. He kneeled down and looked her in the eyes. Latika quickly stopped talking when she saw the serious look on her face.
"Latika, we are not going camping. In fact, we are not doing anything today," He said to her.
Latika looked at him with a confused face, "What? I don't understand, Data. What's going on?"
Data sighed and looked at her again, "I am leaving to join Starfleet. I depart in only a few minutes. I am sorry I did not tell you of my decision earlier, for I did not want to displease you." He felt a pain in his chest as he saw that Latika was beginning to cry.
"But-but you can't leave, Data! What will I do without you? You are my only friend!" she screamed as she flung herself into his arms. Data stood up and cradled her in his arms as she cried into his shirt. He knew exactly what to do, as he had dealt with a crying Latika before, when she would hurt herself or something scared her, though he did his best to prevent those things from happening. During their time together, Data had always tried his best to protect Latika in any way. But when these situations arose, he would react with what he called "Operation Stop Latika from Crying." So he continued walking around the room, cradling her and patting her head, as he had seen her brother do. She finally started to settle down, so he began to speak again.
"I am sorry, Latika," Data said as he put her down, "but I must leave now." He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he picked up his bag of his few belongings, patted Latika on the head one more time, and headed for the ship going to the Starfleet base. As he reached stairs, he felt a pair of arms around his waist. He looked down into Latika's eyes, which still had some tears in the corners.
"Promise me that you will come back and visit, Data. Promise you will."
"I am sorry, but I cannot make any promises. Starfleet may not allow me to return." The ship started beeping, alerting everyone that it was preparing to leave.
Latika gave him a small smile, "Then I promise that I will come find you!" With that said, she backed off the dock and Data boarded the ship. As the ship left the dock, Latika waved to the ship. Data waved back, though he knew she couldn't see him. But it made him feel better.
Back on the Enterprise, Data is telling this story to Picard
"That was the last time I saw Latika, until now," Data sighed as he finished telling his story
"Well, that was an interesting story. It seems that you and Latika have a very special relationship" Picard said as he leaned back in his chair. Just then, a message came in for Picard. This is Dr. Crusher. Is Data with you, Captain? His friend is awake and she REALLY wants to see him. "Yes, I'll send him right away," He said as he signaled to Data that he could go. But Data was already out the door, rushing as fast as he could to sick bay to see Latika.
