The characters of Jadzia Dax, Odo, Kira Nerys, Benjamin Sisko, Jake Sisko, Nog, and Quark, not to mention the space station Deep Space Nine are not mine, as much as I'd like them to be. Legally they belong to Paramount. The characters you don't recognize are mine, however. Hahahahaha, finally, all mine. Oh, sorry.
Author's notes:This story came about from a roundtable story done between my best friend Kira and I. I really hope you enjoy it. I'd rate it PG because it does have some adult content in it, although it is tastefully done, much like the true series. The story is set somewhere in the fourth season, with fourth season spoilers. So if you haven't seen the fourth season eps. you better watch out. And not all of the fourth season is included, for those of you who want purity.
The title comes from Ode to Intimations of Immortality from Early Recollections of Childhood, by Wordsworth. I hope you'll be able to see how it fits in with the plot. Enjoy the story, and email me if you have any comments, flames, etc. My address is miyaka@gto.net.
Dedication:I'd like to dedicate this story to my friend Kira, without whom the Eysu Moraht would never have existed, and to all of my prereaders, without whom the story would not have existed. I'd also like to dedicate it to Eloise and Jimmy Hill, two people now gone but whom the world will always treasure.
The Faith That Looks Through Death
by Yuuki Miyaka
Chapter 3
Jake walked around his quarters, debating his responsibility to those in his dreams. His eyes roamed the walls, and his chest constricted as he thought of each. Then, he realized that with a lot of research, it might still be possible to find out about Katassa. He had already gotten transportation down to Bajor. All that remained was to get his father's permission. And, amazingly enough, as though he had known what was going through Jake's head, Benjamin Sisko walked into his quarters at that precise moment.
"Hey, Jake-O. What's going on?" Jake could see his father was in a good mood, and almost told the captain everything. He ached to talk to his father about it, but sensed that this was something he had to deal with alone.
"You're in a good mood. Have you found Dax and Odo?" Benjamin shook his head as pain came into his face. Jake looked away, not knowing what to say. "Uh, Dad? There's something I wanted to ask you. Would it be all right if I went to Bajor for a week or two? I've been thinking about that research, and I'm just not ready to give up on it yet." The captain stared at his son, confused.
"What are you talking about, Jake?" Jake sighed, not sure what to tell his father.
"Dad, you remember. I was trying to access information about the Bajoran resistance cells, and you said that it would be just about impossible unless I were to actually go down to Bajor. So I've booked passage aboard one of the daily transport ships." Benjamin looked at his son in shock.
"What will you do for lodgings? And what about contacts? Did you ever think of that?" Jake nodded.
"Yeah. I figured I could talk to Shakaar. He was the leader of Kira's resistance cell once, and I've seen him before. Besides, he's your friend. So if he doesn't mind, and you don't mind my going, then I will spend some of the time with him, and the rest of the time I will look around for others in old resistance cells. How does that sound?"
"Jake, that man is the First Minister of Bajor. He has responsibilities, and can't take time out to conform to your whims. I suggest that you put this out of your mind for a while and concentrate on another story." Benjamin's eyes flashed as he said this, and Jake left the room before he could tell his father any more.
As he wandered the Promenade, he debated using one of his other choices. Finally, as he stood outside of Kira's quarters, having wandered through most of the station, he decided. He left her door, going to one of the public communications relays in the Replimat. Standing in front of it, he keyed in Shakaar's coordinates. At once, his face came up on the screen. "Jake Sisko?" The older Bajoran stared in surprise at Captain Sisko's son.
"Mr. Shakaar? I was wondering if you could help me. I'm doing research on the resistance cells, and I needed lodgings on Bajor for a time, and perhaps an interview with you and others of your cell. Would that be possible?" Shakaar grinned.
"Pass up a chance to tell old war-stories? Not me. Am I right in assuming that Nerys gave you this idea?" Jake tried to look sheepish, as though she really had. Shakaar nodded, completely fooled. "Well, you're welcome to stay with me until you go back to the station. I might even be able to pull in a couple of favors and get you to talking to some of the other cell leaders." Jake's eyes lit up, and he grinned.
