Data saw Picard and Madden talking to each other in the hallway. They stopped talking when they saw Data, and Data felt his ears burning.
"Hello, Data." Picard looked glad to see him. "As I was just discussing with Madden, I would be happy to check with Starfleet and see whether there are any other starships in need of a first officer, if you are interested. You certainly deserve the opportunity for a promotion."
"Thank you, sir, but I'd prefer to remain in my current position on the Enterprise. This is my home, and all of you are my family."
"To be honest, that's exactly what I was hoping you would say," Picard confided. He glanced toward Tasha's work station and winked.
No one had ever winked at Data before.
One afternoon in Data's quarters, Data and Tasha were watching Spot play with a ball of yarn.
"You know, Data, if we were cats, you'd still have eight lives left, and I'd have seven."
"What do you mean?" Data didn't understand.
Tasha laughed. "Never mind. Just a silly old saying from Earth Will Riker told me about a long time ago."
Data wasn't thinking about ancient sayings from Earth. He had something important that he wanted to talk to Tasha about, and right now seemed an opportune time.
"Tasha, if I really did have eight more lives to live, I would want to spend every one of them with you by my side."
Tasha, hearing the serious tone in his voice, looked at him expectantly.
"Tasha, I have loved you for so long that I can't remember a time when I didn't love you. For so many years I thought that I had lost you forever, and then suddenly some miracle brought you back into my life. I love you more now than I ever have before, and every day I spend with you, I love you more and more. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He got down on one knee before her. "Tasha, will you marry me?"
Tasha looked elated. "Oh, Data, of course I will. The happiest times in my life have been the times I have spent with you. I love you so much, Data, and I never want to be without you again."
As captain of a starship, Jean-Luc Picard had the legal right to perform marriages, and it was he who married Data and Tasha. It was a small ceremony, attended only by their friends on the Enterprise. Data and Tasha had written their own vows, which they exchanged with solemnity.
"Tasha, you are my friend, my lover, and my soul mate. When I'm with you I'm happy, and when I'm not, all I can think about is the next time I'll see you. Your smile to me is lovelier than the loveliest sunrise, and every time you are sad, a little part of me dies inside. I promise that I will love, honor, and cherish you for as long as I live."
"Data, I loved you even before you were a man, and as I spend more time with you, the love I have for you grows and deepens. I remember a time when any type of emotional expression was a real challenge for you, and I loved you as you were then just as I love you as you are now. There have been so many times when just the memory of your face and voice have been enough to keep me going when I felt that all my strength was gone. I promise that I will love, honor, and cherish you for as long as I live."
Afterwards there was music, of course, and the man who had died as an android yet now lived as a man danced with the woman who had died twice, he dashing in a tuxedo, she stunning in a lacy white dress and high heels, their bodies flowing together with the music, his step strong and graceful, hers light and carefree as a butterfly. Somewhere in space and time, the cold cinders of what had once been an android's body drifted aimlessly, a black sludge called Armus hungrily awaited more victims, and a Romulan executioner sharpened his sword. The dancing newlyweds were oblivious to all of this; their hearts were filled with nothing but happiness and the bright promise of their future together. They spun and twirled as Louis Armstrong sang 'We Have All The Time In The World.'