Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek: DS9. I'm not making money off this. I'm obviously not a great writer and don't claim to be. I just miss a great show.

Notes: If you find the story doesn't fit with timelines, then it's an AU.

Prologue:

Weeks previous, trade between all provinces of Bajor had ceased. The timing couldn't have been worse: Just after harvest, when perishable foods were ripe and expected in all corners of the planet.

Each province had routinely received essential building materials donated by Starfleet based off the amount of damage they had suffered during the Occupation; in other words, some provinces received more than others based off need, but that also meant some provinces received less based off the perceived level of suffering.

And so, each province claimed its costly sacrifices to resist the Occupation had been forgotten in the eyes of the others and jealously withheld their produce from shipment. Threats of tariffs and permanently withholding agricultural products were now rolling off the tongues of every representative.

The Prime Minister had called a summit between the representatives of each province in the hopes that such petty disagreements could be curtailed.

It was a shot in the dark, but in addition to Shakaar's own solutions, major Kira had made the pitch for a central memorial that would honor each province's War Heroes; both deceased and missing-in-action.

The summit had recently ended, and the Bajoran passenger ship that Kira had intended to board had suffered an untimely power failure, and Jadzia was her only hope to return to Deep Space Nine in a timely fashion.

Dax had just beamed Keiko O'Brien to the surface when she received a request from captain Sisko to retrieve Kira from the summit. Jadzia looked forward to the company.

. - . - .

Chapter one: Incoming Transmission

. - . - .

The body of Kira materialized in front of her.

"Welcome aboard. How was the summit?"

"It ended happier than it began." Kira answered and slid her duffel bag off her shoulder.

Kira approached the replicator, ordered a Raktijino, then sat to the left of Dax and rest a boot along the console. She began to sip her hot beverage and sighed comfortably.

She was exhausted. She had just finished her shift and only had time for a quick shower before she was on a ship heading for Bajor.

From there it was another ship to the summit, which was being hosted by the most picturesque island continent on the entire planet. The continent advertised cascading waterfalls that was framed by large flowering bushes, which clung precariously to the rockface. Water from the falls tumbled from lush mountain peaks and plunged into Bajor's largest freshwater lake, so large in fact that it may have been an ocean.

There on that little continent was where the sweetest honey and the biggest fruit were harvested by locals lucky enough to be able to afford to live there. But Major Kira didn't have the luxury of enjoying the beauties of this place.

She had gone to the summit immediately after she had touched down on Bajor. There had been no time to unwind or take in the sights. And even though she felt she missed an opportunity of a lifetime and hated public speaking, she felt remarkably satisfied.

She closed her eyes and replayed parts of her speech in her mind.

"...a great opportunity for Bajor's provinces to unite and erect a memorial here," she had pointed to a seemingly obscure part of a map, an unclaimed and unwanted strip of land that sat neglected and forgotten. "on one-hundred acres of exposed shoal along our northern archipelago, and dedicate it to our war heroes..."

She sipped the hot liquid slowly. Real brooks tea would have been nice, but she didn't have time to pick any up. The Raktajino was dark and smooth, and it would do just fine. She continued to relive the speech in unsequenced fragments.

"...also remember the one who had no province to call home, Aeroin Primm, who was born offworld and had no claim to farmland or personal property, but fought for Bajor's independence anyway..."

Jadzia watched Kira as her head slowly and lightly nodded back and forth. "Sleepy?" She asked.

"Mm." Kira replied.

"Well, it's a cruise back to the station. I promise to stay quiet."

She had dedicated a part of her speech to Aeroin Primm: The man born off-world and thus had no home on Bajor. He had only known Cardassian rule and risked his life by leaking intelligence to the first few members of the Bajoran Underground. Not much was known about him and not much was asked.

She assumed he wanted to protect his identity as best he could. There wasn't much time to gossip about each other anyway; and by the time things calmed down, communications with him abruptly ceased. No good-byes or warnings. Just silence. Efforts to locate him failed. Everything about him was either assumed or he-said-she-said that had no basis in reality. It was all fantasy now.

There were times at night, when Kira was laying under the stars beside her brothers-in-arms and too anxious to sleep, where she imagined conversing with that Aeroin Primm. Sometimes she imagined that they would bump into each other in some shelter from a shootout, and other times she imagined he would be conducting a meeting and they would shake hands. Either way, a conversation would begin and they would share war stories and plans for the future. She wanted to tend her father's garden and bring it back to life. Maybe he had a wife and son somewhere. Maybe he was single.

She supposed no one would would ever know anything about him now.

"...assumed dead after contact had been lost. His brave and selfless sacrifice was made for all of Bajor, not as a planet fractured into sections but as a whole, which is something we can all aspire to."

The representatives had clapped somberly at the end of her proposition, moved by her passionate retelling of their people and of Primm. Shakaar rose from his seat, seizing his chance to speak.

"You know, I think I actually managed to distract the representatives from yelling at each other long enough for Shakaar to get a word in?" She smiled. The raktajino was kicking in. "I don't envy him. I'd hate that job."

Jadzia returned the smile. "You think that's bad? Imagine a bunch of sleep-deprived, angry Klingons. They come armed."

"It's surprising he survived them."

"I remember when Kurzon-" Her console began beeping. "-Incoming transmission." Jadzia interrupted. She looked at Kira suddenly. "It's for you. It's from Gul Dukat."

"What does he want." She muttered under her breath.

The image of Gul Dukat blipped onscreen.

"Good morning, Major."