"Thank you, sir. I was planning on leaving at the end of the week. Will that be a problem?" Shakaar shook his head, and signaled the termination of his end. Jake nodded, trying to figure out the rest of the logistics.
Odo paced the confines of his room as Dax stared out the window. She sighed once, then nodded. "I understand how you feel, Odo. I accessed the history files for the last twenty years. I still can't believe what has happened in that time. An entirely new organization has taken over the Federation, and it seems like the Eysu Moraht--that's the organization--is doing a better job than the Federation was able to do. I never expected to see something like this." Dax trailed off. Odo nodded once, silently asking her to continue.
"There's just something a little unreal about five Academy dropouts who create an entire alliance. It seems that Jake and his friends were the founding members of the entire Eysu Moraht, and it happened a year after they left the Academy." Odo stared at her in confusion.
"But I thought that Jake was going to Pennington. What happened to his writing career?" Dax shook her head, clearly unable to understand it herself.
"Apparently, he didn't. As near as I can tell, he considered it, but ultimately decided to follow in his father's footsteps. I don't know what made him decide to. But they were the ones who created the Kumsahmi, it says in the history. Apparently they built it with help from the Aurahj. But the most amazing thing is that they have come so far. They are the ones holding off the Founders. Sorry, Odo." Dax looked away, but Odo only grunted. He could not allow the lieutenant-commander to see the pain he felt at not being able to see his people.
"So now we are on one of their ships, flying toward our old station, and we have no idea how to return to our own time, or even what brought us here. And to top that off, everything we once knew has changed." Dax nodded, and Odo suddenly thought of something. "Dax, if you meet your replacement--what was his name--Lenzar, wouldn't that be reassociation?" Dax smiled in pain.
"No. I don't know what it will be, but it isn't reassociation. The difference is that we should open ourselves up to new experiences, and if we continue to marry the same Trill, even if it is a new host, then we aren't allowing ourselves to live. However, if we should meet future or past hosts because of a temporal anomaly, that would be different, because we would still have our own lives. Do you see?" Odo nodded slowly, understanding everything she had said.
"Yes. But by that rule, isn't your relationship with Captain Sisko a reassociation?" Dax shook her head again, a smile playing about her lips.
"No. Benjamin and I were friends when I was Curzon, true, but Jadzia was posted to Deep Space Nine. Eventually we would have become friends, even if he hadn't known me as Curzon. The fact that we had met in one of my past hosts only sped matters along. The point is that, although he calls me 'old man,' he sees me as Jadzia, not Curzon. And that is the difference. I am glad that Benjamin and I are friends, though. I have never had a friend quite like him." Jadzia Dax's eyes lit up from within with a contented smile, and Odo realized exactly how beautiful she was. It surprised him.
"So what happens now? Do we ignore StarFleet temporal policy?" Dax grinned at the constable.
"You're asking about StarFleet protocol? Odo, I never thought I would see the day. But in all seriousness, I don't think we can afford to ignore it. I don't know how we can keep it from happening, though. There are too many variables that we create simply by being here. And we've researched so much about the past. We know too much already." Dax sighed in frustration, and Odo resumed his pacing. They were silent for five minutes, each considering the implications of changing the timeline.
"What would happen if we were to take the information back to our time, Dax?" Odo's question was a valid one, Dax thought.
"Most likely, the information as we know it would change. It's possible that Julian or I would not die in the war, or that Kira would. We can't know anything about what will happen."
"I meant," Odo interrupted firmly, "don't we already know what would happen? This is our future, after all. That would mean that we've already brought the information back into the past, right?"
