"Parallels"

Chapter 10 –"A Time to Talk"

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." - John 8:32

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Data sat outside in the Japanese garden that was located on campus, giving him a breath-taking view of the golden-gate bridge and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. He had spotted Tasha about five minutes ago sitting under a tree, in what appeared to be deep concentration. Data watched helplessly as she plucked one flower after another from the ground, roughly removing the pedals one by one and tossing them aside. The sight was rather amusing even to an android.

He wasn't spying on her; he was merely bathing in her presence as long as he possibly could. He analyzed her interactions which he noted was limited. The knowledge brought a sense of relief to him, why, he wasn't sure. But if he were to suspect, it was because he still hoped to assemble some type of a relationship with her, even if it was based on false pretenses.

To others it may seem desperate but he had gone eight years without touching her, seeing her, kissing her. And yes, given the opportunity fate had handed him he selfishly planned on taking it, even at the risk of rousing the wrath of the Borg Queen.

For so long, she had been such a distant, unattainable dream to him, evading the realities of his world. And now, all he had to do is look across the garden, and there she was! She was a tad bit thinner and he speculated that it was from her maltreatment by the hands of the Romulans. Her hair was a little longer than the last time he saw her, but to him she was just as beautiful nonetheless.

His attention got diverted for a brief moment as some cadets began rejoicing over being commissioned as ensigns after passing their final exams. He smiled faintly at the sight, although his memory of being commissioned was not as welcoming, simply because he had no one to share the achievement with. Data turned his attention back to where Tasha was sitting only to find her gone. His eyes began drastically scanning the area in hopes of one last glimpse of her but to no avail.

"Are you spying on me?" The feminine voice asked from behind him.

He turned to see the elusive woman standing there watching him intently, her eyes questioning his motives.

"No." He whispered.

Tasha walked around the bench with a small, smug look upon her face.

"Oh, well maybe I should rephrase the question then…." She arched an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Since you're a doctor I suppose I should speak in your terminology, right? Let's see…." She began tapping her finger against her chin and the action enchanted the man beside her. "Are you analyzing your patient in her natural habitat to see how they respond to being misplaced by time?"

"You mean to see how you are coping with being placed almost thirty years in the past?"

Tasha nodded her head.

"Well, that depends…."

"On what… You watching me or on how I'm dealing emotionally?"

Data nodded over toward the tree that was now littered with stems of pedal-less flowers.

"Considering the ruthlessness I just witnessed being forced upon those poor flowers, I suppose your coping mechanism leaves a lot to be desired. I almost panicked when that dragon-fly landed beside you out of pure fear that he would endure the same fate."

Tasha narrowed her eyes at his faint attempt at humor. "I refuse to harm any animals!"

"I see… Just flowers then?"

He could see that she was trying desperately to suppress a smile. "What are you… a tree-hugger?"

Data snapped his head back in shock. "I do not recall hugging any trees."

Tasha laughed. "No, I mean are you an environmentalist?"

"No…It is of no concern to me that you have practically uprooted every flower within a ten mile radius of your location."

It was an exaggeration, one that granted him the smile he hoped to gain.

"So tell me, where did you get your sense of humor from, doctor?"

He shrugged his shoulders in return. "I suppose my father."

"I had no idea Dr. Soong possessed such an amusing personality."

"Oh yeah, he was riot!"

Tasha continued to smile, her eyes sparkling as she held his.

"And your mother…. What about her?"

"She's the strong one…very artistic, meticulous and selfless. She is a very lovely woman."

"What's her name, if you don't mind me asking?" Tasha asked quietly.

"Juliana." He answered softly.

Data chanced a look in her direction as silence fell between them.

"What about you?"

Tasha was a little taken back by the question. "Oh, you mean my family."

Of course he already knew the fate of her family but he did have to keep up the pretense of being completely oblivious to her past.

He simply nodded his answer.

She shrugged her shoulders, unsure of how much of her life she wanted to reveal. Finally, she answered him.

"I never really knew my parents….they was killed shortly after my sister was born."

"I am sorry." Data whispered softly, his heart suddenly feeling the remorse that was lacking the night that she had disclosed her past to him, the very night she seduced him.

The memory sent shivers down his spine and he had to briefly shake his head to ban the thought from his memory banks. Luckily, Tasha didn't notice the flounder as she continued talking.

"The crew of the Enterprise was the closest thing to a family that I had….I was particularly close to you…." She looked down, cleared her throat and quickly glanced back to correct herself. "I mean to Commander Data."

