Deanna Troi sat in her quarters, blankly staring at her computer terminal. After a moment, she sighed, giving up on a futile task. Turning to her replicator, she ordered hot chocolate and watched it materialize.
When her door chimed, she hurriedly swallowed the hot mouthful and called out, "Come in." She smiled as she saw who it was. "Will," she greeted, setting the mug down. "What brings you here?"
He smiled, his blue eyes lit from within. "I need to talk to you," he replied, his voice taking on the same playful edge.
She tilted her head slightly, sitting on the sofa. "Well, what about?"
He sat beside her, taking one of her hands in his. "I've been thinking lately..."
She ignored the sensations it caused and focused her attention on Will. "What about?" she asked, her face beckoning him to open up to her.
Abruptly he stood, pacing her quarters and running a hand through his already disheveled hair.
"Will?" she asked, standing and studying him with a concerned expression. She stopped his pacing by putting her hands on his shoulders. "What is it?"
He reached up, taking her hands off his shoulders and into his hands. "Imzadi, I..."
Deanna looked into his vivid blue eyes, seeing the passion and love within as her empathic sense flowed over her, surrounding her with his love. Her instinct was to shy away from it, the memories of their past washing over her and doing battle with the love she felt emanating from the man before her. She wanted desperately to return his ardor, but she couldn't find a base for it.
Her time on the Ba'ku planet had been spent thinking back over her time with Will, debating the decisions the two of them had made. Since her return from the Ba'ku planet, she had noticed a decline in those feelings of love that had permeated her existence there. Now, seeing Will's eyes burn with the same passions instigated by the youthful energies of the planet, she felt an incredible feeling of remorse for the pain she was about to deliver.
She disentangled her hands, retreating from him to a safe distance. She could sense his puzzlement as she found the words to explain the conflict in her heart. "Will, I can't."
Will stood in shock, trying to comprehend what she was saying. "Imzadi, why?"
"I do love you," she began, the hurt she felt emanating from him causing her to choke up. "I just don't love you the way you want me to." She was trying to distance herself from his pain, the pain that she had caused him, but it managed to eke through the mental barriers she had. "Will, I--"
"No need to explain, Deanna," he cut her off. "I understand that I was wrong to push a dead issue, especially when I misunderstood your feelings on the matter."
"Will, I'm sorry," she told his turned back, trying to push her own pain to help with his. "I just don't love you as a lover, but as my dearest friend."
The words gave him little comfort. "I understand," he said quietly. "At least I have your friendship." Without another word, he strode quickly out of her quarters.
After his presence moved away from her, Deanna sat heavily on her sofa, wondering why she felt half-torn.
Outside his own quarters, Will Riker leaned heavily against a bulkhead, replaying the ghastly scene in his head. "I'll just have to win her over," he murmured, the thought bringing a splash of color to his otherwise gray world. "I'll have to change her mind, and her heart."
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