"Wrong. Look, Odo, there are thousands of different futures that could happen each time one person makes a decision. We could be in one right now that was created without our coming into the future. We may never have jumped times. But in the one we know, we _did_ jump into the future. I know that it's confusing, but in the end, we could be in any one of a thousand different futures. We could just as easily have jumped into a future where the Cardassians did not leave Bajor, and they owned the wormhole." Odo nodded. He was understanding this whole experience only vaguely, but he knew he had to go back. Even if it meant that he would die, he had to see Kira--his Kira--once more.
"So we forget everything we learn here and when we go back, if we do remember, we don't tell anyone. Is that it? We can't even talk about it?" Odo's frustration made his words sharper than he would have liked, and he glanced up to see if Dax had noticed. But she hadn't, and all he could see in her face was pain. Dax's misery spoke to Odo, who suddenly realized that she had her own sorrows to deal with. "Commander, if you would like to talk about it . . . ." Odo trailed off, unsure of what to say next. Dax's wan smile lacked the brightness he was used to.
"No thanks, Odo. It's not important." And Odo heard other words, words that had come back to haunt him.
"Just a slip of the tongue. Nothing important."
Jake stepped out of the runabout and looked around. He caught sight of Shakaar and waved. Shakaar returned the gesture, grinning at the boy. Jake smiled back as he moved toward the ex-terrorist. "Thanks for helping me." Shakaar grinned again and led the way back to his farm. Along the way, Jake noticed the barren view and silently wished that the Occupation had never happened. When they were in his home, Shakaar moved to the kitchen as they chatted.
"So, Jake. Which resistance cell are you researching?" Shakaar asked.
"I was researching the Paq resistance. I believe they tried to liberate Gallitep before your cell got to it. What happened?"
"Oh, I see. Were you planning to use Gallitep in one of your stories?" Jake nodded, and Shakaar smiled. "Well, the Paq resistance was not the best equipped cell of the movement, but it did do some good work. Mostly, it was involved with secret infiltration. That was why it attempted Gallitep in the first place. But it failed because several of its members didn't trust the man in charge. I didn't trust him either, for that matter. He was good at what he did, but a little too good. I have the feeling that he was only out for his own good. It was determined later that he was a Cardassian infiltrator, which was probably one of the reasons he was able to get into tight security areas." Shakaar shrugged, then glanced at Jake, who was having to visibly force himself to stay awake. "Am I that boring?" he asked with a smile, and Jake looked up in panic. "I'm joking, kid. You don't look like you're sleeping enough. Why don't you go take a nap?"
Jake nodded, unable to do anything else. With a sigh, he went into the guest room and laid down on the bed provided for him. Weariness from the trip and a wish to be near Arys worked to overcome his anxiety about lying to his father, and he fell asleep within moments.
Jake looked at the crew surrounding him, and his chest swelled with pride. He was a captain, the youngest captain anywhere, he would imagine. His senior officers also had that distinction, the lowest rank being a lieutenant-commander. Each one smiled back, and Jake nodded at them. There was Ari, his second in command, sitting to his right, and Leshia, Katassa's sister. Leshia was the Chief Medical Officer, and the youngest here. On his left were his Chief Engineer, Nog, and his Chief Security Officer, Arys. The count on the ship was small for such a massive ship, but there were luxuries the Aurahj had built into the ship that StarFleet ships did not have.
The Kumsahmi, Jake knew, could give the Romulan Birds of Prey a run for their money. It equaled them in size and outmatched them in firepower. More, the five ex-Academy students, with the help of Katassa's computer-hacking capabilities and Katassa's scientists, had been able to perfect the phase-cloak, an ingenious device that allowed them to hide from their enemies and pass through solid objects as though they were ghosts. And the normal cloak and SubGate technology did not hurt, either.
Jake cleared his throat. "Thanks for meeting me here. I know most of you are off-duty, but I wanted to go over a few things before we arrive in StarFleet space." Jake paused, looking around to gauge their reactions. Nog was excited, and barely able to contain it. Ari was subdued, most likely thinking of his father. Jake shuddered to think what Dukat would have to say about this. Leshia was openly curious about this place they intended to visit, never having been there herself, but her Aurahj manners kept her face turned to the table, where Jake could barely see it. And Arys stared back at him, her eyes showing not the slightest emotion. That was unlike Arys, Jake thought, worrying. There had been a time when she would have made a flippant remark about the mission, but the Barracks had changed that.
