Disclaimer: See chapter six.

Chapter Eight: Reunion

"Come Lauren!" Aurora called. "They're here! We must be quick!"

Lauren picked up Audra and ran down the stairs as another shock wave hit the house. Energy waves from the main power source of the town had been striking all houses close to it as it was shut down in preparation for war with the Romulans. Lauren fell into the wall and slid down the stairs, regaining her footing after a few seconds. The transport vehicle that would put them in contact with the Enterprise had arrvied, and they were rushing to board before the imminent Romulan attack hit.

"We're coming Mom!" Lauren shouted as she ran out the door. She held Audra out to Willa, and then climbed into the transport vehicle, shutting the door behind her. She gasped for breath and touched her necklace. She sighed in relief when she realized it was still there.

"You OK sis?" Willa asked, coming to sit next to her sister.

"Fine," Lauren said. "Just peachy."

"It's going to take a few hours to reach the Enterprise, so you can take a nap," Willa said. "You gonna be mad this time when I wish you sweet dreams of Wesley?"

"Don't you dare," Lauren said with a grin. "There's nowhere for you to run this time." But Lauren was too tired to do anything to Willa, and soon she had drifted off to sleep, and was indeed dreaming of Wesley.

"The ship is coming into range," Geordi said. He, Wesley, and Commander Riker were standing in the transporter room, waiting for the signal to beam the four women aboard the Enterprise. Wesley was getting anxious, and it was quite obvious to the other two men that he would not be any help in his present condition.

"Wes, go get something to drink," Will said. "You're not going to be any use to Lauren if you've passed out."

Wesley opened his mouth to protest, but Will was already pushing him towards the door. "We'll take her to Ten Forward as soon as she gets here, we promise. Just go!"

Wesley gave a last glance at the monitor, and sighed. He'd see her soon enough, and he was pretty thirsty, so he left the transporter room and walked to Ten Forward.

"Ma'am, we're approaching the Enterprise," the pilot said. Aurora sat up straighter in her seat. She turned to Willa and said, "Wake your sisters up. We'll be there shortly."

Willa walked over to Lauren, who was asleep on the floor with Audra next to her. She gently nudged Lauren with her foot. Lauren's eyes slowly opened, and she sat up groggily. "What…" she said, still not completely awake.

"We're almost there," Willa said. "We've got to wake Audra up."

Lauren looked at her baby sister, who was still asleep. "Aw, let her sleep Willa," she said. "She's only two. She needs her sleep."

"OK, fine, we'll let the little bugger sleep," Willa said. "But seriously, we're gonna be there really soon. Like, in the next two minutes or so, so get her off the ground and brush her off or something."

"You make it sound like we're talking about a rug of some kind," Lauren said as she picked up the sleeping child. The pilot slowed to a stop then, and said, "Prepare to be beamed on board the Enterprise."

"Energize," Geordi said. On the transport pad, three women and a sleeping child appeared, and looked around them. Aurora stepped off of the transporter pad and approached Will.

"Commander Riker, I assume," she said, extending her hand. "I am Aurora Scarlett, and these are my daughters Willa, Audra, and Lauren."

"A pleasure to meet you," Will replied as he shook her hand. "And a pleasure to meet your daughters as well. We've heard a lot about you in particular, Lauren."

Lauren blushed. She had a pretty good idea of who had told them. Thinking immediately, she looked around the transporter room, and sighed sadly when she didn't see him.

"He's waiting for you in the bar," Will said. "I'll take you there momentarily. But first, this is Geordi LaForge. He's in charge of engineering here on the Enterprise."

Lauren, Willa, and Aurora all shook hands with Geordi. Just then, Audra woke up, looked around the room, and put her head back down on Willa's shoulder.

"I'm assuming that this is Audra," Will said with a smile.

"Yep, she's the baby," Willa said. After a few more moments of small talk, Will said, "I'll show you to your quarters now. They should be quite comfortable." He looked at Lauren and smiled. "And then I'll take you down to Ten Forward, I promise."

Lauren grinned back, and they followed him to their quarters.

Lauren looked over her dress in the mirror. She had a room to herself for the first time in ages, and was enjoying it immensely. There was a knock at her door, and she said, "Come in."

Commander Riker entered the room and said, "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lauren said, smoothing down her skirt.

"Don't worry," Will said. "It's only Wesley."

