Author's note: Well, here it is, the end (sob). Write and tell me what you thought! Also, if you would like to give me a challenge or another story idea, that would be great. If you liked this story I have another P/C story called "Lessons" on fanfic. Also, check out some of my original writings and poetry. Thanks for reading.

Epilogue

"Jack, will you hold still and let me straighten your collar properly," Beverly huffed as she gave Crusher a few last minute touch ups before he stepped onto the stage. Crusher batted her hand away impatiently, and continued fidgeting nervously. Beverly sighed pointedly. "I hope Captain Picard can straighten you out one you sign on to that bloody ship you both love. I can just see you arriving for bridge duty with your shirt tail hanging out."

"Actually, I was planning on wearing my underwear as a hat," Crusher deadpanned.

Beverly just rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, so funny I forgot to laugh. Seriously, Jack, please stand still so I can make you look presentable. Look at Walker, he's behaving the way a man should, letting Tafton fix him up."

"That's Walker, always acquiescing to make everyone happy. I'm not like that. I live to aggravate you," Jack gave Howard a slight smile, and then grinned conspiritoally as he handed her a brown paper sack. "How's this for aggravation?"

Beverly cringed as she reached into the bag. Her face relaxed she her fingers clenched around a small, paper book. "Where did you get a real book, Jack? And why? You know I love them, but they're so expensive, and this is your day, not mine." Beverly didn't notice that all of her friends had stopped their goings-on and turned to watch her open her gift.

"Perhaps you should read the title." Crusher raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"How To Advance Your Career Through Marriage. Very funny Jack."

Crusher turned and grasped both of her hands in his, his liquid brown eyes melting into her deep blue ones. "Beverly, it's not a joke." Beverly's face became blank, and then white as he knelt down before her. "Beverly Howard, I love you with all my heart. I have loved you since the day I met you. You are my best friend. Please, make me the happiest man in the universe by saying you will be my wife."

"Yes. I love you, Jack." Her lips met his softly, and he held her close, never wanting to let her go. A moment later she pulled away, swatting him playfully. "Enough of that. Now that I have some pull with you, perhaps I can make you stand still."

"And so it begins…Yes, dear," Jack pouted mockingly.

* * *

Jean Luc Picard stopped dead in his tracks before he could walk through the threshold of the Cadet's dressing room. In a quarter of an hour or so he would commission his new officers, including Jack Crusher and Walker Keel. He could have just as well performed the duty aboard ship, but he had once again lost control because of a certain red head he had tried so terribly hard to forget.

It had been nearly five months since he had last seen her, and still not a day had passed when she didn't race through his mind. Usually she filled his dreams, and he woke up sweating and longing not just to be with her, but to watch as she spoke with him, to hear her words, and listen to her thoughts. He could see the angry frown she so often wore, and that beautiful, brilliant smile. She was always there, always lurking, always threatening to steal away his resolve again.

He wanted to leave her behind. She wanted to be friends. She had sent him a few communiqués, telling him about the hearing and various facet of her everyday life. He wanted so badly to respond, just to carry on a conversation with her, but he found after a single trial that even this was more than he could bear, so he ignored her. Eventually she had stopped the correspondence, as he had known she one day would. He told himself it was better this way. She belonged to Jack Crusher.

Still, though, his mind held on to the fleeting fragile hope that this would come to pass, and they could be together. He knew that it was wrong of him to want such a terrible thing for one of his men in the same way that he knew that any relationship between him and Beverly would be inappropriate, but a part of him did not care. This was the part that spurred his dreams and fueled his desire. This was the part that had won out in his desperate, final battle to see her one last time before he would allow her to slip into the realm of memories. She would be just another dream deferred on his path to greatness. He had denied himself many things to attain the position he held today. Beverly Howard would be just another casualty of his love for the office he held.

He took her in as she stood, holding a brown paper sack and smiling dubiously at the man standing before her. God, how lovely she was. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to race forward and envelope her in his embrace, but something more than professionalism held him back. The room was eerily quiet, and he noticed that he was not the only one who's gaze had been ensnared by the couple. Something was happening here.

He saw Jack Crusher go down on one knee, and his heart jumped into his throat. He wanted to stop what he knew must be happening, but he felt as though his feet had grown roots. He felt sick in the very pit of his stomach. This just could not be.

