Author's Note: After watching, and thoroughly enjoying, the Picard teaser, I wanted to write a little bit in that timeframe. I generally do not like to speculate too much about plots, especially with something that I am truly looking forward to like Picard Season 3. This is just a "what-if" scenario and I apologize for any inconsistencies with the Picard timeline as I have not watched the show as much as I have watched TNG, so time frames may be a bit off, and I think it's a little sappy for what I usually write or read, but I hope you enjoy if you read!

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." - Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano

Admiral Jean-Luc strolled evenly through the renovated grounds of Starfleet Academy. He was weighed down with what he knew to be an ever-evolving threat, but he was also taking the time to enjoy the sounds and sights of San Francisco in the spring - something he had not done in what was nearly a decade.

"Jean-Luc?"

Picard stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of the familiar, and long-yearned for voice. If he hadn't been well aware of his borrowed, android physical form, Picard might have sworn that his heart had ceased beating in his chest. The carrier of that voice had been one of the most important people in his life for so long, right up until the moment he had seemingly altered that irrevocably.

Turning around slowly and taking a breath for the first time in what felt like years, but in reality was truly seconds, Jean-Luc responded, "Beverly?".

"Yes, Jean-Luc," she answered with a concerned raise to her brow. "I received your message from Geordi."

Doctor Beverly Crusher approached her old, if absent, friend of many decades. She wore a dark, nondescript jacket that notably lacked a Starfleet communicator and rank pips.

Jean-Luc also noticed that time had been kind to the good doctor. She stood before him now with long multi-shaded gray hair. The last time they had seen one another she had still sported her bright red hair. The last time they had seen one another he had said and intimated something he had never stopped regretting.

He had spent many a day in the Picard vineyard under the careful watch of the former Tal-Shiar members churning that fateful day in his head, though he had never taken action to rectify his major blunder. Instead, Starfleet's supposedly greatest and bravest Captain, and later Admiral, had allowed himself to wallow in his Irumodic Syndrome, forever regretting his choices and only wishing for the forgiveness he had once thought death might bring him.

Of course, he had managed to find himself back amongst the stars with a new group of rag-tag individuals. He had even spent a week in the early Twenty-First Century where Q had helped him uncover the underlying trauma he had kept buried within his child-self for decades following his mother's death. Through this parting lesson, Q had allowed Jean-Luc to discover more about who he was and how easily his mind had created false memories in order to process a situation that was unfathomable to the little boy he had been. The experience had shown him just how deeply his relationships with others had been affected by his reluctance to truly get close to those he cared most about, because of the fear of losing them.

In this constant cycle of self-defense, Jean-Luc had hurt the one person he always had, and always would, care for the most - Beverly Crusher. If Jean-Luc had voiced this fear to Beverly years ago, he would have discovered that when she had told him that perhaps they should be afraid of their feelings, it had meant that she too feared losing yet another loved one.

In the end of course, they had lost each other. Not to death, but to a disagreement and quickly regretted words so strong, neither party had spoken to the other in years. They had gone long stretches of time without speaking before serving together on the Enterprise-D (and later the E), though after that, silences between the two seldom lasted longer than a week or two.

After finding his way back to the present, Jean-Luc was reminded that Beverly would likely be expecting further explanation on the developing issue that had led him to contact the Riker-Trois on Nepenthe that they had obviously passed along the line of the old crew to finally reach her.

As he started to pull information up on his PADD, Beverly stopped him with a raise of her hand and an eyebrow.

"No, Jean-Luc. We need to talk first. The mission can wait for once."

Looking up in surprise, Picard nodded and lowered the PADD, giving the woman who had owned his heart for nearly all of his adult life his full attention.

Beverly directed him away from the eager hustle of the cadets to a quieter place where the two could have the conversation that had been on hold for decades now. The argument from years ago hung over them like a dissipating fog. Beverly had left Starfleet shortly after they parted. Jean-Luc's refusal to do so following the ban on synthetic life forms had been the catalyst for the long-ago argument, and he learned that much of her time away from Starfleet had been spent treating patients that required the use of positronic matrices for recovery, both in and out of Federation space.

He also learned that she had been very close to contacting him a few years ago. Thaddeus Riker-Troi's death had stopped that. The tragic death of Deanna and Will's son had been something that Beverly felt personally responsible for as she had not been able to find a workable cure for him in the time it had taken the former counselor and captain to reach her. Beverly had then distanced herself further from her friends, only remaining in occasional contact with Geordi as she traversed the galaxy, attempting to heal the broken feelings inside by doing what she did best, healing others' pain.

In turn, Jean-Luc recounted his experiences over the past couple of years, including both his struggles in Labarre and the personal, inward journey he had been on courtesy of Q. He also shared how Laris, his Romulan aide and vineyard assistant had helped keep the Picard vineyard running even after he turned down her offer of a chance at a relationship. Beverly had smiled at that part of his story with a shake of her head, and Picard had found himself smiling back, slipping easily into their practiced, but long unused, banter.

The two friends, for that was what they quickly re-discovered they had remained despite the distance and the years, talked until the sky turned into a pale tint of orange and red. The time apart had allowed them to grow in ways they hadn't been able to before. Apologies were given, light jokes were shared, and the two friends that had often come close to becoming something even more, found themselves standing at the precipice once again. This time they didn't fall, but circled the edge together.