"There will be repercussions we must consider if we are to make an appropriately diplomatic gesture of friendship. For one thing, most of us are known by StarFleet headquarters, at the very least because of our parentage. The fact that we left the Academy will not go unnoticed, and that will be detrimental to our cause." Jake halted his speech as Arys cleared her throat, and he nodded at the Chief of Security to speak.
"Jake, we know this. Why dwell on it? We can't do a thing about it, sir. What we can do something about is impressing those bigwigs up in StarFleet HQ. Maybe if we give them something to shock them, we can get away with not going through proper protocol. Thing is, sir, we don't have the luxury of worrying about paperwork." Her voice rose with passion as she spoke, and they could all sense her commitment to the true reason they had returned. "We have to put the Barracks out of commission once and for all. Once we do that, StarFleet will see that we are allies."
Ari shook his head, negating her statement. "Arys, it's not that simple. If StarFleet doesn't know what the Barracks are doing to their students . . . ."
"StarFleet has to know," Arys interrupted. "There is no way that the Barracks could get away with something like this so easily." The lieutenant-commander stood, her back ramrod straight, and walked out of the door, leaving the others to stare at the seat she had just vacated. Jake rose, motioning with his hand for the others to leave, and followed Arys. He found her in her quarters.
"Arys? We're arriving in StarFleet space in three hours. Will you be ready?" Jake's near-silent question held a concern for his friend. He stared into the blackness, cursing her for leaving the lights off, and finally saw her dark form hovering in front of a window. He joined her, standing to her left staring out into an unknown sky.
Together, they watched the darkness outside pervade the darkness of her quarters. Jake marveled at how chilling it all was, how depressing. He had never known just how sad simply leaving the lights off could be. But even as he thought this, he knew that there was more to it than that. Arys was hurting, and that hurt translated the darkness into an almost physical pain for Jake. She was, perhaps, his closest friend within the five. For a long time, Nog had been, and all of them were so close that the differences were nearly indefinable. But Arys understood him. She was his bulwark, the person who kept him sane in this.
He considered their time together in the past. At first, she was ever-cheerful, which he had found completely amazing considering what she had been through. But later, after the Barracks and for the past year, she had been distant, cold, even cruel. Jake couldn't blame her. He knew that the Barracks had nearly destroyed her. But he wished for the old Arys back, the Arys that might have teased him about his speeches, and the one who confided in him. For she hadn't done that in a long time either.
An hour passed in this manner before either of them spoke, and it was Arys who finally broke the silence. "Jake, what do you expect of me?" The plea wrenched at his heart, and he turned toward her, ready to pull her into his arms. But the moment he touched her, she flinched away. "I can't be that girl anymore, Jake. I don't know how."
Jake opened his mouth to speak, but could think of nothing to say. Where once Arys would have laughed at his speechlessness, now she only regarded him coolly. Eventually, he turned away from that cold stare, wandering through the darkened room. Tears filled his eyes and spilled down his cheeks as he thought of what she had endured. He sat staring forward, not hearing her soft command to increase the lighting. Suddenly, soft fingers were tracing the tear tracks on his cheek with a feathery touch, and he focused to find her kneeling in front of him. "Jake," she whispered, then pulled away, watching him. He forced himself to remain still, allowing only his eyes to speak to her, and that seemed to open a gate within her. She sank to the floor, shaking. "You don't know what it was like, being punished for everything."
Jake swallowed. "It was abuse, Arys. Some people enjoy inflicting pain, and the only thing we can do about it is to make sure that this never happens to anyone else." Jake had never felt quite so distant from her as he did at that moment. She nodded, and he sank down beside her, offering comfort even as he closed his eyes against her pain.
When he opened his eyes again, he was seated on the floor of Shakaar's guest room, a pillow clutched in his arms and tear stains on his face. He sat there, shaking and coping.