And then he knew that she had accepted his offer, the offer that Picard himself had wanted to make, but there had been Jack Crusher in the way, always in the way. He took a deep breath and regained control of himself. Though he was not always a pragmatic man, Jean Luc Picard was a disciplined and diplomatic one. This man would soon be one of his officers, and had already become a bit of a friend. Who knew where time would lead?

Despite these things, Picard found that he could not join the others in giving their congratulations. He felt a choking sensation in his throat, and tears burned in his eyes. He shook his head briskly. She was just a woman, he told himself again and again.

He turned to leave, shoulders straight and head held high. He would simply do his duty. After the commissioning ceremony, he would congratulate the two of them, and life would go on. It always had. As he stepped through the door, Walker Keel tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir, I know that it's not really any of my business, but I just wanted to tell you that she really did care for you, and she always wished that the two of you could be friends."

"You're right it's not any of your business," Picard said sternly, a sudden harshness shadowing his features. His eyes softened a bit, and he added, "but that is nice to know. She told me what you did for the two of us. I wanted you to know that you earned this posting on your own merit, as did Mr. Crusher. You're a good man, soon-to-be Ensign Keel."

"Thank you, Sir. You're a good man, too," Keel shook his Captain's hand, nodded slightly, and turned away. Picard wasn't sure if he would call himself a good man, but he knew that Walker Keel understood where he had come from, and had forgiven him.

It was time for him to forgive Jack Crusher, for he knew better than anyone where the young man was coming from.

* * *

"You remember Beverly, Sir?" Ensign Jack Crusher asked Captain Picard following his commissioning.

Picard smiled slightly, "How could I forget?"

"I asked her to marry me this afternoon. I thought that since I was moving on with my life, I wanted to make sure she was heading in that direction with me. I know that I would be lost without her," Crusher smiled. "Sorry, Sir, I don't normally blather on in this fashion."

Picard knew otherwise, but said nothing of it. "Quite understandable, Ensign. Ah, there's the lucky woman now. Beverly, how very good to see you." And it was. He folded her in his arms and felt nothing but pure joy.

"Jean Luc, you're looking well." She smiled that brilliant smile, and he felt only the slightest twinge of jealousy towards Jack. Jack Crusher was good man. He deserved a good woman like Beverly Howard.

"Congratulations, Beverly. I hope you and Jack are happy together." Though he had forced the comment from his mouth, he found that the sentiment was indeed genuine.

"Thank you Jean Luc."

"If you'll excuse me," he said. No point in tempting fate. It was easier to deal the memory of Beverly Howard than it was to deal with his feelings when he saw her in person. He nodded to Crusher and walked away. A moment later, a voice called his name.

"Jean Luc, wait!" He paused, his heart starting to tear in two. If only she knew what she did to him. "Please, Jean Luc, let us be friends. I've missed you so terribly since you've stopped corresponding with me." Beverly looked a bit troubled by his aloofness.

"I would like very much to be your friend, Beverly." Picard's voice was stiff and formal.

She smiled, and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Take care of Jack for me. He thinks he knows it all, you know."

Picard nodded, he had known it all when he was in Crusher's shoes. Or so he had thought.

"I love you, Jean Luc," she whispered. She squeezed his hand and then she was gone.

* * *

Beverly looked around her empty room one last time as she prepared to board the shuttle home to Caldos for the post-second semester break. She nodded to herself, and prepared to turn off the light one final time when something caught her eye. She walked over to the room's communication panel and pressed the blinking light to retrieve her message.

"Beverly, I don't have much time since I'm pretty much the most junior officer her, and we get use of the communications array based on seniority, but I just wanted to tell you how amazing it is here. I'm doing things I never dreamed about, even back at the Academy. They prepare you for life in space, but they don't tell you what it's like to work under a great man like Jean Luc Picard. Everything changed for me as soon as I stepped aboard this ship. I found a new purpose, a new drive. He pushes us to be the best everyday, and then he asks for more. He wants you to find the best within yourself. I never knew one person could change the life of another so much until I met you, and now the Captain. I love you." He waved on the screen and then it went blank. She suppose he had run out of time.

She walked past Mina's long empty bed on her way out the door and gave it a rueful little smile, and then a mock salute, despite that Coldwell had never done anything to earn such respect. Or had she? Beverly would never be the same after Mina, and she knew, without a doubt, that she had been changed for the better. She supposed that it was in her darkest hours that she had found the brightest lights of love. It just went to show that often those who tried to hurt you only made you stronger.

Beverly supposed that, in a way, Mina had helped her discover the greatest things in life.

She had found them within herself.