"A wedding dress?" Ziyal was excited.
"It's more of a wedding outfit, really."
He had been caught on his PADD researching designs for a very over-joyed yet anxious Bajoran Dabo girl. Ziyal smiled, "For Leeta? May I have a look?" and he reluctantly handed her the PADD.
She took a glance and had perplexed expression, "Oh..."
Garak nodded. "It's not the most ... enlightened culture."
"I see." She chuckled lightly. "The lace sleeves are a nice addition."
"I hope they agree. A gut-feeling is telling me they will not. Ferengi weddings are not modest towards sexual desires."
She blushed more than she should've. Slightly embarrassed but not ashamed of the thoughts that instantly crossed her mind She was upon her final stages of puberty, she understood what that entailed. Garak placed the PADD onto the desk where he had an assortment of fabric and strode over to wear she was pretending to be looking a roll of Romulan velvet.
"Were you looking for anything in particular, my dear? Or just giving a polite visit?" He asked, indicating the velvet.
She sighed in annoyance, "You know that I'm here to see you."
He seemed startled for a split second but simply blinked and smiled.
"It's always welcomed." Garak whispered.
"I hope so." She smiled back.
/
She kissed him. She took the initiative. She finally took the leap of faith. Now she searched for any indication that it had any meaning to him. And of course, it wasn't; just the usual awkward smiling mask he would use to suppress true emotions. She felt silly when she realized this, and decided in a second to board the freight and go to Bajor without looking back.
She ignored the tears that came to her eyes.
/
Quark stood frozen.
'Ok well, he's in shock and so am I. But he's not moving so I guess I'll have to do it.'
She swiftly grabbed the phaser from his bewildered grasp and shot the force field conduit. She heard Nerys give out some orders to the group but couldn't stop staring at the dead Jem'Hadar. It was not the first time she had witnessed a violent death but there was something in the presence of death that she couldn't tear her focus away from it. Perhaps because of how disturbed she was with the fact that life can end with no vacillation.
/
If anyone knew what it meant to lose a loved one, it was Ziyal.
Love.
She felt her heart skipped a beat and the need to inhale took her by surprise.
"Ziyal. Ziyal!" a disembodied voice called out.
It was difficult to breathe.
"Just keep breathing."
And she tried. Tried...