Most of the admirals were gone, leaving only Ari to answer Odo and Dax's questions. The three were having supper together, Dax and Ari eating, and Odo simulating drinking.
"You must understand about the SSTF. It didn't become corrupt until Admiral Furene gained control of it. She was always a little corrupt, but no one knew how evil she really was. She managed to exchange the staff with friends of hers who possessed the same views, and they started trying to make a class of pure fighting machines, automatons who would do anything to win the upper hand. Arys didn't fit her mold of that student, so she was going to be killed. That's why we left StarFleet. We had to save Arys. If Jake hadn't demanded it of us, we might not have worked together, and then we would all be dead. We dealt with that threat, though. That was our first mission. After that, we mainly went around doing good deeds until everyone loved us." Ari looked at the others, trying to gauge their reactions to his words. They stared at each other, and Odo spoke first.
"Perhaps the Federation isn't so holy here." Dax's eyes flashed with fury, but he only regarded her coolly. Eventually, she sighed and turned away, unsure of exactly what to do. A disembodied voice interrupted them at that moment.
"Admiral, we are approaching Deep Space Nine. We should be there within the minute." The admiral emerged from his Ready Room, leaving the other two officers behind.
The station looked wretched. Where once it had stood proud and strong in front of the Bajoran Wormhole, now it seemed to have wilted. The lights flashed, but it seemed more like the lights of a particularly old home that refused to give up. After a moment, the ensign who had summoned Ari spoke again. "Admiral, we're being hailed." Ari nodded.
"Put it onscreen."
Jake paced the Bridge of the Kumsahmi, unsure of whether to remove the cloak. Suddenly, Arys looked up at him, staring straight into his eyes. Since they had handled the Barracks, she had been able to put the episode behind her. Perhaps all she needed was exorcism from her pain. But now she looked utterly confused. "Captain, they know we're here. I don't know how, but they have detected us." Jake swore quietly and creatively in Bajoran. Arys grinned softly at that, as did the rest of his senior officers.
"It must be that Romulan cloak on the Defiant. By working with that, they have come up with a way to detect and penetrate cloaks. Damn! Okay, decloak and hail them." Arys nodded, her hands flying across the console as she keyed in the commands. She was more familiar with this console than anyone else on the ship, including the other senior officers. She had designed it specifically for the expediency it gave her. No one else could work it as fast. A small smile of pride appeared on her lips as she pressed the last button. The entire procedure had taken less than five seconds.
"Ship decloaked and hailing frequencies open, sir."
Jake nodded. "This is Captain Jake Sisko of the Eysu Moraht ship Kumsahmi. We would like to secure a docking port and come aboard, Captain." Jake's eyes twinkled as he saw his father's reaction. The older captain's face went from bored indifference to utter shock to complete fury in a matter of seconds.
"Jake Sisko, where have you been?"
The first time Jake had introduced himself since coming back to the Alpha Quadrant, it had been to Admiral Smith. She had known his father for some time, and had tried to help when his mother had died. Her reply had been much the same as his father's was now, and he felt utterly humiliated yet again. He sighed, then repeated his earlier words, praying his father would pick up on the fact that his command should not be questioned until they were in private.
"Permission granted, Captain. I hope you will join me for dinner this evening." Jake smiled warmly for the benefit of his Bridge crew and nodded graciously before terminating the transmission. In reality, he was not looking forward to dinner. He had a feeling that the main course would be a lecture on running away, etc. He did not feel up to a lecture. As he turned back to sit in his chair again, he caught Arys' eyes, and he could see the sympathy in them. For a long moment, he considered inviting her along to keep his father from killing him, but he discarded the idea, knowing she had her own plans for what to do when they docked. He left the Bridge, and when the doors opened before him, he could see into his bedroom. He walked in, happy in the knowledge that Arys was better and knowing that he had a lot of research to prepare for.
