Chapt. 33

Deanna slowly drifted back from the land of the sleeping, yet she kept her eyes closed, willing herself to return to her dreams. She couldn't recall exactly what her dream had been about but she felt wonderful, so the dream must have been a good one. She tried to roll onto her back, but was stopped by a soft, warm body spooned against her and became aware of the strong arms wrapped around her. "Worf" she murmured and nudged against him as she used to do whenever she woke up earlier than him. When he didn't release her she reached out with her mind, trying to determine how deep in sleep he was.

When she sensed Riker's mind instead of her husbands she jerked away from him, as if his body was boiling water. Deanna jumped to her feet and nearly lost her balance due to the weakness of her legs. The near fall brought back with it the memories of what had happened, which had been hidden behind a veil of sleep until then.

Her mind reeled with the complications that one word suggested and she began to back away from the man sleeping in her bed. After four or five paces she halted and decided she would run no longer. Worf wasn't coming back, she had accepted that and after a year of uncertainty and loneliness Deanna decided she had the right to be happy again.

Her eyes turned to her Imzadi, who had now rolled onto his back. His lips –half hidden beneath his beard—were slightly parted and his hair was all tousled. The covers had been pulled down and his board, muscles torso was exposed to her gaze. She remembered fondly how she used to tangle her fingers in the soft hair covering his chest. She could sense he was still very much asleep and used the vulnerability of his mind to ensure herself that all the things he had told her the night before were true. Perhaps it was unethical of her, but she needed to know that she could trust him this time around; that he wouldn't walk out on her again.

Having found what she was looking for she allowed her own mind to wrap itself around his and crawled back into bed, molding her body against his and laying her head to rest on his chest. Deanna closed her eyes and delved deeper into Will's psyche until she fell asleep; surrounded by the love she had been looking for.

It was Riker who woke next and unlike Deanna he remembered exactly what had happened the night before. He looked down at the sleeping beauty on his chest and had to use every inch of his strength not to reach out and trace her delicate features, for the moment reflecting the content he felt. They had talked for hours the night before and when he had found out she had been avoiding him to prepare a surprise he had felt so stupid and guilty Deanna had to resort to flirting to get him to let it go.

She had told him about Worf and –all- the reasons why she had married him, as well as what she wanted in life and what she dreamt about. Together they had put the past behind them; their own failed relationship on Betazed and Troi's marriage with the Klingon. And so, throughout the night their strong friendship had slowly progressed into a deeper relationship.

It was long past midnight when Deanna hadn't been able to keep her eyes open anymore and had fallen asleep in the crook of his arm. He had been content just watching her sleep, his fingers playing with a lock of her hair. The straight, light-brown style looked magnificent on her, but he missed the black curls, they just seemed more…Deanna to him.

When his own eyes had started to close he had woken the empath so that she could change. Unwilling to run the risk that she wouldn't let him back in once he'd gone to his own quarters to change, Riker had stripped down to his boxers and crawled into her bed before she had returned from the bathroom.

Deanna returned; clad in a pale pink, off the shoulder gown and didn't even raise an eyebrow, but crawled into bed with him and quickly drifted back to sleep. This was where he belonged; with Deanna sleeping on his chest; not because of a comforting friendship, but because of an undying, devoted love.