"The exact reason I'm worried," Lauren thought. They left her room and began the walk to Ten Forward.

Wesley sat at a table in Ten Forward, staring at his drink. He kept checking his watch and looking at the door, then sighing with disappointment. "How long does it take to beam someone in?" he thought.

Guinan noticed Wesley's disappointed expression and walked over to his table. "She'll be here soon," she said. "I'm sure she will be. Her and her family are probably just being shown to the quarters."

Wesley smiled and finished off his drink. Guinan walked back to the bar, grinning. She remembered the last time Wesley had been this way. It hadn't ended the way he had hoped, but she was sure this one would be different.

Wesley looked up at the door again, and this time he was not disappointed. There she stood, with Commander Riker, searching the room for him. Wesley smiled broadly, and stood up so she could see him. She was finally here. Lauren had finally come back to him.

"This is it," Will said as they entered the bar. "Ten Forward."

Lauren scanned the room, and saw Wesley standing next to a table. She thanked Will quickly, and started walking over to the table. She wove her way through the crowded bar expertly, and near the end, there was an open path, as if the people had cleared her way deliberately. Lauren began running, and flung herself into Wesley's arms when she reached him.

"I thought you wouldn't make it here," he said. "Figured you'd stay back home."

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Lauren said with a grin. "Besides, it was either this, or stay and watch a war. I think I chose the lesser of two evils."

"I'd rather have you here. You wouldn't be at risk for getting blown up."

Lauren laughed and hugged Wesley tighter. "I'm just glad to be here with you," she whispered.

"Me too," Wesley said. "3 weeks is too damn long."

"As opposed to seven years," Lauren said sarcastically, then she smiled. "So, when we were being shown to our rooms here, I happened to look at a few doors on the way. I asked what they were, and I was told that one of them was yours. Now, why the hell would they put my room close to yours? They have very dirty minds here…"

Wesley laughed at Lauren's comments. "I think you're the one with the dirty mind. They put your rooms close to me and Mom's so you'd be close to people you know."

"Oh," Lauren said, faking a look of disappointment. "So, this is the bar? It's nice."

"I was hoping you'd join me for a drink. It's not real alcohol, but it still tastes good."

"I'd love to," Lauren said. She sat down in the chair across from Wesley and looked around her. They were sitting next to a window, and Lauren could see the stars.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked. Lauren looked up and saw a woman standing next to their table, holding two glasses in her hands. "I'm Guinan," the woman said. "You must be Lauren. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Lauren said. "This is a really nice bar."

"Thank you. I have drinks for you two right here," she said, putting the drinks on their table. "I'll be over if you need anything else."

They nodded their thanks, and Guinan left them to themselves. She knew that this Lauren girl was different, and she was happy. "Things are definitely starting to look up for Wesley," she thought.

A few hours later, Wesley and Lauren were walking back to their rooms. Wesley had his arm around Lauren, and Lauren was resting her head on his shoulder and smiling. They stopped outside of Lauren's door a few moments later.

"You do know you walked right past your room, don't you?" she said.

"I know that," Wesley said with a grin. "Sue me for wanting to walk my date back to her place."

"So this was a date?"

"Of course it was. Unless you'd rather call it something else…"

"No, we can call it a date. I'm just surprised, is all."

"Why?"

"Well, I…I have no idea…"

"I guess I better be getting back," Wesley said. "It's pretty late, and you need sleep."

"Oh, and you don't?" Lauren said with a grin. "But you're right, I am pretty tired. All that drinking…"

"I told you, it's not real alcohol," Wesley said with a laugh.

"But my mother and sister don't know that…" Lauren said, a devilish glint in her eyes. "What do you say to going over to Willa's room and pretending we're drunk?"

"Maybe later," Wesley said, now laughing pretty hard. "You can if you want."

"It's no fun if it's only me!" Lauren said with an obviously fake pout. "But if you say so…"

"And I do. Now go get some sleep. We can't have you staggering all over the ship." Lauren laughed and put her arms around Wesley's neck.

"You're crazy," she said.

"And you love it." Wesley leaned in closer to Lauren, and they kissed. Lauren pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"The most interesting date of my life," Lauren said. She looked up at Wesley and kissed him again, a kiss much like the one they had shared in the driveway. She pulled away, whispered "Good night," and entered her room, smiling at him as the doors closed.