"This is Colonel Kira Nerys of New Bajor. Greetings, D'harincoort. You may dock in port twelve." Kira's weary smile pulled an answering one from Ari. He had been one of the original promoters for a Cardassia/Bajor alliance. They had taken him seriously, and he had won the undying gratitude of both Arys and Kira. He nodded at her and terminated the connection. Dax and Odo had stayed in his Ready Room, not quite ready for the sight of their old friend. He returned to them, and informed them of the plans he had made to put them up on the station.
Ten minutes later, the three were walking out of the docking port, when they heard a strangled cry from behind them. Odo turned first, and was greeted by the sight of his beloved Kira, tears streaming down her face. Beside her was a male Trill he had never seen before and Shakaar. The moment he noticed Shakaar next to Kira, Odo's face closed down in cool defense. But Kira had other things in mind, and motioned for Odo to come to her. Odo stepped up to her, looking down at her. He was unable to stop himself. Dax, meanwhile, walked over to the Trill, and stared at him. And Ari walked to Shakaar calmly.
"I think we need to let each of them sort this out themselves. It's good to see you again, Shakaar. How's New Bajor? Any major crises . . . ." The words grew softer as the two moved away, leaving the other four behind. Each couple moved away from each other, an unconscious movement to gain privacy.
Dax stared at the man in front of her, something in her recognizing the symbiont nestled within him. Finally, her training reasserted itself, and she smiled at him. "You must be Lenzar Dax. It's good to meet you. I've read a little about you. I had no idea that my replacement was going to be so good at getting into trouble." She tried to make it a joke that they could both share, but it came out a little flat as they both remembered the history behind his Joining with the Dax symbiont. He nodded formally, then moved away to a safer distance.
"I met you at my zhian'tara. You seemed much more friendly there." He smiled the same serene smile she always did, and she realized just how young the boy was. She smiled back, determined to make the entire episode as easy on him as possible. "I imagine that you won't remember this meeting, Jadzia. There's no reason to assume you would, thanks to Vidiian technology. I just wanted to tell you that I admired you." Dax's smile became real, then. She had no idea how he was doing it, but this Lenzar was able to make her feel completely relaxed around him.
"Thanks. There hasn't been a lot to admire, but I appreciate the sentiment." Dax's eyes sparkled, and she found herself quietly considering how handsome this young man was. The thought brought a mischievous glint to her expression, and she turned away before she blushed.
"There's plenty to admire." He made a motion in the direction of the Replimat, and the two began to walk there, continuing their conversation. "After all, you're a master at Klingon martial arts, and you're brave enough to defy convention for things that mean something to you. Like Lenara." His gaze sobered. "I know that Torias loved her, and that you came to love her. It was very hard for you, wasn't it? I wanted to ask you this in the zhian'tara, but I couldn't. I couldn't explain it to Kira." He shrugged ever so slightly, and she laughed.
"You got Kira to lend me her body? That must have been hysterical. Why didn't you have your zhian'tara on our homeworld, though?" Dax sank gracefully into the seat provided for her, debating what she wanted to order. Perhaps some Gaghk.
"I told you that I admired you. I wanted to try it your way, and have it here, on New Bajor. So I asked Kira's permission, and she granted it. It was interesting to see what you had to say about your 'host.'" Lenzar smiled again, and the conversation continued.
"Jake! I need your help. There's a slight problem with the strategy I'm trying to work out. Will you help me?" Jake turned to Arys and shrugged. It was rare that she ever needed his help for anything, so he was always happy to oblige. Now, he found himself following her to the senior officer's dining lounge. He grinned, figuring that she had been working on the strategy over dinner. He couldn't blame her. He was long overdue for a meal himself, but the complications with the Founders had kept him very busy.
They strode into the lounge, and she moved out of his line-of-sight in one lightning-quick motion. There before him was Nog and Ari. He grinned. "What's going on here?" he asked good-naturedly. He looked back at Arys, but someone entirely different answered him.