He immediately froze, partly from the mentioning of his name falling from her lips but mostly from the affection that had accompanied it in her voice. Data's eyes pierced hers, a silent challenge for her to break the moment, merely because he lacked the courage to do so.

And suddenly the vast, liberating beauty of the outdoors was slowly constricting around him as their eyes continued to hold their gaze. The only noise that followed was the silent breeze coming from the ocean in the distance.

He tried desperately to muster up the valor to tear his eyes from hers, and if it hadn't been for the salvation of her sweet confession, he knew that the truth of his own admission would have come flooding out of him right then and there.

"The answer is yes!" She softly revealed.

"I beg your pardon?"

Tasha looked away briefly toward the ocean, breaking the magic of the moment. And then, her eyes were suddenly back to his, accompanied by the witchery of her gaze that held him motionless, forbidding him to move.

She smiled softly. "You asked me yesterday if Data was the mistake that I let go…." Tasha stared deeply into his eyes. "The answer is yes."

There was a pause in conversation and Data found himself faced with an impracticability; one that he thought he would never hear her voice, at least in his lifetime. An admission that seemed so foreign to him and the lips that the confession suddenly fell from, it wasn't like her to admit such errors.

"What happened?" He was amazed that he was able to find his voice to even ask the impending question, especially since he was unable to tear his eyes from her face.

She smiled faintly, a sad somber look flitted unchecked across her features and Data immediately picked up on the regret that could be traced within the creases of her frown. The false rhythms of his artificial pulse began beating faster with anticipation. He was transfixed by her lips, awaiting a confession that had been denied for far too long.

Tasha looked down, nervously wringing her hands together as she fought desperately for the strength to voice the well-guarded secrets of her heart.

She refused to meet his eyes. "I, um…I left him." She looked off into the distance as she recalled the memory. "I went back with the Enterprise C because I had met a man…." Data's heart immediately fell, along with his eyes as he too began to stare at the ground. "I told Data about him in the turbo-lift of all places….Of course, I had already ended the relationship but still, it seemed so cowardly, so unlike me."

And then softly, she whispered her reasons for doing so, the reason for it all.

"He never loved me…." She scoffed in contempt from her stupidity. "So I chose a man who did, that's one of the reasons why I chose to go back with the Enterprise C."

And from the corner of his eye, he saw her hand quickly move up to her cheek, roughly brushing away a rebellious tear. The action broke his heart and he desperately wanted to make things right for her.

"Perhaps he loved you in his own way." The conviction that laced his voice forced Tasha to look at him. "I know he may have been emotionally unavailable to you, lacking the ability to feel but perhaps you caused him to over exceed those bounds that were physically imposed upon him. I believe that he would have deemed his relationship with you as one of his achieving feats as an android in becoming closer to humanity, mainly because you were so special to him."

Tasha's quick wit immediately picked up on his blunder. "I never said that he didn't possess emotions, I just simply stated that he didn't love me…." She stared at him dumbfounded. "There is no way that you could have possibly known that!"

Data thought quickly. "Well, I am Dr. Noonian Soong's son, so I am well aware of his efforts in the science of assembling anatomical artificial life forms. After his failed attempt with Lore, he chose to create a more docile android. As a matter of fact, he was constructing him shortly after I left."

Tasha stared at the man before her with bemusement written all over her face. "Don't take this personally but you're a terrible psychiatrist and an even more deplorable liar."

Data swallowed hard. He tried to deny the accusation. "I am not lying…"

She swiftly held her hand up, stopping all protests. "Now, I have noticed that you know me a little all too well and at first I found it a little disconcerting for my taste. And I've also noticed that you never…." Her eyes pierced his, daring him to look away. "Ever use a contraction, something that always evaded Data but you probably know that and then there's your comment about him lacking the ability to feel. No one in this timeline should know that."

Again, he tried to explain only to be stopped by the sound of her voice growing louder, accompanied with the irritation that followed his consistent denials.

"I know that you are Dr. Soong's son. I can look at you and tell that from the picture in Starfleet's Personnel. But I don't believe for one second that you are the biological son you claim to be, I think you are someone else entirely. So we are going to try this again."

She offered her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Tasha Yar but for some reason, I get the faint impression that you already knew that… And you are?!"

Data looked down at her extended hand, a smug grin covering his face. Reluctantly, he took it, using the opportunity to pull her body in closer to him, as his lips lightly brushed against her ear. The brazen move sending shivers down her spine.

"I think it is time that we talk."

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Author's Notes: Another update…Still not sure where I'm going with this but it's slowly coming to me, so please be patient with me on this one. Reviews are greatly appreciated and I want to thank all of you for reading.