It's all dark in the Bajoran's room .

Ziyal sits in an armchair and looks at the door, she has preferred not to turn on the lights and, since she arrived, time seems not to pass .

But she knows that the man can enter the room at any moment.

She continues to holding in her hands the weapon but she does not know whether she will be able to use it, she never killed anyone in cold blood and the more time passes the more she thinks that she cannot do it, but she knows that Jadzia had trust in her and that this is the last hope that remains for the Alpha quadrant.

The Bajoran suddenly enters the room , Ziyal , hidden in darkness , does not move. It is strange but that man seems familiar to her, she tells herself that perhaps she has already met him years before just before the evacuation or perhaps she met Dr. Gulak a long time ago and does not remember.

However, it doesn't matter now, she gets up from the armchair with the weapon pointed at the man's back and it would be easy to shoot him but her hands are shaking.

Then the man turns and sees her with the weapon pointed at him, on his face there is no fear but surprise the only thing he can say is " Zyial are you?"

At that moment Tora Ziyal understands everything , those eyes and that voice are not of a stranger, she knows them all too well: they are the eyes and the voice of the man who in recent years has made her happy, loving her like no one else could.

She drops the weapon and the only thing she can say is " Elim ..."

Elim Garak, the former tailor of DS 9 and the former member of the obsidian order, cannot believe his eyes : in the last two years he has prepared everything and thought he was ready for any unexpected events but he was not prepared to meet the woman he has in front of him.

It is undoubtedly Ziyal but not the young woman he remembered and that he came back to save, this is a mature woman and even if the physical difference is imperceptible her eyes speak for themselves, the same eyes where he reads a love for him that goes beyond what the young Ziyal had confessed to him in the past.

Now he is more than confused, he wonders who the woman in front of him really is but he can't ask, as if she is reading his mind, the woman answers " Elim , yes I am Ziyal and I come from the future, that future that you will change by saving my life during the evacuation of DS 9 "

Garak smiles, he almost does not believe the woman's words "It worked, so I succeeded"

Ziyal looked at him gently and approached him and took his hand "Yes you did , but I'm here to stop you from doing it"

Garak's smile fades, he leaves the woman's hand and in a harsh voice "Do you want to stop me? and why? You are alive and this is the only thing that matters "

Ziyal looks at him decidedly, she knows that it will not be easy to convince him but she also knows that Elim Garak is a just man and in the end he will make the best decision "No, it is not the only one" she comes closer to him and forces him to look at her "What you are going to do will irreparably change the timeline and lead to the death of many people, million of people"

Garak looks at her intently "No , I don't believe you , it's not possible, how can your survival involve what you're saying? It's not possible"

" And instead Garak is just like that, I come from that future and my father has already killed millions of people and is preparing to make other victims of the Alpha quadrant . Believe me if it were not so I would not be here" .

Garak looks at the woman. He has missed something in the last 7 years and now it is certain that it was her love "I just wanted to give ourselves a chance "

Ziyal looks at him sweetly, even if he recognizes Elim in this man, she knows that there is a big difference with hers, the man in front of her is lonely and in many ways desperate " Elim we had it and we were happy, I would not have wanted anything different for our family "

Garak looks at the woman "so how can you ask me to renounce all this?"

"Because our happiness is not worth so many deaths or the fate to which the Alpha quadrant will meet. We, Elim , can't allow it "

Garak turns around , he doesn't want to listen to her, but he knows that, if all she says isn't true she wouldn't be here. The man's eyes are veiled with tears and he approaches Ziyal "I just wanted to hold you in my arms and feel your warmth. I didn't want nothing more"

Ziyal embraces strongly the man 'I know it, Elim, I know " Ziyal caresses the man's head then whispers "Go back to your time Garak, let things go how they have to, let me die. But remind that I love you and I will never stop doing it and if you want me to be happy you will have to live your life without regrets"

Garak continues to hold the woman then she frees herself from the embrace "Go, come back and be happy for me too ".

Garak squeezes her again and then operates the device, he looks at Ziyal last time "I will love you forever Tora Ziyal" then the time bubble surrounds him and he disappears.

Ziyal stays in the room alone, looks at her temporal device wonders if she has to use it but suddenly she disappears and no trace remains of her.