"It's a celebration, Jake Sisko. What do you think?" Jake whirled around to see Katassa moving toward him, a proud smile on her face. "I have the distinct honor of being the one to present you with your next pip, Admiral Sisko." With dignified ceremony, she placed the pip on his collar and stepped back. He stared at everyone else in shock.
"Admiral?" That was the only word to come out of his mouth, but it echoed his feelings perfectly. Arys grinned softly, and nodded her head. "Admiral?" The second time he said it had Arys' shoulders shaking softly, and the rest of his senior staff tried to suppress their own laughter. "Admiral?" The third time was too much, and the lounge was filled with loud guffaws as the entire senior staff let go of their merriment.
Jake didn't comment, although his face flamed. Arys was the first one to stop laughing, and for that he was grateful, although the fact that her laughter was so long, and so abandoned did a lot for him too. It had been too long since she had truly laughed, he thought. He didn't move as the others walked up to him to congratulate him, although Arys did manage to get him to dance with her.
As they were dancing, he reflected on how far he had come. It had been only five years since they had established the Eysu in the Alpha Quadrant, but he still could not believe that the Alliance had flourished so well.
The dance ended, and he and Arys opted to sit the next one out. They stood on the far corner of the dance floor, watching Ari and Katassa dance, and Arys grinned. "They really are in love. Isn't it wonderful, Jake?" Jake nodded softly, knowing that Arys was right. Ari and Katassa were in love, and he was glad of it. They deserved all the happiness they could get, although he knew as well as everyone else that they wouldn't be happy for long. Katassa was the leader of the Aurahj. She could not leave her people or get married. It may well be that she would be called upon to make a marriage of state. And as for Ari, he was needed in the Eysu as much as Katassa was needed on Aurahj. It could never work. Yet that didn't stop Jake from wishing them the best of luck, or from looking over at Arys.
The music trailed off, and Katassa and Ari left the room quietly. It didn't take a genius to figure out where they were headed. Jake smiled, looking back at his other two friends. "You know, we've come a long way, guys. I don't believe it sometimes, but it's true. I'm glad you're both here with me. It means a lot to me." Nog nodded, and grinned at his best friend before whirling Arys out onto the dance floor. They looked very cozy together, Jake thought with a sigh. He had not wanted to jeopardize his friendship with her, and now she was with someone else. The last thing he saw before be awoke was Arys leaning down to kiss Nog.
Jake looked through his belongings until he came to the PADD he had brought with him. The sight of Arys kissing Nog had done something to him, something he could not quite name. All he knew was that he needed to get these emotions out of him, so he sat down with the PADD and began to write. It had always worked before, he thought. So why wasn't it working now?
Odo stared at Kira. The years had been kind to her in some ways. She was still remarkably beautiful, still as strong as ever. But there was an undefined sadness to her, and a silent happiness in her aura. He shook his head, unable to look her in the eyes anymore. To his surprise, a hand reached up to cup his face. "Odo?" she whispered softly. The changeling nodded, and tears came into her eyes. "Is it really you?" And to his shock and amazement, she threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. When she let go moments later, he was staring at her.
"What did you do that for, Major?" Kira looked confused for a moment, then nodded sagely.
"That's right. You don't know about any of it. C'mon, there's a place at Quark's for you. We can talk there." She smiled and led him to the old bar. An older Ferengi greeted him with a shriek.
"No! He's come to get me. I haven't done anything, I tell you. Nothing! You have no proof!" The Ferengi bartender ran into the other room, and another one, much younger, came out to take their orders. When all was done, the two sat at the bar, one drink in front of them. Kira smiled broadly.
"Your replacement isn't as good as Dax's, you know. I don't know where you dug him up, but he just doesn't antagonize Quark nearly enough. That old lecher is getting soft. That's why he reacted the way he did when he saw you. He's been afraid ever since it got out that you were dead that it was all some elaborate conspiracy to trick him into giving something away. I guess he just couldn't accept the fact that you were dead." Tears filled Kira's eyes, and she looked away.
"I guess I couldn't either."